The Class Action lawsuit with Rockstar has been settled and if you were one of the many "victims" over the Hot Coffee incident, then you are entitled to some retribution. Rockstar will owe people either $35 or an updated copy of the game (which retails for $20 new).
Now for people to receive the $35 or the updated copy, you have to prove that you bought a copy of the game before July 20th 2005, you were offended by the ability to do the modification of the game, that you wouldn't have bought the game had you known about the mod in the first place and that you would have returned the game if possible upon learning about the mod. Take-Two is ready to spend at least $1.025 million on settlement benefits. More details of the full settlement will come later in the month but once the settlement receives final approval from the United States District Court, Take-Two and Rockstar won't have to ever admit to any wrongdoing.
What's interesting to note is that Take-Two believes that they could have won the trial had they continued to fight instead of settling:
"If the case had continued, we believe the court would have agreed that Take-Two was not liable for consumers acting independently to modify their games with third-party hardware and software to access normally inaccessible content," said Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two. "Nonetheless, we believe it is in the best interest of the Company to avoid protracted and costly litigation to prove our case and to finally put this matter behind us."
Do you think they could have won? Actually, does anyone even care about Hot Coffee anymore? In any case, we're getting $35 out of all this which is totally going towards my purchase of GTA IV ... whenever that comes out.
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Shit, wish I wouldn't have taken mine back.
I got the game when it first came out.
I still have my original copy. I tried to sell it to EB but they wouldn't accept it due to this whole affair. How can I be sure I get $35? I don't want another copy.
Yeah Shadow, I had the same problem at EB, they would not take my copy. I dont have the receipt anymore so how can i prove it so i can get the $35 bucks?
I have a copy that was purchased before then but there is no way in hell I can prove it.
I want an early copy of the game just to own it. Make a contest and give it to me. =)
Aint nuthin wrong with a lil bit of bump n grind.
I think all you have to have is the game to prove it because they can tell which are the old version and which are the new I believe. I didn't read it though, but if you need a receipt that would be retarded. Who has a receipt from two-plus years ago?
Like Hamza said, this is all that matters now:
"Actually, does anyone even care about Hot Coffee anymore? In any case, we're getting $35 out of all this which is totally going towards my purchase of GTA IV ... whenever that comes out".
If they thought they could win, why the hell did they settle? Wouldn't having a judge or jury or whatever agreeing with you that you are "not liable for consumers acting independently to modify their games with third-party hardware and software to access normally inaccessible content" be better than the implication that you are liable for it that settling brings, even if you don't have to openly admit it? The settlement itself is a form of admission in its own way, at least in my eyes. If they had fought this and won, it would have gone a long way to keeping retarded lawsuits like this from happening in the future with other games. If nothing else, fighting this would have kept them in the news, and Take-star is all about the controversy, aren't they? You'd think fighting this thing would've been right up their alley.
Also, to all the "victims" in the lawsuit: IF IT OFFENDS YOU SO MUCH, DON'T FUCKING USE THE MOD. It's that simple. You have to work to get at this stuff. It's not like it's just, BAM, right there in your face and you can't do anything about it. Frivolous lawsuits FTL.
I wonder how long it will be before all the Jack Thompson-wannabes out there start touting the news of this settlement as a "win" for their side?
I put my reciepts in the game boxes. that's a novel idea.
Doubt it applies in Britain, and even if it does, I've traded it in already.
Consumer class action suits are a joke. Consumers get ten bucks and lawyers get millions.
And the consumers are just getting screwed in the long run, since the lawsuit money is going to pay for a yacht for some lawyer instead of being used to develop games.
Anyone who claims this $35 back but disagrees with game censorship is a goddamn hypocrite. By asking for that money, you justify all the utter bullshit surrounding this issue, and the scumbags who used it as a political vehicle. Just don't do it.
Well, I have the game box and the disc, but I certainly don’t have the receipt...and I got this game on launch day.
Honestly I think this is a bunch of crap but I'm not about to turn down $35. Some internet man calling me a hypocrite doesn't hurt my feelings so I'm going to take the money and run.
were do i get mah monies?
Don't do it if you have the game. brad drac said it so truthfully. Did you have fun with that game? Probably so. There. That's enough of a reason not to be an exploitative ass (even if this is a giant company we're talking about). You'll only feed the fires that people are offended by these games.
well considering how much of a douchebag rockstar has been lately i have no problem taking the 35$ and putting it down for the next GTA which i will do. and to agree with shadow i dont really care what some guy on the net says.
vexed alex: Anyone who does not want their $35 feel free to deposit it into my PayPal account, thank you.
To all the people that want that $35 dollars, you are a dick.
First of all you aren't offended. If you are then you are a pussy, but I don't know if you can be a dick and a pussy at the same time so just pick one.
Secondly you are just fucking the company even more. Take-Two has been sued enough and lost a ton of money from people that hate video games. Now the people that actaully play games are going to screw them too.
And finally, who wants censorship in their video games? This isn't directly realated to the $35 but censorship is just bullshit in general. There is a rating system to videogames and it works for the most part but if something is rated 'M' then put whatever the fuck you want in the game because ITS A GAME. Its not real so who cares? (rhetorical question, don't answer)
sloganpwns: If you send me $35 I will not request my $35 from Take Two. The choice is yours, and yours alone.
Good luck.
I have to agree accepting the $35 would eat at my soul and conscience as a patriot in America. By the way they settled because its far far cheaper 1mil compared to up to 6 million in defense is bullshit. Plus you can't be guaranteed to win then you have to pay the other 1 million or more on top of the 6 mil you already put out
I'll take my $35 in "heath upgrades" from the ladies in the red light district.
@ShadowXOR
I know you obviously don't care what people think of you and are just in this for the money, kinda like Jack Thompson is you know, but yeah, way to be a dick, just as sloganpwns said.
The choice is yours, and yours alone.
No. No, the choice is yours and yours alone not to be a dick over a paltry $35. *shrug*
This reminds me of a song...
You've got to stand for something,
Or you'll fall for anything,
You've got to be your own man
Not a puppy on a string.
Never comprimise what's right
and uphold your family name.
You've got to stand for something, etc...
(Aaron Tippin)
so anyway, I'm with the group that believes that you should not ask for it unless you are actually offended. We as gamers are tired of being stigmatized, and talked about as though we were all mentally deranged-prepubescents.
Really people expect that particular demographic to act in one of two ways,
A. try to get everything they can, whether or not they have any right to, or
B. try to protect them and bring up further censorship issues while having more precedant behind them. Personally I hate what this game is, but I will protect Rockstar's right to be absolutely awful.