Jack Thompson Gearing Up For GTA IV Fight

Next Generation reports on Jack Thompson's next big fight: Grand Theft Auto IV. A mass email was sent to news organizations entitled 'Bill Gates in the Crosshairs'. He vows to 'rally the troops' against the release of the next chapter in Rockstar's sandbox-style crime series. The game is due out sometime this year, on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. From the article: "Thompson said that he would 'undertake various means to prohibit' the sale of GTA IV to minors, and added, 'Please have your lawyers [Microsoft chairman Bill Gates', that is] contact me in order that such sales will be prevented.' He also said that the ICCR report 'makes it abundantly clear that unless such prohibitions are in place, then millions of units of the new Grand Theft Auto game will be sold directly to minors.' He continued, 'I am quite intent upon making sure that that does not happen. I and others will endeavor to stop Microsoft from participating in any fashion, directly or indirectly, in such sales to minors.'"

Comments

Good Luck to him

[linvir]

This is the good side of what JT does.

If only he'd stick to keeping kids from buying adult games, the world would have no beef with him.

Re:Good Luck to him

[navygeek]

Whether you want to call it "flamebait" or not, the OP is correct. If JT limited himself to keeping M rated games out of the hands of those that are too young, he'd have support coming out of the woodwork. If he poured his time and effort into educating parents and those with the power about video games (and did it correctly, leaving the rhetoric on the curb) and lobbied to have the sanctioned rating system enforced (much like the movie rating system) - then he wouldn't come off as quite such a nut.

Instead he rambles endlessly about violence in video games, quotes decades old studies, and basically blames all of the evils of society on video games - leaving no blame for the abscent parents that allow their kids to play games with subject matter well beyond their years. He brow beats anyone that disagrees with him. He attempts to have games outright blocked/destroyed. And meddles in a rating system that, while flawed, he has no real perspective on.

I'm all for letting people play the games they enjoy and letting the manufacturers have freedom to develope the games they wish to make - but I'm also in favor of keeping game with content like rape, murder, drugs, and teletubbies out of the hands of those too young to *really* understand them.

Better signage?

[GoNINzo]

Would something along the lines of 'Explicit Lyrics' stickers make him feel better?

How about the label: If you buy this for your kids, you are a douchebag and a bad parent.

If people would spend even 5 minutes understanding the ESRB, all these problems would go away. People understand R rated movied, why can't they understand M rated games? Jack Thompson should just get people to learn more about the ESRB, but I don't see how he can get paid doing that. heh

ESRB Rating

[nuggz]

I was pleasantly surprised to see a few things over this holiday season.
Parents asking about the rating system and what it means.
Game retailers pausing the transaction to point out it is a 17+/mature rated title and may not be appropriate for children.

I don't see anything wrong with carding younger customers (which I've seen). The problem is the outright bans some people want to have, or those who angrily react when someone suggests they make an informed decision.

What infuriates me the most about Jack...

[AbRASiON]

The main issue I have with him is not the fact that he doesn't like video games or violence, it's that he JUST PLAIN OUTRIGHT LIES - he does not get the facts, he does not get the scoops, he doesn't know things we don't know - he simply assumes!
"It's called bully, it must be bad!"

"It's GTAIV from Rockstar, it MUST be bad!"

None of us at all know a single damn thing about GTAIV - it's a mystery thus far and he's already started?
I wish this foolish, stupid little man would go away soon.