The continuing legal battle between publisher Take-Two and Jack Thompson is becoming ever more heated as last weekend the anti-violent videogame lawyer, Thompson, threatened to "destroy" the publisher after it filed a pre-emptive lawsuit.

Take-Two action is looking to prevent Thompson from having Rockstar titles Grand Theft Auto IV and Manhunt 2 declared a public nuisance under Florida State law. The suit alleges that Thompson's attempts violate the company’s First Amendment rights.

"I have been praying, literally, that Take-Two and its lawyers would do something so stupid ... that such a misstep would enable me to destroy Take-Two", said Thompson as reported on gamepolitics.com.

"The pit Take-Two has dug for itself will be patently clear next week when I strike back", he added.

"Thompson has a history of making multiple threats of legal action, whether substantiated or not, both against (Take-Two) as well as the retailers who purchase the videogames and offer them for sale to the public", reads Take-Two's suit.

"Because of the vague terms of the nuisance statutes, application of those laws to GTA IV and Manhunt 2 also creates a chilling effect as videogame creators, designers, developers, publishers and distributors will respond to the uncertainty of the law by self-censoring, depriving the public of access to undeniably protected expression", it continues.

Last year, Thomson tried to get Canis Canem (Bully in the US) declared a public nuisance and so banned in Florida, but the Judge threw the case out and later filed a complaint over Thompson’s behaviour in court.

>> Link - Official Site/Take Two