In UK, GTA 4 Commercial Avoids Official Censure
In UK, GTA 4 Commercial Avoids Official Censure
July 30, 2008
A TV commerical for Grand Theft Auto 4 has dodged the censorship bullet in the U.K.
As reported by gamesindustry.biz, the Advertising Standards Authority declined to act on complaints about the spot, seen at left:
17 viewers took exception of the ad... Ten viewers complained about the violence, while seven took exception to the time of the broadcast...
"Although some viewers may object to the nature of the game, the ad itself did not feature sequences that were likely to have a direct harmful influence on children or young people," said the ASA.
GamePolitics readers may recall that the ASA similarly cleared a TV spot for Bully: Scholarship Edition in a ruling earlier this month.
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Posted 11/22/09 at 08:44pm
BearDogg-X: 10 N. O. Who Dat?
BearDogg-X: 10 N. O. Who Dat?
Posted 11/22/09 at 09:45am
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I think doc phill is still sout about the break up with his wife he dose not fill holes as much as make them bigger these day
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I think doc phill is still sout about the break up with his wife he dose not fill holes as much as make them bigger these day
Posted 11/22/09 at 12:06am
JDKJ: You should get Phil McCraken to help you spackle those banisters.
JDKJ: You should get Phil McCraken to help you spackle those banisters.
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:57pm
ZippyDSMlee: Oh in the pirate hunter article I need my song ieda heckled DS,JD,Beemon sic im !!!
ZippyDSMlee: Oh in the pirate hunter article I need my song ieda heckled DS,JD,Beemon sic im !!!
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:56pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:no I am tried from prepping the banisters for painting , worked on them from 12 to 4 and 6 to 8...after I got back from the store...got up early got ready...blah...been up all day..I need a nap...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:no I am tried from prepping the banisters for painting , worked on them from 12 to 4 and 6 to 8...after I got back from the store...got up early got ready...blah...been up all day..I need a nap...
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:42pm
JDKJ: No. You gonna stay up late tonight soldering?
JDKJ: No. You gonna stay up late tonight soldering?
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:41pm
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:Don't you mean Mctite?
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:Don't you mean Mctite?
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:33pm
JDKJ: @Zip: Neil, Bob, and Lik McTaint. The McTaint brothers. LOL!!!
JDKJ: @Zip: Neil, Bob, and Lik McTaint. The McTaint brothers. LOL!!!
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:44pm
Flamespeak: I still think military personell, killing other military personell, on a military complex should be handled by military courts.
Flamespeak: I still think military personell, killing other military personell, on a military complex should be handled by military courts.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:43pm
Flamespeak: I could see this a mixture of the two charges rather than just one or the other.
Flamespeak: I could see this a mixture of the two charges rather than just one or the other.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:43pm
Flamespeak: I think this was mainly a person who snapped, but evidence is showing he definitely had strong inlinations to islamic-extremism.
Flamespeak: I think this was mainly a person who snapped, but evidence is showing he definitely had strong inlinations to islamic-extremism.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:41pm
Flamespeak: People are trying to claim that Hasan's actions were not terrorism. I don't jump on the 'terror train' like others, however
Flamespeak: People are trying to claim that Hasan's actions were not terrorism. I don't jump on the 'terror train' like others, however
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:38pm
mentor07825: Britain certainly does deserve it! And the French! God damn it, it was a hand ball!!!
mentor07825: Britain certainly does deserve it! And the French! God damn it, it was a hand ball!!!
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: mentor07825:Well Brittan dose deserve it....
ZippyDSMlee: mentor07825:Well Brittan dose deserve it....
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:33pm
ZippyDSMlee: Alyric:I don;t hasliburton having to pay back billoins... don;t you love it when the rich roll over the goverment without a care?
ZippyDSMlee: Alyric:I don;t hasliburton having to pay back billoins... don;t you love it when the rich roll over the goverment without a care?
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:32pm
mentor07825: I say we nuke the whales, for the benefit of both mankind and the environment.
mentor07825: I say we nuke the whales, for the benefit of both mankind and the environment.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:28pm
Austin_Lewis: I say we try Al Gore too. I always said he was in on the racket.
Austin_Lewis: I say we try Al Gore too. I always said he was in on the racket.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:16pm
Alyric: The leaked information proves these organizations knowingly defrauded governments (i.e., taxpayers) out of billions of dollars. Yet there will probably never be a trial.
Alyric: The leaked information proves these organizations knowingly defrauded governments (i.e., taxpayers) out of billions of dollars. Yet there will probably never be a trial.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:15pm
Flamespeak: working on other things makes me angry. I might have had a jet pack by now. :p
Flamespeak: working on other things makes me angry. I might have had a jet pack by now. :p
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:14pm
Flamespeak: Just thinking of all the time and manpower wasted to try and make things emit less CO2 emmision that could have been spent
Flamespeak: Just thinking of all the time and manpower wasted to try and make things emit less CO2 emmision that could have been spent
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
I can´t believe they just need like 20 whinners to remove an add. I´m glad they don´t have any excuse to try to remove this one.
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
The number of people who complain to the ASA is irelevant to its consideration, but the figure is always published. They only need 1 complaint to act, but - interestingly - a large number of complaints does not seem to infulence their decision. Probably because the existence of mass comlplaints usually suggests a organised mailing complaint from an interest group.
For the record the ASA is largely a self regulatory body in the same vein as the MPAA and ESRB.
Two vehicles explode, there is the brief sound of gunfire, and the main character breaks into a car. Too right they'd dismiss the complaints.
As someone living in the UK, I feel I should explain :)
There are some sad induhviduals here that feel it's their duty to complain about every single advert that goes on TV.
They got one removed because a dog seemed to be shivering. That's really about all I can say about the matter without getting depressed about human stupidity.
so they've avoided a censure or censorship? i'm confused.
Ah censorship, protecting the sheeple from wool products.......how...unpleasant....
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
Are you kidding me? Wow... Thanks for the intel Steve. I never knew, but wow... Mankind does not deserve their position in this world... I... wow... Okay, I am speechless... I think mand kind needs a survival of the fittest type event to happen, because there is a lot of fat that needs to be cut.
This is like Hillary Clinton putting blame on game developers for kids playing violent video games when the parents shouldnt have kids in the first place if they refuse to actually parent them. If ESRB isn't good enough, you don't deserve to have kids.
In Australia, their politicians don't even know what a Wii is as we saw last week I believe...
In the US again, we have McCain that doesnt own or know how to work a cell phone, doesnt know how to use a computer well enough to send email, and yeah... pretty much any newer technology or somewhat new technology. That is host MOST of the US government is somehow. This world is a very sad place, and we need younger people to be a part of running these countries. We could really cut through a lot of this bull.
I also love the "psychological studies" the politicians pull out of their rear that say violent video games creates violent kids. Last I checked, bad parenting does, which would include violent kids being allowed to play violent video games.
Why, so we can fuck up other planets too? There's a reason we only live about 75 years apiece.
What the hell dude, do you know anything? Lets start with this, what would an object that weights 100lbs on Earth weight on Mars? Go get an education before posting, especially if you dont have the balls to put in your name or a username that represents your name. Look, I can do that too!
Wow, that was just about the biggest piece of fail I've ever seen. Nowhere in his post did he mention anything about "weight" and it's difference on different spacial bodies. And I put my name in, unlike you. Coward.
At least DeepThorn attempted to end his post on a positive note, which is something that more than a few people are incapible of doing.
Good job UK for standing up to 34 of your most uptight citizens. About time.
Man that game looks awesome, I'll certainly have to buy it, wait I already did, and beat it.
"Although some viewers may object to the nature of the game, the ad itself did not feature sequences that were likely to have a direct harmful influence on children or young people," said the ASA."
Translation: The ad itself did not feature sequences that could in any way have a direct harmful influence on children or young people".
It's bad enough that the scaremongers ignore the research that suggest that there are no harmful effects from games, but now they are claiming that the ads are just as bad... Next we can expect them to demand that sleeves for game packaging be white with the title written in a non-offensive pink font to stop it turning the kids into mass murderers. Then you will have to bring your game home in a brown paper bag so no-one has to see it.
I wonder how much money is spent on investigating these complaints. They should have a filter at the ASA that says "If complainer's age is greater than 40 and topic is video games, send to trash because they don't understand what they are complaining about".
It saddens me these adverts for GTA were absoultly nothing and people were complaining about them due to the fact that they did not like grand theft auto.
There are times when said complaints are justified and the ASA does deem to act upon them, but most of the time it is just frivelous complaints about nothing,