Jack Thompson Targets BioShock

Andy Chalk

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Jack Thompson Targets BioShock


Jack Thompson has set his sights on Take-Two Interactive [http://www.2kgames.com/bioshock/].

In a forum post on the WWE Smackdown [http://gamepolitics.com/2007/08/15/dr-phil-invited-me-says-jack-thompson/#comment-144717]. Thompson claims the placement of the ads in the 8:00 p.m. EDT show is proof that Take-Two is "aggressively marketing its newest Mature-rated video game to kids under 17 years of age."

"On this Friday's night's (sic) 8 pm Eastern time airing of WWE's wrestling program "Smackdown," there were repeated ads for Take-Two/Rockstar Game's Mature-rated, incredibly violent BioShock," he wrote. "A check of the demographics of the audience of that program reveals that teens under 17 years of age watch that program in huge numbers." A check of the game's credits reveals that Rockstar [http://www.rockstargames.com]has nothing whatsoever to do with the game beyond being owned by the same company that owns BioShock developer Irrational/2K Boston.

Thompson also managed to get in a shot at the ESRB [http://www.esrb.org]by adding, "Remarkably, the video game industry is running ads for games like BioShock on teen-intensive television programs while at the same time its industry-captured 'watchdog,' the ESRB, is running a self-congratulatory ad campaign to assure parents that the video game ratings system is working and that the industry can be trusted not to target their kids with these Mature-rated games. It is all a lie, as the BioShock ads prove."


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J.theYellow

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A check of the game's credits reveals that Rockstar has nothing whatsoever to do with the game beyond being owned by the same company that owns BioShock developer Irrational/2K Boston.

That's a bit weak. If the whole Rockstar brand hadn't been sullied by Hot Coffee and Thompson's bleating, Irrational likely would have been renamed Rockstar Boston/Rockstar Australia, just like all the other Take 2-owned developers (with the exception of Firaxis) have been re-branded "Rockstar (nameofcity)".

But, yeah, Bioshock was originally going to be an EA game with a more explicit backpointing to System Shock.
 

Andy Chalk

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Dude, Irrational wasn't named Rockstar Boston/Rockstar Australia. It's 2K Boston/2K Australia. And the point is that Thompson has an irrational inability to separate the one from the other.

(did you see what i did there?)
 

J.theYellow

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Malygris said:
(did you see what i did there?)
No.

Thompson might have a ridiculous fixation for Take 2, but Irrational being its property is entirely consistent with his typical modus operandi. He wants that company burned to the ground for daring to stay in business after he pointed at it threateningly with his crazy lawyer finger and declared it submit to his artificial standard of propriety, all those years ago, and got himself disbarred in Florida for his trouble.

Never underestimate the obsessive fury of a disbarred lawyer with nothing to lose. Just ask Fred Phelps.
 

Bongo Bill

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If they were marketing Bioshock to kids, you'd think its commercials would be on kids' stations, during kids' programs, at times when kids are likely to be awake.
 

Andy Chalk

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J.theYellow said:
Whoops, I see I misread your original statement. I thought you said Irrational had been renamed to Rockstar blah blah. My mistake.

Still not quite getting your point, though, except that it sounds like we might agree. Take-Two and Rockstar are pretty tightly intertwined, which is probably a big part of why BioShock seems to be turning Thompson's knob so effectively, but it doesn't change the fact that Rockstar had nothing to do with the development or publishing of the game. Thompson's use of the name in his letter only serves to highlight his own paranoia and irrational (i just did it again, did you see it this time?) hatred and/or fear of all things Take-Two.
 

J.theYellow

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Rockstar is a sub-label of Take 2, just like 2K Games is.

Every other developer that's owned by Take 2, besides Firaxis, is named "Rockstar X." It's plain that Irrational got so named because being known as a "rockstar" isn't exactly positive anymore. Besides the home office in New York (also home to Take 2's corp HQ,) "Rockstar" is just the moniker for games published by Take 2 that were created by a Take 2-owned studio.

Thompson might be crazy, but he knows exactly what he's doing, keeping Take 2 in his crosshairs. He's not confused about that part. He's just a crazy attention-whore. But don't for a second think he doesn't know who's buttering whose bread.
 

jackthompson

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Malygris said:
J.theYellow said:
Whoops, I see I misread your original statement. I thought you said Irrational had been renamed to Rockstar blah blah. My mistake.

Still not quite getting your point, though, except that it sounds like we might agree. Take-Two and Rockstar are pretty tightly intertwined, which is probably a big part of why BioShock seems to be turning Thompson's knob so effectively, but it doesn't change the fact that Rockstar had nothing to do with the development or publishing of the game. Thompson's use of the name in his letter only serves to highlight his own paranoia and irrational (i just did it again, did you see it this time?) hatred and/or fear of all things Take-Two.
Take-Two owns Rockstar and 2K. Nobody mentioned Rockstar. Pay attention. Jack Thompson
 

Geoffrey42

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Well, it would be in keeping with a Jack Thompson portrayal to directly contradict something which he was quoted on. He's either the real thing, or a very sly impersonator.

Article said:
"On this Friday's night's (sic) 8 pm Eastern time airing of WWE's wrestling program "Smackdown," there were repeated ads for Take-Two/Rockstar Game's Mature-rated, incredibly violent BioShock," [Thompson] wrote.
jackthompson said:
Take-Two owns Rockstar and 2K. Nobody mentioned Rockstar. Pay attention. Jack Thompson
 

Negdar [deprecated]

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Honestly, Jack Thompson poses no threat to any gamer anywhere, except to maybe children, who's parents might take away their mature games which, technically, they aren't supposed to be playing anyways. The man tries way too hard to ban video games from the face of the earth using his own version of "Lawyer science", which is currently not effective in the modern legal system. Had he been around in 1800's I might have been fearful of his rantings, because then irrational rants that lead to being found in contempt of court was noble, and not a waste of time. As for his effect on video games, he's boosted video game sales for Rockstar (who probably love the guy) and has yet to stop a video game from being made.

To another point, the game developers of Bioshock in all probability are trying to market to people under the recommended age of 18. (Not openly of course). If I owned a video game company, I'd want as many people to buy my product as possible, including children, seeing as how when you own a company, you generally try to make as much profit as possible. But I'm not angry at this marketing tact, in fact I just don't care, I'm 18 years old, let some kid deal with the problem of sneaking video games past his parent.

So it is generally my policy, when I hear about some odd thing Jack Thompson has done, to not care. I'm still going to own a game I want and can afford, and I don't get as angry when I hear about the idiotic ramblings of a bad lawyer, and gamers who just don't stop complaining.
 

Andy Chalk

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Sounds like Jack to me. Vaguely threatening and wildly inaccurate.

I haven't seen any of the ads in question, but I did see the one that played on Spike during the Kill Point (which I actually downloaded to watch, since I don't watch the Kill Point) and it seemed pretty obvious to me that the game is rated M for Mature - especially after the deep, authoritative voice at the end said RATED M FOR MATURE. I'm not sure how much clearer they can get.

There is also a certain amount of irony in the fact that Thompson is complaining about a violent videogame being advertised to children during the broadcast of a show that is about nothing but violence. Notice, in the picture accompanying the article, the picture of Triple H about to bust Batista in the head with a shovel? That's rasslin'. Why is it okay for the kids to watch a rasslin' show, but not okay for them to watch a commercial during that show?

The Irrational/2K/Rockstar argument is a non-starter. Jack revealed his Rockstar fixation by associating BioShock with them, rather than Irrational/2K Boston-Australia, who actually developed the thing. Beyond that, which is absolutely no news to anyone, it's not worth further discussion.
 

aniki21

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Malygris said:
There is also a certain amount of irony in the fact that Thompson is complaining about a violent videogame being advertised to children during the broadcast of a show that is about nothing but violence.
In the WWE's case the violence obviously isn't real, unlike those nasty videogam- Erm...

Hole in the ol' JBT logic? Never!
 

Geoffrey42

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Malygris said:
Notice, in the picture accompanying the article, the picture of Triple H about to bust Batista in the head with a shovel? That's rasslin'.
Except that the picture you're referring to is a screencap from a videogame. Obviously, the violence is worse in that screen capture, because the child is controlling the violence, as if he himself were lifting that shovel to cave Batista's skull in. When a child watches WWE, they aren't partaking in the violence, not being trained in how to perform violence, as they are with the game. What you call an innocent screencap, sir, I say is evidence of atrocity!

I mean, really, who ever heard of kids pile-driving each other onto solid surfaces at school after just watching wrestling on TV?

/end sarcasm

Yes, I went to school with kids who thought it would be a good idea to re-enact WWF moves at school. Much to everyone's regret.
 

Andy Chalk

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True story here, because I like telling true stories: when I was a kid, I had a friend who was a big pro rasslin' fan. We were young enough, and he was dumb enough, to believe it was real, except his version of "real" somehow worked out to mean that these big goons could do all this stuff to each other and yet not get hurt. Because on tv, you could do all sorts of horrible things and nobody ever ended up with broken bones or spitting up blood or anything, so it's all good, right?

Anyway, long story short, I was over at his house one day and we were horsing around in the front yard. He tripped me up and I went down, no big deal, but as I roll over onto my back and look up, what do I see but big ol' Randy (who was a good bit larger than me, by the way) flying at me with his elbow extended yelling SD JOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! (No kidding there. He was a huge "Special Delivery" Jones fan back then.) He drives his elbow right into my gut as he comes down, I fold in half like a cheap lawn chair and suddenly I find myself having to decide in a real hurry whether I should focus on breathing or not shitting my pants.

He felt bad about it, but I think he was more confused about the whole thing. He didn't even hit me from the top turnbuckle, and nobody on tv ever made the sort of noises I did, so what the hell was my problem? I wasn't really hurt, aside from the agonizing pain and difficulty breathing, and there were no hard feelings, of course. We were pretty tight back then. But I never much cared for S.D. Jones after that.

More important, though, is that the irony of the whole situation (Jack's complaint, not my ass-kicking at the hands of a rasslin' fan) isn't lost on anyone. Except Jack, apparently.
 

FunkyJ

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jackthompson said:
Take-Two owns Rockstar and 2K. Nobody mentioned Rockstar. Pay attention. Jack Thompson
If this is the REAL Jack Thompson, I have some questions for you.

How is exposing the children to violence of Bioshock any different to exposing children to the violence of WWE?

How is this different from exposing children to the violence in film, or on the evening news?

And lastly, how does this differ from exposing children to the violence of sports - either viewing or playing?

Oh, and before you call me out for being a "stupid gamer" or whatever, I live in a country whose government restricts violent media so I have a VERY different opinion on this than most people you may come across on forums like these.

Looking forward to your reply.