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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.'"
Hey, if it wasn't for him and his like trying to get GTA3 banned, I would have never bought it. And wouldn't have played it and enjoyed it...
So, Jack, keep talking about what games are going to destroy the world, I need help with my shopping list.
I'm actually forced to agree. Usually he's just an idiot, but he does have a good objective here.
Of course, in the UK the game will no doubt receive an 18 rating and thus technically can't be sold to minors (of course, as with tobacco and alcohol, it does happen), so I find this whole thing rather puzzling, as surely in the USA a film with the same sort of content as the GTA games would be age restricted... so should not a game?
Seriously: They should sell adult games the same way they sell adult magazines -- clearly labelled and with a wrapper around them, unless they're in an adults only area. I have no problem saying that GTA 3 was completely inappropriate for 7 year olds. But JT is just determined to undermine his cause by being such an asshole. I am sympathetic to the basic premise, some games are inappropriate for children -- but I don't agree that legislation is the way to fix it, and I don't agree that game companies are liable for the actions of idiots, and I certainly don't agree that you should welch on your offers.
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm
There's alot of replies to my original post that there is a distinction between M and AO. Also some distinction between what is an adult. For me, old enough to enlist in the armed forces means old enough to drink, smoke, swear, fuck and play violent video games -- in otherwards 17+ == adult in my book. I know you need parental consent to enlist in the army at 17, but I'm pretty sure once you're in, you get the same training and killing opportunities if you're 17 or 18.
/. are advocating restricting porn to people you would allow violent video games too. George Carlin said he'd much rather for kids to watch a movie of 2 people making love than 2 people trying to kill each other. Seriously, if a kid is old enough for violent video games, he's old enough for porn too.
As for porn, I cannot BELIEVE that people on
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm
First, I can say, I don't think there's a specific 'law', so to speak, but there is a common policy and campaign for the exact thing. Most stores will show employees a video and have signs that say "under 2x, we card", kind of thing.
Second, adults care a lot about being carded when they're obviously old. Speaking from experience as both a cashier, manager, and customer, I've seen some adults get very verbally abusive on some poor high school girl who asked for id, some to the point where you fear a physical confrontation. While there's a lot of others (probably a minority though) will often complain and even complain to management about being carded.
It's simply not true that 'adults' don't care. There are plenty of people out there who feel they've somehow earned their due to quickly purchase restricted items without hassle. Kind of like getting asked to show your receipt when leaving a Best Buy or something. It just annoys a lot of people. Ironically enough, when someone does turn 21 (in the US for alcohol), they want to be carded as some sort of right-of-passage... but the novelty soon wears off.
Cheers,
Fozzy
"The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
Who's bankrolling Jack? I mean, his results haven't exactly been stellar thus far...has he had any successes? So who's paying for all this legal maneuvering?