Where Politics And Video Games Collide

Immediate News Release – May 10, 2008 Sting on Best Buy: 15-Year-Old Buys Grand Theft Auto IV with No Parent in Sight and No Check of Age I.D. The last several weeks have seen more worldwide news coverage surrounding the April 29 release date of the Mature-rated, pornographic, hyper-violent Grand Theft Auto IV cop-killing video game than any other video game in history. Every single video game retailer in the world knows that this is the most controversial video game ever, and it should know the danger of selling this pornographic game which constitutes “sexual material harmful to minors” to anyone underage. Best Buy is currently being sued by Miami attorney and anti-violent/porn video game activist Jack Thompson for its chronic failure to enforce its video game age ID-checking “policy” Thompson sued Best Buy three years ago and compelled it by his suit to check age IDs of anyone appearing to be 21 years of age or younger in order to catch anyone under 17. Since then, Thompson has repeatedly proven that Best Buy does not enforce its “policy.” Despite this, Best Buy’s CEO, Brian Dunn, brazenly states at its corporate web site, BestBuy.com, that it strictly adheres to this policy. Bull. Today, Saturday, May 20, 2008, at 5:10 pm, a 15-year-old boy walked up to check-out register #6 at the Dadeland Store #557 Best Buy store and purchased, no questions asked, no age ID asked for, no parent in sight, a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV from “Iris.” Ten minutes later, “Customer Experience Manager” Camy Gomez was informed that his store, once again, had broken its solemn promise to American parents to strictly enforce its video game purchase age ID “policy.” Quite the “Customer Experience.” Mr. Gomez said that “Iris” would be reprimanded. Mr. Gomez was informed that GameStop fires, on the spot, any clerk violating its age ID policy. The store manager is fired instantly as well. Mr. Gomez looked worried. He should. Affidavits are being prepared this moment. The greatest lie told today in the American retail industry is the lie that video game retailers are uniformly checking age IDs of kids buying “Mature-rated” video games. This sting today is hugely useful to Jack Thompson in his suit against Best Buy. It is beyond disastrous for the video game industry, especially Take-Two Interactive Software. Thompson met one year ago this week with Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick and begged him to stop marketing and selling his company’s “Mature” games to underage kids. Thompson told him that all Take-Two had to do to get legislators and family groups off his back was to tell retailers caught selling Take-Two’s “Mature” games to kids that product would be withheld from the offending retailers. Zelnick laughed and said he would sell his “fine art” to whomever he wanted to sellit, citing his previous leadership in the music business of marketing and selling raunchy rap music to other parents’ kids. Prediction: Mr. Zelnick, along with his company, will eventually be convicted of interstate trafficking in pornography to minors. This sting today is simply the latest nail in this scofflaw company’s coffin. Contact Jack Thompson for more information at 305-666-4366, amendmentone@comcast.net.