Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but an upcoming Rockstar/Take-Two game for the PSP is going to be delayed. The publisher of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series has received additional subpoenas seeking more information on its financial practices. This all relates back to the incident that was 'Hot Coffee', an adult mini game included in GTA: San Andreas. The most recent subpoenas request documents regarding stock options and other equity based compensation from November 2001 to the present.

Take-Two said that they would delay their full third-quarter fiscal earnings report until the investigation has been completed. However, they did release a few statistics, including the fact that analysts' prediction for net revenue in Q3 (ended July 31, 2006) was accurate, around $240 million, up from $169.9 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2005, but estimates for profit were too high.

Take-Two also said that a "Rockstar PSP title based on a premier brand" would be pushed back from its Q4 release date. However, Rockstar hasn't announced the title yet which means Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories should be safe. Rumours flying around suggest that the game could be Red Dead Revolver. Lets just hope that the Vice City Stories release stays on schedule.

Like what our Gramps used to say, "When you're way up, there's nowhere to go but down; and those below have a knack for aiming at those who are on top." Such is the case with Rockstar. After achieving unprecedented success with its Grand Theft Auto franchise, it has been receiving blows from all directions in the form of lawsuits. It's sometimes hard to imagine how they still find time to develop games with all these distractions.

Well, Rockstar may have just gotten a huge break as a US district judge ruled on their favor regarding the complaint filed by a Los Angeles strip club. The complaint says that Rockstar Games breached copyright by designing a similar-looking virtual strip club for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

April of last year, The Play Pen club owner E.S.S. Entertainment filed a lawsuit against GTA creator Rockstar. The suit accused the said game developers of trademark infringement; a strip club in the game carried the name The Pig Pen and allegedly has a similar logo, awning, and 'Totally nude' advertising slogan.

While Rockstar admitted that their artist produced most of the game scenes inspired with photographs of actual spots on Los Angeles, including the Play Pen, they argued that they "changed the names, building designs and overall look and feel of the locations... To make them fit the virtual, cartoon-style world of San Andreas and the series' irreverent tone." To further cement their defense, Rockstar likened their situation with that of MCA Records who also got the "not guilty" verdict after being accused of the same violation with the song Barbie Girl. They got cleared with the judge saying trademark rights "do not entitle the owner to quash an unauthorised use of the mark by another who is communicating ideas or expressing points of view."

After reviewing all the evidences, Judge Margaret Morrow sided with Rockstar ruling that their "use of the Play Pen trade dress and trademark bears some artistic relevance to the game, and does not explicitly mislead consumers as to the source or content of the game."

That could finally settle the issues surrounding GTA: San Andreas, especially that it came after the ruling by FTC over the Hot Coffee scandal. Well Rockstar may have just weathered a storm but things aren't likely to stay this good for long with the controversy magnet company set to release another game - the alleged violent, school-based Bully,  before the end of the year. Let the stone hurling begin.

The Federal Trade Commission decided against imposing fines or taking other punitive actions against Take Two Interactive and Rockstar games after an exhaustive investigation into the "hot coffee" mod led to a settlement agreement between the FTC and Take Two instead of further charges.

The new agreement requires the two companies to "establish, implement and maintain a comprehensive system reasonably designed to ensure that all content in an electronic game is considered and reviewed in preparing submissions to a rating authority."

The agreement also states that Rockstar and Take Two must clearly disclose all pertinent ratings information about a game on the outside of the game's packaging. In the event that Rockstar or Take Two fails to meet the conditions they agreed to in the settlement with the FTC, they will be fined $11,000 per incident.

Maybe this situation has something to do with Rockstar Games' decision to release a ping- pong (or table tennis) game instead of yet another mega-popular violent shoot 'em up! All jokes aside, both sides seem to want to claim victory in the case and both sides seem ready to move on with their lives.

The ruling was followed by a 30 day period where politicians and the public alike voiced their disapproval about the agreement. Now that the debate is over and the settlement has been ratified, it is unlikely that Rockstar or Take Two will ever face any further prosecution over the hot coffee issue.