Sega and Gearbox Software have been reportedly sued by a consumer over claims of false advertising in regards to Aliens: Colonial Marines, says Polygon. The lawsuit, filed yesterday by law firm Edelson LLC on behalf of Damion Perrine, claims that Aliens: Colonial Marines was falsely advertised by Gearbox Software and Sega at trade shows, misleading consumers by giving an inaccurate representation of the final product.
“Unfortunately for their fans, Defendants never told anyone — consumers, industry critics, reviewers, or reporters — that their ‘actual gameplay’ demonstration advertising campaign bore little resemblance to the retail product that would eventually be sold to a large community of unwitting purchasers.” Read more here.
In related news, Steam appears to be issuing full refunds to consumers who have filled a complaint with Washington State Attorney. Find more here.
“Valve Corporation has agreed to credit your full purchase price of $49.99 paid for the software product Aliens: Colonial Marines on 2/5/2013. This does not necessarily reflect on the validity of your claim, nor does it preclude you from, or, assist you in seeking private legal remedies. (…) We will retain a copy of your complaint as part of our public record of the firm’s business practices.”
This is an excerpt from AvPG's interview with GBX in 2012: http://www.avpgalaxy.net/games/aliens-colonial-marines-sega/interview-gearbox-software/
Problem is that it was confusing for people because it was purposely omitted from all official promotional material at the time:
A:CM kept relying on early E3 demo without showing final build before the release. Huge difference.
The problem isn't just about A:CM's horrid quality, either. It's also the absolutely ridiculous difference in quality between all the screenshots and footage we've been shown prior to A:CM's release and the final product. Not to mention everything that's been stated by GBX in interviews and press conferences leading all the way up to the game's launch. Then it continued with how it was marketed. The final "nail in the coffin" is the shady shit we've learned GBX did that caused the game's quality to suffer so drastically.
No, they need to be held accountable, and I can't seen anything but good coming out of this situation because (at the very least) it sends the message to all game companies that this sort of thing is WRONG and we (as their consumers) won't tolerate it.
You don't have to be a Cambridge grad to know something is complete crap, either. Game companies need to mean what they say, and make good on their word. If they can't, then they shouldn't try to cover it up.
The shadows and lighting in this trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cojjVDdtB8g#
and of course, this entire "level":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGhsg48Ytuc#
Both of these are addressed in the, Making Of documentary of the game.
EDIT
4:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QoJeywvbt0#
That's exactly the point, I don't what changes they made in Halo 2 but they went too far with A:CM.
This.
As for deleted scenes with movies, that stuff usually ends up on the home version, at the very least it exists somewhere or was cut for a reason. These game demos are being made for the sole purpose of swindling people through hype and then never appear anywhere in the game.
All that early footage ended up looking MILES better in ever regard. The final product was basically a game that looked like it was still in early development. It's as if you paid to see a movie, but ended up getting the version with the green screens still in the frame, terrible audio, and text saying "special effect of shield, here."
And the bullshit about the developers not having to make the game to our satisfaction is horseshit. They cannot, and should not stoop the such low levels to release a piece of shit. No one here ever expects a shitty game, and the developers damn well should not have aspired to make one in the first place. They know better than that, and still decided to release a crap product. The standard should always be to do the best, and clearly Gearbox and Sega wanted nothing to do with that mentality.
EDIT
And that bit about the Predators trailer is not the same damn thing. The movie we got was the same as advertised, it wasn't horribly butchered to death. A:CM was ripped apart, the entire hype train Gearbox set up was calling this basically the be all, end all of everything in the Alien Franchise.
MAKE ALIEN 3 BETTER
TRUE SEQUEL
CO-OP IS THE SHIT
AN AMAZING STORY UNLIKE ANYTHING BEFORE
etc., etc.
"Bullshit, all of it."
Also, there are plenty of film trailers that show scenes or elements that don't end up in the final film. Just look at the Predators trailer.
Only good can come out of this, it'll stop devs and publishers from advertising games years in advance when the finished product is nothing alike, maybe they'll also stop devoting so much damn money to marketing and actually work on their game.
It's not like we get anything out of this lawsuit but screw it they can go for it and try to have something done about all the fake advertising in the industry.
That's not the same argument, if this is the Game Informer article in a nutshell, then it's a waste of the author's time to have even written it.
Here's an interesting gameinformer opinion piece about this. I do think the lawsuit is without merit, even though it's clear customers were mislead. Are you going to sue a film studio after watching a bad movie that had a good trailer?
What ever it is, it will be a pointless gesture.
doesnt even look like the same f**king game
And Borderland was built upon sacrifice of Alien: CM. You would be a damn fool to support such scam franchise.
If we let this case go away, then other companies along with Gearbox will repeat the same crime in the future.
It's people like you who is not helping gaming industry at all. We need to set precedent so other companies won't dare to do the same. Say other companies also did all you want. It doesn't change the fact that this case is the most glaring case at least in this year so far.
Actions speak louder than words, though. Now that we've been finding out what really happened with the game's development, how can anyone not think Randy and the rest of GBX are like fork-tonged salesmen?
This kind of BS has to stop NOW. With all game companies. Game developers (and publishers) need to start making good on their word.
http://www.edelson.com/case/13/
While we're at it, could I sue over Epic Mickey, Kingdom Hearts Re: Coded, Silent Hill HD Collection, Shadow Of the Damned, and every other crappy game I ended up wasting money on?
Oh, that f**king HD collection. If anyone deserved to be sued, it was Konami and Tomm Hulett for that broken POS
Besides, Randy seems like a swell guy.
Agreed.
the game was a disappointment, we get it.
but stuff like that happen. now, move on.
One thing is clear, A:CM will never be the game we wanted. Or even the game they said it would be. We aren't going to get any true justice because of this.
Yeah, I'm a bit concerned about that, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbB_HVcXpPk#ws
Finally man, I love this game to hell and back but FINALLY they get what they deserve for all their f**king lies! I just hope that it impacts future Aliens game in a positive way... The most positive way being an actual future for Aliens game.
btw this isnt mean that we get the game we promised i dunno why are u so happy about it....and top of it if we would got that graphics like in the demos...the STORY, THE ACTING AND AI STILL WOULD HAVE BEEN HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!! and no lawsuit can do anything about that, i dont understand how many people wank over the graphics...but do what u want
Exactly, it was the culmination of a number of failures. uDraw Wii accessory, AAA CoD rival Homefront, unfinished development of an MMO, and I think one other high-cost/risk venture that I'm forgetting. It was insane that they attempted all of these at once, the failure of any one of them would have had a major impact on the company.
But getting back on topic, I hope the Colonial Marines situation doesn't bite Sega too badly. They have a number of other major properties under their banner which could suffer underfunding, rushing, lay-offs, lack of post-release support, redesigning or even abandonment if the corporate coffers start drying up. Rome Total War 2, just for one example, is a hugely ambitious title in a flagship series, and needs 100% commitment to live up to that promise.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/01/gearbox-sega-sued-over-aliens-colonial-marines?abthid=51806b00e9cae3417700003b
http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/30/sega-and-gearbox-targeted-in-aliens-colonial-marines-lawsuit/
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.gawkerassets.com%2Fimg%2F18kx5arf6pfucpng%2Fku-xlarge.png&hash=7b075d2bece3d923d9b5ee2049e5a264abca983c