GamePolitics reported on a pair of tempests involving Grand Theft Auto IV this week.

First came Wednesday's report on shoot-from-the-lip comments attributed to Connecticut State Sen. Gayle Slossberg (D), who apparently used the terms Grand Theft Auto IV, rape, legislation and sociopaths [as in GTA gamers are...] in a rant that she only thought was off-the-record.

Oops...

The next update for Rock Band brings some good ‘ol Cruefest content. Each track available will cost only 0.99 this time around and there’ll also be a free single, “Promised Land” by fictional band Vesuvias from the upcoming comedy, The Rocker. Here are the tracks that won’t be free;
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On Wedneday GamePolitics reported on comments attributed to Connecticut State Senator Gayle Slossberg (D) regarding an alleged rape scene in Grand Theft Auto IV.

No such sequence exists, however.

PSXextreme now has Sen. Slossberg's response to the furor created by the earlier report, which appeared in the New Haven Advocate. Slossberg's statement reads:

Do you like LEGO’s? How about Indiana Jones? I love both and so should you. And if you’re anything like me you’ll want to head on over to the Xbox Live Marketplace and download the demo for LEGO Indiana Jones immediately. GO GET IT!

Did you catch Tobacco Free Florida's terrific Halo-like video? GamePolitics covered it earlier this week.

Now, GameCouch has the 411 on how it all came together in an interview with adman Jason Piroth, who wrote the script:

It started with a discussion of what’s relevant to the 11-17 demographic today... Given the explosion in the gaming market that has accompanied the recent release of games like Halo III, Bioshock, etc...  using a format similar... seemed appropriate...

 

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Gamasutra ran a question-of-the-week on the role of the ESA and got some surprising answers.

The ESA, of course, is the Entertainment Software Association, the trade group which represents the interests of video game publishers in the US. From the article:

The full question read as follows:

 

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When you read that someone is planning a game based on Virginia Tech, you can't help but cringe.

But game designer - and Virginia Tech alum - Manveer Heir seems committed to using the video game medium to tastefully and respectfully tell the tale of the aftermath of the April, 2007 rampage.

Heir, whose day job involves game developments for Raven Software, writes:

Entertainment Consumers Association President Hal Halpin will be today's guest on Shift Radio - Your Digital Life in Overdrive.

Host Chris Melissinos will interview Hal and  listeners can call in with questions. Hal will discuss what the ECA does for the gaming community and how gamers can get involved.

Chris also promised to discuss "a cool gadget..."

Amazon’s “Deal of the Day” today is Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii for only $25.99. The rest of the deals today also seem to be Nintendo Wii related. So if you own the console, watch the Goldbox Deals page throughout the day and see if they got something you’ve been wanting, but were too cheap to buy.

The update starts with some game demos for Hot Shots Golf Out of Bounds and Top Spin 3. Both boring sports to watch but fun to play, right? There’s also a new character for PAIN, a World of Warcraft song for Guitar Hero III, and the full “Doolittle” album from the Pixies and 3 songs from Weezer for Rock Band. There are also a whole bunch of game videos, a few blu-ray trailers and two PS3 themes.

For the PSP, you can buy Medievil Resurrection for $16.99, download a Medievil Resurrection interview trailer, and a Medievil wallpaper. Not a whole lot, but still good, since Medievil is a pretty fun game. You can visit the Playstation Blog for more information.