GTA "Hot Coffee Settlement": How to Get Up to $35

You may recall that during the whole “hot coffee” fiasco — where a hack unlocked a hidden sex mini-game in GTA: San Andreas — the inevitable class action lawsuit was brought against Take Two. And you may recall that Take Two ended up settling the lawsuit by agreeing to pay each consumer with adequate proof of purchase $35 (essentially a “please go away and stop bothering us” fee). Well now the full details of that settlement have been released, along with instructions on how those of you who were offended by the mini-game (or just want to pretend to be in order to get a few extra bucks) can get your settlement. Basically, all you have to do is go to the official settlement website, download some forms, and mail them off with the appropriate proof of purchase. Be forewarned though, different levels of proof of purchase will yield a different amount of cash for your settlement:

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas First Edition Disc — Replacement Disc
Detailed Store Receipt – Cash payment up to $35.00
General Credit Card Statement or Check – Cash payment up to $17.50
Disc/Purchase Details – Cash payment up to $10.00
No Disc/Purchase Details — Cash payment up to $5.00

What I found most amusing though was a little nugget of information Stephen Glicker (of GamingSteve.com) dug up in the lengthy Motion for Preliminary Approval Document from the case concerning the lawyers’ fees in all this:

E. Attorneys’ Fees, Costs and Disbursements. Finally, as mentioned above, only this past Friday, the Parties agreed on an amount to compensate Plaintiffs’ Counsel for attorneys’ fees and costs and disbursements in the amount of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000), the entire amount of which will be paid separate and apart from any amounts made available for payment to the Class and Class Representatives, as set forth above.

Yep, we get $35 a piece, the lawyers get a cool million. Of course, this isn’t all about the money, right? Right?

Thanks to Stephen for the heads up!

http://news.filefront.com/category/gamer-life/game-related-laws/