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EA slams Rockstar over parody issue: Rockstar responds with drawing of a penis photo

The gaming biz moves one step closer to becoming an episode of Days of Our Lives with the recent news that EA -- specifically a group of writers on The Simpsons Game -- has fired back with a salvo of verbal hot fire in response to Rockstar's panty-bunching over the use of a GTA parody within the upcoming game.

From the mouths of babes:

The game begins with Bart wanting to play a game called Grand Theft Scratchy. Of course this is a parody of Grand Theft Auto. And Marge immediately takes it away from him. She tries to clean up the town and stop the game from being distributed in Springfield because Marge is against video game violence. She uses horrific violence to stop video game violence… in a video game.

Thats called irony… The people who make Grand Theft Auto, they spazzed out like little babies.

They’re supposed to be rockstars… That’s not a big Rockstar move, to be afraid of The Simpsons making fun of their game.

Some would call this response childish or unprofessional, but most of us would call it hilarious while grabbing a beer and settling in for what will hopefully be a slapfight on par with the best episodes of Dallas. There was once a time when being parodied by The Simpsons was a badge of honor reserved for people like Mick Jagger, Gerald Ford and John Updike, so to hear a company like Rockstar -- whose idea of satire is having Jenna Jameson portray a pornographic actress  -- complain about being lumped in with the aforementioned would be laughable, if only someone had written a quality punchline, preferably delivered by Jon Lovitz or Zombie Phil Hartman.


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35 comments | showing # 1 to 35

Samit Sarkar's Avatar
Samit Sarkar at 10/30/2007 08:47
ZEROTH!

That’s priceless. This entire spat is priceless.
repsode's Avatar
repsode at 10/30/2007 08:48
What's also ironic is that Rockstar, frequent purveyors of satire and parody with the GTA games cant even take it went someone else does the same with their game.


Childish or unprofessional though it may be at least someone had to call ou Rockstar's hypocracy.

I'm with EA on this one (Ugh I feel dirty)
Yayoo's Avatar
Yayoo at 10/30/2007 08:51
Who cares the Simpsons game is going to suck anyway, maybe Rockstars didn't want to be parodied by something as lame as "Grand Theft Scratchy"- fucking hilarious at least we know these writers are earning their salary.
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 10/30/2007 08:53
I can sort of see Rockstar's point in that if they allow one company to parody the franchise, everybody is going to want in on it.

Anyone know if EA was paying for licensing rights or making deals with the companies whose games it wanted to parody? If not, Rockstar's decision makes some sense to me.
bluki's Avatar
bluki at 10/30/2007 08:54
maybe Rockstar plainly hate EA?
DryvBy's Avatar
DryvBy at 10/30/2007 08:57
I say, change the logo and call it something else, and release it. What's wrong with this country when you can't even make a satire anymore?
Yayoo's Avatar
Yayoo at 10/30/2007 08:58
Also remember EA bought Renderware, Rockstar had to make their own engine then.
KaL YoshiKa's Avatar
KaL YoshiKa at 10/30/2007 09:01
I'm torn between the hipocrasy and my dislike of EA...it's like siding with the devil and a slightly taller meaner devil.
iNerd's Avatar
iNerd at 10/30/2007 09:02
Screw Rockstar, at least these jokes are funny. About the only good laughs you got from GTA were the radio stations which if I recall were done by Lazlow and not the writers for the most part. A load of their stuff is just offensive to be offensive, not funny.
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 10/30/2007 09:04
@DryvBy: My guess is that if EA thought they would certainly win in a trademark and copyright suit against Rockstar, they would have proceeded with their plans. Instead, they're running around calling Rockstar names, which is strange behavior for a company that does not employ David Jaffe.

If to a 60-year-old judge, the parody part of the Simpsons game looks like it could possibly serve as a substitute for GTA, EA has problems.
Professor Pew's Avatar
Professor Pew at 10/30/2007 09:12
Simpsons did it.
Puppetpallmich's Avatar
Puppetpallmich at 10/30/2007 09:28
i find the tags on the post very contadictary to the material within. first off babies do like to smoke as well as ae cawkstar
MechaMonkey's Avatar
MechaMonkey at 10/30/2007 09:32
It's parody, and therefore legal use under copyright law. There is no intent to usurp Grand Theft Auto's place and serve as a substitute. It is a joke utilizing Grand Theft Auto's reputation for violence, nothing more.

Victory: EA.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 10/30/2007 09:42
Lameless on both sides. Lame for Rockstar for complaining about it in the first place, and lame for EA to continue to bitch about Rockstar's lameness.
F Whipple's Avatar
F Whipple at 10/30/2007 09:59
They just need to STFUAJPG
Cheeburga's Avatar
Cheeburga at 10/30/2007 10:07
I agree Whipple.
itemforty's Avatar
itemforty at 10/30/2007 10:07
Jesus, seriously. Just do something else.
TheDragon's Avatar
TheDragon at 10/30/2007 10:19
@Yayoo
Actually, the demo was really fun and the reviews have pegged it as a Simpsons game that doesn't suck. Despite numerous failures in the past with the IP, it may be worth giving it a chance.
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 10/30/2007 10:22
@MechaMonkey: That would certainly be similar to EA's argument.
Parody is a better defense in trademark cases than in copyright cases. Copyright "fair use" is a 4-factor test; it is also a defense, meaning EA can't raise it until EA gets sued. Courts are also less likely to find parodical use when the parodizer is a competing business. That's why you don't see more parody in ads.

Rockstar could could bring a trademark action under the theory of dilution, or copyright infringement of the game scenario by a company who is hoping to profit by such infringement. It's not an open-and-shut case by any means, partly because IP law is highly unintuitive.

Or, they could both STFUAJM{ake)G.
B-Radicate's Avatar
B-Radicate at 10/30/2007 10:29
Too bad satire and parody is protected by the First Amendment there, MaxVest. It really doesn't have too much to do with copyright law.

Also, I side with EA. Rockstar needs to grow up on this one and learn to take it like a man. Ten bucks says they include a parody of the Simpson's Game in GTAIV much like they have Jack Thompson in there already after his legal spats. I said it here first.
RskimB's Avatar
RskimB at 10/30/2007 10:43
*Facepalm* this isnt over yet?
SlavedHeart's Avatar
SlavedHeart at 10/30/2007 10:54
Is this hair pulling over yet? Is it some how disrupting the delivery of the game? Couldn't they just give the honor of being parodied to someone else? Like that Saints whatever game? Frig rockstar if they don't want to be parodied, but how does this guy flaming the company interrupt my purchase of the Simpson's game? If anything, I'll have more reservations about purchasing GTA... (who am I kidding, I still have 10 small on the limited edition reservation), but aren't they going to have to defend themselves against Jack Thompson this spring for something similar? The hilarity never ends I guess...
MusashiX2's Avatar
MusashiX2 at 10/30/2007 10:57
parody can be the greatest form of flattery.

send Rockstar the fucking memo.
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 10/30/2007 11:20
B-Radicate: Sorry, it's not that simple. You can invoke the First Amendment as part of a copyright infringement "fair use" defense... once you have been sued. You can raise a First Amendment defense to trademark infringement... once you have been sued. And under the First Amendment, commercial speech is not protected to the same extent as individual speech, although that could change.

My only point in posting all this stuff is to suggest that there is a little more than name-calling at play here. I'm guessing EA is trying to create bad publicity for Rockstar as a part of long-term tactic to discourage infringement suits through the court of public opinion if they can't do so in a court of law.
Corak's Avatar
Corak at 10/30/2007 12:29
You don't need to pay royalities or licensing fees if you change it enough to make it your own. Works the same way for inventors, you can take an existing product, make it better, and call it your own. And yes I agree being parodied by the Simpsons should be considered a badge of honor. If you made it into the Simpsons world in some way it means you've made it. In some cases you have already made it, like the episode with Colbert, Elton John, or any other stars that are big names that have been on the show. Its part of our culture now, much like I love Lucy was part of your parents or grandparents culture.

Rockstar needs to stop crying about this, OMG noooo waaaaa someone is making fun of our game, or using the idea in a way we don't like. FFS shut the hell up and get your new GTA in stores so you don't have to delay it again.
Emrah's Avatar
Emrah at 10/30/2007 12:30
I never liked Rockstar. At least there were periods of times I felt OK with EA. GTA, I hate the guts of that game. Never saw the fun in beating the crap out of random people to get some bonus, but the worse part is, it is probably just me.
Raymod's Avatar
Raymod at 10/30/2007 13:01
WOW! it sounds like Rockstar have been hanging around with Jack Thompson too much.
Knives's Avatar
Knives at 10/30/2007 13:47
I'm kinda with EA on this one (dies a little inside).
ArrestedDeveloper's Avatar
ArrestedDeveloper at 10/30/2007 13:58
I remember a few months back John Davidson on 1up yours talked about an article about rockstar studios. It boiled down to that the more successful they became the bigger douches everyone at the studio became. Looks like things haven't changed much.
liam2015's Avatar
liam2015 at 10/30/2007 14:45
What's ironic is that Rockstar is upset about a parody, whih is something they do often, aren't they putting a Jack Thompson type character into GTA4? Even though I do agree EA's game DO lean towards suckiness, I'm going to side with them because they made this whole situation a whole lot funnier.
SubOrbital's Avatar
SubOrbital at 10/30/2007 15:18
Rockstar suck big after that stunt. I lost a lot of respect for them.
DGX Goggles's Avatar
DGX Goggles at 10/30/2007 15:56
Wow when you are stupid to make EA be in the green then you know you are retarded. Rockstar = EPIC FAIL.
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 10/30/2007 20:56
They're probably just afraid to get the pants sued off them again, since this might remind people about the existence of GTA prior to the release of IV.
AliasWyvernspur's Avatar
AliasWyvernspur at 10/31/2007 20:32
Remember Simpson's Road Rage? Maybe Rockstar doesn't want to be associated at all with another crappy Simpson's game.

However, to be little bitches about it? - R* fails.

SAT question for 2008: Rockstar is to EA, as Coolio is to [u]Weird Al[/u].
AliasWyvernspur's Avatar
AliasWyvernspur at 10/31/2007 20:33
Bold and Italics work, but not Underline? Hate to say it, but D-Toid fails for the lack of underline BBC code.
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