Makers of "Grand Theft Auto" Sued KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The creators of the video game series "Grand Theft Auto" want a federal judge to dismiss a $246 million lawsuit filed by the families of two people shot by teenagers. Rockstar Games and its New York City-based parent, Take-Two Interactive Software, said the victims' families were trying to hold them liable "based on the expressive content of the video game." Retailer Wal-Mart and marketer Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., are also named in the lawsuit. Aaron Hamel, 45, was killed and Kimberly Bede, 19, was seriously wounded when their cars were hit June 25 by .22-caliber bullets while driving along Interstate 40. Stepbrothers William Buckner, 16, and Joshua Buckner, 14, were sentenced in August to an indefinite term after pleading guilty in juvenile court to reckless homicide, endangerment and assault. The boys told investigators they got the rifles from a locked room in their home and decided to randomly shoot at tractor-trailer rigs, just like in the video game "Grand Theft Auto III." Responding Oct. 29 in U.S. District Court, Rockstar and Take-Two contend that such ideas and concepts as well as the "purported psychological effects" on the Buckners are protected by the First Amendment's free-speech clause. A lawyer who represents the victims dismissed the claim, saying he would seek to move the case back into state court for consideration under Tennessee's consumer protection act. ____________________________________________________
Ridiculous. First of all, rarely in that game do you shoot at random tractor trailor rigs. It is possible but not a huge part of the game. Secondly, and most importantly, it's not the game's fault that these children didn't know fiction from reality.
Remember in this country of ours, where lawyers outnumber teachers and doctors, you can sue anybody for anything. This is proof we need a loser pays legal system that would kill all of these frivilous lawsuits. I hear someone is suing the Jackass producers because their son tried to repeat one of the stunts on the show. If he wasn't smart enough to realize the inherent danger of the stunts they pull on there, thank goodness he isn't going to be around to spread his stupidity to another generation of fools.
Where is the parental supervision? Everything from games to television shows to music to movies has ratings telling you who the material is appropriate for, what it contains, etc. Every parent, teacher, authority figure etc. has told children that there is a difference between what happens in the make-believe world and the real world and if the children are too ignorant to understand this then the parents should not let them view/learn material that may put them in a dangerous situation. What really pisses me off is that we have sunk to a level where nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions. It's always the music or movies or games that teaches peopleto shoot up their school, use vehicles as target practice or any other bad thing you can think of. Whatever happened to "Hey, I was wrong and my actions were wrong."? Now all somebody does when they get into trouble or hurt themselves is "I learned it from the game." or "The restaurant should have a warning because the coffee is hot." even though so many people order cups of ice cold coffee in the morning, yum.
Attention Parents: They put this on the product for a reason...to give you another tool and help you to BE A PARENT AND KNOW WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE DOING! MATURE Titles rated M - Mature have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain mature sexual themes, more intense violence and/or strong language
So that we're clear, the people who are suing are the ones who were the victims in the shooting. They're basing their claim on the statement the boys gave where they claimed they got the idea from GTA. If anybody should be getting sued though, it should be the parents of the kids for not watching them and letting them have access to shotguns.
I agree Oski and that is what I am saying the victim's families should do and not go after the makers of the game and retailers of it. I was saying that the boys, instead of taking the blame are blaming somebody else for their actions that they knew were wrong.
Don't blame the parents for a fraudalent lawsuit. GTA advertises something to the effect.."Sue and you'll win....or atleast get a settlement" on their fictional radio stations. GTA is to be blamed for promoting fraudalent lawsuits.
I can understand exactly where the boys were coming from. Shortly after I started playing Mortal Kombat I ripped out 3 people's spinal columns, 2 hearts, and was throwing spears at people left and right. Thank goodness someone finally told me that YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO EVERY ****ING THING IN REAL LIFE THAT YOU SEE IN A VIDEO GAME.
Companies pay Lebron millions to wear their shoes and drink their drinks...because they expect it will alter the behaviour of consumers. Companies pay millions to name stadiums and arenas because the logo on the front door may entice you to buy their product Companies pay millions to have their logo's and products littered everywhere we look -- because they know we are influenced by what we see. Yet an extremely graphic video game, one that consumes the attention of the young player for hours and hours is 'just a game' and really has no impact on the kid?? A warning lable (that the parents probably didn't read -- remembering video game violence as Ms Pacman gobbling up those pesky ghosts -- should be enough, afterall). How many of your parents monitor your video games? And do they also monitor the games you play at your friends homes? I think most parents (and most non-video game players) would be shocked by how violent and offensive GTA games are. Just as cigarettes used to be marketted to kids, violent vid games are also marketted to kids. I suppose their money's as good as anyones. Doing my best to rant here...this is, afterall the D&D -- and i haven't seen much debate on this yet . Not sure how liable the company is. I don't think they should get an automatic free pass however. If we're talking responsibility, the company making and marketing this product to kids should be acting responsibly too. Are there no consequence in producing a game as violent as GTA and marketting it to kids? 30 years ago we would have scoffed at cigarette settlements. Maybe this company should be bearing some responsibility for its product too. There...a countering view.
Why should games be censored because a few tards aren't being supervised? Should we lay responsibility on the Godfather everytime somebody gets whacked? If we want to keep mature content out of the hands of children, it should be the responsibility of the retailer. That doesn't mean kids won't have access, but if you aren't sure if your kid is normal, like the 99% of us who grew up watching violence on tv and in movies and in cartoons, and in video games, yet we don't participate in violent crimes, then the parent shouldn't buy it. It seems to me that these kids were inbred numbnuts anyways. I'll wager that they were wearing overalls and were probably barefoot when they committed their crimes. And if by 14 you don't know that shooting people is wrong, you definately need to be locked up.
About it being GTA's fault - yes. About there being a fake advertisement from a makebelieve legal firm on GTA III promoting suing for no reason - no.
But no marketer can make you do anything you aren't already predisposed to do. I can't make you buy a product no matter how often I advertise it. I can't even really entice you to buy unless my message is structured in such a way as to appeal to a want or desire you already have (even though you may not know it). Maybe violent video games are the catalyst to send some people into some specific behavior - emulating something specific within the game, but that predisposition to engage in that type of behavior was already there and they were going to engage in similar behavior at some point even if they never played the game.
And why $246 million??? Was $245 just not enough, and $250 way over the top? And Flock of Seagulls??? Isn't that an incitement to violence in itself? This is America, dang it...i wants me a piece of the pie. Surely there's SOMEBODY i can sue.
