UK Gran Turismo Sport Ad Pulled Due to 'Misleading' Nature

[Liquid]

What interested me was the claim that 75% of the UK's PS4 users connected to the internet last year.

A more relevant piece of information would be how often did the people in that 75% connect. Every day? Once a week? Once a month? A year?

It's all well and good having a million (for arugment's sake) people in the UK with valid PSN accounts but it's not a sign that games ought to be permaonline if only a few thousand of them are online all the time. Not every one who has the internet uses it every day.

 

[Famine]

I'm still a little confused by the claim that only three tracks are available on-disc.

I deleted the entire GT Sport install from the other PS4 and ran the game from the media disc, with the console disconnected from the internet. Although only arcade mode was available, every track was there - although all-but four required some gameplay to unlock...

 

[JacksHerer]

I'm still a little confused by the claim that only three tracks are available on-disc.

I deleted the entire GT Sport install from the other PS4 and ran the game from the media disc, with the console disconnected from the internet. Although only arcade mode was available, every track was there - although all-but four required some gameplay to unlock...

^ that's good to know, it had been niggling me when I read someone saying they only had a few cars and couple of tracks in PSVR.
I guess they can't unlock the other cars and tracks without an internet connection - which leads to the anger.

These 1st world problems that people in the third world don't even have, I mean, like everyone in the world has a mobile internet connection nowadays.

I suppose these people who purchased the game had the right to return it for a refund.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Mmm, I bought Gran Turismo Sport online from Game with a PS4, as you can see they show all the information about how the internet access affects the gameplay and saving. Oh, hold on, it doesn't. But it is alright because they have a picture of the case, so I can see the info on there, but hold on again, they only show the front cover, which doesn't mention anything.

But maybe if I bought it on Amazon UK they will tell me how the internet affects the game and the saving only online. Woops, no again. Someone mentions it in the comments, but how long has that been there! And again, shouldn't it be mentioned in the description!

Well maybe the US Amazon will give more info seeing as it is a very litigious country. But again no mention of how the internet affects the game in any way. Again, someone mentions it in the comments, but shouldn't it be mentioned in the description of the game, seeing as it is so fundamental to how this game works!3

Well maybe I can get all the information on the Official Gran Turismo Sport site will go into detail as to the internet access and how it affects the game. I mean, that is the place to get all the information about the game isn't it. Surprisingly no mention apart from "Number of Players: 1 – 2 (Online: 1 – 24)".

So what if you buy online, and where you buy don't mention anything about the internet and the game, and there isn't a comments section which mentions anything about how the internet affects the game, how are you supposed to know?

So if the actual company who are selling the game make no mention of how the internet affects the game apart from a small box on the back of the case, how are you supposed to know?

So to put it in a way you may understand, on the Gran Turismo site, from the makers of the game, it doesn't say "INTERNET REQUIRED FOR MOST FUNCTIONALITY" it is a little box on the back of the game which you may see once you have bought the game. Although if you missed the little box on the back, you could maybe get more information in the manual in the case. Hold on, not having a manual in the box is one of the ways they have saved money.

So you want to make Sony liable for all third party listings? Maybe it's just that I'm naturally averse to online shopping, but this is where I believe caveat emptor does come more into play in this situation. You are effectively buying a product somewhat blind - you are trusting the retailer to give you all the information about the game and clearly neither Amazon, Acrodeal or Game passed along sufficient information that is factually indicated on the product itself. Having that level of control is one of the things people sacrifice for the convenience of buying on line rather than shopping in a physical retailer.

You could argue that this is why it's important that it's included in advertising material - but this comes back to the same question as to how obvious, and precisely what information has to be in the advert or on the packaging.

I personally find it debatable that someone buying what, at launch, was clearly marketed as an online focused game, from an online retailer can't reasonably be expected to have an internet connection. But, if it becomes a legal issue where ad's have to start getting pulled then it is only correct that standards be dictated so that any publisher or consumer can avoid the situation again - since we don't have that, and it seems discretionary, then I guess we simply disagree on whats acceptable and what isn't.

I personally believe in researching purchases, clearly some people don't. I actually find the practice of pre-order bonuses more questionable because it persuades people to part with their money before they have chance to review what they're actually buying.

FWIW, The publicly available online manual at gran-turismo.com does indicate the deal with Save functionality - though I do not know if that section was available at launch or amended since (amendments inline with fixes, glithces, changes or additional content is one of the other benefits of doing away with a physical manual - besides cost).

So if I bought GT5 hoping for, say, matchmaking...

Then you'd potentially be disappointed and could perhaps take issue with an advertised feature not being present with whoever was responsible for making that claim, though to be honest I don't remember in what fashion this was over promised or under delivered.

 

[Doomotron]

I'm still a little confused by the claim that only three tracks are available on-disc.

I deleted the entire GT Sport install from the other PS4 and ran the game from the media disc, with the console disconnected from the internet. Although only arcade mode was available, every track was there - although all-but four required some gameplay to unlock...

It's the save file (the online one). If you play the game offline only Northern Isle, Dragon Trail and Colorado Springs are available. The others show what level you need to be to unlock that track, but to get those levels you must be online (in later versions you can make progress offline but to install those new versions you need an internet connection).

 

[redhed17]

So you want to make Sony liable for all third party listings? Maybe it's just that I'm naturally averse to online shopping, but this is where I believe caveat emptor does come more into play in this situation. You are effectively buying a product somewhat blind - you are trusting the retailer to give you all the information about the game and clearly neither Amazon, Acrodeal or Game passed along sufficient information that is factually indicated on the product itself. Having that level of control is one of the things people sacrifice for the convenience of buying on line rather than shopping in a physical retailer.

One could speculate that maybe the online retailers were posting descriptions of the game given to them by PD/Sony, as where else would they get their information other than from the developer/manufacturer! They don't make it up themselves after all. Now maybe PD/Sony did give them all the information, and they all decided to omit the relevant information about how much of the game is playable offline and all saves can only be online, but I doubt it. I doubt it because nowhere in the description of the game from the developer on Granturismo.com does it mention anything about the affects of an internet connection on the playability of the game other than the number of players. I also doubt it because no retailer wants to get a game returned for anything not described as part of the game. You say do some research, but if you can't get the info from the developer, then everything else could be considered hearsay.

You could argue that this is why it's important that it's included in advertising material - but this comes back to the same question as to how obvious, and precisely what information has to be in the advert or on the packaging.

I personally find it debatable that someone buying what, at launch, was clearly marketed as an online focused game, from an online retailer can't reasonably be expected to have an internet connection. But, if it becomes a legal issue where ad's have to start getting pulled then it is only correct that standards be dictated so that any publisher or consumer can avoid the situation again - since we don't have that, and it seems discretionary, then I guess we simply disagree on whats acceptable and what isn't.

Where is it marketed clearly as an online focused game, not on the developers website that if for sure. And even if it is marketed that way which is debatable seeing as an actual marketing advert has been pulled for not being clear enough, it is up to the developer to make it clear exactly the extent of how much being connected affects the gameplay or not. You may disagree what needs to be included in an advert, but the Advertising Standards Authority has made it clear that the GT Sport advert was not including enough information for potential buyers.

I personally believe in researching purchases, clearly some people don't. I actually find the practice of pre-order bonuses more questionable because it persuades people to part with their money before they have chance to review what they're actually buying.

FWIW, The publicly available online manual at gran-turismo.com does indicate the deal with Save functionality - though I do not know if that section was available at launch or amended since (amendments inline with fixes, glithces, changes or additional content is one of the other benefits of doing away with a physical manual - besides cost).

And where do you think you would research first for the most reliable information! I would say that is the developers site, and if they are not mentioning the information in their description of the game, and then only mentioning it in a manual, then for me they are in no way being clear and transparent about how much of the game is playable offline, and how being offline stops you from saving progress. There is only one party which benefits from the this poor information about this game, and it is not the user imho. You ma disagree.