false advertising
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'No Man's Sky' is being investigated for false advertising
After No Man's Sky hit shelves in early August, complaints arose around bugs and oversights made by its small studio Hello Games. But as the weeks wore on, a new uproar struck out at the differences between concept videos and the released game, which some players and press believe lacked many features promised in its early promotional material. Now the UK-based Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is launching an investigation into those disparities.
The War Z removed from Steam
Hammerpoint Interactive's The War Z has been removed from Steam amid allegations of false advertising from its community, which claims that the developer knowingly listed inaccurate information on The War Z's Steam profile.Originally, the game's profile touted multiple areas ranging in size from 100 to 400 kilometers and servers capable of handling up to 100 players, according to this screenshot obtained by Gamespy. The profile also stated that The War Z was a "Single Purchase, Downloadable Client with the ability to play the full game without subscriptions or requiring in-game transactions," and failed to mention that this is a "Foundation Release," meaning that the game is still under development, with some areas even marked with alpha testing information.In actuality, the game only has one zone, and servers were initially capped at a maximum of 50 players, though that issue at least appears to have been corrected. Moreover, The War Z features a microtransactional-based in-game economy, somewhat contradicting its claim of being a "single purchase" game. The profile has since been rejiggered and no longer makes mention of the multiple zones, nor does it make any mention of in-game transactions. It does, however, still neglect information about the game's somewhat early developmental stage.
UK authority bans Xbox 360 game ad for using PS3 footage (video)
It's a well-known fact that the Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII can't hold a candle to the one on PS3, and now the UK has formally banned an ad for allegedly pulling the ol' bait-and-switch on British TV screens. The UK's Advertising Standards Authority sat down with both copies of the game and noticed a variety of graphical discrepancies, notably that "video sequences appeared sharper and colours were more vivid" on PS3 than Xbox 360. That's all well and good, but the commercial itself is reportedly being banned on a technicality -- though game developer Square Enix admits the footage used was from PS3, it claims the UK ad consists entirely of pre-rendered cutscenes that look nigh-identical on either game machine. But don't take their word for it -- judge for yourself after the break.
DirecTV suing Dish Network over Why Pay More ads, says there's plenty of reasons
While we settle our disputes the old fashioned way (Judge Judy appearances) DirecTV's taking its beef with recent Dish Network ads to a slightly different courtroom. The "Why Pay More" ad campaign has been running for the last year but it appears the latest "Man on the Street" spot (embedded after the break) is what has really upset DirecTV, claiming that its package costs around $20 a month more than Dish. The lawsuit filed Thursday claims the DirecTV services offer more, and higher quality, channels than the one it's being compared to and according to Multichannel News, the company mentions many of the channels this ad is airing on aren't even a part of the Dish lineup being advertised. Of course, as long as it's adding customers we don't see Dish backing off the comparisons on its own anytime soon and if you wonder how long it's willing totake the heat in court, just ask TiVo.
DirecTV whines over HD survey results, sues Comcast for false advertising
You're probably familiar with the old adage that getting sued just isn't satisfying enough until you take someone else to court over the exact thing that you're being accused of, but even if you're not, DirecTV's here to refresh your memory. The satellite TV provider has apparently scrunched up its nose at a recent promotional advertising campaign in which Comcast claims that two-thirds of satellite customers felt "Comcast delivered a better HD image" when compared to DirecTV and Dish Network alternatives. Not believing that we oh-so-capable humans might be able to actually perceive the difference when an HD feed is somewhat crippled, DirecTV decided that the results mustn't be correct, and suggested that the "survey upon which Comcast relies does not provide or sufficiently substantiate the propositions for which Comcast cites the survey," and concludes by boldly proclaiming that all of the claims "are literally false." Of course, Comcast is standing strong behind its results for the time being, and while either party could most certainly have a case against the other, why are we using cash for HD channel expansion to pay legal teams?[Via TGDaily]
Time Warner gets fussy with DirecTV over "false advertising"
There's nothing like a warm, heartfelt lawsuit to really spread that holiday cheer, and we've got yet another battle in the courtroom about to get cranked up, and this time it's between rivals DirecTV and Time Warner. While TWC still can't claim the ability to offer the fledgling NFL Network on its cable systems, DirecTV felt the need to boast not only about its "superior coverage," but to also rub a little salt in Time Warner's wound by informing folks in NFL towns that games shown on the NFL Network "couldn't be seen" on Time Warner. Although the claims seem somewhat legitimate, Time Warner insists that "all eight games featured on the NFL Network will also be available to local fans over broadcast networks," which apparently wasn't the message being conveyed to pigskin-loving consumers. Regardless, DirecTV dug its hole a tad deeper by hiring Jessica Simpson to state that the firm's HD quality "beats cable," which is quite the laughable statement to anyone familiar with "HD Lite." In the end, however, we're sure the ads will be removed (or at least reworded), and the two firms will continue to bicker in future bouts, but what fun would it be if these two actually decided to get along, right?[Via MultiChannel]
