Kotaku: Hot Coffee

My Four-Year-Old Son Plays Grand Theft Auto

Matthew Orona — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:00:00 EDT

At the very impressionable age of four, my son loved Grand Theft Auto. This article is reprinted with the permission of Bitmob.com. More »

Smart Lady Sets CNN Straight (Or Tries, To!)

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 03:00:00 EDT

What did CNN decide to do after covering out-of-print Japanese adult computer game Rapelay years after the title was originally released? Follow that up with more blown out of proportion with an expert's opinion. More »

The Grand Theft Auto 'Hot Coffee' Payout Checks Are In The Mail

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EDT

If you ever owned a copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, specifically the naughty version that contained the crude, digital doggy-styling mission known as "Hot Coffee," you may already be five U.S. dollars richer. Publisher Take-Two is sending out checks. More »

Hot Coffee Suit Pointed to Take-Two Duplicity Born of Financial Turmoil

Brian Crecente — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:20:00 EDT

Struggling to stay afloat, Take-Two decided to ship Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas with a sex scene in the game and later lied to investors to cover up their decision, according to the suit settled today. More »

Take-Two Reaches $20M Settlement in GTA Hot Coffee Suit

Brian Crecente — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:23:31 EDT

Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive has agreed to a $20 million settlement in a class action suit brought against the company over allegations that they knowingly put hidden sexual content in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the publisher announced today. More »

"Hot Coffee" Class Action Suit Squashed By The Court

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:20:00 EDT

Take-Two won't be writing out as big a check as we expected to settle a class action lawsuit filed over "Hot Coffee" claims — the Court has issued an opinion on the matter this week, refusing to certify the proposed settlement class. That, according to our friendly neighborhood legal council, means that the publisher of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas may not have to pay out a proposed $1.025 million in settlement benefits, possibly because there was no actual representative class. In short, too few people were offended, or could agree to be offended in the same way, for the Court to see the class as worthy of getting a cool million. More »

"Hot Coffee" Class Action Suit Claims Show Very Few Were Offended

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:40:09 EDT

Who would have possibly thought that in a game filled with violence, foul language and generally deplorable behavior, that so few who owned Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas would be so apathetic about the hidden sexual content buried deep within? Certainly not the law firms who filed a class action suit against Take-Two over the "Hot Coffee" incident, as the New York Times reports that just 2,676 of the millions who bought GTA: San Andreas have filed a compensation claim. The chance to cash in on Take-Two's legal woes ended on May 16 and the final tally must just shock you. More »

GTA Hot Coffee Modder Gives Retrospective

Mark Wilson — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:00:12 EST

As part of EGM's extensive GTAIV preview coming out in their April issue, the feature an interview with Patrick Wildenborg, the Dutch modder who was credited with discovering GTA San Andreas' Hot Coffee content. In the still choppy wake of the greatest scandal to ever impact the video game world, it's interesting to read Wildenborg's response. More »

Get Your Hot Coffee Pay Out Now (The Lawyers Already Have)

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:20:00 EST

The recently settled class action lawsuit against Rockstar Games and publisher Take-Two Interactive has born cash fruit for those who have had their sensibilities offended by the type of salacious content seen above. Now's your chance to cash in, as the attorneys involved already have, reaping a $1 million payment (minus $45,000 in costs) as part of the agreement. Your profit? Up to $35, should you have the receipt in hand, or as little as $5 if your willing to take the time to file. The pay-outs are as follows. More »

"Hot Coffee" Suit Settlement May Cost Take-Two $2.75 Mil

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:20:00 EST

Take-Two Interactive just issued a release featuring details on the preliminary settlement of the consumer class action lawsuit filed against it and Rockstar Games over the "sexually explicit" content in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. That content, unlockable via the "Hot Coffee" mod, caused the game to be re-rated by the ESRB, pulled from store shelves, and acted as the grounds for a suit filed in July of 2005 claiming violation of consumer protection laws. More »

ESRB Needs New User Generated Content Rating

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:40:16 EDT

Is the ESRB going far enough to protect game developers from the people who modify their games? Should the ratings board be more clear about the "modability" of an ESRB-rated game? Cathode Tan and Curmudgeon Gamer recently touched on the subject of a Forza Motorsport 2 user's offensive paintjobs wondering why normally inaccessible content in games like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas warranted re-ratings from the board, but offensive hate speech in a user created car don't see similar scrutiny. More »

GTA's Piping Hot Coffee (Cup)

Brian Crecente — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 12:01:03 EDT

I swear we posted this before, but asking several fellow writers and digging through the site, I've decided I'm actually just losing my mind. More »

Capcom Holds The End All Grand Theft Auto Party

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 06:22:55 EST

Even though the title was released in the States back in 2004, Capcom is finally publishing Rockstar's controversial Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on January 25th. And they've got the launch party to prove it. Just check out after the jump what the festivities held at Shibuya's Club Asia for this 18-years-old-and-up-game: More »

The Top 10 Secrets, Codes, Exploits And Cheats

Michael McWhertor — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 16:02:21 EDT

You know, I've done just about every single one of these, minus the Strider hack (news to me!), despite the fact that I had the cart and Altered Beast back in the day. Classic stuff, but I know they're missing something. What is it? Help me remember my classic cheats, Kotaku retro elite readership! Michael McWhertor More »

Hot Coffee Class Action Suit Looms Closer

Michael McWhertor — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 15:27:18 EDT

Reuters is reporting that a judge has denied Take Two Interactive's motion to have portions of lawsuits filed against them dismissed, which could make it possible for the Grand Theft Auto San Andreas publisher to have a class action lawsuit against them see court. From Reuters: More »

FTC Unanimously Approves Rockstar Decision

Brian Crecente — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 12:53:29 EDT

Today, the Federal Trade Commission finalized their decision last month to not take action against Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive for the "Hot Coffee" ratings issue. More »

News Flash: Take-Two FTC Investigation Finalized

Brian Crecente — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 12:35:55 EDT

The Federal Trade Commissions' investigation into Take-Two Interactive Software has been finalized. The company says they will be announcing the resolution of the inquiry shortly. Stay tuned for an update. Brian Crecente More »

Thompson's Secret Letter to Take-Two Shareholder

Brian Crecente — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 17:00:11 EDT

Jack Thompson, ever the delusionist, has given up on harassing journalists and politicians and is zoning in on investors for his latest anti-Take-Two spiel. More »

Take-Two Execs To Face Criminal Indictment for Hot Coffee?

brownlee — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 10:42:17 EDT

The grand jury subpoenas of Take-Two might not be the only legal troubles the publisher faces: they might be sent to Oz. More »

Subpoenea Torpedos Take-Two Stock

Brian Crecente — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 11:35:09 EDT

We broke the news yesterday of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office issuing a subpoenea to Take-Two as part of a grand jury investigation into Hot Coffee Gate. Today, investors showed their unhappiness, with the company's stock plummeting nearly 20 percent since yesterday's close. More »

Take-Two Subpoenaed Over Hot Coffee

Brian Crecente — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 18:00:06 EDT

Just when you thought Hot Coffee had grown cold along comes a grand jury subpoena. More »

Jon Stewart Covers Gaming Senate Debate Video

brownlee — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 08:00:55 EDT

Yesterday, we reported The Daily Show With Jon Stewart covered the video game foofurall. Today, we've got the vid. It's totally great, except for the last bit, which retroactively makes the whole thing a lot less funny. Just turn it off when they do the live, on-the-streets report from San Andreas. More »

ESRB's New Push

Brian Crecente — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 13:00:01 EDT

This week the Entertainment Software Ratings Board announced Commitment to Parents, an effort geared at bolstering consumer confidence in the current rating system for video games. More »

Table Tennis and GTA4 Share an Engine

brownlee — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 14:40:51 EDT

We can't recall hearing this before, but News4Gamers.com is reporting that the graphic engine for GTA IV is actually the same RAGE engine used in the recently released Rockstar Table Tennis. More »

MSM Still Doesn't Get Hot Coffee

brownlee — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 15:40:44 EDT

Hey, kids! Can you see what's wrong with this description of the Hot Coffee mod by KUTV-2 News anchor Bill Gephardt? More »

High Score: The Best of Kotaku

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 15:00:22 EDT

As we enter the summer gaming doldrums, let us not forget that the new DS Lite will let us play better outside, where all the social, tanned people are. If you still insist on staying indoors on this lovely day, at least get caught up with what was goin' on at Kotaku last week. More »

Breaking: FTC Rules on Hot Coffee

Brian Crecente — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 11:45:47 EDT

This morning the Federal Trade Commission found that Take-Two Interactive was deceptive in the way it marketed Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas but did not fine the company or order that they return any of their profits from the game, the commission announced today. More »

Take Two, Now PTA Friendly

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 00:22:04 EDT

Edgy company Take Two might be known for hard hitting titles like Grand Theft Auto, but looks to be side-stepping controversy by canning Snow. Not connected with that Canadian reggae musician, the real-time strategy game lets players pedal and smuggle drugs. At last year's E3, the game was on display ~~at last year's E3~~, but didn't make an appearance this year. Has gaming's bad boy, Take Two, gone soft? More »

Jigglypuff's Super Smash Bros. Knob Fatality

brownlee — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 09:40:06 EDT

Thanks to Hannibal for calling our attention to this video, which he describes as "Hot Coffee for Smash Brothers". Entitled 'Jigglypenis', it features Jigglypuff using his pink, cotton candy cock as a battering ram. Worksafe, because this is a bit open to interpretation. FLORIAN ECKHARDT More »

Buckle Your Seatbelts, We're In for a Bumpy Ride

Brian Crecente — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 18:00:12 EDT

It looks like we're in for a busy summer afterall. Last July, we were the first to speak to the Federal Trade Commission about their decision to launch an investigation into Take-Two and allegations that the company used deceptive marketing practices in selling Hot Coffee-enabled Grand Theft Auto. More »

FTC Promises Hot Coffee Report Soon!

brownlee — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 15:40:29 EDT

Remember Hot Coffee? Sure you do. It's the example we gamers like to hysterically shriek about any time we perceive the grim spectre of censorship swooping down upon our preferred media. It singlehandedly illustrates that everyone in the country except us — the gaming elite, the enlightened few — are sexually repressed prudes. More »

Oblivion Goes from T to M

kotaku.com — Wed, 03 May 2006 18:40:00 EDT

A press release from the ESRB announces that Oblivion's rating has been changed from T to M, which of course guarantees that everyone aged 13 to 16 that currently owns the game will be turning it into their local Naughty Games Relcamation Center. The reasons for this four-year offset in age appropriateness are " more detailed depictions of blood and gore than were considered in the original rating, as well as the presence of a locked-out art file or 'skin' that, if accessed through a third party modification to the PC version of the game, allows the user to play with topless versions of female characters." More »

Lara Croft Nip Slip

brownlee — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 18:40:42 EDT

Well, the good news is that there's an actual bare female breast in Tomb Raider: Legend. The bad news is that it isn't Lara Croft's. The worse news is that it's not even viewable unless you hack the game. More »

Return of Hot Coffee? Well, Not Really...

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 13:22:01 EST

Our star-crazy sister-site Defamer stumbled upon what we'll call "Hot Coffee Part 2: Electric Boogaloo." Log onto the site for New Line Cinema's yet unreleased, but reeks-of-suckage Running Scared and play the "mature" online game in which you get to be Paul Walker and perform *cough* cunnilingus. More »

Take-Two, Rockstar Sued by LA

lsmith — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 12:43:49 EST

Next Generation reports that the city of Los Angeles is suing the two companies behind Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for "leading a misleading marketing campaign and engaging in unfair competition." Reuters outlines the suit a little deeper. The suit wants Take-Two to "disgorge the profits from the estimated 200,000 copies of the game it sold for about $10 million in California." Take-Two's situation doesn't seem to be on the upswing just yet. More »

Take-Two Director Bolts

lsmith — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 15:40:36 EST

The Street reports that Take-Two director Barbara A. Kaczynski submitted her letter of resignation. Her letter cites the Hot Coffee incident of summer '05 and an "increasingly unhealthy relationship between senior management and the board of directors ... characterized by a lack of cooperation and respect." More »

Best and Worst of 2005

Brian Crecente — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 08:00:26 EST

The AP s Matt Slagle looks back at the year in games in a story that ran today on the wires. He writes that the high and lowlights of the year includes GTA s Hot Coffee, VG laws, the PSP, Xbox 360 and Gizmondo. More »

Hot Coffee Listed in Ten Worst PR Moves of 2005

lsmith — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 08:41:49 EST

Gamepolitics reports that the Hot Coffee mess was one of the biggest PR blunders of the year, sharing space on a list with Tom Cruise's freak out on Oprah. Yikes. The full list is here. More »

Jack Gets Space in Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Brian Crecente — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 10:00:42 EST

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I was chagrined to see that John B Thompson was allowed to pen an article for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram over the weekend. I was disappointed to see that one of the top Texas papers gave him the space, and even more so since I started out my career as a journalist at the Startlegram more than a decade ago. More »

Florida Bar Confirms Ethics Review of Thompson

Brian Crecente — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 17:46:02 EDT

Just to create more confusion. Attorney Jack Thompson may not be under any sort of review by the Florida Bar, but that s because he s been dead for the past five years or so. More »