Watchdog group dubs Xbox 360 FFXIII ad 'misleading'

by Richard Mitchell on Aug 18th 2010 6:40PM

According to Telegraph.co.uk, the UK group Advertising Standards Authority has concluded that a recent advertisement for the Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII is "misleading." It seems the commercial in question used footage from the PlayStation 3 version of the game. While it's acknowledged that the Xbox 360 version looks slightly inferior to the PS3 version, what makes the ASA's claim interesting is that the commercial is composed entirely of pre-rendered FMV footage.

Using a side-by-side comparison of each version of the game, the ASA reached the conclusion that the PS3 version "appeared sharper and colours were more vivid" and thus the commercial "exaggerated the quality of the footage available on the XBOX 360, albeit marginally."

For its part, Square-Enix admitted that the FMV was captured from a PlayStation console but added that there was "no substantive difference" between the footage on either console and that only those watching in HD would notice the "slight difference." The ASA has ordered that the commercial not be shown again.

Tags: FFXIII, Final-Fantasy-13, Final-Fantasy-XIII, microsoft, playstation, ps3, Square-Enix, xbox

Reader Comments (67)

Who cares?

@Evil Pikachu

Also the ASA

@Huey2k2 Ive grown to love the ASA they show everybody even apple

@Evil Pikachu

Err.... no we dont.

(for your info, I have a PS3 and a 360)

@Huey2k2

Thank you

@Huey2k2

HERE HERE!

@Huey2k2

It's still technically not a 360 footage. Why do you think all the US ads (whether they're TV, newspaper, etc.) have a small lettering note at the bottom warning anything from "Do not attempt at home" or "Profesionnal stunt done on closed circuit"? Square is lucky it only happened in the UK as we know how legal technicality happens in the US.

@Ballistic H

Who says that commercials have to show the product without exaggeration? I've seen supersoakers shooting like 4x further than they actually do, movies use footage that doesn't make the final film, or like that latest Sony 3D TV commercial where taking off your glasses makes everything flat. Lord knows I've never gone to McDonalds and gotten a big mac that looks like it does on TV.

Its called ADVERTISING, not product demonstrations.

@Punkrawk Bbob

It's called showing potential customers your product, or aspects of your product, without making false claims.

@Huey2k2

I just looked on the ASA website and this all came about because ONE person complained about the advert.

@protofunc

Very funny. I do agree that the decision was extreme and it's not entirely clear why they've come down on this particular one even after reading the adjudication which includes the rules. They certainly made Square-Enix work hard for one complaint by getting them to send a PS3 and Xbox to them:

http://asa.org.uk/Complaints-and-ASA-action/Adjudications/2010/8/Square_Enix/TF_ADJ_48910.aspx

Slightly inferior?

Heh.

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze I'm not quite seeing the difference.

@Gibbeynator,
you need to see it running to really notice. It's like whenever you play Alan Wake, before the 10 minute mark you notice it's 540p and not 720p.

@vmenge I thought Alan Wake looked fantastic. Maybe because it's mostly a pretty dark game.

@Gibbeynator

That screenshot shows the 360's ground texture is slightly sharper, but other than that there isn't a huge difference.

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze,
it didn't look bad, far from it, it looked pretty good. It would have looked sharper if it was 720p, but that didn't really hurt the overall experience.

@sonicspike41

That 360 ground texture is not sharper; it's the opposite: more aliased.

Since when does "government agency" translate to "watchdog group"?

@maver1ck89 because they are the watchdog of advertising in the UK

@maver1ck89

The ASA is the UK’s independent watchdog committed to maintaining high standards in advertising for the benefit of consumers, advertisers and society at large. [ASA, 2010]

It's still funny.

arn't the advertisements multi console based and not singular?
i didn't even think the ff13 comercials were still airing.

I'm visiting the UK right now and I really understand all the complaints about it being a nanny state. 40 km/h on a freeway? Get real. They also write "LOOK LEFT - LOOK RIGHT" on the streets.

Also, this is a waste of resources.

@Uncontrol

You sir, are the reason no-one likes Americans.

@Uncontrol
Hey, my mom went to Georgia last year and on the highways there were signs that said "Turn on your windshield wipers when it is raining"

@Uncontrol

Wrong, its 70mph limit on a motorway (freeway), and its only 30mph in built up residential areas, 40 when its a dual-carriageway.

As for LOOK LEFT/LOOK RIGHT. Strange, as I have been driving for over 15 years, all across the UK, and I have never comes across these markings you talk of.

Take a look at your own countries nanny tendancies before passing judgement.

@Uncontrol
So you don't look left or right when you cross the street in usa? Boy You life is gonna be short lived.

@superfrog1993

And you're why everyone assumes that people from England are pompous assholes. Thanks for being superior, Buttertooth.

@Uncontrol
I was over there near Kent and inside London last year and I don't remember those slow freeway speeds.

@Liquidfingers

Who is everyone? America?

The french don't think that :D They think we are drunken bastards, and the spanish just hate our football players....and the fact we buy all thier homes :P Everyone else loves us, thus the reason we have one of the (in not THE) highest immigration rates in Europe :D

I think you are mistaken......very mistaken

@Uncontrol

You sir are exactly what I think of when outback America far away from civilization pops into mind, you may not be living in a secluded part of Alabama, but you sure as hell act like it :/

@DigitalFortress

I don't know which part of the UK you are in but London is full of the 'Look Left'/'Look Right' signs. To be fair most tourists will be from countries that drive on the other side of the road so a little reminder does no harm and might help stop their brains getting splattered over the locals.

@Uncontrol
I think you may have your KPH confused with your MPH.

Ive never had my Whopper look like the ones in the commercials.

Wheres my money?

@R Planteer
Or you phones screens look like the commercials. And all those auto insurance companies claiming to have the lowest price, well each one is higher than the other. And all those cheap 19.95 products never seem to work like they do in the commercials

@R Planteer
I'm pretty sure there's a 'That's what she said' opportunity here but I'm glad we're all being adult about it.

@R Planteer

And what about the Elmer's glue they use as milk in cereal commercials? Or the Crisco they use as ice cream instead of the real thing in the ads?

@R Planteer

Everything you see on the television is an illusion created by your mind according to your desires. Ahh the beauty of advertising. That is what the Fine Print Said.

@R Planteer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10699456

I have to say the footage in stills looks at most slightly different. I'll see if I can get a side by side in video though.

It doesn't look sharper to me, more like it has a case of the jaggies. Hard to tell in a screenshot though.

They're still airing commercials for this game?

I know the ASA are there to protect the consumers... but this is ridonculous.

Who cares? It is still the same game. On my TV they both look identical. This i just more fanboy troll bait.

Anybody have a good climbing harness? There's this molehill in my way, and....

"I'm visiting the UK right now and I really understand all the complaints about it being a nanny state. 40 km/h on a freeway? Get real."

You seem to have no idea what you're talking about.
40km/h is 24mph which is roughly the speed limit on a residential road, the speed limit on the motorway (equivalent to a freeway) is 70mph which is 112 km/h.

I have heard this kind of thing isn't allowed in the UK, and frankly, I am glad. Consumers should be exposed to the truth.

@AriesWarlock Without a frame of reference between the two versions, a consumer isn't going to magically be disappointed in the marginal difference in his 360 copy of the game that he saw on TV for half a minute or so that he didn't even know was different.

This is just silly.

@jynxycat Why does there have to be a frame of reference to compare in the first place? The organization is for protecting consumers, and for companies to be truthful with their products, regardless of what they think is a marginal difference or not. I don't see how anybody can be opposed to that.

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Final Fantasy 13

Watchdog group dubs Xbox 360 FFXIII ad 'misleading'

Reader Comments (67)

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:42PM Huey2k2 said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:44PM Huey2k2 said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:53PM Debley said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 7:13PM DigitalFortress said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 7:31PM Prboi said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 9:09PM shard765 said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 9:49PM Ballistic H said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 11:51PM Punkrawk Bbob said

Posted: Aug 19th 2010 8:37AM Jaruba said

Posted: Aug 19th 2010 8:50AM Jaruba said

Posted: Aug 20th 2010 8:28AM Jaruba said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:44PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:47PM Gibbeynator said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:50PM vmenge said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:54PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:56PM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 7:13PM vmenge said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 9:45PM Ballistic H said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:48PM maver1ck89 said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:55PM Debley said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 7:09PM ClarkyAC said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:49PM DarkTwisted said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:52PM dargondarkfire said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:52PM Uncontrol said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:57PM superfrog1993 said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 7:11PM Themoreyouknow said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 7:16PM DigitalFortress said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 7:25PM MixedRaceJesusFreak said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 8:13PM Liquidfingers said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 8:21PM golfs4panzys said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 8:46PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 8:48PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Aug 19th 2010 8:40AM Jaruba said

Posted: Aug 19th 2010 9:33AM B0FF said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 6:54PM R Planteer said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 7:13PM Themoreyouknow said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 7:21PM TC said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 7:23PM WMcPete said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 9:45PM xiLeShadow said

Posted: Aug 19th 2010 11:35PM Stefarno said

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Posted: Aug 18th 2010 7:03PM DemiurgicSoul said

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Posted: Aug 18th 2010 7:12PM DreadArrow said

Posted: Aug 18th 2010 7:14PM AriesWarlock said

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Posted: Aug 18th 2010 7:45PM AriesWarlock said

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