The premise of the new Simpsons game is that the famous yellow-skinned family realise that they have been licensed for yet another videogame. The action-adventure title then pokes fun at staples of the industry, from Zelda to Medal of Honor and Katamari Damacy. Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games, however, weren't too thrilled about the reference to their franchise. Simpsons executive producer Matt Selman explained to GameHead how why the firm "spazzed out like little babies." 

"The game begins with Bart wanting to play a game called Grand Theft Scratchy. Of course this is a parody of Grand Theft Auto. And Marge immediately takes it away from him. She tries to clean up the town and stop the game from being distributed in Springfield because Marge is against video game violence. She uses horrific violence to stop video game violence... in a video game."

He adds: "That's called irony. The people who make Grand Theft Auto - they spazzed out like little babies."

Is this of EA going too far or of Rockstar taking itself way too seriously? Y’know, with imitation being the sincerest form of flattery an’ all that.