September 18, 2007 -
Plenty of gamers would give their left arm to be included in Grand Theft Auto IV.Miami attorney Jack Thompson, however, claims that he's depicted in the game and wants out. And he threatens to block the release of GTA IV if Rockstar doesn't comply.
In a document filed yesterday with a federal court in Florida, Thompson includes a letter written to Take Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick which reads in part:
I have this morning read with interest an article on page 80 and 81 of the September 2007 issue of Game Informer magazine which was generated when, according to its author, Rockstar Games "stopped by the Game Informer offices for an impromptu hour-long gameplay session with the Xbox 360 version of the game."
The showcasing play of the game to Game Informer revealed that the first killing mission of the "hero" of the game, Niko, is to kill a certain lawyer. When Niko comes into this lawyer's office, having used subterfuge to do so, Niko pulls a gun on the lawyer who says, "that the firm supports the second amendment and that 'Guns don't kill people. Video games do.'"
...The fact that the lawyer, killed on Niko's first mission, would bring up video games, makes it clearly a reference to me... This is not the first time Rockstar Games and Take Two have targeted me in this fashion. Take Two references to me as a bisexual pedophile on its corporate website...
GP: What's he referring to here? See GamePolitics' September, 2005 article Jack Thompson Accuses Rockstsar of... Parody. Thompson's letter continues:
You have until five o'clock P.M. this Friday... to inform me that you are going to delete the above references and any other references that could reasonably be construed to be references to me in Grand Theft Auto IV and any other video games that are pending release...
Now you have descended this low - using one of your games to threaten my physical safety... Failure to comply with the deadline... will result in my having to take necessary and proper means to stop release of the game which targets me personally... given the copycatting of violent games...
Comments
Come on. Is he suing Law and Order for depicting him as a female lawyer for the state?
So the parallels between Jack Thompson and GTA IV's lawyer:
1) both are lawyers.
Thats it. Someone needs to give this man a clue.
Furthermore, Rockstar could argue that this is a parody of the "Video games made me do it" defense that has been used in several lawsuits. It could be a parody of the current "Video games are evil! Worse than guns/drugs/abuse!" mentality that seems to be prevalent in todays older and out of touch citizens.
@Jack Thompson (for when he arrives with his next off topic post)
Assuming that a parody is of yourself seems like it might be another symptom of that Narcissistic mental condition that has been referred to.
"Now you have descended this low - using one of your games to threaten my physical safety…"
A little pixelated figure shooting another in an imaginary city on a screen hundreds of miles from where you live does not exactly threaten your personal safety, does it? Does the game contain your name/address/habits which might allow people to seek to harm you? I realise that you have plastered your phone number and home address all over your press releases, but Rockstar have not done that.
"Failure to comply with the deadline… will result in my having to take necessary and proper means to stop release of the game"
Which, as far as I remember, you are not allowed to do by judicial order?
" which targets me personally…"
Which you BELIEVE targets you personally. And even then, it doesn't so much "target" as "poke light fun at".
" given the copycatting of violent games…"
You are obviously referring to your theory of copycatting of violent games. Which has no proof to it. And which has been shot down once already in the Devin Moore case, I think you might recall that one, it was the one which led to your licence to practice law in Alabama being revoked and was the starting point the Florida Bar having to impose disciplinary action upon you. Surely you haven't forgotten?
He must have been starting to feel cold from the spotlight being off him. What a joke.
Besides, Thompson doesn't have enough context. If this really is the first kill, maybe the line that the lawyer says haunts Niko and he continues to wonder whether his life of crime is the fault of playing Tetris in the '80s, and ultimately change his life to become a crusader against video game violence.
...or it's just a beta and is a mission that they just threw in there for kicks.
Besides, why would you trust a gaming publication, they're just a bunch of lying untrustworthy jackasses who're puppets of the industry, right?
And what are you doing reading Game Informer, anyway? Or are you annexing all your poor kid's stuff? You might want to check his wallet for an ACLU card, you're steering him in that direction.
Haha, now that’s awesome. Take it like the man that you aren’t Jack, stop being such a pussy. You deserve every bit of negative publicity you get you lying, crazy, massacre chasing, waste of a human being. I know you like think you’re “holier than thou”, but that’s far from the truth. You’re a scum bag asshole who practically abuses your son forcing him to do your dirty work for you. Leave us alone, leave your son alone, leave video games alone, and just go and curl up in the corner of a nice padded room.
By the way, parodies of public figures, such as yourself, are 100% legal, you can't stop them from using an anti-video game lawyer just because you happen to be the inspiration for it.
copycatting GTA to go over to kill you? You are afraid of a bunch of 17-40 year olds running over to your house and sticking a controller in your face while pressing R1 and O at the same time? And Where does it say it targets you? HEY!! Well this just proves it. Jack Thompson is the ONLY video game hating lawyer around. And this lawyer in the videogame has to be him on the sole fact that he is a lawyer and that he hates videogames.
No dice Jack. Enjoy the contempt of court charge.
- Warren Lewis
...dude...
Let me state for the record that I've never been a huge GTA fan, I haven't liked the franchise since 3 really, and I'm an old enough fart that I remember 2. I was NOT planning to get the game.
That being said, oh yeah, if there's a Tack Jhompson in this game? You might as well sell me a pre-order right now.
Although frankly, looking at this article - he's reaching - reaching quite a bit. Lawyer in game + video game comments and he takes it seriously? Dude... hopefully he's not the only lawyer on the planet. (Geez, what an ego.)
Then when he acts stunned and confused at what you're doing, you run over to his car and start screaming "TRIANGLE TRIANGLE TRIANGLE!".
Video Games and the Second Amendment are both trademarked phrases of Jack Thompson. Come on.
Wait, no, they're not. This sounds more like an NRA lawyer, not Jack Thompson.
So Jack, this is, therein, clearly your weakass ploy, and I'm sure that Rockstar's lawyers, all of whom are bigger successes than yourself, will shoot your lawsuit down so fast you'll swear they were the Red Baron.
Paradies of public figures are legal; otherwise, how would South Park make money?
Go bitch in the corner you jackass.
And he claims he has no mental problems.
Ehh, I had no intention to buy this game in the first place, I'm not really into the whole GTA thing... except for Vice City, that's the only one I'm interested in.
Because we all know that you're the ONLY lawyer in the country who's allowed to mention video games. Get off yourself already, and just.. go away.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
Yes. Yes he is.
But when has a little thing like the law gotten in his way before?
Way to go JT, you just increased the sale of this game by 20%+!!!!
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
Yeah, I did the same, and couldn't find the quote except for here.
He also has no sense of humor.
Jack, here's a novel concept, try to wrap your feeble mind around it: EVERYBODY HATES YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE AN EGOMANIACAL ASSHOLE. Any threat to your own safety, real or perceived, exists not because of GTA IV, but because of your big mouth and bad attitude over the years. You don't see threats of violence against Leland Yee or Dave Grossman, do you? Believe me, if you do indeed have some kind of beat down coming in your future, this GTA IV parody came along WAAAY after the scales had been tipped.
This isn't so far off. And it's not just the crazed video gamers saying it either. David Walsh publicly denounced you, and you're supposed to be on the same side! You seem to have a long history of not getting a long with people. Why does it seem like every person you work with is incompetent or an industry shill? At some point you have to think that maybe the problem is you.
Good luck with the Bar investigation.
I'll admit, that's funny. Rockstar does have a singular wit. Almost good enough, but not quite, to make up for the 4th iteration of a sandbox with shiney-er graphics that -by all accounts- GTAIV is.
If the first time is funny, the second time is silly, and the third is a swift kick in the ass, what is a fourth time? Oh yeah, instant best-seller because of the hype and notoriety. Hey, Jack, you want to stop R* from making another GTA? Here's a tip, STOP MAKING IT FAMOUS!
Secondly, this is not "parody." This is targeting. Big difference. This is rather foolish on Take-Two's part.
GP: That's true. Jack did NOT send this one my way. Which is odd, because he DID send something about a gay rights debate he wants to have down in Miami (um, Jack is against , in case you were wondering). I have zero interest in that story because there is zero video game connection.
So why didn't he send me this very relevant story?
Remember rockstar us and the sane part of the world know videogames do not lead to violence so this isnt in any way threatening you, its parody.
Guess what parody and satire are protected speech. just like your mock offer to charity is protected.
Oh no doubt, ever see South Park season 10? There's an episode where what is obviously a version of the president pretty much offs a guy execution style in the oval office to cover up that the government "is responsible" for 9/11. Considering that Matt & Trey probably aren't making new episodes from cells in Guantanemo - I think you're probably right.
note the use of the words THE FIRM, Jackie has an independant practice and is not part of any firm, as such this character is not a direct take on him and he has no ground to stand on
GP: Ummm... the entire letter IS available. It's linked from the article.
This was not a death threat, Jackass. They could care less about you because you can't touch them anymore.
It's not even a JT lookalike, merely a lawyer who blames video games?
Jackie boy, you're not THAT unique...
Maybe you should think about trademarking "video games made me do it". Then maybe you'd have a stronger case than the small chance in hell you actually have...
@jadedcritic
"There’s an episode where what is obviously a version of the president pretty much offs a guy execution style in the oval office to cover up that the government “is responsible” for 9/11."
Although that one wasn't really a threat against the president... So not a good example.
What makes me indignant is his cavalier attitude towards tactics like lying and character asassination.
A. You said yourself that you never uttered the quote "“that the firm supports the second amendment and that ‘Guns don’t kill people. Video games do.’
B. the lawyer the hitman takes out is named "Goldberg (of Goldberg, Ligner, and Shyster)"
http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=293408
C. The "hilarious response was actually a reference to the game, not Game Informer:
(From the site linked above) "After taking a seat, the interview began, As Goldberg chatted it up, Niko stood up and pulled a gun on him. This action was met with hilarious response on Goldberg's part."
Funny how you could also reference FOX News as a quote for your silly saying at th end, yet when you mentioned "copycatting of violent video games that is know by everyone" you couldn't even reference one source.
BAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Thompson, you're more amusing and lulzworthy than any GTA game. Keep it up!