Google has pulled down a Street View modification that allowed people to turn the real-life imagery from around the world into a first-person shooter game.
The user-generated modification, called Google Shot View, was created by a Dutch ad group called Pool Online. Yep, you guessed it, they were looking for publicity.
It was clearly created for shock value – people were encouraged to go to the Empire State Building or Eiffel Tower and shoot relentlessly just because they could.
It was clearly not created to actually provide any sort of gaming experience, as it did not offer a scoring system and the images did not change upon being shot.
The agency also released a trailer for the ‘game,’ which it must have known would be taken down. In the trailer it promoted the immense, enormous, gigantic, tremendous, humongous, super-colossal, really really really f***ing big” map.”
In Google’s rejection notice to Pool Online, it pointed to the terms of service that strictly prohibit materials that “promote physical harm or injury against any group or individual.”
Of course, Google Street View has been the source of all kinds of controversy, ranging from candid pictures of criminal or sexual activity to conspiracy theories popping up when certain areas are excluded from Street View access.
This is just another thing to add to that bucket. The page that previously hosted the Google Shoot View app now displays the message “Ctrl + Alt + Delete.”
