I'm sure by now everyone has heard about "GTA: San Andreas" and the "Hot Coffee" scandal. Here's a little info on the nut job behind the AO rating of the game (and his efforts to wipe video games from the face of the planet), Jack Thompson.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/0...ws_6129609.html

http://aelon.net/2005/07/jack-thompson-straw-man/

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/th...tion-112565.php

http://cube.ign.com/articles/639/639809p1.html

http://www.vgcats.com/jack.php

In short, he's a lunatic who believes anyone who touches a video game is incapable of logical thought, and is not afraid to not only tell people that's what he thinks, but tries to make it accepted as fact. The biggest problem is he has the law degree and political backing to make some of this stuff happen.

Now, while I personally wouldn't mind the banning of games containing nudity from stores where children may and will get ahold of them, I am HIGHLY OFFENDED by the way he responds to emails from anyone who disagrees with him. In short, "If you don't think my way you're an imbecile."

Jerk.

I don't believe it's valid to call him 'stupid', though.

But that's simply the case because the title of "Stupidest Man on Earth" has already been officially granted to Ann Coulter (hey, I'm not responsible for labelling her a man!) in the course of this year's world stupidity awards (www.stupidityawards.com/winners.html). Maybe try to get Jack Thompson on the nominee list for next year?

Haha I read that whole VGCats fiasco. Looks like the bloke may have a few mental issues. BIG ones.

Let's just hope he doesn't get what he wants. What a twit.

He thought the Sims was a porn game, he needs help..

If we can't call him stupid.....

can we call him nutbag. 'cause he's nuts if I'm gonna give up video games.

"As a lifelong Republican who ran against Janet Reno, I can note that whereas the largest chapter of the National Organization for Women, located in New York, has had me address them regarding the misogyny and violence against women depicted in the Grand Theft Auto games, the supposedly “family values” Republican President of the United States, George W. Bush, has consistently turned away from parents who have asked him to speak out against the entertainment industry’s assault on our children"

That was enough for me. This guy is insane.

Stopkill.com

^^That's his website. He's nuts.

From CTRL-ALT-DEL:

Maybe I agree with him that GTA and Manhunt go a bit too far. But he generalises too much, I mean "video games are murder simulators", what the heck is that? Is Pokemon Snap a murder simulator? What about games like Final Fantasy X? There's not even any blood. Sure, you kill people if you have to, but what else does he suggest you do, come up with a diplomatic solution and give them fuzzy hugs, turning all games into 3+ ratings?

Random slaughter with various weapons like in GTA and Manhunt I think is a little unnecessary sure, but even if they weren't there the people would find some other way to train themselves for their sniping sprees.

I think the main problem in the US is the fact that it's stupidly easy to get hold of firearms, as has been said in the past. Stop letting every home have a gun if they want to and half the problem would be solved.

I'm pissed for many reasons. He blames the video game industry and sides with the parents, yet in many cases it's the parent who is at fault. There are rating systems in place, and they are pretty much strictly enforced now. The only way that kids play these games is when their parents buy them for them. There is a fundamental problem with these ratings, however - if the children's parents will not purchase the game for him, then they can always go to their friends home's and play it. The problem here is that the kid's friend's parent's are being irresponsible by buying them the game when they're younger than the age.

At any rate, Jack Thompson is a senile whore.

Daft littile bugger, he's obiuosly never played a video game in his life.

Sure there have been certain incidents where video games have caused people to do terrible things.

What i dont understand is why the parents souly blame video games, because lets face it these kids where already mentally unbalanced. The video game just tipped them over the edge and gave them ideas, you cant just go from a happy child to a instant murderer.

I also think its partly the parents fault considering they let there young kids play games like GTF which I'll say right now if not suited for kids under 13...

Pah! I'd like for him to tell me Tetris is a murder game. And Diamonds, and compu-Solitare, Freecell, Minesweeper, Hearts... You get my point.

As for the guns thing... I'm not going to touch THAT leetle topic with a ten foot pole, due to the fact that it's more touchy/explosive than nitro-glycerine...

I agree that these games go too far - for kids. This is essentially what he says, but it seems to me that his actions do not agree with his words. For example, pushing for an AO rating for GTA in the US. Unless I've got hold of the wrong end of the stick, this would be, in essence, a virtual banning of the game, with the only places that would likely stock it being the odd porn shop here and there.



It's not even that he just generalises too much, quite often, he's just plain wrong. Some examples - on his StopKill website, it says



Erm, it wasn't. It was made by a subsidiary of Take 2 by the name of Rockstar North, based in Edinburgh in Scotland. Perhaps he's trying to say this because he knows any lawsuit brought against Rockstar North under Scottish law would be laughed out of court?

Another one:



Nope, sorry. This is something you can do, if you so choose, but it has zero impact on how fast you win the game. In fact, it could even be said that it makes you win the game slower, because you have to take the time out of doing the missions and what-not to do this.


Another quote from this website would really make me laugh, if I didn't think he was deadly serious:



So you're trying to protect the freedoms of Americans by...eliminating those freedoms? If someone can make sense of that, please let me know.

White Wolf, sorry to get off of topic, but the US government already has a law/act in place that does that... The Patriot Act- Makes it so the US gov. can place taps on phones, search houses, buildings, and people, hold people without reasonable cause, and subsiquently send them away to jail without a trial, if they want.

Manhunt and GTA do go to far for children. And yes it is the parents responsibility to censor the things that their children play/watch/do. But if he wants to basically ban video games, then he would have to ban all forms of Television entertainment, and almost every site on the internet. Children can see worse thing on the evening news than some(alot) of things that you can do in Video Games. Not a day goes by that you dont hear about someone killing another, and then described in great detail.

No child is going to just snap because of a video game, trust me, I know, I've been playing the worst of the worst since they started making Video Games, and generally, I'm normal. Yea, I break the occasional law, Drive Drunk, whatever. But you dont see me going around killing people left and right, raping hookers, blowing people up with a Rocket launcher bigger than I am or hacking people up with a chainsaw. The truth is, if a child cant seperate what happens in a video game from real life, then that child shouldnt have been allowed to play in the first place. It's not anything mind boggling, you hold a controler, there is a box infront of you, your watching a TV, fairly easily seperated from real life if you ask me.

In the end, what it all comes to, is the parents. If you cant control what your child is doing no more than 10 feet away from you, then you dont deserve the resposibility to raise a child.

Oh, Video game Traders would sell a game with an AO rating, specially if it was GTA. Plus, you've got the internet. That is all.