The Other Wacko Jacko

Gamers such as myself usually take offense to anyone trying to ruin our fun, but no man has initiated such outrage from the gaming commnity as the failed politicianmalpractice attorney, Jack Thompson(pictured on the right). Recently, Jack has been in the news for his crusade against Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which he managed to have re-reviewed by the ESRB who changed the game's rating to Adult's Only (AO). His reasoning for the charge was over unused code left in the game which allowed the playing of a sex-minigame. Access to this required the use of a third-party game "enhancer", such as Action Replay. Since Rockstar failed to inform the ESRB of the unused code, the rating change was made, and Rockstar has been fined and the game has been pulled from many retail shelves until an edited Mature (M) rated version is released.

Jacko didn't stop there. He has since moved on to Electonic Arts' The Sims 2, stating it "contains, according to video game news sites, full frontal nudity, including nipples, penises, labia, and pubic hair." However, without being modded by a third party, none of this content exists AT ALL...even under the blurred areas. He then insisted that software companies and game developers be held responsible for all modding of their products. This is where I'd like to insert that this man is INSANE. The PC game modding community is one that allows gamers to express their own creativity and can lead to possible future jobs within the game developing community. I, for one, do not see this standing up in court.

In the past, Thompson has tried to insinuate that the Washington Sniper incidents were directly linked to "training" they'd received by playing Halo. This is, of course, due to the realistic shooting and zoomable scope in the game. He has also recently attacked Rockstar again for their upcoming game Bully; a game in which a student attacks school bullies. He went as far as to email Bill Gates a threat of legal action if he did not stop the release of the game. Gates has not ordered a cancellation, nor has he replied to Thompson. In addition to all of this (he's a busy man these days), Jack has called Doug Lowenstein (president of the Entertainment Software Association) "Hitler" AND "Saddam Hussein". And finally, he has asked for the destruction of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, which would force government involvement in how games are rated.

Jack Thompson is not mentally stable. In addition to all that was listed above, he has attacked Janet Reno, whom he lost a political race to, calling her a "closet lesbian" (among other things). He has been ordered by the courts to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. He filed a complaint agains Howard Stern, which cost Clear Channel Communications nearly half a million dollars. He has made absurd generalizations about gamers (i.e. drug addicts). But worst of all, he has gained the support of politicians such as Hillary Clinton, and many of the older generation Americans. This man's campaign full of half-truths and his overly cocky demeanor must be stopped.

In closing, I offer my opinion on the situation with which he's trying to deal. Video games are rated for a reason. Many parents still fail to understand the system, though it's quite clearly explained on every case. If the parent of a 12-year-old buys their child an M-rated game, which is clearly stated to be suitable only for those over the age of 17, they have NO RIGHT to complain at a later time about the content of the game. They should know full well that the game is not for their child. The changing of a game's rating from M to AO is only a big deal for retail sales. The only difference other than what stores can sell them is a ONE YEAR age requirement change. ONE YEAR! This is clearly a campaign by Thompson to attempt to dismantle the industry one developer at a time. How? By hurting their sales. AO titles CAN NOT be sold at Walmart, Best Buy, Target, K Mart, Amazon, EB, Gamestop...the list goes on. I say Thompson should be stopped, but he can only be stopped by giving the real facts to the politicians whom we elect. NOTHING IN THIS WORLD will change his opinion, which he considers hard fact, so there is no reason to try to do it. This man is in it for fame, and he's just basking in the limelight as long as he can. He is the type of guy that, if he was active on the internet, would have a LiveJournal filled with emo crap so that he could get all the attention from the girls who fall for such garbage. This man is insane. This man is emo. This man is an attention whore. This man can not be reasoned with. This man poses a threat to the freedom's of many. This man is my sworn enemy.

For more information, be sure to check out the article and all the links located on Wikipedia. I most especially recommend the correspondence links so that you may see what a simple and retarded man he is. How he got into law is beyond me.