Jack Thompson is at it yet again. In a press release dated just one day prior to his court appearance in the Alabama Grand Theft Auto cop killer trial, the Florida attorney said something that some may consider an unfortunate slip of the tongue. That is until Thompson defended what he'd said after being asked about it. Here's what he said: "Oh, and certain regional governments in Japan have banned the sale of the Grand Theft Auto games to minors, but Japan's Sony has no problem whatsoever dumping this garbage into American kids' brains. Looks like Pearl Harbor 2 by Sony/Take-Two..." Maybe I'm just crazy here, but it seems to me that a sneak attack during a time of war, costing thousands of lives, is incomparable to anything, least of all a violent game. It sounds like Mr. Thompson is blowing the video game violence deal way out of proportion while trivializing an attack on American soil. But that's just my crazy opinion.

Fortunately, the good folks over at Game Politics were able to obtain a short interview with Thompson in order to ask him about his comment. Here's a snippet of the interview below.

Game Politics: Jack - Some readers are taking offense to the Pearl Harbor comments in your press release, and I have to say that it does read as a somewhat insensitive remark. Would you care to comment on that section or elaborate further on what you were trying to convey?

Jack Thompson: Insensitive? What the Japanese are doing to our kids is insensitive and racist. The Japanese have for a very long time dumped pornography into this country in a fashion they would not tolerate in their own country. It is another version of Pearl Harbor.

GP: By porn, I take it you mean violent video games? Are you referring to various Japanese-made game platforms? (i.e. PS2, Nintendo, etc.) But Take-Two is an American corp., and Rockstar an English subsidiary. Most of the games I can recall you criticizing over the years have been American-published.. (GTA, 25 to Life, Bully, The Warriors, The Sims, Blitz: The League, Everquest, Doom, etc.)

JT: Sony is a Japanese company.

GP: But Sony only makes the player. I don't recall you criticizing any of their titles in a major way. If you take that approach, wouldn't TV, VCR, and DVD player manufacturers be equally complicit? Since their products play violent movies and even actual porn? And are also needed to play video games? Toshiba, etc.?

JT: GTA is a Sony/Take-Two game. It was made by Take-Two exclusively for Sony's Playstation 2. Sony has led the planet in the distribution of mainstream porn. I don't have time to document it for you. As for the offensiveness of the Pearl Harbor comment, it's accurate and it's needed. The Japanese have a contempt for our culture which is patent. There (sic) dumping of garbage into our culture is a slow motion version of Pearl Harbor.

Oh no, the fun doesn't stop there. Thompson then went on to write a letter to the Japanese Ambassador, Ryoko Kato, about this issue. The letter is pasted below.

The Honorable Ryoko Kato

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Japan to the United States of America

2520 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. Via Fax to 202-xxx-xxxx

Re: Sony's Ongoing Distribution of Violent and Pornographic Material to Minors in the United States

Dear Mr. Ambassador:

As a United States citizen who has been active and visible in opposing Sony's distribution of hyperviolent and sexually explicit video games to children in this country, I would respectfully request that your nation's government assist me in making this harmful distribution stop.

This request comes in the aftermath of recent news reports that certain local/regional governments in Japan will not allow, for example, the grotesque Sony/Take-Two/Rockstar Grand Theft Auto games to be sold to children in your country but Sony is more than delighted to distribute these games to our children in our country.

This is hypocrisy, and it must be remedied. Japan cannot allow to be done to our children what it will not allow to be done to its own.

Regards, Jack Thompson

I think that about does it for JT for the week. Stay tuned for plenty more crazy antics, from everyone's favorite angry lawyer, that are sure to follow.

Source: http://www.rpgamer.com/news/currents/2005/column/eg110505.html

By the way, I'd like to point out that I'm only aware of one district in Japan that has actually banned Grand Theft Auto. Not that it matters. GTA sales in Japan are crappy compared to, say, Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior or Final Fantasy. Man, I can only imagine the bitchfit Jack would pull if he found out about horror games like Silent Hill or Shin Megami Tensei...