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The Simpsons Game Tweaks Gaming Companies

Posted by Zonk on from the grow-a-sense-of-humor dept.

While some companies have embraced their games' parodies (like SOE and NeverQuest), others are less pleased by the sincerest form of flattery. Specifically, some of the folks at Rockstar were less than pleased by the 'Grand Theft Scratchy: Blood Island' portion of the game. "'I was always under the impression that when you do parody, it's a sign of respect... If we make fun of Grand Theft Auto, we're not going to hurt the sales of Grand Theft Auto... But yeah, we've definitely had some reactions - we've had to pull stuff from the game', The Simpsons lead designer Greg Rizzer revealed to us in an interview earlier this week. 'But that's cool to me', Rizzer continued. 'It's cool to still know, I feel, that the industry's been waiting for a game like this to come along. It's been too long since we really had one, and of course [there's] The Simpsons being the perfect vehicle to poke fun at the games industry.'"

7 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. Typical by MyLongNickName · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The folks who scream the most about their "art" being protected by the First Amendment are the first to scream when someone uses that First Amendment to make fun of them.

    --
    See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
    1. Re:Typical by moderatorrater · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I can think of five other games off the top of my head that stole their gameplay and storylines from GTA, and that's without trying. Since there have been other games that Rockstar hasn't made a fuss about, it looks like the parody is what they can't stand.

  2. huh? by wellingtonsteve · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "we've had to pull stuff from the game"

    Are parodies not protected under USA law?

    Or that only apply to music.. Weird Al seems to do OK..

  3. Pot vs Kettle by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 2, Insightful

    For those unfamiliar with Rockstar, they're the company that make those GTA games featuring mass quantities of pop-culture parody in the background of just about every scene.

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    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
  4. Rockstar vs EA by Floritard · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't think it's necessarily that the Simpsons are doing the parody. I think it has more to do with the game's publisher. EA is quite the behemoth, and if I were Rockstar I wouldn't want them anywhere near my IP either. I'm pretty sure anyone at Rockstar with human blood coursing through their veins (read: everyone sans legal/corporate) is honored to have the Simpsons pay tribute, and everyone knows there's plenty of parody in the GTA games themselves of all sorts of pop culture. I'd almost think they wouldn't mind such a thing from a lesser company, but you certainly don't want something as big a competitor as EA thinking they have free reign.

  5. parody vs. satire by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I feel satire is disrespectful, as it implies presenting something you don't like in a negative (but humourous) way, so as to highlight its faults. On the other hand, you can very well parody something you like very much. Putting Rugrat characters in a Star Wars setting would be parody, and I don't think it could be seen as disrespectful.

  6. Re:Simpsons: Hit And Run by wpegden · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Perhaps the issue is that The Simpsons: Hit And Run already ripped off the core GTA gameplay and satirized it, and Rockstar think it's time for The Simpsons to do something different.
    Sure. Except that the whole point of the freedom of speech is that other people don't get to decide for you what you should be saying.