We got this letter from Jackie Boy today, just in time for the weekend. His latest target is Killer 7 - a game
with "full blown sex sequences" that, obviously, he wants an AO rating for. Despite the critical ambivalence
toward this title, I bought it and played through the game, and you know what? I only found one sex sequence, and
it was between two clothed people (granted, one had a plaid skirt, but that's nothing) and the girl was basically
sitting in the guys lap moaning - you never see anything from the waist down. It was tastefully done (much to my
dismay - just kidding). The violence was on par with an issue of Sin City. Personally, I think it deserves
a Mature rating, and that's what it gets.
I don't think Jack has much to worry about, no one else on the earth really bought this game (well, I did, and a good
number did, but maybe 1/100th the sales figures of Grand Theft Auto). I think Mature is worth it and, either way,
I think this might spark sales in the game - or just kill it altogether. Regardless, I think Killer 7 is a piece
of art - whether or not you find the game fun, it was an audacious (read: ballsy) release. Read below for the
official letter, and don't expect this to be the last we hear of this.
Jack may read this site - so make your opinion heard. But, if you do so, please make a valid argument; if you just flame I don't think your point is going to get across - show him we are literate and intelligent enough to make up our own mind on these games.
[the letter, in its full form]
URGENT!
John B. Thompson, Attorney at Law
1172 South Dixie Hwy., Suite 111
Coral Gables, Florida 33146
305-666-4366
jackpeace@comcast.net
August 5, 2005
Patricia Vance
President Entertainment Software Rating Board
317 Madison Avenue, 22nd Floor
New York, NY 10017
Fax: 212-759-2223
Re: Killer 7
Dear Ms. Vance:
I have just learned facts that indicate the above violent game most likely deserves an ?AO? rating rather than the ?M?
rating which your ESRB has given it. As you may or may not know, more than forty states have ?sexual material harmful
to minors? statutes which prohibit the sale of sexually explicit material to anyone under 18 years of age. This hiatus
between the ?M? (age 17) rating and the statutory criminal standard (age 18) has always posed significant peril to the
industry through games that contain sexual material, and it appears that those pigeons may come home to roost in Killer
7. ?Hot Coffee? is a fairly recent example of the peril. As to Killer 7, please note: The following is found in a
review of Killer 7 by Matt Casamassina at
http://cube.ign.com/articles/630/630908p1.html which
contains the following observations at this pro-violent game Internet site: ??profanity, sex and bloodshed are
commonplace? We can?t stress it enough: kids should not play Killer 7. Not just because there?s an M on the box, but
because for once that M really means something. There?s much more than blood and guts in the game. Everything from the
design of puzzles to the subject matter is designed for older players and it?s really that simple?. And there are
cinematics that feature full-blown sex sequences?. Killer 7?s adult themes, which encapsulate extremely violent,
profane and sexual situations, as well as a wide range of issues from terrorism to the sale of children, make the M on
the box really mean something.? Ms. Vance, this game was released on July 7, 2005. It may be that the stir caused by
the ?Hot Coffee? in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas distracted all of our attention from Killer 7. There is no question
in my mind that a video game containing ?full-blown sex sequences? cannot be rated anything other than ?AO? rather than
?M.? The reviewer above in fact says that this game?s ?M? actually means something, and he says it twice for emphasis.
There are those who would say that people such as I are ?prudes? who have no problem with violence but get uptight
about sexual content in games. That is a disingenuous charge, and you know why. I have been on national television
programs, as early as the week before Columbine, complaining about 13-year-olds being enabled by the ESRB to violent
?M? games. But it is your sister organization, the Entertainment Software Association, that is in court right this
second in Illinois trying to prevent the extension of the ?sex? argument to the ?violence? argument. It is your
industry, then, that thinks violence is okay for kids but that sex, given state laws already on the books, is not okay.
Well, the Killer 7 game underscores the fact that your organization and the industry it fronts for appear to try to get
away with anything that is harmful to kids, whether already illegal or not. What it also means is that if jurors in a
criminal prosecution were asked whether Killer 7 contains ?sexual material harmful to minors? in violation of statutory
standards, then, based upon the above enthusiastic review at IGN.com, the answer to that question would probably be
?yes.? That answer would put the Entertainment Software Rating Board, in my opinion, in the middle of a criminal
conspiracy to distribute sexual material harmful to minors in violation of criminal statutes. This is not a situation
in which the ESRB has been blind-sided by hidden or embedded content, Ms. Vance. You all have known that the
?full-blown sex sequences? are patently present in the game, yet you chose to put an ?M? rather than an ?AO? rating on
it. Big mistake. If I were you, Ms. Vance, I would immediately ask the makers of this game, and all retailers, to pull
it from store shelves. If you don?t, expect for others to use this latest scandal, which I am hereby officially kicking
off, to call for a dismantling of the ESRB. The fox has guarded the chickens long enough. Killer 7 seems to prove
it.
Sincerely,
Jack Thompson
Copies: Senator Clinton, Senator Lieberman, Senator Brownback, Senator Santorum Assemblyman Yee Federal Trade
Commission Congressman Upton Class action counsel Media Others
