Class Action Connect offers lawsuit against Bungie for Halo3's missing pixels Posted by XanTium | December 9 00:08 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From classactionconnect.com: [QUOTE] A team of class action attorneys has launched an investigation into complaints that Halo 3 was falsely marketed as a high definition product, but does not actually render native high definition resolutions. These complaints are that, although Halo 3 was advertised as having a 720p resolution (720 pixels), it natively renders at 640p (640 pixels) and is simply scaled up to 720p. Read more about it here. If you purchased the Halo 3 game, you may be entitled to recover money. [/QUOTE] Full Story/Submit Form: classactionconnect.com

This is so ridiculous that I'm not even sure what to say besides...

Where's my $60?

Why is everyone so surprised? If you go to a store and purchase a crucial drug for example that is used to keep you healthy and the drug says 200mg on the label but you instead get the wrong dose of 150mg and end up having health issues, why can't this apply to games? False advertising is false advertising period. I hope they win.

I thought this was supposed to do 1080p, is that false as well?

after costs such as legal fees i bet the amount of cash the end user gets will be trivial

Is anyone else having difficulties filling out the form? Despite filling in all of the boxes on the right side of the screen, I keep getting a message that I did not fill in a required field. I even tried several different e-mail addresses incase hotmail is blocked. But none worked and it is not specific as to which field I am missing.

This'll be thrown out of court faster than it was posted.

It still looks amazing. Get the f@*^ over it!

I'm not sue happy, in fact, this is the first lawsuit I will have ever joined. However, I was very disappointed with the graphics in the game as it did seem very "blocky" at times when my tv overscanned to scale up to a 720p display. If they had been honest in the first place I would have been happy.

I had the same problem with GT4 on the PS2 and the constant jitter that occured when you started a race. We (gamers) wait a long time, and through several delays, for these games. The least the game companies could do is let us know the truth about the graphics we are about to spend 60 - 80 dollars on.

I even went so far as to buy the legendary edition and got scratched disks that MS never decided to replace for me. Just kinda bummed by the whole release. However I won't go so far as to say that it was a horrible game like some others. I thought it was a good story and a great play minus the graphics problems I had.

I never experienced anything like this on my 720p/1080i display - sounds to me you should be suing the tv company for making a substandard product.

im in america... but i think Lawsuits like this are BS!.... just lawyers trying to line there pockets is the bottom line. they just try to find ANYTHING to get rich even though it goes against common sence.

p.s. the games (Halo3) overrated anyways. they should sue cause of that instead lol (just kidding)

Absolutely amazing. So I suppose all the people who are joining this class action lawsuit are going to hand over their copies of this "inferior" game due to the inexcusable absence of some pixels? People will do anything to earn a quick, dirty buck these days. Bungie has once again put out an amazing product and people have the nerve to try and stick it to them. And since this is the third installment of the Halo franchise, it's not like Joe Lawsuit didn't know what he was purchasing. It was necessary to maintain the framerate. Bungie won't ship anything less than excellence and it just blows my mind how ungrateful some "gamers" can be.

Jeez...No one forced you to wait, you chose to do that on your own. No one forced you to buy the game, you did that on your own too. The system outputs 720p regardless of what resolution the game was created in so the issues you are having on your TV are not due to the resolution. Companies make games with awful graphics all the time even in full 720p, does that mean they should be sued too. You were caught up in the hype and just took their word for the graphics being amazing. I had no high expectations of the graphics (did you play Halo 2?). The fact the game is less than 720p is not the main aspect causing the graphics from being less than stellar.

Oh my god....society today is really ignorant! Wahh, I'm missing 80 pixels. Who cares!? The people who are joining on this cash-grab should just shoot themselves and spare us their genes for future generations.

The people behind this lawsuit don't even have their facts straight. 720p is not 720 pixels, it is 921,600 pixels. 720p stands for 720 progressively scanned lines of picture. The same is true for their analysis of 640p, it is not 640 pixels but it is actually 819,200 pixels if the resolution is 1280x640. It is actually missing 80p or 102,400 pixels. This error should be fixed immediately if they actually want this lawsuit to be considered somewhat seriously.

Was just about to post this...
And I think it's 1152 X 640

so it's actually missing 184320 pixels...If I did the math right...

I was totally against this suit just up until I read your post... It really made me realise how short sighted I was... Of course medicine and video games are the same ...</sarcasm>

Best post by far... dude you got me laughing for a long while there after reading it... I truly hope you are not serious... Actually the best part was me thinking you where serious

they will never win this lawsuit

from bungie.net




they use the two frame buffers so they can argue they actaully are giving you more then 720 vertical lines of resolution. Even so the final output of the signal is up to 1080p is not misleading because the final output resolution is that. This is because the xbox360 upscales everything...So this lawsuit has absolutely no feet to stand on. These lawyers do not understand what a frame buffer is let alone how two work together so i doubt they will even be able to go after bungie when bungie brings in their lead programmer to explain to them in the most technical terms how this works. The lawyers obviousbly havent done their research at all.

Maybe they should sue cause they call it 3, when it looks like 2.5 at best ..lol, if Bungie only produce excellence why did we end up with 2 duff games after the 1st halo?



spoon

Bungie just found a good solution for a problem they had. So why sue a company for being smart and tries to give u the best product all around? So what it has to drop the 720p? I wouldnt like Halo 3 as much on 720p and stuttering than with 80p less and running flawlessly.

I don't know why they sued microsoft and bungie in the first place.

If they want to fix this quickly, they can release a patch that ouputs a 720p natively, but i don't know if the game will run smothly, i think it will but not through the whole game.

programmers, i hope u learned ur lesson...dont spare resolution for the sake of keeping clean and smooth frame rates, somebody will sue ya!

trust me, ppl like choppy frame rates; look at two worlds!...lol

hahhahaha..OK I WANT MY MONEY BACK FOR HALO3..OR GIMEE THOSE 80 LINES NOW !! lol

Except for the fact that your TV did no such thing, the 360s fixed output modes of 480i/p, 720p, 1080i/p (VGA not included) proves this. Your TV was getting a 720p signal and was doing no such scaling, unless you were feeding it not it's native resolution. It sounds like you just have a shitty TV.

If you don't agree with the lawsuit, then simply you don't believe in honesty.

I for one am against lies and deceit.

Bungie openly admitted that they lied to everyone. This is unacceptable.

When you buy something and it is advertised to have a capability that it does not, then that company is using FALSE ADVERTISEMENT.

It's against the law to openly lie like that.

I'm confused... why does the box say 1080p on the back? Either way, I do know that when you set your xbox to a certain resolution it up/down converts for the resolution you chose.

see problem in the usa is you can sue anyone for anything and well we see this daily anymore. weather it stands up in court has any merit or even worth anyones time is another matter. i can sue you couse i don't like your post hehe but its probably not gonna stand up in any court. just make the attorneys richer they like your money.

this suit is like 10 years to late rember the old ff commercals where they showed only the cut scenes and no game play making the game seem like some 3d wonder on the ps1 but really a 2d with movies. but as for halo 3 this is retarded who cares really. hardly a 2d game pretending to be 3d.

agree a 110% sony needs to to be tought a lesson like this all all the lies they promissed about ps3.

1) Bungie mentioned this either right before or right after Halo 3's release, so it's not like it was totally 'secret'
2) Bungie saying it (talking about this) "would've distracted people..." was to follow with "...from buying Halo 3"
3) False advertising is false advertising, and if they did advertise falsely, then they're no better than people who scam stores on returns (ie: fraudalant; wrong is wrong).
4) Halo 3 is suprisingly blocky. Graphics are very jagged in some parts, unlike other games (GoW)
5) Halo 3 was VERY dissapointing to many, so I'm sure that's what the issue is REALLY about

How much can resolution matter if the game's models and textures were designed with less detail than 720p can theoretically apply? We'd have to start suing companies for creating textures that aren't 1280 x 720 x the maximum times you can zoom in in the game. I often like to stand in front of walls and zoom in all the with my sniper rifle, but when I see an image that doesn't have 921,600 non-scaled original pixels it kind of just ruins the whole feel for the game. I suggest we sue all xbox 360 and ps3 video game companies.

What kind of low life scum bag do you have to be to try reclaim your money because the game is lacking 80 lines of detail? The game looks amazing in HD. The people that are sueing over this are pathetic, I mean this is disgusting, these people must have NO LIFES whatsoever if something like this has bothered them so much they have sought LEGAL action!!

I'm almost gobsmacked, pathetic... just utterly pathetic human beings responsible for this.

I do not agree with this lawsuit.

BTW it is the lawyers who are attempting to start this lawsuit, but when greedy people start to see dollar signs they might jump on it. Fortunately for Bungies case, they have logged all the hours of every player who has played Halo 3. "If you didnt like the game why did you play it so much?" is all that is needed to be asked.

I was disappointed by the graphics in the gameplay, but I really bought the game because I liked the Halo series. If there was a sacrafice to resolution for gameplay I think it makes sense. Can you imagine if the game slowed way down in a game or Rockets because of a little better resolution?

my .02 cents
-Joe

So why haven't the hard drive companies been sued for turning 1GB into 1000MB, so that their drives seem to have larger capacity?

For those that don't know 1GB=1024MB. That's why when you buy a 300GB hdd you lose 300x24MB or 7.2GB.

I find it strange how nothing has been done about this, yet people are gonna shaft bungie for nothing.

They should also sue for the fact that they are also advertising "Leaderboards" on the box and there are NO Leaderboards.

Halo 3 is full of over-promise and under-deliver as well as false-advertisement.

Why is it every thread has to be turned into a playground fight.
the discussion is about the resolution of H3 and the lawsuit.
Turn it into countries v countries and generalisations about types of people based on origin and the thread is finished.
If your post is missing don't re-make it

Bottom feeding trail lawyers already cross that one off their list. Seagate settled. Case was "Cho v. Seagate Technology (US) Holdings, Inc."

The US needs tort reform badly; unfortunately the US senate is 60% lawyers.

WTF are you talking about????

Your TV over-scanned to scale up to 720p??? The upscale is done in the 360 hardware you retard, your tv is receiving a 720p format signal.

As for not getting your discs replaced, Microsoft had a disc replacement scheme so if you didn't take this offer up then tough shit. Also, most of the scratched discs were not in the legendary box as the discs were packed in standard cases. The discs that they had issues with were in the collectors edition because the disc clip was not standard.

Halo 3 was a huge disappointment.. Get over it..

jackass group of lawyers trying to advertise themselves...

do they even realize that class action lawsuits can completely destroy a company?
and for christ sake, 80 pixels! that's ridiculous!
sure halo 3 isn't native 720p, but bungie had their reasons for doing it like that.
those who whine about bungie choosing the path that is most efficiënt in their eyes shouldn't be playing videogames in the first place!


jrl brings up a good point: bungie can pull the logs and reject any damage claims from people who have been playing the game SINCE after they announced it wasn't entirely native but an intermediate solution to acquire 720p, as those who have been playing since after it was announced have had the chance to know it.

besides, by playing the game THEY AGREED TO THE EULA.
those who whine, get over it, by inserting the disk and playing you agreed to the MS EULA, simple as that.


hotknife420: it's not like bungie is the first company to commit false advertising, the competition has done it over and over, not to mention tons of industries do it


ultimate BESIDES: the lawyers are wrong to consider sueing bungie as at the time halo 3 was made, Bungie was actually Microsoft, so they should sue Microsoft, not bungie studios.

and I doubt even a top team of lawyers can beat MS in a courtroom.




all those who sign that petition are selfish greedy pricks in my eyes who fail to appreciate the work of a group of dedicated developers who get paid a regular sum of money and not the millions the publisher makes.

By reading this post you agree to give me $100.

Sorry, contract law doesn't work like that. That's why you have to read and say 'I agree' to the TOS when you sign up to Live. They can't just say 'by playing on Live you agree to the EULA'.

Activision's "by looking at this you can't use the Rock Band guitar to play Guitar Hero III" is equally invalid.

Yeah I read about that after I posted. However, there are still many other hdd manufacturers that haven't been done.

BTW, i'm not saying I hate hdd manufacturers and would never try to sue them for this. I'm just saying it's a tad misleading the way you buy a stated amount of space only to find some of it's missing.

I suppose the point I'm trying to make is... Destroying a hardworking company that brings so much joy to millions of lives, because of a tiviality such as this, is just plain wrong.

I don't really like the Halo franchise but I hope Bungie beat this crap.

exactly, you can't explain that with just labeling on the back of the box - maybe a simple asterisk would have spared them from this mess. well it must be interesting to see what comes of this, but more than likely this will be dismissed as they have very little clear substantial evidence or proof of their claims.

if it isn't HD, what is it?

What display method less of 720p can display a 640p signal?

720p is the lowest supported resolution that can display the output signal.

If you hate it that much, you should be getting a refund. Nothing else. This "compensation" is a bunch of crap. "Oh, the game sucks to much...but I still play it anyways".

The Xbox outputs the video at 720p. You wanted 720p, the Xbox gives you 720p. What are you complaining about? It doesn't say "rendered at a native resolution of exactally 1280x720", it says 720p. It's like buying a can of coke. More than half that can is water. Are you going to sue them because they didn't give you concentrated coke? They have to add the water to make the whole thing work.

I'd wager than anyone complaining about this isn't a programer/designer/etc. I'd also wager a guess than it looks better rendered at 640p with the extra features (lighting, etc), than it would at 720p with no extra features.

Not entirely correct: on the box it says you MUST agree to the enclosed EULA in either the manual or enclosed booklet if you want to use the software, if you don't agree you should return it to the retailer you bought it from.
since you MUST agree if you want to use the program, it's pretty obvious that when you played it, you legally agreed to the EULA.
it's like having to sign a nondisclosure contract before being allowed to see classified information: you MUST agree to shut up if you wanna see it, or you can't see it.

Also, they offer you the chance to read the EULA when signing up for MS services and you have to select "I Agree" to use it.
therefor, MS can pull the Xbox Live logs, use that as a proof somebody agreed to their terms of use for the LICENSE they give you.

besides, if there's anything waterproof at MS, it's their contracts and EULA's.


alternatively, they can request the accuser to show a proof of purchase.
since MS offers a limited 90-day warranty on most software in the US and Canada, you've only got 90 days to complain.

remember, this is MS we're talking about, they could even check the date the first halo 3 savegame was made and use that as proof.



too bad nobody RTFM's or the EULA's they get shown.


sorry mate, but MS does have 1 thing that's bulletproof and it's their legal department.
people used the game and the boxes and/or manuals read you have to agree to the EULA's, since they aren't allowed to play if they disagreed, they showed they agreed by playing because you must agree BEFORE playing, once you played there's no turning back.

the agreement has been made before the act, plain simple.

sigh... the only way this was found out was through some sort of analysis with software... the human eye can't tell this apart and because they used them layers (i can't remember exactly what it was but i think it was two 640p layers for high and low lighting or something) it still looks amazing

this doesn't hurt anyone, u can't really tell the difference, and i doubt people were outraged enough to go return the game

these assholes are just trying to get money because out of the millions of people that bought halo there will be the douchebags that go and sign up for this

i hope M$ and bungie put in the money to repel this crap and then counter sue to get their legal expenses back bankrupting the losers

You actually believe Microsoft's legal department are invincible?? They lose legal cases all over the world, they are constantly making huge settlements.

I think this topic should have been closed a while ago....

Lawyers are not going to win...

Halo is not going to get refunded...

640p is above the SDTV and the EDTV standard. Besides, the Xbox360 upscales it to 720p. 720p is the signal your TV receives.

Damn whiners...

I'm gonna file a class action lawsuit for wasting everyones time..