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California Man Sues Sony Because Killzone: Shadowfall Isn't Really 1080

Posted by timothy on from the gaming-culture dept.

Sonny Yatsen (603655) writes A California man with nothing better to do has launched a class-action lawsuit against Sony because he claims he was harmed because Killzone: Shadowfall's multiplayer mode doesn't have native 1080p resolution as Sony originally claimed. He now demands 'all economic, monetary, actual, consequential, statutory and compensatory damages' as well as punitive damages from Sony.

19 of 286 comments (clear)

  1. more power to him by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    as much as I don't care, some game companies need their hands slapped when it comes to false advertising. anyone remember simcity 4 multiplayer?

    1. Re:more power to him by ganjadude · · Score: 4, Funny

      go back even further, remember the atari games that would have box art that looked NOTHING like the game itself? http://games.slashdot.org/stor...

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  2. They deserve it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    One one hand, this is a stupid frivolous lawsuit, but on the other hand game publishers have been feeding us so much bullshit and lies that I wish this guy would win just to make a point.

    1. Re:They deserve it by jeffmflanagan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      720p is absolutely HD, regardless of what's happened to your mind.

    2. Re:They deserve it by kannibal_klown · · Score: 4, Informative

      Except 720p was always defined as HD.

      Initially, you had two choices: 720progressive or 1080interlaced. They both required more-or-less the same bandwidth to run. 1080p is more of a Jonny-come-lately.

      Many preferred 720p for some shows where the progressive scan adding an important benefit: mostly fast-moving scenes (sports, action, etc). Others preferred interlaced for shows that didn't need the fine detail in motion.

      Eventually, years later, 1080p became a thing but for a while some TVs didn't even support it. And heck, cable-TV only recently started supported in limited amounts.

    3. Re:They deserve it by Dishevel · · Score: 4, Informative

      The box did not just say HD. It said 1080p.

      --
      Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
  3. "With Nothing Better To Do"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So he should just take it up the rear and not do anything about the company's lies? BOHICA! I'm glad he's suing. Let him represent the rest of us. Hopefully, companies will learn that they can't get away with this BS.

    1. Re:"With Nothing Better To Do"? by firex726 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly... What was with the opening?

      If they claimed X and did not deliver it, it's a legitimate claim to be made. Should game companies be immune to false advertising claims just becuase they make "video games".

      Would the writer also say that the Aliens:CM false trailer was also frivolous?

  4. You go girl by Russ1642 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm for it. Blatant false advertizing needs to be punished and this is the route that's available to him.

    1. Re:You go girl by sconeu · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Now go after them for their blatant false advertising:

      "OWN $MOVIE ON BLU-RAY TODAY!!!", when they later actually claim that you don't own the movie.

      --
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    2. Re:You go girl by CanHasDIY · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'm for it. Blatant false advertizing needs to be punished and this is the route that's available to him.

      On the one hand, I agree with this, especially considering that Sony is pretty well known for their shady business practices.

      On the other hand... I just bought a monitor that Tigerdirect advertised as 22", but when it was delivered the box says 21.5", and I don't think that's really worth paying my lawyer $250/hr to handle.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  5. Seems more reasonable once you read the article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The guy just wants his $50 back because the graphics in the game aren't as good as advertised. Frankly, that's actually a reasonable request. You tell someone the game will perform some technical feat, and it doesn't, no shit the customer wants a refund.

  6. Re:That's a garbage lawsuit by parlancex · · Score: 5, Insightful

    - so every second line consists of pixels from previous frames, but those are still pixels that are not the same as the ones in the current frame, the output has all of the 1920x1080 pixels in it, it's not like 2 lines of pixels are just 1 line stretched vertically. Technically Sony should win this.

    That's a bit disingenuous. Could they render at 320x240 and stretch to fill so the output resolution is still technically 1080p and still advertise "1080p" support?

  7. Troll much? by Jahoda · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Kind of a trollish headline, but both Sony and Microsoft have advertised 1080p as one of this generations' primary selling points - how is their continued inability to deliver upon this not false advertising, and how else are we to change their behavior if not through legal action? (Please don't say "boycott".)

  8. Re:1080 is 1080 by Lazere · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not exactly. If they say the game is 1080p, you'd be right to say that 960x1080 presented at 1920x1080 is still accurate. However, if they say the game is at native 1080p, the only definition that fits the bill is 1920x1080 presented at 1920x1080. Sony said the latter.

  9. Re:Are you kidding me? by DarkOx · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Okay maybe its not the kind of thing I would be willing to invest time and money in; but you could easily ask the opposite question:

    What kind of society have we become when we allow vendors to blatantly misrepresent products prior to sale?

    Sony should be honest about the products actual specifications. We have regulations in place because we collectively decided that all the snake-oil selling had to stop. We standardized weights and measures, and pass truth in advertising laws. They should be followed, simple as that.

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  10. Re:That's a garbage lawsuit by TypoNAM · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Killzone's multiplayer mode actually outputs natively in 960x1080 resolution, half of the 1920x1080 standard for "1080p." To output full 1080p graphics, this source image is fixed with a "temporal upscale" that fills in gaps with a horizontal interlace made up of pixels from the previous frame. The result is graphical performance that the lawsuit (and many reviews) call "blurry to the point of distraction."

    Last time I checked that's called interlaced video, not progressive. Just because source video is 1080i, but goes out the HDMI video transmitter chip as 1080p it does not make it OK to call it 1080p since the source video is not progressive.

    --
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  11. Re:Nathan Fillion is speechless.gif by rwv · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't get what the .gif is supposed to mean. Are you trying to reference an image? Why didn't you hyperlink to it?

    Fucking puerile moron.

    Boy, that escalated quickly!

    .jpg :)

    Whatever... I learned a new word today! puerile.png FTW.

  12. Re: Are you kidding me? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, but if I promised my date a whole four inches then gave her a magnifying glass, surely she'd still be disappointed.