Jack Thompson set for GDC 08 keynote?

As reported by GamePolitics, controversial lawyer Jack Thompson – who has scored plenty of headlines over the past years due to litigation and outspoken comments against publishers of games with violent content – claims he has been approached to present a keynote at next year’s GDC.

The claims have been made in a legal motion filed by Thompson with the U.S. District Court in Florida, where he is suing the Florida Bar.

In the filing, he says: "This past Saturday I journeyed to the Pennsylvania Convention Center and debated Lorne Lanning, an iconic figure in the video game industry. […] It appears I did very well, despite heavy security insisted upon by the event, not by me. […] In the audience [for] this event, unbeknownst to me, was the man who organizes the largest video game gathering in the world, the Game Developers Conference (GDC), attended by 20,000 folks.

"Because of the quality and coherence of my presentation, I was then asked by the GDC to reprise the Philadelphia debate, this time in February in San Francisco in a 5,000 seat arena, as the keynote event."

The organisers of GDC, CMP, have not yet commented on whether the claims are true.

If it is true, it’s an intriguing choice – although widely-known, Thompson is more a reviled character in the industry rather than a respected one – although seeing him square off against another industry notable is sure to draw crowds to one of GDCs usually extremely popular keynote talks.