Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The History of Videogame Lawsuits

Posted by Zonk on from the litigious-industry dept.

AsiNisiMasa writes "1UP is running an interesting piece detailing the history of lawsuits in the gaming industry. It reveals a bit about Nintendo's old strong-arm tactics, the origin of the third party developer, Electronic Art's employee abuse, and of course plenty of violent games being 'linked' to violent behavior. Jack Thompson gets an entire page to himself." From the article: "To show their appreciation, Atari took Activision to court, claiming that the company didn't have the right to develop Atari games. Atari lost, and more companies decided to follow in Activision's footsteps, creating the concept of third-party developers. It was a defining moment for video games."

8 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. Here's an idea by martinultima · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let's capitalize on all these video game lawsuits and design an entirely new game based on them: You're playing as one of the major game companies, and you have to do as many sneaky under-handed things as you possibly can before the sharks – er, lawyers representing players, EA employees, and concerned parents – catch up with you!

    --
    Creative misinterpretation is your friend.
    1. Re:Here's an idea by Sheetrock · · Score: 2, Funny

      That's an excellent idea. Especially since I can't think of any tycoon titles currently on the shelves featuring employee odor control as a gaming element.

      --

      Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
      -- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.




    2. Re:Here's an idea by platypibri · · Score: 5, Funny

      Ten Bucks? Sure! Unless, of course, you meant to type a comma, which takes it out of my price range.

      --
      Yeah, I guess I'm funny like that.
    3. Re:Here's an idea by PoprocksCk · · Score: 4, Funny

      Grammer tip: 'Effect' is used as a noun. 'Affect' is used as a verb.

      Ironically, you misspelled 'grammar' here.

    4. Re:Here's an idea by XPulga · · Score: 2, Funny

      Call it Grand SimLawsuit Kong: The Phantom Menace, make sure to leave Rockstar, Maxis, Nintendo and Lucasarts out of the loop, and wait for the free publicity.

  2. I've got a name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Scientology-Online:
    Buy This and We'll Sue You

  3. Re:Listen! by Lehk228 · · Score: 4, Funny

    We never said Nintendo has never done evil, we just ask that if Sony and Microsoft are going to do evil they not set the carpet on fire in the process

    --
    Snowden and Manning are heroes.
  4. Re:Listen! by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Funny
    Microsoft solved that one by not having their Xbox360 work on carpet

    /zing!

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!