Grand Theft Auto’s $20 Million Screw Up

This is exactly like the time I sued Atari when I discovered that my version of Pong had a hidden level at which the paddles and ball on a tennis court switched to hot dogs and donuts in a hallway.

OliversArmy

@ChrisCroy: I believe the Playboy game was rated mature and you were able to screw all over the place.

trucha

@FriendlyFloyd: I promise you I have. I spent many many hours playing it... not watching. I'm confused as to all the hating on Halo.
Oh and I am referring to Halo 2, so yeah, does that make a difference?

@Conchie Birdie: See, I don't believe you've played Halo, otherwise you'd actually retract from calling it the best game ever.
Playing video games is one thing, watching your boyfriend play video games is another.

FriendlyFloyd

@bikini_lounger: Seriously! Thanks, Chris! That pretty much answered every question I could have ever had about video games.

DahlELama

Such bull shit.... It was a class action law suit brought on behalf of shareholders I would guess. 11 mm will go to the law firm and each shareholder will get a penny a share, less than their dividends if they even get them. A good argument for tort reform... Did this even negatively effect sales?

The Recession Is Over

@TabithaIapetus: Tis' better to remove than give.

The Recession Is Over

@ChrisCroy: How interesting and informative. Thank you!

bikini_lounger

@shortskid: Oh, I'd defend my judgment. Besides, I'd wouldn't be caught DEAD hanging out with those people. I'm quite happy in my smarmy Gawker commenter world, thank you very much!

@DahlELama: Grand Theft Auto was rated M for Mature, which is video game equivalent of an R rating. The AO rating (adults-only) is equivalent to NC-17 and is just as much a kiss of death as NC-17. Most shops will simply not carry AO games, notably Wal-Mart. Just like the NC-17, the only way to reliably get an AO is sex. As far as I know, the only game to ever manage to get an AO rating for pure violence was Manhunt 2 which was recut before release to get an M rating. The ESRB (MPAA equivalent) is extremely touchy about sex partly because video games are still widely viewed among The Olds as being only for kids. A video game can MAYBE throw in a pair of briefly bare breasts without getting an AO rating, but no-one's inclined to push their luck. It's just not worth it.

While Europeans censor our games for violence (Hall of Fame: Germany! Any game intended for the German market must change the color of blood from red to green. They're also complete Nazis when it comes to Nazis and will ban any game that features swastikas as anything other than targets), we do the same thing for European games except for we take out the tits. Off the top of my head:

Giants: Citizen Kabuto: One of the character's wore a sarrong and nothing else. She put a shirt on for the American release.

Fahrenheit aka The Indigo Prophecy: A sex scene was cut out from the American release.

Neocron: Strip clubs were cut from American release.

ChrisCroy

@Conchie Birdie: If this comment was on any gaming site you'd be flamed to death by now.

Well it is indeed a comfort to know that in these crazy times, some decency remains. Oh,, and the hypocrisy and bass ackwards idiocy.

TruthBeTold

Nipplegate does not simulated videogame fucking make, Ryan. Also, maybe the hed should read "Grand Theft Auto's $20 Million Screw."

@DennyCrane: This SHOULD anger you to no end. It's outrageous.

I just have to say that this is the best game ever, aside from Halo.

You can beat people to death with a double-ended silicone dildo!!

trucha

So it's OK to blow someone's head off, just not give them head? Wow.

TabithaIapetus

OK, if you have to download software to see this animated scene... then why not just go to a porn website? And doesn't America realize how much free porn there? And if you let your kids buy a game about stealing cars, why the hell would you care about a sex scene????

@DahlELama:
[gawker.com]

Scooter34

Killing Prostitutes: A-OK.

Sleeping with them: Go directly to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect 200(00000) dollars.

You know, I just read about Pfizer getting hit with a $2.3 billion fine for illegally marketing Bextra, so right now my fine-o-meter is a little screwy; $20 mn feels like a drop in the bucket.

With that out of the way... we're really that worried about interactive sex games being released in products that also involve hitting police officers with cars and gunning down gang members? We should probably just ban flash games entirely. And the whole country of Japan - just ban everything from there. Let's also take out Skinimax (no! cry the legions of drunk, sad 20-somethings at 2:30 AM), the Bible (two animals per species, eh? Sounds kinky), and, hell, reproduction as a species. Then, let Darwin do his work!

thegreatfratsby

This angers me to no end.

Isn't the game already rated A for Adults or M for Mature or whatever they do with video games? Shouldn't that cover any other R-rated scenes?

Also, I never heard about this before. Video (preferably replacing the two above with Taye Diggs and Angelina Jolie) or it didn't happen.

DahlELama

If it was two dudes Take-Two would just have to declare bankruptcy, the cost of settling would be so high.

worth every penny.

shostakobitch

Just saw an ad last night for the new GTA game in the series. Awaiting the first round of protests: [latimesblogs.latimes.com]

Ken Green

now we know how much the previous free publicity for hot coffee costs

20 million dollars

Is that worth the international news it got

I think so, economists might disagree

@ChrisCroy: While most of your arguement is dead on, God of War 1 and 2 both had "simulated sex scenes" with multiple naked women which culminate in orgasm and the release of lots of "red orbs" to power up with.

The second gameeven had a little cupid fountain that started shooting water out of itself during the climax....

That game was not shy about it.

eXo

@futuremouse: Thats why I choose the kill hem after I sleep with them. You get your money back that way AND your health returns to full!

eXo

@trucha: purple at that... AND you find this weapon int the showers of the police department.

But thats not what this lawsuit is about - it's about coming inside for some coffee.

eXo

@squinko: Hey, we can't all like Hannah Montanna's Offroad Jamboree squinko.

eXo

@Aaron Altman: Ahem - did you experience this "virtual fucking simulator" yourself? Are you aware of any underage persons who might of owned a copy of the game AND had the ability to use a hack device to unlock the ability to experience said "virtual fucking simulator"?

Exactly, hardly anyone had the ability to access this content - it is the simple fact that the content existed and a savvy person was able to get a picture of it.

Technically, after shooting someone in Halo I can go crouch over their face repeatedly and teabag them. I am sure a mod can easily be pumped out in which hairy sweaty balls repeatedly drown themselves in the recess of the victims facial orifice. I have not seen this myself, but I know it exists - so this is where it becomes OK for me to sue over this, correct?

eXo

@Conchie Birdie: Yes, because Halo 2 is horrible as hell.