Take Two Issuing Hot Coffee Settlements
The check is in the mail.
Take Two Interactive is now cranking out "Hot Coffee" checks to gamers (or parents of) who filed a claim against the company prior to May 16, 2008. Apparently one Kotaku reader has scanned and emailed a formal Take Two letter and an attached $5 check to the site, verifying that the company is indeed complying with its voluntary efforts to "fulfill all properly-submitted claims."
Most gamers already know the whole scandal behind the Hot Coffee incident, however the GTA Class Action Settlement explains the situation just right:
Plaintiffs claim that copies of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas First Edition manufactured before July 20, 2005 contained parts that could be modified and combined to display scenes of a sexual nature that have come to be referred to as the “Hot Coffee” content. According to Plaintiffs, the game should have been rated as "AO" (Adults Only) because of the Hot Coffee content. Plaintiffs claim that, by including the Hot Coffee content on the discs and marketing the game under an "M" (Mature) rating, Defendants violated consumer fraud statutes and misled consumers as to the game disc’s content.
Dutch modder Patrick Wildenborg originally discovered the naughty content via the PC version released back in 2005. After the initial bombshell, the ESRB re-rated the game to Adult Only (AO), and Take Two recalled and relabeled the original first edition.
However that didn't stop consumers from filing lawsuits against the publisher which led up to the current payouts to Hot Coffee "victims." According to Kotaku, the checks will range from $5 to $35 USD, not even the cost of the game when it first went retail (or the gas to go get the game). Take Two warns that consumers who actually cash these little checks will no longer be able to make any additional claims in regards to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas First Edition.
All monies are expected to arrive prior to April 15, 2010, the settlement claims.
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is "check" supposed to be cheque?
I love that last sentence, "Monies." Honestly, that needs to be a word.
the "victims" need to loosen up a bit. They did not actually lose anything, and the game was already rated M. Do you realize that the vast majority of people that are of legal age to buy/play M games have actually seen much, much more online already than a poorly done mod on a videogame?
And yes, being part of a class-action suit always mean you don't get to file your own. You have to opt-out of that if you want to pursue your own lawsuit. They are applying the same rule here, no surprise.
I love that last sentence, "Monies." Honestly, that needs to be a word.
it is a word! its the plural for money
No, check is how we refer to authorized payment notes in the US.
is "check" supposed to be cheque?
Unfortunately he meant cheque. Dont ask.. I'll avoid it too.
On "cheque" actual topic: Take-Two is cheap as f**k
I love that last sentence, "Monies." Honestly, that needs to be a word.
mon·ey
/ˈmʌni/ Show Spelled [muhn-ee] Show IPA noun,pluralmon·eys, mon·ies, adjective
Monies is the plural of money.
Lol.
I really didn't understand the outcome of the lawsuit. My understanding of the "hot coffee" was that it was a mod to view modded content... fallout 3 has nude mods i havent seen a lawsuit filed against them. Unless being mislead.... i just dont see why take 2 has to pay anything.
And "check" is spelled "check" here in the US so obviously this article was written in american ingrisch.
There, fixed that for you.
This is pretty stupid for a game rated "M" for Mature. Like we haven't seen a sex scene before :rolls eyes:
LMFAOROFLCOPTER MONIES i love that word
I really didn't understand the outcome of the lawsuit. My understanding of the "hot coffee" was that it was a mod to view modded content... fallout 3 has nude mods i havent seen a lawsuit filed against them. Unless being mislead.... i just dont see why take 2 has to pay anything.
in this GTA The hot coffee sex content was actually included in the game, but you had to use a mod or hack the game essentially in order to view it. But some GTA programmer originally put it in the game so these people are saying they are at fault for hiding it in there.
You have to go out of your way to access the sex game in GTA so I don't see how anyone, after making such a deliberate effort, could label themselves as a 'victim'.
Isn't there a law against trying to scam money from people through lying? If so, it'd be good if each of the people receiving this cheque also received a fine hehe
I actually was thinking this was written by someone else, then the gas comment, and instantly Kevin came to mind, and I look, and it was true.
Your articles are improving Mr Parish, good job!
One of the most BS lawsuits ever. "I'm going to sue because I purposely went out of my way to crack a game to unlock inaccessible content, and my virgin mind was traumatized."
Seriously, the only way anyone could ever unlock "Hot Coffee" was if they went out of their way to hack the game. It's not something you can accidentally stumble upon. And even then, it's people having sex in a game about MURDERING PEOPLE! So killing hookers is okay as long as you don't see them having sex. I remember in the 80s, when PG movies had naked breasts. Now, you see a millisecond of a nipple, and the world is in an uproar, when really it's the vocal minority.
I wonder how much the lawyers got paid? I bet it was considerably more than 35.00.
"Take Two warns that consumers who actually cash these little checks will no longer be able to make any additional claims in regards to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas First Edition."
Which means I can still sue and get a $5 check of my own, even though I missed out on the first law suit? Nice.
in this GTA The hot coffee sex content was actually included in the game, but you had to use a mod or hack the game essentially in order to view it. But some GTA programmer originally put it in the game so these people are saying they are at fault for hiding it in there.
Thanks for clearing that up, i thought it was something like that but wasnt sure. Maxor127 makes a good point though... murdering in a game is fine even for teen rated games but sex is just considered the worst thing in games even though the world depends on it for life. lol... its a weird twisted world out there.
My oldest brother showed me a Playboy when I was 8 years old, does that mean I can sue the living balls off of him?
Screw your American English, Cheque > Check. Two or more definitions for a word can be confusing.
I still do not understand how people were offended by something that you had to knowingly crack to access. Besides, it was a stupid rhythm game. The only thing I thought was funny about it was the various comments. Other then that it was funny at first, but I soon lost interest as it really didn't add anything to the game. I still didn't see much point to the dating system either, but the rest of the game was fun.
People just need to learn to turn a blind eye to this stuff. Law Suits for pretty much every stupid little thing is absolute idiocy. Plus, when you look at it all that mess for just $5 to $35 dollars a person. You set back a perfectly good game company over $35 bucks?!!!! Not to mention the effect it will have on future games...Grand Theft Auto 4. ~wince~
the "victims" need to loosen up a bit. They did not actually lose anything, and the game was already rated M. Do you realize that the vast majority of people that are of legal age to buy/play M games have actually seen much, much more online already than a poorly done mod on a videogame? And yes, being part of a class-action suit always mean you don't get to file your own. You have to opt-out of that if you want to pursue your own lawsuit. They are applying the same rule here, no surprise.
Also, the Hot Coffee content was not directly available. You had to manually tweak the game in order to access it. It's simplier to download and install a nude patch. I guess the "plaintiffs" thought they could make big bucks out of this. Shame on them.
Seriously? So I guess Movies with sex in them should no longer be rated "R" and should be rated "XXX". Because as I see it, parents should not be buying they're little kids "M" rated games where they blow peoples heads off and laugh at it.
"Hey dad look what I learned today!" "what son?" *Shoots his dad in the kneecap with a pump-shotgun hits him in the head with the car door and proceeds to drive off and run over multiple civilians until he is stopped*
Yeah... I really want my 7 year old son paying Grand theft auto.... or God of War, or Devil May Cry, or Assassins Creed. Get my drift?
Sorry but the amount of stupid in the world is ridiculous.
You know... I really hate lawyers. This is what they have become: sue anyone, anytime, for any reason, and collect as much as you can. They don't contribute anything to the substance of our society. They are simply parasites that inject themselves into every aspect of our lives.
"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." - Henry VI part 2, Act IV, Scene II