Kurt Cobain's widow Courtney Love yesterday expressed her distain over the Nirvana front man's presence in Guitar Hero 5. Today, the surviving members of the band, bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl, issued a joint statement objecting to the way that Cobain is depicted in the game.
"We want people to know that we are dismayed and very disappointed in the way a facsimile of Kurt is used in the Guitar Hero game. The name and likeness of Kurt Cobain are the sole property of his estate - we have no control whatsoever in that area," read the statement. "While we were aware of Kurt's image being used with two Nirvana songs, we didn't know players have the ability to unlock the character. This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants. We urge Activision to do the right thing in 're-locking' Kurt's character so that this won't continue in the future."
"It's hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists' music alongside cartoon characters. Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world," concluded the statement too. "We feel he deserves better."
We agree that it's hard to watch Cobain's avatar too, but for different reasons: seeing him in action is like a trip to the "uncanny valley" and his animations make him almost look puppet-like.
Update: Courtney Love's lawyer has now issued a new statement to Kotaku. "Ms. Cobain is extremely upset about Activision's use of Mr. Cobain's likeness to sing the songs of others in its Guitar Hero game," said Keith A. Fink, Love's attorney. "Activision was granted permission by Kurt's trust solely to use his name and likeness. Activision was not given an unbridled right to use Mr. Cobain's name and likeness. Kurt's songs have a special and unique meaning to his fans and his image and legacy are very important to Ms. Cobain. The agreement Activision has with the trust doesn't allow them to use his likeness in ways that denigrate his image. We would hope Activision would do the right thing on its own and prohibit game users from using Kurt's image to sing others songs and if they don't we expect the trust to take appropriate action to protect Mr. Cobain's image."
7 Comments
September 11, 2009
This could be a pivotal moment in the GH franchise. Will be interesting to see how Activision responds.
September 11, 2009
I don't think it's quite "pivotal"...but Activision should have thought about the emotion tied to artists and songs, and how they have spoken to people. When was the last time you used a video game to help get you through a hard time? "Yeah Mario...I miss the princess too..." Right.
I'm not saying that games are not art, but I would care less if Master Chief was an unlockable character in Mass Effect 2...i do have a problem with the story above.
September 11, 2009
http://guitarhero.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Guitar_Hero_characters
There is a list of all the characters featured in the various Guitar Hero games. Doubtless some of those characters' real life counterparts would disagree with some of the songs the series has them singing, but at the end of the day, nobody thinks different of Ozzy for singing a Ween song, or Billy Corgan for singing On The Road Again. Why? Because it's not real. I understand that Kurt literally hatred Slash, but a) wouldn't you think he'd want to let go of his hate, now that he's dead and, b) alternatively, what better way to get a final 'Ha, got you!' than making money off of playing GnR's songs, making money off it, and not having to pay royalties to Slash?
Finally, while it is cool to be able to pick one of your musical idols to play as, who the f*** watches the characters prance around on screen while they play? If you're playing, you're watching the notes come at you. Period, end of story. This whole issue is nothing more than a widow of a rock star getting all butt hurt because she allowed Kurt's image to be used in a franchise she's totally and completely unfamiliar with. As a result, the media is sensationalizing the issue with Kurt's image in Guitar Hero, and making it seem like a bigger issue than it is.
@Courtney Love-Cobain: SHUT. UP.
@International Media: You, too.
September 11, 2009
Will is right, and does anyone seriously think that ATVI legal wouldn't get the proper clearance to use his likeness? Really, I'll be surprised if Activision does try to file a lawsuit against her for defamation.
September 11, 2009
Will, I was taking your point into consideration until you used the term "butt hurt." Nice work.
Regardless, I'm assuming that you must have never developed an emotional tie to a song or an artist. Music is one of two things to people: 1. It's solely entertainment. 2. It's art. Music is entertainment to you...and that's fine. Just recognize the other side of the story.
September 11, 2009
And the marketing person who thought this feature was a good idea is an IDIOT. You don't disrespect someone's hero. You treat licensed property with dignity. Geez Activision what were you thinking?
March 24, 2010
I'll be surprised if Activision does try to file a lawsuit against her for defamation.
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