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Grand Theft Auto IV as a test of Christian conscience No doubt I'm going to draw flack for suggesting this, but it needs to be said. Yesterday afternoon I bought Grand Theft Auto IV. And having played it for a few hours, as a follower of Jesus Christ I would like to recommend that my mature brethren in the Christian faith (both spiritually and those who are not teenagers anymore, parse that as you will) play Grand Theft Auto IV as well. And not to gleefully look for reasons to condemn the game either. Why? Because I think that a...

A controversial video game is poised to break sales records. Grand Theft Auto IV comes out tonight at midnight and many stores are staying open to sell it. Just like a blockbuster movie, the newest release in the Grand Theft Auto series has action packed trailers. But unlike most movies, this game is projected to have opening week sales of more than $400 million. That would give Grand Theft Auto Four the biggest opening of any game…or any movie. Vince Griffin was reserving his copy and he said, “It is amazing, but it's no surprise. You got to realize how...

Controversial Miami attorney Jack Thompson faces the start of an ethics trial this morning which could see him disbarred. The Florida Bar is pursuing several complaints concerning Thompson’s professional conduct in court cases against the video game industry. As reported by GamePolitics, Thompson’s bid to block the trial failed last week when U.S. District Court Judge Adalberto Jordan dismissed his suit against the Florida Bar and Judge Dava Tunis, the referee appointed by the Florida Supreme Court to preside over the case. Thompson’s attempt to add myself and the Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) as co-defendants in that federal suit also...

(08-29) 15:20 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- As many as 14 people were injured this afternoon by a motorist who drove around San Francisco running them down before he was arrested, authorities said. Seven of those injured were in critical condition, police and firefighters said. Authorities have identified the man who was arrested as Ohmeed Aziz Popal, who has an address in Ceres. Authorities said they believe Popal was the same driver who ran over a 55-year-old man walking in a bicycle lane in Fremont, at Fremont Boulevard near Ferry Lane, just after noon. That victim died. Popal was arrested at...

Fiend on gun runs in Queens Man busted after fires at cars, hurts 7 - cops BY VERONIKA BELENKAYA, ALISON GENDAR and LEO STANDORA DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS "...Investigators said the drive-by maniac shot away from behind the wheel of a green, four-door Cadillac with a navigational device on the dashboard. "It's early, but it looks like some nut in a green car shooting at guys in red cars," a police source said. "It makes absolutely no sense."... "A 9-mm. shell casing was found at one scene but it was not clear if that was the only gun used."... Chronology...

The Grand Theft Auto franchise is getting attacked from all angles. Joining the ranks of politicians, policemen, and attorneys in their crusade to see the game lifted from shelves are the nation's sex workers. On its Web site, the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA is asking parents to assist them in calling for a ban of Take-Two Interactive's controversial game.

Bakery empire heir accused in Oakland vandalism now must answer in Vallejo From Staff ReportsInside Bay Area Yusuf Bey IV, already being prosecuted in the vandalism of two West Oakland liquor stores, is facing new criminal charges in Vallejo of fraudulently obtaining a luxury car, authorities said Thursday. Bey, 20, who heads a business empire anchored by Your Black Muslim Bakery, was arrested by Berkeley police Wednesday night on a $15,000 Vallejo warrant. The warrant charges Bey with grand theft of a vehicle, obtaining property under false pretenses, false impersonation and possessing a forged driver's license. A Berkeley officer...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., publisher of the best-selling but controversial "Grand Theft Auto" video games, is the target of several law suits filed on behalf of Take-Two shareholders. Law firms Milberg Weiss and Stull, Stull & Brody announced the suits seeking class-action status this week. The actions come on the heels of similar suits filed in recent weeks. Each of the firms is looking for people who owned Take-Two shares between October 25, 2004, the launch of "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," and January 27, 2006, the day that Los Angeles' city attorney sued Take-Two for...

Sex workers cry foul, say game "accrues points to players for the depiction of rape and murder of prostitutes." The Grand Theft Auto franchise is getting attacked from all angles. Joining the ranks of politicians, policemen, and attorneys in their crusade to see the game lifted from shelves are the nation's sex workers. On its Web site, the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA is asking parents to assist them in calling for a ban of Take-Two Interactive's controversial game. Citing a 2001 document from the National Institute on Media and the Family's David Walsh, SWOP is calling "on all parents...

News out of Germany today reveals that the country's incoming government is seeking a complete ban on violent games. That's right, not just legislation that would prevent games from being bought by minors, but an outright ban on virtual killing altogether. Whether or not this ban actually will happen remains to be seen. While the video game industry in the U.S. is currently dealing with legislation seeking to ban the sale of Mature video games to minors, and time limits are being imposed on MMO players by the Chinese government, things could be worse. No virtual killing allowed According to...

Senator, would your probe of video games also take a look at the substantial benefits they can provide? Steven Johnson's "Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter" was published by Riverhead Books in May.

Confirmed: Sex minigame in PS2 San Andreas Cheat unlocks preexisting code in controversy-rocked Grand Theft Auto game, undermining Rockstar Games' claims of hacker mischief. This week saw a Grand Theft Auto game once again at the center of a nationwide controversy. The point of contention this time was the so-called "Hot Coffee" mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which had everyone from anti-game crusader Jack Thompson to US Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) percolating with outrage and/or calls for federal game regulation. The Hot Coffee mod first surfaced last month, when the PC version of San Andreas was released. The...

Enough with the endless controversy over violence in video games. Instead, let's talk about sex. Raunchy, full-contact sex -- the sort of thing you'd see in a porn movie, only with cartoonlike, computer-generated images. According to some software-savvy game geeks, you can find this kind of seamy excitement hidden inside one of the world's most popular computer games, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. As if Grand Theft Auto lacked for controversy. It's already the computer game that critics of the industry love to hate because of its relentless brutality. GTA has inspired a spate of legislation in such places as...

Hillary Clinton slams GTA GamesIndustry.biz New York senator and former first lady Hillary Clinton has launched an attack on violent videogames, singling out Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto titles as a "major threat" to morality. Clinton, who is reportedly planning to seek the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2008 election, has aligned herself with hardline right-wing Republican senators in order to pressure Congress into researching the impact of electronic media on children. "Children are playing a game that encourages them to have sex with prostitutes and then murder them," she said in a statement on the issue. "This is a silent...

Rockstar Games, the world-renowned publishing division of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is pleased to announce Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the next iteration in the globally successful Grand Theft Auto franchise. Developed by world-class designers Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will be available exclusively for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and is expected to be in stores in North America on October 19, 2004 and in Europe on October 22, 2004. "In the past couple of years, we have put an enormous amount of pressure on ourselves to ensure we do everything possible to exceed people’s...

<p>December 8, 2003 -- The city's Human Rights Commission is demanding that the maker of the video game Grand Theft Auto remove the phrase "Kill Haitians." If Take-Two Interactive Software fails to comply, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday, it would be investigated for human-rights violations.</p>

The makers of the bestselling video game Grand Theft Auto are being sued for more than £60m after two teenagers said they were copying its violent scenes when they killed a man. The court case could help to decide the debate over whether violent video and computer games cause aggression in children. Grand Theft Auto and its three sequels are designed in Britain and have topped the UK and US games charts, selling more than 20 million copies in the past five years. The player acts the role of a street thug with 40 different weapons. Points, ammunition and more...