Just as it looked like Take-Two finally got a chance to take a breather after all of their legal woes, here comes another lawsuit. This time, it's from none other than a former exec of the company itself.

To prevent the sale of of Manhunt 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV, Jack Thompson is suing Take-Two Interactive on the week of March 19. He previously tried to stop previous games such as Bully from being released. His reasons for contesting the release of the two games are consistent with his previous cases.

He is doing this to "prevent the sale of two hyperviolent video games set to be released this year and sold to anyone under 17 years of age." Now, from what we've seen, all of the games which Mr. Thompson has been complaining about has been given a rating of at least M for Mature by the ESRB. This rating means that the game is not to be sold to anyone under 17 years of age.

Now, Mr. Thompson does have a point: it is wrong to sell these games to children under 17. The ESRB set the rating there for a reason. However, the problem might stem from the findings of The United States Federal Trade Commission which stated that despite the 'Mature' rating on video games, they are still sold 42% of the time to kids under 17.

While we feel that it is necessary to lower that number, it is important to realize that the ESRB has no legal backing and is simply a voluntary system set up by retailers. It should also be noted that major retailers such as Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart, and others have agreed not to sell M games to children below 17.

It was also said that "Take-Two aggressively markets its games to children" by posting its ads "in video game publications purchased by hundreds of thousands of kids under 17" and "on public transport in major US metropolitan areas." While this may be the case, video game magazines also cater to gamers who are of legal age. In addition, buses are also used by people who do play games and are old enough to play these games.

From all indications, it looks as though Mr. Thompson has his sights set on the target. More news on this as we get more information.

First came the accusations, now comes the investigation. For the guys who were around when we reported on the lawsuits incident game dev Take-Two Interactive faced, here's an update. Take-Two Interactive Software announced that a Special Committee of its Board of Directors has just finished up their investigation on the company's stock options.

The committee, which consisted of three members of Take-Two's board of directors, conducted an independent investigation relating to past stock option grants, the timing of such grants and related accounting matters. The investigation itself was done through several means: a review and analysis of documents and emails, and interviews of current and former officers, directors, employees and advisers to Take-Two.

The resulting investigation yielded two details: there were improprieties in the process of granting and documenting stock options and that incorrect measurement dates for certain stock option grants were used for financial accounting purposes. Secondly, the team didn't find misconduct by the Company's current Executive Officers, including Paul Eibeler, Take-Two's Chief Executive Officer and President, and Karl Winters, Take-Two's Chief Financial Officer.

The team is expected to compile a final report following this investigation, along with recommended actions to be taken following their findings.