Take-Two won't be writing out as big a check as we expected to settle a class action lawsuit filed over "Hot Coffee" claims — the Court has issued an opinion on the matter this week, refusing to certify the proposed settlement class. That, according to our friendly neighbourhood legal council, means that the publisher of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas may not have to pay out a proposed $US 1.025 million in settlement benefits, possibly because there was no actual representative class. In short, too few people were offended, or could agree to be offended in the same way, for the Court to see the class as worthy of getting a cool million.

You may recall that in November of last year, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted preliminary approval of a settlement of several class action suits against Take-Two. TTWO expected then to pay out up to $US 2.75 million for the settlement, pending Court approval.

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Who would have possibly thought that in a game filled with violence, foul language and generally deplorable behaviour, that so few who owned Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas would be so apathetic about the hidden sexual content buried deep within? Certainly not the law firms who filed a class action suit against Take-Two over the "Hot Coffee" incident, as the New York Times reports that just 2,676 of the millions who bought GTA: San Andreas have filed a compensation claim. The chance to cash in on Take-Two's legal woes ended on May 16 and the final tally must just shock you.

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The recently settled class action lawsuit against Rockstar Games and publisher Take-Two Interactive has born cash fruit for those who have had their sensibilities offended by the type of salacious content seen above. Now's your chance to cash in, as the attorneys involved already have, reaping a $US 1 million payment (minus $US 45,000 in costs) as part of the agreement. Your profit? Up to $US 35, should you have the receipt in hand, or as little as $US 5 if your willing to take the time to file. The pay-outs are as follows.

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Take-Two Interactive just issued a release featuring details on the preliminary settlement of the consumer class action lawsuit filed against it and Rockstar Games over the "sexually explicit" content in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. That content, unlockable via the "Hot Coffee" mod, caused the game to be re-rated by the ESRB, pulled from store shelves, and acted as the grounds for a suit filed in July of 2005 claiming violation of consumer protection laws.

The lawsuit against Take-Two is still pending, but should the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York agree to the settlement, claims against the company will be dismissed "without any admission of liability or wrongdoing by Take-Two or Rockstar."

The publisher says that it will pay out between $US 1.025 million and $US 2.75 million in settlement benefits, which range from an edited copy of GTA: San Andreas to a cash payment up to $US 35 for those who can provide proof of purchase of the game from before July 20, 2005. There are, of course, stipulations to the proposed settlement, the details of which are in the full press release below.

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ESRB president Patricia Vance just held a short conference call to address the growing furor surrounding the discovery that the unfiltered, Adults Only version of Manhunt 2 is fully playable on the PlayStation Portable with the help of a hack.

In a nutshell, Vance said what happened with Manhunt 2 was not at all similar with what happened with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' "Hot Coffee" scandal.

"With Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, that involved a scene that was fully rendered in unmodified content on the disc," she said. "It didn't alter the content; it merely unlocked it. That content was not disclosed to the ESRB... and it was easily accessible to PC users."

While Vance stressed the differences between what happened with GTA:SA and Manhunt 2, it was unclear to me how removing a filter to see images that were deemed appropriate for adults only and unlocking a scene in a game that is deemed appropriate for adults only is that different.

Vance contended that this was not an issue with the ESRB, but rather one created by smart hackers.

"I don't think there is much the ESRB can do to stop games from being modified," she said. "I don't think the ESRB should be held responsible."

The full press release and a short press release Q&A after the jump.

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