Grandma sues rockstar games

[Kobe101]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... siness-hed

Gamemaker Sued Over Hidden Sex in GTA

By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press Writer
Published July 27, 2005, 12:58 PM CDT


NEW YORK -- A woman upset that she bought the video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" for her 14-year-old grandson without knowing it contained hidden, sexually explicit scenes sued the manufacturer Wednesday on behalf of consumers nationwide.

Florence Cohen, 85, of New York, said in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that the game's manufacturer, Rockstar Games, and its parent company, New York-based Take Two Interactive Software Inc., engaged in false, misleading and deceptive practices.

She sought unspecified damages on behalf of herself and all consumers nationwide, saying the company should give up its profits from the game for what amounted to false advertising, consumer deception and unfair business practices.

Cohen said in the suit that she bought the game in late 2004 for her grandson when it was rated "M" for mature, for players 17 and older. According to the suit, she directed that it be taken away from her grandson, which was done.

The game was released in October with an "M" rating. After a storm of negative publicity about the hidden scenes, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, an industry group responsible for rating games, changed the rating to "AO" for adults only.

Laurence D. Paskowitz, the lawyer who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Cohen, said no parent would knowingly buy an adult-only video game for their children.

"They should really make sure this doesn't happen again," he said. "The least this company can do is offer refunds."

Hidden areas in video games that can be unlocked with special codes or modifications are not uncommon.

Take Two Interactive initially said the scenes were not part of the retail version of the game but later admitted they were.

A message left for a company spokesman was not immediately returned. On Tuesday, Take-Two announced that it had been notified by the Federal Trade Commission's Division of Advertising Practices that it was conducting an inquiry into the game's advertising claims.

The company said it planned to cooperate fully with the probe.

"Rockstar Games and Take Two Interactive regret that consumers may have been exposed to content that was not intended to be accessible in the playable version of `Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'," it said in a statement.

The company said it had halted production of the game in the controversial form and was working on a version of the game without the hidden sexual content.

"Going forward, the company will refine the process by which it edits games and will enhance the protection of its game code to prevent such future modifications," it said.

Earlier this week, the House voted 355-21 for a resolution asking the FTC to investigate the company. Last week, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., asked the FTC to investigate Rockstar, saying the company had "gamed the ratings system" by concealing sex scenes in the game that can be unlocked by computer programs available on the Internet.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp., Best Buy Co. and Circuit City Stores Inc. have pulled the game -- last year's top-seller among console games -- from their shelves following the rating change.

[cyanide]

Watch the rest of America line up to sue Rockstar Games

[Riot]

It's people like these that make me wonder if life is worth living.

Why is sex so bad but blowing people up and running people over isn't? Killing is acceptable but sex isn't? It really doesn't make much sense to me. You can be exposed to fake killing at an early age but you shouldn't be exposed to fake sex at the same age? Blows my mind.

And it's just crazy to think she bought the game for her 14 year old son and then she has the nerve to say she didn't know it contained hidden sex footage or she wouldn't have bought it for him. It was rated Mature for a reason.

People like these piss me off, and when she dies (she's almost 85) the world will be a better place.

[Kobe101]

The worlds a crazy place.

I think politics are focusing on younger people as we are the futures.

[cyanide]

Great point Riot I actually overlooked the fact that the game already had extreme language and violence, not to mention nudity.

[Andrew]

I have to agree. Even without unlocking any hidden scenes, dialogue etc, it's hardly a game aimed at younger players. I can understand the objections, but it's not as though this anything obscene showing up in a G-rated game. By purchasing the game, parents, grandparents and guardians are already exposing children to a lot of material that would be considered quite graphic.

I remember back in the day when the Mortal Kombat and Doom franchises were the main ones blasted for "corrupting" video gaming youth. As bloody as those games were, GTA's other elements make them look pretty tame on the objectionable meter.

[Null17]

It's people like these that make me wonder if life is worth living.

Why is sex so bad but blowing people up and running people over isn't? Killing is acceptable but sex isn't? It really doesn't make much sense to me. You can be exposed to fake killing at an early age but you shouldn't be exposed to fake sex at the same age? Blows my mind.

And it's just crazy to think she bought the game for her 14 year old son and then she has the nerve to say she didn't know it contained hidden sex footage or she wouldn't have bought it for him. It was rated Mature for a reason.

People like these piss me off, and when she dies (she's almost 85) the world will be a better place.

lol. reminds me of that South Park episode with the shuriken that hit Butters' eye. The one where Cartman was walking around the stage naked

[PiksS]

WOW...some news how many shooting games have been released before??...how many times we kids are using bad words, how many times we here about sex while watching TV??...
the ''M'' stuff is bullshit...ITS JUST A GAME, not a message kill people, take drugs, have sex.....NO ONES IS TAKING THE GAME SERIOUS

[Fitzy]

What a stupid grandma. I clearly says that on the rating sticker

[shadowgrin]

Old people. HA!
Maybe her grandson will blow her head off.

[Cameron]

Wow, I actually agree with Riot on something

This has got to be one of the stupidest things.

Cohen said in the suit that she bought the game in late 2004 for her grandson when it was rated "M" for mature, for players 17 and older.

You're buying a game rated for people 17 and older... this should seriously nullify the lawsuit right there. It's like taking your grandson to an R rated movie and complaining when there's some boobies.

She sought unspecified damages on behalf of herself and all consumers nationwide, saying the company should give up its profits from the game for what amounted to false advertising, consumer deception and unfair business practices.

Cmon lady, you couldn't tell it was inappropriate from the scenes with the prostitutes in the commercials? False advertising my posterior. This is totally a bullshit moneygrab lawsuit.

I'm tired of all the talks that say that video game violence (I know this is a bit of a tangent but whateva) causes real life violence. If a murderous nutcase plays a video game and decides to kill someone, he was already a murderous nutcase. They've been around a lot longer than video games. Give it up, Hillary. There are way more important real life issues to deal with.

[Bang]

You know what, if I didn't play video games, I'd be putting my anger on real things. I'm so serious. Video games prevented me from being a killer. (That should be some Public Service Advertisement!) Has anyone thought of it that way? Maybe we have less killing because people are playing video games instead of doing it in real life. Plus, there's way more violence on TV, in real life. Why are people so retarded?

[Cameron]

People need something to blame for all their problems... instead of just trying to fix them.

[Riot]

Amen, Cameron.

[Cameron]

Thanks Riot. Just posting to make sure people know my above post is an observation and not an opinion, because it looks like an opinion to me when I read it

[FendeR`]

This is almost as stupid as when those fat people tried to sue McDonald's for making them fat. Pathetic.

[J@3]

While we're offending people, may aswell post this...

[Jackal]

Hehe, that's an awesome picture.

"OMG OMG JAE UR SUCH A RACICT BASTORD!!!1OEN!!ONE!!!!!!!!"

Ehm...

This is just a way to make money. You shouldn't have bought a Mature rated game for a 14 year old in the first place. Secondly mature = 18+ and last I checked 80 orso percent of the US (and the rest of the world) was quite dandy in fucking anything that gave them a look and looked half decent themselves.

[Old School Fool]

What the fuck, Jae? That was weak.

[Indy]

It's people like these that make me wonder if life is worth living.

Why is sex so bad but blowing people up and running people over isn't? Killing is acceptable but sex isn't? It really doesn't make much sense to me. You can be exposed to fake killing at an early age but you shouldn't be exposed to fake sex at the same age? Blows my mind.

And it's just crazy to think she bought the game for her 14 year old son and then she has the nerve to say she didn't know it contained hidden sex footage or she wouldn't have bought it for him. It was rated Mature for a reason.

People like these piss me off, and when she dies (she's almost 85) the world will be a better place.

[Bang]

Aren't there sex scenes in Titanic, a PG 13 movie? Why don't we put an AO rating in Titanic instead? Huh? It isn't that much different than the amount of sex in that mini game. Or how about all these other sex scenes in PG 13 movies? What about R rated movies? Why does it have to be video games? Why not books? Why not Christina Aguilera?
And seriously, don't you think any 13 year old who has never heard of sex before, is going to look at this article and then look at porn or something? Or search the internet for pics of the Hot Coffee mod? She and all these other politicians are basically making more teenagers look at porn right now. Don't you think this will just make things worse? If it was just a stupid mod and there was no attention, a select few would look at it. Now, everyone knows. Now everyone will be corrupted. Not like everyone wasn't corrupted before?

You know what's really funny? Those army commercials. They're promoting death and violence but that's patriotic. Oh there's nothing wrong with having 50 billion army commercials encouraging you to kill people everywhere. Not to mention the army has a game of its own which just does that. So much idiotic paradoxes and hypocrises.