SEGA Admits That Trailers For Aliens: Colonial Marines Were Misleading, Agrees to Issue Disclaimers

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Lee Bradley

SEGA has admitted to the UK’s Advertising Standards Agency that the trailers for Aliens: Colonial Marines were misleading.

As a result the publisher has agreed to mark all of Colonial Marines’ trailers with a disclaimer indicating that the footage does not represent the actual game.

The move comes following a complaint to the Advertising Standards Agency by Redditor subpardave.

“I submitted my complaint based on the absurd differences between the ‘in game’ and ‘playthrough’ footage that was widely used to advertise A:CM. Of course, the game looked and played NOTHING like what was shown to consumers,” wrote subpardave.

“My aim was not to get fines, compensation or any of that. Gearbox and Sega spoke very clearly – by saying absolutely nothing – and showed the purchasing community that they would rather this mess all quietly disappear.

“The games industry – like any other – needs to be held accountable for blatantly deceiving the consumer. And doubly so when a wall of silence is the only response to resounding criticism for shipping a shoddy product, having shown off one with all the bells and whistles.

“The ASA has little real power. But negative press? That does.”

However, it seems the ASA has more power than the Redittor thought. The regulatory body responded, saying, “We contacted Sega Europe to discuss this issue. They explained that their online trailers used demo footage, created using the in-game engine.

“Sega Europe acknowledged your objection that the trailers did not accurately reflect the final content of the game. They agreed to add a disclaimer, both on their website and in all relevant Youtube videos, which explains that the trailers depict footage of the demo versions of the game. The disclaimer will be visible when each online trailer is played.

“On the basis of the advertiser’s written assurance, we have decided to informally uphold your complaint. Basic information, including the advertiser’s name and where the ad appeared, will be published on our website, www.asa.org.uk on 27th March 2012.

The ASA concluded by saying, “Our role in cases such as this is to ensure that marketing material isn’t likely to materially mislead the public. We consider that with this disclaimer in place, customers are unlikely to get the impression that the trailer shows the finished product, and the ads are therefore unlikely to mislead.”

[via Beefjack]

Comments
35
  • This people deserve to get promoted
  • About time, Sega!
  • I have always firmly believed and still do, that game trailers should be like movie trailers and actually be the product you are going to be purchasing not some demo/CGI representation of the product. So a game trailer should only show content that is in the game/games cut scenes that do actually represent the products quality. You wouldn't expect to watch a movie trailer and then buy/go see the movie and none of the content in the trailer is actually in the movie, now would you.
  • This is hardly a win though. You would assume that Demo material is worse than the final product. The trailers should really be taken down IMO. The warning on their site is hardly very clear either: "The trailer footage shown uses the in-game engine, and represents a work in progress." Work in progress still suggests it can only get better. Not the trailer is of when it looked good. We broke it since then
  • What they should have to do is use THE ACTUAL game footage to advertise the ACTUAL game you are buying. Putting some text that 'this is footage from the demo version' isn't going to mean anything to some people, because a demo should be exactly that: a demonstration of the game they are going to buy. Unless they say something like 'this is footage from the demo version, and the version we are selling you is a lot shitter', but that won't happen.
  • too little too late and how can a demo be better quality than the final product? this needs to be a lesson to all games companies, especially EA and Activision, walls of silence get you no where
  • Is this any good? Reviews have been atrocious for it but I'm not sure if I should pick it up or not.
  • They should just recall the thing, and sue Gearbox, for misappropriation of funds.
  • @3. You mean all adverts should be in-game footage only. Not movies. I know what you meant, but a game movie is always cgi. I/e a snippet from an in-game cutscene. I agree that adverts should always be in-game footage and should always specify which format is being shown. eg. ps3, 360, PC.
  • Did they ever explain why the game looks nothing like the demos? Did they just hire incompetents?
  • Fucking Gearbox, man. All that talk about how much they love the franchise, and they fucking let this game happen. This is the kind of shit that stops other games getting made. People will see this, and no one will greenlight an Aliens game for years following this.
  • seems to be a bit too late now
  • @11, I read / saw a video about it. The footage that looks great was the original footage from Gearbox, then they outsourced some of it to 2 other studios as well and it got a bit messy when they had to combine it all together at the end
  • @11, found the video I saw talking about why it was so bad: http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/01vlao/annoyed-gamer-in-space--no-one-can-hear-you-be-pissed
  • Oh dear. Remember all those interviews with Randy Pitchford hyping up this turd...lol. Verbal diarrhea marketing to the brim.
  • Still aint playing it till they fix the save issue! last fix was bull and didnt do anything! notice they added the save fix just before dlc was released. Looks like a deception game to get people to buy dlc
  • wholey shit....I honestly didn't think something like this could happen. The worst part is that Gearbox is tied into this mess.
  • this shit happens all the time in film also. i love the Aliens franchise and wanted this game for years. Then i saw the 'in-game' footage and thought id looked shit. the more i saw the shitter it looked. and then the reviews came and i thanked christ that i didnt part with cash for this. iv never played and i never will. Having said all this if the consumer is foolish enough to pay for something, why should Gearbox care? by that point they just all want a return on their product.
  • I'm soooo glad I didn't buy this game.
  • they should have gotten a lot more than just made to add a disclaimer... A:CM was basically all sold on lies to get preorders
  • Glad I steered clear of this mess. Won't even lend it off a mate as I don't want my love of the Aliens franchise shattered by what I've heard about this. Totally.
  • So when can i expect my refund??
  • A nice gesture, but issuing disclaimers this late in the metaphorical game is pretty much redundant. Everyone who fell for it will already have bought it, and the rest of us already know.
  • @3 I don't agree. They are great and I and many other love them. What they should do is that show when it's in-game footage as compared to CGI or non-rendering cutscenes.
  • Dear, I have gotten this game free and it's lying in front of me but this much bad press wants me to not play it at all. I just can't put it into my XBOX although I really liked Aliens VS Predator (released this Gen). I haven't found a single person, who even says it's above average. It shows it's a complete mess and utter crap
  • Wait, it'll be published on their web site last year? Or did they intend to write the date as 2013?
  • IT still doesn't change the fact that this game is terrible. Even with the recent patch, it's still a poor representation of the legendary sci-fi franchise. This series deserves better. Even the 2010 AvP game was better than this... and that wasn't really a top seller, either.
  • @27...Now you've found one...I thoroughly enjoyed this game and have recommended it to many people...sure it has its flaws but what game doesn't??? Your best option is to try it for yourself...reviewers don't always have the same likes and dislikes as you...I never follow reviews...it's unfair to judge a product without trying it yourself...so i suggest give it a go...you maybe surprised...
  • I'm not surprised the trailers weren't representative of the final product. Why would you want trailers to be representative of a pile of crap? You don't.
  • A misleading trailer? Isn't that the mission of a trailer?
  • @27 Im with #30, I enjoyed the game as well. Going off how easy it is for me to find an online game, Im assuming many others enjoy it too. Its the same with the Mass Effect 3 MP, people complained cause its the cool thing to do. I say play it for yourself with an open mind ( more of a fan nostalgia hit than full shooter game) & judge it for yourself
  • @26 - They do say whether the footage is in-game or not. Taken long enough, but better than nothing.
  • I don't fuckin care I loved the game it's fun and when I have fun in my hectic NYC life ill play it,but I give them cred for coming out and admitting to this
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