Bully's judgment day is nigh

Antigame activist Jack Thompson claims court victory to get judge to obtain copy of Rockstar's forthcoming game Thursday afternoon.

In September, Take-Two Interactive surprised many when it revealed that its forthcoming high-school-based game Bully would be rated T for Teen. After all, the game had been dubbed a "Columbine simulator" by antigame activist Jack Thompson, in reference to the 1999 school massacre, and was being published by Take-Two subbrand Rockstar Games, which had historically specialized in M-for-Mature-rated games.

However, just because Bully is getting a T rating by the Entertainment Software Ratings Software Board (ESRB) doesn't mean it's out of the woods yet. Today, Thompson announced that he had won a "historic" victory in a Miami-Dade Circuit Court. According to the attorney, who has a history of aggressive self-promotion, "Judge Ronald Friedman entered an historic order directing Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., to provide the Court with a copy of the violent video game Bully 'before close of business' ... Thursday, October 12."

Thompson, referring to himself in the third person, went on to describe what Judge Friedman's order entailed. "The Judge further ordered that the game will be played in his presence, in chambers, with Miami attorney Jack Thompson present, if he wants to be there (he will be there) so der (sic) that Judge Friedman can ascertain whether the game should be sold to minors," said Thompson. "The Judge indicated that he will take however long it takes to see the game played in its entirety."

Due to the hour, attempts to confirm the judge's order directly with the Miami-Dade County Court were unsuccessful as of press time. However, several other news outlets, including Gamepolitics.com and the fan site Destructoid, which blogged the hearing, confirmed Thompson's report of Judge Friedman's ruling. (Note: Destructoid's site was intermittently down as of press time.)

Bully is set to hit PlayStation 2s next Tuesday, October 17. An Xbox version of the game was canceled earlier this year.

499 Comments

  • bjornborgue

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 5:39 pm PT

    He's attached himself to an issue that is unnoticed by many politicians. That's how his field works, it's tough to get ahead. He's doing his job you do yours....and take some public policy courses for Christ's sake.

  • GrlGmr

    Posted Oct 14, 2006 4:05 pm PT

    This guy is so funnnny imagine if they made a chracter in Vice City or the next GTA that details his whinging lil whiney attitude and best of yet gets a CAP popped in his ARSE. ***********************************************************************************

    I think if you crossed Pastor Richards with Ken Rosenberg (from Vice City), you'd get a pretty good approximation of Jack Thompson.

  • Cypher_VR

    Posted Oct 14, 2006 11:29 am PT

    somebody make a JT mod for vice city

  • her0carn

    Posted Oct 14, 2006 4:46 am PT

    This guy is so funnnny imagine if they made a chracter in Vice City or the next GTA that details his whinging lil whiney attitude and best of yet gets a CAP popped in his ARSE.

  • the64freak

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 12:22 pm PT

    to theshoveller-

    Ya Blaster Master and Final Fantasy are violent games, but are they real enought to trigger peoples minds to think like that? you see that with some people now-a-days even with these so called "violent games". But really, when are you going to see a 10 foot monster that wants to eat you? versus a person that is picking on you, your family is in it with a mob, or you see a candy bar you want...

    Its not the point of the violent games, it is the point of it being a VERY real game, just like a Train or plane sim.

    ---
    "If little Billy's dad has that game accessible to little Billy, then who's fault is it that Billy played the game?"
    now, this is the thing that is right but... if the parents is the one that buys it and then the kid does something becasue of the game (or maby they wont say it is becasue of the game)... whos fault is it? I work at a retalier (in canada) and I make sure the parent knows what what they are buying there kid. makes me sad when i see a father buy a 6 year old kid GTA:San and the kid is saying "ya dad, i play this all the time over at jimmys house" -_-

  • jimjim245

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 11:51 am PT

    I'm just curious, how many games have actually been permanently banned from sale in the US due to people like this? I remember ManHunt was banned here in the UK about 6 Months after it's release (yes, we do take that long) was it the same in the US? I mean seriously, what does he hope to achieve? "Don't sell it to minors" yeh ok, parents will buy it for there kids, hehe, makes me laugh that people like Thompson really think that it's gonna make a scrap of difference

  • TWOC2689

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 11:26 am PT

    Jack Thompson doesn't realise that a censorship department rates a game on its content not because it is ethical. ok it may have strong sexual references but is it wrong to condemn the act of sex as it creates life and doesn't take it away. Also Parents need to become more involved in game viewing as they need to tell their child what is right or wrong as the most easiest form of education is through media as it is a active form of information. If you look at Theories like George Gerbner's "Cultivation" Theory, "Hypodermic syringe" and "Bobo Doll" Theory a lot of them show that many people look at media as a reality not a fictitious view.

    Children do need to be educated about life as it is the most important act of life and is the only way we can survive.

    A lot of parents use TV, Music, Games and Films as virtual babysitters so they are "Out of Mummies way". this needs to be changed as soon as possible if we are to improve a standard of living and as capitalism is getting more frantic this isn't going to help.

  • Cypher_VR

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 10:51 am PT

    and one more thing JT should play the game HIMSELF and not watch another person play it

  • Cypher_VR

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 10:49 am PT

    hey jack, wanna know who else had a slingshot...?
    Bart simpson and dennis the menace

  • bakercompagny

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 9:45 am PT

    thompson is a sucker, - said live from belgium^^ We all hate him!!

  • Riverwolf007

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 8:20 am PT

    There is no such thing as bad press, unless you are in the obituary section.

  • NoShenanigans

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 6:26 am PT

    Jack Thompson is only important if we let him be important. He will be disappear from headlines next year, only to be replaced by some other mouthpiece. It's all good my fellow gamers.

    I'm not sure if I want this game or not. I see it as some prankster game. If it is funny, I'll probably pick it up, but I have Phantasy Star Universe and FFXII to worry about.

    Too many games this fall!!

  • decebal

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 6:13 am PT

    Well, I guess he can't wait to play it...

  • sZZZlepy_101

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 5:14 am PT

    I dont get it i thought this game is gonna be rated T so whats with the complains ????????

  • Poshkidney

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 3:03 am PT

    This is just a vendetta agaist Rockstar plus it would be very funnny that the judge found nothing wrong with the content that might shut the gob of Jack ****
    Lets slag him off to point it become satrie

  • nexusprime

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 2:53 am PT

    "The Judge indicated that he will take however long it takes to see the game played in its entirety." LOL ......they gonna sit in court and watch Take-Two beat the game from start to finish.T_T......they will be there all week.

  • SimuLord

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 12:53 am PT

    Even if I'd never played a video game in my life I'd still think Thompson worthy of a deer slug to the cranium from the barrel of a 12-gauge.

    And since the abovementioned was used on MythBusters to blow open a lock, on a show that explicitly states "don't try this at home", if someone did what I suggested, would some successor to the douche throne claim the Discovery Channel causes violence?

    As for Bully, frankly, I'm sick of Rockstar and wish they'd go away and stop giving politicians free ammo.

  • M-Yu

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 11:51 pm PT

    Damnit, he needs to stop hating this
    this game looks cool

  • RaschMorder

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 11:43 pm PT

    Jeeze, Some people say Gamers have no life...this dude wont get off out nuts.

    and how can you kill that wich has no life?

  • dragkill

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 10:23 pm PT

    @R3DN1N3: Yes he does. He's a flordia attourny. I can't think of the specifics off the top of my head.

    @everyone: You guys really aren't helping if you are shouting out that he's an idiot, or he needs to die or such. You're adding more fire to the situation showing him that gamers are "violent". And as for Jack, his goal is a big one, however it just looks like he's just out to make his name known, and just getting attention.

  • ivan_the_one

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 10:21 pm PT

    I bet the judge just wanted to play it for himself he's a closet gamer....^_^

  • VegetaMaelstrom

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 10:12 pm PT

    Isn't there a federal law regarding frivolous lawsuits? If not there should be because that and only that will stop nutjob true believers like Jacko from crusading against whatever windmill floats their boat. I miss the good old days when Jack thought rap music was Satan's whispers. The sad thing is that he could be so productive if he learned to channel his obsessive and paranoid tendencies to something positive like finding out who killed JFK or finding out who is using performance enhancing drugs in major league baseball. Pretty much anything that resembles a witch hunt I suppose.

  • BrassMonkey

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 10:11 pm PT

    Does Jack Thompson get paid for this kind of advertising he does for R*, Rockstar should just name him as their mascot. His original intentions are to prohibit the sale of these games, yet everytime a controversy such as this arises..the games sell more! Totally counter-productive,.

  • _Merc_

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 9:27 pm PT

    This man is absolutely insane.

  • Waiting_4_U

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 9:04 pm PT

    www.gamepolitics.com has the follow up story....

  • EnigmaNemesis

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 8:35 pm PT

    Maybe the judge is a gamer and Rockstar fan, and wanted to say he tried one of the most contraversial (albiet overrated media hype) game before anyone else?

    :-p

  • EnDream

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 7:54 pm PT

    Any offcial follow up to this story? Im curious.

  • GameBeaten

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 7:43 pm PT

    Thompson is an idiot. This guy is still set on revealing that Bully is "too violent" to be sold to minors. Apparently a Teen rating is not good enough to shut him up.

    Don't quit your day job, Jack. Or maybe you did already. Come on, dude. There are much, MUCH worser things outside of what happens in a videogame.

    I started playing M rated games when I was 8 years old. Yep, 8 years old (first one was MGS). Has playing M rated games made me a ****ed up person? NO! Why? Because I'm smart! Smart enough not to do anything stupid. I doubt a T rated game such as Bully is going to make me, or anyone younger than me, do stuff that is in the game. No matter what's in it.

    You see, this is why videogames exist. They allow you to do things you wouldn't / can't do in real life.

  • Kravyn81

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 7:28 pm PT

    This guy is such a horse's ass. I'll laugh when this judge finds nothing wrong with this game and tells him to get lost. Talk about a waste of tax payers' money.

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 7:17 pm PT

    ^^yeah..

  • _Sam_

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 6:43 pm PT

    he's still at it

  • kamicolo

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 6:37 pm PT

    why is america so soft...changing the rating of the game geez

  • FilthyYamBag

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 6:34 pm PT

    not being sold to kids = no skin off my ass
    kids don't make up the demographic of most gamers

    boy i'm glad i'm not gonna be in that chambers cuz Jack will just be going on and on, saying pfft, thats wrong, "jack doesn't have a life", why couldn't i have fun when i was a kid, thats dangerous

    one word of advice Jack DEFECT

  • coolcool23

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 6:14 pm PT

    Writing about yourself in the third person = crazy. Or egotistical. Or both.

  • -Ronin-_basic

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 5:45 pm PT

    So the judge will be seeing the game with Thompson there at his side.

    I'm sure Thompson wouldn't dream of trying to influence the judge's opinion now, would he?

  • Maverick82102

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 5:31 pm PT

    i'm so sick of this guy. I wish he would go crawl into a hole somewhere.

  • Boo_looDODO

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 4:39 pm PT

    Sigh, dont we have other things to worry about? Its up to the parents to control what their kids are playing and maybe should invest a little more time to see what is 'good/bad' for their son or daughter? They should start with focusing on bullying in the 'real' world instead of playing some video game that is rated T, which probably simulates 'real' life situations. They prolly all went to some fancy private school so they never had to worry bout bullying...oh well, i cant wait for their verdict!

  • awarriorofgamin

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 4:38 pm PT

    wow this guy has no life and wayy to much time on his hands and hes a ignorant fool

  • a_pettenuzzo11

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:58 pm PT

    get a life jack

  • dsan224

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:52 pm PT

    omg jack thinks that if ppl play bully then they will do excactly the same actions in school. idiot.

  • kamuixtv

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:40 pm PT

    Bully is rated T. So it is alrerady understood that only Teens and above can purchase and PLAY the game. Parents should be aware of this. And for Jack he needs to be "bullied".

  • R3DN1N3

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:25 pm PT

    Jack Thompson.....doesn't he have a job or something? I mean the guy does nothing but cry about how violent games are. Everyone knows it's a game, however just because one idiot can't comprehend what's a game and what's real life doesn't mean we all have to suffer.....I mean really....who here has ever robbed a bank because you've seen it done in a game. What a douche bag!

  • crills

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:22 pm PT

    jack leave us gamers alone if you talk about games being to violent.then also look at holly wood and in side some books there just as violent.or just come to the bronx i see some one get shoot every week. he needs to grow up and face realilty growing up now a days is differant from back in the day.and its not the game companys that fault that some kid is playing a game that rated m its the parent that buy them or the stupid clerk that sells them to kids. i have 3 kids my oldest is 6 and i wont let them play no m rated games or teen. that said theres parents who dont care and lets them like mine i played all the games from time spliters to mortal kombat to fps and they didnt care but did that make a bad person no a bad husband no a violent person no man the only times i been arested for was for smoking trees so i guess its up to the parents not the goverment to tell us what to play .to me the day they do that i feel it wont be a free country

  • dragkill

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:21 pm PT

    why do most of you not understand? why would you want to put 'more' ideas into younger peoples head? these few games can do that to a person, the same way advertising does it to everyone.
    If you go up to a person and and ask 'what is an iPod?', the response on 70% of the people will say nothing to do with MP3 players.
    now, go to a kid and say, 'what can do you do with a paper cutter?' (after playing some of these games), I bet some will say 'i can rip off the metal part and start killing people'

    so, again, why put more ideas into peoples heads? (Manhunt anyone?)"

    the64freak, hate to rain on your parade, but parents have shown that they think games gives their children a more positive future, than that of negative. Not only that, but ironically enough my little brother has had this question asked before in class, and his response was to cut paper, yet I know him for playing games such as Resident Evil 4 and so on. He's mature enough to know the fact between fiction and reality, and my parents have made sure that he knew the difference also. It really is not that difficult to sit down and talk with your children about what they are doing, and being closer to them. Also, about the whole "ideas putting into peoples' heads", that has been happening from everything, ranging from tv shows, to the internet. So games have no greater or lesser influence than that of anything else.

  • grandgundam3

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:15 pm PT

    first off, my day sucked big time...until i heard that Jack was making an idiot out of himself again. second, does this judge realize that the game is a simulator of your average middle school wedgie-giving bully, not a Columbine simulator? and finally, i'm starting to think that Thompson is on Take-Two's payroll, cause i want to get this game just because Jack said "it's bad for you. it makes you violent!"

  • Blackstaff

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:11 pm PT

    I'm so tired of the antics of Thompson, he had his 15 minutes of fame. He needs to GO AWAY! No one listens to him anymore! (not that any of us did in the first place). And no matter WHAT the game has in it, Thompson will say it's all bad if he's there.

  • rokkuman09

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:04 pm PT

    Hmm...it looks like his mental state (which trust me cannot be very good) is still steadily declining. I mean look at him now hes talking about himself in third person!

  • Thesimsfrk111

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:00 pm PT

    Jack Thompsan is an ass, he is ruining this game. Bully r0x0rz my s0x0rz!!!

  • tastytacos41

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 2:56 pm PT

    Zilch06
    "On behalf of the normal Christians in the world, I apologize for the dweeb that is Jack Thompson."

    Apology accepted.

  • evilbreader

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 2:49 pm PT

    I like how jack calls it a coulmbine simulater when he never revewed the matireal i rember him saying somthing about that like a year ago when take-two reviealed the game name. and at the time thay were only in the first steps of producing the game so thay dident even have a viable demo or trailler for jack to even make those acusations. basicaly the courts have been mislead from a man who has a bias about a game because of the game maker.and if the judge has a independant opinion and isnt being pressured by the legisulatior he will see how jack has munilipaleted his court and dismiss this case.

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