Teen sues over topless photos in a game

[Hivetyrant]

Damn, this would suck

AUSTIN, Texas -- A teenage girl who was photographed topless, apparently during Spring Break at South Padre Island, is now a "prize" in a video game that rewards players by revealing images of topless women. "The Guy Game," available for about $40 for the popular Xbox and Playstation game consoles, touts "over 60 smokin' coeds" in its advertising, which plays to the "Girls Gone Wild" set: "Real video of actual Spring Break Hotties." The problem is, the girl was 17 when she was photographed, which not only raises questions about the legality of the material, but renders moot any consent she may have given, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Travis County District Court. In the suit the girl, identified as Jane Doe, asked that any copies of "The Guy Game" with her in it be pulled from distribution. A judge granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting Microsoft, Sony and others from selling any of the games which used the girl's image, voice and name. The game was developed by two Austin software companies. A spokesman for the parent company of one of the defendants, Gathering of Developers Inc., declined to comment. None of the others defendants could be reached for comment Monday. The game, released last summer, consists of a series of trivia questions; correct answers give access to video and photos of women, both clothed and topless, and sometimes talking on the videos. But talking is not critical to the game: "They proudly show off their 'assets' for your personal enjoyment." Many of the participants, including the plaintiff in the lawsuit, also are featured on a Web site for "The Guy Game," which includes their real first names, according to the lawsuit. The defendants include Topheavy Studios, the Austin corporation that developed the game. Other companies that were sued included Gathering of Developers Inc.,which designs, develops and markets video games; Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The teenager's lawyer, Jeff McClendon, declined to comment Monday. The lawsuit says the 17-year-old did not give a "valid or enforceable consent or release" for her photo to be used. The plaintiff has suffered humiliation, embarrassment and shame since the game has been released, according to the lawsuit. "Plaintiff is still a teenager and wishes to attend college, develop her career and be active in her community and church," the lawsuit said. The game's developers have been getting a lot of e-mail asking about the censorship level of the game, according to the Web site of "The Guy Game," which is rated "M" for mature audiences. The site assures players that they will get to see picture of topless women if they answer trivia games correctly. "The Guy Game is the first trivia party game to feature topless nudity," the Web site says. "We consider ourselves pioneers in that respect. Sort of like the Daniel Boone of video games!

[ 12-22-2004, 09:33 AM: Message edited by: Hivetyrant ]

[Bozos of Bones]

Let me get this straight, they claim to be the first to have come up with the idea that answering questions rewards you with pictures of women wearing less than usual clothing? ROFLMAO!
Anyways, this linbe cracks me up: "Plaintiff is still a teenager and wishes to attend college, develop her career and be active in her community and church"

[J'aran]

What, exactly, do you mean when you say "this would suck"? The developers using topless pics of an underage girl without her consent, the girl going to court over it, or the game itself?

[Hivetyrant]

Well, if I was a 17 year female that had my picture taken and put in a game that is played by thousands of people, I probably wouldnt feel too comfortable.

[J'aran]

Originally posted by Hivetyrant: Well, if I was a 17 year female that had my picture taken and put in a game that is played by thousands of people, I probably wouldnt feel too comfortable.

Allright, I thought that would be it, it just didn't become clear to me in your first post.

Although, the game itself probably sucks big time as well. Heck, if I want to see nekkid ladies I'm definately not going to play a video game.

[ 12-22-2004, 09:55 AM: Message edited by: J'aran ]

[Larry_OHF]

That's right. Who would spend money and take the time to answer stupid trivia questions when you can get better stuff than that online for free and easier than playing a game?

And about the girl...yeah, she is in the right since she was 17 years old at the time, but the dummy has earned this humiliation for baring it all in the first place. A hard lesson learned, but one that will hopefully teach other 17 year-olds to think about what they are doing...

[pritchke]

Originally posted by Larry_OHF: That's right. Who would spend money and take the time to answer stupid trivia questions when you can get better stuff than that online for free and easier than playing a game? And about the girl...yeah, she is in the right since she was 17 years old at the time, but the dummy has earned this humiliation for baring it all in the first place. A hard lesson learned, but one that will hopefully teach other 17 year-olds to think about what they are doing...

Yip!!! I agree she should have thought of that before stripping off in public. By the way you don't need to play this game to know it sucks. I read the gamespy review if you are wanting something with nudity try Playboy Mansion in the new year, kind of a version of the SIMS with better eye candy but more than likely not as in-depth or good except for the visuals.

You know if Gamespy gives a rating of 1 star it probably is better off pulled from the shelf, I have seen better free flash games than this crap.
http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2...p1.html</font>

[ 12-22-2004, 10:52 AM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

[Arvon]

There's enough of that stuff on the web you can run into by accident rather than pay money for it. If you don't use a pop-up blocker, some of the pop-ups will fry your eyeballs.

[johnny]

What a bunch of dumbasses, even a blind man could have seen that lawsuit coming from miles away.

[Lavindathar]

Originally posted by Hivetyrant: Well, if I was a 17 year female that had my picture taken and put in a game that is played by thousands of people, I probably wouldnt feel too comfortable.

I wouldnt, but thats cos I'm an attention whore.

I'm not female, but thats not the point!