"Jack Thompson Says GTA 4 Mission Target is Him; Threatens to Block Release"

[Turrican_Man]

Jack Thompson Says GTA 4 Mission Target is Him; Threatens to Block Release

Plenty of gamers would give their left arm to be included in Grand Theft Auto IV.

Miami attorney Jack Thompson, however, claims that he’s depicted in the game and wants out. And he threatens to block the release of GTA IV if Rockstar doesn’t comply.

In a document filed yesterday with a federal court in Florida, Thompson includes a letter written to Take Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick which reads in part:

I have this morning read with interest an article on page 80 and 81 of the September 2007 issue of Game Informer magazine which was generated when, according to its author, Rockstar Games “stopped by the Game Informer offices for an impromptu hour-long gameplay session with the Xbox 360 version of the game.”

The showcasing play of the game to Game Informer revealed that the first killing mission of the “hero” of the game, Niko, is to kill a certain lawyer. When Niko comes into this lawyer’s office, having used subterfuge to do so, Niko pulls a gun on the lawyer who says, “that the firm supports the second amendment and that ‘Guns don’t kill people. Video games do.’”

…The fact that the lawyer, killed on Niko’s first mission, would bring up video games, makes it clearly a reference to me… This is not the first time Rockstar Games and Take Two have targeted me in this fashion. Take Two references to me as a bisexual pedophile on its corporate website…

GP: What’s he referring to here? See GamePolitics’ September, 2005 article Jack Thompson Accuses Rockstsar of… Parody. Thompson’s letter continues:

You have until five o’clock P.M. this Friday… to inform me that you are going to delete the above references and any other references that could reasonably be construed to be references to me in Grand Theft Auto IV and any other video games that are pending release…

Now you have descended this low - using one of your games to threaten my physical safety… Failure to comply with the deadline… will result in my having to take necessary and proper means to stop release of the game which targets me personally… given the copycatting of violent games…

source: http://gamepolitics.com/2007/09/18/jack-thompson-says-gta-4-mission-target-is-him-threatens-to-block-release/?jack

 

[xmods (jwm2)]

If it really is him i'll buy 8 copies just for myself! It would be cool to mod the game so the guy looks exactly like jackass thompson. Hell i would only play that one mission, over and over and over.

 

[kirax7]

I hate Jack Thompson with a passion. He ruined one of the most anticipated games of 2007 already. What else is he going to fuck up?

 

[El_Duque]

Why are we still giving this guy all the attention he wants? There should be a rule in which posts that link articles to Jack Thompson are automatically deleted.

 

[thatdemoguy]

MAN....FUCK HIM!!!! Im sorry, he made himself a target with all his boo-hooing over games over these years. I could understand if there was an actual physical threat to his life but its a GAME....I dont think anyone is going to really hunt him down over this. If somebody REALLY wanted him gone, he would be already. I just find this to be another one of his devices that he will use in his legislature against gaming. Baseless and ignorant.

O.

 

[kirax7]

Why are we still giving this guy all the attention he wants? There should be a rule in which posts that link articles to Jack Thompson are automatically deleted.

DON'T FEED THE TROLL!

 

[xmods (jwm2)]

They should make a game where the goal is to find as many ways to kill jackass thompson as possible, the more effort you put into it the more points you are rewarded. If such a game exists please tell me, i want 8 copies of it NOW.

 

[Buro Destruct]

Adolescent and puerile statements like most of the ones made in this thread are the exact reason Jack Thompson thinks he has a valid point.

 

[thatdemoguy]

Adolescent and puerile statements like most of the ones made in this thread are the exact reason Jack Thompson thinks he has a valid point.

The thing is that if I really wanted to have an in-depth discussion about it I could. I could sit here RIGHT now and type out a venomous diatribe about this topic, but it would be useless. So what if a character that is probably BLATANTLY a joke on him is depicted in a game....that just makes him a part of pop culture that is being referenced. Did he NOT think that this would be part of the eventual fallout of his legislature AGAINST gaming as a whole? And now he wants to stop the release of a title b/c of said reference? That holds no water at all.

O.

 

[Lets Gekiga In]

Why are we still giving this guy all the attention he wants? There should be a rule in which posts that link articles to Jack Thompson are automatically deleted.

Precisely my point.

Just ignore it.

 

[ki_atsushi]

If the Lawyer's name in the game isn't actually Jack Thompson or Tom Jackson or some play on his name, he needs to shut the fuck up. How can it be proven that the lawyer in the game is anything but a fictional character that has the same political stance as Jack Thompson.

This guy needs to be kicked in the dick.

 

[PopeCuervoLime]

I don't think the attorney has grounds for a defamation suit if that's where this was going to go since they do not specifically say: "Jack Thompson, die!!!" And the GTA guy shoots him. I think RockStar's legal department has been around the block enough times with anti-GTA publicity to know what's legal and what isn't.

I think Thompson is just rattling a saber.