EA misled gamers with Wii Woods ad, says watchdog
Wrong footage
Electronic Arts has been slapped on the wrists by the Advertising Standards Agency, following complaints that adverts for Tiger Woods PGA Tour '09 on the Wii used footage from the Xbox 360 version of the game.
The advert showed Woods swinging a Wii Remote, the subsequent in-game footage used was actually taken from the Xbox 360. Punters complained that the display quality on the Xbox 360 was far better than that of the Wii release.
The ASA ruled that the TV ad could lead Wii gamers to believe that the image quality shown would be that provided by the Wii edition of the title.
The advert did warn that the game is available on multiple formats, EA said. The published also claimed that the game’s Wii edition footage couldn't be used because it “would not be of broadcast quality”. But the ASA upheld viewer complaints.
“Viewers would infer from the ad that Tiger Woods was playing the game on a Wii console,” said the ASA. “Because viewers would not be able to achieve the graphical quality shown in the ad on a Wii console, we concluded that the ad was misleading.”
COMMENTS
The Wii was never about graphics quality...
... it was always about game play. You can't compare the Wii with the Gamecube, X-Box or any other gaming system at the moment as none of the others have the same interactive content.
Sure, the graphics on the Wii are five to ten years out of date but no other console can get four people actively playing at the same time. Indeed most consoles/console games are one-on-one, you versus the machine. Sure you can connect to the Internet and play online, but you are still sitting on a chair in your bedroom, staring at a screen, getting calluses on your thumbs and your bum.
The Wii does at least offer you the chance of some active movement. No, it's not callisthenics but it could get you to shift your body around and get more physical exercise than you get with a PS3.
As for the advert... EA Games were wrong, no doubt about it.
Quality
The published also claimed that the game’s Wii edition footage couldn't be used because it “would not be of broadcast quality”.
So it looks like shit even for just TV adverts? Well done there, couldn't even manage TV quality.
Who cares..
Anyone that buys a Wii is clearly a clueless idiot anyway, lead into buying any old crap by slick marketing. I mean they weren't interesting in the Wii when it was called Gamecube and was in a different coloured box. Make it white, tell everyone it's so popular that you won't be able to find one anywhere, and bobs yer uncle...
i-Sheep or x-Zombies are the common terms for these people, i believe..
