California Man Sues Sony Over Killzone’s 1080p Graphics Claims

The Latest Generation of Game Consoles has Led to a Fair Share of Pixel-Counting Debates and Complaints from Gamers and Developers. But, they All Pale in Comparison to the Proposed Class Action Lawsuit just Filed against "Killzone: Shadow Fall" Maker, Sony Computer Entertainment, which Accuses the Game of Falsely Advertising 1080p Graphics it Didn't Deliver. In the Complaint (PDF) Filed Yesterday in California's Northern District Federal Court, Plaintiff, Douglas Ladore Notes that, Sony Promised 1080p Single and Multiplayer Graphics in Advertisements and Interviews for "Killzone: Shadow Fall" before the Game was Released Last November.


The Game's Packaging also Features a "1080p HD Video Output" Logo on the Back of the Box. But, as »XoZeN« Pointed Out in a March Analysis, Killzone's Multiplayer Mode actually Outputs Natively in 960x1080 Resolution, Half of the 1920x1080 Standard for "1080p". To Output Full 1080p Graphics, this Source Image is Fixed with a "Temporal Upscale" that Fills in Gaps with a Horizontal Interlace Made Up of Pixels from the Previous Frame. The Result is Graphical Performance that the Lawsuit (and Many Reviews) Call, "Blurry to the Point of Distraction". Sony and Developer Guerrilla Games, Addressed these Complaints in a Blog Post at the Time, Laying Out the Details of this "Temporal Projection" Pixel Filling and Arguing that it Indeed Provides "Subjectively Similar Results" to Native 1080p Rendering.


Ladore's Lawsuit Isn't Satisfied by this Argument. "While this reconstruction technique might be novel, it is decidedly not the 'native 1080p' Sony promised", the Complaint Argues. Was Anyone actually Harmed by this Allegedly Deceptive Resolution-Fudging ? Ladore Argues that he was, to the Tune of a $50 Purchase. "Had Plaintiff known that Killzone’s multiplayer mode was not running at a graphics resolution of 1080p, he would have not have purchased Killzone at all, or would have paid substantially less for it." The Complaint Accuses Sony of False Advertising, Breach of Warranty, Fraud, Negligent Misrepresentation and Unjust Enrichment. On Behalf of the Entire Class of Killzone Purchasers, the Complaint Seeks "restitution in the form of disgorgement of all revenue derived from sales of Killzone: Shadow Fall" as well as "all economic, monetary, actual, consequential, statutory and compensatory damages caused by Defendant’s conduct and if the conduct is proven to be willful, award Plaintiff and the Class exemplary damages". The Class-Complaint is Being Represented by Mark S. Eisen and his Associates at Edelson PC.




Info Sources:

http://ia902304.us.archive.org/23/items/gov.uscourts.cand.279671/gov.uscourts.cand.279671.1.0.pdf

http://www.killzone.com/en_GB/blog/news/2014-03-06_regarding-killzone-shadow-fall-and-1080p.html