Have you ever wanted to ask Jack Thompson a question face to face? Those at SGC had the chance to. Forgive the lighting issues at the start, all is taken care of a few minutes in.
In all seriousness though, thanks to Jack for coming out and being a part of SGC 2009. He was very professional, polite and overall a joy to be around. It was definitely a unique experience.
Wow
He was suprizingly civil! Good Boy Jack! Have a biscuit!
Says
The uncivil one. Seriously? Little degrading if I may say. The man's got good intentions.
Mhm
Well that honestly depends a lot on who's point of view you're speaking of.
Is it good for freedom of speech? No.
Is it good for kids who get access to violent games, that shouldn't? Yes.
Is it good for the general audience? No.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm not trusting Mr. Thompson until he denounces his previous statements, saying that certain games have to be banned all together. You either have freedom of speech or you don't.
I'd also like him to stop quoting disputed and flawed studies.
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humanity is flawed...
I hate to be a downer, but all things humans do is flaed. We can't help it, we're only human.
Wow...
Talk about a depressing way of looking at things.
What about art?
What about humanitarian workers?
Far from everything humans do is flawed, far, FAR from it.
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I don't think either art or
I don't think either art or humanitarian work in itself can be flawed. The thought behind art can, though beautiful, be utterly flawed. Humanitarian work is very noble, but methods are usually ineffective on the big scale, it's flawed. And the world IS depressing because it's flawed. Sorry, I can't help myself. >_^ I do agree that not everything humans do is flawed. And sometimes flawed is better.
I don't agree that some games should be banned, but I still like this guy. He has good reasons for what he believes in, it's just not easy to see some things from the other side. He's not all wrong, and we, the gamers, are certainly not all right. Oh lord how everyone's flawed. :D
PC gamer. Consoles are orrright!
LOL...
I thought the same.. he was really humble, the complete opposite of what they show in the media. Thank you SCREWATTACK! leading the pack as always.. G4 and all those other sites that were trying to down play the event.. EAT CROW.. [B@$T@RD$]
What is everybody talking about!?!?!?!?!
I don't know about anybody else out there but the Gamestop that I WORK AT has not nor will it ever sell an M rated game to a minor. The fault itself truly lies with the parents for not caring enough about their children
Yeah I know!
I work at gamestop as well and we always card! I even go so far as to read the ESRB to all adults (even those without kids present) to make sure they know what they're buying. Let me tell you, I've pissed off my share of 12 year olds in doing this :P
Really it's the big box corporations (i.e Wal-Mart, Target, etc) where they're employees have no specialties and the turnover rate is so high it doesn't matter if someone effs up. They just want your money, they may never see you in the game department again so what do they care? They don't worry about customer retention or service because that's not what will bring you back in. Marketing will, so they only need to employ half-assed morons. Not all of these employees are bad, just some, and enough to make it a legit complaint.
So to summarize: GameStop = Good, Big Box = Bad!
yeah i know too.
hey i work at walmart and i happen to work at the electronics department. and i assure you i card. ive ruined plenty of kids days telling their parents about the stuff on gta sa and gta4. im glad you at least said not all of the employees are bad couse that would have been rude otherwise.
the biggest issue ive seen is flat out ignorance. its not the store's fault. its the clerk who thinks "ooh its just a game sell it to who ever". theres no corporate slogan that says make money at any cost. and it doesnt make gamestop a saint. ive been to a few where the employees just dont care. one particular one had the store manager taking money out of the safe for lunch and had a designated "nap hour" where he would go take a nap on bench at the park across the street.
so i guess what im trying to say is that its not any one particular brand to blame its people. if more people cared this wouldnt be such a big issue.
umm...
GameStop IS big box. they are a massive chain that moves in and push other(non company owned) game store out of the area. They get package deals on games that no one else can, and then rake you for used games after there's no one else left. GameStop = Bad! It all comes down to people, if you suck you spread your suck if you're good you spread your good.
And I've been carded at
And I've been carded at every gaming store I've been to. Gamestop, Gamecrazy, Best Buy.. they've all asked for identification before they sold me a M rated game. But as I've said before, Jack Thompson is the King of Hyperbole. You'd think every single store was forcing M rated games onto minors from listening to him. That's not to say there isn't a single gaming store that has sold a M rated game to a minor. You'd have to be Jack Thompson to make such a generalization.
yeah
i know in canada any one under 17 cant buy m rated games without an adult. once i tried to buy, i think it was no more heroes, with my friend that was 18 and because i tried to pay for it they wouldnt let us buy it. i had to come back later with my dad before they would let me buy it. (im 15)
This Isn't A Battle Anymore, It's A Mother Fucking War.
Gamestop is pretty good with
Gamestop is pretty good with carding but big retailers like Walmart, Target, Best Buy.... they just don't care. Bought 3 M rated games at once from Target and they didn't card me.
Unfortunently that's not always true.
You should come talk to the Gamestop I go to. Every time I go in there I have to force back the 80 gazillion requests to pre-order m-rated games when I'm CLEARLY underage. It doesn't help that they look at me with the "That weirdo is gonna miss out on the greatest game of the millennium" every time I say "no thanks."
Same here.
Not that I'm underage, but at alot of the gamestops in my area they are always asking kids if they want to preorder a game that is M rated. And I've seen many a time where Wal-mart, Best Buy, Play-n-Trade, and even Gamestop don't even bother asking for an ID. I know that If I was a parent I would be watching what my children were playing.
EVIL!!!!
Craig looks like he is plotting something evil at 5:44 XD
wow Jack Thompson went up in
wow Jack Thompson went up in my book i still dont really like him that much just because im 16 so he doesnt think i should be playing M games
No
He doesn't want you to buy them without out a parent accompanying you
Well...
..maybe you shouldn't be? I'm joking. I'm sure you've come out just fine even with the devil's will melting your brain through your 360. Honestly that's not even a fair reason to hate Jack, he's just looking out for what's best for you. Just have your parents come with you and it'll be fine, unless you're being sneaky about it or your parents don't wanna be parents. Then sorry kid.
Concur
I agree that Jack is trying to look out for the kids but I feel he's going about it in the wrong way.
He should try looking at it from a more unbiased perspective or at least sit down with someone who could calmly explain some benefits to playing games
You know...
I hate hating this guy because he's so nonchalant and nice and even makes jokes about himself, now how the hell am I supposed to stay mad at him now?
HAHAHAHA. That must have
HAHAHAHA. That must have been one of the funniest things I ever seen in my life :D
It would be really cool (I don't know if you can do this) to go online on Space Inavders and actually get owned by Jack Thompson!
Paint's awesome! Version 1.1
i never want to ask Jack
i never want to ask Jack Thompson a question
i swear if i was at a Con why would i waste my time in this kind panel?
idk I kinda like the idea of
idk I kinda like the idea of asking the otherside what they think about video games
Those were some great
Those were some great questions, Jack Thompson was definatly something awesome of SGC
I only wish he was there longer...
Unfortunately he had to go back to Miami right after the debate, I was lucky I got a picture with him! That Q&A was definitely worth waiting for, unfortunately I didn't get my question asked, but it was still great seeing Jack Thompson, the REAL Jack Thompson, talk to us as regular people just like he is, this experience definitely changed my view on Video Games, and I wouldn't have it any other way!
Heh I got my question in at
Heh I got my question in at the end. Guess he's not such a bad guy after all.
I may not agree with him BUT
He's a really funny guy. It would make more sense to just do the Tobacco thing now than attacking games. Games don't kill people, tobacco does.
Wow
When he acknowledged video games as an art form, it blew my mind. This guy actually has some of my respect now. Not even my parents would compare games to art in any way at all.
But even being 15, I still agree that all stores need to card. The stores I go to do that and even point out the ratings to my parents, while I am there, at least. I even remember trying to purchase an old copy of Metal Gear Solid 2 at Gamestop and they reminded me that the game was rated M (totally slipped my mind) and I needed my dad to get it for me.
Anyway, my view of Jack Thompson is completely changed. He is, in fact, a human that holds his own legitimate points and opinions and does, in fact, have a brain.
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What was that noise?! HQ! HQ!
Wow, you guys were really
Wow, you guys were really nice to him. I'm frankly surprised of you guys. Nice job.
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Fire and forget? More like fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire.... fire, fire, laugh like the pyromaniac I am and then forget.
Wait.
Why am I supposed to hate this guy again?
Dutch policy
In the Netherlands, the guidelines for selling videogames to minors are a bit vague. Theoretically, shops are to give suspicious people an age-check, just to make certain. This policy however, is never carried out. This means that in my country, it is legal for a 12-year old to walk into a gamestore and say purchase GTA 4. In my opinion, more care should be taken in countries like these to uphold the set guidelines.
Another issue I'm having are the rating differences: in America, the ESRB is the most common rating system for media, including games. In Europe however, we use the PEGI system, which also includes ratings beyond M. This creates quite a bit of confusion, for it would make the following situation possible if the rules are indeed carried out: A 17-year old wishes to purchase a game that has been given an M-rating by the ESRB. In Europe, the game is available with a PEGI 18+ rating. Due to legislation, the 17-year old would therefore be incapable of purchasing the game. On the other hand, he can still order the same game, in an American edition, thus rendering the applied policies obsolete.
Therefore I think people should create a uniform rating system as well, to prevent confusion as such.
// Respect to Mr. Thompson for taking the time to show gamers he isn't the "joke" some perceive him to be.
i totally agree
That's also the case here in Denmark,I actually got GTA 3 when it came out and i was.. can't remember but well under 18. All i did was walk right in and buy it at a supermarket, i thank that could also be a major problem, that if kids can't get it at a Gamestop they'll probrably get it or steal it at the supermarket.
Yeah, I tried buying
Yeah, I tried buying Assassin's Creed once (an 18+ game), but I couldn't buy it because I wasn't 18. (I'm 17)
Which is stupid, given the
Which is stupid, given the fact that in America, Assassin's creed is M-rated, also known as 17+. This lack of uniformity causes several issues, on botht the consumer and retailer side.
Now this was impressive
Kudos to Jack Thompson for completely destroying the stereotype that people have come to know of the guy. He answered all of those questions with wit, actual facts and not once did he cross any line: he simply made sense. I'm impressed he managed to so drastically alter my view of him.
hmm
idk y but i kinda feel bad for the guy, on another note that was some amazing stuff from jack and from the audience, kudos!
Jack was completely
Jack was completely misunderstood by many, he actually did what he feels is right for all of us. The blame doesn't go to him for the seemingly douchebaggery he may have displayed, but its our minds. I've played some really violent games like F.E.A.R. and Soldier of Fortune when I was 13 and I don't have any thoughts on going postal and have violent tendencies. All I can say is that Jack, I can give you the honors.
Dude, stop talking bullshit
Dude, stop talking bullshit and watch some of his speeches from TV on YouYube when he still was a Lawyer... That was douchebag, now he changed his point of view dramatically.
Not necessarily
i have now seen a couple of his tv appearances on youtube and am now thinking that his main point is the same as it ever was, its just that now he has been given a chance to convey his full argument and reasoning behind his argument properly instead of having to quickly quote a couple of statistics here and mentioning a few victims families there
i may have a better understanding of where he's coming from. I'm not American. I live in country that actually has laws that restrict mature rated products to minors; including videogames
I wouldn't believe anything
I wouldn't believe anything this smooth talkin turkey is throwin down.
he rude he hatin, im not.
He bad and blowin smoke up ya, ya digg?
I DIGG
I HAVE A QUESTION FOR HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
can you do a barrel roll???
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where is my shottie ?????
Jack Thompson here
I had a great time at the convention. Regarding GameStop: It is to be commended for having a zero tolerance policy on sales of M games to kids under 17. That is in large part due to the fact that GameStop is a defendant in our suit in Alabama.
Other retailers have no such policy and routinely sell to kids with no parent in sight. You can't fault a parent, fellas, who is a victim of such unscrupulous activity by retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, etc. If there's no parent there, then they can't intercept the sale, now can they? And NONE of the retailers, as I point out, actually verify age in on-line sales. Asking a kid for his age is not age verification. It's a joke. Until they all use age verification software, then I will continue to target them with legal harm. Jack Thompson
Not sure if your the real
Not sure if your the real Jack Thompson, but in anycase welcome to Screwattack.
http://www.magicinkgaming.com/
Be that as it may...
While it's true that parents might not be able to intercept the sale of an M rated game, they can (and should if they are concerned about what their child plays) intercept that game in their own home, either through the use of parental controls on the console or by actively taking an interest in what their child is playing.
While I may not agree with some of the points that Jack Thompson makes, I do respect the fact that he took time to show up at SGC and discuss these major issues.
That might be...
...but it's still irrelevant to Mr. Thompsons' previous statements. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that the majority of the US's, and any other country's for that matter, population agrees that game ratings should be considered not just a guideline, but an actual sales rule as to what age groups certain games should be sold to.
However that still doesn't change the fact that Mr. Thompson has been crusading against M-rated games in general for quite some time now. It's nice that he has, seemingly, ceased to do so. find it very odd though, that a so-called "liberal" runs around and tries to tear on freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
You either have it or you don't, there are NO INBETWEENS. Deal with it or move to Iran.
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He makes some interesting
He makes some interesting points though I disagree with many
Was it just me who thought stargate when they saw
"SGC - Jacks Q+A"
Been watching it to much I think :P
Ahhh mommy
He reminds me of exactly how my parents think of the video game world, they were very strict even on Teen games for me, I remember it almost being a fight every time we went into blockbuster or something. And at that time I was just trying to get capcom vs. street fight 2. I was also like 10 at the time but whatever.
Wow
im really glad screwattack did this it shined more light on jack thompson and i actually agree with what he say's. and he kinda looks like bob saget.. actually he looks ALOT like bob saget.