Now this is a correction

[dixiehack]

Offered without comment.

http://www.regrettheerror.com/2010/07/26/contender-for-apology-of-the-year/

ON 21 July we published an article claiming that the video games company Rockstar Games were planning to release a version of their popular Grand Theft Auto video games series titled “Grand Theft Auto Rothbury”.


We also published what we claimed would be the cover of this game, solicited comments from a family member impacted by the recent tragedy and criticised Rockstar Games for their alleged plans.

We made no attempt to check the accuracy of the story before publication and did not contact Rockstar Games prior to publishing the story. We also did not question why a best selling and critically acclaimed fictional games series would choose to base one of their most popular games on this horrifying real crime event.

It is now accepted that there were never any plans by Rockstar Games to publish such a game and that the story was false. We apologise for publishing the story using a mock-up of the game cover, our own comments on the matter and soliciting critical comments from a grieving family member.

We unreservedly apologise to Rockstar Games and we have undertaken not to repeat the claims again. We have also agreed to pay them a substantial amount in damages which they are donating to charity.

 

[OnTheRiver]

I hope Rockstar took the charity money and donated it to Wish Upon a Hooker Killed in a Video Game.

 

[cyclingwriter]

I went to the site. Who wrote the original story?

 

[UPChip]

I went to the site. Who wrote the original story?

The Daily Star, a British tab.

Rothbury is a reference to a town in Britain where an ex-con initiated an armed standoff in which his ex-girlfriend and a cop were critically injured and his ex's new boyfriend was murdered. He then went on the run, committed an armed robbery of a fish-and-chips shop and eventually shot himself.

 

[murphyc]

Aside from those errors, we stand behind the factual accuracy of our story. ;D

 

[cyclingwriter]

I went to the site. Who wrote the original story?

The Daily Star, a British tab.

Rothbury is a reference to a town in Britain where an ex-con initiated an armed standoff in which his ex-girlfriend and a cop were critically injured and his ex's new boyfriend was murdered. He then went on the run, committed an armed robbery of a fish-and-chips shop and eventually shot himself.

Thanks.

 

[mustangj17]

I went to the site. Who wrote the original story?

The Daily Star, a British tab.

Rothbury is a reference to a town in Britain where an ex-con initiated an armed standoff in which his ex-girlfriend and a cop were critically injured and his ex's new boyfriend was murdered. He then went on the run, committed an armed robbery of a fish-and-chips shop and eventually shot himself.

But did he Yelp about his dining experience?

 

[Ace]

That's great. Wonder if they were duped, believed some chatter on the Internet or a staffer made the whole thing up.

 

[deskslave]

It would have been a much shorter correction had they taken the Vincent Gambini approach and just said "That entire story is bull****. Thank you."

 

[OrthogonalWaterfowl]

I can understand how they were fooled. Of course a massively popular video game developer would choose to develop a game based on an obscure event that nobody in its largest markets would have ever heard of, especially given that the series has never used a real world location before. It's such an easy mistake to make and makes perfect sense.

They probably just found someone's humorous photoshop portraying the event as a GTA game and ran with it.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

Can't you just hear someone at Rockstar Games saying, "Dammit! Wish we'd thought of that!"

 

[Pilot]

In other news, the fan-favorite player from my alma matter is on the newest EA NCAA football game. I know because I saw the game cover on the internet.