Jack Thompson - The SPOnG Exclusive

Lovely interview.

His eventual goal of regulation I agree with- he's not after banning things, just stopping kids playing them. That's fair enough. As yr man David Walsh says... http://culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu/conf2001/papers/walsh.html

It's just a shame he's such a belligerent dickhead.

It still leaves me gobsmacked that Jack Thompson refuses to see that the people, who are influenced by videogames, are almost certainly mentally disturbed already. Most gamers recognise that there are some people who will be affected by what they experience, whether it be violent films or violent videogames, but there is an underlying problem there already and the question should then be one of: did it cause them to commit violence, or was it a symptom? There are millions of gamers around the world who never commit a crime, let alone a violent one, and yet those who commit murder that could be contributed to videogames can be counted in their hundreds at the very worst, in the tens being more realistic. So, because a few disturbed individuals have been exposed to videogames, every other gamer has to be painted as a raving lunatic, who is ready to go on a murder spree at the drop of a hat?

I noticed he dodged the question of limiting firearms, too. Anything to do with being buddies with Charlton Heston, aka President of the National Rifle Association? The wide availability of firearms in the USA obviously has nothing to do with people being able to go on mass murder sprees, oh no, not at all. I mean, whilst the USA is happy to allow its citizens possess assault rilfes and machine guns, there are more people being murdered with knives in Japan than ever before. Quick, let's ban knives!

What was his comment about Clinton? Something about restricting sales of videogames, recognising the fact that it might prompt someone to pick up a gun and go kill people? Hmmm, would make sense for people not to have the gun to pick up, too. But, of course, that's not going to happen because the right to shoot someone is protected by the Bill of Rights, whoops, the right to bear arms. Silly me...

That made for an excellent read tbh, and my opposition towards Jack has lowered quite a bit. His aim, which is to stop kids playing these games, not to outright ban them, but to make it impossible to sell them to minors is an honorable one, and something I would like to see happen. These games weren't made for kids though, and in the end, it is the parents fault that they play them, not Rockstars or Take-Two.

However, that does not justify his attacks on gamers and the industry alike, which in the most instances are uncalled for.

I must say that I firmly agree with Thompson's goal of banning sales of games to age groups for which those games weren't made for; that's just really common sense.

The thing is he could achieve so much more if he toned down his voice, and really fought to solve the problem. I think he's way too obsessed with Take-Two and Eibeler to see the real problem. All you need to do is rally a bunch of people and say "We don't want people under the age of 17 to be able to buy games made for people 17 and older". That's a message everyone understands, since it relates to pornography and R-rated movied pretty easily. In all fairness, it should have been that way since the beggining. And no company, no matter how dirty it is, will want to oppose this.

At the same time, I think there are irrensponsible companies out there. I think that while Take-Two and Rockstar have the right to produce what they feel fit, they're not at all concerned about the problem the industry faces with the age regulation. So the system isn't working; don't make it even worse by making games like Bully, which are frankly of bad taste, but could be perfectly legitimate if the system was working properly. By making games like GTA and Bully before the age regulation system is fixed, there's a very high chance that most of the buyers of those games will be under the recommended age.

What is "broken" about the age rating system? Both the PEGI and ESRB systems are voluntary systems. In the UK games can be rated by the BBFC (who rate films and DVDs) at the option of the publisher.

The rating systems mostly work - the GTA:SA Hot Coffee content being the only notable exception I can think of where a "not quite correct" rating was given.

The problem is that the systems are not enforceable by law in either case. Only BBFC rated products are in the UK, not PEGI. So in the main, age ratings can only be guides to parents. If the parents don't care, or don't understand, then there needs to be education.

I have seen stories that many people take the age ratings on games to be an indicator of the difficulty of the game, like a jigsaw puzzle or something. Maybe ELSPA and the ESA needs to put adverts in newspapers and during Corrie or Lost to educate parents on what the age ratings actually mean?

I actually know what you mean about age ratings being related to difficulty. My mum got me Rainbow Six when I was twelve (I thinki) even though it was 15. I think it was 15 because it was pretty violent in the sense you can shoot hostages and bash guns around. But my mum just thought it was meant to be too hard for my age group. It was, but only because I couldn't be arsed to see what the controls were.

But I think there's a problem. Like here in the UK, it's illegal to sell a kid GTA unless an 'adult' gets it for you. That's all swell, but parents will cave in almost all the time, and kids will still pick it up. This is because physically the games are rarely sorted by age rating on the shelves so you have Manhunt next to Monkey Ball. Then they have posters and fancy tag lines all over the box appealing to any easily impressionable kid.

Never thought I would say it but; pretty much agree with Jack.

I just think he goes about it the wrong way, he should be working with the gaming community instead of against them.

video games are now the no1 form of entertainment, did jack not play with action man when he was a kid? if he continues to degrade gamers then he degrades the majority of young adults, and whats that going to achieve.

I dont consider myself sad becuase i play games, i find it more stimulating than sitting like a potato watchin TV, at least you are engaged, challenged and can interact. some of jacks comments have pissed me off (not enough to kill him mind you ;)

so come on jack, your going to achieve nothing if you dont change your approach.

You think games are largely a waste of time, Jack? They’re dangerous?

I guess Christianity is one big, fluffy ball of kittens and Bibles then, huh? The Spanish Inquistion, the Crusades, slavery, Pope Pius XII and the Nazi Holocaust, sexual molestation by priests – ringing any bells?

And you think our hobby is a dangerous waste of time…

[QUOTE]All I have tried to do is stop the distribution of mature and adult games to minors. That is how it works in Japan, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, other countries.[/QUOTE]

New Zealand does not stop the distribution of adult games. Games are rated and treated like movies. Selling it to someone under 18 carries the same offense as videos and movies. If you are 18 you can buy it, simple. They are rated by the national censor as well, so parents see the exact same label on a game as they do on a dvd! Simple and effective.

We accuse him, he accuses us - vicious circle continues

It's all well and good him saying that "knife murders are up in Japan", but that statement hardly tells the full story. It's common knowldge that Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

I did a little digging for the figures and found that Japan's murder rate in total is about 0.63 per 100,000 of the population. By comparison, the United States' figure is 6.38 murders per 100,000. this despite Japan being the world's foremost producer of games and also home to an extremely violent media.

Perhaps I'm splitting hairs over this but this kind of generalised sweeping statement is what makes Our Friend Jack look like such an apoplectic loon. He reminds me of the Reverend in GTA: Vice City :)

That's what he said; "stop the distribution of mature and adult games to minors"

Making it an offence is the most effective way of doing this short of banning them outright.

In the US it is not illegal to sell an M-rated game to a minor, except for California and it's fresh new laws on the very subject.

But whether his aims are noble or defendable or whatever. This guy is a f**king dickwad. A s**tty f**king pile of puke.

How can he f**king write off the hobby of MILLIONS of people so off hand, and so f**king indefensibly. By his definition, reading Shakespeare, going to the opera, reading the classics - all the things I'm sure he and his republican WASP friends do - are useless mental masturbation. Art, literature, cinema, theatre - why should anyone with a life and a conscience waste time on these things.

What a fooking tool.

Try spending more time criticizing the RETAILERS and less time insulting the CONSUMER.

Yes, kids shouldn't be able to buy or rent the violent games...great idea no doubt.

Yes, kids are influenced by what they see and participate in.

No, videogames aren't a determining factor(probably even .01%) for violent behavior in kids. They learn that crap from HOME, TV, and especially the "NEWS". Your rant about Columbine is OFF-BASE!.. REMEMBER ALL THE COPY-CAT SCARES AFTER THAT?.. THINK IT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE ROUND THE CLOCK SENSATIONALISM on TV and radio news?.. maybe just a tad? (Seems like you're very familiar with sensationalism Mr. Thompson).

I'm sorry but I can't even understand why there is such hoopla over this issue... The answer is DON'T SELL THESE GAMES TO KIDS, PERIOD. There, I just saved millions of dollars in litigation.. Whoops! NO WONDER A LAWYER IS STIRRING THIS POT!!!

I guarantee that even if they outlawed ALL VIDEOGAMES there would be NO statistically significant difference in these kind of tragic crimes/violent behavior.

Remember kids, LAWYERS are trained LIERS. All they want is someone to blame so they can prosecute and make $$$.

And God says, "Hey, leave Me out of this. I've never seen this douche before in my life."

Well, there you have it, even God thinks that this guy is a douche. I'd like to take this time to nominate him for biggest douche on the planet. Will anyone second the nomination?