EA Claims Wii Graphics Not 'Broadcast Quality' After Misleading Ad, Reports UK Board

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Controversy regarding a recent television ad for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 has reportedly led publisher EA to claim that visuals produced by the Wii aren't suitable for broadcast, according to the UK Advertising Standards Authority and Eurogamer.

The ASA stepped in after it found the advertisement "misleading." The spot in question showed Tiger Woods using a Wii Remote to play Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, though game footage was pulled from the more graphically advanced Xbox 360 version.


Left, Xbox 360. Right, Wii.

The end of the ad stated that the game was "available on all formats." While EA has yet to issue a public response, the ad authority offered a second-hand explanation.

"[EA] explained that Wii footage would not be of broadcast quality, and the originating agency had thought it preferable to use the Xbox footage, which was closer to broadcast definition, than to 'up the resolution' of Wii footage to broadcast quality," the ASA claimed.

The board added that "because viewers would not be able to achieve the graphical quality shown in the ad on a Wii console, we concluded that the ad was misleading."

Chris Faylor was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 17, 2008 9:37 AM

    Hooray false advertising

    • reply
      December 17, 2008 9:59 AM

      And yet I doubt anything bad will happen besides having to make a new ad. It's ridiculous that companies are never punished for such blatant deception and rarely even forced to remove the ad.

    • reply
      December 17, 2008 11:15 AM

      If you have a wii and think those graphics can come out of it, you need your head checked.

      • reply
        December 17, 2008 12:40 PM

        You never know, dude. Little Timmy may believe it and then cry on Christmas day when he opens it to find it looks like someone plugged in his PS2.

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