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Thompson's (Mostly) Polite Interview
Pluvius writes "For the past few weeks, gaming website Netjak has corresponded with infamous anti-video-game lawyer Jack Thompson in reference to his well-publicized proposal to donate money to a charity if someone created a violent game in which a grieving father murdered members of the video-game industry. This has culminated in an interview in which the unusually cordial attorney gives surprisingly viable reasons for not following through on his donation after such a game was created. Unfortunately, Thompson doesn't quite make it to the end of the interview without taking at least one cheap shot towards gamers: '[P]ut down the controller and get a life. Video gaming is an escapist activity and you're being exploited by these companies. It's not healthy; I worry about someone who would play Grand Theft Auto for ten hours a day. It's a masturbatory activity, and it would be better if people put down the controller and went outside.'"
"I worry about someone who would play Grand Theft Auto for ten hours a day. It's a masturbatory activity, and it would be better if people put down the controller and went outside." So if I play nothing but GTA I'll grow hair on my palms and/or go blind?
I Lost My Virginity While Waiting for BSD to Compile.
It's not healthy; I worry about someone who would play Grand Theft Auto for ten hours a day. It's a masturbatory activity, and it would be better if people put down the controller and went outside.'"
It's not healthy; I worry about someone who would beleive in a magic sky-deity. It's a masturbatory activity, and it would be better if people put down the bible and went outside.'"
Fixed
"Video gaming is an escapist activity "
Absolutely. Going out to the movies and reading books are also espacist activities. Life is work, and people need escapist activites to stay sane. No one wants to hear about the real world 24/7, because in reality the real world is harsh and cutthroat.
Video games let the user enter another world for a healthy stress relief. This is no different than watching Lord of the Rings or reading the latest Tom Clancy novel.
The question isn't if Video Games negatively affects the user in real life, but rather what would that person do in real life without video games? I'm guessing not everyone would be out gardening or street sweeping.
It's a masturbatory activity, and it would be better if people put down the controller and went outside.
But even if the teenagers/youth aren't playing the game, they're still masturbatory.
Death by snoo-snoo!
Yes, it's a cheap shot.
Yes, he's a loathsome person, and his tactics are sleazy.
Yes, he's almost always wrong.
However, he's closer to right with that last comment. Balance is an important thing in life. I wouldn't refer to gaming as 'masturbatory' perhaps, at least if goals are possible, but having a sense of perspective about leisure pursuits is valuable.
IMHO.
Of course, this comment could be just being made to rationalize why the wife won't let me play PGR3 for 5 hours a night.
stored on computers from birth to the grave
Fanatics in general are disturbing. I feel, like the RIAA, his efforts are futile. I don't believe legislation is the solution to social problems.
i don't care
Other than the last responce the rest of his interview was quite surprisingly well spoken and reasonable. One can only assume that recent disbarment hearings have had an effect on his brashness. I can definatly agree to him that Take-Two should not be marketing towards minors, but in all honestly I can't recall them doing so and would love to see examples of such.
However, Take-Two's stock has taken a serious hit over the past year. Now the damage is obvious, and the audience is more receptive.
So, since I stirred up all of this trouble for you and now hold stock in your company, I would like to point out the error of your ways. This is ridiculous, this is a shakedown.
His potshot at gamers is irrelevant to the entire scope of his assault on game makers. Regardless of what sort of activity gaming is, escapist, masterbatory or otherwise, it is the choice of gamers to do it. Making snide comments towards gamers just shows more of the cheap, petty, 6th grade personality of Jack Thompson. He will fail because he cant restrain himself from showing his true inner person. That inner person is mean spirited and pathetic.
I stated that the game had to come out in 2006. I specifically said 2006 because I wanted to see a real game made, not an amateur one.
And who decides what's "real" and what's "amateur"? If you can install and play it, it counts as real to me, but I think Jack Thompson is using his own private definition of "real" that doesn't coincide with the conventional definition.
So basically, no matter what anybody does, he's going to move the goalposts so that whatever he defines as "real" is not met. It's already happened once; he made the claim, somebody took him up on it, and now he's claiming it's not "real" (for some value of real). If somebody releases a better game this year, he'll say that it hasn't had enough marketing to be a "real" game. If somebody markets it, he'll say that it didn't sell as many copies as GTA, so it's not a "real" game. Because he controls what counts as "real", he can continue moving the goalposts so that no matter what anybody does, his criteria will never be fulfilled.
And what does the release date have to do with whether the game is "real" or not? It's a red herring designed to distract you from the main point.
I also explicitly stated that it must be a company producing the game. I mean, anyone in a garage can throw together something vaguely game-like easily.
A perfect example. If you can play it, it's a game. Not "something vaguely game-like" - an actual, real game.
That's not what I want
Tough, it's what you asked for. Now you're playing semantic games to try and make it sound like you asked for something else. It's not working.
I find it very telling that, when asked what he thought about the $10,000 donation to charity, he couldn't bring himself to admit that it was a good thing, and instead chose to complain that it wasn't really made in his name. So much for his "Christian obligations".
For example, his comment about a game needing to be written 'by a company'. He says that anyone can knock something up in a garage. Well, Darwinia was one of the best games to come out last year and was knocked up in a garage; Counterstrike started life as a purely amateur project. By his logic, neither of these are real games.
I think Thompson's fundamental issue is that when he looks at something, he sees what he expects to see, not what he actually looks at. From what little information I can find about Bully, it's the exact opposite of what he says it is --- it's all about standing up to the bullies and defeating them. But he wants it to be evil, so that's what he sees...
Actually, I suspect he should see a psychiatrist, not because there's anything wrong now, but because this might blow up into something more serious later. He may also have borderline paranoid tendencies. The way he's being harrassed by PA and Slashdot weenies probably isn't helping, either.
It's a masturbatory activity
I'm pretty much in favour of masturbation too, Jack. The only reason I don't do that for ten hours straight is...
Oh, he hung up.
Well we would go outside if:
a) There was fun things to do.
b) That didn't cost an arm and a leg (or at least costs more than I am prepared to pay for such entertainment)
c) It was safe from muggers, rapists, paedophiles and generaly dangerous people.
d) That I didn't risk getting run over when stepping out my front door.
Going outside (bar the healthy excercise aspect) is just another class of comercial organisations getting money out of you: drinks, snacks, food, skateboards, bikes, transport etc. etc. It is Capitalism, get used to it, you should be already you ARE a lawyer (and an American one at THAT).
No, I think I will stay at home, play my "escapism" game (why I should need to escape from this life is fairly self-explanatory...real life sucks: work, shopping, war, famine, Tsunami, Hurricanes) and head to the fridge for a Coke when I get thirsty thanks...
Karem
When all is said and done, nothing changes...
That statement RIGHT THERE tells me that he's not on some moral quest, he doesn't give a fuck about our well-being, and he thinks we're all losers. He hates games and gamers. Period. Is it impossible to enjoy games and not have a life? Of course not. Gaming, like any hobby, can be done in moderation or taken to extremes. You can take his response, replace "controller" and "play Grand Theft Auto" with other items from various hobbies, and viola -- there's your attack. "I don't understand your entertainment choices and their associated culture, so I'll insult them and you!"
You know, some folks who play games have steady jobs, own houses, pay bills... Hell, they can even get married and be great parents, include games in their children's lives, and sometimes they even *gasp* PLAY THOSE GAMES WITH THEM!
I wonder if he holds kids going hunting with their dads in the same light.
"Apparently so, but suppose you throw a coin enough times. Suppose one day, it lands on its edge."
Here's a game of MadLibs:
Start with:
and replace references to video games with television:
or howabout we change them to literacy references?
See? Isn't that fun?
If Mr. Edison had thought smarter he wouldn't sweat as much. --Nikola Tesla
I considered modding you up with my last mod point, but I disagree with your last statement about retailers.
:). When I went to buy Liberty City Stories at Kiddie City, I was informed that it was definately not a game for kids and I pretty much had to reassure the guy behind the counter the game was indeed for me.
:)
When I went to buy San Andreas at Target, I was informed it was a mature game and was even carded (mind you, I'm 31 and balding
If retailers had let kids buy mature rated games in the past, I don't think it's happening as much now as Thompson would like everyone to believe.
Thompson says, "Take Two has been marketing these games to our kids, and they just let the retailers sell them to kids." I'd like to see the evidence for that. I don't think enough of the general media are calling him on his assertions.
Perhaps he just he's spouting 'truthiness' (truth that wouldn't stand to be held back by facts)