Gran Turismo 5 Go Kart Track Upsets Italy

[Tom Goldman]

Gran Turismo 5 Go Kart Track Upsets Italy


Sony is in trouble once again for recreating a real-world location, this time in Gran Turismo 5.

Sony was criticized by church authorities Gran Turismo 5 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/72834-British-PM-Chimes-In-On-Sony-Church-Controversy].

This time the problem doesn't involve a church, but Italy's Piazza del Campo, a public space used to host the Palio di Siena [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palio_di_Siena] twice a year. The Palio di Siena is a patriotic rivalry in which representatives from the 17 contrade (districts) of Italian city Siena race horses while dressed in colors and garb from their respective areas. The Consortium for the Protection of the Palio is upset that Polyphony Digital used images of each contrade's flags in its representation of the Piazza del Campo as a go kart track.

Anna Carli, CEO of the Consortium, says: "You can not use images of Contrade, in this case the flags, without authorization. Given the relevance of the game with no history and references to our party, in particular with the use of images of flags of the contrade, we would not authorize use."

The Consortium will be making a diplomatic request to Sony to remove the images of the flags. If Sony does not comply, the organization may attempt to have Gran Turismo 5's release halted by law. The flags are clearly visible on the track in the beginning of the accompanying video, and as players drive around it. Though it seems like an easy enough fix, it'd be a shame if Gran Turismo 5 is delayed yet again after six years since Gran Turismo 4 [http://www.amazon.com/Gran-Turismo-4-Playstation-2/dp/B0000A0MDV] due to the misuse of flag imagery. I think the hardcore Gran Turismo fans might start an international incident.

Source: VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2010/08/22/gran-turismo-5-upsets-siena/]

Permalink

 

[DeASplode]

Just remove the flags then?

 

[Bob_F_It]

Some people take such things too seriously. I guess Sony could just get the flags removed. Or they could be very annoying and remove Ferrari from the game as well as punishment.

 

[Enagan]

There's no reason for Sony to not comply, this shouldn't affect the game's launch date

 

[latenightapplepie]

I've totally been there!

However, not during the festival when the horse race is held. We climbed the tower as well. The staircase is uncomfortably tight. But the view is quite lovely.

EDIT: On topic: I'm on the Consortium's side here. Sony shouldn't be doing this.

 

[Axle_Bullitt_19]

You know I do believe that the Roman Colosseum is on another track on this game, whats gonna happen with that? Also I doubt they could make it so that the game can't be released period just in Italy, which I'm sure a lot of Gran Turismo fans from that country would go to one of the neighboring countries and get it.

 

[Terramax]

Shouldn't Italy be worrying about more important things, like their corrupt politicians?

 

[Jou]

That video was horrible. Was a 5 year old playing?

OT: Some people need to see their names in the news. Does it really hurt their image to have their flags in a racing game? Especially one that has no violence, sex or blood?

 

[RowdyRodimus]

How about change them all to flags of Italy with each one bearing the face of a cast member of Jersey Shore?

 

[Varrdy]

I'm of the opinion of "What's the harm in it?". If every single mention / symbol / appearence / building etc. was removed from a game then there wouldn'tbe any games at all!. I could understand if the game encouraged drivers to leave the track, run over spectators, throw shit at the Vatican and kidnap the Pope but they're just flags...sure they have special meaning for some but so does The Statue of Liberty and no-one moaned when it was destroyed in "Independence Day"!

Think about what we'd have if game-makers cow-towed to everybody.

Halo would have to be banned because it dares to mention another religion (the Covenant), regardless of the fact is bad. Any other God is blashphemy and two wrongs don't make a right!

Dizzy? Sorry mate but a buncha vegans got all upset about the dairy / animal products thing so you have to go!

Fallout? CND decides it's "glorifying" or "playing down" the nuclear threat. Gotta go!

War games? Christ where to start? These would meet more opposition than a new KKK fashion-range!

In this case the impact on the game would be utterly minimal if the flags were removed, making much of what just said meaningless in this case but the point still stands.

There is always something that will upset someone and, as much as "they" might jump up and down, wailing and pointing, we can't please everybody!

I would have thought that the consortium would be pleased that Sony have recognised their tradition, even if they didn't fully understand it. They could have used it to educate people like me who, until now, had no idea about the Contrade Races. Instead they've just shown themselves to be rather stuffy!

Wardy

 

[mjc0961]

If the Red Cross can get red plus symbols removed from games (see the XBLA version of Doom 2), they can probably get the flags taken out. Maybe it's right, maybe it's wrong. I don't really know or honestly care that much either.

 

[Therumancer]

Free Speech is free speech, Sony should laugh at them. The entire idea of a flag is to have it displayed to begin with.

What's more I believe the issue of disrespect for flags has gone before the UN in the past, and pretty much has been declared as perfectly fine and there is nothing the group represented by the flag can see done about it, at least legally by the UN. This in response to burnings of the US and UK flags in paticular in various international demonstrations, many in UN member nations.

As a result this means that while in theory Italy might be able to ban the game coming into their country, I say *might* because I have no idea what their trade policies are and what they might have agreed to with nations like Japan/Sony or other UN nations (such agreements can tie the hands of the goverment, and indeed were intended to do so on touchy issues as one goverment cut a deal they wanted to make sure another goverment wouldn't be able to undo later in order to ensure stability for the trade partners to invest the money).

In a general sense Sony could create an "Italian Flag butt wiping" similation in which people take Italian flags from all these groups and more, use them for toilet paper, and/or deface them in the most profound manners possible, and there is absolutly nothing the international community would do about it, any more than the UN has engaged in action (sanctions, sending peacekeepers, etc...) simply for burning a flag of say the US or whatever (though there have been other reasons aside from that).

The problem as I see things is that this is a respectful use of the flags and imagery in a public place, where the flags are displayed. I very much doubt they object to tourists taking pictures of those flags when events there happen (and indeed people seeing them is the entire point of the flag), heck I'd be bloody surprised if people don't intentionally pose for pictures for tourists with their region's flag especially if they win.

If Sony backs down and agrees to this, it's a victory for international censorship. To be honest I think this is probably a power thing (like a lot of issues recently) more than a legitimate issue for the Italians, they want to make a stink to get an issue into the news, and show they can actually do something. Backing down to things like this (and other issues like Austraia banning games from showing injection with syringes) is a bad thing in any sense.

Sony shouldn't go out of their way to offend Italy over this (by say making a rude game/minigame like above) but should pretty much refuse to comply and ignore them.

-

The situation with The Church is a little differant because it's private property rather than a public area where the flags are displayed publically. Using a church without permission is a no-no, and has been an issue for movie companies in the past. For example I seem to remember the buiding they used for the exterior shots of "Hogwarts" in the "Harry Potter" movies was their second choice, since the Cathedral they wanted to use first didn't want it used.

The differance being that not all churches are public areas where people can just walk into, many are "members only" and are only seen by the public on specific tours and the like. I'm guessing in the case this is compared to, the Church in question was not zoned or run as a public area where say anyone could come into the church in the middle of the week, pray before the altar, or take a space on a pew and contemplate.

 

[Avayu]

EDIT: On topic: I'm on the Consortium's side here. Sony shouldn't be doing this.

Just out of curiousity, why? What's the problem with having the flags there?

Because it's most likely an infringement of copyright. It is as if a game would simply use the flags and logos of a football club without the clubs knowledge.
Of course, no real harm is done to the contrades in this case, so this seems a bit narrow-minded on the side of this consortium, but after all they probably want to protect their traditional imagery.

 

[Jeronus]

I didn't even see any flags in the video and I doubt anyone else besides the Consortium would care. Do they expect people to see the flags and instantly think the Consortium is some sort of joke. News flash for the Consortium! The rest of the world wouldn't think any less of you if they saw your flags in a game. I bet Sony will release it without the flags just so they don't end up with a boycott in Italy.

 

[RobCoxxy]

Fair enough, just change the flags.
It's reasonable.