News.blog: Take-Two sued over 'Bully'

Jack Thompson, the man who is trying to single-handedly browbeat the videogame industry into keeping sex and violence out of its products, or at least to keep them away from kids, has gone to new extremes in his bid to be the industry's biggest thorn in its side.

According to Ars Technica, Thompson has sued Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two for access to its forthcoming game, Bully, in advance of its public release.

Ars Technica writes that Thompson, apoplectic that the game might incite playground violence -- since its title suggests a game in which players control a young bully scoring points by beating up classmates -- demanded that Take-Two let him see an early build.

But the publisher ignored him and so Thompson sued (click here for PDF) under Florida's nuisance law, the site reported.

Now, Take-Two has taken a lot of criticism in the last year, what with the 'Hot Coffee' scandal, but it is probably safe from legal intrusion here. Plus the company has plenty of incentive to play by the ratings rules, as it faces hefty fines if it doesn't tell the US Entertainment Software Ratings Board about the true nature of its games.