I can’t decide whether I’m flattered or just flattering myself after reading an article on the Onion that I found by way of Kotaku today. In the satirical piece, The Onion reports on the inept police department in Liberty City and describes the recent crime wave that has descended upon the fictitious metropolis from Grand Theft Auto 4. The whole time I was reading it I was thinking to myself, “This sounds familiar, and that sushi I had for lunch was delicious.”
Then I realized exactly WHY I was getting the pangs of Deja-vu. I wrote a VERY similar piece more than a MONTH AGO for Fiction Friday.
I’ll let you guys be the judge.
Here’s what I wrote for a Fiction Friday article back on May 2nd. (full article)
The latest outbreak in violence has taken quite a toll on Liberty City’s finest, claiming more than 2 million police officers in a matter of 4 days and ending a nearly 3 year stretch of zero crime.
“I’m not sure what the hell’s gotten into everyone, but all of the sudden, everyone’s acting like a demented psychopath,” said Mayor Fred Gorbachev. “We’ve got shootouts all over town, jackasses trying to climb on top of our perpetually taxiing airliners, and more helicopter crashes in the past 4 days than in the history of aviation combined. We’ve had to replace 21,000 helicopters in a week!”
And here is an excerpt from the Onion’s piece covered today. (full article)
Since the surge in crime, which began on April 28 at midnight, more than 830,000 civilians have been murdered—nearly one-tenth of Liberty City’s total population. In addition, 35,000 vehicles have been reported stolen, many of which were then driven illegally over sidewalks and pedestrian walkways before plunging into the nearby Humboldt River. And according to startling figures released by local community action group Citizens for a Safer City, drug trafficking has become rampant and prostitution has increased by 800 percent.
I know it’s not a verbatim rip of my words, but I can’t feel a little chumped. Here’s a little more…
My article:
As violence continues to rock Liberty City, as one of the worst crime waves in history descends upon the metropolis, the seemingly infinite ranks of the Liberty City Police Department have announced a strike, effective immediately. At issue, weapons.
Their article:
Most admit that the problem is not a lack of police presence, as the LCPD currently operates 15 different police stations throughout the city’s four boroughs, and there is a seemingly infinite number of officers on duty at all times to respond to reported crimes.
Again, I know. this isn’t a copy and paste job. But again… ugh.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a hysterical piece, and I wish I’d written it their way. Perhaps I should just submit Fiction Friday ideas directly to The Onion writing staff to give them a head start on the concept. They’re obviously better writers than I, thus entitling them to do whatever they want with any ideas they choose.
I can’t help but feel like they took my article, expanded it, and made it better. Not a crime, but pretty shitty.
Maybe its a coincidence. Have a look at both and tell me what you guys think. Personally, I’m a bit disappointed in The Onion. Not “Pop a bunch of Tylenol and jump off a bridge with a razor blade in my wrist” disappointed…
Just kinda sad-faced.
No matter what conclusion you draw, I think you’ve got to admit:
Just like my lunch, there’s something fishy about this.
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24 responses so far ↓
1 Destyn // Jun 4, 2008 at 3:10 pm
I have to say Doc, I didn’t read it as a rip. It was noted in the booklet that came with GTA that the police force in the area had been increased, and it’s well known the VCPD aren’t all that bright… it’s not a huge leap for someone else to have satirised it.
However, happy birthday. Here’s some cake.
2 Lono // Jun 4, 2008 at 3:11 pm
My friggin jaw dropped when I read this on Kotaku… Not only did we have this on the site, but Paul Christy did the news version of it for the podcast…
WTF!
3 Doc // Jun 4, 2008 at 3:14 pm
@Destyn
Right but the whole premise of this seems startlingly similar.
The article is much funnier than mine, I’ll admit in a heartbeat…. but…. ugh.
I can’t shake the feeling. I wonder if other humor blogs have experienced similar “coincidences”
4 andyg // Jun 4, 2008 at 3:29 pm
when i read that, all i could say was Get the fuggg outa here, SG got recognized on the Onion??? oh wait, is it “GTA funny day??”
Anyways, kudos to you for the FIRST… i laughed at both articles, but when reading theirs, of course i gave you guys more weight on the idea…
5 Gadget2000 // Jun 4, 2008 at 3:36 pm
i just don’t think the onion would rip u off directly. I frequent their site alot, and most of the stuff is both funny and original. On the other hand, it is alot of pressure to come up with so much satire that is humorous and original all the time. Makes u wonder what the world is coming to.
6 Doc // Jun 4, 2008 at 3:37 pm
@ Gadget
Well put. nuff said.
7 mashedPenguin // Jun 4, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I don’t read it as a rip off. The main similarity is that both are articles are doing a report on events in the game as if it was the real world. This angle has been taken by a few talk shows with GTA 4 and to be honest, the concept doesn’t seem that original to me.
Don’t get me wrong I like both articles. But I don’t think the Onion ripped you off Doc. I think it is purely a coincidence.
8 Doc // Jun 4, 2008 at 3:50 pm
@mashed
Maybe you’re right. Still having a hard time shaking the similarities.
Might be easier except that whole “seemingly infinite” police line. Kinda made my hear sink when I read that
9 RK1 FaMiCuS // Jun 4, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Yeah that does seem kinda sketchy, especially the seemingly infinite part. But Doc, I have some news to make you smile, Jack Doucheson got bisbarred today.
10 Gareth // Jun 4, 2008 at 5:04 pm
True doc, I think more people might have thought it to be a coincidence if it wasn’t for the infinite police thing.
I guess with gta4 being such a big deal they’ll throw things out for people to read and quickly move on to the next thing.
35,000 cars though? Is that between us all ’cause that’s like 800 people per car in about 10 minuets.
11 Riki // Jun 4, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I understand where you are coming from. I have come up with plenty of original ideas, only to turn on the tv and say “WTF?” they stole my idea.
Ok, I don’t actually say it. And while that is partly because WTF has no vowels and is therefore exceedingly difficult to pronounce, the main reason is because I never published my ideas, and as such, they could not have been expected to know about them.
In this case, I’d say they just had the same idea. It’s a pretty obvious thing for them to do really. They are a fake newspaper, and a GTA IV story is almost certainly going to be about crime.
12 Luffer // Jun 4, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Come on… seriously? You actually believe that they stole your idea? Get over yourself! No really, take a reality check.
The article covers a similar subject, so what people write about similar things all the time. It’s not even like it’s that obscure, it’s a hugely popular game and if you’re going to do an article like that then this is the obvious choice. They used two words next to each other that are the same as you did, “seemingly infinite”. Like that’s not a common phase, I know I use it quite a lot. What else? I don’t really see any more similarities, the actual articles themselves are written from totally different perspectives.
I personally think you should publish an apology to The Onion for casting these aspersions. You’re putting 2 + 2 together and making 43! In other words, jumping to huge conclusions based on very little.
13 Lono // Jun 4, 2008 at 6:51 pm
@Luffer: You use the words “seemingly infinite” all the time??? You must be from SPACE!!!!
Welcome spaceman.
14 Seryph // Jun 4, 2008 at 7:03 pm
I’m with the spaceman. Doc needs a reality check.
Besides, neither article was funny.
15 Pablos102030 // Jun 4, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Methinks we have a few visitors from the onion… (mashedPenguin, Luffer, Seryph)
I don’t get that place. They’re not even funny, and now they are (allegedly) stealing content from other sites? Yes, I believe they are doing this on purpose. It would be dumb to steal it verbatim, because much more people would recognize it. It is a blatant ripoff, and I suggest you contact them accordingly.
16 dtcarson // Jun 4, 2008 at 8:04 pm
I don’t see it as a ripoff. I can see the phrase “seemingly infinite” being generated from a GTA playthrough, and that’s not all that uncommon a phrase (130000 results for that phrase on Google.)
It’s a satirical news piece (which is what the Onion does) on a popular cultural icon. It could be considered a ripoff of the GTA manual just as much.
That said, though I don’t feel like they ripped you off, I can definitely see you having a reaction of “Hey, I did it first!”
17 Luffer // Jun 4, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Lono: Perhaps all the time is a slight exageration. But I have certainly used the phrase on numerous occasions.
Pablos: I’m not a visitor from The Onion, I’ve never read the site before. I’ve vaguely heard of it in the past, but never visited it. I only started reading this blog a few days ago.
I really fail to see what all the fuss is about here. Two sites publish articles that are loosely connected, and suddenly it constitutes plagiarism? The world really has gone crazy if this is serious!
Doc: I wrote a review on GTA : San Andreas when it was released for a website. I mentioned some of the things you bought up about the way the AI react to events. I think you saw my review and decided to steal my ideas for your article! You should be ashamed of yourself…… or perhaps it’s just a coincidence and you should get over it.
18 Atomic Flapjack // Jun 4, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Destyn,
The cake is a lie, he cant have any!
19 Destyn // Jun 5, 2008 at 5:05 am
No, you can’t deny Doc cake. He clearly likes it!
20 Destyn // Jun 5, 2008 at 5:06 am
Also, Kudos to everyone for not commenting on my use of VCPD instead of LCPD :p
21 Monkeyboo2 // Jun 5, 2008 at 5:58 am
I’m with the spaceman.
With the only words that actually match *(seemingly infinite) its more co-incidence than anything else.
Its a common topic.
22 DeathByWaffle // Jun 5, 2008 at 12:06 pm
The whole “what would the police do in GTA” is not your idea alone. I think almost everyone here has thought about it, and I think collegehumor did a small piece about it before both of you. I think The Onion just had a similar idea to you, they didn’t copy it.
23 Stephen Johnson // Jun 5, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Doc… I thought your article was actually a little funnier…
Imitation is the highest form of flattery, so take it as a compliment and be happy.
24 kevin. // Jun 5, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Sorry man, this isn’t a super original idea. I’m pretty sure everyone has thought this while playing the game. That’s not to say that they didn’t read your article, but the Penny Arcade guys said the same thing in their podcast a month ago, I joke about the same thing with my friends, I’ve seen webcomics with the same joke, I think even letterman may have had a bit about it, etc. The PA guys even dismissed it as not funny since every game has incompetent guards/police, or it wouldn’t be very fun.
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