Simpsons writers smack talk Rockstar

The Simpsons game is looking to be a bit of an opinion divider for many at the moment and, while some writers are claiming to really love the direction of the new console title, I'm a little less enthused. The arcade style third-person beat-em-up game, which is developed for just about every platform except PC, didn't strike me as anything all that good when I played it at the Microsoft Hardware Day - just another tie-in which poked fun at games it couldn't better.

Am I a grumpy sod? Definitely, but it looks like I'm not the only one. The writers of the game have reportedly had trouble with Rockstar lately after they parodied the Grand Theft Auto games with in-game footage and posters for Grand Theft Scratchy. Rockstar eventually pressured EA into pulling some content from the game.

Now, according to Kotaku the writers have spoken out about the conflict - and not in a nice way.

"The people who make Grand Theft Auto, they spazzed out like little babies. They're supposed to be Rockstars. That's not a big Rockstar move to be afraid of The Simpsons poking fun at their game...Their game is full of satire and lame attempts at parody. Basically putting the word 69 in wherever they can find it. That's their idea of a joke. But trust me... I'll be the first person in line to play Grand Theft Auto 4, in five years when it comes out." Said the writers in a TV interview.

Looking over the rest of the coverage, it looks like the Kotaku boys have been fairly impressed with the game thus far - which I can't quite understand. Ah well.

What do you reckon to the The Simpsons Game and to the writers themselves? Tell us your thoughts in the forums.