Ben-DutkaAliens: Colonial Marines was a mess. It was even more disappointing because based on what we'd seen from trailers and demos, it had promise.
Well, now that very issue is going to court. According to a recent Polygon report , developer Gearbox Software and publisher Sega have been named in a class-action lawsuit that claims the two companies knowingly misrepresented the game in question.
After the terrible game launched, many noticed that what we saw just didn't match the trailers and videos that had previously circulated. So now, plaintiff Damion Perrine and the law firm of Edelson LLC have opted to go after those in charge. The suit even cites a Tweet from Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford, who said the complaints about the gap between the promos and the actual product were "understood and fair." The suit further says some footage was misleadingly labeled "actual gameplay," and seeks damages for anyone who pre-ordered the game or bought it on launch day.
None of this sounds like much fun. And it isn't a black-and-white situation, unfortunately. We could just say "buyer beware," but…
Related Game(s): Aliens: Colonial Marines
lol, I shouldn't laugh but come on they really tried to pull the wool over everyone on this game. And I hate to see Sega lose more money too.
I've got to play this some day just to see how bad it is.
I'd feel bad for Sega too, if they were shown those same trailers and "actual gameplay" when they decided to sign on and publish this title. I wonder what the publishing agreement said, and what was going through the minds at Sega once they actually saw the release version of the game.
The worst part of all of this is that if they had have just made the promotional stuff into a game and sold it for like a 15 dollar downloadable title…it would have probably been way better than what we got here.
I haven't played it but from what I have heard it was not nearly as good or ambitious as what the promotional footage was showing.
this is what really pisses me off though.
they created all this promotional crap, so why wasent that the game?
its not that they dont know how to make a great aliens game, its that they dont give a flying f*ck!
this is why gearbox is my most hated developer, they, and especially randy, clearly has NO respect or love or pride for what he works on.
i still cant believe how the guy who moved houses so he could cut his teeth in the industry, get his foot in the door on DN 3D, and treat the brand that gave him his job, the way he did when forever finally released.
then he has the audacity to say oh how lucky are we were given the privilege to work on one of the biggest most famous names in hollywood!
and again he treats it like this.
he acts like he has allot of love and respect for these things, but at the end of the day he does not give a sh*t!
there is NOTHING worse in the world than a two face!
and thats not even getting into the rumors that he spent a large quantity of the money he was given on borderlands 2 when it was suppose to be going to aliens.
I'm the first one to criticize frivolous lawsuits and I think that class-actions are generally overdone, but I hope that this gains some traction. Gearbox very clearly misrepresented this game and given that there wasn't a demo available, this promotional material along with press write-ups was about the only information made available to consumers.
Publishers and devs haven't had to really face the consequences of misleading gamers and a suit like this might force them to pay more attention to what they're putting out there. Bullshots and "vertical slices" that don't accurately represent the title are long overdue for a critical reassessment. I hope that this doesn't prove to be a fatal blow to Gearbox, since I know from personal experience that they can do good work, but somebody needs to be reamed out for this.
I agree with a lot of what you said, especially the reassessment of vertical slices. I just don't know if this would be the game/company I would go after. From what I remember from the promos I seen nothing in there that made the game look like it was going to be a AAA style game, but I also didn't play it so it may have been that bad, unfortunately I don't know.
As far as gamers go though you don't have to pick up your pre-order immediately, so I have less sympathy for the gamers then most probably do. Youtube is a great resource for a reason, and I tend to use it if I have any concerns with any game I am going to buy.
With this title, they made a special demo to show the gaming press that didn't bear any relation to the finished game. That was done with the knowledge that it would be written up and stoke interest among Aliens fans. Jim Sterling in particular has had a lot to say on the subject. Gearbox isn't the only dev to do it, but they're one of the most egregious recent examples.
Last edited by Kryten1029a on 5/1/2013 9:51:46 PM
Understandable…The ones I personally would have wanted hit by this type of class action suit would be the developers/publishers of the first Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.
Now first thing is first, I went against my own practice by picking it up day one. I did this because I knew that I love flight games, so I knew I would have fun with it. The problem I had, was all the videos were making it appear to be a mix of CoD style ground warfare, along with aerial combat akin to Ace Combat. But when I finally got the product and played it, the ground warfare simply didn't exist, that to me and the friends I showed it to all called it false advertisement. No one ever did anything about it though. And even if they did I would not have taken part simply because I bought the game without doing any research beyond the couple trailers I watched. I chalked it up as my fault and subsequently did not by the 2nd one.
I sympathize and yes there was a lot of false advertising for this game. That might be why pre-ordering can be a bad thing, even if there are exclusives.
If this situation is deemed to be a bad case, the most I would say is the suit should say, that those that pre-ordered get their money back or some sort of credit. Thats as far I would go if I was to side on the plaintiff.
As always though, buyer beware. Sometimes if it looks too good… it probably is.
Keep Playing ! (anyway)
I actually think Sega should take action against Gearbox themselves, there's still questions to be answered over how Gearbox went about this disaster and what exactly happened to Sega's money…