Jack Thompson

Ah, good old Jack Thompson. The self proclaimed savior of children from violent video games. If you're a gamer, you know who he is. And chances are, you hate his guts. That is understandable. Jack sure does seem to do his best to get on our bad side. If it was up to him, all games would be in line with Barbie Horse Adventures.

His recent campaign against Bully seems to be blowing up in his face though, since according to reviews, the game is not even close to being the "Columbine Simulator" Jack claims that it is. You are not even a bully in the game, but instead, you protect kids from them. A far cry from what Jack "assumed" the game to be. But, that hasn't stopped him from trying.

It seems Mr. Thompson is having a feud with a local judge here in Miami about this very topic. He's been sending said Judge several angry letters, the latest one being especially entertaining. You can read it HERE courtesy of Kotaku.

He has gone completly off his rocker huh? That is some funny shit.

You know, I'm not completely against Jack and what he is trying to do. Ok, fellow gamers, before you have me lynched and kicked out of the club, hear me out. I agree that young kids should not be playing Grand Theft Auto and the countless other "M" rated titles out there. But Jack is going about it all wrong. Why attack individual game developers? The problem is not that these games are being made (because there are millions of adult gamers that want to play them), the problem is that kids are getting their hands on them.

Jack Thompson and the mainstream media needs to understand that gaming is no longer a kids' medium. All those kids that were there for the birth of videogames have now grown up. And guess what? We're still gaming. It is old news that the majority of gamers fall into the 18-35 age group. Why stop the release of a videogames aimed at a group of individuals more than old enough to handle its contents? Why not try and ban all R rated movies next Jack, I'm sure little kids want to see those too.

No, what Jack is trying to do is censorship, and that my friend, is a big no-no in my book. Every videogame is reviewed by the ESRB and given a rating, just like movies are. If Jack wants to keep GTA away from 6 year old Timmy, then go after stores that do not I.D. before purchase. Go after parents that buy these games for their children, or better yet, use all that energy to create a program to educate parents about these ratings so that maybe they will be a little more aware of what their kids are playing.

Ultimately, I feel it is the parent's job to decide what their kids can and cannot watch/play, not the government. But I have no problem will laws being passed preventing the sales of M rated titles to underage buyers, in the same way a 12 year old it not allowed into a NC-17 rated movie.

But Jack, seriously, get off your high-horse and stop trying to ban, censor, or in your eyes, clean up gaming. We're a mature industry. Your talk of murder-simulators is beyond ridiculous, as the act of sitting at home pressing some buttons differs greatly from yielding a real gun and pulling a trigger. Those disturbed individuals that have committed heinous acts have not done so because they played Doom, or GTA. They've committed those crimes because they were not mentally stable. You can blame biology or society for that before you point your finger at the videogame industry. From my understanding, youth shootings and violent crimes have been happening way before Pong made its debut.