Thompson goes on to say that retailers and the gaming industry are "engaged in a fraudulent and deceptive trade practice across the nation" by claiming to check IDs. This is exacerbated by his son purchasing the M-rated game from the same Best Buy store Thompson sent his son to buy Grand Theft Auto: Vice City at when he was 10-years-old. Thompson is demanding that Best Buy fire the store's manager and the girl with the "piercing through her right eyebrow" who sold his son the game. Thompson finishes by saying, "The entire video game age rating system is a fraud perpetrated upon American families from sea to shining sea." We should keep that in mind the next time we recruit our own child into a crusade and approve of him or her purchasing an M-rated game.
(Page 1) Reader Comments
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Besides his whole logic that video games turn people into violent blood crazed fiends is flawed. If it were true I would be eating his heart right now. Instead I'm sitting here typing crazy violent words.
He better hurry up his plans to turn America into Nazi Germany, I've been playing some games I'd like to reenact in real life! Hahahaha!!! Guns, violence, and drugs are all I know!!
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Because Joystiq will give him free publicity, and even print letters that he sends them.
Never mind that he is thoroughly discredited in the mainstream when he subpoenas George Bush to appear at his little videogame trial.
After a few months of covering his every move and giving him a status he doesn't deserve, Joystiq will reinvent him as an expert that gets to sit in on crafting anti-videogame legislation again.
He doesn't understand it's parents' jobs to police their children, and won't stop until he gets everyone he can to do his job for him.
Yet I played all those "terrible video games" and watched violent movies and television shows as a child. According to Mr. Thompson here, I should be a psychopathic killer by now. Surely the amount of time I've spent playing Halo 2 online shooting my opponents or all the cars I've stolen in Grand Theft Auto should have me out and committing horrific crimes as I type this. But I'm not. Violent video games are not the cause of youth violence and need to stop being blamed for it.
I'm not saying it's necessarily a good for children to be exposed to large amounts of violent media. There are those that are easily impressionable and have a hard time separating fantasy from reality. It is the responsibility of their parents to properly regulate what they feel is appropriate for their child. My parents waited until either late elementary school or early middle school until they felt that it was okay for me to be laying violent video games. They waited until they felt that I was emotionally capable of handling the subject matter and were comfortable with me being exposed to it. While I didn't agree with or understand them at the time and still did occasionally get the chance to play violent games at friends' houses, I completely respect their decision now.
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Why don't you do something more consructive, like store's selling cigarettes to minors!!!
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Jack is an embarrassment to lawyers who fight for people’s rights. Keep using your son as a puppet Jack, because God knows we want him to grow up feeling just as negative about you as we do.
On a final thought, how the hell does Take 2 or any other developer police stores for who comes in and buys? Seems to me you have the wrong target in mind.
Die Thompson...die
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hence the retailers are responsible for ensuring underage kids cant get the game at least now without the ok from the parent
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Poor little bastard!
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And that goth with the piercing is my prom date!
Signed,
JT's kid.
He over generalizes constantly. One BB must mean all of them! He can die in a fire for all I care.
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i was just about to chime in that i got ID'd to buy bioshock, and am also 21.
I can go to bars and not get IDed half the time to buy a drink, but BB managed to deem that i might not be over 17 to buy this game.
It's not up to Best Buy and Walmart clerks to raise your children, it's up to you as a parent.
I'll make it real simple:
Store Clerk's Job: Sell Merchandise
Parent's Job: Raise their kid and take responsiblity for that job.
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JT is a giant douche-bag, but that's because a) he earnestly believes that playing video games will make you kill people, and as a result b) he thinks there shouldn't be any violent video games. Parents have a right to decide what their kids do or do not see or play, but in today's world it's pretty hard to enforce that sort of thing 100% on your own.
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