@ Gamer Dad

I finally got to watch the video and I must say, they really did cut you short. Most of your statements were spot on, but you can tell there was some follow up that was not aired.

I really wish these news outlets would give more airtime to people actually involved in the game industry (reporters, developers, publishers etc.) but I guess we must take what we can get.

I wish I could get the video at work. Someone give me the gist of it please.

that makes 3 of us. cursed Active-X restriction policies.
but its good to see someone who knows what they're talking about, talking about what they know.

cant watch it at school this sucks only 6 more hours

They have a clip from GamerDad saying he'd like it to have an AO rating, but still be available to adults. They don't mention that AO is a defacto ban.

That one was pretty good. No fear mongering. No flawed "studies". No psycho-babble. Just emphasized that it is for adults, and that it's violent. Oh and that it's on the same level as Saw.

@ Miraba

I wouldn't expect anything less from Gamer Dad. Thanks for the summary.

Good job GamerDad.

On the AO rating front, why doesn't the ESRB just bump the M rating to 18+ instead of 17+ and do away with the AO rating? There's a gray line whether a 17 years old is an adult or not. Adults Only designation has a sinister, implied meaning similar to what you find in porn. That's what scares the console makers. AO is useless, get rid of it. ESRB can always refuse to rate a game, much like BBFC, if it's too over the top. ESRB can shut up all the critics because they won't have much to stand on if M rating means those 18 or older.

I just want to say that in Milwaukee, where I live, WISN news is considered the worst local news station.

@me -- even if it is the "worst" local news station, coverage on the "worst" station is a far cry better situation that *no coverage at all*.

Interesting comparisons on Kotaku http://kotaku.com/gaming/manhunt-2/manhunt-2-money-shot-comparisons-3175...

Clearly it speaks volume (in my opinion) about the state of the ESRB.

Kudos to GamerDad. He's back with a flair.

Not that I would expect any less from him. Considering the format where his views were shown (and apparently cut short) they proved to be concise, honest and fair.

Would seem we have a voice to speak for us that cannot be so easily ignored.

Here's an update on the morons who own kotaku.com:

Nov 1 2007 6:00AM EDT
Shocker: Blog's Fans Eschew Dead-Tree Tie-In


Before Gawker Media gets carried away with dominating the world, maybe it should try to master the book industry? As of yesterday, The Gawker Guide to Conquering All Media had sold a scant 242 copies since it went on sale Oct. 2, according to Nielsen BookScan.

Of course, the tracking service only accounts for about 75 percent of book sales, by its own admission, so you can add another 81 units to that total. Still, it's probably somewhat fewer copies than Simon & Schuster's Atria division was hoping to sell when it acquired the total in what I'm told was a $250,000 deal. Especially when you consider all the free promotion the book got on Gawker.com, to what was presumably its target audience.

An Atria spokeswoman declined to comment on either the sales figures or the size of the deal; Gawker owner Nick Denton pleaded ignorance, and Gaby Darbyshire, who handled the book on the Gawker end, is out of the country.

considering that kids can be 25 year olds in this country....
but i guess its hard to not use the word for it, while its sad to use word games it helps removes the fodder used by the other side.

if its not a young adult (16+) or older I would not want them playing the game either.

GamerDad is my hero :D

All this Manhunt news is driving me crazy. I don't even want the game, yet I might be compelled to buy it just because of the controversy.

Well done GD.

Off topic, Mr. No-Name. Ignored.

@GameClucks: The first one on CBS News with Katie actually showed HOW to set the parental controls on the Wii.

Jack, you're like some pathetic schoolyard bully, looking for any excuse to say something nasty about someone whom you've decided you don't like, no matter what it is and no matter whether or not it's tied to your idiotic crusade.

By my count, your son stands to learn more shitty, nasty behaviour from the example you set as a human being than he ever does from any game.

I've not played the game and neither has Bub (he was playing Resident Evil 4 in the clip) but I'm pretty sure that you don't earn extra points for the more stylish or violent executions. In fact, far as I know, there is no points system in the game.

From what I understand, the more extreme executions are the reward in and of themselves, although the amount performed may influence the ending.

Andrew Eisen

@E. Zachary Knight
True, true. They at least SHOWED the screen, which is more than a lot of the alarmists did on their newscasts

@everyone else:
Don't feed the troll. Just ignore that off-topic post.

Well, the Miami school district did suddenly order a shipment of 81 "rolls" of toilet paper the day his book came out. I find that hard to be just a coincidence.

@Jack

Before Gawker Media gets carried away with dominating the world, maybe it should try to master the book industry?

Wow, who cares? Way to be off-topic. But I guess that's normal for you when you don't have anything concrete to talk about.

I guess I'll go off-topic, too. Pretty sure it was the troll, Icehawk; the post appeared well after 11:54 am -- I had already read a number of posts on the page when that one "magically" appeared before them when I refreshed. The real posts from him are moderated, so they never appear at the bottom of a page, unless nobody has posted on the topic for some time.

"Here’s an update on the morons who own kotaku.com:"

Idiots are they? Maybe. But what does that say about you that you couldn't bring a successful case against the idiots?

I see Jack's back to posting irrelevant, off-topic responses. What's next, is he going to threaten legal action against posters and/or GP again, so he can get banned (yet again)?

I'd like to congratulate GamerDad for his great appearance on TV.

Besides, it would be nice if we could get the uncut version of the interview.

As for GamerDad - YAAAAY! :)

@ JT

...WTF does that have to do with anything? What makes you think any of us care?

Thanks all!
There's more explanation at the blog but the interview lasted about 30 minutes or so and the reporter told me we'd get maybe 30 seconds of airtime. Turns out we got more than that, but it's still very shortened.

To answer the question about AO. I think it should be viable and sold at stores. Maybe keep it behind glass and definitely card buyers. Also cut off was my opinion that this game is VILE! But I still support Rockstar's First Amendment Rights.

And Eisen is correct, as it says at my new blog (www.gamingwithchildren.com - pimp pimp) they didn't have a copy of Manhunt 2 and neither did I. They had me play Resident Evil IV and I thought they'd just show me playing - not what I was playing. I knew people would notice!

;-)

And yeah, I'm totally back with flair. The gaming community treated me so well after my surgery and heart attacks that I'm more committed to this cause than ever before. Parents need information and rationality. Not fear mongering and opportunism.

@Gamerdad:

That last line made me warm and fuzzy inside. Thank you for everything you've done so far and will continue to do long into the future.

And congrats to GamerDad, sorry forgot to add that :) It's nice to see some level heads being listened to now.

@Gamerdad:

So I guess ya recovered enough to get on TV and set some things straight? Even if you're not a big MH2 fan (I don't blame ya, that game might be a little bit too gory for my tastes...) Anyone of age should be able to buy it and enjoy it if they want.

It seeemd like Gamerdad was trying to explain the whole technical banning aspect of an AO rating and why that makes for censorship, but the newsorg wasn't really interested...

I love how the guy doesn't even use weasel words to justify the phrase "this isn't exactly high art". He just says it matter-of-factly, as if it were an obvious and irefutable statement.

@ Gamerdad

"The game industry needs no apology."

...I love you man, you're bringing a tear to my eye.

JT must be going for the record of least relevent post. Anyway, did he sell ANY copies of his own book?

@GamerDad

good to see you looking very healthy. keep up the good work, man.

@ GamerDad

nice to see you on tv! hope more parents will follow your info. you have so far been the best 'knowledged' video game interview-ii ;)

oh....and jack thompson eats donkey dung!