Hot Coffee Finally History? Take-Two Pays $20 Million To Investors
from the hot-coffee-is-now-cold dept
I have to admit that I never quite understood the complaints about the "Hot Coffee" mod in Grand Theft Auto. First, it involved proactively modifying the software to unlock certain levels -- and those levels included scenes of consensual sex. Remember, this is a game that purposely is based on stealing cars, killing people, drug dealing and other sorts of illegal activity... and suddenly people got upset because of a hidden level that included a bit of consensual sex? Yet, lawsuits came flying from all directions. The company eventually tried to settle a class action lawsuit from users -- though most members of that "class" didn't even bother to make a claim, and the court eventually realized that the whole lawsuit was filed incorrectly, and ended up busting up the settlement.But that wasn't the only lawsuit. Another lawsuit involved shareholders, who claimed that the company was trying to mislead shareholders about Hot Coffee. A judge dismissed that claim, but apparently the shareholders kept suing, and the new management at Take-Two decided it would be best to just settle the lawsuit, fork over $20 million (much of it paid for by insurance) and just be done with the whole thing. In some ways, this is really too bad. It's difficult to see how having an easter egg in a bit of software could possibly be seen as being misleading to shareholders, and this settlement will only encourage other similar lawsuits.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: class action, grand theft auto, hot coffee
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Going from memory
At least it was shareholders getting money rather than that stupid class action thing. Seems a bit stupid to pull money out of a business you've invested in, but whatever works I guess...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Going from memory
On the PS2 version there were roomers of a Action Replay code that could unlock the addon and possibly break your save. The Xbox version required a mod chip. Ether way it required prier knowledge of the content and the equipment and know-how to use it.
To join the class action lawsuit one only needed to have purchased the game (before or after the controversy), pretend that you didn't care about the cop killing, drug dealing, car stealing, prostitute paying, and have no prier knowledge of the required mini-game in God of War.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Going from memory
This game was already rated Mature, which is for 17 and older. The Hot Coffee mod did not show genitalia; it was similar to the sex scene in Team America. I remember there were idiot moms saying, "my child was exposed to sex!" First, your "child" shouldn't have been playing a Mature rated game anyway. Second, you should be impressed at his hacker skills.
This was the most retarded "controversy" I've ever seen in video games.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Going from memory
Personally I think anyone saying "My child was exposed to sex!" should have gotten a visit from Child, Youth and Family Services (or whatever the local equivalent is) to ask why a child was being given access to Mature rated content. But the parent is never to blame these days...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Blatantly obvious man deserves a cookie.
Sad thing is, I'm starting to agree.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Blatantly obvious man deserves a cookie.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Blatantly obvious man deserves a cookie.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Blatantly obvious man deserves a cookie.
It makes no sense. It's like complaining to a podcast because they don't hold themselves to specific standards set by professional radio outfits - well, duh.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Blatantly obvious man deserves a cookie.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Blatantly obvious man deserves a cookie.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Video Game Insurance
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Shareholders took action detrimental to a company?
Saying a shareholder would damage a company they were invested in would be like saying a vampire would kill off the peasants he fed on
Oops - my bad
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"Sex is evil"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
One more high cost settlement
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The reason Hot Coffee had legs is Hillary Clinton
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: The reason Hot Coffee had legs is Hillary Clinton
D or R, does not matter - so why bring it up ?
The reason HC had legs is because of the dark ages OMG attitude towards sex.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: The reason Hot Coffee had legs is Hillary Clinton
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Exactly!
Exactly! I have been saying that all this time. Probably the ONLY thing in that game that didn't involve hurting anyone (quite the opposite, the goal was to pleasure your girlfriend), was the part that generated a scandal!
So, you can kill people, kill policemen, have sex for money AND kill the hocker after if you want your money back... that's fine! No problem. But a mini-game whose goal is to pleasure your girlfriend... now that's to far!
A 17+ rating was enough for the violence in the US, unlike the rest of the world, but for consensual sex... Oh no! Don't you dare play that a single day before your 18th birthday!
Now, that really sent a GREAT message to the kids. You can have sex with hookers and shoot them in the face right after, but don't you dare give your girlfriend an orgasm!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]