Vice City lawsuit switches courts

The Haitian group suing Take-Two over alleged racist incitement in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is now pursuing the case as a state lawsuit in Florida, in a move which they believe will give them a better chance of winning.

Lawyers acting for the Haitian group, who object specifically to the "Kill all the Haitians" mission in the game, believe that a state case will avoid more lenient federal freedom-of-speech standards, the Miami Herald reports this week.

Meanwhile, Democratic presidential hopeful Joseph Lieberman, already well known for his blusterous campaigning against videogames, also railed on Grand Theft Auto this week during a women's forum on his campaign trail. The Connecticut senator once again brought up the well publicised example of The Worst Thing You Can Do In Grand Theft Auto: robbing and killing a woman for a few dollars reward.

"The player is rewarded for attacking a woman, pushing her to the ground, kicking her repeatedly, and then ultimately killing her, shooting her over and over again," Lieberman reportedly said, rather conveniently ignoring the consequences - being attacked by passer-by heroes and hunted down by the Liberty City PD. "I call on the entertainment companies - they've got a right to do that, but they have a responsibility not to do it if we want to raise the next generation of our sons to treat women with respect."

All in all it's still a bad time to be Rockstar Games in Florida, where angry men like Haitian consular official Mario Dupuy openly tell people "this racist game is psychologically extremely dangerous and is an incitement to genocide."