News from the virtual world:
PAPER CHASE: The battle over the hidden sex scenes in "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" is far from over. Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of "GTA" developer Rockstar Games, says the Manhattan district attorney has subpoenaed company documents dating back to October 2001. Some of the papers are connected to whether company officers and directors had direct knowledge of the secret sex scenes, while others involve executive compensation, acquisitions, partnerships and earnings. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Take-Two also received requests for documents and information from authorities in North Carolina and Connecticut. So while the Federal Trade Commission let Take-Two off the hook, local and state watchdogs aren't going away so quietly.COME OUT AND PLAY: Also not going away: Roger Hill, a name heretofore known only to serious movie trivia buffs. In the 1979 film "The Warriors," Hill played Cyrus, the charismatic gang leader who asked a crowd of bangers, "Can you dig it?" — and was promptly murdered. Last year Rockstar published a game based on "The Warriors," and Hill wants a cut of the profits. According to the New York Daily News, Hill said Rockstar had offered to pay him for his voice and likeness, but backed out after he rejected their first offer. A Take-Two spokesman says the company "has a valid third-party license for the rights to use Roger Hill's likeness and the character of Cyrus in the 'Warriors' video game and related marketing materials." SPY GAME: With more video-game characters making their way to the bigger screen — and vice versa — it was only a matter of time before a game console became a movie star. Nintendo has announced that its DS portable will have a starring role in "Stormbreaker," a teen spy thriller based on the novel by Anthony Horowitz. Fourteen-year-old secret agent Alex Rider, played by Alex Pettyfer, will be equipped with the ultimate stealth gadget: a red DS that transforms into an eavesdropping device, a wiretap detector or a smoke bomb. Alas, says Nintendo vice president George Harrison, "we unfortunately have no plans to make any DS spy-related functions available to the general public."DOOM PATROL: For better or worse, "Stormbreaker" demonstrates the growing independence between the movie and video-game industries, a topic addressed at last week's Hollywood and Games Summit in Los Angeles. Folks from such companies as Electronic Arts, Microsoft, New Line Cinema and 20th Century Fox chewed over topics like "The Cross-Pollination of Creative Techniques" and "Establishing the Buzz for Collaborative Franchises" — nothing that sounded like it could make games or movies more fun. The keynote speaker was Paul W.S. Anderson, director of "Resident Evil" and "Mortal Kombat," who dropped some knowledge about game-to-film adaptations. "If you stray too far from the game, you're doomed. If you stay too close to the game, you're also doomed," Anderson said. "These fans have invested hundreds of hours in playing these games. If you disappoint them, your film is doomed."A TIP OF THE HAT: A little bit to the north, another batch of industry pros — the ones who figure out how to get you to buy games — met in San Francisco for the MI6 Game Marketing conference. Somehow, they persuaded Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," to kick off the festivities with the announcement of his new online game, "World of Colbertcraft." It's a follow-up to "Stephen Colbert's Escape from Skateboard Mountain" that, "for cost reasons, also takes place on Skateboard Mountain," Colbert said. "And on the Nintendo Wii, you can use the controller to wag my finger." Are all the "Daily Show"/"Colbert Report" writers as geeky as we are?By Lou Kesten