1P Start

Grand Theft Auto 4 has now been out for 5 days, and with this being the first weekend since it’s release, I expect a lot of people will just be getting to grips with the game. So I thought we should take a look at what’s happened around the release, and how the game has been received in different quarters.

The sales bale began on Tuesday at Midnight, with many gamers queuing up at their local games retailer to be the first to get their hands on the game. 5 days later, and both Sony and Microsoft are already arguing over which console has seen the best return on the game. The only sales figures we actually have to go on at the point are from the UK, where the game sold 600,000 copies in 24 hours, making it the new one day record holder.

From the reviews of the game, it seems the PS3 version had a slight edge in the graphics department, looking sexier, and suffering from less frame-rate issues. Both versions have however shipped with bugs, with the PS3 reportedly suffering worse from Rockstar’s seeming inability to release a game without some sort of problem.

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In other words, why is he being such an asshole?

For those of you who don’t know who Jack Thompson is, which I doubt is many of you as he’s become quite the enemy of gamers around the world, this is the guy who feels it is his right, nay duty, to condemn every video game which may have an ounce of violence, or immoral action in it, and link the use of these games to every shooting which happens in the US and beyond.

You only have to take a quick glance at the man’s Wikipedia entry to see the history of action against games developers, and gamers he has been inflicting on everyone for the last few years. Hell, he’s even blamed Bill Gates for the Virginia Tech massacre!

Jack Thompson is an attorney who seems to have got a bit of publicity for going after purveyors of some elements of pop culture which he thinks is ruining the world, and society within it, and so has carried on doing so in the hopes of becoming famous, or should that be infamous?

He’s achieved it, but he’s not loved as a moral crusader, except for television stations such as FOX news which know they can wheel him out after anything bad happens in the world, and get an explosive quote from this man who seems to hate anything which is fun. Rather he is hated by any and every gamer who just wants to have a bit of fun without some idiot sticking his nose in.

His latest rant of course has been about Steven Kazmierczak, the person who killed five innocent people in a Valentine’s Day massacre at NIU. Apparently, Kazmierczak played violent video games, including Counter Strike. Well, haven’t we all at some time or another?

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Ladies and Gents it pains me to say my farewells to 1PStart. I’ve been here only a short time, though I’ve been at Xbox 360 Rally (another 451 site) for just under a year. I will miss you guys, though you’re probably throwing a party, chanting “he’s leaving! Huzzah! Huzzah!”. If you do miss me, though, you can find me at my new home BingeGamer.net.

It’s been fun, and I hope to see y’all around.

P.S.: Qbix — E-mail me, dude. I’m still gonna get your GTA IV to ya.

I want to first apologize for the language in the following sentence, but this… this is the weirdest damn thing I have ever fucking seen. Apparently someone named “Nick” was able to do the impossible: Get Jack Thompson to sign a copy of Grand Theft Auto III.

…I’ll let that sink in a moment or two…

…you good? Good. Let’s move on. Apparently the person who is selling this lovely trinket of irony was able to get Thompson to sign it during Thompson’s debate at VGXPO in November. So why would you want to spend at least $4,000 on this seven year-old game? Straight from the auction page:

1. Because it’s a physical piece of hilarious gaming irony.
2. A fantastic conversation piece.
3. Because Mr. Thompson was nice enough to sign this for me, all proceeds will go to Child’s Play Charity.
4. Where else can you find an item like this?
5. You can brag to all your friends about how cool you are.
6. Because you REALLY want to play grand Theft Auto III

I’m torn. On one hand, Thompson is the kind of self-promoting, self-loving bastard who would sign it knowing it would get publicity. On the other hand, part of me feels Thompson would be insulted by the notion… no, no. On further considering, he’d definitely sign it.

[eBay via Gaming Today]

Jack Thompson, Grand Theft Auto III, eBay

You know, it would take a feat of extraordinary measure for batshit crazy attorney Jack Thompson to render me speechless. But somehow… some way… Thompson found a way.

So what did this man, who has previously blamed Bill Gates for the Virginia Tech shootings, attacked both Halo 3 and Bully, and even used his own child to further his insane beliefs, do to make me literally choke on my cider?

…he mailed gay porn to a US District Court Judge! I have but one question for Jack Thompson: When you dove off the deep end, did you bring a shovel with you to dig deeper once you hit bottom?

GamePolitics has a more detailed account of what happened, but I’ll boil it down for you after the break.

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