April 29, 2008 -
Ars Technica has a report on Jack Thompson's claim that the sexual content in Grand Theft Auto IV is essentially pornographic.As is his custom, Thompson once again invokes law enforcement by writing to his local US Attorney about the game's hooker and strip club scenes:
Indictments should be returned against Take Two corporately and its Chairman, Strauss Zelnick, along with other Take Two officers. Indictment should also be against Sony and Microsoft which are making this pornographic game available to minors, and openly so, on their PS3 and Xbox systems.
Further, indictments should be handed down against Wal-Mart, Best Buy, GameStop, and all other retailers distributing this game to minors at their retail stores, openly, to kids who are only seventeen.
So, lock everyone up, then? Are the feds even talking to Thompson yet? The controversial attorney's rant continues:
Grand Theft Auto IV is the gravest assault upon children in this country since polio.
Since polio...
While Ars Technica concludes that an IGN video (NSFW) which rolls a number of the game's sex scenes into one segment gives Thompson ammunition, we're not so sure.
For one thing, these are animations, not real people. But even so, protagonist Niko Bellic's encounters with hookers in cars (notably unsexy pic at left) and strippers in clubs are all simulated; no genitalia are visible. The participants do not even appear to be unclothed. We've seen more graphic content in any number of R-rated films.
What's more, the ESRB content descriptors for GTA IV list "strong sexual content" and "partial nudity." We're quite sure that, given the industry-rocking 2005 Hot Coffee scandal, both Take Two and the ESRB had their legal experts closely review GTA IV's sex scenes.
Will Thompson get some publicity mileage from GTA IV's sex scenes? Sure. Will anything come of it?
No.
Comments
Re: Jack Thompson Claims GTA IV is Porn and Everyone Should Be
this is bull***t if he doesnt like it he doesnt need to play it or pay attention. but in a sence he has to because he has to find something to say he did his F*****G job. HE just wants to DEMEANE us and call anyone who plays it perverts.
DAMMNIT!!!!!!
BULLSHIT!!!!!!
His full of fail and his case will fail like they always do.
No, no, no. Haven't you learned yet? ONLY John Bruce can make that determination as to what is or is not appropriate for other people's children. Don't believe me? Look at his Bully lawsuit where he clearly states that HE ALONE should be allowed to play games before they are released so HE can determine if they are appropriate for other people's children. It's specifically stated so in the lawsuit. Shame on you! SHAME on you for not directing the kid's mum to John Bruce to make that decision for her! Shame on you!
John Bruce is morally superior to everyone else in the world and ONLY HE is a good Parent and everyone else should have their kids removed from their custody 'cuz ONLY HE can properly raise them.
:: Baaaaarrrrrffff!!! ::
:: Sigh ::
I just can't say stupid things like that without puking.
Sorry.
:: Mops up mess. ::
(But I wasn't kidding about the Bully lawsuit, as you know.)
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
There are a great deal of things that can be done to Barbie dolls... if you have the "right" imgination and mentality. :O
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
A John Bruce e-mail probalby sells more copies of a game than any poster or Magazine fullpage spread.
If it makes you feel better I saw a guy that had to be in his late 40's, maybe even early 50's, get carded. They carded EVERYONE as they were walking up to the line, even if you weren't getting the game and was just keeping someone company. They were leaving no room for the critics to bitch about ID policies not being enforced this time.
Our soilders dying in the middle east. "Who cares, video games will kill us all:o"
Failing econamy." Video games are corupting our youth, the econamy can wait."
Availbilty of weapons. "We can't mess with the NRA."
Anyone else see the problem here
Link to Wiki article plz
give me proof
In a related note, FUCK YOU JACK.
OH MY GOD, THIS IS FUNNY!!! HAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! "AMERICAN BEAUTY" HAS NOTHING ON THIS!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
ive just been to the strip club in gtaIV , got it this morning..
they are basically models wearing bikinis. Polygonal models. Not even real people . and they wiggle. thats it.
Then (granted ive only played a few hours) the only sex ive 'seen' has been from a camera looking outside at a closed apartment window with the curtains drawn and a woman making noises like on that shampoo advert 'oooh yesss!' type of thing. thats it
And the game (in the uk anyway) has a BIG FAT 18 on the front of it using THE EXACT SAME SYMBOL AS 18 RATED MOVIES.
jesus. how are they making it available to minors, 'and openly so'.
i realyl dont understand JTS logic one bit.
~~All Knowledge is Worth Having~~
Speaking of which, I've looked up a lot of information on Jack Thompson, and he seems to have never heard of God of War. In that game there is blood flying like a river out of everything that moves. There is a nude scene in the beginning, and boobs throughout the rest of the first and second game. And yet, he keeps attacking Grand Theft Auto. I think at this stage he is just picking on what gets headlines and doesn't really know much about the games available.
The poor guy might have a heart attack if he ever sees Ninja Gaiden.
Well we can always be grateful he didn't compare it to the Black Death. I guess that was too much even for Jack.
By the way, the fact that he this is coming up now is not surprising to me one bit.
But God dennis, couldnt we have bathed in the win we got for just a bit longer before having to read JT's idiocy? T_T
She came to me and asked if I knew anything about the game. Plain and simple, I told her to read the box: particularly the warning and ESRB label. It goes without saying the kid will continue to play Naruto and Tony Hawk for a while.
Lesson? Parents are well equipped to determine what is appropriate for their children. I completely support her decision not to allow her child to play the game BECAUSE HE IS HER CHILD.
R* developed the game. T2 published the game. ESRB rated the game appropriately. Gamestop is distributing the game. The system works. Period.
Jack, that's the rule. If you're 17, you can have M rated game. You need to check out some corporate rules there, Jackass.
Also, Polio? POLIO? Really Jack?
Funny story. My local gamestop has 304 reserves for this game. They only have 65 for Metal Gear Solid 4.
ive just been to the strip club in gtaIV , got it this morning..
they are basically models wearing bikinis. Polygonal models. Not even real people . and they wiggle. thats it. " - NovaBlack
We should consider that some of the right wing (mostly Christian) family nut job groups out there think women in bikinis is porn. So it shouldn't be a surprise if GTA4 is considered pornographic, when it has less nudity then an R rated movie that will be just down the aisle from it at Best Buy (just me, but maybe the video game industry should use the same rating system as the movie industry, at least then as a R rated game, it could contain small amounts of nudity and more violence/language and still be sold in retail stores).
*facepalm*
Not only does the system work, but Best Buy wouldn't even let anyone under 17 stand in line last night for the midnight release. They were checking everyone's ID as they were lining up, and then checking them again at the checkout.
That being said Jack is barking up the biggest tree in the neighborhood, but I'm not sure why...the reason I am confused is because much like R rated movies, games are about choice, parental responsibility, and some accountability at the retailer level.
JT + T2 = Higher Game Sales
I just love how closed minded good ole JT is...I mean Polio...seriously...
Also I use to work at a walmart not to long ago as CSM and when anyone came with an M rated game or R rated Movie we had to card them, just like with cigaretts and booze. I cant tell you how many times I refused a sale. So I really dont understant why JT is all like "z0mg! Tak3 2 iz s3ll1ng pr0n to k1dz!" There are rules and penalties inplace for selling restricted merchindise to minors... If your gonna attack someone, attack the venders who dont follow the rules, and thats not at a company level either, thats a local issue that should be taken up with the management.
Seriously... thats like saying you should sue winchester for creating a bullet that was used in a gun that hurt someone. Deal with the problem where is it...and even on that...THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH VIDEO GAMES.
Fact: Slasher movies...which are aimed at a teen audience...contains more nudity and sex than GTA. Its silly to go after games.
So why does JT go after games so much? my opinion? he never could beat the first level on Pong...so now he is taking out his frustrations that he is an incopitent gamer. imho -_^
In other news I found out that the sun does still rise and set over a 24 hour period.
I've seen R rated movies get away with a lot more than GTA 4 without getting an adult only stamp. There's no reason for GTA 4 to be branded more than mature until those movies get re-rated to their equivalent. Locally all the game stores I buy at card buyers who look under 30, and I've visited every local game store I know of at least once. On the other hand I've been to just about every local movie theater and most don't even care about letting someone underage into an R rated movie. Where I live all of JT's points about distribution fail miserably.
But JT doesn't care about addressing even pseudo-real problems like that, he just wants to keep after Rockstar and Take Two to fulfill some personal vendetta of his.
-It's far better to threaten children with eternal punishment for noticing traits of the opposite sex.
-It's far better to teach children that their gay peers (why might even be friends) are evil aboninations and being friends with them = going to hell.
-It's far better to threaten eternal torment on children for making human mistakes.
I say that all priests and religious leaders be arrested as well. They are more abusive to the minds of children than ANY game designer!
so in their worst year killing people
Polio 3,145 - GTA 0
(prove me that one death is entirely responsible on GTA and I'll adjust the score)
SOMEONE CALL THE SEC!!!!!!!111one11!!!
Other than that,well summed up on this article,Dennis.
Holy God I hope he gets disbarred.
If the game was being sold to children, it's likely because the parents didn't care. Everyone else who has bought the game is fully aware of what it is, what it's about, and is probably already playing it. You can't condemn pornography (which it's not) for simply existing and being bought by responsibly adults, nor can you try and punish everyone who so much as looked at the game because you think it's the anti-Christ in disc form.
And JT wonders why they are trying to disbar him... What a sad little man.
I wonder if he is not one of GTA4 marketing guys.
Srsly.
He got attention, he interests people in game, its clear marketing, how can you not buy game that contains phornographic???
"sadly that is far from phornographic as far as sex with doll."
The game is good, hype lives on :)