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Monday 03 October 2005
Jack Thompson
In a press release he states:
"Miami attorney Jack Thompson, a leading activist against the video game industry, has today been asked by the Office of the Governor of the State of Florida, Jeb Bush, to draft and submit to him and to Florida legislators a bill that will prohibit the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors.
Quite simply, Jack Thompson is a fucking idiot.
Violent and sexually explicit video games are NOT sold to minors, where the hell does he get his information from? All video games released in the USA are rated by the ESRB (Teen, Mature or Adult Only), and the retailers obey these.
You can't of course stop someone who is old enough to buy the game from actually buying the game and giving it to someone underage. No matter how much legislation you sign into law.
The same goes for the UK.
Posted in Rant at 17:35
Quite right, we have to rely on the conscience of the person old enough not to supply to a minor...
What Jack Thompson should be pushing for is a system more like ours - where games are rated exactly the same way as videos and movies.
U - Universal, anyone can buy, rent or watch.
PG - General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for some children
12/12A - No-one younger than 12 may see a ‘12A’ film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. No-one younger than 12 may rent or buy a ‘12’ rated video or DVD. Responsibility for allowing under-12s to view lies with the accompanying or supervising adult.
15 - No-one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video or DVD.
18 - No-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 18 may rent or buy an ‘18’ rated video.
Our rating system makes so much more sense than the 2 incompatible ones the US uses for games and videos/movies. There isn't ONE solitary year difference between something rated Mature (16) and something that's Adult Only (17+)! No there's a 3 year difference between 15 and 18.
Now it appears that the game industry in the US wants to stop Jack Thompson getting this law passed... um why? So retailers are allowed to sell Mature rated games to minors? Surely they should be on the same side... keep the youngsters away from games such as GTA.
There's a reason why movies and games are rated 15/18... because CHILDREN SHOULD NOT BE PLAYING EXPLICIT/VIOLENT COMPUTER GAMES.
So maybe Jack Thompson isn't that much of a fucking idiot as I first thought. I'd prefer it if he was pushing for a better regulated system like ours though.