November 9, 2007
Attorney fees, FTW...As reported by CNN/Money and other outlets, Take Two Interactive has settled a class-action lawsuit arising out of the 2005 Hot Coffee scandal.
As GamePolitics reported back when the suit was filed, the original plaintiff was Florence Cohen, an 85-year-old grandmother who didn't mind buying the M-rated GTA San Andreas for her 14-year-old grandson - until the infamous hidden sex scenes were revealed.
According to the terms of the settlement, consumers who were scarred by the game can trade the Hot Coffee version of GTA San Andreas in for the no-sex edition. Or, those who are really troubled - and who saved their receipts - may qualify for a cash payment of as much as $35. The amount of the pay-out to individual consumers is apparently dependent upon the number of people who apply.
Take-Two has set aside more than a million bucks for the case, but that could rise to as much as $2.75 million.
Here's the Take Two press release describing the settlement. Read the original complaint...
Comments
That's justice.
"I have a pre-July 2005 copy. Maybe Strauss Zelnick will autograph it for me."
He might well do. Would probably go something like, "For Jack, Thanks for buying our games and funding us. Many thanks, Strauss".
And as for the topic at hand: It's crappy that they settled, I think, and I agree that at some point the industry should take a stand against issues arising from user-created content or user-done edits. But given the current political climate towards games (ungood) and towards T2 in specific (doubleplus-ungood) and the fact that the settlement amount isn't going to break their back, I can understand the desire to do so.
Then immediately arrest her on child abuse charges for buying the game for a 14 year old child with what it was KNOWN to be.
Hot Coffee, even it was all that easily accessible, didn't make the game that much worse.
That article that Jack posted mentioned training on Doom.
The sad part is it's not even an article. It's a press release hyping a "non-violent" game company. Basically it's pulling the "I think violent games are teh evil, buy my starfish game instead. Oh yeah, I used to be an insider, so totally trust me."
I think this class action was total BS. What are the chances that the kid ever actually found the scene? Slim to none. She just saw it on the news, didn't understand the nature of it and over reacted. Sounds familiar doesn't it?
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary
San Andreas was the best one!
Interestingly enough, nobody seemed to point out that it took illegal alteration by software to make the scenes available. So, now while these folks are "winning" civil suits, they should be charged with hacking the software to make the scenes available in the first place.
Much like the Manhunt 2 situation.
After all, if all these folks think T2/Rockstar should be responsible legally for having the scenes in the software, then THEY should take responsibility for committing the crime of hacking the software (whether they wrote the hack or not, they would have had to USE it) to make the scenes available. After all, the user who DOESN'T hack the software is NEVER exposed to the scenes. ONLY those who hack are.
If you don't hack it, you shouldn't have a suit.
If you do hack it, you might have a suit, as well as criminal charges against YOU.
So there!
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
GP: The one you spammed through the comments of seven different articles? Deleted, as I've already advised you. The take-away is, "don't spam the comments" I'd already seen - and passed on - that piece before you sent it. You are welcome, as always, to start your own blog where you can make those difficult editorial decisions.
Overall, it was good. But, in the last couple of the series, the inclusion of the bicycle/motorcycle was unpleasant and frustrating.
Trying to use the bicycle reminded me of the unpleasantness of "Track & Field" and other like it that required thumb breaking repetitive button mashing at high speed. I absolutely HATE that.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
If I ever go on a rampage, i'll shoot 10 and run like hell before they can even read thev letters.
But to complain later without getting the proper information, that to me is where she failed.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
It won't be on the XBox 360 version of the game 'cuz I won't get the Acheivements if I use the cheats like invincibility. :(
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Ask EULA. She'll tell ya.
And just because you own it, doesn't mean you can do whatever you want to it. Ask RIAA and the ESA, not to mention Homeland Security. :/
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
I thought this was a "news" site about the video game industry? This is the biggest story to hit that industry in five years. Nice going, Dennis. What a tool.
GP: Big, huge story - Not. Feel free to read it. To me it's more like a press release for the guy's new film project. Some coverup...
INTERESTING: This "video game industry veteran" John Douglas, does NOT come up on a Moby Games search of design/developer credits...
MORE INTERESTING: Ol' John Bruce has already added this huge whistleblower story to the docket in his lawsuit against the Florida bar. Relevance? Unclear, but that's never stopped him before.
You already told all of us in the comment section of several articles, Mr. Thompson, in which we talked back to you about it.
As polite, grown-up people, we listen to what you have to say. How about you do the same?
Not every move you make is worthy of a news story, Mr. Thompson.
"Where’s the story I sent you, Dennis, about the video game industry whistleblower who has now come forward? Where’ s the story, our great Censor in Chief?"
Reaching for the bottom of the barrel, Jack?
Have you ever played it?
If you hack a game and then sue the company, the ESA should come after YOU! The music companies are not suing the individuals for illegal downloading, RIAA is as their representative. If these scums know the representative of the gaming companies will be coming after them for doing something illegal, they may think twice about signing up for those freebie class action lawsuits where the lawyers collect most of the money.
I'm surprised no one has gone after God of War, Conan, The Sims, Elder Scrolls, etc...It's free money folks, buy a game, download a hack from the internet, claim mental and emotional anguish, and viola, you get millions of dollars!
ESA take a fucking stand!
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary
Sure, it probably won't sell anything like GTA, but definitely more than if JT had just left it alone.
Its some obscure article about Some guy who apparently took a hard line about anything bad in video-games affefting kids.
When no-one banned his games outright he got annoyed and is now in a huff and has left the industry to make animated movies. The whole article is more or less a press ad for his company and his cartoons
Not worth the time, effort or brainspace to read. He's certianly not a whistle blower or anything remotely special.
That "news" story is nothing more than a promotional piece for a guy's movie. No scientific evidence to back it up, just opinion.
Now, if you don't mind, the adults are trying to have a conversation here.
(And I agree with Dennis...get your own damn blog, already.)
That article isn't about video games. It's not the focal point of the story. It's about a guy who wants to make 'wholesome' entertainment for kids, via video.
I can see why you'd want to live vicariously through him. I mean, look - he's actually trying to make a difference, rather than being a total waste of life.
Class Action Suits have gotten out of control.
ROFLMAO!
What does it actually come down to if you ignore all the inflammatory misinformation and deceit?
"I got tired of the Action/Horror genre and decided to work on General Audience type stuff."
That's not "whistleblowing". That's a change in genre interests.
Since when was every Human being expected to like every single genre of every single media format?
Twit.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Also, did you take your screen name from the somewhat obscure superhero? Or is there another reasonable origin of the name 'dog welder'?
That's not a big story - hell that's pretty much a non-story. This man, like you, has no background in mental health studies, psychology, or anything of the sort. His background is in law enforcement, and in playing and writing about video games. Your background in in law and in failure.
This man could be considered an expert at violent video games - this is not the same as an expert on video game violence and it's psychological effects. That last expertise is not something that either of you can claim, as neither of you have any background in that area.
@ John Bruce
Hardly a whistle blower. More of a concerned citizen who exercised his right to petition.
Good lck to John Douglas on his movie business.
***Now back to the topic at hand:
I still can't believe this made it to class action status. No one who was not seeking that content out would never have found it. You actually had to look for it and expend extra energy outside the game to find it.
This is akin to me breaking up an action figure with a hammer and then swallowing one of the peices and then sueing the toy company when I choked on the piece.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary
So when Dennis decides not to post about something you submit, he's the Censor in Chief, but when you want to block content from games, you're not really censoring, just thinking of the children?
You can't have it both ways, Jack.
Saying that you don't like a specific genre is NOT reason to call it whistleblowing.
On a more related note, if Hot Coffee even porn? 2 video game characters doin' it on screen, it's nowhere NEAR the stuff you can find on 4Chan. Hey Jack, why don't you go protest 4Chan. Kids can get free porn there, and they don't even have to PROVE their 18.
Easy way to use this court case to get money...Note to self: I should purchase a Bible from a book store, make sure a child flips to the book of Rev., Deut., and Kings... then complain how the horrific, terrible, and obscene language forever scarred and scared the child into believing in superstition out of fear, =(.
It probably would've cost Take Two more to continue the suit, then any gains coming out of it.
BTW, US civil suits are plain ridiculous. There should be a ban for suits about hazy emotional distraught claims, because these are pure bullshit money grabbers. Only REAL emotional distress caused DIRECTLY on a inter personal level (meaning, if one person directly causes you grave emotional distress).