With all the hubbub about Manhunt 2 being banned, it's not surprising that it's caught the attention of the people, particularly a certain Mr. Jack Thompson. In an email that also spoke of Take-Two's troubles with its admittedly ultra-violent title, the lawyer states that the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) has given itself some much-needed credibility by slapping Manhunt 2 an Adults Only rating. He elaborates that by doing so, the ESRB has proven that its ratings actually mean something, and not just a fancy label.

Here's Mister Jack Thompson's email, verbatim:

This is all absolutely delicious. I warned Take-Two months ago that there would be huge problems if it went ahead with Manhunt 2. Who was right about that kiddies?

Secondly, the BBC and the world are now laughing at Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick for his idiotic statement yesterday that Manhunt 2 is "a fine piece of art." Find the BBC story on that! Right, and Jack the Ripper was his generation's Rembrandt. Please.

Take-Two has been hemorrhaging cash over the last few financial quarters, and this must makes it worse. I love it. If you all would stop and think about this for a minute, this development is a HUGE benefit to the video game industry.

It fits nicely with their argument that the ESRB ratings are real and actually mean something. Responsible people within the industry, even Doug Lowenstein, have been saying for quite sometime that Take-Two had become a problem for the entire industry because it was painting a bullseye on the back of the whole industry and making it more difficult for the industry to get US politicians off its back.

Now the ESRB does something that indicates is might be trustworthy, and you nitwits go bonkers because of that development. Grow up and smell the hot coffee. This is the best thing that could have happened to the industry. The isolation and ostracism of Take-Two by the industry was long overdue. Now that it has come, rejoice.

Certainly strong words coming from Mr. Jack Thompson, but they do carry water, specifically about the ESRB. The fact that the AO rating was enough to instigate such a reaction gives more credibility to the ratings system, which means parents will be able to trust the label on the games they're buying for their kids.

 In the last paragraph of our previous report of Jack Thompson's countersuit, we noted that he mentioned GameSpot, Penny-Arcade, and a whole lot of other media outlets and accuses them of conspiring with Take-Two to commit racketeering activities.

Well, thanks to the folks at SPOnG, here's a bit more details on the mention that he made towards the end of that filing, made in the United States District Court for the southern district of Florida in relation to the case numbered 07-20693-civ-altonaga:

34. Take-Two, either directly or through its agents, including but not limited to Blank Rome, has collaborated and conspired with third parties to commit these racketeering activities (sic, including but not limited to the Entertainment Software Association, the Entertainment Software Rating Board, the Entertainment Consumer Association, Gamepolitics, Kotaku, SPOnG, Joystiq, Gamespot, ign, Game Informer, Electronic Gaming Weekly, Penny Arcade, Doug Lowenstein, and others.

35. As a result of this collaboration, individuals have repeatedly threatened the life of Thompson, visited his residential neighborhood to hand out libellous (sic) pamphlets, filed SLAPP Bar complaints against Thompson, having been encouraged to do so by gaming web sites, sent dozens of items to Thompson’s home and office via overnight courier and mail, sent sex aid products to his wife, threatened Thompson’s son, shot at his home, sought to incarcerate Thompson, "bookstormed" his book, Out of Harm’s Way, at Amazon.com, orchestrated and knowingly incited harassing phone calls and letters, and Case 1:07-cv-20693-CMA Document 6 Entered on FLSD Docket 03/21/2007 Page 33 of 37 34 generally engaged in a knowing, purposeful, and illegal "shoot the messenger" strategy against Thompson directly and through surrogates.

Hmm, aren't Kotaku, Joystiq, SPOnG, IGN, and Gamespot all competitors? Are we going to have to take a red pill to be awakened and be free from this Gaming Matrix that we're all jacked into?

One righteous man against a cruel evil world, or a kid with a water pistol and bucket full of water? Well?

Back in September, one of our MyQJ contributors talked about Kansas Senator Sam Bronwback (R) and his introduction of a bill called the Truth in Video Game Ratings Act. The gist of the bill is that the Entertainment Software Ratings Board's (ESRB) game ratings should be based on the game's entire content and not just on viewing a game's most offensive content.

Fast forward to today. Doug Lowenstein has relinquished his ESRB presidency and Senator Brownback is gunning to be the next top inhabitant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (that's the White House for those who don't know). He is also re-introducing the said bill. This is what he said in a statement about it:

Video game reviewers should be required to review the entire content of a game to ensure the accuracy of the rating. The current video game ratings system is not as accurate as it could be because reviewers do not see the full content of games and do not even play the games they rate. The Truth in Video Game Rating Act would also commission a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study to determine the efficacy of the... ESRB ratings system.

Former ESRB head Doug Lowenstein said in September that this bill will not succeed and that people would not be represented by the average American parents. With him out of the picture, what happens next?

Yeah, by now, every person that has seriously embraced video gaming as part of his/her life is aware of the sudden changes that'll prompt him/her to bid farewell to the E3 as he/she knew it. The Halls of QJ has been ringing with dead silence every single time the matter is brought up (it's happening right now). But we all have to move on as E3, arguably gamers' own version of World Cup and Winter Olympics, undergoes some major tweaks that'll indirectly affect all of us.

Entertainment Software Association president Doug Lowenstein, in an interview with Wall Street Journal, has revealed what exactly those "major tweaks" will be - a new name, a new venue and a new date. According to him, the event will be dubbed as the E3 Media Festival starting next year, cementing thoughts that the affair will now only be joined by members of the press from various media.

From last E3's groundbreaking attendance of 60,000 visitors, next year's event will have a toned-down population of around 5000 people. In fact, Lowenstein has cited that the huge number of participants is primarily the reason why all the changes are being made, saying that "some companies were frustrated because E3 was such a huge, sweeping event it became increasingly difficult to get their messages out."

Instead of the traditional May affair, the next E3 (if we could still call it that) will be held on July to give publishers more time to develop their projects and to strategically bring it nearer to Christmas where most games are usually released. The event will also say goodbye to the Los Angeles Convention Center as the ESA divulged plans to use two hotels, holding press events and meetings in suites and conference rooms - there goes our booths and the booth babes along with it.

As much as we want to present this news as an objective one, it's really hard not to choke out some disappointments while tackling the matter. The gamer in us conquers the inner writer/reporter as it cry for the game demos open for civilians, promos for the attendees, E3 booth babes, lost opportunities for smaller developers, and the shed "people image" of the event we used to know as E3...