Legal Kombat: more on Armageddon’s Kreate-a-Thompson
First off, we apologize to Torokun for grabbing his well-made act of photoshoppery. It was too good not to pass up for a Jack Thompson story. If you’re wondering what this is about, you’ve probably already heard about a lawyer from Florida by the name of Jack Thompson. He’s been doing a lot of stuff recently, from trying to turn Bully into a public nuisance to almost being thrown into jail for contempt of court during the pre and post-Bully proceedings.
This has nothing to do with that though. Instead, it’s about Jack Thompson hinting to Midway Games about the possibility of future Legal Kombat.
The issue stems from Mortal Kombat: Armageddon’s Kreate-a-Fighter mode. As we mentioned previously, the fine folk of Gaming target were able to figure out how to make MK likenesses of some of your favorite people, from Hulk Hogan to Bruce Campbell’s Ash character in “Army of Darkness”. They were also able to make a fighter that not only bore the likeness of Thompson in his usual garb, but he also fought using Legalese. As you can guess, he was none too pleased.
After the jump is the letter he sent to the CEO of Midway, expressing his distaste for the ability to mimic his name and likeness inside Armageddon. You have to wonder though if he’ll sue the makers of Phoenix Wright of libel and/or slander not giving an accurate portrayal of being a lawyer. Oh well. Enjoy.
First off, we apologize to Torokun for grabbing his well-made act of photoshoppery. It was too good not to pass up for a Jack Thompson story. If you’re wondering what this is about, you’ve probably already heard about a lawyer from Florida by the name of Jack Thompson. He’s been doing a lot of stuff recently, from trying to turn Bully into a public nuisance to almost being thrown into jail for contempt of court during the pre and post-Bully proceedings.
This has nothing to do with that though. Instead, it’s about Jack Thompson hinting to Midway Games about the possibility of future Legal Kombat.
The issue stems from Mortal Kombat: Armageddon’s Kreate-a-Fighter mode. As we mentioned previously, the fine folk of Gaming target were able to figure out how to make MK likenesses of some of your favorite people, from Hulk Hogan to Bruce Campbell’s Ash character in “Army of Darkness”. They were also able to make a fighter that not only bore the likeness of Thompson in his usual garb, but he also fought using Legalese. As you can guess, he was none too pleased.
After the jump is the letter he sent to the CEO of Midway, expressing his distaste for the ability to mimic his name and likeness inside Armageddon. You have to wonder though if he’ll sue the makers of Phoenix Wright of libel and/or slander not giving an accurate portrayal of being a lawyer. Oh well. Enjoy.
David F. Zucker
President and Chief Executive Officer
Midway Games, Inc.
Corporate Headquarters
(sent via email)
Re: Cease and Desist
Dear Mr. Zucker:
It has today come to my attention that the newly recently Mortal Kombat: Armageddon contains an unauthorized commercial exploitation of my name, photograph, image, and likeness within the game.
You are commanded to cease and desist immediately from the distribution of this game because of this unauthorized, illegal content. If you think your company can in fact do such a thing, please have your lawyers provide you with the recent resolution of the unauthorized use of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s name and image in a similar fashion.
It would appear that your company has done this at least in part because I sued you all in the Paducah school massacre case and further because I appeared on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 when your company came out with your profane, violent, and idiotic Blitz: The League.
Please have your lawyer(s) contact me so that this activity can be stopped and this situation resolved amicably, if possible.
Regards, Jack Thompson