July 19, 2007
MCV interviews controversial Miami attorney Jack Thompson, who, predictably, likes the Manhunt 2 ban and has nothing but disdain for the game's publisher Take Two Interactive. Among Thompson's comments:It’s conventional wisdom that Take 2 and Rockstar have effectively dug their own grave. I also think this is the greatest thing that the industry has ever done to get people like me off their backs...
The UK does manage ratings much better than the US where you rate a game that’s inappropriate for minors and then they sell it to them anyway. The UK’s definitely got it right. You rate a game and you can’t sell it to people if it falls in a certain category – in other words the rating actually has a sanction, whereas in this county the rating means nothing...
I would absolutely like to see the US and other countries following the UK’s lead. We don’t have a single law in the books that prevents a mature rated game being sold to a minor... I think eventually it will happen... especially if Hilary Clinton is elected as President. This has been one of her issues for many years, so I think if she’s elected you’ll see a real push from the White House to have a national sanction hooking into the Government’s rating system.
GP: We're not so sure Thompson is correct about Hillary. Although in the past the NY Senator has been a leading critic of video game content issues - most notably surrounding Hot Coffee - in more recent times she publicly praised the ESRB's efforts at the retail level.
Comments
Child: DA-DAY I WANT MANHUNT TWO!!!111
Father: Well sure son, here have 60 bucks
Child: YAY DECAPITATION, SWEET!!!!!
I have no problem with violent video games (Hell I play them) but i think its the parents responsiblity to know what their kids should or should not play. I may not be old enough to play mature games, but my parents give me the benifit of the doubt to play them.
As for the government sactioned ratings system, I think I speak for everyone here (at least from the US) that that is a terrible idea.
Naturally it didn't go anywhere because, well, let's face it, too much public outrage, but legally it was on pretty sound ground and it was any other book it probably would have passed.
*sigh* If only it were true. Manhunt 2 may have an 'AO' label (For now), but this guy keeps annoying the hell out of the industry.
JT can wish for a lot of things, but he can't change the framework of the law in which he operates.
*Facepalm*
As much I disagree with Mr. Thompson's opinions and agenda, I really have to admire his usage of something so many Americans take for granted: the freedom to protest, freedom of speech (ironic, I know), and the freedom to crusade against what he believes is wrong and harmful. I strongly believe I will never see eye to eye with Mr. Thompson, because I do not believe it is within the rights of any person or governing body to determine what I am allowed to consume or produce, but Americans are born with the gift of freedom and so few take advantage of this gift or even fight for it.
He will fight to get violent video games banned, and I will fight back against what I consider unjustified policing and censorship. Who knows, maybe our battlefields will cross consider we share the same state as our residence. The moment FL gets involved in game legislation, I will be there urging the rest of my fellow developers and gamers to do what Mr. Thompson is so passionately doing: making our voices be heard, exercising our right to protest, and being active in the politics that are meant to serve the people, not control them.
No it won't stupid. As long as we have the constitution, and basic human intelligence.
I'm with you on that. I'm totally against all forms of government restrictions, regulations and censorship of speech without some strong, consistent, indisputable evidence that the media is actually truly harmful (of which there is none). But i also agree that Jack Thompson has the right to attack violent video games if he wishes. Free Speech should apply to everyone. Jack can bitch and moan about how horrible violent games are and that we need to "protect the children" whether they need it or not and we have the right to attack anti-gaming, anti-free speech and pro-censorship legislation as well as Jack's idiotic opinions.
I think there's a fine line between making use of a freedom and flat out abusing it.
And there we have it, ladies and gentlemen. Your reason not to vote for Hillary Clinton.
Jack's neither a republican nor a democrat. He is a nanny-statist who wants the government to regulate every aspect of your lives and our children's lives under the vague guise of morality and protecting us from ourselves whether we need it or not. Both major U.S political parties have many members like this from staunch conservatives like Romney to ultra-liberal democrats like Leland Yee and Clinton.
What government rating system? Does Thompson realize that there isn't government age/content ratings for anything in the US? I mean, he clearly doesn't realize that plenty of countries other than the UK have government enforced content ratings; but I'd think he'd know by now that the US doesn't due to having such a strong free speech statute.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Voltaire would be proud.
the name rings a bell but i just cant remember who the guy is.
oh well maybe its because he aint important anymore that i cant remember who he is...
I don't think anyone has a problem with Jack Thompson's right to free speech and protest. What we take issue with is how he goes about it. Misinformation, ad hominem attacks, lying, trying to use the law as a club ("I want my way and will sue you in an attempt to get it"), personal insults and behaviour unbefitting a civilised human being, never mind an attorney.
If he would lay out his concerns in a civilised manner, provide proof to back them up then perhaps he would be listened to. However, all he comes out with is the usual threats, lack of facts, and deluded self-worship. Even other people who mistakenly believe that video games are harmful have distanced themself from him, not because of his message or beliefs, but because of his behaviour.
I have no problem with a person disagreeing with me, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I will happily debate with that person, putting across my point of view to them and listening to theirs. I do have a problem with someone who disagrees with me but then insults me, makes false assumptions about my character, then tries to justify their point of view with no proof.
The problem isn't that Thompson is exercising his right to free speech. The problem is that he's using it to try and infringe on the free speech rights of others.
He's got every right to expound to the world how morally bankrupt M rated videogames are. He's got the right to lead protests, and go on TV and spread his twisted views. What he doesn't have is the right to keep companies from releasing their games like he keeps trying to do.
Brought to you by the British Board of Film Classification
Hostel Part 2 - Ok
Manhunt 2 - Not Ok.
Um, Ok.
Idiot, they refused to rate it at all. Which means adults can't buy it either. That's not rating content, that's censorship.
But I guess in JT's world, the only adults who play video games are ones who like to mentally masturbate... so not really worth his time anyway.
Granted it still resulted in a ban because console manufacturers refuse to license AO games, but that still leaves it open to the PC market through online sales...
-She's not truly on our side. She realized it would be a better boost for her career if she sided WITH us.
"We don’t have a single law in the books that prevents a mature rated game being sold to a minor…"
-And responsible parenting should step in in about....
Man should be locked up for sheer stupidity, as he just seems to unload several tonnes of it every time his lips seperate.
I'm really hoping that will happen. I'd love to play the AO rated version of Manhunt 2 on PC just to see what all the hype is about. I'm sure the M rated version IF it comes out will be cut to shit.
Then Jack didn't get what he wanted, which is no one able to play the game by any means at all.
o wait i get it.....hahaha.
JT is trying to get gamers to vote against Hillary. Genius move JT.
Genius.
It's not that Hilary or Lieberman are on our side. It's that they've realize that they can get more by working with the ESRB and the industry than by legislating against it. The generic censorship inclined people will see them doing something for the children, and the rest will see them not infringing on their parental rights or wasting their tax dollars on known failures.
"Love it, or leave it"
Of course everyone forgets that Rockstar is also capable of producing the game without an ESRB rating, it won't get on a console without one anymore than with an AO, but they have the option.
Imagine two boy scouts trying to help an old lady cross the street. One holds her hand, waits for the crossing signal, and safely escorts her across. The other knocks everyone down in his way to get to her, then uses a cattle prod to "encourage" her to move, and then lambastes anyone who was not doing as he did. True, they both had the same intentions...but who will get the attention, and who will be asked to help more old ladies?
Okay, just wait one damn minute. At first it sounds as though Jack simply wants to keep hands out of the games of minors. Well I agree with that sentiment, though thats the parents and not the governments job. Then he goes on to say if it falls under a certain rating it can't be sold to PEOPLE, not minors, people. This pretty much sums up John Bruce's stance. He wishes to inhibit the freedoms of taxpaying adults and tell them what they can and cannot watch.
SCREW YOU JOHN. I am an adult. I pay taxes. How DARE you try to make my decisions on my entertainment.
Though on a lighter note I find it humorous that John Bruce goes after cartoonishly violent games like GTA (face it the violence isn't all that realistic), or railing against the ability for modders to remove the blur in the Sims 2 and show bare mannequins, but has no problem with the fact that children can buy the Saw trilogy, Hostel, or any other number of R or unrated movies.
Fool.
"rate a game that’s inappropriate for minors and then they sell it to them anyway. The UK’s definitely got it right. You rate a game and you can’t sell it to people if it falls in a certain category"
When WE rate a game we do not sell it to minors anyway, the rating is there to stop that. The UK's system of banning means NO ONE can get the game and that disallows people to chose for themselves which is archaic and wrong.
Say it loud.
Say it proud.
John Bruce "Jack" Thompson, the tin pot dictator wannabe!
Any opposing comment forthwith made by John Bruce "Jack" Thompson I will equate to comments that would be spewed by Fred Phelps, Eric Rudolph, Osama Bin Lauden, Saddam Hussein, and Castro:
Dishonorable, Unethical, Bigoted, Guttertrash with no value to the Human species.
And I'll happily stand in a court of law swearing an oath to tell The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth and repeat the same as being the Truth with evidence to back it up.
And just think, it was John Bruce himself who admitted such in that single interview.
And have a good day. :D
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
P.S. And any concerns about the word "fraud" see:
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/fraud
" the intentional use of deceit, a trick or some dishonest means to deprive another of his/her/its money, property or a legal right."
"...to deprive another of his/her/its... legal right"
And have a good day!
Also denis, jack thompson being pleased with Manuhnt's Ao rating does not qualify as news. We could figure that out without asking the guy.
Rolling stone ran an article on him and he had a pro-bush sticker on his refrigerator.
Although if he has been following gamepolitics he should know that mitt romney view's on the whole thing are more in tune with Thompson's than Hillary's , although maybe he realizes Hillary has a better chance than Romney, who knows.
Since when do retailers sell M rated games to little kids? What happened to PARENTAL responsibilty?
The other countries have banned the game based on their own founding governments. We have a special protection for expression. Yes it may be disturbing at times, it could be absolute filth, it could be my bile smeared across a plaque with my initials spelt out in q-tips but it is still protected. Is it good? Probably not. If JT doesn't want to respect OUR governments founding foundations, then he is more than welcome to leave.
We'd be better off if he wasn't around- NO JT this isn't a threat on your life, I just want you to go away.
i think when Jack takes about the Uk stopping minors from getting games i don't think he is talking about Manhunt2 in particular, but is talking about other 18+ rated games in the UK and laws that the UK has to prevent retailers from selling to minors (if the uk does have those laws, i confuse policies of different countries sometimes)...
Ofcourse, even if that is what JT was refering too he still fails so hard. He completly ignores that fact that whatever different laws and regulations are in place in the UK, minors are STILL getting their hands on 18+ rated games.
Just because a law exists doesn't mean it is being followed, especially if they don't do enough to enforce it... it's like bartenders who sell alcohol to poeple under 21; plenty of them get away with it and only a few ever actually get caught... it's not hard to think of a few lazy store clerks who just don't care to screw checking ID and just sell the game, especially when the chances of the day they do it being the day he was being subjected to the sting...
Furtharmore, The even bigger issue is that while Minors aren't supposed to buy the games themselves, parents STILL buy the games anyway... the high majority of minors in both the US and the Uk get their 18+ rated games through their parents, with their blind consent (buying their kids games whether or not they realize what the game actually is)... Between clerks not bothering to enforce the laws and parents blindly buying the games for their kids, the Uk laws have solved NOTHING!
I was curious on his take on the situation, you'd think he would have sent GP a press release the minute he found out about the ban and AO rating.
Oh, and anyone thinking that Jack Thompson wouldn't then use such a rating system as 'evidence' that games are dangerous and go on a sueing spree is under the wrong impression, it's the first thing he would do, as has been pointed out already, his moving goalposts and multiple standards are evidence for that.