In the most unsurprising news of the year, Jack Thompson gets angry about some video games.
The games in question? Take-Two’s upcoming Manhunt 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV. “Cotton Top” Thompson is readying a lawsuit (yes, already) against said publisher that would ban the games from being sold.
Now, I am not saying that Grand Theft Auto IV is going to be all petting kittens and hugging grandmothers, but, come on Jack, how about waiting until March 29th like the rest of us before getting all up in arms?
According to Thompson:
[I want to] prevent the sale of two hyper violent video games set to be released this year and sold to anyone under 17 years of age.
That’s great. How about banning all R-rated movies and violent comic books as well? While you’re at it, how about just throwing all of the amendments out the window like you always so easily do with the 1st one? End rant. Sorry. He just really gets my goat.
Chad Concelmo is Destructoid's features editor. He loves hanging out with awesome people. That's why Destructoid makes him so happy, since it is full of THE MOST AWESOME PEOPLE OF ALL TIME! Also, dolphins.
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Contest:
11:30 PM on 03.12.2007
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Also....he's a dick and makes us Christians look bad. In our church we play halo uh....in the church.
This a matter that should be handled by legislation. Put together a lobby and get Congress to pass a bill preventing the sale of M-rated games to minors instead of just "recommending" it. Don't ban games entirely.
Huh, crazy...
Er...end rant. Sorry.
Oh, and HarassmentPanda, he's tried it before, but like just about every other attempt he's made to censor games, it fell flat on his face.
"This a matter that should be handled by legislation. Put together a lobby and get Congress to pass a bill preventing the sale of M-rated games to minors instead of just "recommending" it. Don't ban games entirely."
tried and failed, in about 9 different states i believe... everytime those laws pass the commitees they get challanged by the game industry in court and are shot down as unconstitutional, as violations of the 1st and often the 14th amendments... the state then winds up paying hefty 6 digit legal fees. Because they are unconstitutional laws, they are actually just a huge waste of tax payer money.
Sorry jack... your old news. I bet the judge has already gone over all your old cases and is already preparing for your inevitable yet very publisized loss
Let be be the first to say (in this thread) that JT is a noob that has been pwned by the legal system! 1st & 14th amendment FTW!!
Both!
to drum up interest the release to a larger
audience. A mate of mine use to work for SEGA
New Zealand and when mortal kombat came out on
the megadrive (genesis) he called the censorship
board on himself, sales went through the roof.
Given how screwed up society is I am beginning to think games DO play a part now as they get more and more realistic.
While I'm sure state legislation that bans video game sales to minors would be unconstitutional, has this been tried on a federal level? It would seem that federal legislation could regulate game sales either through the Commerce Clause or Taxing and Spending Clause; maybe not.
The fed gov't can't use a private ratings system. MPAA ratings don't even have the force of law backing them. If the theater wanted to let a 8 year old into an R rated movie with out mama then they have every legal right to do so. The 1st and 14th amendments also apply to the federal government no matter how much Dubyah wants to throw them out the window.
It's been tried before, when Hillary Clinton supported a law that would ban the sale of all M-rated games to minors (to his credit, Thompson did criticize this bill as being too far in scope - bills written by Thompson try to incorporate the Supreme Court's own definition of obscene).
The federal government would have to deal with the same 1st Amendment obsacles as the states would, except it would be a lot more direct since the 14th Amendment doesn't apply restrictions on them. They may have an argument under the commerce clause, but not really the taxing clause or the spending clause (I'm not going to go into too much detail here about what those are). To my recollection, though, I've never come across a case where the commerce clause was used to allow the federal gov't. to pass a law that would violate the 1st Amendment when the states couldn't.
PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT THEIR FUCKING KIDS ARE PLAYING
Seriously, this is the same story over and over again. Thompson goes on a crusade, spouting the same lines about different games, none of which he's ever played (and sometimes never seen). Then in response, the communituy (that's us, guys) comes back with their stock responses about freedom of speech, how there are other violent forms of media, blah blah blah.
Enough already. I think the industry (include gamers, journalists, developer in that term) needs to decide, as a whole, to ignore this douche commander. He's failed before and he will fail again. His tantrums only effect the industry if we let it. He will fall in the courts, making an ass of himself in the process and that's what ultimately matters.
Unless Thompson calls my house, you're not likely to see me write an article on him. The guy DOESN'T MATTER -- he's a punchline to the gaming industry and even to those who would champion his cause (if he weren't so insane).
Just leave this alone already.
wouldn't work... Video games are already protected as free speech, and thus, thanks to the 1st amendment, they can not be regulated in any form or way. The only way speech can be regulated is if the speech is unprotected speech, such as pornography. However, so far all attempts to prove that violence should be considered an unprotected form of speech has been shot down in the courts, the evidence that the law makers use tend to be either flawed or not actual proof of what they claim.
Furtharmore, another conflict is the use of the ESRB system as a method of regulation. The ESRB is independent from the gov't and because of that it can not be used as a method for regulation, a system completly independent of the gov't can not be given such power. The only way the gov't could regulate violence is by putting together their own system and system which has a solid defination of "what is TOO violent" (since that is what they are regualting)... however, unlike explicit sex, defining what kind of violence is exceptable and what is not has so far been a rather impossible task.
Funny, I thought that was the games salesman's job?
Heck why not 'The Hills Have Eyes'.
No seriously, this ambulance chaser needs to find something else to do. If he should be sueing anyone it should be the dumbfuck parents who bought the game in the first place. Come on parents! It doesn't take a damn genius to realize that games titled Manhunt and Killzone aren't okay for your 4 year old.
Yeah! Not to mention rap and all the music that is circulating today.
Also, not ALL music circulating today us bad and violent, some can actually teach you stuff, like math. (well, more analysis, and morals)
http://jackthompsonsphone.ytmnd.com/
Not sure if it's real or not, but you guys can try it out :)