Simpsons Game forced to remove GTA parody

That REALLY sucks.
Man up, take two. This BS is enough for me to avoid take two / rockstar games. VERY dissapointing.
 
Those evil EA fuckers, how dare they! I always knew EA was capable of this shit, but now they actually do it! Typical behavior from those $$$$$$s!
 
EA should have told Rockstar/TakeTwo to go fuck themselves. Parody is a well recognized form of Fair Use. Weird Al only asks permission out of respect, he doesn't need it. He felt bad about the Coolio situation because it was a miscommunication between their management. Coolio was pissed off about Al's Amish Paradise parody, but he had no actual legal recourse.
 
[quote name='Damian']EA should have told Rockstar/TakeTwo to go fuck themselves. Parody is a well recognized form of Fair Use.[/quote]

It was in Germany dude.

Nuff said.
 
[quote name='VanillaGorilla']Those evil EA fuckers, how dare they! I always knew EA was capable of this shit, but now they actually do it! Typical behavior from those $$$$$$s![/QUOTE]
HYSTERICAL!
 
[quote name='camoor']It was in Germany dude.

Nuff said.[/QUOTE]
Not really relevant. That's where the issue of the poster being removed took place, yes, but there is a quote that states "we've had to pull stuff from the game". The game is not being made in Germany, so the developers are not subject to German law on this issue. They would be if they sold the game there, yes, but Germany almost always needs editions of games anyway because of their stupid laws about Nazi symbols and about realistic blood.
 
that's fucked up. After all they've been through, they get mad at being parodied by the Simpsons. you've gotta be fucking kidding me.
 
fuck Take-Two.

Seriously, I just lost quite alot of respect for these people. GTA is FILLED TO THE BRIM with parody.

Yeah, keep this shit up and I'm staying away from GTA IV.

I'm writing Take-Two for an apology.

Dear Take Two (Rockstar),

Being a fan of Take Two's work, I was extremely dissapointed when I read that people from Rockstar and Take Two complained about a Grand Theft Auto parody in Electronic Art's "The Simpsons Game".

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/14727/The-Simpsons-Game-EA-Had-to-Remove-GTA-Parody/

Having played all the Grand Theft Auto games, I realize as well as anyone at Rockstar that GTA thrives on parody and cultural satire. The blatant hypocracy that Rockstar would complain about another game parodying Grand Theft Auto is absolutely inexcusable.

I have always respected how Take Two and Rockstar have handled themselves, both in producing quality games and dealing with controversy. I hope you can handle yourselves as well now as you have in the past, and apologise for any contribution you had to the censorship of the team on "The Simpsons Game".

Sincerely,
A fan
***name here***
Click to expand...
 
that's interesting.

well I have no interest in the simpsons what so ever. the show's not funny. the movie wasn't funny, and the game isn't going to appeal to me.
 
[quote name='SL4IN']that's interesting.

well I have no interest in the simpsons what so ever. the show's not funny. the movie wasn't funny, and the game isn't going to appeal to me.[/QUOTE]
You just love posting negative things in threads about things you "Have no interest in" don't you?

I'm confused though, is the parody only removed in germany? This looks like the best simpsons game in years with co-op and clever design. I can admit when EA does things well. EA doesn't always mean crap. Usually, but not always.
 
[quote name='jer7583']You just love posting negative things in threads about things you "Have no interest in" don't you?[/quote]

only if you continue to quote what I say and point me out ;)
 
Well you did follow "thats interesting" with "I'm not interested"
It's just not productive. And everyone knows the new simpsons are garbage.
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']Actually, I'm confused here... were they asked to take down the poster, or the entire level?[/quote]

The whole level. It was a poster that a Take Two employee saw and got pissy about it. So EA pulled the level out of the game to avoid any legal action from Take Two. They can dish out parodies in the GTA games, but if a parody of GTA makes it into a EA game, Take Two gets sand in their vagina.
 
I think this story is being reported incorrectly. I think all they did was take down a poster, and not remove the game content. I could be wrong, though, as the reporting has been very confusing in its wording.
 
I can't read the article here, but, after thinking about it a bit, something has to be up.

They really have to be ripping off the entire game in some illegal way. Someone brought up Amish Paradise. Yes, Weird Al can do it, but he did cut what he called "a fairly hefty check" to Coolio. So, if it parodies too close, you may have to pay.

GTA is full of parody (as everyone said). Also, just the feel of the games, you would think Take 2 would be ok with a parody of the game. So, something else is involved. Either, it's the whole game or something else.

Also, EA is an arrogant company. The fact that they relented and pulled the level out (seemingly pretty quickly), has to lead that they believe it cuts a bit too close.

Hard to say, have to read the article tonight after work.
 
I believe that the thing that was removed was the promo image/logo for the minigame Grand Theft Scratchy as it did look a LOT like a GTA poster/cover with the same layout and design. I could understand Rockstar being concerned that people would believe it was a Rockstar licensed/developed/approved project and that EA would be profiting off of Rockstar's success in a very direct, copying way. It's reasonable that EA would remove that image, since it could be misleading.

I could be wrong, though. I hope they didn't actually have to pull gameplay content from the game.
 
[quote name='VidgamesgivemeA_D_D']Man Sitar Hero with Apu would of been money.[/QUOTE]

I was hoping for B Sharps Revolution, but I guess this works too.
 
[quote name='Strell']I was hoping for B Sharps Revolution, but I guess this works too.[/quote]

All I know is that God of Wharf is one of the funniest thing's I've seen in a long time.
 
[quote name='lordxixor101']I can't read the article here, but, after thinking about it a bit, something has to be up.

They really have to be ripping off the entire game in some illegal way. Someone brought up Amish Paradise. Yes, Weird Al can do it, but he did cut what he called "a fairly hefty check" to Coolio. So, if it parodies too close, you may have to pay.

GTA is full of parody (as everyone said). Also, just the feel of the games, you would think Take 2 would be ok with a parody of the game. So, something else is involved. Either, it's the whole game or something else.

Also, EA is an arrogant company. The fact that they relented and pulled the level out (seemingly pretty quickly), has to lead that they believe it cuts a bit too close.

Hard to say, have to read the article tonight after work.[/QUOTE]

Yes, but you can still ask somebody to take something out and they may agree to do it even though they wouldn't legally have to.

But sounds like the article might have the facts wrong anyway.

Here's the text of the article:

EA has revealed it had to remove a GTA spoof level of The Simpsons Game after Rockstar asked to be taken down.

"I was always under the impression that when you do parody, it's a sign of respect... If we make fun of Grand Theft Auto, we're not going to hurt the sales of Grand Theft Auto... But yeah, we've definitely had some reactions - we've had to pull stuff from the game," The Simpsons lead designer Greg Rizzer revealed to CVG.

Rizzer revealed that at this year's Games Convention in Leipzig, someone at Rockstar took offence at a poster for 'Grand Theft Scratchy', one of the levels in the game, and asked that it be taken down.

But not every company felt the same way after seeing its franchise being parodied in The Simpsons Game.

"I don't know if you've seen Sitar Hero? We did Apu playing this 60-button controller and songs like Pour Some Curry On Me" said Rizzer. "We made this wonderful parody poster and the guys from Harmonix loved it and we sent them 20 copies of the poster. They just loved it so much."

Unfortunately, Activision’s Red Octane is the publisher of Guitar Hero so even if Harmonix was cool with the spoof, its publisher could still follow Rockstar’s way.
Click to expand...
 
[quote name='lordxixor101']They really have to be ripping off the entire game in some illegal way. Someone brought up Amish Paradise. Yes, Weird Al can do it, but he did cut what he called "a fairly hefty check" to Coolio. So, if it parodies too close, you may have to pay.[/QUOTE]
He wrote a check, yes, but there was nothing different about it than what was paid to any other artist he parodied. He paid standard mechanical royalties for using the music. Music is subject to what is called "compulsory licensing", meaning everyone is free to use any music for a pre-established fee. You can't really "parody" music, you're parodying the lyrics which are also licensed separately.
 
[quote name='Strell']....

Didn't we already have a Simpsons GTA rip off game?

Hit 'n Run? No?[/QUOTE]
And that game was good too.


As for being forced to remove the level. LAME.

Oh well, I'm sure The Simpsons Game will still be great without it.
 
Anyone notice how long it took Take Two to notice the GTA level? It's been in the public for ages. o_O;

And yeah, talk about double standards... we can take the piss out of people but you can't.

So what did EA do? Remove the whole level or just make the parody less clear?
 
[quote name='CloudANDTidus']Anyone notice how long it took Take Two to notice the GTA level? It's been in the public for ages. o_O;

And yeah, talk about double standards... we can take the piss out of people but you can't.

So what did EA do? Remove the whole level or just make the parody less clear?[/QUOTE]
Sounds like they took out the whole level
 
[quote name='Strell']CloudANDTidus, whazzat in your avatar, if you don't mind me askin?[/quote]

*laughs*

It's a tarutaru from Final Fantasy XI. :p

I'm Pebe on the Unicorn server if anyone plays. :p
 
I don't think the level was removed, just the overly similar logo to GTA..

But nobody's listening to me anyway.
 
[quote name='jer7583']I don't think the level was removed, just the overly similar logo to GTA..

But nobody's listening to me anyway.[/quote]It sounded to me like it was just the poster at the Game convention and had nothing to do with the game itself.
 
[quote name='daroga']It sounded to me like it was just the poster at the Game convention and had nothing to do with the game itself.[/QUOTE]
The quote in the article specifically says "we had to pull stuff from the game", so it's about more than a poster. How much more I have no idea. There just isn't enough information out there yet.
 
well, "stuff from the game" could mean anything from copycatting the GTA logo to removing a whole level. Bad reporting all around.
 
[quote name='jer7583']I don't think the level was removed, just the overly similar logo to GTA..

But nobody's listening to me anyway.[/QUOTE]
EA has revealed it had to remove a GTA spoof level of The Simpsons Game
Click to expand...

So yeah, looks like the whole level.
 
Screw rockstar. Thompson and Take Two deserve each other.

Seriously, is it possible to create any entertainment media without getting the lawyers involved?
 
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