EA Nabbed: Xbox 360 Footage used in Wii Ads

By Jorge Ba-oh 17.12.2008 11

EA Nabbed: Xbox 360 Footage used in Wii Ads on Nintendo gaming news, videos and discussion

EA have been caught out passing Xbox 360 gameplay as Wii footage for Tiger Woods 09.

Britain's Advertising Standards Authority has come down on EA due to an advert shown back in August 2008 on UK tv. It showed players clearly waggling their Wii Remotes around and a Wii logo but used footage from the Xbox 360 version between clips. To justify this, the ad had disclaimer text "available on all formats" towards the end.

Following complains from a single eagle eyed viewer an investigation took place and now the ad can't be shown in its current form and must be less misleading for the public.

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.

Whilst for broadcast means, higher resolution footage from Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 would certainly be more appealing and make sense in the age of digital transmission, using it to fool consumers is just not on.

Should EA be passing off HD material as Wii to grab more sales?

Box art for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 All-Play
Developer

EA

Publisher

EA

Genre

Sport

Players

4

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Reader Score

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European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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Modplan Man is offline. Modplan Man 17.12.2008#1

Wait, what?

Basically EA fecked themselves by not putting much effort into upping the visuals and decided to use 360 footage to try and fool consumers under the excuse of "broadcast quality"?

Nice one!

 
Canyarion is offline. Canyarion 17.12.2008#2

Now that I think about it, it's not a big deal. We're being deceived in ads all the time.

Although I do think it's pretty ironic that they didn't think their own game graphics were good enough to advertise. Smilie

 
originaljohn is offline. originaljohn 17.12.2008#3

I'd expect nothing less from EA

 
jb is offline. jb 17.12.2008#4

Disgusting.

360/PS3 footage would look better, especially resolution wise - but still, blatantly misleading consumers - many of their Wii target audience would rely on ads to see what's hot/not.

Cubed3 Admin/Founder & Designer
 
ModernEpicurian is offline. ModernEpicurian 17.12.2008#5

Classic half-arsed EA caring only about shoveling rubbish and high sales figures no matter what the quality.

Smilie

May you be in heaven for half an hour before the devil knows you are dead.
 
Satoshi is offline. Satoshi 17.12.2008#6

Well all adverts are misleading so this is just fitting in with the rest...

Avoid Games Like the Plague, productivity++
 
Agul is offline. Agul 17.12.2008#7

Awe, come on, there's no surprise here. Quite a few 3rd parties have been pulling this sh*t for many of their Wii games since Wii launched. They're trying to cover up the fact that they put little to no effort into their Wii titles and it exposes how they feel about it regardless of what they say in their press releases.

It's a crying shame they don't take Wii seriously as it has a ridiculous amount of potential. Considering what it can do, you'd think a system like Wii would be flooded with jaw dropping AAA FPSs. Instead, where you do find the majority of them? On 360 & PS3. 3rd parties genuinely just DON'T get Wii. *sigh*

Chance favors the prepared mind.
 
trgdr777 is offline. trgdr777 17.12.2008#8

That's pretty low, but it's not surprising.

 
Laurelin is offline. Laurelin 18.12.2008#9

They explained that Wii footage would not be of broadcast quality

*lol* What? They produce a lot of shit and hide it from the consumer until he has unwrapped the shrinking and must stick with it at home? That's advertising, man!


And they think this footage is up to being sold but not being shown in an ad? Do you feel the whole problem of Wii blowing through here too?

I find your lack of faith disturbing!
 
EdEN is offline. EdEN 18.12.2008#10

That's complete bull. So it seems videogames comercials from 1975 to 2003 must have been non existent since they were not native 720p...

 
JustJoe is offline. JustJoe 19.12.2008#11

I know it's a matter of principle or whatever, but in all honest was anyone gonna get this game regardless?

 

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