David and Goliath. He-Man and Skeletor. Jack Thompson and Take Two. These famous rivalries have entertained us, thrilled us, and, in the case of the last one, infuriated us to no end.
The infuriating thing about Jack Thompson's constant lawsuits toward Take Two (producers of Grand Theft Auto and Bully) was that, for all his misplaced rage and failed attempts to block distribution of harmless entertainment, Take Two never fought back. Take Two defended themselves, and remained dignified -- as dignified as a company can be, when that company manufactures entertainment where one can pay a hooker for sex and then run her over with a scooter.
But this time, things are different. This time, Jack Thompson is in the other box in The People's Court. This time, Jack Thompson is the one getting sued.
Hit the jump to see the specifics of Take Two's lawsuit against everyone's favorite Video Game Villain.
Update: Now with Jack's response to the lawsuit!
Yes, after Jack's failed attempts to restrict distribution of Bully and his promise to follow suit when Take Two releases Manhunt 2 and GTA IV later in the year, Take Two has decided to file a federal court case against Mr. Thompson. They claim that Thompson has flagrantly abused Florida's "nuisance" law in his single-minded crusade to ban violent video games. Take Two's official complaint states that Thompson's penchant for bringing up threats and lawsuits before retracting and dismissing is irritating: that his lawsuits come at "unpredictable times and under unpredictable circumstances," in addition to harming retailers who do business with Take Two.
Take Two also complains that Thompson's lawsuits represent an infringement of their first amendment rights, which may or may not be the very first thing every gamer in the world thought the moment we first heard about Thompson's war on gaming. Well, maybe the second thing we thought. The first thing was likely something along the lines of, "What a doucheface."
This is awesome, in so many indescribable ways. Destructoid's first birthday, Niero's 29th, and the filing of a lawsuit against Jack Thompson happened within three days of one another? Without a doubt, this has been one of the best single weekends in video game history.
UPDATE:
Mxyzptlk was kind enough to provide a link to Jack's insanely religious response to the lawsuit. It's worth reading in full, but suffice it to say that he quotes Psalm 35 (which he describes as brilliant, "since God Himself wrote it") and ends his letter by saying "Praise be to God Almighty."
I'll be the first to say that Jack Thompson seems like a somewhat reasonable guy in person, but he sure knows how to be creepy as fuck in print.
[Via ars technica]
Contest:
12:46 AM on 03.17.2007
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jack Thompson take that!
here's hoping take two wins!
he is such a scumbag.
GREAT PIC !!!
Sw33t pic by the way
Seriously that guy is a serious douchebag and needs a taste of his own god damn medicine
Plus i think that JT's constant harassment should be taken into consideration, cos that's what he's doing, harassing and BULLYING take two until they give up and stop making games.
How funny is it that one man can be so against Violence and Bullying but then turn into a Bully himself.
TUT TUT TUT JT you were supposed to be a role model for the youth of today, teaching us what was right and wrong.
but maybe you have,
Maybe through your constant bullying of take two you will be brought to justice and then we will all learn that bullying is wrong and is something we should only do in video games.
I'm sure jack will try to sue you.
You know, to recoup the costs of the take two law suit.
Maybe then, and only then, will he move on to something else and leave us alone to enjoy our hobby.
300%
This is a civil lawsuit in which case, Thompson will not go to jail. If this were a criminal lawsuit and Thompson lost, he'd be going to jail.
Help line the pockets of Take Two so they can violate JT with fat wads of cash hewn from the countless teenagers who DIDNT kill anyone after playing GTA and who didn't make out with other men after playing Bully.
Think of all the papercuts JT will incur getting violated with a big fat roll of 100's.
$$$$ butt secks...
2nd, Niero hit more 1up Jaggerbombs than MArio (btw Mario was @d party too LOL)
3rd, now I wake up with this...
I knew this was going to be a good year :D
lets all get in his face and shout STFUAJPG!
lol, I think Take Two isn't exactly hurting for money. They don't need our donations other than buying more GTA games. :)
JT will just use this to get more attention for himself and claim how he's being persecuted by the evil demonic games industry for his desire to save the children. The guy's a religious zealot. In his own mind he's a hero and doing the Lord's work.
Dolt.
Not only does he fail at his own religion, his grammar sucks as well; "the maker even video games" ...Wtf?
When did God come down from heaven to write passages in the Bible?
I'm pretty sure David wrote his own psalms. I'm also pretty sure that in 2000 years quite a few people have taken their own pens in hand and made a few changes the the grand ole book o' jesus stories... popes and kings and translators and the like.
You think JRPG's get a little lost in translation? Try taking something written in a dead tongue, rewrite it's context perfectly, and translate it into multiple languages that have little to nothing to do with Aramaic, while attempting to appease the socio-political powers of the day.
It wasn't until recently that just unpopular books got burned, remember. Not to long ago they'd burn the author, too. A fact that I'm sure has in no way compromised the consistency and truth of the bible.
Me? I think of the bible in the same way I view <I> Where the Sidewalk Ends <I/>. It's a cute set of stories with a bunch of good ideas about how you can be a better person and live a richer life. It is in no way, nor has it ever been, a factual account of history.
When did God come down from heaven to write passages in the Bible?
I'm pretty sure David wrote his own psalms. I'm also pretty sure that in 2000 years quite a few people have taken their own pens in hand and made a few changes the the grand ole book o' jesus stories... popes and kings and translators and the like.
You think JRPG's get a little lost in translation? Try taking something written in a dead tongue, rewrite it's context perfectly, and translate it into multiple languages that have little to nothing to do with Aramaic, while attempting to appease the socio-political powers of the day.
It wasn't until recently that just unpopular books got burned, remember. Not to long ago they'd burn the author, too. A fact that I'm sure has in no way compromised the consistency and truth of the bible.
Me? I think of the bible in the same way I view [I] Where the Sidewalk Ends [I/]. It's a cute set of stories with a bunch of good ideas about how you can be a better person and live a richer life. It is in no way, nor has it ever been, a factual account of history.
*VOMIT*