Activision sued over sound issues in GHIII
by Candace Savino 
{ Dec 12th 2007 at 7:00PM }
We recently reported that Activision would be issuing re-mastered Guitar Hero III discs to fix the lack of stereo and surround sound in the game. For some people, however, this fix is seen as too little, too late, and now the company faces a class-action lawsuit. The complaint, brought about by plaintiff Sam Livingston, states that Activision's conduct has been "deceptive" and "unlawful" because the game is not compatible with Dolby Pro Logic II, thereby counteracting the label on the game's box. Those behind the complaint feel that Activision needs to pay up for misrepresenting their product, and for continuing to sell the Wii version of the game without warning consumers about the sound issues. The aggregate claims of the plaintiff and the members of the class-action suit amount to $5,000,000, to which we can only say, ouch.
Activision refused to comment on the lawsuit, but did state that they were actively working to have the re-mastered discs ready by early 2008, which will be available to owners of the game at no cost.
[Via Game|Life]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
aqua @ Jan 23rd 2008 11:17PM
I'm surprised Nintendo let this pass in the first place through their 'stringent' testing/approval process.
If Activision is sued, so too shouldn't Nintendo?
Greg2k @ Dec 12th 2007 7:19PM
lol @ ghiii. That sounds ghey.
Nushio (NDF - Blue) @ Dec 12th 2007 7:36PM
Bastards deserve the lawsuit, and then some.
After hearing from Harmonix that Activision is actively blocking a patch that would make GH3 guitars Rock-Band compatible on PS3, this smells like Karma :P
Mr Khan @ Dec 12th 2007 7:39PM
It's PS3's fault for having blue tooth and trying not to cram something proprietary down everyone's throats
kidding
Jay @ Dec 12th 2007 7:41PM
America
Where you sue till you get what you want....after you get it.
gevenstaines @ Dec 12th 2007 7:49PM
??
you've got teh new disk? i can haz copee?
FX-1 @ Dec 12th 2007 9:08PM
You got a problem?
Sonic_13 @ Dec 12th 2007 7:55PM
Why is everyone so sue-crazy nowadays?
One little thing isn't as it should be and a company gets slapped with lawsuits.
There really needs to be legislation (like in other countries) that if someone sues someone else and loses, they have to pay the defendant's lawyer fees. That would really cut down on so many of these frivolous lawsuits.
David W. @ Dec 13th 2007 1:02AM
There is...a lot of cases the loser is forced to pay the other persons legal fees...
Normally in these kinda things I roll my eyes and call shenanigans..but in this instance they may actually have a case. If the box says the game has Dolby Pro Logic...and it doesn't, that's false advertising, and I don't know how they thought they would get away with it.
Mr.Nitemare @ Dec 12th 2007 8:31PM
i'm sorry, but this is just a lawsuit of somebody just wanting money, how do you sue a company for making a harmless mistake, finding out about it and then working diligently to fix the problem, i could see if they just ignored the problem or said that customers had to pay for the fix, but they have publicly released statements that they know about the problem and that a fix will be provided to users for free... and i agree with SONIC_13 they should have to pay the other's lawyer fees if they lose, it really would stop all of these idiotic lawsuits, cuz nowadays if you initiate a lawsuit and lose, you don't really lose ..anything.. maybe activision should come with a counter suit...
FX-1 @ Dec 12th 2007 9:12PM
Well, I think it's pretty pathetic to sue someone over something as frivolous as a lack of stereo, but, ever the optimist (ok, rarely the optimist), I see a bright side. Maybe the next time activision roles out a game, they'll think twice before cutting costs on the Wii version because Wii users are gamers too, and every bit as concerned with they're games being of good quality as other gamers. The difference is we aren't graphics whores.
Maddles @ Dec 12th 2007 9:50PM
From what I've read they haven't tried to cut costs here. PAL versions of the game are just fine so it was just a bug like what happened in Twilight Princess.
Johari @ Dec 12th 2007 9:15PM
I love how he files the lawsuit after the Activision/Blizzard merger. "Mmmmm.... More moneyz=me likey!"
Metayoshi @ Dec 12th 2007 9:29PM
Wow... There are some very money-hungry people out there, and whoever sued Activision is one of them. Seriously, Activision has already acknowledged the fact that Guitar Hero III is lacking stereo and Dolby Pro Logic II, AND they've announced replacement disks coming up. Bugs in games appear all the time! These people act like they have never made a mistake in their lives.
Let the companies be...
Adv2k1 @ Dec 12th 2007 10:45PM
THE POINT OF THE LAWSUIT IS TO TEACH THEM A LESSON AND TO GIVE THEM HORRIBLE PR. PEOPLE THIS IS A GOOD THING !!! THEY WILL LEARN NOT TO MESS WITH Wii OWNERS. I HOPE SOMEBODY BUYS A SHITTY GAME AND SUES THE COMPANY TO TEACH THEM TO NOT MAKE CRAPPY GAMES.
David W. @ Dec 13th 2007 1:04AM
less caps... plz k thanks
tiamat1990 @ Dec 12th 2007 11:20PM
Those assholes deserve it. It took them this fucking long to even ACKNOWLEDGE the problem.
spazbot @ Dec 13th 2007 5:15AM
So let me get this straight. All Wii versions of GHIII are mono except for PAL versions?
Lee @ Dec 13th 2007 8:57AM
There are plenty of people on the GHIII forums that have PAL versions that are mono. In Germany they even removed the DPLII logos from the box and manual, but it is still on the game disc. I have yet to hear of anyone with a Wii version that is stereo or DPLII.
bransman @ Dec 13th 2007 10:55AM
I've got GH3 but never registered it. Does this mean that I won't get the new disc? Do I need to register to get it? Or is simply send in your bad copy and we'll send the new one back?
jsa3mm @ Dec 13th 2007 11:04AM
Yes, it sucks that Activision sent out GHIII without everything
running 100%, but they are going to fix the problem. Unless the
are suing for being aggravated I really do not see the point. Maybe
Activision made a coding error and sent the stereo sound to the
Wiimote and mono sound to the TV. It's a very simple error that
could've happened.
Michael Sliczniak @ Dec 13th 2007 11:15AM
Class Actions like this one are a scam for the lawyers. I learned this when I suffered the Iomega click of death. I lost so much data because of that. After years I got a rebate for future Iomega product but I vowed never to buy a product from them. The lawyers made hundreds of thousands. Worst was that as soon as the lawsuit occurred I immediately stopped being able to get any technical support from Imega. They just said they could not comment on anything anymore.
Not all class actions are scams though. When used like they were intended they are good for both sides and the courts. I was recently in a small class where the lawyer made tens of thousand and I got hundreds of dollars in the settlement. That was fair as it almost covered the costs of the car repairs. Before we were a class no lawyer was interested in taking the case without me paying.
This though is a joke. The company is ready to replace discs promptly and free of charge. People that bought GH3 did not lose any data, their Wii was not damaged, etc.
Fulluphigh @ Dec 13th 2007 4:48PM
On top of that, the little ***** of a man has no right to that much money. I doubt he could tell the difference from stereo and mono anyways. He incurred absolutely no monetary damages, especially not millions worth.
If there were to be a lawsuit for millions, it would have to be split amongst everyone who got the game, IMO.
HellsHammer @ Jan 4th 2008 5:21PM
Activision is huge. This is going to hurt them, but won't kill them by any stretch. $5,000,000 is a slap to their face for thinking it was ok to deceive and short change Wii owners. Even if it was a 'bug', they knew. Offering a replacement AFTER claiming their product was in Dolby Logic, IMO, is too little too late. How long did they think it would take for someone to notice?
Also, to anyone saying it's not a big deal, stereo vs. mono, I mean, I would normally agree. However, we're not talking about a normal, action or RPG game. We're talking about a MUSIC game where you need to hear the MUSIC. Listening to MUSIC in mono is a joke. If that doesn't bother you, maybe you shouldn't be playing GH3.
JudgeX @ Jan 13th 2008 2:09AM
If this lawsuit results in Activision being forced to pay the 5 million dollars, all parties involved are stupid.
Activision: Stupid for not having a good lawyer...
Plaintiff: Stupid for suing over a software bug that's being "patched"
Class Action Peeps: For signing onto a witch-hunt against a game development company that has been nothing but noble for 20+ years.