Lawyers who sued the makers of the video game “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” profess to be shocked that few people who bought the game were offended by sex scenes buried in its software.
Any purchaser upset about hidden sex in the violent game could file a claim under a settlement the lawyers struck with its maker, Take-Two Interactive. Of the millions of people who bought the version after its release in 2004, exactly 2,676 filed claims…
Far bigger than the payout to plaintiffs will be the fees sought by the lawyers who brought the class action. Seth Lesser and his colleagues at 10 other law firms have asked for more than $1.3 million – compared with less than $30,000 that Take-Two Interactive’s lawyers say it will spend to resolve the claims for $5 to $35 each, or a clean copy of the game.
Fracking hilarious cautionary tale. Best example on the planet of self-serving thugs in lawyer suits.
Where’s the problem here?
Move along, nothing to see here.
This is a non-story.
hahah!
I know it’s shocking that people weren’t horrified by a minigame that you had to hack into the source code of the game to see.
What was really amusing was the comment by the psychology professor that the effect of violence in the game on kids and teens was apparently much worse psychologically than the sex scenes.
These people are losers, as for me. This is a game and it has nothing to do with reality and thinking people have to understand it. And till that times we’ll have this kind of shit!!
This is how plenty of class action suits work. Lawyers collect as much as 40 percent of claims. The settlements are usually rigged to payoff the lawyers. In one case, the ‘clients’ each get 38 cents and they mail in a form to collect.
I receive all sorts of lawsuit information in the mail, because I at some point held stock in a company. I know the lawyers are going to collect plenty, and I wish there were an option on the forms to say that I don’t want the lawyers collecting.
#5 MikeN – That’s blasphemy!
“Stanhouse was asked whether she would knowingly buy for her son a game that allowed him to kill policemen. “Well, I think he does have games with violence,” Stanhouse said, adding that she would “possibly” buy such a game, though not one that contained depictions of oral sex.”
Either she’s lying, or she’s a fkng hypocrite. Same for the lawyers. I would like to see a game where lawyers are stomped to death for fun. Would they be more concerned about a hidden sex scene then?
It’s all about greed and money by all parties involved. Stanhouse, Seth Lesser and the other lawyers, and Take Two Interactive, are all greedy self-centered asshats that are turning western society into a shithole.
Every class action lawsuit I have ever been involved in or even heard about has been a rip off. Typically they end up giving coupons to the people — coupons for more merchandise from the same company that they are suing — so that it costs the company nothing except on paper and actually results in the company selling more than they did in the first place. Typically the only people who actually come out ahead are the lawyers.
Regarding the psychology professor quoted in the article. Even without reading it I knew it would be Craig Anderson. Anderson has never met a form of media that he didn’t think caused “aggression.” He has authored or coauthored dozens of papers on television films and videogames that have all found that they caused increased levels of “aggression.” The problem is that in none of the articles that I have read has he ever defined what he means by ‘aggression.” The closest I’ve ever seen him come is on a table in one paper where he gives “raising one’s voice” as an example of aggression. Call me crazy but I think yelling is a lot different than killing someone…
Its been said, but could be emphasized that this case is just like ALL class action lawsuits.–by design, and by intent.
A “CLASS” is made up of many people who’s individual claims are not worth bringing.
Now, assuming compainies should be punished for putting sex scenes into a violence based video without the appropriate warnings, what else would you have done?
Its not enough to mindlessly bitch about some outcome unless you have a proposal to make it better? Let the buyer beware in this particular case has a lot of justification, other cases, not so much. I guess its hard to make a moral stand based on sex, violence, and mayhem?
I don’t understand the reasoning behind this class action lawsuit. Exactly who was damaged? The facts are that you had to do a considerable amount of “hacking” (particularly in the case of the PS2 version) to unlock a poorly rendered simulated sex act on an extremely violent video game that is already unsuitable for anyone under 18! What a load of “lawyer”/”legislator”/”religious extremest”/”useless human being” generated crap!
#10–thats right Steve==no reason to settle this case until you realize that 12 good Americans selected for their lack of awareness get to rule on your case.
The lawyers should only get a percentage of the actual damages paid out in the settlement. 40% of the $3000 dollars paid out seems fair to me.
It would certainly reduce the amount of bullfeces “Class Action” lawsuits filed.
Don
Funny… It is such a violent game and it gets sued because it includes sex… Should’t it be the other way round?