Sony v. Kevin Butler
Sony has recently filed a lawsuit against Jerry Lambert, the actor who plays Kevin Butler in the Playstation 3 commercials, and Bridgestone tires for commercials that advertise a promotion that involves the Nintendo Wii. In the promotion, customers were offered their choice of a $70 American Express reward card or a Nintendo Wii.
While speaking to Kotaku, Sony explained that their lawsuit is related to the Lanham Act, which mostly includes trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and false advertising.
“Use of the Kevin Butler character to sell products other than those from Playstation misappropriates Sony intellectual property, creates confusing in the market, and causes damage to Sony.”
The Bridgestone commercial did not specifically name the character that Lambert played, but the seemingly-authoritative role that he played was similar to that of Kevin Butler. Since the lawsuit has been filed, Bridgestone has edited Lambert out of the commercials, but Sony seems to want more from them. Although it seems as though Kevin Butler hasn’t been used in quite some time, the character does belong to Sony and we understand them wanting to protect their intellectual property.
I’m going to have to be honest, though. I didn’t notice that the guy in the Bridgestone commercial was the guy who played Kevin Butler until this news broke. A new set of tires and a free Wii does sound pretty good, though!
[Source: Eurogamer]
PETA takes aim at Pokemon
Speaking of using other people’s intellectual property, it looks like PETA has waged war on Pokemon with the recent release of Pokemon Black and White 2 in the states. They recently released a Flash game on their website which involves freeing Pokemon from their vicious, abusive trainers. On the same page, they also site the poor living conditions, in which pokemon must live in, being stuffed into a tiny pokeball and all.
Though typing the last paragraph seemed kind of surreal, I get what PETA’s doing. They’re hoping to instill a sense of empathy towards animals through children. We get it.
But PETA’s attack comes off as grossly ham-fisted. If they cared to do their research on Pokemon, (or better yet, ask kids who play the game), they’d have found that Pokemon is about living in a society where humans and pokemon live peacefully with one another. Pokemons and trainers actually care for one another, and their relationships are actually important to both parties. (I can’t believe I typed that either)
PETA should perhaps look beyond what they immediately see when they watch someone playing Pokemon and pick the game up themselves.
[Source: PETA]
Capcom acknowledges Resident Evil 6’s on-disc DLC and sticks to its practices
A YouTuber has recently posted videos showing off some on-disc DLC that’s been found in Resident Evil 6. Eurogamer contacted Capcom for their response, where they found that Capcom was going to stick to their DLC practices.
In a politically correct, walking on eggshells manner, Capcom explained to Eurogamer that the putting some DLC on a disc and completing it later through the download and purchase provided “efficient” and “flexible” gameplay. The idea of on-disc DLC is always a touchy spot for gamers. If content is on the disc, it should be available to gamers once they purchase that disc.
Personally, we blame Capcom for being such busy-bodies. How about just not putting hackable DLC on the disc at all? What’s the hurry? It’s DLC. Just put, say, 20% of the DLC on the disc, make sure it’s not-playable, and then finish the 80% after the game is out. That way, you don’t get in trouble! There’s no need to rush to get DLC on there if it’s not part of the original game. Right? It’s Slacking-Off 101, really.
[Source: Eurogamer]
PSA: PAX East tickets are on sale
And just a quick PSA: PAX East tickets are on sale! PAX East is one of our favorite conventions, so get going! If you’ve ever seen Team SideQuesting at PAX East, you’ll know that it’s ridiculous amounts of fun and a great way to meet cool people like yourself.
[Source: PAXsite]
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