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Man Sues Rockstar Saying GTA:SA Is Based On His Life
dotarray writes "From the article: 'Rockstar Games are no strangers to legal action, but it doesn't come stranger than this. An American model, Michael Washington (known as "Shagg") is suing the publisher — as well as parent company Take Two Interactive — because they based Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on his life.'" It's a good thing Washington never learned the infinite ammo cheat.
You know, judging by the nickname he chose and the general air of machismo he tries to project, I can't help but feel he's trying to compensate for something.
At a guess, he possibly never managed to unlock the real life version of "hot coffee".
to Rockstar, sues drink maker, game developer and Motely Crue.
I went to battle M.C. Escher, but drew a blank.
Didn't he see the frame that briefly flashes up before starting the game?
"The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event. Any similarities to actual people, places or events is purely coincidental." /facetiousness
If GTA: SA is based on his life, then he must be the most dangerous man alive. Not only must he have committed thousands of murders, assault and batteries, vehicular homicide, and grand larceny, he must also have infiltrated Area 51 and stole military aircraft and vehicles. The man must be a greater threat than Al Qaeda and American Idol put together.
My postings are informational and does not constitute legal advice. Act on it at your risk.
Sometimes I feel like all my sexual encounters have to be unlocked using a cheat code too.
Since I spend a lot of time jumping on step pyramids and being chased by snakes, I was going to bring the same lawsuit against the makers of QBert.
Step into a huge movement. Don't Tread In Me.
Aren't you basically confessing dozens/hundreds of murders just by saying that?
'He based his life on our video game?'
Seriously? Since when were unauthorized biographies actionable?
pretty difficult to dig up an image - best I could find: http://media.rockstarwatch.net/news/9806741532.png not much resemblance... also the article points out you can adjust the character's appearance (i've never played it personally).
I should sue the maker of Leisure Suit Larry.
I've been trying to do the cheat code for bi-plane IRL for years. ):
THL phish sticks
Actually, he sued Nickelback, not Motley Crue ;-)
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
If GTA was really based off of this man's life, he wouldn't be suing Rockstar in the court of law. Rockstar's HQ would be full of bullet holes.
Or just never died?
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
...and get nets. When this guy walks by *wap* to the sanitarium.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
Bizarre taste in nicknames. Perhaps he is thinking of Sherlock Holmes' well known habit:
"And now, my dear Watson, it's time for a shag ..."
Because I life in a custom build house with a half a dozen young ladies? Well yeah, partly but mostly because I get lost looking for the bathroom and pee my pants. Also my oven has a direct connection to the fire department.
If this guys life is GTA:SA, he should get a huge settlement and the chair.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
As nuts as the initial claim sounds, if the guy actually met up with them before they made the game, interviewed with him, and then didn't credit him appropriately, even if only on verbal agreement, there could be some legal obligation on the part of the company.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Maybe he only played the first two minutes and thought, "Hey, I spend all my time riding around my neighbourhood on my BMX too, these guys stole my life" and was onto the phone to his lawyer before finding out any more.
Murder and car theft, sure, but if memory serves, in San Andreas CJ doesn't push drugs at any point. He actively works to take out drug dealers in several missions, in fact.
Some of his fellow gang members seem to have a penchant for ganja, but when CJ is offered some he always declines.
Having RTFA (I know it is frowned upon) a researcher from Rockstar interviewed him for half a hour and now he thinks they owe him a living.
Sokoban must be based on my sorry life.
Only I seem to live in a buggy level with one more crate than there are spots.
You guessed it, I should sue.
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
Surprised he's suing too, cause last I checked when I was done with the game he was a billionaire due to big bets at at the OTB and the ability to restore the previous game whenever those big bets lost.
On a more serious note, this guy's a jackass.
-- A computer without COBOL and Fortran is like a piece of chocolate cake without ketchup and mustard
You always sue, if you have a good case, for more than you actually think you'll get. You even put it at more than you deserve, if there is such a number (of course for wrongful death and such it's hard to say there's a fixed number, but for this there is). It's called negotiation. Suing for 25% leaves him room to settle at 5% with no actual trial if Rockstar and Take Two decide that's a better way to spend their money than on fighting the case.
IANAL, this isn't legal advice, yadda yadda, consult an actual legal authority with specific knowledge of your case and the applicable laws, yadda yadda, I'm not responsible if you ignore this disclaimer, yadda blah blah, suing people is only supposed to make you whole and not to make you undeservedly rich, blabbity blabbity yabba dabba do.
show up to court in his Harrier jet or dune buggy?
Yes, when it comes to drugs, CJ is a fine upstanding citizen. At one point in the game he even goes to a crack house and beats up the occupants with a baseball bat.
Brain surgery - it's not rocket science!
Beating up drug users is a drug crime now? So is beating up a rapist a sex crime? How about beating up an embezzler, is that white collar crime?
:P
A separate crime with the caveat '... to a drug user' is about as valid as a separate patent with the caveat '... on the internet' or '... on a computer.'
Is it a crime? Sure. But he's certainly not pushing drugs, which was my point
Off the record, while I of course would never take part in such an assault myself, if I were to witness a bunch of drug dealers/users getting the crap beat out of them, I have a feeling I'd forget all the details by the time the police questioned me.
I spend it messing around and causing havoc with the most fun vehicles.
I have all kinds of fun toys at the desert airbase: A sportbike, a monster truck, an amphibious helicopter (most versatile vehicle in the game), and IIRC I jammed a Harrier in there, plus the usual assortment of randomly-respawning aircraft. The common mountain bike is a great vehicle for stunts too.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
A living? Hell that's a lifetime setup! A quarter of a BILLION dollars for an hour max, of his time. Only in hindsight could he pull this scam. If he would have asked for ANY money up front, Rockstar would have said "No, thanks. We can find about 12 other gentlemen with the same history. We are just looking for a little color to give our game some realism."
For every benefit you receive a tax is levied. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
No-Talent-Hack needs more money for weed. More at 11
Stupidity only gets you so far, then you've gotta try
MC Hawking, infamous gangster scientist nerdcore hip hop star, has already laid claim to the "GTA was written about me" idea. And did it ten years ago in "GTA3" on "A Brief History of Rhyme: MC Hawking's Greatest Hits"
Little late for that now isn't it?
All those years I played Tetris... oh wait, I worked in a warehouse.
I played (and greatly enjoyed) GTA:SA. Among many of the amusing anticdotes in the game, were the many MANY references to popular culture. You had all of your rap music references, many movie references, rednecks, Area 51, junkies, the mafia, the CIA, the military, and countless others. And the main character has to embark on a great adventure that winds through a complex story that ties all of these elements together in the most rediculously unrealistic way possible, and mow down a few hookers while he's at it. I don't even know of any FICTIONAL character's life for which the entire story could apply to, let alone someone who's real. But hey, Rockstar has a lot of money, and those lawyers need to get fed.
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
He wouldn't be suing Rockstar.
He'd just come visit in his stolen chevy, and murder the crap out of everyone in the office!