Nirvana, Love weigh in on Cobain in Guitar Hero 5
Two of Nirvana’s three surviving band members are not very happy with the way Activision’s Guitar Hero 5 portrays Kurt Cobain. How displeased? Well, apparently enough to issue a joint statement sharing their disapproval.
Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, former bassist and drummer for Nirvana, respectively, have issued a statement about how the game portrays Cobain in a way that they feel is inappropriate. While both have no legal say in the matter, they said that they were dismayed and disappointed with Kurt’s avatar being used related to non-Nirvana songs and doing things uncharacteristic of his persona.
The duo have asked Activision to lock the avatar so that it can be used for only Nirvana songs. Of course, that probably won’t happen unless fans complain about it enough, because the idea of an unlockable character is that you use him or her any way you see fit. Instead, perhaps Activision should alter the animation so that it doesn’t allow him to do anything unbecoming of a grunge icon.
Meanwhile, Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, is using twitter to lambaste Activision, promising a lawsuit over the way her husband is being portrayed in the game. Obviously she didn’t show due dilligence in protecting that image when she or entities that represented her signed licensing agreements for the game.
“For the record this Guitar Hero shit is breach of contract on a Bullys part and there will be a proper addressing of this and retraction,” Love tweeted. “WE are going to sue the shit out of Activision we being the Trust the Estate the LLC the various LLCs Cobain Enterprises.”
For its part Activision has only said the following: “Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain’s likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero 5.”
While Activision probably hasn’t done anything that could harm them in a court of law, it could have done a better job of respecting Cobain’s image and legacy. Having Kurt Cobain act in that manner would be like putting Jim Morrison in Guitar Hero 5 and having him moonwalk.
Source: MTV Multiplayer, Joystiq
