Jack Thompson Boards the GTA IV Bus Ad Bash
On the side of a bus kiosk in South Florida, there is a poster.
On the poster is a drawing of a man. The man is sneering, but he’s not doing anything remotely pornographic or violent. He’s not doing anything, really. There are some words on the poster, too. They’re not obscene. Nor do they incite violence.
The poster is an ad for Grand Theft Auto IV.
And anti-game Miami attorney Jack Thompson wants it torn down.
Thompson, a long time critic of the Grand Theft Auto series, apparently took note of Monday’s GamePolitics report detailing the Chicago Transit Authority’s removal of GTA IV ads from its buses and facilities. In an e-mail sent today to Miami Mayor Carlos Alvarez, Thompson, who took the picture that accompanies this article, writes:
I was shocked today to see a six-foot-high advertisement for Grand Theft Auto IV, a hyperviolent video game… on the side of a Metro Miami-Dade bus stop located… near Children’s Hospital. In fact, the advertisement was adjacent to a kids’ park…
The Grand Theft Auto games have been obsessively played by a number of teens who have then copycatted the outrageous, sociopathic violence in the games and killed innocent people…
The ESRB descriptor on GTA IV indicates this game contains “Strong Sexual Content.” The sale of this game to any minor will constitute a criminal act violative of… Florida’s “Sexual Material Harmful to Minors Law”…
There are also several paragraphs of Thompson’s standard I’ve been on 60 Minutes with Ed Bradley… GTA is cop killer game… etc, etc, etc…
GP: It will be interesting to see how the mayor reacts. And how the game industry will respond to any potential order to remove the ads. From here, any such action by the mayor’s office or the quasi-governmental transit company would seem to be a First Amendment violation.
While the game biz has passively rolled over and accepted past removals of GTA ads from transit vehicles in Boston, Portland and now Chicago, it’s about time they made a stand on this issue.
Allowing attention-hungry critics or mayors or transit agencies to force the removal of an ad with no offensive content is not only a free speech violation, but it demonizes GTA IV and, by extension, demonizes the millions of gamers who will be playing the game when it launches next week.
As we have pointed out, the 1st US Circuit Court ruled in Change the Climate vs. Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority that bus company censorship of ads based on viewpoint is unconstitutional.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:21 pm
“The ESRB descriptor on GTA IV indicates this game contains “Strong Sexual Content.” The sale of this game to any minor will constitute a criminal act violative of… Florida’s “Sexual Material Harmful to Minors Law,” and yet here is an ad for this pornographic, cop-killing game on County property right next to a kids park.”
Because we all know sexual content always means pornography/sarcasm
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:23 pm
First?
Anyway, should have seen this coming. GTA+JT=lawsuit.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:23 pm
The scary thing is, he actually has a chance of wining this. It’s a small issue, and so the ad may be taken down. Granted, It’s just that oe ad, but still I don’t like JT winning anything.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Oh that jack! *sigh*
You know, he says a lot of things in that letter, and none of them are put across as his opinion, bu facts instead. Doesnt that make him legally liable for fraud/libel or some such thing. Especially if TT lose revenue for losing advertising.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Seeing as how he’s mayor, Alvarez is doubtlessly familiar with JT’s current legal situation as well as his previous antics. If so, he must already know Jack is already on thin ice and will likely be disbarred before long, so really he shouldn’t have to listen to anything he has to say.
Eat it, Jack. You’ve lost. Those ads are staying up and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I have a question. What was the ad before GTA? Was it an R rated movie? I’d put money down that there have been just as racy if not racier ads there over the past few years. If he’s trying to “Protect the children” where was he then?
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:32 pm
[…] wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptOn the side of a bus kiosk in South Florida, there is a poster. On the poster is a drawing of a man. The man is sneering, but he’s not doing anything remotely pornographic or violent. He’s not doing anything, really. There are some words on the poster, too. They’re not obscene. Nor do they incite violence. The poster is an ad for Grand Theft Auto IV. And anti-game Miami attorney Jack Thompson wants it torn down. Thompson, a long time critic of the Grand Theft Auto series, apparently took note of Monday’s GamePolitics report detailing the Chicago Transit Authority’s removal of GTA IV ads from its buses and facilities. In an e-mail sent today to Miami Mayor Carlos Alvarez, Thompson, who took the picture that accompanies this article, writes: I was shocked today to see a six-foot-high advertisement for Grand Theft Auto IV, a hyperviolent video game… on the side of a Metro Miami-Dade bus stop […] […]
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:33 pm
So ads of R rated movies with horrific images as ads are okay. But a picture of a guy just standing there doing nothing with the words “Grand Theft Auto IV” is an unacceptable tragedy?
How silly
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I just started reading this blog, so please forgive my ignorance, but who is this guy and why is he important?
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:34 pm
If Alvarez caves into this, I will personally head down south to kick his ass for being such a dumbass.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Never mind, read the archives
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:36 pm
alfrro.
He is the leading critic of video games
so far he has failed to do anything.
dennis.
so are buying gtaIV?
GP: Yep. Although I expect to receive a review copy, I’ve also pre-ordered the Xbox 360 version.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:37 pm
i think he reads GP, and sees how long it’s been since he was mentioned, before deciding to do something crazy.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:38 pm
I know I always say the same, but, seriously: why are we still publishing what this lunatic says every time he opens his mouth or writes some stupid mail?
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Oh no! Now the little kids know there’s a new Grand Theft Auto game coming out! And we were trying to keep it a secret, too!
Now how are we gonna keep them from walking into stores and buying it with overly large allowances and no parents around?
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Woah, like this wasn’t as predictable as pollen season in Florida.
Would someone disbar JT already? Seriously, he’s going to get on his high horse again and trot it around here like he’s some knight instead of being more like Don Quixote.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:43 pm
So basically just another day of saving humanity from itself sponsored by Commander Failsalot?
Guess he’s gotta make payments on his ‘92 Geo Metro somehow!
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:45 pm
“The sale of this game to any minor will constitute a criminal act violative of… Florida’s ‘Sexual Material Harmful to Minors Law’…”
I’m certain the mayor already knows this. And I’m not sure how taking down a sign a week before the release, long after the game has had time to get known, is going to do anything. In fact, all of Thompson’s attention to it has probably increased its publicity.
I for one want to buy it more and more each time I hear about Thompson crying to the media or officials for help against it.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:46 pm
“The sale of this game to any minor will constitute a criminal act violative of… Florida’s “Sexual Material Harmful to Minors Law”…
Ah yes, the old game = porn/public buisance tactic. Remember how that succeeded for him in the past? Oh wait… it didn’t. It led to his personal and unprofessional insulting of a judge when it was decided that a game isn’t a public nuisance that in turn led to the sanctions against him.
Games are not harmful to people. Until there is concrete evidence to that fact (and i doubt that there ever will be), you cannot have games censored or banned for being harmful.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Maybe they could change their ads to something a bit more subtle. Same artistic style & text but instead of saying “Grand Theft Auto 4″, it could just say “You KNOW what game it is” (or perhaps “Thompson’s Nemesis”). At least that way they couldn’t come up with the idiotic charge of it attempting to incite 4 car thefts because we all know that kids do EXACTLY what they’re told on bus stop posters.
Jack’s being predictably toolish, in fact, if he were any more of a tool you could use him to cut wood, change a tyre or trim the hedges.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:48 pm
@Salen
That may be one of the greatest analogies for Thompson there is. A crazy old guy who things he’s going out to save people from terrible monsters only to be taken out by some windmills.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:49 pm
wait, I thought that the Florida bar removed his vocal cords and took off his fingers, and disconnected his internet and locked him In a room and soldered the key to the lost ark, what happened?
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:49 pm
@GP:
There’s an interesting distinction to be drawn between ads on a bus stop shelter and ads on a bus. The two may not be afforded quiet the same protection because the latter involves the so-called “captive audience.”
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:52 pm
@ The Conspriacy
Even if by some long shot miracle Jack Manages to get the mayor to listen to him, it’s an extremely small victory in the grand scheme of things. Oh wow, Jack. You managed to pull down a GTA ad from a bus stop. Go you! That doesn’t change the fact that it’ll still be advertised in magazines, comic books and on TV and sell a gazillion copies no matter what you do.
So yes, he would obviously be crowing about and want to rub our faces in it as only he can, as we all no he savors whatever victory he can get, however small and insignificant it is, but in the grand scheme of things.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:56 pm
@AliasAlpha:
Perhaps, if he weren’t as dull as a plastic butterknife.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:00 pm
@Black Manta
He’ll probably go so far as to appear on FOX if he wins.
“Well as you know, I helped to save the Free World recently. Grand Theft Auto IV, a hyper-violent, murder-simulator that was recently found in a Harvard study to have been created by none other than Satan himself, was being advertised near a children’s park. Despite the fact that it’s being advertised on billboards, television and the internet, I realized I had to stop this.
It was a complete victory. I had a single poster torn down saving thousands of children from a life of debauchery and murder.”
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Wow, I’m so surprised! I never expected Jack Thompson to do this of all things!
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:02 pm
lol is this all Joke Thomson has left?
He is completely impotent now. What a fucking disgrace.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Jack, you should be with your wife.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Oh, and cite your sources if you’re gonna pull this.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:10 pm
“Hyperviolent”? Are you kidding me? “Ultraviolent” was inarticulate enough, but “hyperviolent” just sounds stupid.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:13 pm
“Hyper-violent”? Did he get tired of the word “Ultra-violent”?
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:17 pm
@TextOnlySword and Wookiee
Oh I’m pretty sure he’s been using it for awhile. Like when he threatened Bill Gates:
“The hyperviolent Microsoft Xbox 360 game Halo 3 is scheduled by your company for commercial release in September of this year. The Beta version that was released last week shows us all just how violent the game is and how inappropriate it is for play by anyone under 17, as the “Mature” rating it will surely receive indicates.”
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:19 pm
@Wookiee & TextOnlySword
He may have just bought a dictionary and worked out that ‘hyper’ makes more sense in that context than ‘ultra’. Or he is just insane …
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Yawn. Just another spasm from a washed-up lawyer in his deat throes. Looking forward to your long vacation once you get disbarred, Jack? Why, I bet once you’re jobless you can picket Take-Two in New York all you want! I’ll even supply you with the cardboard and laundry marker.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I hope the mayor gives to Jack the GTFO treatment he fully deserves… but then, Jack will assault the mayor´s fax machines in revenge. Oh well…
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:40 pm
@GRIZZAM 512:
I thought he did? Or does ‘pulled out of his ass’ not count?
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:44 pm
@DarkTetsuya
Yeah, b-but two is a number… right? Right?
And so is none-that-have-ever-been-proven-to-be-linked-to-any-video-game.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Now I am for the GTA4 bus ads and everything, but if Jack is telling the truth for once I must say that GTA4 ads near a children’s hospital and park is in poor taste.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:53 pm
I agree with GP-I hope Rockstar games or Take Two actually does something to defend themselves if this mayor falls for Johnny Bruce Thompson’s gross prevarication of the actual facts concerning GTA IV…
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I already pre ordered my PS3 version. Im just a kid. My mom pre ordered it for me. My parents will let me play any game. Yes they do care about me. When people say parents who buy their kids M rated games are stupid thats not true. They know im mature enough to understand and handle this stuff. Im only 12. Ive been playing violent videogames since I was 3 or 4. When my dad found out that my grand theft auto san andreas had the hot coffee thing he actually told me to keep it. He said it will be valuable in the future. It will probably cost a lot of money in the future.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:06 pm
gee, and i thought Thompson was too busy threatening to send me to federal prison to worry about it.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:07 pm
I kinda agree with jack thompson in this. I dont think that ad should be near a childrens hospital. But I would just put the ad someplace else. Also Jack Thompson ezaggerates in this.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:09 pm
I’m hoping Jack will get hit by a GTA IV bus and die.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:14 pm
All aboard the fail boat!
Seriously, Jack… just stop trying.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Why should it matter if it is near a hospital?
I could see it being a problem if it was IN the children’s hospital.
It is a bus shelter! How many sick kids take the bus to the hospital? How many kids play in the park, then hitch a ride on the bus to get home?
If we have to keep all ads away from where kids *might* see them, then we might as well abolish ALL advertising.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:44 pm
As an interesting aside, Miles Jay Gopman (Jack’s buddy who famously high-tailed it outta Judge Tunis’ courtroom) now has his own problems with the Florida Bar. Seems the Bar wants to have Mr. Gopman involuntarily placed on the inactive attorney list (a first cousin to disbarment). Case Nos. SC08-630 and SC08-634.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:00 pm
In the actual letter that is posted over at Kotaku Jacko writes, “The Chairman of Take-Two, Strauss Zelnick, got his start in show business making pornographic gagsta rap albums”
Does anyone know what albums Jacko is talking about? I can’t finad any real info on it. Zelnick doesn’t even appear to have a wikipedia page. One site I found said he was at BMG.
With Jacko’s history with 2 Live Crew and the Cop Killer song if Zelnick was involved with one of those it might be the missing link in why Jacko is so out to get GTA but 2Live Crew was not on a major label and Body Count was Sire/Warner Brothers.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Well,it just isn’t a high profile game release without our good buddy Jack trying to f*ck it up wit his signature”Video Games are responsible for all the violence in the world”.Keep an eye out for when he’ll try and mess up Gears Of War 2’s release.Ya know,it’s uber violent,and such.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Jack keeps trying to attach the ESRB sexual content rating with the florida pornography law. The problem being he can’t seem to recall all the times he’s tried that and failed. Isn’t there a saying about madness being trying something over and over and expecting different results?
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:11 pm
@jccalhoun:
I think he’s talking about nothing specific. He’s merely using the fact that Zelnick headed BMG from which to extrapolate the “making pornographic gagsta rap albums” nonsense. If truth be told, Strauss Zelnick couldn’t find the “Record” button in a studio without somebody’s assistance.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Brilliant idea, “Joke” Thompson. Jeez… Thought he could go no lower. Seems that I was wrong, or he has no “low” place. But I understand about the hospital thing. Yeah, but I agree with HurricaneJesus.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:20 pm
The only thing he saw when he saw that ad were dollar signs thinking of how much he could sue Take Two for this time.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:26 pm
OH NO! It’s a picture of a mean looking guy, next to the GTAIV logo! Warn the kids! Ban the ad on all buses! Better yet, ban the buses until GTAIV is out! Better yet, have everyone walk around in blind folds!
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:28 pm
You mean he didn’t mention in his ranting that he is also about to lose his right to practice law because of his numorus outrageous claims. How…convenent.
And he considers GTA a “hyper” violent game? Don’t let him near a truly violent game, he’d lose his mind..oh, wait.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:41 pm
No surprise here, but it needs pointing out this is the same person who complained about GTA4 ads being shown between a wrestling match.
Like others have said, what about ads for R-Rated movies or TV shows like the Sopranos? I wouldn’t be surprised if that location had such ads before and no one threw a fit over them…
As for making a stand, I just hope they point out the hypocrisy of all of this and tell them to enforce such standards & demands on other forms of media.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:46 pm
One time when I was three I saw a picture of a mad looking guy. I was like “Damn dude, chill.” SCARED ME FOR LIFE.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Video game posters killed my father, and raped my mother. And my brother lost his arm in a poster accident.
BAN EM ALL I SAYS!
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:01 pm
A desperate man, desperate for attention, desperately grasps at straws. Seems to come off as desperate if you ask me but then again I’ve never been on 60minutes.
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:16 pm
@waffles & grizzam 512
contact me in a month and i will have a support group started for you 2 (and others) =p
April 24th, 2008 at 12:04 am
I don’t think any self-respecting mayor will want to go near Jack Thompson. He is waaaay to hated by the public to risk being associated with.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:17 am
@waffles & grizzam 512
LMFAO!!!
I also think the term “hyperviolent” is genius also!
April 24th, 2008 at 12:37 am
So if something is hyperviolent, that means the level of violence is truly exceptional in scope or detail. So extending the same Hyper-Logic to jack, what would that make him?
Hyper-Desperate
Hyper-Attention-Whore
Hyper-Wanker?
April 24th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Thompson is seriously retarded… along with others bashing these ads… I live 40 mins from Chicago and theres news about the CTA all the time. mainly about how much money it has…. zero. By pulling these ads from its buses and stuff the CTA is losing alot of money and our Governor wants to make it free for senior citizens to use the buses and trains. The ads on those buses looked exactly the same as in the pic… nothing violent or sexual…
“Grand Theft Auto IV, a hyperviolent video game…”
omg, did he get an early release of this game or what…? how can one say that if s/he hasnt even played it seeing as how it even hasnt been released yet.
as for it being posted near a children’s hospital or not doesnt make a difference… It shows nothing sexual or violent, just a guy standing there… Theres no doubt in my mind there are alot more GTA4 ads around the city. Thompson obviously chose that one in hopes of helping his cause. It may seem a small victory to some of you, but If that one gets pulled he’ll petition to get every GTA ad in the city removed. Then it would become a huge victory in the head of Thompson. If these ads do get pulled I would love to see the game industry take action.
April 24th, 2008 at 1:40 am
Is this what he has been reduced to? Taking pictures of advertisements at bus stops? Hopefully he didn’t miss his bus while trying to get the picture.
April 24th, 2008 at 1:42 am
@waffles
That’s one hell of a paper cut your brother got.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:58 am
Jack.
Just stop.
thats all you have to do.
do make me fax you hate mail you freak.
April 24th, 2008 at 4:51 am
Get orf my lawn!
April 24th, 2008 at 5:09 am
As far as publicity, this bus stop ad seems to have been a good investment.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:28 am
Heh, I was thinking the same thing to be honest, good advertising both for GTA IV and Jack Thompson. Oddly enough they both promote pretty much the same response from me, ‘interesting to watch, but the theme is wearing thin’.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:00 am
Oooh hyperviolent, he hasn’t used that one in a while
April 24th, 2008 at 6:04 am
They should make new ads similar to these only without the word GTA IV make it look like an action movie with the tagline, non-stop carnage, then show them to Thompson and see what he does.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:15 am
What’s he doing out side of a children’s hospital? He chasing the little ambulances now?
April 24th, 2008 at 6:49 am
gotta say though the games industry has itself to blame.
you lie there and do nothing whilst the gnats keep biting, n eventually you have a full blown swarm on your tail and when you do get up to do something about it its too late.
*sigh* im sick of the industry leaving gamers to do all the hard work. we are supporting them so where are they now?
In comment though, as usual JTs comments are bizaare and full of complete opinion masquerading as ‘fact’. how on earth a picture of a guy and some words are harmful to kids ill never know.
oh and ..hyperviolent? what… that really isnt in the dictionary JT so stop using it. Its like me calling you hyperignorant. its not like you can level up your words by adding hyper in front of it like an anime. but then again distinguishing between reality and fiction really isnt your strong point.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:19 am
Well, I don’t have much to add to what’s been written above. It’d be interesting to see what the fallout would be should the mayor cave in; maybe Take-Two will sue Jack for defamation of character. That’s be a case to watch.
Dennis, in case you read this, just a question: Does Jack regularly come on here? Because the theory of ‘Let’s see how I can get onto GamePolitics this week’ doesn’t actually seem that unlikely.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:31 am
@Gene
To be honest, this is one of the very few remaining outlets for Jack’s behaviour as far as computer games are concerned. Fox use him because he’s eager to give his opinion on everything, and he’s a lawyer (in that order), but the thing about the News industry is that, as they say, ‘The Press is always Hungry’, in other words, any News outlet that reports ‘Today, not much happened’ won’t last long.
Even GP suffers from it, but it’s not Dennis’ fault in the slightest, the public don’t care if nothing happens, reporters better darn-well go out and find something. If it isn’t News then report it like it is and people will end up believing it is important.
It’s that self-same ‘Hungry Press’ that Thompson relies on for attention, in truth he’s an isolated, ineffectual, bitter man, what he does isn’t News, it’s Sensationalism, but these days, it’s hard to tell the difference
April 24th, 2008 at 7:42 am
@Jack Wessels:
Thanks. I thought so too.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:32 am
“And anti-game, Anti-First Amendment (both Anti-Freedom of Speech and Anti-Freedom of Religions that aren’t his own), Demon Worshipping (as no treu, honorable, ethical, God would advocate the use of lies and deceit as ways to treat others and therefore he must worship a Demon-Pretender-To-The-Throne-Of-Heaven), Pro Theocratic Dictatorship (as shown in various legal cases and rantings where he believes his personal religion should dictate how other individuals should live and raise their children), Homophobic (as seen in numerous legal cases and rantings against homosexuals, even labeling two boys (Bully) (but not two women (Mass Effect)) kissing as “gay sex”, and the not jumping on the claim that video games were to blame (which isn’t a bad thing but an inconsistant one) for the shooting of a homosexual teen at an Oxnard school), Pro-Child Abuse (as seen in the Cody Posey case where he downplays the verbal, mental, physical, and near sexual abuse of Cody in favor of blaming his playing a violent video game as the reason Cody killed his father and step-family), Anti-Parental Rights (as shown in his desire to dictate what is and what is not appropriate for other people’s children, including his lawsuit regarding Bully where he clearly states that HE must make that decision for everyone else), Pro-Lies and Deceit (as shown in his continued misinformation on a number of subjects and his continued dealings with FOX News, an organization which won the legal right to lie to and deceive its audience), and a host of other dishonorable and unethical titles which he has earned over the years, Miami attorney Jack Thompson …”
There. Exceptionally long but still fixed for accuracy.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
April 24th, 2008 at 9:40 am
I kind of hope that JT gets hit by a GTA 4 bus, while standing in a GTA 4 bus stop.
But yeah, same stuff, different day. Also, I love how JT doesn’t even try covering up his lies now, he just makes it up on the spot and rolls with it. “I said it, therefore it’s now truth!” Rather than “…person x said y about z so therefore it’s true!”
But yeah, JT, move on already.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:53 am
X-Kaliber,
Well, I don’t HOPE for it, but it would be ironic.
Especially if a bus pins him against the ad with his mouth against the mouth of the guy in the ad.
Irony is just so… ironic.
Nightiwng2000
NW2K Software
April 24th, 2008 at 9:54 am
I’m sorry, but every time he does this… I think of Mr. Crocker…
Mr. Crocker: “Oh my god, an A+! This must be the work of… FAIRY! GOD! PARENTS!”
Mr. Thomspoon: “Oh my god, a poster! This must be the work of… GRAND! THEFT! AUTO!”
Does Thomspoon have an ear on his neck as well?
As for trying to get a single ad taken down, I guess you need to crawl before you can walk. And seeing how he is at the end of his legal career, it’s about time he learned how to crawl.
I’m really considering getting this game, except I’ve kind of dug myself a hole. I’m finishing Lost Planet, I still have Super Smash Bros Brawl (a hyper-realistic, hyper-violent woman beating simulator) to play, I just got Okami (female dog simulator), I also picked up a Metal Gear Solid box set (I don’t even have to TELL you how horribly violent those are), I have a LAN party to go to this Saturday (where we all play FPS’s for about 6 hours strait, and somehow manage to not murder eachother), and then I pick up Mario Kart Wii on Sunday (a moving violation, traffic law breaking simulator).
I just don’t think I have the time to fit in a hyper-violent crime simulator.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:58 am
So video game ads are bad even though they show no violence and/or sexual themes in them?
Where’s the logic in that?
April 24th, 2008 at 10:27 am
“…a Metro Miami-Dade bus stop located… near Children’s Hospital. In fact, the advertisement was adjacent to a kids’ park…”
What I suddenly realized that creeps me out, and maybe someone mentioned it before, is why is John Bruce loitering around a kid’s park and a Children’s Hospital?
Surely his son is too old for a “kid’s park” and he sure as heck doesn’t give a flying fart about kids, only his demands to be the tin-pot-dictator of a theocratic dictatorship. Not to mention that he puts child abuse of all forms on a lower rung of importance than the kid playing a violent video game.
So why is he hanging around places with lots of kids?
Hmmmmm…..
(No, really, why? Surely he has a car. And even if he rides the bus, he certainly NOTICED places where kids congregate. So WHY?)
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
April 24th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Who didn’t see this one coming?
April 24th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Somebody explain how, he has time to do this, but the bar trial is somehow mysteriously keeping him from his wife? (blink)
You know, the curious thing, to me, as I sit here and think. I can’t remember the last time I saw a GTA4 ad. If ever. Are they just more prevalent in florida? Or is it simply possible that the only people who care are the critics? Oh well.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:58 am
@ GoodRobotUs
I’s okay, I wasn’t criticising Dennis in the slightest. I love the work he puts into GP, and I also love reading about Jack’s latest pathetic attempt to demonise something he knows nothing about. I was just curious as to whether Jack comes on here regularly, or if he only comes on randomly if it’s to do with his impending disbarment.
Sorry if it sounded like I was criticising Dennis. I wasn’t.
Cheers.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Not doing anything? The man is rolling up his sleeve — everybody knows that’s the universal signal for “I am going to punch a hooker in the face while shooting heroin.” My boss is constantly telling me to “roll up my sleeves” at work. Forget videogames, I’d say the workplace is causing more violence.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
I can’t stand Jack Thompson; but if he’s correct that the ad is next to both a children’s hospital and a park, then I find myself agreeing with him on this one. The young children who frequent these areas simply aren’t the audience Rockstar should be targeting. By advertising in a place like that, they are contradicting the notion that Grand Theft Auto is a mature game meant for mature audiences.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
@GP:
I have a sneaking suspicion that Judge Tunis has dispatched her Notice to Parties regarding her Recommendations of Not Guilty/Guilty (her Motion for Extension stated that she was then currently preparing said Notice). Can you confirm that Her Honor has indeed sent her Recommendations of Not Guilty/Guilty to Mr. Thompson? And, if so, what those recommendations are?
Thanks.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
As a matter of fact, Children’s Hospital happens to be located in a multi-use (commercial, residential, recreational) area. It’s unfair to say that an ad located close to the Hospital is intended to target or will only target the Hospital’s patients. And the only Miami-Dade park in any close proximity to Children’s Hospital is Coral Gables Wayside Park, which isn’t a “children’s park” by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a park which, like all other Miami-Dade parks, is open to the public irrespective of age and, not surprisingly, is frequented by the very old, the very young, and everyone in between.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
JDKJ,
Yes, leave it to John Bruce to leave out important factual details. :/
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
April 24th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
@nightwng2000:
Jack’s house (not in the “I pay the mortgage” sense but in the “I live here” sense) isn’t too far away from Children’s. The ad’s an easy spot as he tools around Gables on his way to pick Stinger up from school.
April 24th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
I’m asked about GTA at work sometimes, namely on just how bad it is, as many parents are naturally aware of the controversy. I’m a big fan of the franchise so I always just say: it’s like playing an R-rated gangster movie, and it’s very tongue-in-cheek, but it’s definitely not for kids and is aimed at people my age.
That being said I’m extremely excited about GTA4, if the trailer is any indication this is going to be the first GTA with a full-blown, film-like plot.
April 24th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
And once again, Thompson doesn’t know the definition of the word ’sexual.’ He just sees the ’sex’ part of the word and thinks it’s porn.
I guess that explains his submission of gay porn to the Florida docket.
Mr. Thompson, read my lips (or text, if you want to get technical about it):
Sexual Content = Suggestive content, and/or hintings to implied future sexual actions NOT VIEWED ON SCREEN. Not ‘doing the nasty.’
Example: The end of ‘Billy Madison.’ Intimate embraces with a ‘gifted’ woman and blatently obvious innuendos. Insert a comedic scene and a ‘driving into the distance’ sequence, fade to black. Is this porn in your mind, Mr. Thompson?
(somebody give me a better example, my mind’s running on empty today)
April 24th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
“The sale of this game to any minor will constitute a criminal act violative of… Florida’s ‘Sexual Material Harmful to Minors Law’…” Could have sworn JBT tried this tact before and lost but whatever. Lets say for the sake of arguement that the sale of the game is illegal to said minor this does not mean the advertisement of said game is illegal as well.
jackie you are attempting to stretch a law that you attempted to stretch before to fit and failed. May you have as much success in life as you have earned. Oh wait could that be a negative number?
April 24th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Bah! Harmless videogame posters! Raping your churches! Burning your women! Ah!
They should make an advertisement where all the characters of GTAIV are just standing around, pointing and laughing at a picture of Jack Thompson’s head… crying… with PWNT written on his forehead… and he’s holding a copy of his law license with a big red X across it… yeah.
I’m selling that idea to T2.
April 24th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Ok for those saying they agree with JT if this poster is near a park in proximity to a children’s hospital please stop pandering to the “Think of the CHILDREN” mentality.
A park is a public place that does not have an age limit attached to it.
As we’ve all discussed before the majority age for gamers is 20-35. So, how do you know it’s not aimed at parents of children rather than the children themselves? If this advertisement was IN the hospital then I’d be right with everyone in having a problem with that. That goes for a school bus too.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
@Gene
Don’t worry, no offence was taken at all
I was more trying to make clear that it’s a trend in most News Medias these days, and that many consumers are more to blame for it than they think they are 
April 24th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Don’t think it actually matters to Jack that he’s got absolutely no legal basis for his demand of the Mayor. That’s of no import. What’s important to Jack is that he’s once again getting to see his name in print. That’s the real objective. Indeed, he’s probably already forgotten about this issue and has moved on to thinking up his next headline-grabbing announcement. For example:
I’m suing Best Buy for selling M-rated games to Stinger (complaint filed but no further action taken).
I’m taking on the Department of Defenses (press release circulated but no further action taken).
I’m suing the Omaha P.D. for information on the NIU shooting (complaint filed but no further action taken).
I’m going to attend T2’s annual shareholder meeting (press release circulated but no attendance made).
And on and on and on.
Before, at least he’d earn the notoriety by actually doing something other than justing blasting e-mails everywhere. Nowadays, he’s just blasting e-mails everywhere.
April 24th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Jack can rant and rave all he wants. Not only is no one afraid of him anymore, no one even cares.
GTA IV will come out. Not one ad will be taken down due to his demands.
GTA V will come out. Games will keep coming out.
And violent crime rates will continue to go down. That’s right Jack, down.
But then the FBI and their crime rate graphs are part of the conspiracy to get you, aren’t they Jack?
April 24th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
You know that R* and T2 love this. It’s free publicity for them and will only help increase sales. They really should give Jack a big royalty payment for all the work he’s done to promote their games. So evil of them.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
I love how Jack talks about how he’s been on 60 Minutes like people care.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
@Chuck Norris:
Don’t forget “And we weren’t.”
… wait that’s only for FOX NOISE (We Report… and Decide FOR you.)
Not that we care either way, mind you.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20031215
I swear, the guy on the right side of the bottom-left panel reminds me of JT.
In other news…
T.O.S.: J.T. IS A DOUCHE!!!
Shadow: BACK TO YOUR ROOM, DAMMIT!!!
May 6th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
[…] What’s interesting is that the CTA is not the only public transportation authority to pull ads for the controversial video game. Late last April the Miami-Dade transit authority similarly pulled GTA IV ads from its buses and stations after attorney Jack Thompson complained about them to Miami Mayor Carlos Alvarez. […]