Publisher: Please give us back our illegal weapons

[Keith B]

Publisher: Please give us back our illegal weapons
by Mike Smith

From http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plug ... ns/1304911" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

April 13, 2009 2:30 P.M.

Pens? Snore. T-shirts? Boring. Notepads? Been there, done that. Thinking up creative ideas for promotional tchotchkes can't be easy, but someone at uber-publisher Electronic Arts went a little too far last week.

The game in question: Godfather II, a Grand Theft Auto-style adventure based on the famous movie. The offending item: a set of brass knuckles, mailed to video games journalists together with other goodies including a cigar, a silk handkerchief, and a book of matches. But while it nicely complements the game's mafiosi theme, it also had the unfortunate side-effect of turning recipients of the mailing into criminals, as mere possession of brass knuckles is illegal in many states and can carry hefty penalties.

After blog GamePolitics expressed its consternation, the publisher began a flurry of hush-hush phone calls to arrange the return of the weapons. EA declined to comment beyond expressing a desire to assist journalists in proper disposal of the items.

The controversial promo also doesn't seem to be helping out the game's critical fortunes: it's turning in some decidedly mixed reviews.

[Wildscar]

Buts it’s not a weapon... It’s a paper weight.

[bryang]

Who ever came up with that wonderful promotion idea was very creative....however, slightly dumb. I read in the paper just the other day where an 18 year old was arrested with a pair of brass knuckles in his pocket, maybe he was one of the lucky "journalists."

-geo

[kalipsocs]

its all good because EA needs to get thrown in jail anyway. all they do is shovel out games that are half done as fast as you can blink, withhold earnings of employees, and buy up the good developers and immediately kill off all creativity those development studios once had. they are like the microsoft of games haha

[Dutchster]

The best excuse I ever got for a pair of brass knuckles was from a teenager I caught messing around behind a building at 2 AM last December. When I was going through his pockets waiting for another unit to arrive I found a pair of brass knuckles. He claimed it was a belt buckle. Unless he planned to hold his pants up with a piece of clothesline we just couldn't see that happening. Not to mention he was already wearing one of those tiled metal "punk" belts.

Another fine example of a mall rat learning that just because you can buy it at Spencers doesn't mean it's a good idea to do so, but if you do for God's sake don't carry it around in your pocket while you loiter behind closed businesses.

Way to go from being taken home and having your parents sternly advised about the curfew law straight to hoping you can plead a first degree misdemeanor down.