Jack Thompson Rescinds Offer

Goalmaster3000 writes to tell us Joystiq.com is reporting that Jack Thompson has rescinded his offer of a $10,000 donation to charity if a video game were made to fit his model. Recently a group of GTA modders cooked up a scenario to fit the bill but apparently Thompson is claiming that his piece 'A Modest Video Game Proposal' was intended as satire that the video game community was not bright enough to grasp. Perhaps Thompson was just afraid he was going to have to sue himself? Update: 10/17 20:02 GMT by SM: It appears that the Penny Arcade crew has taken the next step by donating the promised $10,000... in Jack Thompson's name.

Comments

Jack Thompson Is A World-class Asshole

[Anonymous Coward]

Jack was a neighbor of mine a couple of years back. I can tell you from personal experience that I was not surprised to see his latest lie. The guy is a world-class asshole. And I do in fact believe the son of a bitch has my router (wood working variety) he borrowed.

The guy spouts to be an expert in everything under the sun. But once you call him on it, you come to know he only has a superficial understanding of things. If you can imagine a slimy car salesman, that's Jack.

Re:Who is Jack Thompson?

[ForumTroll]

Jack Thompson

Re:This man is a moron

[Anonymous Coward]

You arnt talking about the vgcats exchange, are you?

http://www.vgcats.com/jack.php

Jack's game scenario

[Profane MuthaFucka]

I can't believe that Jack Thompson offered 10 grand to charity if a game where animals hump your leg was made.

Oh, it wasn't that at all? Well, you know if someone had fucking LINKED THE ORIGINAL THING THAT JACK WROTE then I would have known that. Goddamn.

I found this description of the original hoo-hah:

  Essentially, the game involves Osaki Kim, a father whose son was "beaten to death with a baseball bat by a 14-year-old gamer." The guilty party was "only" sentenced to life, even after finding a connection to video games and the murder, so O.K. (as Thompson abbreviates) goes on a killing spree to avenge his son - he kills the publisher (Take This, a not-so-subtle reference to San Andreas publisher Take Two), followed by all parties involved in the trial, merchants of GameStop-like store and arcades - and, of course, any cops that get in his way.

You're welcome.

Re:This man is a moron

[Tomchu]

I can't find the original forum where it was posted, but it's been posted all over the Internet. Use this Google query: http://www.google.com/search?q=%22I+found+a+link+t o+your+site%22+stopkill

jack thompson DID donate...

[sxtxixtxcxh]

if by "jack thompson" you mean "penny arcade"... http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10- 17#2834

Re:Tycho

[brentodd]

Tycho and Gabe just donated $10,000 to the Entertainment Software Foundation in Jack's name.

Donation

[bprime]

Tycho and Gabe just made the donation on Jack's behalf. See the 3rd post down.

Contact him

[sabernet]

John B. Thompson, Attorney at Law
1172 South Dixie Hwy., Suite 111
Coral Gables, Florida 33146
305-666-4366

jackpeace@comcast.net
August 5, 2005
Patricia Vance

source: http://www.vgcats.com/jack.php

Make sure to write any letters or make any calls in the same civil manner as he himself has shown others.

Make extra sure.

Here's the original forum

[Khyber]

http://croqaudile.com/?article_id=10299

Enjoy it. I know I did.

Technicalities

[mliu]

In my opinion (IANAL) after looking at the letter, I don't think, following the letter of his proposal, that the requirements have been met.

His proposal was as follows:

The video game industry says Sticks and stones can break my bones, but games can never hurt me. Fine. I have a modest proposal for the video game industry. I'll write a check for $10,000 to the favorite charity of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc's chairman, Paul Eibeler - a man Bernard Goldberg ranks as #43 in his book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America - if any video game company will create, manufacture, distribute, and sell a video game in 2006 like the following:

Osaki Kim is the father of a high school boy beaten to death with a baseball bat by a 14-year-old gamer. The killer obsessively played a violent video game in which one of the favored ways of killing is with a bat. The opening scene, before the interactive game play begins, is the Los Angeles courtroom in which the killer is sentenced "only" to life in prison after the judge and the jury have heard experts explain the connection between the game and the murder.

Osaki Kim (O.K.) exits the courtroom swearing revenge upon the video game industry whom he is convinced contributed to his son's murder. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay" he says. And boy, is O.K. not kidding.

O.K. is provided in his virtual reality playpen a panoply of weapons: machetes, Uzis, revolvers, shotguns, sniper rifles, Molotov cocktails, you name it. Even baseball bats. Especially baseball bats.

O.K. first hops a plane from LAX to New York to reach the Long Island home of the CEO of the company (Take This) that made the murder simulator on which his son's killer trained. O.K. gets "justice" by taking out this female CEO, whose name is Paula Eibel, along with her husband and kids. "An eye for an eye," says O.K., as he urinates onto the severed brain stems of the Eibel family victims, just as you do on the decapitated cops in the real video game Postal2.

O.K. then works his way, methodically back to LA by car, but on his way makes a stop at the Philadelphia law firm of Blank, Stare and goes floor by floor to wipe out the lawyers who protect Take This in its wrongful death law suits. "So sue me" O.K. spits, with singer Jackson Brown's 1980's hit Lawyers in Love blaring.

With the FBI now after him, O.K. keeps moving westward, shooting up high-tech video arcades called GameWerks. "Game over," O.K. laughs.

Of course, O.K. makes the obligatory runs to virtual versions of brick and mortar retailers Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, and Wal-Mart to steal supplies and bludgeon store managers and cash register clerks. "You should have checked kids' IDs!"

O.K. pushes on to Los Angeles. He must get there by May 10, 2006. That is the beginning of "E3" -- the Electronic Entertainment Expo -- the Super Bowl of the video game industry. O.K. must get to E3 to massacre all the video game industry execs with one final, monstrously delicious rampage.

How about it, video game industry? I've got the check and you've got the tech. It's all a fantasy, right? No harm can come from such a game, right? Go ahead, video game moguls. Target yourselves as you target others. I dare you.

Here is what was made:

Mild mannered Christian attorney by day, Jack Thompson moonlights as Banman, a homicidal hero who cuts through immorality and beauracratic laws with an automatic rifle. Utilizing his Schwarzenegger sized personal arsenal and his trusty Bannedwagon, Banman fights the evil videogame industry's dirty tactics. From destroying trucks to make sure the children are kept safe from violent games, to fighting off an armed rebellion of lesbians, feminists, and female golfers led by General Janet Reno, Banman puts it all on the line to protect the homeland.

Jack Thompson meanwhile sets himself hard to work at protecting the youth through the power of the lawsuit, finally going after those evil Super Mario Bros. B

Re:This man is a moron

[poot_rootbeer]

Parent poster was not involved in an argument with Thompson; therefore it is not a rhetorical fault to call him names such as "fucking moron".

Possible email contact

[MoonBuggy]

Hate to reply to myself, but I went looking for an email address and while there isn't one directly on his website, the whois listing gives the address "greytop@comcast.net", which doesn't bounce. I'll post the conversation if I get a reply.

Not trying to troll

[propagandize]

I really no very little about Jack Thompson, but I was curious what he wrote. While I don't agree with much of anything he seems to stand for, I was able to find what I think is the original text he posted at http://news.spong.com/detail/news.asp?prid=9201&cb =0.1497723.

From that text:

...I'll write a check for $10,000 to the favorite charity of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc's chairman, Paul Eibeler - a man Bernard Goldberg ranks as #43 in his book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America - if any video game company will create, manufacture, distribute, and sell a video game in 2006...

While Hellfish seems awfully creative, I don't know if they qualify as a video game "company" and they don't seem to be "selling" the module (and as an even more minor point, it's not 2006).

Re:Ugh

[DavidBrown]

You got it backwards. What happened was that Gabe sent Jack Thompson an email pointing out the large sums of money gamers have donated to Child's Play. Gabe's cell phone number was listed in his .sig, and Jack Thompson called him, and proved he was the jerk we all know him to be.

Re:Minor Corrections.

[Yorrike]

I'll do it. He can't sue me, since I'm not an American and my country has laws protecting free speech :)

In fact, I'll do it right now;
http://www.hardcoregamers.com/jack-thompson/