i don't know if the rest of you follow Penny Arcade as religiously as i do, but i you don't i'd suggest going through the last couple of articles to inform yourself on the situation they're facing against Jack Thompson. Thompson, who you might know from his rabid anti-video game propaganda, is possibly the most prolific, and certainly the loudest lawyer in the world regarding violence in video games affecting our youth. Never ones to pass the buck, when our friends in the gaming community "Gabe" and "Tycho" heard about Thompson's "Proposal," which can be found here (To whit: he would donate $10,000 to a charity to be named by Paul Eibner, Chairman of Take Two, on the condition that someone designed and executed a game to his specifications, which are as graphic as they are insulting to the industry.) the pair decided to speak up. Willing to give the goodwill offer the benefit of a doubt, in spite of the obvious lack of intent by Thompson to do any such thing, Mike "Gabe" Krahulik fired off an email suggesting that ten grand wasn't all that much as far as philanthropy is concerned, comparing it to the comic's own Childs' Play charity, which has raised more than half a million dollars in the two events they've held. What followed has not been pretty. Digging his heels in, Thompson has decided to toe it out with the two, and between Krahulik's and Holkins' constant commitment to post all on their site (with their own acidic commentary, of course), Thompson has come out looking QUITE bad, while our pals up in Seattle are smelling like roses. The Coup de Grace: When a mod team made a GTA mod to Thompson's specifications, and Thompson sneered them away, feigning that his offer was "satire" from the beginning, Penny Arcade THEMSELVES, after a solid week of abusive correspondance from Jack, sent Robert down to the ESA's Charity Dinner last night, along with a $10,000 check. In Jack's name, no less.

Today, i am more proud to call myself a gamer than i have ever been before, if it will place me in the same echelon as these two princes among men.