Penny Arcade donates in Thompson's stead

Just days after Jack Thompson was criticized by the National Institute on Media and the Family, an organization with which he has historically allied himself, the antigame activist is making headlines again. Earlier this month, the Miami-based attorney penned "A Modest Proposal," an open letter to game makers detailing his design for a violent action title, targeting individuals within the games industry, particularly Take-Two Interactive president Paul Eibler. According to the letter, Thompson would donate $10,000 to the charity of Eibler's choice upon the realization of his parody game.

Today, Thompson responded to the Fighting Hellfish mod team's creation of a PC Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas total conversion, created to meet Thompson's challenge. Although Defamation of Character: A Jack Thompson Murder Simulator (Note: The site is currently experiencing high traffic.) matched Thompson's criteria, the Miami-based lawyer won't be writing out any checks.

Thompson now describes his letter as "satire," much like its titular namesake, Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal. Thompson has stated that his goal in writing his apparently ironical epistle was to "highlight the patent hypocrisy and recklessness exhibited by the video game industry’s willingness to target cops, women, homosexuals, and other groups with some of their violent games.”

Penny Arcade cofounders Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik have fired back, accusing Thompson of hypocrisy in kind. After learning that Thompson would not make any donations, the pair announced they have given $10,000 in his name to the Entertainment Software Association Foundation. The ESAF, which recently completed a charity auction, pledges monetary support to such philanthropic causes as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Child Welfare League of America.