Protesting the release of Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360) on April 29, outspoken game critic Jack Thompson (pictured left) has written a letter addressed to the mother of Take-Two Interactive chairman Strauss Zelnick.

Take-Two Interactive owns Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar and is publishing the upcoming title. The letter was delivered to Strauss Zelnick's lawyer, per a past settlement that only allows Thompson to communicate with Take-Two via counsel.

Thompson's meandering letter compares Strauss to a Hitler Youth, quotes scripture, accuses him of causing the death of three Alabama police officers, questions if the Boy Scouts ever awarded him a Ted Bundy merit badge, and wishes the chairman's mom a happy Mother's Day.

The complete, unedited letter follows:... Read more

Just when you thought he was out of the spotlight, the creative duo from webcomic Penny Arcade have pulled him back in.

In an effort to squelch the rhetoric of anti-game activist Jack Thompson on their own stage, Penny Arcade writer Jerry Holkins and illustrator Mike Krahulik had covertly invited the Florida lawyer to a formal debate during the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo in August. Now a press release written by Thompson has declined the offer based on misgivings over the secrecy of the event, according to a report by GamePolitics.

"Penny Arcade said that it was concerned that too many people... Read more

Notorious video game-targeting attorney Jack Thompson (pictured left) has demanded that fast food chain Wendy's cancel its promotional tie-in themed around Nintendo's Wii console, due to the upcoming release of Rockstar Toronto's upcoming game Manhunt 2 on Wii. The Wii promotion, which according to the official Wendy's site is "coming soon," features toys themed around the Wii console itself as well as Nintendo-published games such as Wii Sports and Excite Truck. Manhunt 2, to be published by Rockstar Games this July on Wii, PlayStation 2, and PSP, has no connection to the program.

In a letter sent from Thompson to Wendy's CEO Kerri Anderson and forwarded to various gaming news outlets, Thompson demands that Wendy's "cancel the Wii Kids' Meal promotion immediately." According to Thompson, the mere ... Read more

Following up Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive's pre-emptive legal action against lawyer Jack Thompson and his resulting countersuit, the two rivals have reached an agreement to drop all charges against one another.

According to the terms of the settlement posted by GamePolitics, Thompson will no longer pursue or threaten legal action to restrict sales of Take-Two games. Nor may Thompson accuse Take-Two or any business partners of wrongdoing for distributing said product--in other words, he can not threaten to sue a retailer for carrying Take-Two's games. Any future communication between Thompson and Take-Two will be mediated by either the counsel of record or Take-Two's general counsel.

Perhaps most entertaining of all, the settlement also means Thompson won't face jail time. Previously, Take-Two had submitted a petition for Thompson to prove why he should not be held in contempt, with a hearing that was scheduled for April 20.

However, Thompson retains the right to publicly criticize the content or distribution of any Take-Two product. He may also participate in any legal action others may bring against the publisher, provided the charges specify individual harm.

In a rather amusing move given the history between Take-Two Interactive and Jack Thompson, Game Politics reports that the Grand Theft Auto publisher has pre-emptively sued Thompson before the Miami-based lawyer has a chance to sue Take-Two first over Rockstar London's Manhunt 2 (PS2, Wii, PSP, PC) and Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360). Thompson, who has already alluded to his intent to block the sale of Manhunt 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV, is now the subject of a Florida petition intending to block him from doing just that. Take-Two also seeks from Thompson the recovery of legal fees incurred during the proceedings.

"Thompson has a history of making multiple threats of legal action, whether substantiated or not, both against [Take-Two] as well as the retailers who purchase the video games and offer them for sale to the public," read's Take-Two's petition to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. "Thompson has made such threats again in connection with Manhunt 2 and GTAIV."

Last year, the lawyer attempted to block the sale of Bully in Florida on the basis of the state's public nuisance law, but his attempt was struck down by the presiding judge, who evaluated the game's content.

In related news, Thompson appears to be taking credit for the recently reported shareholder action expected to occur during Take-Two's upcoming shareholder meeting next week. CEO Paul Eibeler, a long time nemesis of Thompson, is expected to be removed from his position. Thompson has big hopes for the revolt, which he claims is due to his own action in villifying games released by Take-Two-owned Rockstar Games.

"So successful has Thompson been in exposing the fraud and criminal conduct of Take-Two on the national stage," he wrote to the Florida Supreme Court while also denouncing Take-Two's current suit, "that a corporate coup by 46% of Take-Two’s shareholders is set for March 23, which nearly all financial analysts... are predicting will be successful and which will result in the firing of all Take-Two management and the entire board."

Miami-based attorney Jack Thompson has been out of the headlines for a couple months, but the eagle-eyed GamePolitics reported this weekend that the moral crusader is currently set to appear at a disciplinary hearing conducted by the Florida Supreme Court. The hearing will look into five counts of professional misconduct filed by the Florida Bar, three of which stem from Thompson's actions during one of his highly publicized crusades against video games, 2005's Strickland vs. Sony.

That case dealt with the infamous killing of two Alabama police officers by an 18-year-old--who was found guilty--allegedly inspired by Grand Theft Auto. Thompson's role in the incident was representing families of the victims in a case against numerous video game publishers and retailers for bringing Grand Theft Auto to market. In 2005, citing Thompson's actions and manner, the presiding judge forced Thompson's removal from the case and referred him to the Alabama Bar for disciplinary action by revoking his visiting Alabama law license. The Florida Bar then pointed to other examples of Thompson's misconduct prior to the Alabama incident.

If the current misconduct charges are upheld, Thompson could face penalties as severe as disbarment. Thompson, responding to GamePolitics' inquiries in typically confident fashion, stated, "The trial isn’t going to happen, however. I have sued The Bar in Circuit Court. It’s in far more trouble than I am."

Previously, Thompson has sued the Florida Bar in a separate incident. Several months ago, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Huck said about the attempt, "Thompson submits nothing beyond wild accusations of a vast conspiracy against him that the Bar is unfairly proceeding against him."

Last week, politically-oriented industry blog Game Politics began covering controversy in Boston over advertisements for Rockstar Vancouver's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PSP) displayed on local subway trains. Nearly 60 community leaders, including the mayors of Boston and Cambridge, demanded that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority rescind the advertising agreement, claiming that the ads were helping exacerbate increases in youth violence in the area. Apparently, the ads themselves were fairly innocuous, and the controversy stemmed more from the product being advertised rather than any violence-inciting images in the ads themselves; accordingly, the MBTA responded that content standards for ads could be applied only to the ads themselves, not the related product.

Soon after, Boston police joined in, claiming that games such as Grand Theft Auto "[condone] murdering police officers" and "threaten and risk the lives of police officers." Miami attorney Jack Thompson suggested that by running the ads, the MBTA was "participating in a criminal conspiracy."

Many of the stories on the topic were sure to mention the oft-cited gameplay possibility of murdering prostitutes after making use of their services. The Boston Herald even asked some prostitutes about the controversy, with one supporting the demands to remove the ads and one responding that she herself enjoys killing prostitutes (and "everybody") in the game.

When the MBTA refused to take down the ads, Boston mayor Thomas Menino accused the organization of "hiding behind the First amendment." The back-and-forth continued, with MBTA general manager Daniel Grabauskas responding to Menino and other officials, conveying an exasperated tone. Grabauskas stated that he has no reason to believe video games are the primary cause of reported increases in violence. "Your methods will certainly continue the cynicism of our citizenry about us all that serve the public," he wrote. "I expect that you will now be about the business of taking on the other challenges causing violence in our City and in our Commonwealth with equal zeal."

This week, Game Politics reported on a press release from Boston Common Asset Management dating back to February of this year, requesting that a then-curent MBTA advertising campaign for the GTA franchise not be renewed after its expiration.

A similar situation has also arisen in Oregon, where GTA ads have been pulled by local transit authority TriMet. As far as the Boston case goes, the ads will not be pulled prematurely, but according to the full text of Grabauskas' letter, reprinted by Game Politics courtesy of Jack Thompson, the MBTA is revising its guidelines to prohibit future advertising of Mature- or Adults Only-rated games, though the decision was clearly reached very reluctantly. Said Grabauskas in his statement, "I urge you not to be too smug with the result. There is no victory where there was never a battle."

Gaming blog Destructoid, which reported firsthand on this week's developments in the saga of Jack Thompson vs. Rockstar Vancouver's Bully (PS2), now has the latest scoop: Judge Ronald Friedman, who demanded that Rockstar present him with a copy of the game to determine if it falls within Florida's public nuisance regulations, has issued the verdict that there's really nothing all that bad about Bully, after all. "There’s nothing in the game that you wouldn’t see on TV every night," he said. He admitted that "he wouldn’t want his kids to play the game, but that shouldn’t mean that the game won’t ship." Bully has been rated "T for Teen" by the ESRB.

According to Destructoid, the game was seen by Friedman, Thompson, and an employee of publisher Take-Two for approximately two hours, by which point Friedman found it clear that the game need not be restricted. During today's session, Thompson was chastised by the judge for outbursts in court. Thompson has apparently elected not to pursue further appeal, as the game will have shipped by the time it would have any effect.

This week, Thompson called the gameplay demonstration a "huge victory against the violent video game industry," but the judge's final ruling falls squarely within precedent for previous such cases, nearly all of which have had similar end results.

Rockstar Vancouver's Bully (PS2) (known as Canis Canem Edit outside of North America) ships next week in North America.

Rockstar Vancouver's upcoming schoolyard adventure Bully (PS2) has generated a surprising amount of controversy given that it has not even yet been released. For years, the game has been a chosen target of well known video game detractor Jack Thompson, who has called the game a "Columbine simulator" despite its lack of firearms or the ability to kill. Currently, Thompson and the state of Florida are embroiled in a legal battle to determine whether the game is suitable for sale to minors in the Sunshine State. Yesterday, the Miami-Dade judge presiding over the trial, Judge Ronald Friedman, made what Jack Thompson is accurately calling an unprecidented demand: he instructed publisher Take-Two to provide him with an advance copy of the game so he is able to determine if it violates Florida's environmental public nuisance laws. Apparently, Judge Friedman is willing to sit through the game for up to 100 gameplay hours alongside a Take-Two employee capable of completing it. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board has designated the game "T for Teen," with descriptors such as "Crude Humor," "Language," and "Violence."

Thompson issued a statement to Game Politics, calling the decision a "huge victory against the violent video game industry, regardless of the ultimate ruling on the injunction." He claimed that the showing of the game is for both him and the judge, though gaming site Destructoid, which covered the event firsthand, reported that counsel from both sides will be able to attend. No press coverage will be permitted.

Early previews of the game depict a much less violent and much more moral picture of the game than the one Thompson has painted during his crusade against the game. Wired received a hands-on preview with the game, coming away with extremely positive impressions. After describing a moment in the game where its protagonist expounds on the folly of bullying, writer Clive Thompson admits, "Indeed, it's not what anyone expected." It certainly is not what Jack Thompson has led the mainstream media to expect.

Rockstar Vancouver's Bully (PS2) (known as Canis Canem Edit outside of North America) ships next week in North America.

As you have probably noticed, the legal and political climate surrounding video games and the video game industry is becoming absolutely stifling. The number of laws being proposed or passed on a daily basis relating in some way to the restriction or regulation of games continues to grow. Of course, most of them are struck down by the courts, but the fact that politicians feel compelled to keep proposing them, and elected officials continue to pass them at the senate and house levels, indicates that the general sentiment about games is not a good one. When politicians are unable to pass laws that restrict game sales or content, they obtain funding for surveys that will potentially allow them to do so. At this rate, don't be surprised if some of these attempts end up sticking.

While it may be difficult to gain a broad perspective on the issue as a gamer, when it's easy to ignore the constant assault and observe the industry largely operating as usual, public opinion is undoubtedly very negative. At this point, there are over seventy pieces of state legislature in the U.S. attempting in some way to regulate video games, and there are multiple measures at the federal level as well across party boundaries. This would simply not be so widespread if the average citizen who elects the politicians in question supported or was indifferent to video games. With the non-gaming public's knowledge of games being that they might kill you and with their loudest educator being Jack Thompson, who continues to testify in game-related cases and speak as an expert on national television despite how much we may think he has been discredited, it should come as no surprise that the public opinion of games is largely uninformed and negative.

Why is there so little resistance when video games are presented as nothing but killing simulators? Why doesn't anybody know about Ico or Katamari Damacy, other than the people playing them? In fact, one would say that much of the public is very aware of games such as The Sims, but nobody from the games industry ever seems to be around pointing that out when John Pundit is decrying the entire medium on TV. And, really, why aren't there more games for gamers that aren't so violent? Let's be honest with ourselves here, when the core audience of a medium does, in all frankness, spend so much of its time virtually killing things, that's bound to attract attention. I'm sure that after seeing that, a good number of readers have bristled and are prepared to be loudly offended in the comments section, but really, it shouldn't come as that much of a surprise that people might see our hobby at least as something a bit odd.

At last year's E3, Entertainment Software Association president Doug Lowenstein--you know, the guy who comes out and pats everyone on the back in those articles about game legislation being struck down--posited an question to the industry. "We've all seen games that depict content which is constitutionally protected artistic expression and yet which also raises the question of whether it really was necessary to realize the designer's artistic vision. That's not a call for censorship or government intrusion into video game sales," he said. "But it is meant to say that it is fair for critics, and us, to ask whether everything that is cool and pushes the envelope is, in fact, creatively necessary." It is enlightening to note that Lowenstein's address was given before the whole Hot Coffee incident. A year prior to that, I had a similar train of thought in an editorial entitled "I Kill You."

In the last few weeks, much of this seems to be reaching critical mass. SILOE Research Institute executive director and former VP of LucasArts global sales & marketing John Geoghegan gave a 12-step presentation at the Game Marketing Conference. He spoke on how the games industry, and its marketers in particular, should be presenting games to the public. (From Goeghegan's address: "How not to market in a hostile environment? Basically, don't do everything we're doing right now," and "We're not making friends. I haven't seen this much animosity since big tobacco told congress that cigarettes are not addictive.") Dennis McCauley of the excellent site Game Politics this weekend published a call to the ESA to step up its efforts not just in response to legislation but out in public, to the people who are supporting such legislation. Late last month, the ESA hired a lobbyist to promote its interests in Washington.

And, this morning, the ESA launched the Video Game Voters Network, an organization dedicated to raising awareness and action among gamers about the political situation surrounding the industry. Currently, it is centered around the Family Entertainment Protection Act proposed late last year by Hillary Clinton. The act would assign federal enforcement to ESRB ratings, but also gives the FTC the power to circumvent ESRB ratings if mandatory investigations reveal what are determined to be misleading or incorrect ratings. The VGVN calls for gamers to write their senators and point out that neither cable television, books, nor movies are federally regulated in the way proposed by FEPA, and nor should games.

Hopefully, the ESA's latest effort is indicative of a change in attitude on the part of the industry; for one thing, organizations such as the ESA need to be involved all along the line, not just to appeal to courts after bills have been passed. Ideally, gamers will send a stronger message to their elected officials as well. At this point, there are many, many people--politicians and otherwise--who want to damage games and the games industry, and clearly somebody needs to return fire.

You may recall Jack Thompson's open challenge to the games industry to produce an incredibly violent game based on a premise of his design. There have been a few attempts, but it looks like we finally have an entry that fulfils the entirety of Thompson's incredibly twisted premise. It's called "I'm O.K.," named for Thompson's protagonist Osaki Kim, and it's by a developer going by the name of Thompsonsoft. Download the game here, where you can also read Thompson's full design. The team gives him top billing in the credits, labeling him "Lead Designer" and "Inspiration."

Consisting of 3 alcoholics and a foreign exchange student, Thompsonsoft is a new game company formed around the singular idea that Jack Thompson is the most brilliant game designer in the universe. After reading "A Modest Video Game Proposal", we formed this company to create any game that Jack Thompson designed. Our first title, "I'm OK", is based on Jack's masterful design from "A Modest Video Game Proposal" and it's a murder simulator so cruel, so bloodthirsty, so horrifyingly violent that it makes Grand Theft Auto seem like Sunday Funday.

How does one explain why, in a world overflowing with disease, war, and other horrifying realities, a man would spend 18 years crusading against video games? Easy. You say that it's the most extensive, ingenious marketing campaign for a video game in the history of MAN.

The game is a sidescrolling beat 'em up, with gameplay and cutscenes styled after SNES-era games. Visually, the pixel art and animation is actually very good. Be warned: this game is pretty out there. In addition to controls for moving, jumping, and attacking, there's one for urinating. With that in mind, the sequence immediately after beating the first boss is...well, it's surreal. Probably not work safe.

In other news, hundreds of gamers recently sent Thompson a bouquet of flowers with a letter apologizing for crude threats from other gamers and requesting a reasonable and well-intentioned dialogue regarding the video game violence issue. Today, Thompson forwarded the flowers to Take-Two president Paul Eibeler, claiming that they are a form of harassment on the part of people indirectly instigated by Take-Two.

Any jazz fans around? I've been listening to a lot of Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus recently, and man is that a solid album.

You may not be dying to hear more about good old Jack Thompson, attorney at law, but news is a bit slow right at the end of the year, and this story should provide a bit of holiday cheer. Game Politics, which has been the gaming community's main link for accurate up to the minute Jack Thompson coverage, has just confirmed that Thompson is having a bit of a tiff with the Florida Bar Association. While Thompson has had his license to practice law in Alabama revoked, that had no bearing on his standing in his state of Florida. Now it seems that he might be getting in a bit of legal trouble back home as well.

GamePolitics has confirmed with an official of the Florida Bar Association that they have initiated a disciplinary investigation of the Miami attorney and self-described "anti-game crusader." The investigation was referred to the Florida Bar by judicial officials in Alabama, where a Circuit Court judge revoked Thompson's pro hac vice (visiting) admission to practice in November.

Thompson previously won a lawsuit he launched against the Florida Bar Association, and it's safe to assume that if the FBA does in fact take discinplinary action he will attempt to do so again.

A recent California law aiming to prevent the sale of excessively violent video games to minors, created by assemblyman Leland Yee and endorsed by governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, was halted yesterday by Northern California District Judge Ronald Whyte. His ruling is a result of a challenge to the bill issued by the Entertainment Software Association and the Video Software Dealers Association. The ESA is a prominent organization in legal matters pertaining to games, and has achieved several similar injunctions in recent years. Judge Whyte pointed out that games are considered free speech, and are thus constitutionally protected. It is not within the state's right to govern their sales. He also disputed claims that there is a causal link between video games and violent acts, noting that cited research in that area is insubstantial. ESA president Doug Lowenstein weighed in on the ruling:

For the sixth time in five years, Federal Courts have now blocked or struck down these state and local laws seeking to regulate the sale of games to minors based on their content, and none have upheld such statutes. It is therefore time to look past legislation and litigation in favor of cooperative efforts to accomplish the common goal of ensuring that parents use the tools available to control the games their kids play.

In somewhat related news, sort of, Jack Thompson is apparently now a shareholder in his favorite/least favorite company, Take-Two. Take-Two of course publishers Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series, which bears the brunt of Thompson's zealous anti-game efforts. He sent an open letter to Take-Two's CEO Paul Eibeler about a week ago, mentioning Eibeler's recent Worst CEO nod and somehow managing to tangentially imply that Microsoft software was used to train terrorists to fly into buildings. Of course, Thompson's reasoning for buying Take-Two stock was to be able to show up at shareholder meetings, and he has requested a "hand-held cordless microphone" for those occasions. My deepest condolences to the Take-Two board.

1UP's latest historical feature, entitled Trials and Tribulations, is a piece detailing some of the more noteworthy legal escapades that the game industry has seen. It covers events such as the hugely important Atari vs. Activision case protecting the concept of third-party developers, Nintendo's case against Tengen to keep a stranglehold over NES developers, Nintendo of America's surprising victory over Universal allowing use of the name "Donkey Kong," and of course more modern lawsuits such as those resulting from the ea_spouse blog as well as from our favorite legal eagle Jack Thompson.

The epic cases of years past are interesting to read about, but what really marks today's game lawsuits is their personal touch. Increased awareness of regular people suing corporations for absurd reasons has caused more people to try their hand at winning a big cash settlement. If smokers can sue tobacco companies (and win) because they didn't know cigarettes can cause cancer, or if obese individuals can sue McDonalds (and win) because they didn't know that Big Macs contain enormous fat content, why should a parent be shy about blaming video games and the media for something as heavy as the death of their child?

One other incident the article touches on is the bizarre series of events that spawned over the rights to Alexey Pajitnov's ridiculously addictive and elegant Tetris. What actually happened was quite convoluted and filled with corporate subterfuge between several companies, and it's worth reading about if you can find a good account of it. Game Over by David Sheff has an in-depth history of the whole thing.

Did you see the recent episode of CSI: Miami in which a bunch of gamers were found to be committing serial murder and robbery in imitation of a video game? Well, I didn't, but Salon's Andrew Leonard did. If you didn't catch it and don't want it spoiled, feel free to stop reading. Anyway, it seems that not only were these fictitious gamers committing the aforementioned crimes, they were actually raping people for extra points, which clearly strikes deep at the core of the actual appeal of Grand Theft Auto--oh, I'm sorry, "Urban Hell Raiser," the rather thinly veiled game featured in the show. But wait, there's more:

To those of us who do live in the real world, as opposed to video game land or the tortured plot devisings of bad TV writers, it might seem unrealistic that a gaming company wouldn't cooperate with the police in such a circumstance. Kinda suspicious. Hey, you don't suppose the gaming company might be involved, do you? It turns out that executive isn't just smarmy -- he's Satan. Not only is the company providing bad role models to the youth of today, but, in an effort to boost sales in a competitive industry, it's also actively supplying college students with Tec-9 automatics and encouraging them to murder innocent people.

The situations described are clearly ludicrous, but it's not difficult to surmise that there are plenty of people out there whose opinions were merely reinforced by way of CSI: Miami. After all, Jack Thompson (coincidentally from Miami) has built quite a name for himself and gathered quite a following, as crazy as it might seem, by making similar accusations as the ones in this episode--except in real life.

Of course, one response in the article's comments section points out, rather plausibly, "Maybe TV execs are just jealous that they are losing out the 18-24 male demographic to Playstation 2."

Designer Warren Spector, probably best known as the designer of Deus Ex (PC), made something of a stir with a keynote given at the recent Montreal Game Summit. He called for more variety in games and warning about the dangers of stagnation. In a separate widely-quoted interview following the keynote, he also specifically took issue with developer Rockstar over its Grand Theft Auto series, praising it for its design but lamenting that it presents exactly the kind of excessively violent world that makes such an easy target for the criticism that has been plaguing the industry lately. Jack Thompson, the man spearheading most of that criticism, then took Spector's words as verification of his anti-game sentiments, and implied Spector would be testifying for the prosecution in the current murder trial focused around GTA.

Today, Spector sent an in-depth email of fairly substantial length to GameSpot, clarifying his position (and also stating that he is very much against Thompson's opinions and is not happy about having his words appropriated by the attorney). He points out that his comments regarding GTA and Rockstar were not from his keynote and were intended in more of a humorous light than was suggested by much of the internet coverage of them.

Look, I'm not really angry at Rockstar, for crying out loud. I was simply trying to make a point...in a semihumorous (if unsuccessful!) way that I thought gamers would 'get.' I don't actually know anyone who worked on any of the GTA games, but overall I respect the hell out of their work. I think GTA is a remarkable achievement--artistically and commercially--and represents a genuine advance for game design. The attention it's received may even have helped push gaming into the mainstream of cultural relevance, which is all to the good. ...

"Having said that, I am frustrated that the games in the GTA series, some of the finest combinations of pure game design and commercial appeal, offer a fictional package that makes them difficult to hold up as examples of what our medium is capable of achieving. The fictional context of GTA all but ensures that it will be portrayed in the mainstream press (and, I guess, in the courts!) as little more than a 'murder simulator' when it clearly is so much more--if you take the time to look.

Spector once again calls for more variety in game design, citing Will Wright's work and the lineup for the Nintendo DS as positive exceptions in mainstream gaming. He does not, however, indicate if he is planning any projects that will exemplify the different attitudes he hopes other games will take on. At this point, the only solid information on his next title is that it is has a fantasy setting. Let's hope he's putting his game where his mouth is.

Many of you are surely familiar with Child's Play, the annual Penny Arcade-run charity that seeks to provide sick hospital-bound kids with music, movies, books--and, of course, video games. Mike Krahulik (Gabe) over at PA has posted that Child's Play has now officially begun its third year of operation, with a slick new website and an increased number of hospitals to which you can donate. There are now a dozen hospitals in the United States linked to Child's Play, as well as two in Canada and one forthcoming in the UK. Donations can be made either by buying items from Amazon on behalf of your chosen hospital, or simply by contributing money directly.

These Kids need toys though. They need games to play and crafts to make in order to take their minds off their situations. Something as simple as a Game Boy can make the stay in one of these Hospitals much more bearable for a kid. ... People like Jack Thompson are welcome to scream at the top of their lungs about the gamer menace. They can go on television and lie about our hobby until they're blue in the face. In the meantime, we as gamers will come together and quietly change the lives of hundreds of thousands of sick children all over the world for the better.

Certainly this sort of measure goes towards the eradication of negative gamer stereotypes, but more importantly it's just a really good cause. When I was younger I had several major spinal surgeries at various times, when I was stuck in a hospital bed for weeks at a time it was always most bearable when there was an NES available. Even if I wasn't in much shape to concentrate on the game, having something fun to try to focus on was just as good as pumping morphine into my veins. Believe me, this is the sort of thing worth supporting.

This year's target amount is $350,000. Penny Arcade is currently taking reservations for the annual fundraiser dinner auction in Seattle on December 13.

Some say that widely-visited sites such as Shacknews should cease coverage of the insane antics and ramblings of Jack Thompson, attorney-at-law and rabid detractor of Video Games, and sadly I must respectfully decline to respect those wishes. The situations that build up around this guy are just too good.

So, what now? Well, last week Mr. Thompson claimed that he would donate $10,000 to charity if somebody constructed a brutal revenge murder video game based on his extremely violent specifications. Well, a team called Fighting Hellfish has done just that, crafting a mod for GTA: San Andreas entitled Defamation of Character: A Jack Thompson Murder Simulator. However, upon receipt of this news, Thompson responded that he would not be commenting on the mod, and that his so-called "Modest Proposal" (and, presumably, its promised $10,000) was intended only as satire. He notes:

"To be fair, though, you can't expect a bunch of gamers to understand the satire if they think that Jonathon Swift, the author of 'A Modest Proposal,' is the name of a new Nike running shoe..."

First off, Jack, it's "Jonathan," and the well-known piece by that legendary satirist eclipses your little charade by leaps and bounds, so don't even try it. While Swift's "modest proposal" of child cannibalization can only been seen as outrageous and purely provocative, your game design was entirely feasible--so feasible, in fact, that somebody executed it. Your offer, too, was entirely within the realms of reason. $10,000 is a lot of money, but isn't it entirely possible that charitable persons would be willing to part with thousands of dollars to serve their cause?

Apparently, yes, it is entirely possible. Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the Tycho and Gabe of Penny Arcade, have stepped up to the plate and donated that $10,000 to the ESA Foundation, which supports many charities for the benefit of children. What makes the move all the more striking is that the money was donated in Thompson's name.

Mr. Thompson's response goes on to claim that "God is in this battle, and I am privileged to be a foot soldier. You all should be concerned, not about me, but about Him." If God is keeping an eye on the two "sides" in this battle, Jack should start to be concerned that the opposition is making him look bad.

If you missed it, check out my The Movies interview. It will help you learn about the game The Movies!

I'm glad that nutcase Jack Thompson finally got some flak from the people he always claims to be cooperating with. I figured it was just a matter of time before his supposed allies spoke up.