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General Category => Entertainment and Media => Topic started by: HL on September 25, 2008, 05:19:03 pm

Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: HL on September 25, 2008, 05:19:03 pm
Today, the Supreme Court of the United States of America has permanently disbarred Jack Thompson from practicing as a lawyer, in its year long trial.

http://kotaku.com/5054772/jack-thompson-disbarred


He has 30 days to close up, then he's done. The end.

No more BIG LAUGHS.

Although he'll still be on Fox News, so there's hope yet!
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on September 25, 2008, 05:37:02 pm
to those of you not willing to read legalese, this is what he got disbarred for:

Quote
(1) respondent made false statements of material fact to courts and repeatedly violated a court order; (2) respondent communicated the subject of representation directly with clients of opposing counsel; (3) respondent engaged in prohibited ex parte communications; (4) respondent publicized and sent hundreds of pages of vitriolic and disparaging missives, letters, faxes, and press releases, to the affected individuals; (5) respondent targeted an individual who was not involved with respondent in any way, merely due to "the position [the
individual] holds in state and national politics;" (6) respondent falsely, recklessly, and publicly accused a judge as being amenable to the "fixing" of cases; (7) respondent sent courts inappropriate and offensive sexual materials; (8) respondent falsely and publicly accused various attorneys and their clients of engaging in a conspiracy/enterprise involving "the criminal distribution of sexual materials to minors" and attempted to get prosecuting authorities to charge these attorneys and their clients for racketeering and extortion; (9) respondent harassed the former client of an attorney in an effort to get the client to use its influence to persuade the attorney to withdraw a defamation suit filed by the attorney against respondent; and
(10) respondent retaliated against attorneys who filed Bar complaints against him for his unethical conduct by asserting to their clients, government officials, politicians, the media, female lawyers in their law firm, employees, personal friends, acquaintances, and their wives, that the attorneys were criminal pornographers who objectify women. The Court concludes that the facts, as even more extensively detailed in the referee's report, support the referee's numerous recommendations as to guilt.

i love numbers 7 and 10.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: HL on September 25, 2008, 05:38:09 pm
yes for the people who didn't follow this, he gave the supreme court guys gay porn in his filings.

not even joking
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on September 25, 2008, 05:43:40 pm
it was in the form for political cartoons.

SUPREME COURT

ME ~JUSTICE JUST GOT BLINDED HARHARHAR
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Bill Murray on September 25, 2008, 07:31:19 pm
Maaan. The JT himself..
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Marcus on September 25, 2008, 07:49:43 pm
I'm surprised there isn't a thread about this on 4chan.

I'm actually sad to see him shut down.  The guy had little to no respect even from the groups he tried to appeal to and it's great having a bumbling idiot as an enemy because you don't have to worry about anyone competent screwing you over.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Vellfire on September 25, 2008, 07:52:55 pm
oh no who is going to warn us about counter strike: half life now????



that was the best thing he said because if there really was a counter strike: half life it would probably be the most popular game in the world
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: headphonics on September 25, 2008, 09:40:31 pm
anyone who professionally trolls the shit out of faggot gamers deserves my respect. it's sad to see him go.
man you really take SELFHATING GAMER thing to a new level.  i hate most of them too but maaaaan, do you really respect jack thompson?  like you know he wasnt trolling right??
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on September 25, 2008, 10:07:48 pm
also no lawyer wants to be disbarred. whatever thompson's motives (and I doubt it was EXPOSE FAGGIT GAMERS) that's gotta suck.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: HL on September 25, 2008, 10:54:27 pm
i wouldn't say he trolled gamers, he just legitimately hates them and actually believes games are like the devil or some shit that is ruining society. He's just really stupid and overzealous, he isn't even smart enough to troll gamers. Plus yeah, he get disbarred. He's pretty much a joke now. Well, he was anyways, but now he's more of one!
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: HL on September 25, 2008, 11:32:59 pm
well i mean, the industry is still actually in its infancy, i mean shit since it's revival it's only been going for 25 years, plus the time before the crash! I think a lot of people are still really defensive of it, especially those who know how bad off it is right now. Yeah he annoys a lot of people but there are definitely a lot of people who definitely want to keep the industry locked down even though it's slowly dying as time goes on. Obviously gamer's don't like that because it really is an INFANT industry which means there is going to be a lot of people who are OVERLY defensive of it. I'm sure if the greatness of Mozart or Beethoven (not the greatest example, music itself wasn't infancy back then, but back when it REALLY took off, which gaming has started to, even if its performing poorly.) had a bunch of people trying to lock it down or really slow it down or hinder it's growth with a lot of bad press, etc etc etc, there would be a lot of musicians back then doing the same thing, same for film, and so on.

i mean i obviously don't condone death threats or anything, but gaming is really really censored as it is, both in the US and world wide, and is really just this new thing that is starting to hit the average consumer as a popular past time and you have a bunch of idiots badmouthing it and getting legit bad press. granted fox news is pretty shit, but well, the average american watches it and its the average american that is pretty much getting into gaming right now. like i said i don't condone the level of threats he received, but i definitely don't see it as ODD or even FUNNY or even respectful in any way to basically try everything in your power to bring a rather new industry down with a bunch of lies (this wouldn't be so bad if he didn't get so much PRESS that the average (DUMB) american parenting family will believe). of course gamer's get pissed! they want their shit to keep going. a lot of people still get angry at the ESRB etc, and Australian laws, and tons of other shit related to gaming. i still find it kind of sad that AO games are not allowed in America at all. no store will sell them because they basically get told if they sell one they won't get support. like what the fuck is that. like damn you can't go buy a porn movie in a lot of general stores (Wal-Mart, etc) either, but there's at least places for these where these make a lot of money. no one is interested in this for game's it seems and even the companies back away because stuff like the ESRB and stores have them so strangled on the matter. it kinda sucks. i wouldn't buy one but it still sucks to have such a level of censoring in a videogame of all things, to the point that you can't buy it anywhere. so yea, if people can still be angry over the ESRB, them being angry at a guy trying to bring them down even further isn't too surprising either. we're all a bit defensive of stuff we really truly like and want to succeed. or at least i'd hope we are.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: ATARI on September 25, 2008, 11:40:25 pm
thompson.... keepin it real
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Marcus on September 25, 2008, 11:44:11 pm
I dont respect him as a person since hes probably a dick irl but I respect his ability at pissing off millions of anime loving neckbeards over stupid shit that nobody in the real world cares about.

Although Thompson himself was hated by most of his own peers, he was one of the driving forces behind getting Take 2 to redistribute San Andreas (which probably influenced Zenimax to redistribute Oblivion once they found out it contained nipples) costing the company millions of dollars.

If it weren't for successful games like BioShock and Grand Theft Auto, Take 2 would have probably been boughten out by EA or even worse taken over.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: tuxedo marx on September 26, 2008, 12:29:25 am
jack thompson has been banned from gaming world
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Boulvae on September 26, 2008, 01:11:42 am
This inspires me to open an Adult Only shop and take in Adult Only games ( PLUS OTHER GAMES OF COURSE) from Indie people and distribute it. Oh sure I won't get support but think of all the press!!!

Of course i'll probably have to deal with hell when it comes to the Government who will try and stomp me out at every turn... bring it on CANADA!!!
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: baseball19225 on September 26, 2008, 01:22:29 am
finally.......i can game free. "let my people go" -gamer bible
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: headphonics on September 26, 2008, 01:41:18 am
I dont respect him as a person since hes probably a dick irl but I respect his ability at pissing off millions of anime loving neckbeards over stupid shit that nobody in the real world cares about.
uhhh i care about it a lot and i think it is a little ridiculous that you would dismiss shit as childish/unimportant just because it has to do with videogames on some level.  like do you not see how this is just a branch of a much larger problem having to do with idiocy in the media (do you remember the coverage that mass effect nudity bullshit got?)/censorship/religious zealotry/a bunch of other shit that people should probably care about?  jack thompson all by himself isn't that big a deal because a lot of people don't take him seriously, but ENOUGH people do that he's really pretty troubling.  yes it has to do with stupid videogames but it ties into so much other stuff and it is pretty short-sighted to write this off as insignificant, because these are the very same people who spend their time on a lot of other causes, and have a huge impact on things that are actually important.  so yeah i think the videogames vs jack thompson thing is important, if only because it connects to a much larger ideological struggle that has quite a lot of significance in the "real world".
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Boulvae on September 26, 2008, 01:50:05 am
Thats right, heack it's like the struggle with movies when they first came about. Not viewed as art or expression and just an industry where it was watered down to some muddled sub-par levels, it's pretty much the same thing different arguments for Video Games. But I will say that the industry may be in it's infant stages but it sure isn't forgiving.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: headphonics on September 26, 2008, 01:58:38 am
*takes off hat and holds to chest, gazes at flag*
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: headphonics on September 26, 2008, 02:14:46 am
i mean, those groups who didn't get HEAVY METAL taken off the shelves are still linked pretty closely to the same people that get a lot of other stuff done and are relatively influential.  i don't mean like SHAPDOW ORGANIZATION....... but yeah like just because they didnt successfully demonize pokemon doesnt mean they don't do a lot of other garbage.  a fair amount of shit is still done or not done or just changed to appease these people.  i don't go on crusades against jack thompson, but i take anyone who gets air time about this stuff at least vaguely seriously, because regular old idiots listen to people like him without even blinking, and that has an effect on public perception which ultimately can have a huge bearing on things.  that's kind of a big stretch it seems like but i'm basically just saying this stuff can be pretty important in the grand scheme of things even if it doesnt seem like it, i think, or even if it's spearheaded by someone who's clearly an idiot
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: baseball19225 on September 26, 2008, 03:25:48 am
ummm.......video games are our RIGHT. everyone deserves games.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: headphonics on September 26, 2008, 03:42:22 am
man it's not just because people didnt grow up with video games.  these people have all more or less grown up with television and movies and they still put a pretty big amount of effort into complaining about that, too.  you're looking at these big struggles they don't get anywhere on and don't seem to be acknowledging all the tiny things that they influence on a daily basis that are less drastic than NO MORE COMICS.  like seriously they achieve a lot dude, but not if you only pay attention to the stupid little battles they don't win.  religious groups tend to exert a pretty decent influence over just media in general so brushing off some video game struggle seems kind of absurd, because it's the same people you're fighting really, and those people have a pretty noticeable effect on things here (for the worse)

i mean whatever this is pointless, because you just do not seem to agree that religious groups have any amount of influence on mainstream media and i think they do, but you really play this ANTIVIDEOGAME thing up a lot and it doesnt even seem like a troll.  you kind of sound like some coal miner who's yelling at his son who's into music to go learn a real trade

also you know i'm capable of worrying about more than one thing.  the fact that i care about jack thompson to some small extent because of the larger problem he represents doesn't mean i tune everything else out.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Lars on September 26, 2008, 03:50:36 am
nobody who mattered gave a shit about jack thompson. the only people who payed any attention to him at all were idiots who take video games way too seriously.
im pretty sure hillary clinton officially backed him up
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: HL on September 26, 2008, 05:31:20 am
a lot of people backed him up til he went really crazy towards the end of the disbarring case (gay porn). He had support from Fox News which whether you like it or not is still a really popular news channel that a huge bunch of idiots will believe anything from (Mass effect has full frontal nudity or w/e anyone? yeah people believed it.), and it's pretty short sighted to me to say that only the HARDCORE GAMER cares about this guy when the stuff he is saying is getting through to the casual gamer who in general just so happens to be the majority dumb American who seems to take a lot as true just because a news outlet says it is. He nearly had a company ruined, and that's a company of 2,000 people. Jesus man, that's my entire town! He could have had my entire town fired and searching for a new job and shut down. He wouldn't be so bad and I could at least vaguely respect the guy, if he wasn't using lies all the time to get anywhere, and the media REPORTING these lies as truth because they are completely dumb. It's like OBAMA IS A MUSLIM. you can't tell me there isn't a TON of Americans out there who believe it. a lot of people are just stupid like that, and that's where JT really won his battles at, is at the stupid American level, which either way is still a part of the demographic for the casual "emergent" gamer that is getting into it. A really big part. These are the older adults who never gave it a try or thought it was stupid! And this man has a chance to warp what they think, because they'll believe him because he was on FOX NEWS, and even if he is completely dumb that is still a very terrible thing. this isn't like religious zealots DEMONIZING POKEMON AND DUNGEONS AND DRAGONZ or COMIC BOOK FANS because the last 2 are niche markets still, and the first 1 was given up on and really the people still doing it probably hate homosexuals too and everything else on the planet. but yeah, most of them are niche markets (just talking about D&D and Comics), gaming is no longer really this niche market thing at all. More people are getting into gaming in 08 than before, even when Space Invaders caused a problem in Japan with 100 yen coins! It's becoming an acceptable industry upon the masses like film and music, and with more people, there needs to more real media checking on the legitness of stories because as more people join the industry as consumers, idiots like JT get a lot more power going.

Honestly, you say that only these RABID HARDCORE GAMERS care about things NO ONE IN REAL WORLD CARES ABOUT (getting fired/censoring media, who cares about this???) and that EVERYONE KNOWS HE'S A JOKE, but I sure would like to know how the non-gamers know he is a joke? Really it's those very same RABID HARDCORE GAMERS who know he is a joke (besides the disbarring now, of course.), no one outside of gaming does, and that's the problem!
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: headphonics on September 26, 2008, 05:56:37 am
Freedom Gamers Unite
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Hundley on September 26, 2008, 07:29:28 am
but you really play this ANTIVIDEOGAME thing up a lot and it doesnt even seem like a troll.  you kind of sound like some coal miner who's yelling at his son who's into music to go learn a real trade
probably not a terrible way of looking at it. the vast majority of people who make games fucking suck at it and should probably pursue a career closer to their intellectual capabilities(such as janitor or fluffer)

i would have much more of a problem with censorship and civic uprising regarding the content of video games if game designers did ANYTHING EVER to show that their creative content was worth protecting. sure, thompson is a sensationalist shithead, but i can't say that i was ever particularly upset to see him target ROCKSTAR or some equally worthless game company. the thought that people actually held up manhunt and said FREEDOM OF SPEECH makes you wish somebody did a better job defining the concept
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: headphonics on September 26, 2008, 10:08:54 am
well, i hate most gamers, too.  they're shitheads and all that but it just seems like he has an inordinate amount of hate for them even going beyond the fact that they're irritating as hell.  it is like there has been some traumatic experience in his past involving gamers.

anyway, i do not think you can pick and choose about thing you champions in the name of freedom of speech.  it's not like this is some grand struggle or anything, but it should all-applicable; that's the point!  even if stuff like manhunt is really shallow and just worthless beyond STAB THIS GUY IN THE CORNEA WITH A BALLPOINT PEN, i can't really make myself not care about it.  it's not like i care about manhunt existing so much as i think it's pretty obviously within their rights to make, garbage or not.  like i think the concept is reasonably well defined as it is! i feel like it shouldn't matter whatsoever what you're defending because it's universal and it wouldn't work if rockstar's overly violent, stupid games had any less than something legitimately worthwhile.  it would be infinitely overbearing if it didn't apply to almost absolutely everything, i think.

i mean maybe i am misinterpreting what you're saying but aside from its literal meaning, i wouldn't even be too comfortable with any person ascribing some arbitrary standards of what freedom of speech is.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on September 26, 2008, 01:48:46 pm
also uh...they have succeeded in the past. the parental advisory stickers on cds used to not be there.

granted it's not much of a loss but to say they haven't had an impact in the past isn't true.

also they decimated comics when they were up on the chopping block. took years before violence could be in comics again.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Carrion Crow on September 26, 2008, 01:58:26 pm
a lot of people backed him up til he went really crazy towards the end of the disbarring case (gay porn). He had support from Fox News which whether you like it or not is still a really popular news channel that a huge bunch of idiots will believe anything from (Mass effect has full frontal nudity or w/e anyone? yeah people believed it.), and it's pretty short sighted to me to say that only the HARDCORE GAMER cares about this guy when the stuff he is saying is getting through to the casual gamer who in general just so happens to be the majority dumb American who seems to take a lot as true just because a news outlet says it is. He nearly had a company ruined, and that's a company of 2,000 people. Jesus man, that's my entire town! He could have had my entire town fired and searching for a new job and shut down. He wouldn't be so bad and I could at least vaguely respect the guy, if he wasn't using lies all the time to get anywhere, and the media REPORTING these lies as truth because they are completely dumb. It's like OBAMA IS A MUSLIM. you can't tell me there isn't a TON of Americans out there who believe it. a lot of people are just stupid like that, and that's where JT really won his battles at, is at the stupid American level, which either way is still a part of the demographic for the casual "emergent" gamer that is getting into it. A really big part. These are the older adults who never gave it a try or thought it was stupid! And this man has a chance to warp what they think, because they'll believe him because he was on FOX NEWS, and even if he is completely dumb that is still a very terrible thing. this isn't like religious zealots DEMONIZING POKEMON AND DUNGEONS AND DRAGONZ or COMIC BOOK FANS because the last 2 are niche markets still, and the first 1 was given up on and really the people still doing it probably hate homosexuals too and everything else on the planet. but yeah, most of them are niche markets (just talking about D&D and Comics), gaming is no longer really this niche market thing at all. More people are getting into gaming in 08 than before, even when Space Invaders caused a problem in Japan with 100 yen coins! It's becoming an acceptable industry upon the masses like film and music, and with more people, there needs to more real media checking on the legitness of stories because as more people join the industry as consumers, idiots like JT get a lot more power going.

Honestly, you say that only these RABID HARDCORE GAMERS care about things NO ONE IN REAL WORLD CARES ABOUT (getting fired/censoring media, who cares about this???) and that EVERYONE KNOWS HE'S A JOKE, but I sure would like to know how the non-gamers know he is a joke? Really it's those very same RABID HARDCORE GAMERS who know he is a joke (besides the disbarring now, of course.), no one outside of gaming does, and that's the problem!

Click me. (http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/paragraphs.html)
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: HL on September 26, 2008, 02:03:58 pm
yea that's totally true, they ruined comics for quite some time censorship wise. :(

the thing is is even if a lot of game designers suck, censoring one thing affects everything like it. you remove violence from comics because of a lot of bad ones, well that's good and all but you also just censored violence preventing someone elses idea that might have been PRETTY DAMN AWESOME in done in a good way because WELP VIOLENCE IS BAD.

I mean, I don't like Manhunt either obviously ok, it's a pretty stupid game, but when you say "No, you can't do that. That's too over the top, and if you do this, we're not going to let your game be sold." you're preventing that for every game. Maybe there's this really exceptional game with some kind of awesome deep meaning (ok use all the imagination you can to pretend this exists.) that does use a lot of violence on that level. They are going to get the same response, "No, you can't do that. That's too crazy and if you do this, we're not going to let your game be sold."

That's a terrible thing! Censorship in any way in mediums can be pretty dreadful, whether it's no violence, unable to have homosexual characters (I remember this in comics too!!!!!), no over the top violence, no drugs, or whatever the hell they want to censor. Because you're restricting people's ideas and that is kind of suck, especially if one that comes along with an actual purpose and meaning that would normally stand out from the rest is prevented from selling because apparently for some reason we're unable to sell any type of videogame to strictly adults. I wouldn't buy AO games, I doubt the legitimacy that any game developer could make an AO game that could give me some deep awesome meaning. But it's still the idea that, hey, yeah, you can do that, and not be prevented from selling your game in every single store in the nation.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: General Robert E. Lee on September 26, 2008, 02:46:20 pm
basically what im saying is that there's a very obvious pattern where new forms of entertainment/art are demonized by people who don't understand them and ultimately these people always lose or achieve something very little (like explicit lyrics warnings on rap cds) and there's no reason to really worry about any of it.

One man wrote a book called "Seduction of the Innocent" and completely changed American comic books forever.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Hundley on September 26, 2008, 04:47:47 pm
anyway, i do not think you can pick and choose about thing you champions in the name of freedom of speech.  it's not like this is some grand struggle or anything, but it should all-applicable; that's the point!  even if stuff like manhunt is really shallow and just worthless beyond STAB THIS GUY IN THE CORNEA WITH A BALLPOINT PEN, i can't really make myself not care about it.  it's not like i care about manhunt existing so much as i think it's pretty obviously within their rights to make, garbage or not.  like i think the concept is reasonably well defined as it is! i feel like it shouldn't matter whatsoever what you're defending because it's universal and it wouldn't work if rockstar's overly violent, stupid games had any less than something legitimately worthwhile.  it would be infinitely overbearing if it didn't apply to almost absolutely everything, i think.

i mean maybe i am misinterpreting what you're saying but aside from its literal meaning, i wouldn't even be too comfortable with any person ascribing some arbitrary standards of what freedom of speech is.
no, you understand me right and all i can really say is that it's just a difference of opinion. it's always been my belief that things fall beyond the grasp of freedom of speech that either have no intended redeeming value, or if the intended value of the work is something senselessly offensive or damaging. things like bigotry already are accepted as falling beyond the protection of freedom of speech, and it's my belief that completely aimless, overly graphic depictions of violence(murder for the sake of murder) in media doesn't deserve any more respect in this regard.

now, i'm not honestly advocating the REMOVAL of manhunt, and games of similar uselessness. i completely agree with you guys that i'm deathly afraid of the misinterpretation of that kind of precedent. but this does not change the fact that i would have no problem, on a purely ideological level, seeing the elimination of games/films/whatever that depict, for no genuine creative reason, murder for the sake of murder. i'm not about to defend some piece of shit like manhunt under the umbrella of freedom of speech, because i feel that would be a terribly disingenuous way of looking at the concept of expression.

well, i hate most gamers, too.  they're shitheads and all that but it just seems like he has an inordinate amount of hate for them even going beyond the fact that they're irritating as hell.  it is like there has been some traumatic experience in his past involving gamers.
come on now, are you honestly asserting that complete rejection of gamer culture is unhealthy? likening this stance to emotional scarring is as good as calling it emotionally unhealthy. i think that's a bit much, to be honest. i find it refreshing to see people that have absolute zero patience for the gaming status quo. again, that's just me.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: EvilDemonCreature on September 26, 2008, 04:53:40 pm
Sweet! Now that that bastard is gone, nothing is going to stop my diabolical plan to release 5 seperate "E rated" games that reveal illicit footage of a pornographic nature by entering the correct cheat code at the start menu.

Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Marcus on September 26, 2008, 04:56:30 pm
Seduction of the Innocent actually brought up some good points regarding how violent comic books were purposefully being marketed to children but whenever people get together in large groups their intelligence collectively lowers.  Wertham was completely against the Comics Code Authority and only wanted violent comics to be out of the newstands or carry warning labels but I swear whenever people find fault in themselves they go to EXTREME FUCKING MEASURES (like the self-censorship and destruction of a multi-million dollar business) to correct it.

Guys like Thompson with celebrity status are the kinds of people who incite mobs and appeal to courts.  Nobody liked Thompson but these kinds of people are dangerous.  If Hillary actually made it into the office and actually focused on the entertainment industry there's no telling what damage she could have done.

Quote
come on now, are you honestly asserting that complete rejection of gamer culture is unhealthy? likening this stance to emotional scarring is as good as calling it emotionally unhealthy. i think that's a bit much, to be honest. i find it refreshing to see people that have absolute zero patience for the gaming status quo. again, that's just me.

There's obviously some prejudice behind the complete rejection of a specific culture.  I'm half disgusted at myself for comparing something like African Culture with Vidya Culture  (THE CAKE IS A LIE, LULZ) but how are we defining culture here?  People who partake in and enjoy virtual entertainment or people who spout out JRPG quotes in public, power leveling, and suck Gabe Newell's dick?

Quote
Sweet! Now that that bastard is gone, nothing is going to stop my diabolical plan to release 5 seperate "E rated" games that reveal illicit footage of a pornographic nature by entering the correct cheat code at the start menu.

Check out a Genesis game called Rings of Power.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: HL on September 26, 2008, 05:17:26 pm
Also I know you were joking but the ESRB would force you to change the rating and have copies redone like they did with SA. If it gets any publicity at all you can bet your ass they would!
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: headphonics on September 26, 2008, 08:34:04 pm
Quote
come on now, are you honestly asserting that complete rejection of gamer culture is unhealthy? likening this stance to emotional scarring is as good as calling it emotionally unhealthy. i think that's a bit much, to be honest. i find it refreshing to see people that have absolute zero patience for the gaming status quo. again, that's just me.
what?  no.  i'm not asserting that at all; rejection of gamer culture is completely healthy and it's something i think a lot of us (or at least a few of us) have ended up doing.  the point of the parallel was actually that he just seemed to have some deep-seeded, fundamental contempt of gamers that always throws me, like how when you see people who hate something THAT MUCH, a lot of the time it's the result of a specific event.  like when i say i hate gamers, i mean they're annoying and dumb.  when he says it is seems like he really legitimately hates THEM FAGGOT GAMERS.  maybe he's like me and just kind of comes off like he's really angry about shit he doesn't care about but i thought i'd take this related topic to clear up whether he actually felt that strongly about them, and where so much seething contempt would come from for something he calls inconsequential.  i'm not even the only one who's noticed that he really seems to just despise them.

anyway yeah i can't really help but see where you're coming from.  i wish sometimes that things like klan ralleys and other abominations weren't protected here by MULTIPLE AMMENDMENTS, and i think in certain european countries free speech stops at racial slurs and such.  but anti-racism is the trendy thing now and everyone hates racism, so at the moment yeah it'd be swell to turn that on those types of people, but i think it's hard to forget that a hundred or even fifty years ago people probably would've been okay with klan ralleys and i would probably have been the one not allowed to assemble.  i think it makes me kind of sympathetic with people, even if they're bastards, who happen to be on the receiving end of institutional disapproval.  forty or fifty years ago that was my dad and it was not fun at all!

like i dont disagree with you on any ideological level, i don't think; just a practical one.  if it was regulated, then it would be regulated BY SOMEONE, and the people who would control regulation don't have any history at all of moral soundness, or even moral consistency.  half a century ago they thought segregation was totally sweet so fuck them i don't trust their judgment at all and even if it means KLAN RALLIES fall under the umbrella too, i'd really prefer to keep control out of their grubby hands
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: headphonics on September 26, 2008, 08:41:38 pm
alright that was pretty far off the topic but i thought it was kind of an interesting thing to talk about
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: jamie on September 26, 2008, 09:05:01 pm
edit
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: fatty on September 26, 2008, 09:53:03 pm
Poor ol' Jacky.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Ragnar on September 26, 2008, 11:45:33 pm
I dunno in either case I think it's pretty disturbing that my primary form of entertainment as a kid now includes stuff like Manhunt

I'm surprised people our age aren't like weird fundamentalist video game people who want to go back to the good old days when games were all clean and nice - even the SNES Final Fantasy people don't really seem to give a shit
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: HL on September 27, 2008, 12:31:16 am
I dunno in either case I think it's pretty disturbing that my primary form of entertainment as a kid now includes stuff like Manhunt

I'm surprised people our age aren't like weird fundamentalist video game people who want to go back to the good old days when games were all clean and nice - even the SNES Final Fantasy people don't really seem to give a shit

Because videogames back then weren't all clean or nice.

Custer's Revenge anyone?

I mean, in that game you literally rape a native American woman.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Vellfire on September 27, 2008, 12:37:34 am
You don't rape her.





That requires getting past the arrows which is hard as fuck I've tried :(

(no but really that game is creepy since yeah you're just RAPING HER YOU WIN)
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Boulvae on September 27, 2008, 01:22:17 am
Leisure Suit Larry anyone? Plus the bad ending for the first one which was him commiting suicide. Oh yeah that stuff is pretty clean, eh?
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Ragnar on September 27, 2008, 02:18:42 am
Well I was going to mention those but I figured you guys wouldn't be huge faggots about it and realize I meant games we actually would have played like Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt Legend of Zeldas etc. etc.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Shadow Kirby on September 27, 2008, 03:32:58 am
Please define that "gamer culture" you all seems to hate cause I'd like to know where you draw the line between, you know, a guy that plays games and the embarrasing side of that culture.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: HL on September 27, 2008, 04:21:01 am
Well I was going to mention those but I figured you guys wouldn't be huge faggots about it and realize I meant games we actually would have played like Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt Legend of Zeldas etc. etc.

I've played it & a ton of ATARI 2600 games. :(

The reason there wasn't many bad games post Videogame crash is because Nintendo and friends were rebuilding the industry from its dead remains. you don't rebuild something by instantly doing something very risky like NAKED WOMAN RAPE HER or something. This is why the ESRB wasn't needed until the industry was far enough along that stuff like Mortal Kombat came out. Then after that that's why you don't have dirty games anymore because games like Custer's Revenge would get an AO and be prevented from selling all over the nation because controlling ideas is fun. Though I hope no one cares because Custer's Revenge is the worst game ever. You literally just press right while avoiding arrows aiming for your naked body to rape a chick like totally. i mean not even manhunt is that bad lol

Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Marcus on September 27, 2008, 04:35:01 am
Please define that "gamer culture" you all seems to hate cause I'd like to know where you draw the line between, you know, a guy that plays games and the embarrasing side of that culture.

We need a word for video game fanatics.  We have otaku and japfag for the extreme anime fans and cinemaphile for the people who dedicated their lives to the study of crusty old films but GAMER is an all encompassing word that carries both neutral and negative weight to it. 

Come on guys, think of something.  Change the future of pop culture, okay?
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Killface on September 27, 2008, 11:22:33 am
I have the perfect word: Gamopheliac

Seriously, though, I'm not surprised and I laugh at Jack! But then again, it's never great to laugh at anothers misfortune. I was expecting this. It's a conspiracy.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Vellfire on September 27, 2008, 12:44:57 pm
I have the perfect word: Gamopheliac

Seriously, though, I'm not surprised and I laugh at Jack! But then again, it's never great to laugh at anothers misfortune. I was expecting this. It's a conspiracy.


look at your own sig dude you don't feel bad about this at all, don't bother with this "don't laugh at others misfortune" crap
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: dada on September 27, 2008, 02:45:11 pm
I'm interested in hearing how Konix defines "gamer culture", too.  As far as I'm aware, gamer culture is largely similar in self-consciousness to, say, metal culture.  I wouldn't even compare it to anime culture (in the U.S. and Europe).  I no longer really consider myself to be part of whatever gamer culture is, but I used to be (mostly from the early Quake days up until around 2000), and I never believed that it took itself too seriously by any substantial degree.  The attitude is, and has always been (and more so the past two decades, during which gaming became mainstream) that it's an interesting part of one's identity to assume but that it's not something that anyone should be making too big a deal out of.

When people criticize that, it's not only is it denigrating to what gamers consider to be fun (remember when you were 6 and the paranoid kid kept telling you to stop playing with a lighter because "it's dangerous"?), it's also direct criticism towards their identity and being as a whole.

Anyway, I don't need to explain in detail why stupid games like Manhunt should be tolerated unquestioningly (more or less).  I think you and I probably agree that while it's garbage, it doesn't actually have a big influence over very many people, yet any resistance will result in the contrary of what you want to achieve, and it's bound to pass as nothing more than a curiosity for a select audience anyway.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Marcus on September 27, 2008, 03:01:51 pm
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Anyway, I don't need to explain in detail why stupid games like Manhunt should be tolerated unquestioningly (more or less).  I think you and I probably agree that while it's garbage, it doesn't actually have a big influence over very many people, yet any resistance will result in the contrary of what you want to achieve, and it's bound to pass as nothing more than a curiosity for a select audience anyway.

I read a quote somewhere that was like "If you don't understand it, it's probably art" or something to that effect.

As far as I'm concerned, forms of expression (specifically literature, art, and entertainment) should be protected.  There's tons and tons of books that I don't approve of but I would object immediately if you tried to censor them.  It's a humans basic right to express themselves just like it's a human's basic right to ignore it.  Trash like Manhunt shouldn't be readily available to 10 year old kids but I'd be up in arms with everyone else if some blowhard came along and is like "yeah we have to take this off the shelves but you can still buy porn at the suncoast across the street!"
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: headphonics on September 28, 2008, 04:12:16 am
what the fuck. I dont have SEETHING CONTEMPT for and have not been emotionally traumatized by gamers. I just think gamer culture is embarrassing and terrible and I like trolling.
its ok.... let it out.  maybe your stepdad just sits around the house all day playing games instead of getting a job??
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: EvilDemonCreature on September 28, 2008, 05:57:45 pm
We need a word for video game fanatics.  We have otaku and japfag for the extreme anime fans and cinemaphile for the people who dedicated their lives to the study of crusty old films but GAMER is an all encompassing word that carries both neutral and negative weight to it. 

Come on guys, think of something.  Change the future of pop culture, okay?

Come on guys, we need to take this seriously. Or do I need to bring up what happened to Comic Books as a popular art form (I still say it was hardcore comic book nerds that killed it. The same reason that "Dungeons and Dragons" has yet to become a mainstream sporting event).
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Dale Gobbler on September 28, 2008, 10:52:30 pm
Or watch G4 (new techtv). They have horrible "gamer" commercials that make me wish I had never touched a video game.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: dada on September 28, 2008, 11:11:12 pm
I don't know if I could write a definition for it if I tried. If you really want to get an idea of what I'm referring to then just watch a bunch of those youtubes of people that responded to gamesmasterjasper's semper games videos. That's what I think of when I think of gamers and gamer culture and those people have forever ruined video games for me.
Speaking of which, I kind of missed the whole GMJ thing.  Is there a summary on the entire SAGA anywhere?  If not then Chef/someone you've got some writing to do (go down in gaming history...)
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: AdderallApocalypse on September 28, 2008, 11:42:04 pm
I believe the people that Konix identifies as being part of the gamer culture aren't just people that like video games. He's probably referring to people that live around gaming as opposed to just playing them occasionally. That probably isn't a very fair definition of the gaming culture as a whole, because those people are probably just a minority. You honestly have different degrees of gaming infatuation, I like video games but they do not take precedence over higher priorities(a lot of things now that i'm in college.) I don't associate with the hardcore definition, but I do consider myself a gamer. Of course, there are a lot of people that mingle with video games a lot, but they take other things into consideration(social life, hygene, education, etc.) I think that is OK, because you realize that other things exist.

EDIT: I'll give an example of someone that would be a detriment to the gaming culture, and takes it too seriously.

This isn't anyone real, and i'm entirely making this up.

Hi, i'm Aaron and video games are an obsession of mine. *Slips on nintendo jacket* *Messages guy on MSN* "Heeey dude, have you heard of the new Persona game coming out?" *Chats for a while* Mom: "Aaron, son, are you going to the park with your family?" Aaron: "No not now, mom." *Continues to play "Insert random game here"*. I just got my paycheck today. *Only has 3 shirts and 4 pairs of pants* "I think I'll buy the new Final Fantasy and a DS, and maybe that rare SNES game if I have enough left over." Girlfriend: "Aaron, are you ready to go to the movies?" Aaron: "I have to do this raid that I promised I would do with my WoW guild!" Girlfriend: "Buuut, we had this plan for weeks...." Aaron: "Sorry, but this is important!" *CLICK*

Unfortunetly, Aaron doesn't do much besides play video games. He takes gaming culture too seriously and is the epitome of the utmost embarassment associated with the culture. No wonder some people don't claim to be a part of it! What Aaron does not realize is that he is missing out on too much, he is a troubled young man who would rather find rare WoW loot than engage in an active social life.

Now, here is someone that is considered a gamer, but doesn't take it too seriously. He loves doing many things, gaming is one of them.

Hi, my name is Eric. I enjoy hiking, spending time with friends, playing video games, and playing sports. Mom: "Son, do you want to go to the park with your family?" Eric: "Sure" *gets to a save point and quits the game for now* I used to play WoW, but now that college is here I don't have the time, so I quit it. I consider myself a gamer, but it doesn't define who I am exclusively.

It isn't really fair to chastise games for the behavior of one person. It is their mind-set that leads to them to do what they do. Though, like a lot of people were saying, some consider people like Aaron as what defines gaming culture. As I said, it does depend on how you define it, but it IS laughable(and sad, embarassing, pathetic) that some people go THIS FAR when it comes to gaming and people don't want to associate with THAT at all.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on September 28, 2008, 11:54:19 pm
i think you could probably figure out some kind of exponential curve based on cash spent on videogames.

less than 50 bucks you aren't even on the scale, approaching 400 puts you in gamesmaster territory.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: NightBlade on September 29, 2008, 12:13:44 am
i think you could probably figure out some kind of exponential curve based on cash spent on videogames.

less than 50 bucks you aren't even on the scale, approaching 400 puts you in gamesmaster territory.

What about pirating games?

Either way, citing G4 is probably the easiest way to describe "Gamer Culture" and watching 5 minutes of it; you will understand why some despise it.

It's the kind of morons who sit outside for four weeks waiting for the release of Halo 3.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on September 29, 2008, 12:42:34 am
real gamers would be like IVE GOTTA SUPPORT THE INDUSTRY BY BUYING THIS GAME THAT WILL SELL TWO MILLION COPIES.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: HL on September 29, 2008, 02:57:46 am
i think you could probably figure out some kind of exponential curve based on cash spent on videogames.

less than 50 bucks you aren't even on the scale, approaching 400 puts you in gamesmaster territory.

ih ope this isn't including consoles cause heh, buying a ps3 would put you in gamemaster territory

because it's so expensive


sorry that punchline wasn't very funny
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on September 29, 2008, 03:28:32 am
i think you could probably figure out some kind of exponential curve based on cash spent on videogames.

less than 50 bucks you aren't even on the scale, approaching 400 puts you in gamesmaster territory.

i think you are in GMJ territory when you start saying FOR THE FAIL or LULZ in public. i don't know why 400 bucks is GMJ territory either, i have dropped a thousand bucks or so on game-related devices/games (I bought a 360 and a TV on which to play the 360, so what, i am a college student on full tuition and it was a present to myself for getting my first fulltime job. it also plays HD movies and is excellent for throwing parties with) probably in the past 3 years and i do not define myself as a GAMER because it's pretty disgustingly stupid

i dunno i guess i'm pretty nerdy but i don't think i am anywhere close to being irritating or weird about it, i know people who do all this 'heh...im a gamer,so what?? im also a 4channer' stuff and it makes me embarrassed to be around them.

i don't know though, i think the whole HEH FUCKIN FAGGIT GAMERS thing is a little overplayed around here even though i have more than a little sympathy for that point of view. i think when the average non-internet person cares significantly less than you do about the effect of INTERNET CULTURE you are taking it a little too seriously?? there is a minority of these stupid 4chan/shitty anime/hardcore videogame devotees but honestly i think the vast majority of people who play games are not really as involved in it as you think. i mean, there's certainly that hardcore gamer market, but as far as AFFECTING REAL LIFE i think you spending a lot of time on places like gamingw distorts how you look at them because the vast majority of people who own an xbox are just fratboys who like halo deathmatches.

also i liked manhunt at the time (two years ago maybe?) but looking back it's pretty horrible, also my taste has gotten significantly better (i think when i saw Hostel it kind of made me think 'boy this is really stupid'). I don't really think censoring it is a good idea though and I would be pretty up in arms about it if that kind of thing happened. go 1st amendment
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: baseball19225 on September 29, 2008, 05:29:07 am
$400 is not a lot of games these days anyway.

it's even less in Australia because we have some bullshit that makes em pretty expensive!
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on September 29, 2008, 05:38:33 am
craigslist will get you new games for $20 each which means you can buy lots for cheap or just save on something you're only going to play for two days anyways.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Bizzle on September 29, 2008, 05:45:46 am
(https://legacy.gamingw.net/etc/webnv.net/images/blog/Image/Jack_Thompson.jpeg)


For the record: Gamer culture is something new, so it'll be hard to define it. Personally, I feel ashamed in a sense, because the gaming world has gotten so popular, and *gasp* mainstream that it's produced these 'tarded game junkies and shit developers that are classified in the same group I am; despite the fact that I have a life and that my clock doesn't revolve around the latest FPS or Rock Band installation.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Vellfire on September 29, 2008, 12:07:56 pm
gamer culture:  reads gamer webcomics
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on September 29, 2008, 02:42:51 pm
i meant 400 american dollars not 400 australian racist bux.

also webcomics and 4chan is good but i still think you could do it with just money. i meant 400 bucks a month fyi, not TOTAL because you could probably hit that in a year and not realize it.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on September 29, 2008, 08:29:41 pm
i meant 400 american dollars not 400 australian racist bux.

also webcomics and 4chan is good but i still think you could do it with just money. i meant 400 bucks a month fyi, not TOTAL because you could probably hit that in a year and not realize it.

oh yeah 400 bucks a month is pretty ridiculous. i've spent maybe 750 since i bought my xbox in june but that was mostly the xbox and the tv itself and games on craigslist have probably been like 150 at most?? as it is i maybe buy an xbox game a month now.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Supra Mairo on September 29, 2008, 08:41:58 pm
I've spent 40€ in games this year. Orange Box.

There's a million better things to put your money on then gamse.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Vellfire on September 29, 2008, 08:46:59 pm
Most of the games I want end up being released fairly close to each other (no idea why) and I STILL have never spent $400 on games in a month.  Even if I bought a console, I would get at most 1 game for it because I would not be able to even afford more than that.  I've spent under $150 on games this month, since three new releases I wanted came out this particular month, and that's the most I've spent on games in a long, long while.  Most months I spend...well...NOTHING on games.  At most I get one game.  I can't even imagine $400 a month.  That's insane.  Even if I had infinite amounts of money, I probably couldn't find enough games I want that would add up to $400 (unless I was buying up a bunch of old games that I don't have, and even then I'd eventually have them all and be right back to the beginning).
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Marcus on September 29, 2008, 09:02:08 pm
yeah i think 400 dollars A MONTH on games is pretty outrageous (not including consoles; we're talking pure software here).  i can't even beat a simple first person shooter in a month.  400 dollars would buy me games i couldn't even complete in a year.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Vellfire on September 29, 2008, 09:28:03 pm
If I had a budget of $400 a month for games (consoles and accessories not included), it would probably not even be on games I could play--I'd be buying like...really rare games that are still shrink-wrapped, and signed and some shit.  Unless I was buying a bunch of games I don't even want, I can't see how I'd spend that much.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on September 29, 2008, 09:34:26 pm
okay so I overshot you guys figure out what the unforgivable limit is then. your all nerds, do Math for me.
Title: The laughs are over: Jack Thompson has been disbarred, forever.
Post by: Vellfire on September 29, 2008, 09:36:39 pm
Actually I think you were right in your number.  The problem is that we aren't insane awful gamers.