Hi, My name is Jeff and I am a 18 year old gamer. I am just wondering
why would you just put yourself through all this when there isn't
really an issue at all. I do read the news often and I also do other
things than just play games. On your site, it says that quote: "Video
games are literally "murder simulators" teaching our kids how to
kill." I find this statement very incorrect. First case, Not all video
games teach other people to murder each other and cause violent acts.
If you look at the Nintendo Gamecube, 98% of those games are all age
friendly. Second, If you don't want the kids to buy the games then
tell the parents about it. The parents should be responsible for every
game their children buy. The ESRB was created for this reason. Back in
the 80's, video games did not have an association in which it rates
and informs parents on what games to buy. The ESRB has a content
rating on the front and the back of the video game box. It also
clearly states what the game contains and what it will show.
The current issue with the "Hot Coffee" scandal I can understand and
Rockstar should of looked into it further but I have played Grand
Theft Auto and I have no urges to go out and kill people or train to
because I have a sensible mind to not do so. I have a younger brother
who is 13 who also has the sense to think that video games are video
games and not real. Video games is a proper form of entertainment. I
have not seen you put a pull on movies or television yet. All of these
forms of entertainment has a content label on it. We all know that
minors are not allowed to watch R-rated movies because it is too
violent or vulgar and their parents wouldn't allow it. The same goes
with a video game. A minor cannot buy a M rated game from any store
including Gamestop and Eb Games. I went into a Gamestop two years ago
and I couldn't buy an M Rated game because they knew I was not old
enough. The only problem is that you state that they can go to
Blockbuster and rent a game that is M-Rated. Once again that is not
true because Blockbuster has the box of the game itself to display it
and also Blockbuster wouldn't allow a minor to get their hands on it
anyways.
May I ask have you ever stopped and look closely at the video game
itself? You see Grand Theft Auto and the M-Rating but everyone goes up
into a fit when they see it is too violent for kids to play. If it is
too violent and it offends people, then don't buy it. The game doesn't
hurt anyone when you don't buy it. Most games on the market aren't
even M-rated. Most are T rated and E rated. If a minor does get a hand
on a game like Grand Theft Auto then you must ask why the parents
allowed it? It is because they do not pay attention to what their
children buy and ultimately there is a problem. The parents must
reinforce what is right and what is wrong. They must look at the title
and the ESRB rating on it. If they don't then the parents are the one
that is damaging the youth not the games.
Jack Thompson sitt svar på denne mailen:
Allow me to make this very clear to all in the so-called "gaming community"
who continue to email me for the purpose not of sharing information or
engaging in civil conversation but for the sole purpose of harassing me,
with garbage like the below email:
In Florida we have a cyber-stalking law. There are federal statutes as well
that prohibit what many of you are doing to me. Some of you have emailed me and threatened to kill me. How interesting that you claim that I have
infringed on YOUR First Amendment rights. Your lack of courtesy and your
utter lack of reflection prove my and others' points about the corrosive
effects of the games.
I am warning all of you whom I have not invited to communicate with me after an initial contact by you that I shall consider any further emails from you as violative of my rights and violative of the aforementioned criminal
statutes.
There is nothing more hypocritical than a bunch of gamer thugs who harass me and threaten me all in the name of "freedom of expression."
I have a constitutional right to talk, at the Senator's request, to the staff of Senator Clinton. I did that. I have a right to point out that Electronic Arts is engaged in a knowing conspiracy with the "mod community" (what's next, "a pedophile community"?) to distribute porn to children. Any of you who don't think that is what EA is doing need to get a law degree and practice for 30 years, as I have. Then I'll be interested in your "opinions" about The Sims 2 scandal.
If you videogaming thugs don't like what I do, then get off your rear ends
and talk to the media, talk to your representatives, and write articles for
your Internet game news sites. Don't flood my email inbox with your
petulant tirades which are neither welcome nor productive.
All they do is encourage me in my knowledge that normal people who have a
right to stop predatory video game companies' practices are going to succeed
in protecting children from those practices. Honestly, some of you email me
and threaten me because you say "You want to ban all video games." That is
reflective, by and large, of the perspicacity of the typical threatening
emails I get. Such people don't want facts. They want an argument. They
want to treat me as if I were some punching bag prostitute in GTA. I've had
it with this. I am going to stop it.
We won the "Hot Coffee mod" battle, and we shall win other battles. If any
of you clowns are still dumb enough to threaten me and harass me after
receiving this email, then contact your lawyers. You're going to need them.