Slashdot Mirror
Jack Thompson Weighs In On Hot CoffeeGate
Gamespot is reporting that Jack Thompson, the anti-gaming crusader, has weighed in on the Rockstar/ESRB situation. His message is, essentially, that the ESA is a criminal organization run by a thug. From the article: "Doug Lowenstein embarrasses each and every one of you when he holds forth about what the 'Founders' intended when they drafted the Bill of Rights [the first 10 amendments to the Constitution]. For Doug, the Founders are GTA's Tommy Vercetti and Carl Johnson. Doug never met a pixilated prostitute he didn't like, and I'm sure James Madison would be impressed."
Has the underlying technical question been figured out yet? Last I heard Rockstar was still claiming the hax0rs had rearranged content from the game to create the "sex scene". The hax0rs are claiming they just unlocked a flag. Obviously one of them is lying -- I don't understand why it's so difficult for someone in possession of the patch to figure out who.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
That is the worst bastardization of that suffix that I've ever seen. That is horrible. You should be ashamed of yourself for inventing that. Go sit in the corner RIGHT NOW. If any mass media sees that term and picks it up and runs with it, I expect you to commit ritual suicide.
Random and weird software I've written.
Can I please kill everyone who feels the need to add "gate" to the end of every scandal? "Whitewatergate" was kinda cute, but everything else is nonsensical and annoying. Maybe I'll start adding dome instead.
LOAD "SIG",8,1
It would be cheaper than a lawsuit, and more entertaining :).
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
After all this scandal I was just watching Comedy Central, and maybe they've been showing these ads for a while and I'm just tuning in, but I saw an ad for GTA: San An. Not a good thing if you're caught up in a scandal. Now people who see the ad and want it will be shocked and sue when they find out that there's a sex game scandal.
That seems extraordinarily unlikely. Do you have any details?
I'm sure this guy's solution to this fiasco would be a bottle of bleach, a cold shower, and alot of heavy scrubbing to remove these "unclean notions" some nerds tossed in to their easter egg. This guy and his opinion are outdated and reflective of trying to connect everything that's remotely immoral to discracing long standing values put up by a bunch of rich slave owners and guy who didn't feel like paying their taxes, skewed to represent liberty.
This forum post is making the rounds today. It claims that by using Action Replay for the PS2, the hot coffee mini-game can be unlocked.
If that's true, then it looks like Rockstar is the one with their pants on fire. Also, it means I have to go get an Action Replay, because I play the game for blood and boobs, not because going around on a bike bunny hopping shit is super fun.
Seriously, how is it that in an M rated game that contains Cursing (to an amazing level I will say), Gang shootouts, carjacking, pimping, etc,... that this little blurb that was OBVIOUSLY a hack can cause this much controversy? Have these people NO lives? Is no one dying of vegatative states this week?
I own the game. I own ALL the GTA games. They are and HAVE been rated for ADULTS.
Why do people with a voice in the media feel they need to regulate WHAT I as a PRIVATE citizen do in my own home? Why aren't we after the parents that are too busy smoking Meth (I live in the Great NW Meth capital of the world), or the idiots that are planting bombs.....oh...I know....cause that is a DAILY event these days. Nudity in an M rated GAME is NEW!!! UGH.You keep going until you die..."Me".
This guy does not have a brain. He is personally attacking Doug Lowenstein, who:
A. Had no say in what got put in GTA:SA.
B. Did not know anything about Hot Coffee Mod when GTA:SA was released (as far as I know).
C. Recommended that the game was innappropriate for children under 17. Which is STILL an adequate recomendation.
Why he isn't attacking the retailers, Rockstar or the hackers, I have no idea. I'm glad Lowenstein didn't respond to Thompson's attacks. The guy is an idiot and only wants to take away people's rights.
Abaddon: An Xbox 360 Indie game
"From the 'so-tired-of-it' department"
Well, Zonk... it's not like we're MAKING you put dupes up here... in fact, I bet we'd all appreciate it if you DIDN'T dupe so much. 'Cause we're all tired of it, too. Really.
Windows isn't the answer... it's the question. NO is the answer!
From the article...
Okay, we're through--nothing more to see here. Thompson 'partly' blames id for Columbine. Jee-zus
Thompson is a friggin idiot and his opinions are worth as much as a pinch of owl-shite. id was not responsible for Columbine in any way: Eric Harris and Klebold Dylan's parents were responsible, if you consider that they were both minors (if you believe that they were adult 'enough', then they alone had the responsibility).
The fact that Thompson can't even get that right, leads little to his credibility on anything else.
Yeah, right.
I thought Hot CoffeeGate was when that stupid bitch spilled hot coffee on herself, sued McDonald's, and the legal system ruled in her favor. That marks the earliest I can remember of the beginning of the end in this lawsuit happy country. (I'm only 25.)
--------
This isn't the sig you're looking for. Move along.
I have tried the mod "both ways." The original mod did several things: it unlocked the flag, AND it replaced Rockstar's skins for the hot coffee with naked chicks. In Rockstar's code, they are clothed. It also sets you up to be dating all the girls in the game from the get-go, and it changes things so you get invited in for "coffee" after *every* date.
There is a newer version of the mod (which still was out well before this scandal) which only sets the flag. The girls remain clothed in the hot coffee scenes, you must still meet and woo the girls, and they'll only invite you in if you did well enough on the date.
So both stories are true.
[T]he Bill of Rights [the first 10 amendments to the Constitution].
This is why we're doomed. If the Bill of Rights needs a footnote, we're pretty much finished.
Thomas Galvin
Before marking a post Redundant, check the times. Idiots.
I particularily like the statement that the head of the ESA demonizes its critics.
Demonizing your critics is as old as humanity, and wielded with vigor by every politician and industry group.
I disagree. Whether authorized or not Rockstar is still ultimately responsible for the content they produce. Supposing it is unauthorized, that really doesnt. Also, you say to ignore the negligence rebuttal, but your scenario of a rogue employee doing this on the sly is the very definition of a company being negligent. Supposing a daycare hires a child molester because they don't do background checks, does that relieve the daycare management from responsibility. Thankfully, no.
I do think that the "M" rating is enough to get them out of any sort of criminal matter. It's not they're making Spiro the Dragon - anyone unlocking/installingthe hotcoffee mod should assume that the content is at least as objectionable as what gave the game an M rating in the first place.
Now, as to whether this Easter Egg was "authorized", or the work of one or two rogues. After having scene the video... imho even if one person could do the work you certainly couldn't do it without anyone knowing. To do this on the sly you'd need to:
-Pay off the voice actors, and make sure everyone in the recording studio went out to lunch (same voice of cj..., unless they spliced from other scenes I havent heeard)
-Get access to the motion-capture lab without anyone knowing. Some of the animations are... umm... lifelike enough to suggest mocap.
-Put it into the toolchain and content management system in such a way that those responsible for the release builds wouldn't catch it. Obviously with a few lines of code (hell, even thousands of lines of code) can sneak by... but audio, motion capture, scripting, and 3d models? Doubtful.
It seems obvious to me that this was yet another attempt for Rockstar to boost sales by exploiting controversy, but the best case scenario is that they decided to omit the content and were incredibly inept and/or lazy about doing so.
And finally, nothing pisses me off more than when a company is caught with their pants down, yet refuses to own up to it and feeds a line of weasily excuses. Just say you f-ed up, take your hits and be done with it.
First they wanted somesort of rating system so that parents could choose what was appropriate for their children. Now that it is in place, they don't seem to care that the appropriate warning is already on the box!
They just take, and take, and take...
With what Thompson wrote, were I in Doug Lowenstein's shoes I would for certain go to court over that kind of libel.
Christopher S. 'coldacid' Charabaruk -- coldacid.net
From McDonald's own executives testimony, the jurors found they had a calous disregard for the safety of their customers. She was awarded $160,000 for compensatory damages, plus $2.7 million in punitive damages. That equated to two days worth of coffee sales at McDonald's at the time. Some jurors unsuccessfully argued for up to $9.6 million in damages. The judge lowered the punitive damages to $480,000 and they later settled for even less.
The punitive damages were awarded because McDonalds knew their coffee could cause horrible burns and did nothing about it except to say that contents were hot on the cup. Of course coffee would be hot, but few people took that to mean that they could cause third degree burns in as little as 3 seconds. After seeing the horrible pictures of the woman's burns, McDonalds had someone testify that since they sold so much coffee, the people that were burned were statistically insignificant. The jury realized that no matter how small the number, there was a person behind each one that had a horrible experience like this 80 year old woman.
I was unaware of this information. Thank you for bringing it to my attention so that I don't make myself look like an ass in the future. Also, thank you for doing it in a polite manner, as I imagine many others would not have done so. I'm man enough to know when I'm wrong or said something out of place. Others, please mod my GP post down to hell please :-)
As a side note, the name Hot CoffeeGate (if it's ever actually used, and I hope it won't be) should still apply to that McDonald's case, regardless.
--------
This isn't the sig you're looking for. Move along.
Jack Thompson's Wikipedia Entry
Here's another article about him:
Exhibit 8: Is This Guy Nuts?
You know, I had somehow mangled that story up in my mind that Thompson was the one who bit a stripper, but it is still an interesting article.
I don't know why the gaming media is so quick to give this guy a platform, unless it is because he is good at discrediting his side of the debate.
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
There is only one amendment to the Bill of rights that means anything close to what you might think it means: the third. Though if the military ever needs more barracks that will change, the supreme court will just say that you cannot [when killing someone in a private house] quarter them, you are limited to drawing. (which is meaningless because bullets and poison are more common)
Some examples:
First: not if you are within 60 days of an election and want to talk politics.
Second: just trying buying a machine gun.
fourth: patriot act
fifth: the phase "public use" is filler with no meaning
sixth: unless you are en enemy combatant
seventh: see sixth
eighth: I can't think of anything for this one actually, but I'm sure there are examples of abuses.
ninth, tenth: These has always been so vague that the courts of ignored it. Besides, intersate commerce can cover just about anything if you are creative enough.
What's even more ironic about this issue is that originally McDonald's agreed to pay for the woman's medical expenses. That's ALL she asked for. It was only after McDonald's reniged on their promise that she took the case to court.
I really wish someone would just shut this guy up.
Reminds me of this quote from The American President:
"People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference."
Someone needs to start blaring Prof. Jenkin's interveiews from the rooftops or something. I think he's the only person who's arguments can deflate Thompson.
Insert Sig Here
Still, I think the "Hot CoffeeGate" name is justified. Why? Whether or not the case was meritless, it has still been debated for a long time. It certainly became a widely-known, sensationalized case! That's what the -gates are all about!
They did their best with this release, and the pwnage came out and broadsided them. Anyway, it sounds like the article's writer needs a slander lawsuit levelled at him. What a fucking tosser.
To the Honorable Mrs. President Clinton,
I commend and confederate your uprighteous efforts to put in their place these so-called games producers. The auspices of the Rockstar company have poisoned the wells of the soil of our children's fertile minds and ripped the tranquilacity out from under our citizens' noses.
We are seeing in our streets violence of imprecedented levels which has been scientifically demonstrated to have these violent rampages of simulatory criminality as its explanation. When the chickens will not answer for the false foibles of their irresponsibility, it is time the People brought them home to roost.
It is in this spirit of intolerability that I ask the citizens of New York to join me in removing this product from the shelves of consumer stores. Only by our organized efforts to purchase every available copy, followed by the subsequent cleavage, incarceration, or otherwise destruction of the actual compactified discs can we show this company we mean business.
Our example will serve as a reminder to all procurers of indecent industry that their good feasance is a necessary condition to having their products pressed forth upon our vigilante public. I trust you will join me in telling these bamboozlers they have trespassed beyond the boundaries of inacceptability. As the French say, écriture sur le mur c'est la bonne.
Prestidigitatiously,
Dr. Rev. Sen. Minister Louis XIV Farrakhan
you can have my violent video games when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.
Prime UID Club
and that was like a grand total of $1100, just for her medical bills not a dime more.
yeah. permantly disfiguring coffee isnt something that should be sold like that.
heh
But I wager Benjamin Franklin would be thrilled. Ha ha, Founding Fathers were saints, news at 11...
News Flash: Hidden sex scene found in latest Potter novel
Reports are surfacing that JK Rowling's latest book includes a deleted scene where Harry successfully seduces a female classmate and performs sex with her. Rowling's publisher, Bloomsbury, managed to hide the page from readers by gluing it inbetween two other pages. However, readers have been able to find instructions on the Internet how to separate the pages and open up the mini sex-story. Congressmen are crying out at the ommission. More details at 11.
They want parents to actually parent!? No way man!! It'll never happen! I have the right to dump my progeny on someone else, and the TV gives them every thing they need!
No unauthorized use. Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.
If James Madison were to answer this shrill, pathos-centric diatribe he'd not only tell him he's dead wrong, but would also rhetorically wipe Jack Thompson all over the floor. What a rediculous thing for Thompson to say.
Well considering many people brew their coffee with boiling water (212F) and McDonalds did not make her spill the coffee on herself I do think it was rather ridiculous. Who sits with hot coffee on their lap anyways? I know I have spilled freshly brewed coffee that was recently boiling and I never sat their and said, "ouch that burns", for three seconds. I jumped up and shoke it off with no more than a red mark that went away by the end of the day. For her to get burns as bad as she recieved she had to wilfully sit there. Sounds to me like the people who intentionally step infront of a moving car for profit.
chown -R us
In order to shake it off, she would need to unfasten the seatbelt, and open the car door first. Even if she did those actions as soon as possible, she would still get burned by the coffee.
Watching Unsolved Mysteries has been very beneficial to me. In fact, an episode two weeks ago, which was about diabolical minds, more specifically, the segment on convicted murderer G. Daniel Walker, helped me figure this out: Jack Thompson is a classic sociopath/psychopath! Here's my evidence based on the case study on UM:
1) makes own rules to life- check.
2) comes up with elaborate explanations that, when thought about, make no sense- check. For example, "Columbine to the factor of ten".
Originally, I had thought he meant "Columbine times 10", which means Jack hopes and prays every day for 120 students and 10 teachers murdered by 20 gunmen who would then kill themselves immediately afterward, just so he can scream to the world "I TOLD YOU SO!"
However, I figured out that he could have meant "Columbine to the power of 10", which would make no sense whatsoever. 13(the number of victims) to the power of 10(13 multiplied by itself 10 times) would equal 137,858,491,849 murdered by a small army of 1,024 gunmen(2^10). That's 137 BILLION, roughly 22 times the entire world's population!! Jack sures sounds really ridiculous now, does he?
3) egomaniac- check. One look at his website proves that.
4) uses reverse psychology(i.e. responsibility for actions come from other people, pain comes from other people)- check.
Mystery solved.
== BearDogg-X ==
Apparently you have never spilled coffee of the temperature being discussed here on your lap. You would be amazed at the what you (or even an elderly woman) can do while in pain in under three seconds. Most of the liquid will pool under you and not directly on you. In three seconds you could easily remove the belt and get out of the liquid or simply arch your butt up removing it from the puddle. You may have small amounts still on your lap and clothing, but most can be brushed off wit a wipe of the hand that is too quick to leave a mark.
The remaining liquid that actually soaks into the clothes will gain enough surface area and be widely dispersed enough to not cause more than a first degree burn. The liquid below her would soak into the seat and cool quickly enough to be harmless in short order thanks to the increased surface area as well. The car was already stopped and she was not driving so none of these actions or jumping from the car would have been detrimental to her health. I have been in this situation several times and I can attest this is all possible in three seconds without serious injury.
This was either willful indifference on her part to setup a frivolous lawsuit or her skin was extremely sensitive which does not meet the "average person" criteria needed for a liability suit of this type. Not to mention that as the judge decided it was partially her fault for spilling the coffee in the first place. This really was an overblown case that went way to far due to the media coverage.
chown -R us
Apparently you have never spilled coffee of the temperature being discussed here on your lap.I had that temperature of coffee spilled on my left arm. Instant second-degree burn, with blisters.
Coffee only has to touch skin to inflict damage. If it has enough kinetic energy to penetrate clothing that touches the skin, a burn will result.
You would be amazed at the what you (or even an elderly woman) can do while in pain in under three seconds. Third-degree burns are painless - the nerve endings are destroyed. If coffee is hot enough to cause a third degree, it's already too late.
You may have small amounts still on your lap and clothing, but most can be brushed off wit a wipe of the hand that is too quick to leave a mark.
Wiping a spill away is ineffective once it is already absorbed by the clothing (in this case, a cotton sweatpant.
Besides - you took an entire week to write your reply - you shouldn't write content where the first paragraph has enough holes to look like swiss cheese.
----- Original Message ----- From: (me) To: Jack Thompson Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2005 4:27 PM Subject: Re: I just read Gamespot's article on Jack Thompson, and I am angry that Mr. Thompson does not have all his facts straight. Even after the update, he still believes the Sims 2 is a terrrible, terrible game. I want to reassure Mr. Thompson that the Sims 2 is a wonderful, non-violent game where I, as a 46-year old Christian woman, can not only play without being offended, but enjoy the official Sims2 website knowing how heavily patrolled it is to guard against inappropriate content. Both the website and the game are very family-oriented. The above image is taken from the Sims2 on my game. I have removed the blur in my game, and this is how detailed Sims look when the blur is removed. This Sim is not modified in any way. I resent Mr. Thompson for attacking the only PC game I play, and I want to assure parents of gamers all around the world that this is simulated life without the real-life problems. The basic Sim theme is to build family dynamics. Thank You, ___________aka NoRealLife2 Please feel free to contact me for any reason. I will be happy to talk to you if you want to publish or forward my letter. ----- Original Message ----- From: Jack Thompson To: (me) ; esa@theesa.com Cc: Curt Feldman ; Christian Svensson ; dtakahashi@mercurynews.com ; copyright@ea.com ; Seth Schiesel Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2005 11:59 AM John B. Thompson, Attorney at Law 1172 South Dixie Hwy., Suite 111 Coral Gables, Florida 33146 305-666-4366 jackpeace@comcast.net July 23, 2005 Dear (me): The picture you've sent [immediately below my letter] is objectionable for a 13 year old as far as I'm concerned, particularly since it is embedded in the Sims 2 game, unclockable easily with a simple cheat code that is being distributed by the New York Times! You don't walk around nude in your home with the blinds open, do you, ______, or in front of 13 year olds? If you think the below okay for kids, then send me your address and I'll alert the authorities. Many parents wouldn't want their kids playing this game at the age level of "T," with no ID check at the time of purchase, given the amount of reproductive activity in the game and the ability to remove "the blur." The problem, ____________, is that there are a bunch of video game companies that are being deceptive, with the help of the ESRB, in slipping this into our homes with no adequate warning that they are doing so. Electronic Arts is in fact collaborating with the modders to put pubic hair, genitalia, nipples, etc. on the Sims 2 figures, including the children. The pedophiles out there love it, which is why the mods are all over the adult porn sites. You aren't concerned about that, now are you ____? You cherish your "freedom" more than the innocence of other people's children, now don't you _______? You don't want me to be the arbiter of moral in America? Fine, the vast majority of Americans don't want the ESA and ESRB to be the arbiter of morals either nor women who think nudity distributed to other people's kids is their business but stopping them is nobody's business, right ________? We're going to have legislative hearings all over the place now, now that the ESRB was found to be totally inadequate to prevent the "Hot Coffee" fiasco. Let's decide, through a democratic process, whether the below hidden, embedded material is appropriate in a "T" game. I can abide the democratic conclusion on that, but I bet you cannot. John B. Thompson, Attorney at Law 1172 South Dixie Hwy., Suite 111 Coral Gables, Florida 33146 305-666-4366 jackpeace@comcast.net July 23, 2005 Steve Bené, Attorney VP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary Electronic Arts Inc. 209 Redwood Shores Parkway Redwood City, CA 94065 fax: 650-628-1422 email: copyright@ea.com Re: The Sims 2 and Porn Dear Mr. Bene: Mods are readily available via the Internet to turn the characters in your company's The Sims 2 into nudes with exposed genitalia. This includes the children in the game. EA has made this modding