December 17th, 2008
EA: Wii graphx sux
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK has fragged an ad for EA’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09. The ASA claim that the ad was misleading because it used footage from the Xbox 360 version of the game.
What’s interesting here isn’t the ASA’s ruling but EA’s response:
Electronic Arts confirmed that the footage in the ad was taken from the Xbox 360 version of the game. They pointed out that Tiger Woods was seen using a Wiimote throughout the ad and the only branding at the end of the ad was that of Nintendo Wii. They said, to avoid any confusion, they added text to inform viewers that the game was available on all formats. Electronic Arts maintained that they were demonstrating game action that was possible on all formats and did not show any gameplay that was impossible on a Wii. They explained that Wii footage would not be of broadcast quality, and the originating agency had thought it preferable to use the Xbox footage, which was closer to broadcast definition, than to “up the resolution” of Wii footage to broadcast quality. [emphasis added]
Oooh, now that’s harsh, and I might add, somewhat unfair. After all, you see plenty of ads of Wii games on the TV and they look OK. I think what happened here is that the ad agency tried to do something cinematic with the footage and chose to use higher resolution footage. But if you’re going to put Tiger Woods with a Wiimote in his hand in front of a digital representation of Woods, people are going to automatically assume that the footage Wii footage.
ASA ruling can be found here.
Adrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations
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