Here's another lawsuit to help fill your weekly quota of legal drama. This one was filed by the Entertainment Software Association against the Chicago Transit Authority for its 2009 ordinance that prohibits M and AO-rated video game ads from all its vehicles and facilities, citing that the ordinance is a clear violation of the entertainment software community's constitutional rights.

It's quite an emotional rollercoaster, this week really was. Straight off from the news that the King of Pop has died, we went on to have the usual string of gaming news that rocked our own worlds. With the usual news on lawsuits, layoffs, company shutdowns, convicted murderers over consoles, it was looking to be a sad state of affairs. Good thing we've got our own Neverland to brighten things up a bit. And now we've come to the Fourth of July weekend. Time to kick off those shoes, stretch out, unwind and celebrate. You know we all deserve it. Happy FOJ weekend, everyone!

Another week full of lawsuits. Poor, beleaguered company Midway came under fire once again, and this time it was from a very unlikely direction: the guy behind the Mortal Kombat movies is suing them in order to "protect his IP rights", which is a better way of saying that he wants to keep milking the MK franchise for as long as possible. Square Enix also got served with a class-action lawsuit for "deceiving" Final Fantasy XI patrons regarding fees. Not everything was bad, though. Read all about 'em after the jump in this week's Warrior recap.

Looks like Nintendo isn't the only one getting a class-action lawsuit for Christmas. A new lawsuit (with an old tune) is claiming that Microsoft knew about the Xbox 360's disc-scratching problem way before the console was released.

Details in the full article.

A series of lawsuits filed by Activision has led to speculation that the world's biggest video game publisher is now employing tactics similar to those employed by the RIAA to crack down on file sharers. However, Karin Pagnanelli, Activision's lead attorney, has denied that the
lawsuits had anything to do with file sharing. More after the jump.

With so much riding on Alone in the Dark (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC), Atari seems to be doing all it can to ensure that the game becomes a success. But has the company really resorted to firing off lawsuits in order to quash negative reviews of the game's Xbox 360 version? More in the full article.

Another lawsuit has been filed against 3D Realms, this time over the first-person shooter Earth No More (Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, PC) whose original idea was allegedly stolen from Cinemagraphix Entertainment. 3D Realms' CEO, however, seems confident that the company will be able to prove its full innocence. Check out the full article for more details.

Long-standing lawsuit filed by WWE against THQ and Jakks Pacific concerning racketeering and bribery was finally put to rest by a US district court judge last December 3rd. More details about  the allegations made by WWE against THQ and Jakks Pacific and the lawsuit in general at the full article.

Remember that guy who sued Microsoft because his Xbox 360 got bricked when he downloaded the Fall 2006 software update? The lawsuit is over and done with, with the software mogul and plaintiff Kevin Ray agreeing to dismiss the case. Ray's lawyer confirmed that the the case had been settled, but the terms are confidential.

Microsoft's decision to extend the warranty may have helped, as evidenced in this quote taken from Microsoft's motion:

Microsoft's customer service records show that on January 10, 2007, Plaintiff called Microsoft again, after Microsoft announced the new one-year warranty... The next day, Microsoft shipped a box with prepaid postage to Mr. Ray to use to send his Xbox 360 console back to Microsoft for repair... On January 28, 2007, a replacement console was shipped back to him... Microsoft did not charge Mr. Ray any money for replacing or shipping his Xbox 360 console... He has not contacted Microsoft with any further complaint...

The quoted paragraph above refers to the time when the initial 90-day warranty was extended to a full year, which could have been a result of the class action lawsuit. With the warranty now extended to three whopping years, there's now less reason for people to cry foul and throw lawsuits at Microsoft.

For other people who had problems with the Fall 2006 update, don't think that Microsoft will have something special coming your way - even though the case started out as a class action suit, it was eventually settled as an individual action suit between Microsoft and Ray.

So that's one lawsuit down, and more to go. There's still that second lawsuit about the Xbox 360 scratching discs, and we certainly hope everything gets settled as peacefully as this Fall 2006 software update lawsuit.

Apophis, a German Xbox modder has accused Microsoft of stealing his idea for preventing the dreaded red ring of doom. MaxConsole received emails from Apophis regarding this allegations, and has also posted a link to his website.

We peeked into Apophis' German language website, and we found quite an in-depth explanation (though our weblator didn't help much for us to fully understand), and what we gathered is that he and his friends checked out the guts of his Xbox 360 after hearing about numerous reports of people getting the red ring of doom symbol.

What the modder found was, in our weblator's terms, a "stupid constructional defect". Apophis found out that the cooling system of the GPU, or Graphics Processing Unit, was totally insufficient, and provided pretty pictures to prove it. He then declared that every Xbox will get the red ring of death eventually, especially if graphics-crunching games are played on it more frequently and in long periods of time.

Apophis also noted that the solution is applicable to Xboxes released recently. First-generation units, he said, were built a little differently than the rest of the other units in such a way that they have better ventilation.

The modder, however, noticed that the Xbox 360 is recently using the method that he posted on the web, which he wants to be credited for. He even sent an email to MaxConsole, in mangled English:

Hi,

i am the mean that found the fail with overheating GPU. Now i see on you page that MS put the the new cooling in the x360.

I find that not ok anybody take my things and nobody say thanks to me

http://lordzipacna.lo.funpic.de/

MS steel my concept and nobody say tank you

Cu

Apophis

Currently there are no reports of any lawsuits to be filed, which we aren't really expecting. But, just in case Microsoft considers to credit him, will they give him an Xbox Elite? Or even due credit if his claims are true?