Sad to say, but Grand Auto Theft, Vice City makes the top of the "must-have" Christmas list. I searched on Gamespot.com to see if there was any article regarding the Haitian protests against Rockstar. I located two...

--haprincess

Haitian-Americans protest Vice City
 

[UPDATE] Caribbean immigrants accuse Rockstar game of racism at a New York protest.

Already blamed for SPAN style=COLOR: red; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> face=Arial inspiring/SPAN a killing spree and corrupting millions of youths, Grand Theft Auto Vice City is now being accused of racism. Today, over a year after Rockstar released the game, two Haitian-American community groups--the Haitian Centers Council and Haitian Americans for Human Rights--staged a protest at New York's City Hall, and urged supporters to picket the publisher's Manhattan offices

"Grand Theft Auto [Vice City] is a cultural attack on the millions of Haitians living in the United States," said Henry Frank, executive director of the Haitian Centers Council. Frank's organization further blasted the game in a Monday press release, saying "players are instructed to kill all Haitians, who, in the video game, are stereotyped as thugs, thieves and drug dealers."

Why the Haitian-American group waited months to protest the game is unclear. For its part, Rockstar refuted the charge. "We empathize with the concerns of the Haitian community and we are giving serious consideration to them ... There was no intention to offend any ethnic group and we take these claims very seriously," said communications director James Ankner in a statement. He continued, "Some statements made by fictional characters in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City have been taken out of context," most likely referring to the murderous exhortations of the Cuban gang, the Haitian's arch-rivals in the game.

By Tor Thorsen, ISPAN style=COLOR: red"> face=Arial GameSpot/SPAN/I  [POSTED: 11/25/03 05:11 PM]

Take-Two self-censoring Vice City
 

Pressure from Haitian-American groups and New York City's mayor causes Rockstar Games' parent to edit its controversial best seller.

More than a year after its release, controversial best seller Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is still stirring up controversy. Most recently, various Haitian-American groups leveled charges of racism at the game and at Take-Two Interactive, parent of Vice City's publisher, Rockstar Games.

At issue was the part of the game where Tommy Vercetti, its criminal protagonist, is hired by the Cuban gang to take out their rivals, the Haitians. At the beginning of the level, a title card appears that urges Vercetti to "Kill all the Haitians!" Shortly afterward, a group of heavily armed Haitians attack him en masse, forcing him to respond with a fusillade of bullets. Rockstar has repeatedly insisted the statement should be taken within the context of the game, which is rife with violence toward every ethnic group.

However, New York City's Haitian-American community, which has seen several of its members shot by police in recent years, appealed to Mayor Michael Bloomberg to take action against Take-Two, which is headquartered in the city. Yesterday, Bloomberg threatened the company with legal action if the phrase was not removed. "If I don't get a decent response, we are going to do everything we possibly can," said Bloomberg.

Today, Bloomberg got his response. Take-Two issued a statement this afternoon promising to "remove the objectionable statements from future copies of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City." It did not mention the millions of copies of Vice City already on the market that already contain the statement.

The publisher also apologized for the "hurt and anger" the statement had caused Haitian-Americans and hoped the move would "mend" relations between the two groups. It blamed a recent media frenzy for creating the controversy, noting the game was released in October 2002.

Take-Two also defended its right to create a "realistic" game for an adult audience. The statement reminded the public that the game was rated "M" for mature, saying, "it must be recognized that video games have evolved as an adult medium, not unlike literature, movies and music."

By Tor Thorsen, ISPAN style=COLOR: red"> face=Arial GameSpot/SPAN/I  [POSTED: 12/09/03 05:09 PM]

one last article--

i guess we have these two people (mark gallagher and brian baglow) to thank for the creation of the grand theft auto series.

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UK GTA lawsuit refuted
 

Former DMA employee denies a Scottish developer's claims that the first Grant Theft Auto plagiarized his game.

The Grand Theft Auto series has come under fire for its glamorization of all manner of illegal activities. How ironic, then, that the developers the original GTA are now being accused of a committing a crime at the game's very inception.

In a Scottish court yesterday, computer consultant Mark Gallagher filed a lawsuit against Rockstar North, the Edinburgh-based GTA developer. Gallagher claims that in December 1993, he applied for a position at DMA Design, the company that would eventually go on to become Rockstar North. When called in for an interview, Gallagher brought with him a demo of Crime, Inc., a game he developed from 1991 to 1993 about gangs vying for control of a city's street crime. Gallagher claims DMA retained the disc, but did not give him the job. Four years later in 1997, DMA released the first Grand Theft Auto which, Gallagher alleges, contains many elements and ideas from Crime, Inc. He now wants 1.5 million pounds from Rockstar for "copyright infringement."

"I object to the idea that the GTA team ripped someone off," Brian Baglow told GameSpot. Baglow, who worked at DMA for nearly all of the four years that the first GTA was in development, categorically denied Gallagher's charges. "We worked damn hard on that game for a long time and finally created something I think we are all proud of," he emphasized. Baglow also questioned the timing of the suit. "I find it difficult to imagine someone making this kind of claim six years after the game was released," he said. "Surely if you heard about a game that as similar to a concept you submitted, you would try to do something about it before you got to the fourth game in the series. GTA has not been an inconspicuous game since its initial launch."

Baglow, who now runs his own PR firm, Indoctrimat, in Scotland, also gave GameSpot some interesting insights into the creation of the title that would launch the bestselling franchise in game history. Most notably, he said Grand Theft Auto was almost about a cop trying to stop the carjackings, robberies, murders, and other acts of mayhem players now regularly perpetrate in the game. "Deciding to play as the criminal came at the end of a very long, protracted and heated design meeting," said Baglow. "Thankfully, it worked."

By Tor Thorsen, ISPAN style=COLOR: red"> face=Times New Roman GameSpot/SPAN/I  [POSTED: 12/19/03 11:31 AM]

  Take two Interactive, the company that owns Rockstar which is the publisher of the racist game Grand Theft Auto is now under fire again with the SEC  for  submitting misguided earnings , they have already miss their earnings targets for three quarters  and many people are calling them aone hit wonder.They are also having internal problems, the CEo  and some board members were fired  for lack of performance.I would really wish they go bankrupt since right now what they are counting on is a partership with Sega to develop an American football game , so I say tell all Haitians kids who played videogames not to buy it even it costs less than Madden.The name of the game is NFL 2k5, and Espn is also  involved in the venture, they licensed their brand to the game , so I say that is even better because Espn is owned by Disney, a company known to abuse Haitians in the factories that make their Pocohontas, Mickey Mouse shirts,pajamas,panties and pay our brothers and sisters11 cts an while they come sell at Wal Mart for s9.99 .So tell everyone you know who play videogames especially sports games .DO Not Buy it.Do not support bigotry,racism , greed.