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stopkill.com is his website where you can contact him. I can sum that first page into one word, but due to forum rules I'm not allowed to post it. I've read quite a few webcomics pertaining to this baka, and each one is as hiarious as the last. But the recent Penny Arcade one has me creeped out because this remindes me of my uncle, also a psychopath (but replace video game hating lawyer with conspiratist megalomaniac photographer). Similarities include screaming over the phone and odd linkage (Jack links video games to violence as my uncle links LEGO's to Homosexuality). any other thoughts?

A story, ending in a rant: In my Amer. Gov't class, each week I have to do a current event. I have made it my personal project to do each report on the Aftermath of the Hot Coffee mod (i.e. legislation passed, etc.) Our new law states:

Quote

The legislation bars the sale and rental to minors of games that show such things as as the killing, maiming or sexual assault of a character depicted as human, and which are determined to be especially heinous, atrocious or cruel. Violators are subject to a $1,000 fine.

honestly, how stupid is that? If you ban every game that depicts anyting of the above, games are limited to adults. I have a challenge for you all now: find 3 games that don't fall under this legislation. I applied this to EVERY video game I know and all I got was my sister's Barbie game. I applied this to other barbie games. Basically anyone that is a minor can only buy barbie games (except for the horse adventure one, saw that on x-play on g4. I can define skunk attacks as cruel). I applied this theory to disney games. No, minors can't buy any of those either. No Popeye, no Bugs bunny, I'm running out of games here. All sports games are now adult only through this legislation. some quiz games seem exempt. No RPG's for anyone under 18.
Whats your thoughts?

Also, I propose a challenge: find 5 games that are exempt from this law, I dare you. You'd be hard-pressed to find them.

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Neneko is Neneko because Neneko couldn't be Neneko if Neneko wasn't Neneko!
--as quoted from Neneko, Mahoraba {Heartful Days}

I can stab a man with a thick paperback book thru the ribcage.

Quote (strikerbolt @ 15th October 2005 23:18)

Also, I propose a challenge: find 5 games that are exempt from this law, I dare you. You'd be hard-pressed to find them.

I actually think most of if not all the mario games would still be ok because they don't depict violence against humans. Sure you jump on something and I guess you "kill" it but it's not heinous, atrocious or cruel.

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Elena Indurain

Currently Playing: Suikoden II

but...don't games already have ratings on them? confused...

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OSonic Rave
/ \Last Arcanum
[ ]Strike Raid
XRagnarok

The real key is interpretation of the phrase "determined to be especially heinous, atrocious or cruel." I'm sure that if the courts act reasonably on this issue then they'll just try to have the ESRB guidelines enforced more strongly and bring that fine in to the mix. It really isn't hard to find five, or even thirty games that pass those guidelines if you don't have a Puritan definition of "heinous, atrocious or cruel."

While I completely believe that Jack Thompson is a delusional turd sandwich with extremely exagerrated views and a nonsense agenda, I'm not entirely against more enforcement of the ESRB. I would liken many of the crime-sim and survival-horror games out there to R-rated movies, which is basically a similar classification as the "not suitable for minors" generalization made by that law.

And speaking of which, I'm pretty sure that law's California-only. Still, it's exactly the sort of law that the Ninth Circuit would take as high as possible and in an attempt to nationalize some kind of video game content-regulations or at least retool the ESRB's system. I wouldn't mind stricter enforcement of the ESRB, but I think that Thompson's stance is bringing out an extreme side that I dearly hope is taken terribly seriously. He's saying that the NMF wants nothing to do with him because of pressure from Best Buy and Target, whom Jack Thompson believes are trying to shut him down. What a nutjob.

In conclusion: Jack Thompson BAD, ESRB GOOD. What it really comes down to is the court's interpretation of those three adjectives and hwo far this goes. I don't think that that legislation is so bad (it might help that I'm not a minor, but still....), but it could be an acceptable thing or a very bad thing. Let's hope that the Ninth Circuit listens to reason and not Thompson.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

I see only one flaw with this. Sorry, but let me check here: This bars MINORS IE people who should not have been playing them anyway from using them. I'd support that the same way I'd support a ban on Replica firearms being sold to under 18's in the UK as opposed to the full blown ban that Mothers Against Guns AKA MAG want.

The flaw? Goes a bit too far in it's poor wording. A bit, dare we say it, unconstitutional? And what defines minor, come to think of it? Silly wording, right kind of idea.

It's distubing though, when people listen to misnformed people like Jack and MAG. Jack says violent games make killers, MAG says I have a replica handgun I can apparently convert into a real one easily. The truth? I have never killed another human being, and even if it were possible to turn the G19 into a real gun, it's a crime to do it already, and I wouldn't know how. Nor could I afford the £250 plus quid to do so. Now, It's said to be possible to buy a real one off the black market for £150. I'm not too hot at maths, but methinks someones looking at the wrong problem, espeically considering it's IMPOSSIBLE for me to get a real handgun from my Gas Blowback.

This post has been edited by Del S on 17th October 2005 14:18

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"Only the dead have seen the end of their quotes being misattributed to Plato."
-George Santayana

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..."
-Abraham Lincoln, prior to the discovery of Irony.

Quote (Zeromus_X @ 16th October 2005 16:05)

but...don't games already have ratings on them? confused...

Mr. Thompson feels that Take-Two Games Inc are responsible for supplying GTA to minors for military training leading up to highschool massacres. His arguements have no basis on reality, and neither does his logic towards how adult games get into the hands of children, which is of course, the developers fault.

Read StopKill.com if you have time for a laugh. They beleive Thompson has the industry 'Running scared'. Which is correct, apart from the fact that 2 more GTA games are on the way, as well as another 'controversial' Rockstar game. They also beleive that persistent prayer to God will solve the problem, completly sidestepping any pressure to take responsiblity for the action of STUPID parents.

Apparantly he's very busy making "100's of National and International" media appearances, though that didn't stop him phoning the artist of a WEBCOMIC to argue about how much money he gives to charity.

The guy is best ignored, the worst thing the media can do is give him the time of day, but newspapers especially, are sensationalist media, it's in their nature to humour these characters.

Cry me a river Jack, you complete pleb.

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Whether you take the doughnut hole as a blank space or as an entity unto itself is a purely metaphysical question and does not affect the taste of the doughnut one bit.

http://slightly-bitter.blog.co.uk

Your really not being open minded about this. Sure I think of it as a little extreme. But the main words in that are "depicted as human" . So I'm sure stomping a goomba doesn't apply.

Animal Crossing

Super Mario Sunshine

Donkey Konga 1 & 2

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

The legend of Zelda: WW

These are just a FEW. Now I'm just choosing Nintendo games because those personally are my favorite. But I'm sure I could find lots of Xbox or PS2 games that apply as well.

This post has been edited by Phunbaba on 17th October 2005 04:12

just read the website...is this for real?! sigh...these things always seem to happen everynow and again, itll just blow over.

its...just too ridiculous to believe.

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OSonic Rave
/ \Last Arcanum
[ ]Strike Raid
XRagnarok

I honestly can't see anything wrong with this.

So he's enforcing the ESRB rating for mature violent games. Well, y'know... it's about time someone does it. :/

I can think of a very, very high amount of games that wouldn't be banned by this. And the ones that are? Jesus christ people, do you honestly support having young teens playing GTA and then have the rocks to blame incidents on the parents for not being able to read the ratings?

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

Quote

The legislation bars the sale and rental to minors of games that show such things as as the killing, maiming or sexual assault of a character depicted as human, and which are determined to be especially heinous, atrocious or cruel. Violators are subject to a $1,000 fine.

Quote

Strikerbolt:  All sports games are now adult only through this legislation

I'm sorry, but I fail to see how you interpret sports games not fitting in with this legislation. Maybe Blitz: The League.... but the other 500 sports games out there should have no problem bypassing this law.




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Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people - and kill them.

~Pacifist Badge, 1978

Quote (Silverlance @ 16th October 2005 22:39)

I honestly can't see anything wrong with this.

So he's enforcing the ESRB rating for mature violent games. Well, y'know... it's about time someone does it. :/

Are you speaking of Jack Thompson? If so, I strongly advise you to do some research on the guy. I'm quite serious; he's completely and utterly insane. As I mentioned in another topic, he's been known to link game developers to Nazis, claiming they kill in a Holocaustesque fashion. To him games such as Grand Theft Auto are "murder simulators that train teenagers to kill." He will NOT accept other explanations such as maybe the very small amount of teenage killers who just so happen to be gamers have mental issues or kill for other reasons than 'cause their games brainwashed them. He stoops to childish name-calling whenever someone doesn't agree with him, too. His original cause was something to honor, really, but in recent years he's proven himself to be the worst thing imaginable when it comes to keeping these games outta the hands of kids, seeing as he comes off as very violent-natured himself.

He wants to shut down, nay, destroy gaming companies, even ones such as Nintendo and Square - companies known for making relatively nonviolent and/or tame games, at least that's the impression many people get from his words. It doesn't matter to him. Oh, and the irresponsible parents who allow their underage children to own M-rated games are NEVER at fault in his eyes. The fault entirely lies with the developers, the stores that sell the games, and the gamers themselves.

If anyone here's been keeping up with his latest fiasco then you know he's attempting to get the owners/webmasters of the popular Penny Arcade webcomic arrested. Why? Well, a while back Jackie-poo proposed an extremely violent video game idea involving an Asian man murdering employees of the gaming industry. He claimed that if Take-Two made it into a game, he would donate $10,000 to a charity of their choice. However, he backed outta his claim before they ever responed, basically saying he was just kidding and that his disgusting idea of a "game" was merely satire. So the brains behind Penny Arcade decided to be the better men and donated $10,000 of their own money to the charity for him, which enraged Jack who faxed the Seattle police demanding their arrest in return. And he's pitifully sucking-up to said police in order to convince them.

There're more details 'bout it here. (Warning - some of the member comments below the article contain cursing)

As was stated before, do not take this guy seriously. He's totally lost it in every sense of the phrase. While I personally have no problem with CA's new restrictions on M-rated games, Jack Thompson is a huge problem by himself.

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Words of Wisdom:

If something can go wrong, it will.

If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. - Murphy’s Law

Boing! Zoom! - Mr. Saturn

I truly hope that was sarcasm, Silverlance.


Jack Thompson, as stated, is pretty damn insane. He reminds me of that kid at school who tells on people at the age of 17.

I put most of the blame for this on the parents. If you won't let your child watch a porno flick because it's rated X, maybe you should have the brains god gave a housefly and realize that "mature" doesn't mean Little Billy. Parents of this day and age are pretty stupid, i've noticed. Would you believe my mother is the only one I know that cooks? Kids are getting raised by the TV and getting stuff thrown at them in place of parenting, because daddy is too busy on his cell-phone, and Mommy is trying to show she can be both a 21st century woman and mother. Here's an idea- Put down the phone, get out of the McDonalds drivethru, get out of the SUV, and do some parenting.

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If you've been mod-o-fied,
It's an illusion, and you're in-between.
Don't you be tarot-fied,
It's just alot of nothing, so what can it mean?
~Frank Zappa

Sins exist only for people who are on the Way or approaching the Way

Yep, Jack is pretty coocoo for Crazy Puffs.

I don't mind a more scrict enforcing of the ESRB, but its not going to have the effect some people think it will. Kids are still going to get their hands on violent games, whether its the result of poor parenting or a parent deciding that their child is mature enough to play the game. Its still going to happen.

I just wish people like Jack would get a clue and try to do something about the problems that actually cause kids and teens to act out violently. Such as the poor parenting that MogMaster talked about, or bad social situations such as bullying.

I find it really disturbing how parents will let the TV do the child rearing. I have a 6 year old step-sister that constantly wants me to play video games with her. I do so most of the time not because I really want to, but because her parents never want to play with her. Beyond doing what they have to they tend to ignore the child when they can. They don't make any real effort to socialize with the child.

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-- You're Gonna Carry That Weight --

I think the last news post on the Ctrl Alt Delete site sums up my opinion on the guy.

I agree with the no selling of Mature games to minors idea, but nothing more. I may be sixteen, but I can see where he is coming from on that angle. In terms of everything else, I couldn't agree less. Kids are going to be able to get thier hands on these games regardless. Big brothers, older friends, parents who find their kids responsible enough, it will happen.

The actual CAD webcomic is hilarious. Don't forget to read it

This post has been edited by Barrylocke on 20th October 2005 17:04

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Dead Winter. A nice comic.

Quote (MogMaster @ 19th October 2005 14:40)

I truly hope that was sarcasm, Silverlance.

Well, no, it wasn't. Someone being insane doesn't necessarily mean every single one of their ideas is equally insane, just like a hypocrite may be wrong morally but right logically (ie, "Smoking's bad. You shouldn't smoke. *puff*")

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

I guess I should offer another explanation as to my challenge among other things I said, part of it being I had a bad day and feeling I needed to rant about something.

When I said stuff like sports games, I meant it too far to the extreme. For instance, Mario does take damage and pass out, or as many call it in any video game when you run out of health: die. Legend of Zelda: Your going to run out of hearts and "die" at one point or another.
For sports games: Tony Hawk (yes, it IS a sports game) is a target because if you fall and hit your head on the cement, there is a blood spot on the ground as to where your head was. I know because I've done this just to see how many blood spots you can make before they start disappearing (testing the engine of the game than my violent tendencies). Football: Your tackling people and people get hurt. I could go on but my post is getting pretty long here.

I took it way far to the extreme so I apologize for my stupidity in this matter. Though It did give me a better Idea on what people think about this since I only know 6 other people who give a care about Jack Thompson, and we all think the same way. I just plain live in redneck country, definatley a place where I don't belong, yet I've been here for most of my life.

On selling games to minors, where I live if someone buys a video game, the vendors dont really give a care either and sell them to whoever wants to buy them. And I forgot to mention: I reread the article and the law takes effect Jan. 1st. Another reason this will be taken off is because The Terminator signed it in an attempt to raise the polls. Not much of an effect as he is attempting to screw up california even further, and I don't normally pay attention to Politics. This is a first for me

Quote

I find it really disturbing how parents will let the TV do the child rearing. I have a 6 year old step-sister that constantly wants me to play video games with her. I do so most of the time not because I really want to, but because her parents never want to play with her. Beyond doing what they have to they tend to ignore the child when they can. They don't make any real effort to socialize with the child.

I hate these types of parents. They are the ones that can really tug on my hormonolly-unbalanced (due to puberty) emotional strings.

Does anyone mind if I use some of these Ideas for debate in my Gov't class? Naturally all names are anomynous and so forth. Just trying to earn extra credit. If you don't like it just send me a PM and I won't do it.

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Neneko is Neneko because Neneko couldn't be Neneko if Neneko wasn't Neneko!
--as quoted from Neneko, Mahoraba {Heartful Days}

I can stab a man with a thick paperback book thru the ribcage.

Jack Thomson is uterly insane. In order to come up with the game idea he "proposed" to game companies, you have to be messed up in the head. Good lord, the man advocates getting rid of violent video games, then tells game companies to make one of the most atocious games I have ever seen. I don't see how it would further his cause at all.

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What if he shot you first instead of your secretary?

I suppose I'd have to catch the bullet, wouldn't I

Quote (whatevertheheck)

killing, maiming or sexual assault of a character depicted as human, and which are determined to be especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.

Possible violations:
-Simon Belmont is no longer allowed to whip Drac's @$$.
-Well, Drac is no longer allowed to torch Simon's @$$, so I guess that's even there.
-Samus is not allowed to die.
-All future Metroid series enemies may not look like people. Thus, X parasites are barred from invading the bodies of BSL scientists. Space pirates are now ordered to grow extra limbs, just so that they'll look less like Homo sapiens (or some might call them Homo idiotus).
-Frog and Magus are no longer allowed to duel.
-Lavos may no longer be defeated, since one of its core parts looks somewhat like a human, and gets torched/frozen/shocked/sliced during the final battle. On the other hand, Lavos is banned from doing violence to humans, so we no longer have the apocalypse as a plot-device. Sorry.
-Sephiroth is no longer allowed to slice people with his oh-so-cool katana.
-Kefka is no longer allowed to destroy things. (Not that he'll listen, though, just like any crazy person *ahem*.)
-There shall be a stalemate in the moon, because Zemus can't do anything legal, nor can anything be done to him because he kinda looks human-like. So they all sit around watching (MBC) Moon Broadcasting Channel whose local news mentions manslaughter, rape, arson, hate crimes, etc. every night.

If you really want more satire than what I've given so far, you can see another piece here: http://www.projectjen.net/forums/index.php...e=post&id=11502 .

Guns Violent videogames don't kill people; people kill people.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 23rd October 2005 18:28

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Quote (Glenn Magus Harvey @ 23rd October 2005 13:28)

Quote (whatevertheheck)

killing, maiming or sexual assault of a character depicted as human, and which are determined to be especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.

Possible violations:
-Simon Belmont is no longer allowed to whip Drac's @$$.
-Well, Drac is no longer allowed to torch Simon's @$$, so I guess that's even there.
-Samus is not allowed to die.
-All future Metroid series enemies may not look like people. Thus, X parasites are barred from invading the bodies of BSL scientists. Space pirates are now ordered to grow extra limbs, just so that they'll look less like Homo sapiens (or some might call them Homo idiotus).
-Frog and Magus are no longer allowed to duel.
-Lavos may no longer be defeated, since one of its core parts looks somewhat like a human, and gets torched/frozen/shocked/sliced during the final battle. On the other hand, Lavos is banned from doing violence to humans, so we no longer have the apocalypse as a plot-device. Sorry.
-Sephiroth is no longer allowed to slice people with his oh-so-cool katana.
-Kefka is no longer allowed to destroy things. (Not that he'll listen, though, just like any crazy person *ahem*.)
-There shall be a stalemate in the moon, because Zemus can't do anything legal, nor can anything be done to him because he kinda looks human-like. So they all sit around watching (MBC) Moon Broadcasting Channel whose local news mentions manslaughter, rape, arson, hate crimes, etc. every night.

If you really want more satire than what I've given so far, you can see another piece here: http://www.projectjen.net/forums/index.php...e=post&id=11502 .

Guns Violent videogames don't kill people; people kill people.

LOL this is the kind of stuff I was complaining about if Lawmakers took the law that far

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Neneko is Neneko because Neneko couldn't be Neneko if Neneko wasn't Neneko!
--as quoted from Neneko, Mahoraba {Heartful Days}

I can stab a man with a thick paperback book thru the ribcage.