Michael Jackson reaches from beyond the grave...

[Rii]

... to fuck with Plants vs. Zombies.

MTV

The latest update of "Plants vs. Zombies" on iPhone made a change to one of the most recognizable adversaries in the game. Since the game's launch in 2009, the Dancing Zombie has bared a striking resemblance to Michael Jackson in the "Thriller" music video, complete with red leather jacket, tight, too-short pants and white socks. That all changed with the latest update to "Plants vs. Zombies," as the Dancing Zombie is now disco themed. Why the change? Apparently PopCap heard from the lawyers of Michael Jackson's estate.

I reached out to a PopCap Games representative about the change, who confirmed that it was brought on by lawyers representing the King of Pop:

"The Estate of Michael Jackson objected to our use of the 'dancing zombie' in PLANTS vs. ZOMBIES based on its view that the zombie too closely resembled Michael Jackson. After receiving this objection, PopCap made a business decision to retire the original 'dancing zombie' and replace it with a different 'dancing zombie' character for future builds of PLANTS vs.ZOMBIES on all platforms. The phase-out and replacement process is underway."

I have a dream ... of a glorious future wherein the notion of 'intellectual property' joins phrenology in the dustbin of history.

And I'ma take this opportunity to link this video again; jus' because:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqpMFsnN7hM[/yt]

P.S. I hear that one of the soundbytes for the Medic unit in Starcraft 2 is "please state the nature of the medical emergency". CBS WRU???

 

[Lindley]

P.S. I hear that one of the soundbytes for the Medic unit in Starcraft 2 is "please state the nature of the medical emergency". CBS WRU???

That was one of the Medic's lines in Brood War too, nothing new there. (She also says, "He's dead, Jim.")

 

[Rii]

P.S. I hear that one of the soundbytes for the Medic unit in Starcraft 2 is "please state the nature of the medical emergency". CBS WRU???

That was one of the Medic's lines in Brood War too, nothing new there. (She also says, "He's dead, Jim.")

Yeah, but Brood War isn't the game currently raking in cash.

 

[Unicron]

So those of us with the original edition should basically consider ourselves lucky? I can understand why the Jackson estate would want it changed, but I think it's rather silly personally. Michael was a great performer and Thriller one of his many iconic pieces.