@ShaggE: You could, but it'd look slightly ridiculous.

Krondonian

Sometimes I just think that Lawyers are just bored and they just start suing corporations on the behalf of "us consumers" in order to collect "legal" fees.

herfy

I still can't understand why America embraces violence, yet deplores sex. I'd rather my kids find a porno mag than find my copy of GTA.

Masturbation is a hell of a lot less harmful than beating the shit out of somebody. Besides, you can wear a condom for sex. You can't put a condom on a gun.

ShaggE

When I heard about that court ruling all I did was hold my copy of San Andreas close and whisper, 'don't worry, Baby - I'll never leave you.'

Chances

This may be a stupid question, but when San Andreas and pornography share the same certificate, why is Hot Coffee not allowed?

Krondonian

@mahi: Ah and that's the kicker right there. I remember when San Andreas was new, I was at a local Wal-Mart perusing the games. I was there for about 10 to 15 minutes and in that time I saw at least 3 or 4 mothers with children walk up to the PS2 case, the children pointed out Vice City, and the mother bought it on the spot. I don't even think they took a second to even look what they were buying, and for the most part the children were telling the clerks what game they wanted. I remember this because I just stood there bewildered wondering why any adult in their right mind would buy the game for what looked like a 10 year old.

MantisDragon

I found much more offensive content watching prime time than watching the hot coffee mod in action. If only I got $35 every time I watched something on prime time television... Or porn. I mean, I don't look at porn. But if I did! *shifty eyes*

cheesecake000

The only time this "hot coffee" crap bothered me was when I attempted to sell my copy to Gamestop, and they would not take it cause it was the old, "tainted" version.
I was probably better off with the copy of the game than around eight bucks in store credit.
Meh

Punishingwombat

@CanaryWundaboy: Those are 2,676 that didn't hack the game at all! They just want compensation for having the hidden code on their game discs. That right there is pathetic.

AntiZERØ

This is like the no-kissing law that was in effect in Orange County back in the day. It was a bunch of angry and scared mothers and fathers who were too overprotective of their children to even let them kiss each other. Now it's violent video games. I wonder if we sat these mothers down and in front of them had one person murder another, and simultaneously have two people having sex next to that, which they would find more offensive. I bet it's the sex. You know those house mothers, they aren't getting any from their husbands cause they arent attractive even with all that make-up and botox, and so they're husbands go cheat leaving them jealous and angry. Time to take it out on someone less than half your age.

Desmondia

@PsycheE: According to the docket sheet, two different firms, Bromberg and Locks. Neither of them seem particularly well-known or prestigious -- maybe that explains why they're doing a crummy job.

Meanwhile, Take Two is represented by Blank Rome, which has some pretty interesting political connections.

Bort617

I could care less about naked people in a computer game, I just wanted free money. But you know what? I never received my check. I think I shall sue Take Two for the $5 settlement check they did not send. I have been horribly scarred from not receiving this check, and my banking account has overdrawn at least 18 times in the past month because they didn't send it. :(

MCWHAMMER

I would say the case has almost no merit for the simple fact that it had to be hacked by the owner of the game for the sole purpose of seeing the "nudity."

Poisonous Taoist

I'd do it to get some free money if I'd bought it, but that's only because I hate rockstar and GTA and, therefore, I didn't buy it...

Darn it, there ISN'T such a thing as free money.

Funny, with a game that revolves around crime, I'm shocked more fans didn't immitate the game and get free money by dishonestly answering the class action suit... I thought games influenced people to do bad things, right?

bobtheduck

How and the hell do you even buy a game with a title like Grand Theft Auto and give a rats ass about the hot coffee content. Don't most people just play GTA to the wee hours of the night turn it off and watch dirty movies anyway?

mahi

it's not even like the hot coffee mod showed anything for christ's sake. All the animations in the minigame are still in the game's code, and are used in other parts of the game. It wasn't anything new, it was the same old GTA we all know and love. Jesus, it's just uneducated poo-poo heads trying to make a big deal out of nothing. This article made me lol.

willparry79

That's 2,676 people who shouldn't have hacked the game then.

CanaryWundaboy

Wow, people are pathetic.

Darth_X

Which firm repped TT?, over a million for legal fees are alot of stamps and envelopes.

I guarantee out of the 2676, 2500 of the applicants weren't even bothered by the hot coffee but wanted in on the action. Free money, might as well. The other 176 are activists+Moms against Videogames who bought the game just to partake in the aforementioned lawsuit.

PsycheE

Legally, this case is really fascinating. I work about 2 minutes from the federal courthouse in New York... I'll definitely be attending the hearing tomorrow!

Bort617

parasites..

Katorok

LOL, you had to "hack" (we'll call it for simplicity) to even get to the content. Bah, so stupid!

username484767

Wait a sec you don't have to run around on foot all game? You can take someone else's car? I've been playing the game all WRONG!

Emperor_Guam

I bet those 2,675 mothers and 1 jack Thompson were glad to get that thing out of their house.

ZeeBeeEss

as i recall, they had some pretty ridiculous requirements to claim to the refund. that might also be affecting the numbers a bit.

thaKingRocka

To quote from Terry Pratchett's Making Money:

'The one they call the "Lovers"? said Vetinari. 'The League of Decency did complain to me, yes, but -'
'Our artist didn't realize what he was sketching! He doesn't know much agriculture! He thought the young couple were sowing seeds!'
'Ahem,' said Vetinari. 'But I understand that the offending affair can only be seen in any detail with quite a large magnifying glass, and so the offence, if such it be, is largely self-inflicted.'

TrjnRabbit

@ShaggE: Whaaaa..? You can't?!?! How am I going to make my (gl)ock extra ribbed then?

@NDC: ...pixelated nipples...

[www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net]

NeVeRMoRe666

Man we seriously need more games with sex in them. If the game is rated M and has what amounts to dry humping and offcamera oral sex, that's progress. I'm sorry, but at the point where you pay money for a mature rated title and get offended by mature content, you have reality issues.

If anything we need the M rating to become more obviously M. As it is it tends to amount to a solid T rating + the F word, which is frankly ridiculous.

It's no wonder people are confused by the ESRB ratings. What exactly is the real difference between a teen and a mature person? It's the most subjective age bracket of them all, and the ESRB seems to think 17 is a generally mature age. I beg to differ.

Blah. I have no faith in the ESRB and their ability to educate the public.

Sunjammer

I thought about joining the settlement to get $35 dollars out of it but then I realized i'd be a deush so I didn't.

DefDealer

Tort Reform plz

TomHayden

i never played San And. What exactly is so terrible about the content they put in the game?

NDC

I considered joining this suit, then using the cash to get Manhunt 2 out of spite.

Karlott

I can't stand listening to any more of this Hot Coffee crap! It happened in 2005, three years ago, and people still can't leave it alone.

DukeOfPwn

I thought it was funny, it's not like it was realistic...especially with the modified N64 engine they were using, it was like seeing Lego's having sex.

HALO-32

i never once had the hot coffee version of GTA:SA, but if i did... i wouldnt turn it in for a refund. as im a fan of GTA, and i dont feel that the hot coffee mod offended me, nor would i want to burden take two by getting the refund. actully, i am offended by the 2,676 people who turned in their copy to get the refund and that one certain lawyer that i hate with a passion. i hate paracites

segamanxero

@EnigmaNemesis: Ha ha! Zing! Fucking idiots.

PlayerX

@Katorok: If you ever had to use a single word to sum this whole stupid thing up, that'd be it.

That, or douchebags.

PlayerX

2600+ huh?

Well we all know who voted for Hillary and lost.

EnigmaNemesis

These people offend the human race.

EnigmaNemesis

The numbers just proves how much the media can be so deceiving and hype up everything. I'm betting that a good fraction of the 2600 "disgruntled" people did it for the money.

Naia

I've got the original version for Xbox, Gamestop wouldn't take it as a trade in.

D00mM4r1n3

@NoBullet: I was just using a theoretical example. I don't see why you need to be a dick about it. Did I insult your intelligence? No. So don't insult mine.

My point is, people act like sex is so much worse than murder. It's bullshit. We've become so desensitized to violence, that we forget the gravity of death.

Someone once uploaded a video to some site that showed a person committing suicide. Not staged, completely real. And the comments underneath the video were all "lol" and "haha look at the blood". You can't tell me that that's not at least in part due to the backwards morals we have.

ShaggE

i think this help proves that our society isn't nearly as squeaky clean as it thinks it is, or believes itself to be.

demonknightinuyasha

@NoBullet:
Kids are going to want sex anyhow, and it's not like you can trip over and accidentally impregnate someone, there is this whole "consent" thing.

TrjnRabbit

It just proves that people didn't care about hot coffee. The only people that can see that hot coffee are hackers and cheaters anyway. Normal people who care about this don't buy GTA or play their games normally.

Those 2676 are cheap.

mcool93

@ShaggE: I still can't understand why America embraces violence, yet deplores sex. I'd rather my kids find a porno mag than find my copy of GTA.

Gee I dont know. Maybe because parent think their kids are smart enough to not be violent when they see violence in games and movies, and trust them. Whereas its easy to have sex, bring in an unplanned child, get some life threatening disease, etc. You say that as if its just black and white "durr why do they like killing but not da boobies lolol"

NoBullet

Whatever happened to freedom of expression? How are polygon models fucking hateful, slanderous or demeaning to anyone? Offensive to some sure, but if people want to start filing lawsuits against what offends us we'll all be filthy fucking rich. Religion, as an example, offends me; but it's not important why it offends me because freedom is supposed to include tolerance by the people for the intolerable. If you don't like something, don't associate with it. Plain and simple.

This whole thing can branch into so many different areas dealing with problems in society and corporate America that it gives me a headache. The only thing Take Two is guilty of is not disclosing this content to the ESRB, though one might also hold the ESRB accountable for not thoroughly checking the product they were rating.

It's true sexual content could be laced into a game about committing crime (especially the obvious title reference) and such possibility should be obvious to the purchaser/user of a game such as Grand Theft Auto. Having a right to expression does not obliterate ones right to know what they are buying. While it might seem obvious to many that a game like GTASA could contain sexual material, it's still irresponsible to not disclose such content when submitting a product to a ratings board aimed to make consumers aware of the content they purchase.

In other words, it's not so much what was included but how it was done. However the very notion a lawsuit can be filed based on what offends someone is quite disturbing in itself.

Replica23

@ShaggE:
"I was just using a theoretical example. I don't see why you need to be a dick about it. Did I insult your intelligence? No. So don't insult mine."

I don't think Nobullet was in the wrong, what with your very broad generalization comment.

I'm tired of people always saying "Why do Americans think sex is worse then violence?" and then go further to say we'd rather stop sex between minors then murder.

Because that is completely untrue and our justice system shows just that, I don't think you'll ever find an American who would say "I think two minors having sex is worse then murder" or if you DO trust me that person is in the extreme minority.

As for the issue of exposure you have a point that there is an age where both are inappropriate for a child to watch, but in my opinion violence is more acceptable because teens (not children mind you) should have understood the gravity of murder and violence seeing as how that would be a lesson they would learn from pre-school (in which most children would face their first experience of violence like bullying or shoving in the playground) while sex is a topic they won't be approached about till near puberty (at the soonest)and of course we know the desire for sex is a very powerful thing (that even adults sometimes can't handle) so excuse us if we feel sexual exposure should be a bit more restricted.

It's not that I feel sex is something evil or dirty, but that I know that too much exposure and too soon of an exposure could corrupt or be morally harmful. I'm not a big fan of teen pregnancy or other promiscuity.

Mikazukinoyaiba

Duh. It's sex. Without it all of us wouldn't be here today.(Unmless you're asexual)

KM91

@Mikazukinoyaiba: I don't think I explained myself very well. (I'm very tired, and my nerves are on edge right now due to anticipation of an upcoming event.)

I'm not condoning minors having sex. I just don't believe for a second that today's kids aren't more violence-prone than sex-prone. Violence = Nielsen ratings. Violence = ticket sales. So does sex, but it's taken a backseat to blood.

What's the current trend in movies? Torture. Just ten years ago, if you wanted the kind of violence prevalent in today's films, you had to get unadvertised, direct-to-video indie flicks. Now you just need to see the ad and head on down to the local theater, where half the time, the ticket guy will give a pass to anyone who looks at least 13. And even if the ticket guy DOES card kids, they can still freely watch a PG-13 flick, which is now the same as what a soft R rating used to be.

I'm no Jack Thompson, I love horror flicks, but I'm also old enough to watch them and tell the difference between latex and torn flesh. And teenagers, the target audience of these films, are young enough to see these films and have them affect their behavior. Desensitization happens. And at a certain point, you start becoming desensitized to real violence. And when that happens, L'il Johnny is a bit more likely to stab instead of punch.

When I was a teenager, I spent a couple years in a group home/live-in therapy center. I lived with kids who were in some of the big time gangs, kids who had nearly taken people's lives. And what was the one catalyst between them all? A love of violent media. They grew up with it, and they grew into it. And half of them still had misconceptions about sex.

I could also go into the religions that condemn sex, then turn around and say we should bomb Iraq, but I'm already inviting epic flaming my way, and I'm too tired to even make sure I've been making sense in this post.

ShaggE

@TomHayden: What portion of tort reform do you support?

That-Dude

@ShaggE: actually, i heard the soldiers do exactly that. different kind of protection tho ;) water and sand are no match for a good 'ol trojan! sometimes the low tech solutions are the best :) oh, and crazy glue really is a good way to seal up cuts! them military types are resourceful.

Accelerata

didn't you have to trade in your "hot coffee" version of the game in for another? This is one reason why I think people would avoid collecting. Why part with your original "uncensored" version?

RaepGoblin

@Punishingwombat: I think that was actually my rational for filing a claim. While I wasn't personally offended by the content, I was offended that the ordeal caused by it limited my resale options. Not that I was likely to resell it, but still loss of value is loss of value. At least I think I put in a claim. Guess I'll find out soon.

BStu

I'm upset because I don't own a gameshark or other game cheat device.

Can I sue for a free one? I mean it's apparently content that I paid for but can't access.

vellocet

i would've filled a suit if i had any legitimate claim to. (i have the platinum hits version, which came out just a little later than the hot coffee thing)
Hey, if theres one thing that Grand Theft Auto has taught me over the years, it's to sue whenever you can.

Slartibartfast

@Insomnia Bob: Oh... and those 400? They're just idiots.

Insomnia Bob

Even if I'd had a receipt, I wouldn't have tried to get my fifty bucks back.

Because while I'm frequently a jerk, I'm not a DOUCHEBAG.

I'd be willing to bet that out of 2,676 people, all but perhaps 400 of them are opportunistic dickheads, trying to get some easy money.

Insomnia Bob

I'm not suprised really. The game was already "mature", being bloody and all that stuff. So what if it's a little more mature ? Stick a new ESBR sticker on it and leave it be. Besides, the game was meant for adults, not kids. This hot-coffee content shouldn't be offensive to the people who were allowed to buy the game in the first place :p

Scarleth

oh man call the cops. my children are seeing sex on the tv! quick get them out of the house and into the newspapers while me and my wife makes sexy time.

maraxusofk

Oh shock, not many people asking for compensation after being shocked/repulsed when they somehow 'unknowingly' downloaded a hack from the internet somewhere and then proceeded to woo their in game gf to have sex with them and were shocked and horrified to find sex with the gf involved a mini game.

Yes I wonder why the many game buyers aren't asking for compensation after those sequence of events starting with the download the hack and apply it activity was done eh? Surprising not many people did that unintentially right?

charsuipau

Surprised?! Oh my! What's more surprising that in the center of a lollipop there's a tootsie roll!

Angryrider

I didn't file a claim because I felt dirty about it. Like I was stealing from a fellow game company and I don't want to do that. Plus, I wasn't offended anyways.

livingaftermidnight

I'm just glad I have a original copy to mod still. I thought the hot coffee mod was excellent and I wish there was more of that kind of sillyness in games.

I am also a father of two kids and am capable of policing my own household without needlessly trashing a game developer over something that should have been a short "blip" in the blogosphere.

Conservative "soapbox" parents scare me more than criminals.

axiomatic

@livingaftermidnight: Actually, with the way class action settlements work, Rockstar had already agreed to pay out a certain amount of money. A certain amount is set aside to pay damages and anything not claimed will instead kick over to a charitable donation. In this case, there was a minimum that Rockstar had to pay as well as a maximum. If claims went over the maximum, everyone got less money. If they went UNDER, however, then a donation would be made to charity. So, you're not taking money from Rockstar unless it fell into the sweet spot between the minimum and maximum. As it stands, it fell nearly $900,000 under the minimum, so Rockstar is making a hefty donation to charity.

According to the Times article, that charity is the Entertainment Software Rating Board. So, instead of taking money from Rockstar, you would have taken money from the ESRB.

BStu

This is like someone saying they get offened by Zelda game because you hurt chickens in the game, but it won't offend many people -.-'.

People are just dumb.

MellowJade

I can't believe how pathetic our legal system is. Take-Two should pay people for the fact that data is on the disc even though they couldn't find it to save their children? Rediculous.

LosCakes

Where do I sign up?

slorkluk