220°

UK Wii U advert banned due to misleading public

Nintendo Insider writes:

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a Wii U advertisement, following a complaint that it is misleading consumers.

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nintendo-insider.com
1upgamer994111d ago

Oh wow, that is just not right. I mean should 3D Blu-ray players not advertise 3D because not all Blu-ray's are 3D, or just because it is a 3D Blu-ray player and 3D Blu-ray if you don't have a 3D TV it is not going to work...I could have probably thought of a better analogy, that was the first that came to mind.

iamnsuperman4111d ago

That is a terrible analogy. What the advertising watchdog has done is right. What Nintendo needed to do was put a disclaimer, that is clearly visible, to say that the specific feature doesn't work on all games

jimbobwahey4110d ago

I'm shocked that 1upgamer99 was actually trying to defend Nintendo misleading consumers with the advert.

I think it's articles like these that always highlight the difference between the kiddies on N4G and the actual adults. You'll get the little kids whining about their favorite company being punished and how consumers should just wave their rights away while people with some actual sense acknowledge that it's a good thing when companies don't get away with attempts at conning consumers.

Akuma-4110d ago

nintendo misleading consumers again, thats normal. the wii was suppose to have 1:1 motion controls but it doesnt. the wii u is suppose to be next gen but its weaker than the xbox and ps3.

i cant wait for ps4.

darthv724110d ago

the system is capable of all of those things the ad portrays. It is the responsibility of the software developer to state whether or not those features apply to their specific title.

when you advertise the platform you are going to tout everything it is capable of in spite of those features not being used by EVERY title released. That is the nature of advertising the platform. Advertising the games for said platform is where all the fine print comes into play.

It was blogged about by someone that they got the pro controller only to find out it didnt work with NSMBU. It clearly says on the game box what controllers are supported just as has been the norm for every game released this gen for the wii, 360 and ps3.

You dont list the supported games on the box for the controller because that is an ever changing condition.

SilentNegotiator4110d ago

It's the 21st century. You have to use disclaimers and be 100% clear about functionality and limitations that may affect customer decision.

Oversight happens sometimes, I suppose. I doubt that the Nintendo corporation is lacking in legal knowledge/power to understand the situation.

iamnsuperman4110d ago

@darthv72

That would be true if the specific game was made clear during the ad. What happens in the ad is a generic game is shown to switch to the controller without any information that it may not work on all Wii U games. The way it comes off seems like they mean any game can do it which is actually wrong. All it needs is a disclaimer like what Microsoft did with a kinect advert showing it in schools and a hospital. Technically it could do those things it said but they had to say the consumer will not be able to experience that now and could soon. You have to be as clear as possible as a normal consumer could get a Wii U game with their Wii U but not do what it says on the advert. It is why we dont get adverts showing a PS3 and vita working together without a disclaimer saying they are sold seperately and subject to game type

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4110d ago
aceitman4111d ago

@1up it says it in clear day light the u need a 3d compatible tv 3d hdmi cable and a 3d compatible blu-ray player . Do the research. I know I have 3d tv and 35 3d movies and games .

1upgamer994111d ago

I have them too, what I was talking about was advertising for 3D Blu-ray...LOL I don't need to research it.

lashes2ashes4110d ago

All ads for 3d,hd,ect products have a disclaimer at the end stating not everything will work or you need special cables ect, this add was removed because it did not state the disclaimer at the end.

Slapshot824110d ago

I'm with the ASA on this front as well. The ability to play Wii U without a television is one of the major highlights of the console and it not being fully available for every game does indeed need to be fully understood by consumers.

nunley334109d ago

Maybe the feature isn't available for EVERY game but, i have a problem with it being taken down cause one person complained. This sort of thing happens much too often and you really have to these people's agenda.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4109d ago
-Mika-4110d ago

Does anybody know if they were fined?

PopRocks3594110d ago

What do you care? The ad was removed; the due punishment was given.

DarkBlood4110d ago

its possible she likely cares because it gives more fuel for her hate of nintendo

animegamingnerd4110d ago

and this is important why? oh wait it's you mika being a troll

nukeitall4110d ago

I kind of agree with Mika here.

What is the punishment for breaking the law?

Oh, we are just gonna remove the ad. Even though this is a pretty small violation and hardly hurt anyone, I think they should get a small symbolic fine to indicate there is a penalty for illegal actions.

ChickeyCantor4110d ago (Edited 4110d ago )

The fact they already lost a sum on these ads could be enough. The law is not absolute. It's merely there to give guidelines to protect you from people and yourself.

G20WLY4110d ago

That's the problem though; we don't know if some people were (or at least felt like they had been) duped or not.

If they were, how many sales of systems and games did the ad generate before it was pulled? How much money was made? Nobody can ever know the answer.

This may have been an honest oversight when compiling the ad for all we know...but on the other hand it could be the oldest trick in the book; the old "oh really? We didn't realise! We'll pull the ad immediately and know for the future...*sniggers*" manoeuvre lol

I for one was pleased when they finally enforced the "not actual game footage" disclaimer, as I was fed up with pre-rendered WOW bagging sales for mediocre games. :O

nukeitall4110d ago

The problem I'm trying to point out is that, by merely having an ad removed there were no real repercussion for breaking the law. On top of that, they enjoyed the benefit of false advertising.

If I was a company, I would just keep pushing that envelope, because you now what, the worst that could happen is the ad is removed.

It's simple, make it so it is unprofitable to break the law and most companies will stay in line.

AO1JMM4110d ago

The Wii U hater club president has arrived I see.

Shouldn't you be under your bridge right now?

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4110d ago
chukamachine4110d ago

There punishment was they had to live in a room of mii's for a week.

kyon1474110d ago

Companies will always try and get away with this, they go down to route of saying "oh we didn't not not mention it, so its okay right?" When they know the consumer will assume it will work on every game which is exactly what they want them to think without directly saying it.

Good move by the ASA to make sure that people who buy the Wii U buy on a more informed choice rather than a well made biased advert.

Show all comments (52)
80°

Nintendo's Massacre Of The 3DS And Wii U Is Finally Complete, Regrettably

Hanzala from eXputer: "The cruel hammer of Nintendo has fallen. Farewell, 3DS and Wii U, you surely brightened my life and many others; you won't be forgotten."

280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple1016d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref5d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde5d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander19725d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville5d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff21835d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos5d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 5d ago
isarai6d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref5d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan5d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis0074d ago (Edited 4d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander19726d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

5d ago Replies(3)
Einhander19725d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

5d ago
5d ago
Zeref5d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde5d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander19725d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander19725d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier5d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto5d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff21835d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto4d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4d ago
Hofstaderman5d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts5d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts4d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic4d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

Show all comments (43)
90°

Nintendo's War Against Player-Made Content Will Hurt The Company In The End

Danish from eXputer: "Nintendo has historically gone against player-made content and emulation of its games. This has done much to harm the company's image."

XiNatsuDragnel12d ago

I agree nintendo hire some these folks to help in your games it'll help imo.

banger8811d ago

They need to stop announcing these mods and fan remakes until they're finished. Finish it, upload it, and then if Nintendo dmca's it tough shit. Once it's online, people can share it around, even if the original download gets taken down.

Jingsing11d ago

True, but most modders need constant admiration during the process to motivate them.

PRIMORDUS11d ago

Yup, once it's a torrent nothing can be done Nintendo is helpless at that point. But it would be wise if they just had a site on the dark web, it's also easy to use with Tor and no one will bother you.

mastershredder10d ago

This is all coming from the mouth of short-sighted fandom and grifting madness.
No.... it wont. There is a clear defined reason why they don't. This is nothing new. Make your own shi7 from your own original ideas especially if you are trying to capitalize of it it. Duh.

Yeah, hire people that have zero respect or understanding for an established process. Wow. Yep. Totally makes sense.

shinoff218310d ago

Those guys that made that sonic game got a gig from sega or something along those lines and that game was dope as hell. One of the best sonics as of late.