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

We're not exactly clear on Grand Theft Auto IV's box art. There could be five fingers, there could be six! It's somewhat hard to say. But Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas's box art is slightly less ambiguous. An Uzi-wielding gang member clearly has either six fingers or a truly awesome thumb. Look at the image and judge for yourself!

Full box art after the jump.

How To Bring The West to Japan

Fact: There are differences between Western and Japanese games. Intrinsic differences that sometimes make it hard to bring Western games to Japan. The words, the phrases, the idioms — they're familiar to you. It's English, and chances are if you are reading this, the language is either your mother tongue or a second tongue or neither and you've happened on this page by accident. But for a segment of Japanese gamers, Western games are just not playable no thanks to the language barrier. But some of those differences arise from the background of developers.

The vast majority of Japanese devs have an arcade background, and if an arcade game is going to be a hit, it needs to work, it needs to be tight and snap. If you put in a coin in a buggy game that locks up or freaks out, you'll complain to the arcade manager, who will then complain to his boss, who will then complain to his boss, who will complain to that game's publisher. Shit's gotta work. While the arcade scene is very much alive in Japan, it's not in the States, and most developers are coming in with a strong PC gaming background. If shit's broken, patch, patch, patch! "Japanese games have very few collision problems — hands, arms going through walls, etc," says Capcom producer and former localization head Ben Judd. "When western gamers see in-game collision issues, they don't care as long as they're having a good time. That's just not acceptable for the Japanese." Things like A.I. and programming is where Western devs really shine, while Japan picks up the slack on things like textures.

Other things that separate Western and Japanese games, points out Judd, include such seemingly small things like "Japanese player typically don't like controlling two thumbsticks are once — they get sick" and "Japanese players like a strong tutorial." Japanese players, says Judd, prefer that characters are skewed slightly younger and have more anime-style qualities, while Western gamers favor 30 year-old bald men. "RPGs are popular," says Judd. "Players don't typically like the first person point of view and want to see their character. It makes it easier for them to support that character." No wonder Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto has found a welcome audience in Japan.

Not to be too indulgent here, but it's no stretch to say Grand Theft Auto is one of the few titles out there that rates the kind of visceral, first-time-ever memories that people usually have of events in the real world. The first song you heard on the game's radio, isn't it bizarre that it takes you back — just like a song popular in junior high — except it takes you to a place inside a video game?

These were some of the reactions we at Kotaku had as first-time players ourselves. We'd like to hear your feelings in the comments, too.

GTA Hot Coffee Modder Gives Retrospective

We never anticipated how this thing was going to be blown out of proportion by the mainstream media and the politicians...

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

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.

• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas First Edition Disc - Replacement Disc
• Detailed Store Receipt - Cash payment up to $35.00
• General Credit Card Statement or Check - Cash payment up to $17.50
• Disc/Purchase Details - Cash payment up to $10.00
• No Disc/Purchase Details - Cash payment up to $5.00

Gaming Steve noted that the masses are well aware of the settlement opportunities, now that ads are running in magazines like People. Everyone involved has until May 16 to grab their cash. Good luck!

GTA Class Action Settlement [via Gaming Steve]

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

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.

The lawsuit against Take-Two is still pending, but should the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York agree to the settlement, claims against the company will be dismissed "without any admission of liability or wrongdoing by Take-Two or Rockstar."

The publisher says that it will pay out between $1.025 million and $2.75 million in settlement benefits, which range from an edited copy of GTA: San Andreas to a cash payment up to $35 for those who can provide proof of purchase of the game from before July 20, 2005. There are, of course, stipulations to the proposed settlement, the details of which are in the full press release below.

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