
While Niero is at the courthouse, he's asked me to blog this for you, so that we can get the information out as soon as humanly possible.
Update 1: Read how it went down, blow by blow at the courthouse today.
At 1:51, Niero called, saying that the judge
will not prohibit the the sale of Bully. In the time that he played the game, the judge said that he did not see anything so violent that would require the game to be held from being shipped. The judge and Take Two employee used a cheat code in order to skip around in the game and play through various parts, including the more graphic portions of the game. The judge said "There's nothing in the game that you wouldn't see on TV every night," and that he "wouldn't want his kids to play the game, but that shouldn't mean that the game won't ship."
According to Niero, the courthouse got pretty heated, and at one point, the judge had to ask Mr. Thompson to sit down. Thompson was saying to the judge that this is not just a hearing, and was complaining that he didn't get to actually sit down and play the game. Yet, a Take Two spokesman said that the judge, Mr. Thompson, and an employee all got to see gameplay. A total of two hours, actually. Also, Mr. Thompson silenced his "expert witness" when he was going to say something during the judge's ruling. The judge said that Mr. Thompson could appeal his case to the 3rd Appellate Court, but Mr. Thompson expressed no interest in doing so, since it would be after the game had shipped.
That's the immediate word that I got from Niero. He'll be back in the office within a half hour or so to update. He's getting some clarifications and all, and he'll have a follow-up post later today. Gamers rejoice! Once again we are protected by level headed judges!
Update 1: Read how it went down, blow by blow at the courthouse today.