Red Steel Advert "reminiscent of recent videos released by hostage-takers in Iraq"

How refreshing, complaints about video games that are not coming from the mouth of Jack Thompson.

Nevertheless, Nintendo have been brought before the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over recent complaints over an advert for Red Steel.

The advert itself features a player waving the Wiimote like a sword, slashing the on-screen character. As he struck a final blow with the controller, the on-screen opponent fell to the floor clutching his head. In total, the ASA received 17 complaints, ranging from " the adverts were violent, offensive and disturbing" to one viewer stating that it was reminiscent of recent videos released by hostage-takers in Iraq

In throwing out the complaints, the ASA said that it believed viewers would recognise that the ad was showcasing the range of computer games available on the Wii and was intending to communicate that men, women, teenagers and children would all enjoy using the console.

"We noted that the ad featured scenes from many different games, several of which were family-oriented and involved, for example, playing golf, tennis and baseball, fishing and bursting balloons," the ASA stated in its ruling.

"We considered that the scenes from Red Steel did not feature explicit or graphic violence and were only one part of the ad, which primarily promoted a games console aimed at people of all ages and running games in a variety of genres.

"We also considered that viewers were unlikely to link the ad to recent events in Iraq. We concluded that the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence."