Hot Coffee Finally Cools Down in GTA Lawsuit

And you thought $5 was a lot to pay for a Grande Latte. If you’ve been in a cave for the last three years, or if all you have is a Nintendo, then you probably haven’t heard about the controversy involving Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the city of Los Angeles, and one sexy, hot cup of coffee.

Just in case your cave didn’t have great wireless service, update: many computer-savvy owners of the game found a rather unusual hidden game shortly after it’s release. If you know just what to do, you can access a “sex simulation” mission within the game. When the main character of the game, Carl “CJ” Johnson, completes a successful date mission in the game, his girlfriend will invite him up for “hot coffee.” If you don’t have the game mod then you simply see all the action from outside of the building, but if you have the proper code, you are treated to a sort of timing game that gives new meaning to the term “rhythm method.”

Needless to say, some people were very upset about this “bonus.” In 2005, a team of lawyers in California and 2,676 disgruntled “customers” filed a lawsuit against Rockstar Games and their parent company, Take Two. The caveat that most news outlets would probably not take the time to tell you is that the offensive minigame was actually a relic left over from a game feature that was never finished because it was not meant to stay in the game. It was only accessible when a specific modification was made to the game.

Of course, after the controversy hit, an online frenzy was made over this modification and hundreds of sites offered the mod and instructions on how to get some “coffee.” The whole controversy was nicknamed “Hot Coffeegate.” It sparked a media train that Hillary Clinton jumped on. She urged the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to enforce age restrictions on video game sales. A group of protesters known as the Peaceholics presented Take Two with a manifesto that demanded they only sell the game in porn shops and that they should apologize for causing car insurance premiums to go up. And I’m not even kidding.

This is a lot of fuss over some game content that wasn’t even meant to be seen, and that you have to look pretty hard to find. On top of the fact that it’s a game called Grand Theft Auto. This law suit would imply that 2,676 people are just fine with teaching their child how to steal cars and drive over hookers as long as they don’t learn about the missionary position. And what was the result of this media frenzy? Take Two will have to pay under $30,000 total to the offended customers and make a contribution of $870,000 to the Parent Teacher Association and the ESRB. This, on top of legal fees and the cost of reprinting new copies of the game without the “coffee.” Making this the most expensive shot of espresso since the “McDonald’s Hot Coffee Case.”