Heh heh... Knight Rider FTW. :)

He liked Buddha and Your MOM. I gotta say, he's got taste. Although, mentioning that he wants to meet the female twin of himself from another universe is rather... creepy... in a good way. :)

I'm sorry I never got to know him.

RIP.

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

My prayers for his family. Rest well young man.

While people dying is sad, for the most part, I don't see how this is a politiccal story.

GP: We journey a bit off the purely political track on occasion to delve into the cultural, business and legal aspects of gaming.

As it says in the article, we've been honoring gamers who give their all when we learn of them. Hit the tag at the bottom of the article for similar stories.

@Cheeselikesceareal

also its a nice counterbalance to all the negative stories you hear about gamers.

Such a shame that a good fella like that died policing such a crap hole. R.I.P Randy.

You\'re saying \"soldier\" and \"gamer\" in the same breath? That\'s like referring to Abrahama Lincoln as \"president\" and \"tall guy.\" Please, you diminish this patriot\'s contributions to all of us.

EZK: I am not sure what you are saying exactly, but could you please cool it. This is a place for civil discussions and commentary. Please refrain from flaming and trolling.

May Randy rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family.

I think this goes to show that we, as gamers, really do come from every walk of life and hold every profession. We're doctors, lawyers, policemen, fire fighters, soldiers, and everything in between. We care about out countries of origin and we want to be happy, like anyone else.

It takes a profound level of courage to become a soldier. To fight, kill and die in a foreign land for people you'll never know; many of whom will hate you just because you entered the military. With the word "gamer" being used as a perjorative its especially profound that Randy entered into the life that he did.

Instead of letting certain people bog us down in their own pedestrian pettiness, let's come together as gamers and honor one of our own.

I saulte you Randy. One gamer to another.

@william panderlust

Ju,just fuck off, now!!!!

That man fought, he fought and died for your, OUR freedom, and ALL you can do is to put the man down for his fucking hobby!?!?! You know, I didn't want to believe that you were Thompson circumventing the ban AGAIN, but now I'm positive, as only he has been so heartless.

Wait, are you saying it's bad to be a tall guy? I'll have you know that many great people over the years have been tall, from presidents to basketball players. Sounds to me like someone's just jealous because they're too short to join the army!

Seriously, tho. Requiescat in pace, Randy.

"…a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law."

I'm tempted to say he's a little too caught up in gaming and comics after reading that...but given that he had the guts to work in an hotzone like Iraq, I'm more inclined to think he really did walk the walk.

Rest in peace, Randy

@william panderlust

I'm not sure how to read that line. Are you implying that you dislike the notion that we only seem to grieve for the fallen who've been identified as gamers?

Either that's the best Thompson impersonation I've ever seen, or jackie boy skirted around his ban again.

To put the speculating to rest, as far as I can tell William Panderlust is not John Bruce. William's IP is from Texas and his email is not any that I know of to be John Bruce's.

Ugh, what terrible news, =(. Best wishes to his family.

Hopefully we can elect a president next year who supports our troops and can get them out of that shithole within two years, =(. It's disgusting that so many great people are dying to stimulate corporate demand and create a sphere of influence. Makes me sick.

I'd like to back Bayushisan in this. This is NOT a debate about the war, but an article where comments are used to commemerate as best we can.

@GRU

Maybe you didn't notice, but we're ignoring the shit-stirrer.

Nearly 50% of the replies after that post deal with Panderlust in some way, whether that is Thompson or not, it is someone who is deliberately going out of their way to Troll and disrupt this site, not because they have something worthwhile to add, but because they want to.

@Beacon, exactly, any soldier that dies deserves recognition, but, just like American Football fans would especially mourn the loss of a Football Star to the War, we mourn the loss of a gamer. That is why I know Panderlust is purely looking for excuses to disrupt the site.

We gamers salute you, you have given your life in the freedom of others, we all respect you..

Play Hard, Live Free.

My regards.

RIP to all those who fall serving our country.

@SimoneRoberts

I think what Panderlust is trying to say is that "gamer" as a quality is trivial, like "tall" as a quality. But we're not here to just pay our respects to him as a gamer, but all the other major accomplishments he did.

At a forum I go to, one member recently died, and he was best known as a house DJ. People didn't know much about his personal life, but he is remembered through one of his hobbies, DJing. It was only natural that we talked about his mixes, and that another DJ did a tribute mix in his name.

So I see nothing wrong that we acknowledge him as a gamer in addition to being a soldier. For someone that we do not know personally, we remember that person only through the stuff we already know about.

Since I do not (cannot) know what lies beyond death all I can do is mourne your passing... and grieve for your family. I am sure they are proud of you.

I hope that there is a heaven, and it is has a really big gamers room where you can continue to champion the cause of the innocent.

Salute

Hate to reply to the troll but he's missing the obvious point:

He died defending our country.

what has panderlust done lately?

Defending our country >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> * > Trolling internet sites.

I salute him for his valiant efforts, and I mourn for him, his family, and the fact that he'll miss all the great games coming out next year. I think I'll close with a quote from the original Transformers movie:

"Til All Are One!"

R.I.P. Randy

It's very cool to see a GP salute to Randy, I did not know him personally but he was an old regular of some of the IRC groups I belonged to many years ago in association with Megatokyo and Anime. Many of his friends I know from LJ and IRC. An excellent writeup of Randy from one of his friends may be found at http://jaerik.livejournal.com/313829.html

As for the troll, this is a perfect illustration of how regular people, from all walks of life, are involved in this war. Randy was, like many of us, a regular kid who played games and communicated on the Internet, and his getting a mention here on GP is very fitting for the kind of life he led. Patriotism is no longer the "manly man" persona as it once was, our soldiers today come from all walks of life and hold all interests. It is such a shame to see good people like Randy die, but there is no doubt he represented his country and at the very least helped affect many people's lives.

Wait, is William Panderlust actually JT? Because if so he's more pathetic than I thought. He says we're all a bunch of game addicted druggies, but apparently he needs his fix of Gamepolitics.com.:)

I believe "william panderlust" is trying to imply that calling a soldier a gamer is somehow an insult to the individual, and does so rather poorly at that.

"Willy" Panderlust, I was a soldier, US Army, for 7 years, ended up with a messed up back that limits my mobility considerably, restricting me from a lot of the more "outside" activities people do, as there is only so far I can walk, or so long I can stand before my back starts to really kill me. One of the things I did before I was a soldier, all through my military career, and after it, has been gaming. I've always identified myself as a gamer. Much like how anyone may identify themselves by what they like to do (or what they do). There is no insult in calling a soldier a gamer.

Your statement seems to be very reminiscent of another currently banned anti-gamer poster which has been a relatively prominent and annoying thorn in the side of anyone with half a brain. I'd strongly suggest, politely, that you possibly try not to persist in your attempts to flame people here.

I was one of Randy's random online friends. How you guys managed to pick up on this story is beyond me, but thanks so much for the kind words.

@ Willy Panderlust (a.k.a. Jack Thompson)

What kind of idiot are you? Seriously? Are you retarded or something?

Here's a little piece of reality - over half of the US population plays video games. That's for ALL age groups, ALL ethnicities, everything.

Calling this soldier a gamer isn't an insult, it's a tribute to his memory and the things he enjoyed.

Even though I'm an atheist, sometimes I hope christianity is right - just so I'd have the satisfaction of knowing you'd burn in hell.

"@Beacon, exactly, any soldier that dies deserves recognition, but, just like American Football fans would especially mourn the loss of a Football Star to the War, we mourn the loss of a gamer. That is why I know Panderlust is purely looking for excuses to disrupt the site."

Case in point, Pat Tillman.

@Mnementh2230:

EZK says it's not jack... though given the post it's hard to tell, huh? (I'd still second jt burning in hell tho, no qualms there.)

RIP and peace to the family...

Rest in peace.

To everyone jumping on Panderlust and accusing him of being JT: What? Are you demonising Thompson so much that everyone who doesn't like games must be him? That's just sad.

(I suspect the onslaught of backslashes is due to EZK's moderation, bringing the text to and from a database without correctly converting it.)

@Samson Effect:

The vast difference in writing style, lack of bragging about his name or occupation, short posts, absence of ad hominems when addressing people, ability to stay on topic, and (according to EZK) his IP address all say that he's someone else. We criticise Jack for saying that all gamers are working together on a vast conspiracy and yet every now and again these comments are filled with people claiming that new person X is really JT because he holds a roughly similar opinion.

@kurisu7885

Seem's a bit more likely to be a LaRouchshite.

I love how far-left idiots like Pandralisk devotes two sentences to a dead soldier and then uses his death as a way to slam Bush. Really makes you look like you care.

My thoughts go to your family dude, hope your laughing at the silly games bickering where y'are now.

Takes a bigger man than I to put it on the line for his country, nice one.

P.S JT's a twonk :)

That description he had of himself gave me goosebumps.

These are the soldiers you want on YOUR side.

RIP

I had met Randy in Texas for an anime convention. i remember seeing his sketchbook and wanting to bad to tell him what an amazing artist he was but my friend mentioned he doesnt like people telling him how great his art is. He was really funny and we played Resident Evil GameCube and him and i would recite the original dubbed lines. We both had a good time and for what short amount of time i knew him he was a good friend. Rest In Peace friend