As we told you yesterday, SEGA and Gearbox are set to find themselves in court over a class-action suit that claims they misrepresented the game, and ended up delivering a product that was substantially worse than the one advertised. This isn’t a bold claim; it’s plain and simple fact. Still, the defendants claim the suit is “frivolous.”
“Sega cannot comment on specifics of ongoing litigation, but we are confident that the lawsuit is without merit and we will defend it vigorously,” the publisher told Kotaku.
Gearbox also believes the suit to be of little worth.
“Attempting to wring a class action lawsuit out of a demonstration is beyond meritless.” says Gearbox “We continue to support the game, and will defend the rights of entertainers to share their works-in-progress without fear of frivolous litigation.”
As much as I hated Aliens: Colonial Marines (and believe me, I did), I’m inclined to side with the defendants on this one. Yes, the game that we got was a poor imitation of the “gameplay” that was shown off, but such is the way of videogames. If Gearbox can be sued for it, why not take irrational Games to court? The early Bioshock Infinite videos are quite a bit different to the final game – as are countless other “work in progress” titles.
Tell you what though; after Duke Nukem forever and Aliens, I’ll be wary of just about any game that happens to have the Gearbox Logo on the front. Unless, of course, that game’s called “Borderlands 3”
Last Updated: May 3, 2013
Ultimo_Cleric_N7
May 3, 2013 at 12:10
I dont think they will lose the case, but hopefully this ACTUALLY DOES send out a message to the Dev’s that you cant just make false promises and not deliver. In any other business that kind of thing is a genuine court case that CAN be lost.
Ultimo_Cleric_N7
May 3, 2013 at 12:10
I dont think they will lose the case, but hopefully this ACTUALLY DOES send out a message to the Dev’s that you cant just make false promises and not deliver. In any other business that kind of thing is a genuine court case that CAN be lost.
Purple_Dragon
May 3, 2013 at 12:16
I don’t know, my biggest problem was with their demo showing what a brilliant game it was. It’s false advertising in my book.
Rince da Ref Lvl2
May 3, 2013 at 12:25
Agreed. If you did that with a product, like a microwave, and people bought it, you would be able to sue the crap out of them. ‘Step right up, step right up! You can cook food in METAL TINS in this microwave, we PROMISE! (Okay, it is slightly different, but you get my point:)
Rince da Ref Lvl2
May 3, 2013 at 12:25
Agreed. If you did that with a product, like a microwave, and people bought it, you would be able to sue the crap out of them. ‘Step right up, step right up! You can cook food in METAL TINS in this microwave, we PROMISE! (Okay, it is slightly different, but you get my point:)
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 3, 2013 at 12:27
I tend to disagree a bit.
The Bioshock Infinite videos looked a bit better and didn’t represent actual story line as such. BUt one can see that as “touch ups” and hiding the main story line because lets face it, if it was done any other way the story ending wouldn’t have been so “blow my mind away”. Also no one is going to go after Bioshock Infinite because it still delivered on the promises it made.
Those were:
Intriguing story line
Allowing you to wield your guns and your powers at the same time.
Beautiful rendered city (it really was)
Etc;
They delivered on each of these promises.
Aliens:CM said that the video footage was still a work in progress.
This means (or at least implies) that it wasn’t touched up as it wasn’t a final product being showcased. This means the graphics should have been on par or at least better at release.
Now usually this wouldn’t really be enough to do much but add to the fact that gameplay was absolutely nowhere near what actually was (at least Bioshock was pretty much what was showed) and that the game felt so bland just pushed people over the edge.
The whole point of the Alien games is to induce a sense of fear and helplessness. This is achieved by and large through the use of a good graphics engine.
This is what had people angry. The atmosphere shown was not even close in the end.
Volumetric smoke effects that was so heavily showcased? Volumetric smoke didn’t even exist in the game.
Vast distant rendered scenery was shown as well. Instead what was given was a generic hand painted backdrop.
Dynamic rain effects showcased? Nope. Not having any of that either.
Great looking explosions showcased? Nope. Counterstrike 1.6 had better explosion effects.
So yes, while it will be tough to win this court case against Gearbox and Sega, the fact of the matter is that they blatantly lied and this means that they didn’t just make their showcased stuff a bit prettier, they actually blatantly lied about the ability of the engine and the actual gameplay.
This isn’t simply a case of “oh the industry touches up everything they showcase” this is like night and day.
Purple_Dragon
May 3, 2013 at 12:28
Clap clap clap, you have my vote.
Purple_Dragon
May 3, 2013 at 12:28
Clap clap clap, you have my vote.
Anon A Mouse
May 3, 2013 at 12:49
I love how you defend the industry by the following: “but such is the way of videogames.” If it was any other kind of product in any other industry I’m sure you will be in the front line, torch in hand. The video game industry should not get away with it just because “such is the way”. Everyone should be held to a higher standard and they should know when those standards aren’t being met.
We are busy raising a new generation of gamers that grew up with always being connected and with sub par games to play. Without them knowing how the 8bit and 16bit games where truly intriguing to play and where worth every cent and drop of sweat put into it. Yes it wasn’t perfect but it was fun. These days games are ruined by execs in Italian suits that do not know anything about gaming or the industry and only see the bazillions to be made out of little Johnny and Mary Everybody.
I hope they get a judge that will at least let them pay punitive damage. That being said, I’m sure if it does happen then that will be the end of any gameplay demos and you will only see a bunch of screenshots and teaser vids.
/ rant.
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 3, 2013 at 13:13
I think Geoff is trying to imply that gamers are sometimes too quick on the draw to go the whole torch and pitchfork route.
In this case I believe they have a right to go to town but it does also bring up the problem that it seems that all gamers are doing as of late are complaining about everything. And that sheds some bad light on ’em all.
Anon A Mouse
May 3, 2013 at 13:30
If it’s about the story or the ending, then fine I’m with Geoff on this. But really you can’t show a person a McClaren F1 and say this is what you will be getting and then when the day comes he drives away in a 1972 VW Beetle and then you shrug your shoulders and say “Meh, such is the way of motor vehicles, now move along.”
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 3, 2013 at 13:36
Agreed, as I said, I think they have a right here in this case. But if you look at the history this is one of very few that are actually legitimate to complain about. The rest is just the community complaining because they can.
It won’t be taken serious because of the community’s history of complaining about nothing.
Johan du Preez
May 3, 2013 at 16:45
I hope they sue the pants of them, yeh lets let it slide and then in a year they show you a trailer of a cgi movie and claim its gameplay and get away with it.
Good time to nip this in the but before companies think they can get away with this.
Do you want DLC/Fake CGI Trailers masquerading as game play in the future ?
Johan du Preez
May 3, 2013 at 16:45
I hope they sue the pants of them, yeh lets let it slide and then in a year they show you a trailer of a cgi movie and claim its gameplay and get away with it.
Good time to nip this in the but before companies think they can get away with this.
Do you want DLC/Fake CGI Trailers masquerading as game play in the future ?