Slashdot Mirror
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.'"
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.
I'm Jack T and no one has heard from me recently! I'm lonely and there are wolves...
Please, O Lord:
Bring the mighty weight of Microsoft's legal staff to bear upon Jack Thompson, and allow us to watch him disappear in a four-colored puff of smoke.
Amen.
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
I sorta like the idea of Bill Gates as in insidious mischief lover, selling lewd video game content to minors in the form of XBox games he hides under his trench coat.
Doesn't he realize he'd feel so much better if he just went a beat up a hooker or two?
No, it's not a good point at all because Jack is going after the wrong end of the chain. Why is he contacting MS? First off, MS isn't developing or publishing GTA4. He should be after the retail stores since they are the ones responsible for selling 'M' and 'AO' games to children. He should also be be imploring parents to pay attention to game ratings and to make use of the parental control features that are on all the current consoles. MS has NOTHING to do with mature games getting into the hands od kids.
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
Gonzo Granzeau
"Nothing the god of biomechanics wouldn't let you into heaven for.." -Roy Batty
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.
They are no more adult than R movies. That's what M is equivalent to in terms of movie ratings. The adults rating, or NC-17 equivalent, is AO. However because most retailer refuse to carry games with AO ratings, even in a separate section, few are made. Same deal with movies. That's why there's an "Unrated" American Pie. Basically what happened is in the original cut, the MPAA hung an NC-17 on it which most theatres won't carry. So they made the necessary changes to bring it down to R. When they released the original cut, they simply didn't submit it for rating, and thus sell it as "Unrated".
Either way unless you also think R movies should be off in a separate section then it doesn't make sense to move M games there. Not that it matters much, retailers these days card you. Seriously, I got carded buying FEAR last month (I'm 26) at Target.
He's facing possible disbarment over the Bully incident where the publicly berated the judge in the case. I wonder if he'll still be able to practice law when GTA4 comes out.