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Perspectives On Thompson's Latest Crusade
Game Girl Advance has a much needed perspective piece on Jack Thompson's crusade against the Sims 2. From the article: "Tabling lying to the ESRB and even putting the whole Sims2 points aside (because honestly, I find any of Thompson's arguments against Sims2 to be hollow at best, I just included them to show a trend), isn't it just a lot bit late for anyone to be complaining about the sex issue? I don't mean us complaining, I mean I find it almost laughable at this point that people might think that there's any seventeen year olds who haven't seen worse than Hot Coffee already, and those that are playing GTA:SA need to have their virgin eyes saved. Let's face it: you've already lost that battle. If a kid has the ability or inclination to mod GTA:SA for Hot Coffee, they've probably bit-torrented their fair share of porn by now." My own commentary below.
I just don't get this one. You want to go after GTA? Fine. There's enough ho-slapping and cop-killing in that game to make a politician's career. But the Sims? The raciest bits you find in there are the kind of stuff you see on a reality TV show shown at prime-time on one of the big networks. The Sims has been one of the cornerstones of game sales in recent years. Hundreds of thousands of people are going to play that game today, people that might not have otherwise gotten into video games if not for the easy to understand controls, intriguing gameplay, and the ability to project yourself onto the gamespace.
Blood-sucking remora like Thompson are the biggest dangers to further acceptance of gaming as a healthy passtime. He is taking the specific case of GTA and the ESRB ruling and broadening it out such that a 3rd party mod is affecting perceptions of an excellent game title. I have no doubt in my mind, either, that his righteous fury is entirely motivated by a desire for personal profit and prestige. He is using the prevailing winds of U.S. society to increase his place in the public eye, at the expense of gaming as a hobby and game-making as a profession.
My hope is that the mainstream media, when they pick up this story, will be able to see beyond the smokescreen Thompson has created to the real issues at hand.
I posted this on my wiki site, but figured I'd put my own $0.02 here since it was appropriate. (Besides, I'm not so sure my server could handle the traffic ;) ).
Whenever I run across people who are against something, I usually ask two important questions:
What exactly are you looking to protect?
And
Do you profit by it?
For example: people who are against abortion would probably tell you that they're doing it to save human life (in this case, unborn children). Now, whether you agree with that statement or not, that's the point: protecting life.
People who are against dumping chemicals in our water are usually trying to protect the environment and our health.
People who are against pornography are usually doing so because they feel, or have studies that show, that pornography can cause other addictive behavior (including increased sexual promiscuity, abuse, etc).
Again - people can argue one side or the other until they are blue in the face, and since I don't feel like looking like a http://www.smurf.com/homepage.html Smuff, I'm not going to debate that here. That's what the "discussion" link up at the top is for. (Go ahead - click it if you need to. I'm not going to stop you.)
But the second question can often be just as important. When Microsoft gives talks about how Free Software Movement is just http://cs.senecac.on.ca/~selmys/quotes.html communism, you know that if Open Source software usage drops, Microsoft's will rise. When a group promoting nuclear energy comes out against the use of oil and coal, you know they're really saying "Nuclear energy is better - buy it!"
Some people protest things for good motives - some are less than pure. And if there's anything that protesters soon learn, it's "use what works", over and over again.
Take the case of Jack Thompson. Not too long ago, there was the "Hot Coffee Scandal". Here's the short version: somebody discovered there was a sex mini-game in "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" (GTA: SA), but no way to play it. In other words, Rockstar shipped a game with unplayable content, feeling that nobody would ever figure out how to turn it on.
Stupidly, they forgot that unlike the PS2 and Xbox versions, people are more than willing to modify PC versions of the games. In fact, PC modifications of "Grand Theft Auto III" are very popular, including the mod http://www.mtavc.com/ "Multi Theft Auto", which modifies the PC version to allow multiplayer use.
So, when the PC version of "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" hit the shelves, of course people started looking at what they could modify. Next thing you know, the sex game is found, someone releases a mod that turns it on, and to the horror of religious conservatives everywhere, people can watch polygons of a naked woman and a man with no penis having sex.
Trust me. I've seen the video. It's not that hot.
Once the news is out, politicians are going nuts. Senator Hillary Clinton wants senate hearings. The ESRB, under major pressure, changes the game's rating from "M" to "AO for Adults Only". Stores pull the game from the shelves. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1441534/p osts Dogs and cats are sleeping together - mass hysteria!
Chart out the steps you have to get to this content: First you have to buy the game. Since the game is rated "M for Mature", this means that you should have to be at least 17 or older to even purchase the game. Second, you have to willingly install the game on your computer. Third, go online and find the mod. Fourth, install it.
The number of steps here are very important: it's not like you can just be play
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Thompson is obsessed with sex. I'd love to know what a psychiatrist or psychologist thinks of someone who thinks sex is just So Damn Dirty.
Trolling is a art,
Rumour has it that, with the right modifications, Jack Thompson can be naked. A penis and exposed ass are both visible when this mod is applied, and the makers of Jack Thompson released him to the world in full knowledge that he can be naked.
Dear God! Won't somebody please think of the children?
I think that a lot of the chest thumping battle cries by politicians against sexual content in video games comes from the archaic view that video games are something just for kids. It's hard to belive that these people would be so far behind the times as to belive this, but it seems to be true...
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" -Hunter S. Thompson
Anyway, I digress.
This will all die out. The Thompson's and Clinton's of the world will soon lose interest, and the gaming industry will be left alone for a while. Then, someone will do something stupid, and blame it on video games. Its all a vicious cycle.
Sorta like the 90's, when it was all about music. Everyone blamed their kids' bad behaviour on Marilyn Manson, NIN, etc.
*sigh* I really do get sick of it though...
I need a list of game titles that Thompson's gone after, so I can buy them. If Thompson hates it, there must be something right with it. And every little bit helps when it comes to countering Thompson's efforts to destroy mature gaming and shut down the 1st amendment.
GTA III: Screw a hooker, kill her, take your money back. Rating: M.
GTA:SA: Have consentual sex with your girlfriend. Rating: AO.
What message are we sending here?
e2 | LJ
In any European country, there is not that much emphasis put on sex
This is a stereotype, assumed to be true based on incomplete or circumstantial evidence. Truth is, many European nations have laws regarding sexual content in media, ESPECIALLY when it comes to such content being exposed to children. Yes, public nudity may be more socially acceptable in France than, say, Missouri. But what about Poland? Or Ireland? Germany? The UK? To simply say all Europeans accept all sexuality openly, and all Americans repress it, is absurd.
The difference is a matter of politics and history. Europe was once quite conservative, and many Europeans brought these attitudes to America when they moved here. But during the Great Depression, many ultra conservative governments took power in Europe. After WWII, there was a backlash against the intolerance of the Nazis and the Fascists. But in the USA things went differently. America did not experience the same horrors in the course of the war, just as they did not experience the same repression prior to the war. So Americans did not abandon their social and political intolerance. Over time, this country has learned that some of those values (sexism, racism, etc.) are immoral, and American society has largely discarded them.
Now back to the issue at hand. Regardless of where you fall on the matter of sexuality and violence in media, essentially the country has accepted the notion that it is up to the parents to decide what their chidren should be exposed to. Because of the vast difference of religious and social values in the USA, the sensitive topics of sex and violence have become the subject of ratings systems - in movies, television, music, and games. So it may seem we are unreasonably upset or sensitive to something like a bare breast. But the truth is, the ratings exist to help the public decide if the content in question falls within their personal levels of tolerance. And it is the same in Europe, and Australia, and Asia, and so on. Any country that prides itself on freedom allows it's people to choose for themselves.
As others have said before, Jack's yelling and screaming on these issues is merely a reflection of his own desire for prestige, and perhaps even political clout. Sales numbers reflect that in fact, most parents are comfortable that they (and perhaps their children) can handle the content of the games he attacks. So don't use the ranting of loudmouth nutjobs to judge the level of intolerance of a society. Clearly a great number of Americans are comfortable with the content of R rated movies and M rated games - they just aren't making much noise about it.
Must... think up... something... clever!
I live near San Francisco.
..I'm sure the punchline to this whole incident will be when the anti-video-game crusaders set up some sort of "watchdog group" that (for a very hefty fee) will give a seal of approval to games coming out.
Within 12 miles of my house, I know of at least 3 bordellos/massage parlors/whorehouses that are pretty much openly run by various Vietnamese criminal gangs, and which have been in continuous operation for over ten years.
And those are just the ones that I know about. I assume that there have to be hundreds of others that I don't know about.
Now, if *I* know about these places, just from hearing it on the grapevine, then why is it that the places haven't been discovered and shut down?
Um... obviously because they pay their protection money to the local authorities on time.
What these fools who are lambasting the video game industry for its content are *trying* to do, is figure out a way to extort protection money out of legitimate bussinesses....
Follow the money. It's probably all about extortion.
Dear god, this is the most level-headed post I've read in all of these ad-flogging hot coffee draining stories. Where do you get off having an account on /.?
You've got to get more demagoguery in there - and you should know full well by now that the number one practice of the "tolerant" is intolerance of anyone who disagrees. If you keep making sense and being insightful like this, it might catch on. We can't have that here.
Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
True, but there is a difference in what is meant by "sexuality" between Europe and the US. In most countries in Europe, sexuality refers to sexual intercourse, not to nudity. In the US, nudity equals sexuality.
Over time, this country has learned that some of those values (sexism, racism, etc.) are immoral, and American society has largely discarded them.
You don't say it, but you suggest that this is not the case in Europe. And that is false.
But the truth is, the ratings exist to help the public decide if the content in question falls within their personal levels of tolerance. And it is the same in Europe, and Australia, and Asia, and so on. Any country that prides itself on freedom allows it's people to choose for themselves.
Yes, that's the ratings system. But the system itself is not what it's about. It's about people who misuse ratings and rally people, just to profit from it.
Clearly a great number of Americans are comfortable with the content of R rated movies and M rated games - they just aren't making much noise about it.
True, but don't underestimate the power of the masses that get rallied easily. The problem is never the people who can and do think for themselves.