Now They Want A Ban On Sims 2

[Clawson]

Sims 2 content "worse than Hot Coffee"

[uPDATE] Miami attorney Jack Thompson claims cheat codes make EA's life sim a pedophile's paradise by showing genitalia; calls for ban on T-rated game.

How do you like your hot coffee? If you're Jack Thompson, you like it scalding game publisher's laps. The Miami attorney and antigaming activist has done his share to see that games don't fall into the wrong hands. And lately, those hands have belonged to almost everyone.

Thompson was among those who spearheaded the recent effort to slap an "Adults Only" rating on Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and he's often been on the forefront of many other gaming issues, several of which have targeted the crime-spree-based GTA franchise. In the past, he's represented defendants who have been the victims of GTA-inspired crimes, including the triple homicide of three police officers by an 18-year-old boy in Alabama.

His beef with San Andreas? Unused code in the game that depicts sexual acts. These minigames can be unlocked by using game-cheat devices or patches available on the Internet.

Thompson is on a roll...and he's not done yet. His latest goat is a game that doesn't involve guns, carjacking, or prostitutes: He's going after Electronic Arts' The Sims 2.

In a manifesto sent today to press outlets, Thompson focuses on dismantling the Entertainment Software Ratings Board and exposing what he calls the industry's "latest dirty little secret." The secret's out now, and it involves nude sims.

In the statement, Thompson says, "Sims 2, the latest version of the Sims video game franchise ... contains, according to video game news sites, full frontal nudity, including nipples, penises, labia, and pubic hair."

The Sims 2 is a "life simulator." In the game, players steer their digital beings around their cyberlives. Actions include everything from the spectacular (getting married, having children, receiving promotions at work) to the mundane (cooking microwaved meals, going to the bathroom, mopping the floor). Such activities, as in real life, sometimes require nudity. EA circumvents inappropriateness by "blurring" out the nether regions, almost to a comical sense.

Knowing that the game is popular among all ages, EA has even taken steps to ensure that Sims fans aren't exposed to indecent depictions. In the recent expansion pack, The Sims 2 University, gamers can send their teenage sims off to college. However, instead of packing the expansion with "keggers" and "reefer," EA chose to use juice and bubble blowers.

Thompson doesn't seem to care. He cites a cheat code that can remove the blur that covers the nether regions. "The nudity placed there by the publisher/maker, Electronic Arts, is accessed by the use of a simple code that removes what is called 'the blur' which obscures the genital areas. In other words, the game was released to the public by the manufacturer knowing that the full frontal nudity was resident on the game and would be accessed by use of a simple code widely provided on the Internet."

It's not just the adults that are liberated from their wardrobes. Sims kids can also be nudified, "much to the delight, one can be sure, of pedophiles around the globe who can rehearse, in virtual reality, for their abuse."

Were this to be true, Thompson would have his smoking gun, and EA would be forced to recall all copies of The Sims 2. However, it's what's under the blur that Thompson's after. And what happens when the blur is lifted? A simple mannequin-esque smooth body, according to EA.

Jeff Brown, vice president of corporate communications at EA, in response to the accusations, told GameSpot, "This is nonsense. We've reviewed 100 percent of the content. There is no content inappropriate for a teen audience. Players never see a nude sim. If someone with an extreme amount of expertise and time were to remove the pixels, they would see that the sims have no genitals. They appear like Ken and Barbie."

Thompson doesn't buy it. "The sex and the nudity are in the game. That's the point. The blur is an admission that even the 'Ken and Barbie' features should not be displayed. The blur can be disarmed. This is no different than what is in San Andreas, although worse."

[uPDATE] Thompson this afternoon updated his earlier statement, saying he is aware certain mods only remove "the blur," but adds that "Electronic Arts has done nothing about this." Thompson's new conclusion: EA is "cooperating, gleefully, with the mod community to turn Sims 2 into a porn offering."

The last time we checked, The Sims 2 was rated T for Teen by the ESRB, which means that anyone 13 years of age, with $50 to spend, can purchase the game.

[Thomas]

So if I put in a code, I can get rid of the blur, and see their bits?

What's the code?

[Farmer Reil]

In other news, if you apply the common patch known as "getting undressed" to someone in reality, THEY HAVE RUDE BITS TOO!"

Holy shit, and if you buy a gun, YOU CAN SHOOT PEOPLE.

We get around these bugs in life by applying rules, such as "You have to wear clothes in public" and "You must have a liscense to buy a gun", also the hugely unpopular "You're not allowed to kill people".

Quick, Jack, slap an "Adults Only" label on life.

You complete wanker.

[Clawson]

I just found this little nugget of information on Thompson.

Interestingly, the Florida Supreme Court ordered that he undergo psychiatric testing during this campaign

[Hellfire]

It's not just the adults that are liberated from their wardrobes. Sims kids can also be nudified, "much to the delight, one can be sure, of pedophiles around the globe who can rehearse, in virtual reality, for their abuse."

[Pepsi]

We're also gonna have to rip out those first few pages of the Bible because clearly Adam and Eve are naked and children should not be exposed to such suggestive dialogue.

Just to give you this guy's mind-set.... when asked if gaming was just escapism, he answed;

Yes, just as Ted Bundy escaped into pornography. It is not a release of aggression. It is training for aggression.

Edited July 31, 2005 by Pepsi

[apsham]

In real life, I find myself talking in word bubbles and taking an hour to cook and eat a TV dinner too.

[Lowerdeck]

*sigh*

Some of these people have no lives. All they want you, your kids, and the rest of the world to do is sit by the light, read the Bible. And not the bad parts either, the approved ones by Family Councils. And then we all sit back watching PAX TV while enjoying a glass of water.

Oh wait, the actress may or may not have said a common word in an inappropriate situation. GOD SAVE THE FUCKIN CHILDREN! And now she might be leaning against a wall. Uh oh, a guy might walk over and make this situation very suggestive very fast. BANNED! We'll just forget about the PAX.

Now how about out water? Oh wait, does this taste funny to you? Oh no, there's Zima in it! Oh no! Oh wait, it's not really Zima. But there could be a couple granulars of sugar. Let's not have this either, it corrupts our children.

I got a better idea. Let's sit down and do absolutely nothing. Don't move, don't say anything. It's the only moral thing for our children. Don't open your eyes, think anything. Might be too corrupting for the children. Please damn it, stop all this shit in the world.

This lawyer, Hillary Clinton, and the rest of these people need to go away. Or commit suicide.

[zero]

Just to give you this guy's mind-set.... when asked if gaming was just escapism, he answed;

Yes, just as Ted Bundy escaped into pornography. It is not a release of aggression. It is training for aggression.

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And did the interviewer reply back with a "what about religiously-motivated serial killers? is the Bible training for their aggression?" Or "what about the millions of other people who watch pornography and are normal people?" This guy is a twat.

[Herr Matzat]

lets bad everything for PC becaus it could be moded or hacked

[Pepsi]

lets bad everything for PC becaus it could be moded or hacked

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[Whisper]

"This is no different than what is in San Andreas, although worse."

So it's the same, but not the same? Ohhhhhkay (Y)

Seriously, this guy's a fucking loon.

[Guest Iron Mary]

Retards who spend their whole lives trying to ruin the enjoyment of others based on fucking stupid religious beliefs (don't worry, I'm Catholic) make me sad. I mean, really. Someone is scared of technology, so they seek to stop people enjoying it. People like him are what's really wrong with the world.

[CKN]

UH OH You can take the clothes off Barbie and Ken dolls better ban those and put them in pornography shops only.

Seriously this guy needs to calm down and just stop because obviously he is going crazy. He also needs to research the game more because there is no nipples, penises, labia, or pubic hair.

[Tarheels.]

this is getting re-god damn-diculous someone needs to shoot this guy before he takes away all of the games that are decent. I mean you think he could at least do some research on these games before he attacks them.

[TheArsenal]

All the people that are mentally f*cked up by GTA, and none of them have thought to get this guy?

But seriously, it sounds like he's just protesting for protesting's sake. It also sounds like he's a very sad man.

[Summers]

I love this guy, I want to shake his hand.

[oldskool]

I love this guy, I want to shake his hand.

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[Clawson]

maddox has an article about the whole GTA thing. Pretty damn amusing.

[oldskool]

Half a million hits on that one page already.