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.

Comments

Compensating?

[RogueyWon]

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".

Re:Compensating?

[Darinbob]

A hint to game developers: Give your protagonist a small penis and no one will try to claim the character was based on their lives.

Man changes name

[Fibe-Piper]

to Rockstar, sues drink maker, game developer and Motely Crue.

The most dangerous man alive

[Sonny Yatsen]

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.

Re:The most dangerous man alive

[Theoboley]

To hell with being the most dangerous man alive, he must be stealthier than Solid Snake... I wonder if he gets out of the car and beats the hookers he just slept with to death just to get his cash back?

Re:The most dangerous man alive

[Chewbacon]

What did he do with that GPS that highlights gang territories? My local law enforcement office could use that.

hot coffee

[Jarkov]

Sometimes I feel like all my sexual encounters have to be unlocked using a cheat code too.

Re:hot coffee

[Sonny Yatsen]

Hopefully, that cheat code wasn't roofies.

Re:hot coffee

[Ihmhi]

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, Pay For Dinner, Promise to Go Antiquing on Sunday, Start.

QBert

[Peter Trepan]

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.

Re:QBert

[somersault]

I spent a lot of my childhood in the back garden destroying worms with rocket launchers, cluster bombs, flying sheep, and concrete donkeys. If only I lived in America I could be making millions right now.

Re:QBert

[Monkeedude1212]

I spent a lot of my childhood playing video games. You guys have way more exciting lives than I do.

*dons lounge suit*

[Andy Smith]

I should sue the maker of Leisure Suit Larry.

Re:*dons lounge suit*

[dunezone]

I tried suing the creators of Duke Nukem, but the case went on forever!

Suing?

[kevmatic]

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.

Pff, the sims is based on my life!

[SmallFurryCreature]

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.

Not quite a coincidence, perhaps...

[mark-t]

FTA

Back in the day, ya see, Shagg met up with Rockstar developers to answer questions on "his street life including how the teen-agers in his gang rode around on bicycles." At the conclusion of the interview, he was told that if the devs chose to include him in the game, they'd let him know.

They never called - and Shagg didn't think any more of it. Fast forward nearly six years, and Shagg's nephew told his uncle about this great video game he'd been playing. You can imagine that Uncle Shagg was more than a little surprised when he saw GTA: San Andreas, featuring a character who looked like him, and acted like him, too.

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.

Re:Not quite a coincidence, perhaps...

[mr_mischief]

Actually, later in the article it says they even went so far as to credit him along with a bunch of others as "talent". Yet they didn't pay him.

I'm guessing he recalls the meeting and fails to recall the waiver of likeness rights he signed during said meeting. That, or he signed something that flat-out said that they were doing research among multiple people, none of whom would be compensated beyond a credit, and that the result would take lifelike tidbits from multiple people to inspire one fictional character's traits.

Re:Haha, it won't hold up.

[delinear]

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.

Re:Not Rock Star ... Rockstar!

[BiggoronSword]

... for noise pollution.