News Jack is back to beat up on bully

my first thought

second one:
The ratings are not taken seriously enough by the parents ( indeed some are way of )

 

I really have to agree because parents just buy GTA, Quake, Pokemon, etc. without even thinking about it because they won't be stopped and asked about it's rating. Buying GTA and giving it to a 12 year old is almost equivalent to giving that same kid a pack of smokes because in both cases that 12 year old shouldn't have either. There needs to be some sort of legal action to stop such things because Grandma just might be trying to make her grandchildren happy she isn't thinking about the game itself. If this doesn't get stopped soon then we will end up getting games audited by our government and will end up hurting the industry more than helping it.

 

Jack's a lawyer and he's just exploiting anything he can get his hands on. He's pathetic and needs to do something with his life.

Here's a link to his breif history and all his failures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_(attorney)

I skimmed it and he blamed so many things on games. And you know what happen? All his cases were thrown out of court. He's exploiting the public and someone should sue his pathetic ass.

 

Jack Thompson = sellout

Clearly natural selection needs another go at this guy becuase

a.) he has too much time on his hands
b.) he's retarded and only interested in his own paycheck and personal agenda to make himself feel better after his failures and dissapointments in his childhood.

 

I am now 21 years old and have played horrible (violent) games since I was a kid, very young kid (Blake Stone, Rise of the Triad, Doom and so on). I have been a serious gamer playing every sort that is out there even till now. Console and PC have both been my source of entertainment and even some values. The thing is, my parents taught me what is right and wrong and gave me the tools to continue to take good things/values from sources (like TV, video games, people's opinions, newspaper, etc) and to not to take upon attributes that are bad, I have my own conscience. When I play Black and White or Fable, I have an urge to be good in the game. Then once I am done out of fun and curiousity I play evil as hell, because I know this is a game. When I played the demo for Saint's Row on my 360, I had SO much fun screwing around, running people over, shooting people, kicking people, blowing stuff up, etc. It is not a sick kind of fun, to me its a kind of fun like when you watch a funny moving where funny things happen, like the Black Knight in Monty Pythons and the Holy Grail. It is just for fun. What Do I do in real life? I don't kill people, I don't speed 100 mph, I don't rape, I goto school (fourth year, accounting major) I pay my taxes, I give blood, people say I am too nice, never been arrested (or had a reason to be).

I have played the worst of the violent games, SOF 1 and 2, carmageddon (demo), Dead rising, Doom/Quake/Unreal series, Hitman series and so much more. So games "train" me to kill better or "just like an assassin"? The answer is hell no. When I went to a FBI shooting range, a relative of mine is a FBI SWAT team agent, I got to shoot an M4 carbine, M3 Shotgun, some .45cal pistol, MP5 and a frickin FBI modded sniper rifle. Mind you, I kick ass in counter stirke, I get banned if I am in a groove and killing like mad since it looks like I hack cause I am so good, and before this shooting range I have never shot or held a real gun in my life. How good was I at the range? Compared to my relative I looked like a joke. He said I was pretty good for never shooting a gun in my life but no better than someone who has trained with real guns for a month. With the sniper rifle I could hit the head that was on the piece of paper every shot (most inaccurate shot was his chin) this was only at 70 yards. The sniper rifle was uncalibrated and the scope tilted all wonky, and my relative said that is the reason for him hiting 2cm off from the bridge of the nose a couple times(Thats where you are suppose to hit according to him to kill instantly).

A mouse (for the computer) and a joystick (for consoles) have absolutley no help in making you hit a target in real life. The only thing games help with is general hand-eye coordination (which could help with shooting, but just like anything else could like basketball and any other activity that improves your motor percision), and Jack can't have that banned and him trying to act as an entire board to evaluate games is very "dictator" like. He is in no position to claim authority to judge games. We already have that, its the ESRB. What we don't have (at least enough of) are parent's that are paying attention to what their children watch or play. Video games cannot act as replacement parents. Can it be an activity to distract kids to give parents a break? Sure, as long as the parents take the time to make sure they play proper games for their age, or in my case, teach the kid right and wrong so well that I am a self sufficent individual at the age of 8 that I know what I do in the game is fake and just a game and not anything like what I would really do in real life. Jack also is uninformed with games and how they work.

One thing that gets on my nerve about him is saying that the creators of GTA "lied" about putting the hot coffee mod in GTA:SA. This here shows he does not understand how games are made and work. It was a mini game that was routed around because they decided they did not awnt it in the game and so as to not have to do extensive recoding and scripting work they made it IMPOSSIBLE to view without "hacks". The hot coffee mod IS NOT from Rockstar or Take Two, it is a download made by the public to change the game to something it was not intended. We put in the ESRB to help the parents do their duty and raise their kids properly with a good conscience.

I think a good analogy is a Honda Civic. They have governers so it can't go too fast and so on to protect the consumer, but what about all the tuners out there that modify their cars and allow the car to do what it is not suppose, sometime to the point of making it no longer street legal? Well in Jack Thompson's view we sue Honda over every accident and death that deals with modified Civics. The people modifying the Civic, or modifying the game, to what it was not designed to do are responsible. Now what about non modified Civics, do we ban those/sue Honda too because people drink in them, or crash in them and/or kill people in them or use them for doing crime? In the senario, in Jack's POV, for games it is yes, if some kid played a violent game a lot and then did a violent crime then the game is responsible, not the child or parent or mentor or guardian. To Jack, it is the game developers "fault" for "making a game to train people" so they can commit an atrocity. If you have a product you CANNOT guarantee that it will be USED as intended. Maybe we should put labels on games that say HOW TO USE and say USE NOT INTENDED like we do on paint cans or anything else.

Lets ban knives and sue companies that make knives because some use them to stab people and commit crimes.

Lets ban cars and sue companies that make cars because some use them to as getaway cars/drug transportation/machines to run people over/etc.

Lets ban magic markers and sue companies that make magic markers because some use them to get high and some go blind and some die from it.

Oh wait, no company is being sued or those items being banned, oh yea, I know why, because Jack Thompson does not run our lives, he does not run the auto industry, he does not run the kitchen appliance industry, he does not run the school supplies industry.

And just like the gaming industry, he doesn't run it, safe guards are in place. Where we need to focus our energy on about violence is not games, it is the moral fabric of our society and helping raise good kids and people, not regulating the economy beyond belief so that the economy can raise the kid, not the parents.

If this appears as a rant its because you are looking at this with the wrong perspective. This was written about politics, our society, our government, and family, not games. I have gamed the most horrible games way below the specified age limit and turned out beyond a decent person. Bottom line, Jack Thompson is barking up the wrong tree, he is barking up the money/self-righteous-god/full-of-himself tree.

 

"Take-Two has until five o’clock p.m., Eastern time, Monday, August 14, 2006, to inform me in writing that it will forthwith provide me with a copy of Bully ... , or the following will occur:

I shall file a lawsuit against your respective companies to stop the game’s October 1 release."

So, to paraphrase, "I have no claim to your company's property, but give it to me to 'evaluate' or i'll sue you".

Can he really demand Bully before it is released for sale???

If so, "Dear AMD/Intel, give me your next processor. I think it may harm small children so therefore I need to evaluate it. If you don't, I'll sue you to stop you from selling it. Regards, slatfats."

 

That's too right. I wrote the bloke an email to ask him to stop emailing me and I got back a load of abuse... from some supposed high profile lawyer suing the likes of walmart

 

He 'knows' how to get through to the youth of today. Apparently.

 

this deff made me laugh

maybe if the vibrating part was somewhere else it would be pleasurable

 

I suppose someone has to play devil's advocate and say maybe the guy has a point. I mean there is a tiny minority of folk who are obviously not playing with a full deck and who, having gotten a rise from video game violence, will want to try the real thing. And maybe the fact that there's a significant amount of cash to be made by having a notorious game means the industry themselves are not likely to seriously police themselves.

But I'll bet Rockstar are over the moon - you just can't buy publicity like this. What is most likely a fairly average game will fly off the shelves because of its rep. Rockstar 1 : American Wannabe Big Time Lawyer 0.

No, scratch that - it's probably 1 : 1. Jack will probably be able to double his fees whatever the outcome of the case because he'll now be a 'celebrity lawyer'. God, only in America...

 

Excellent idea!!!!!!! OMG i bet this game would sell so well!

A video game where you live in a GTA setting and your object is to assassinate jack by any means necessary in order to save videogames! Run him over with a car, hang him by a tree, or just shotgun him to death. This is gold mine!!!!!!

 

[rant]

im sorry but it realy is political correctness gone mad. everything has to be made safe these days.

Why dont they try tackling the means at which kids get it (oblivious parents) rather than just trying to ban it outright. ?

Its a bit like airsoft. they try and ban that cause some people use them hold up banks. despite the fact it is a sport/hobbie.

there thinking of banning nitro methane (aka model nitro fuel) cause terrorists have been rummered to be thinking of using it for bombs. I for one am a keen modeler and banning of the fuel would mean death to the nitro model industry in the uk. but again why not try stopping all the crap getting into this country rather than just banning the means they use.

*i know someone got stabbed by a screwdriver so lets ban screwdrivers*

As for Bully
This game is designed for adults. rockstar games aways have been non fairy games but then again it is just a game. if people take it into real life they should be locked up. and it kids get a hold of it well, whos fault is that the game producers or the parents that bought them it ? if they dont understand it is a adult game why not put a naked woman on the front heh, im sure they wouldnt buy it for there little tommy then. [/rant]

 

its rather funny looking at the crazy things jack has gone after, florida even made him have a sanity test cos they thought he was insane, its quite priceless.

but he deffinatly needs commiting/killing/bricking up in a wall till he dies, or somthing that gets rid of him.
i mean accusing southpark of causing a kid to kil him self when the parents of said kid stated hes never even watched the show its just crazy what he will do for fame.

 

not soon enough

perhaps he should sue the parents who buy the game for their children without understanding the risks

their not 18's for no reason

 

You have been brainwashed if this is what you truly believe. There is no legitimate comparison between smoking and video games.

Smoking has countless sceintific studies linking it to a wide range of health problems. The evidence is undisputed. Smoking is a danger, even in small doses.

Violent video games have not been legitimately linked as a cause of real life violence (in general "studies" drawing such a link have been pointed out as flawed...and there are just as many studies 'proving' otherwise). Just because 14 kids who have commetted horrendous violence have also plaid video games (and listened to 'dark' music, and worn trenchcoats, and eaten vegetables for that matter) doesn't mean the two are linked. There was violence in schools long before video games. There is still violence in schools among kids who don't game at all. There are MILLIONS of kids playing violent videogames who get good grades, will go to college, get a good job, and will never commit an act of violence.

Ratings are on the boxes. The pictures on the boxes depict what's in the game. A reasonable parent can look at a box that says "mature" and has a picture of a guy with a gun on it, and determine if it is something they approve of for their children. Some parents buy their "under 17" kids R-rated movies all the time, some disapprove. Some children can handle violence and sex, some cannot. People should have choice in such matters. While laws restricting who can buy something are important so that parents can parent, there is NO EXCUSE for a parent to buy something for their kid then complain about the content later. The reason for the ratings on games and movies is for parents to judge if they think it is appropriate for THEIR PARTICULAR CHILDREN, not for the government to declare it blanketly inappropriate for all people of a certain age.

 

LOL yeah i thought that southpark one was funny too.

 

Haha

I registered just to post this. After watching the trailer for bully, it is no interest of me, but when it comes out, I'm going to buy it, just to put my vote behind free speech, take two, rockstar, and everyone who hates jack thompson.

Seriously, this guy should go to a gaming center some time. Either A) something "tragic" would happen, as he would probably say, or B) would realize how full of crap he is... Either way, problem solved.

[SARCASM]
No, please, don't sue me for saying this!!! Ahhhhhh.

 

he's looking at this thread and getting off over it... attention whore.

 

I believe this has already happened... wasn't he removed from the bar association in one of the states he was representing? I can't remember the news article I saw that from, but many of his lawyer peers saw him as a lunatic as well. As for the game... meh, not really on my radar, but I'd be happy if it sells.

My take on gaming is what a lot of gen-x and gen-y parents are gonna be dealing with soon (or now) ... GAME WITH YOUR KIDS. Yup, since we all grew up with it, and we all love it, why not pass down the love in a constructive manner? Show them whats appropriate for their age (I personally think lego star wars would be great for kids of any age, and its definitely 2 player friendly), and maybe later, you can have a father/daughter fragfest once she's old enough

 

What Should Happen

This dope files his lawsuit.

It gets dragged out in court and all over the news.
(This is the promotion phase of the the campaign. What these people don't understand is that protesting and lawsuits are the BEST advertising)

The court rules in Take-Two's favor = Huge sales.

The court rules against Take-Two = A completely unlocked version of the game mysteriously appears all over the internet for anyone to download.
Take-Two promises an investigation (Just like the government would do!)