Following the Chicago Transit Authority's decision to stop carrying advertisements for Grand Theft Auto IV, publisher Take-Two Interactive has sued the CTA.

In the suit, Take-Two claims the CTA's unexplained removal of the ads violates its free speech and contractual rights. Reuters reports the company is seeking a settlement of at least $300,000 along with the reinstatement of the materials.

"The CTA has refused to discuss with us its outrageous decision to pull advertising," Take-Two told GameSpot, "while running ads for other forms of popular entertainment with similar content, including mature-themed TV shows and R-rated movies,"

The $300,000 advertising campaign, which included banners on city buses and bus stops, was scheduled to run for six weeks. Within the first week, local news affiliate Fox News questioned the CTA's decision to advertise the controversial game, with the ads removed shortly thereafter. At the time, the CTA said that Take-Two would not be charged for the campaign.

The ads include no overtly violent, sexual or otherwise graphic materials that would traditionally prohibit advertisements from running in public. The situation resembles that of past non-explicit GTA ads that still managed to spark months of controversy.

Riding the wave of controversy, Mothers Against Drunk Driving marks the latest organization to protest yesterday's release of Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360).

Specifically, the group takes issue with "a game module where players have to drive drunk" as "drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime...not a game."

Though Shacknews is certainly understanding of MADD's concerns, the staff has yet to experience a mission where drunk driving is mandatory. In fact, the game recommends that players make use of a taxi once drunk.

Due to this content, MADD is calling on the Electronic Software Ratings Board to re-rate the game as an Adults Only title, as well as asking developer Rockstar to "consider a stop in distribution."

Grand Theft Auto IV is not the first title in the series to feature drunk driving. In 2002's GTA: Vice City (PC, PS2, Xbox), a mission from Phil Cassidy called "Boomshine Saigon" required players to drive to the hospital while drunk, causing blurred vision and loose driving controls.

Advertisements for Rockstar North's upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360) will be pulled from city buses despite no explicit or otherwise inappropriate material in the ads, GamePolitics reports.

Chicago's local Fox News affiliate questioned the posting of ads for Grand Theft Auto IV on buses and buildings of the Chicago Transit Authority in the wake of a rash of shooting incidents in the city. Shortly thereafter, CTA president Rob Huberman told Fox News that the ads would be removed.

The ads include no overtly violent, sexual or otherwise graphic materials that would normally prohibit advertisements from running on city buses.

The report notes that GTA ads had been criticized previously in Chicago and other urban areas. In 2004, Governor Rod Blagojevich spoke out against transit ads for Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Two years later, Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston forced the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority to pull ads for GTA Vice City Stories.

Grand Theft Auto IV ships for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on April 29.

A proposal to restrict the sale of violent video games in Massachusetts has caused famed horror author Stephen King (pictured left), who admits he is no fan of video games, to speak out against what he refers to as the government's surrogate parenting.

"According to the proposed bill, violent video games are pornographic and have no redeeming social merit," he wrote in an Entertainment Weekly column. "What makes me crazy is when politicians take it upon themselves to play surrogate parents. The results of that are usually disastrous. Not to mention undemocratic."

Designated HB 1423, the state legislation would limit the sale of violent video games to anyone under the age of 18. "Which means, by the way, that a 17-year-old who can get in to see Hostel: Part II would be forbidden by law from buying (or renting, one supposes) the violent but less graphic Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," King pointed out. "If there's violence to be had, the kids are gonna find a way to get it."

Instead of a state-mandated restriction on violent game sales--many of which have been found to be unconstitutional in the past--King suggested that parents make an effort to take a more active role in raising their children as video games are not the only readily available source of violence in America.

"There's a lot more to America's culture of violence than Resident Evil 4," he explained. "Parents need to have the guts to forbid material they find objectionable...and then explain why it's being forbidden. They also need to monitor their children's lives in the pop culture--which means a lot more than seeing what games they're renting down the street."

Update: A moderator on Creative's official forums said that the company will allow Daniel_K to pursue development of custom Vista drivers, provided that none of Creative's intellectual properties are distributed.

"It was decided we would bring back the Audigy Support Pack thread and allow [Daniel_K] to continue in that endeavor," the moderator wrote. "As long as no intellectual property of Creative is distributed, we will have no problem with it."

Original Story: Once again making a controversial public stand, sound card manufacturer Creative Labs has demanded that custom driver developer Daniel_K stop creating software to enable previously unsupported technology with Creative hardware in Windows Vista.

"By enabling our technology and IP to run on sound cards for which it was not originally offered or intended, you are in effect, stealing our goods," corporate communications VP Phil O'Shaughnessy wrote on the company's official forums.

The user-created drivers improve the stability of Creative hardware within Windows Vista and enable several features for its Sound Blaster Audigy cards, such as DVD-Audio and an equalizer, that were supported in Windows XP... Read more

The recent removal of Windows-standard games from over 3,000 workstations at Missoula, Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services has reignited the long-standing issue of gaming software in the workplace, reports news outlet Missoulian.

It all began when the Child Support Enforcement Division received new computers that lacked the games that typically come pre-installed with the Windows operating system. Division administrator Lonnie Olson received complaints from his workers, who claimed that previous workstations contained the software and that other departments also had the games.

In an effort to be fair, Olson noted that if other divisions had gaming software, then it should be restored. However, the attention highlighting the issue led to the removal of the gaming software from every computer in the department, prompting outcry from those that claimed they played the games on their own time or during a break.

In response, Department of Administration deputy director Sheryl Olson noted the agency's policy that computers should only contain software necessary... Read more

An unnamed national UK newspaper has allegedly filed an advertisement seeking a story about "how computer games turned you to crime," a description that suggests a sensationalist story about the evils of video games.

The listing popped up over at StarNow, which provides job ads for models, actors, musicians, writers, and more to its members. Registered users are able to post listings free of charge, though it must be approved by customer service before it appears.

According to the advertisement, which was filed on March 27, the story could "pay hundreds of pounds" assuming "it's something we like." Interestingly, the listing did not note if the story had to be true.

The role of violence and video games has recently been thrust back into the spotlight following the publication of the Byron Report, a study by clinical psychologist Tanya Bryon that was commissioned by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Byron examined child safety in games and on the internet, including a look at the relationship between violent video games and real-world violence. She suggested that Britain revise its game-classification system to be more movie-like.

"There are some possible negative effects of violent content in games, but these only become 'harmful' when children present other risk factors," Byron noted in the report.

"There is some evidence of short term aggression from playing violent video games but no studies of whether this leads to long term effects," she wrote.

Rockstar North's Manhunt 2 (PS2, Wii) will finally be released in the UK following a long legal battle to keep the game off of retail shelves, Gamasutra reports.

The UK Video Appeals Committee upheld its rejection of an appeal filed by the British Board of Film Classification, which was passed by the British High Court earlier this year. In a majority decision of four to three, the VAC has ignored the High Court's judgment and granted Rockstar's appeal.

With no legal recourse, the BBFC has confirmed that it will issue the game an 18 and over age rating, allowing Manhunt 2 to be sold in the UK.

"We twice rejected Manhunt 2...however, the Video Appeals Committee has again exercised its independent scrutiny," said BBFC director David Cooke. "It is now clear, in the light of this decision, and our legal advice, that we have no alternative but to issue an '18' certificate to the game."

BBFC's assignment of a rating brings an end to nearly nine months of legal turmoil over Manhunt 2, which was denied rating by the committee last June and barred from sale in the UK. Rockstar successfully appealed to the Video Appeals Committee late last year, forcing the BBFC to assign a rating to the game.

Controversy surrounding Rockstar's Bully (PS2) has been revitalized by today's release of Bully: Scholarship Edition (Wii, X360), the Globe and Mail reports.

The revamped port of Rockstar's open world action-adventure has prompted an international coalition of teachers to urge retailers not to sell the title based on a presumed focus on schoolyard bullying. The game faced similar criticism from Jack Thompson, teachers' organizations and several other groups at the time of its original release on the PS2 in 2006.

"We're asking retailers to be responsible," said president of the Canadian Teachers' Federation Emily Noble yesterday. "Yes, they can sell it and make a buck out of this, but is this the kind of marketing that they want to be [doing], selling ... Read more

Update: A Nintendo representative has returned Shacknews' request for comment on the issue with a statement defending the ESRB's rating of Rockstar's Manhunt 2 on the Wii as a mature title.

"Manhunt 2 is not developed or published by Nintendo," the statement reads. "It is one of many titles released by third-party publishers for our system that appeal to people of all ages and interests. Just as with movies, television and books, different video games appeal to--and are appropriate for--different audiences."

The statement goes on to encourage parents to make use of the ESRB ratings when purchasing titles for their children, as well as to activate the Wii's parental control features. It also emphasizes the need for retailers to abide by the ratings when selling games to minors. But it also stresses that video games as a medium should not be limited to children's titles.

"Nintendo is committed to serving the tastes of all gamers, just as it has always been," the statement says. "Currently 14 Wii games have been rated M by the ESRB. The average game player is 33 years old."

Original story: Though it seemed as if the controversy surrounding Rockstar's Manhunt 2 (PS2, Wii, PSP) was largely dead and buried, the game is back in the news again as a bipartisan group of U.S. senators is once again calling for a re-rating by... Read more

In a story that has truly swept the nation, 2K Boston and Australia's BioShock release woes continue. The newest complaint stems from the PC version of BioShock, which uses SecuROM copyright protection, preventing users from installing the game more than two consecutive times.

Responding to the concerns, steadfast 2K Games community manager and soon-to-be mental patient Elizabeth Tobey explained the issue in a thread on the 2K Games forum.

"You can uninstall and reinstall this game, and if, by chance, you have 2 computers you want to simultaneously play this game on, you... Read more

The content of two upcoming Capcom titles has provoked strong responses from individuals and organizations, prompting the company to remove an audio sample containing an Islamic religious phrase from its upcoming Wii adventure game, Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (preview).

The phrase in question--"Allahu Akbar," commonly translated as "God is most great" or "God is greatest"--can be heard in the gameplay video released by Capcom during E3 (check out the full story for a streaming version). The offending scene depicts several adorable monsters slowly circling a pole in what appears to be a sacred dance. At one point, they pause to fill skulls with soup from an oversized pot.

Zack & Wiki is far from the first video game to be censored for religious purposes. Past examples include the removal of a chanted ... Read more

An absolutely monstrous thread has erupted over at the official forums of EVE Online, CCP's space-based MMO, dealing with various allegations of shady in-game events tracing back to developers abusing their power within the game world itself. In the initial thread post, EVE community manager kieron stated that the issues have been investigated, with CCP taking action against and deleting the characters of developers whose real life identification was apparently leaked--deliberately or not--to other players within their in-game corporations.

As for the allegations themselves, they consist of two parts. The first part involved a case that happened seven months ago when a CCP employee’s identity became public knowledge within his corporation. Per company policy, the incident was investigated and actions taken where appropriate, including the removal of characters whose identities were compromised.
...
In both cases, these accusations were recently brought forward when a player revealed the identity of numerous CCP employee characters. Since these play characters are known to belong to CCP employees, they will be removed from the game. Many of them have been around since the creation of EVE and it is most unfortunate that these developers are now forced to end their relationships with their in-game friends, but that is our policy when the anonymity of staff members has been compromised.

The epic thread that follows proves that kieron's explanation was not enough to satisfy player concerns, however. The overwhelming sentiment within the thread is that the official post completely sidestepped the most noteworthy and concerning issue, which is that EVE developers apparently used their station unduly to create advantageous situations within the game, upsetting the balance of the game world. Many players are calling for CCP to address policies relating potential abuse such as this, which went unmentioned in the original post, and speak on the concept of conflict of interest as it relates to developers participating in the game.

In a post speaking to many of the posters' concerns, forum member Cringely writes:

I have never been a major proponent of this whole dev misconduct outrage. I agree that devs should be allowed to sample the game, both for their benefit and ours. But this answer you have given is just ridiculous. Devs have played with an in-game alliance, and revealed their identity to their allies. They have done so selectively, and they have delivered major financial benefits to their in-game friends. Worst of all, some CCP employees seem to be able to get away with this, while others who have made contact with other alliances have been brought up short for doing so.

Now whether or not there was any formal cheating involved, you have a major conflict of interest problem on your hands, and you haven't even taken the first of a thousand steps towards solving it. When you were investigating I assumed that things would come out for the best, but this answer has struck my faith in CCP really, really low. Now I'm just waiting to see if devs take in-game reprisals against those who brought the issue to public attention.

There has yet to be any further comment by kieron on the matter. Thanks to Blue's News for the tip!

Update: Community manager kieron returned to post a followup comment and locked the thread, stating that CCP will be providing further comment and explanation on the situation by the end of the week. "It was my hope that the replies to the original statement would remain on topic, but due to the lack of clarity in that statement this was not the case," wrote kieron.

Last week, politically-oriented industry blog Game Politics began covering controversy in Boston over advertisements for Rockstar Vancouver's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PSP) displayed on local subway trains. Nearly 60 community leaders, including the mayors of Boston and Cambridge, demanded that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority rescind the advertising agreement, claiming that the ads were helping exacerbate increases in youth violence in the area. Apparently, the ads themselves were fairly innocuous, and the controversy stemmed more from the product being advertised rather than any violence-inciting images in the ads themselves; accordingly, the MBTA responded that content standards for ads could be applied only to the ads themselves, not the related product.

Soon after, Boston police joined in, claiming that games such as Grand Theft Auto "[condone] murdering police officers" and "threaten and risk the lives of police officers." Miami attorney Jack Thompson suggested that by running the ads, the MBTA was "participating in a criminal conspiracy."

Many of the stories on the topic were sure to mention the oft-cited gameplay possibility of murdering prostitutes after making use of their services. The Boston Herald even asked some prostitutes about the controversy, with one supporting the demands to remove the ads and one responding that she herself enjoys killing prostitutes (and "everybody") in the game.

When the MBTA refused to take down the ads, Boston mayor Thomas Menino accused the organization of "hiding behind the First amendment." The back-and-forth continued, with MBTA general manager Daniel Grabauskas responding to Menino and other officials, conveying an exasperated tone. Grabauskas stated that he has no reason to believe video games are the primary cause of reported increases in violence. "Your methods will certainly continue the cynicism of our citizenry about us all that serve the public," he wrote. "I expect that you will now be about the business of taking on the other challenges causing violence in our City and in our Commonwealth with equal zeal."

This week, Game Politics reported on a press release from Boston Common Asset Management dating back to February of this year, requesting that a then-curent MBTA advertising campaign for the GTA franchise not be renewed after its expiration.

A similar situation has also arisen in Oregon, where GTA ads have been pulled by local transit authority TriMet. As far as the Boston case goes, the ads will not be pulled prematurely, but according to the full text of Grabauskas' letter, reprinted by Game Politics courtesy of Jack Thompson, the MBTA is revising its guidelines to prohibit future advertising of Mature- or Adults Only-rated games, though the decision was clearly reached very reluctantly. Said Grabauskas in his statement, "I urge you not to be too smug with the result. There is no victory where there was never a battle."

Been wondering what's going on in the world of game legislation and controversy? No? Well, here's an update anyway. This week:

- A $600M lawsuit against Rockstar Games, owner Take-Two Interactive, Sony, Wal-Mart, and GameStop was allowed to continue by the Alabama Supreme Court this week. The companies are being blamed for a 2003 incident in which car theft suspect Devin Moore grabbed a police officer's gun and started shooting, killing two officers and a dispatcher. His actions were painted as being influenced by Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Game and retail industry groups had appealed to throw out the suit. At the time of his arrest, Moore made the widely quoted statement, "Life's like a video games. You've got to die some time."

- The US Senate this week held a hearing on the effects of violent video games. The hearing came at the request of Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), one of the four senators who proposed the Children and Media Research Advancement Act. Witnesses from the research community included the American Psychological Association's Dr. Elizabeth Carll, who stated that her organization's "analysis of violence in interactive video game research suggests exposure increases aggressive behavior, aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, physiological arousal, and decreases helpful behavior," and the University of Illinois' Dr. David Bickham, who noted that "scientific research has repeatedly demonstrated that children learn what video games teach." ESRB president Patricia Vance testified in support of the self-regulatory ratings organization, pointing to the comprensive nature of the ESRB's ratings and the quickness with which it reacted in the Hot Coffee scandal. Republican Assistant Majority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives explained a bill he is sponsoring in his state, seeking to fine minors $25 if they purchase an M-rated game; the law would not take any action against parents or guardians buying Mature games for minors. Paul Smith of law firm Jenner & Block spoke in support of the industry, citing several instances of courts defending video games as a form of expression; in the past, Smith has represented publishers such as Acclaim, Activision, Capcom, Eidos, Infogrames, Interplay, Nintendo, Sony, and Square. Law professor Kevin Saunders of Michigan State University disagreed, likening playing video games to playin more traditional games such as pinball, an activity not protected as expression. Also present was Rev. Steve Strickland, brother of one of the slain police officers in the above incident.

- Since Shack is going Oblivion-crazy: Christopher Weaver, who you might know as the founder of Elder Scrolls developer Bethesda Softworks, has written an editorial for Next Generation in which he decries a violently offensive mobile game called Office Massacre. Weaver took issue with developers wanting to capitalize on controversy for its own sake. "Creativity demands that we can do better than copying tragic life events for crass entertainment," he said. (Office Massacre has since been cancelled.)

- Game Politics has reactions from California Assembly Speaker pro tempore Leland Yee (D) regarding Yee's presence in a panel at last week's Game Developers Conference. Yee is the author of a California bill seeking to limit the sale of violent games to minors. The GDC panel discussed the impact of legislation on games and how the industry should react.

Here we go again..the German school shooting of last week is being connected with video games. Games are evil and should be banned is pretty much what they are saying again. The game of choice for shooter Robert Steinhauser? Counter-Strike. Thanks Lamar.

In a sign that the bloodbath may feature in the campaign for national elections this year, Edmund Stoiber, conservative challenger to Schroeder, said violent games should be banned.

According to Der Spiegel news magazine, Steinhauser spent much of his time playing violent computer video games. His favourite was called "Counterstrike" in which anti-terror units wearing masks battle each other to death.

So that's two paragraphs on games, while a bad relationship with his parents gets a quote..

A former classmate, Isabell Hartung, told Reuters that Steinhauser was intelligent and well-liked by his peers. But she said he often fought with teachers and had "bad relations with his parents."

Been getting emails about this story on The Register throughout the day, where they report that during a recent PlanetCrap thread (the story on The Register was submitted by PC's Andy Smith) George Broussard from 3D Realms announced they would stop unofficial print game guides and wouldn't allow reviewers to use their own screenshots once the game is released (whenever that might be, heh). While going after unauthorized game guides isn't that strange perhaps, the quotes about the screenshots were mostly taken out of context, as an observant PlanetCrap reader wrote

Just a reminder what George actually said, for those too busy to read back:

"You can write whatever the hell you want. Go for it. Slam whatever. But I don't want you taking shots of floors or walls or something stupid and hurting the image of the game with your bad shot taking abilities... We're talking hypothetically here. We all agree that most web reviews post too many shots and usually bad shots. I don't see why they can't use the provided shots (it's been done that way for years in the past). The easiest solution is to prevent shots in the initial release. Sure you can bypass it, but most people probably wouldn't bother. And even things like HyperSnap can be prevented, if you wanna bother. Guess the question is "what do you do when web sites don't respect your wishes?". Don't know....yet."

In the Register, that came out as Broussard "announced plans" to block the use of non-authorized screenshots in web reviews. Pretty dodgy, Andy.

BruceR