Why Utah AG Shurtleff and Jack Thompson don't get along -- the video [update 1]
Yesterday we reported on a spat going on between Utah's Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and lawyer Jack Thompson. The short version of this whole story is that Shurtleff asked the Utah legislature to pull the Jack Thompson-authored video game bill because he believed, and the record is pretty solid on this so far, that it would be deemed unconstitutional anyway.
Game Politics posted a PSA today, produced by Shurtleff last year, which we discussed in November, explaining the ESRB ratings system. This rational and cheesy approach is unacceptable when a politician is discussing video games. Where are the bodies? The children rampaging in the streets with guns and shooting cops? We are offended -- nay appalled, by a politician attempting to rationally tell parents that all they have to do is look on the freakin' box to know what's in the games their kids are playing. We're thinking if Jack did a video game PSA, it would be like the Lex Luthor destiny scene from the first season of Smallville, which we've placed after the break ...
[Update 1: Reader Timkell noticed we posted the Shurtleff PSA before -- we posted it again because it's relevant to explaining the current situation developing in Utah.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
William @ Jan 21st 2007 1:55PM
hahahahahaah i wanna see that happen to jack lol.
Fatass of Kickassness @ Jan 21st 2007 2:00PM
Jack Thompson is a pompous fool who needs to get off of his high-horse.
el chino @ Jan 21st 2007 2:27PM
Whats's wrong? A politican telling obsessed breeder's in America took just look at the box, follow it and finally decide if the games is right for your kid. I prefer this than a commercial advocating restricting sales or worse banning or censoring some games!!!! Most parents are stupid and just paranoid about everything I saw this while working at Software Etc (now known as Gamestop) during my junior and senior years in HS.
rodan32 @ Jan 21st 2007 2:30PM
I have the privilege of knowing Shurtleff here in Utah. He's a dang fine guy and an honest one too. We're hoping he goes to the Senate someday and replaces Hatch (who's a little too much of a weirdo and has a little too much RIAA on his hands).
konajinx @ Jan 21st 2007 2:48PM
Wow, they're playing with a GameCube. No need to worry about "adult" games there!
el chino @ Jan 21st 2007 2:56PM
"""Wow, they're playing with a GameCube. No need to worry about "adult" games there!"""
Ditto for the Wii. Only 4 M-rated games coming out in 07.
Source: Gamestop.com/Ebgames.com
William @ Jan 21st 2007 3:05PM
I just can't stand that the problem aren't the games, or the games' contents.
The problem is retailers selling to underage kids, and parents BUYING for mega underage kids. I know 8 year olds who have Medal of Honor and GTA and I can't believe it!
Educate parents on what games to get for your kids, make them not buy M rated games for kids, and crackdown on retailers sellin to kids.
There isn't a problem otherwise. The damned videogames are fine otherwise.
Why isn't Jack getting mad at the 1000000000 porno sites that any kid with internet can access? Helluva lot easier to look at porn and pictures of gorey things on the internets than it is to buy a videogame that contains half as bad as the stuff on the internet.
First step is making it so kids don't get depressed and upset so they don't end up killing people. If anything, videogames are just a tiny catalyst, people need to start attacking the main problems, not the small things that only activate the problem.
Gah!
schlomo @ Jan 21st 2007 3:06PM
el chino: look up "sarcasm" in the dictionary.
this PSA should be national. I'd donate money for it. sure, it's cheezy, but it shows that you don't have to be a Jackass [Thompson] and have games outlawed - just work WITH the industry instead of trying to KILL it.
Fatass of Kickassness @ Jan 21st 2007 3:44PM
*hums tune* OOOOoooooh...
Jack Thompson is an idiot!
His ideals are full of shit!
He's just a filthy hypocrite.
And I don't know why we just sit
And let him feed us this abuse,
Its time we did something of use
And hit him 'till his head's obtuse
with violence influenced by Half-Life 2.
csc @ Jan 21st 2007 4:10PM
Schlomo has a point, joystiq (or Penny Arcade, since theyre already fond of annoying JT) should set up a fundraiser to air this PSA nationally on behalf of the -make-jack-thompson-go-away- foundation
FatChris @ Jan 21st 2007 4:37PM
I cant believe no one has tryed this before, it seems like the most obvious thing to do. And its the first time i think i have ever seen someone in office who knows something about videogames (hints that there arnt a gamecube xbox and atari 2600 controller in the commercial)
hudson922 @ Jan 21st 2007 4:58PM
Jack Thompson should be beaten to death with a whoopee cushion, I think that would be fitting considering every thing else he does is a joke.
Timkell @ Jan 21st 2007 5:10PM
Am ok, not to be a bad man or anything but this video was posted by Blake Snow way back on November 17th 2006, so I'm just wondering why its up again? And here is the link if you don't believe me.
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/17/attorney-general-counsels-parents-to-read-esrb-ratings/
That's all I suppose, it was just annoying me cos I was sure I saw it before.
dustandechoes91 @ Jan 21st 2007 5:15PM
good, its good when they actually tell people about the ratings. Theres so many stupid parents in my town who dont even know the ratings exist. One time one of my little brothers friends came over, and he wanted to play halo 2, and i wouldnt give them my copy, and his mom and my mom were talking and he ran up to them and started complaining, and my mom said they were too young to play an M rated game, and the kids mom says "oh, whats M mean? He plays that game all the time at home, and ours isnt M.
I had a good laugh at that, and these kids where in 3rd grade at the time.
NeverSage @ Jan 21st 2007 6:08PM
Shurtleff is my new hero
makesevenupyours @ Jan 21st 2007 8:50PM
as soon as it showed the kids i KNEW they would be playing a gamecube.
Goldspire @ Jan 21st 2007 9:06PM
well i'm sorry if the GCN is kiddy, but science help you if you can't enjoy a round of Super Monkey Ball
Zachary Hinchliffe @ Jan 21st 2007 9:13PM
Mm hmm, so you only play M rated games
Hmm.
I take it you never watch PG or PG-13 rated movies either?
Stranger @ Jan 21st 2007 9:27PM
I think the gaming community owes Jack Thompson a big "Thank You".
Everytime he gets behind any "anti-gaming" legislation, the bill is ruled unconstitutional and thrown out. At this rate gamers will have legal precedence on game censorship in all 50 states by 2012, effectively making it a non-issue.
So way to go Jackie boy, keep fighting the good fight! You're making it awfully easy for the opposition to just stay on the couch, and we really appreciate it. Those GTA hookers don't just kill themselves, you know!
Thank you Jack Thompson, the gaming community will forever be in your debt.
Flavius @ Jan 22nd 2007 2:01AM
That's what Thompson gets for stealing the words of prior legislative bodies and warming them up in the microwave, hoping no one else notices. All of the prior legislation that he "borrowed" from, and I use that term lightly, was ruled unconstitutional by judges in cases that took place years ago.
Face the facts, Jack...your pathetic attempts at pigeonholing violence in with pornography are futile, at best, and at worst, only make you look even more like the opportunistic media-whore that we truly know you to be.
Dark-Pen @ Jan 22nd 2007 6:28AM
hee hee, that Lex Luther destiny video had me giggling like a little girl XD
To even remotely make that connection between Jack Thompson's PSA video being something like that is pure genius XD
Ethan @ Jan 22nd 2007 12:24PM
You can tell Shurtleff is trying so hard here not to offend. And that's the problem, you can't just go 'you don't really know enough about this and your parenting is suffering because of it, so just do this.' Instead they have to go 'Sometimes it's hard to find the right yada yada etc.'