Sony doing what they can to win the hearts and minds of their target audience (us)

Written by Dan Zuccarelli

Tuesday, 24 October 2006 08:35

Way to go Sony. You're swell. A number 1. The tits.

Now I don't have to worry about importing games anymore. I always thought it was a real hassle to have the option of spending my own money for something I wanted to own. Luckily I have you around to tell me what I can and can't buy. I don't know what I'd do without you. Thanks, pricks.

Sony almost seems to WANT consumers to hate them. Which is getting easier and easier these days, since they're acting like a bunch of assholes.

Lik-Sang was the game importer of choice for many a hardcore gamer. I personally bought my Nintendo Bit-Generations games from them. But Sony decided to sue them into oblivion, opening court cases in every country in the EU. Lik-Sang couldn't possibly fight that battle on every front, and has no choice but to close up shop. All relating to importing the PSP (why Sony would hold back sales of that brick is beyond me). But the precedent is set. The battle is lost.

Sony 1 - Game Players 0

Lik-Sang's Press Release

...Sony have failed to disclose to the London High Court that not only the world wide gaming community in more than 100 countries relied on Lik-Sang for their gaming needs, but also Sony Europe's very own top directors repeatedly got their Sony PSP hard or software imports in nicely packed Lik-Sang parcels with free Lik-Sang Mugs or Lik-Sang Badge Holders, starting just two days after Japan's official release, as early as 14th of December 2004 (more than nine months earlier than the legal action). The list of PSP related Sony Europe orders reads like the who's who of the videogames industry, and includes Ray Maguire (Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Alan Duncan (UK Marketing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Chris Sorrell (Creative Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Rob Parkin (Development Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited), just to name a few.
"Today is Sony Europe victory about PSP, tomorrow is Sony Europeâ€™s ongoing pressure about PlayStation 3. With this precedent set, next week could already be the stage for complaints from Sony America about the same thing, or from other console manufacturers about other consoles to other regions, or even from any publisher about any specific software title to any country they donâ€™t see fit. Itâ€™s the beginning of the end... of the World as we know it", stated Pascal Clarysse, formerly known as the Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com.
"Blame it on Sony. That's the latest dark spot in their shameful track record as gaming industry leader. The Empire finally 'won, few dominating retailers from the UK probably will rejoice the news, but everybody else in the gaming world lost something today."

So Sony's own employees are also customers??? We'll that'll be a tense meeting at Sony's Europe division.

[Garnered from a ton of sites: YouNewb, Aeropause, GoNintendo, and a ton others]

Comments (6) Add Comment

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written by greshkov, October 24, 2006

dude, you seem pretty pissed. to argue the counter point, sony lost thirty million because of piracy on the original playstation alone. they really don't like losing money because they're a corporation. that being said, they're dicks. let us import games. it's bad enough they don't bring the games over in the first place. please sony, let us play the good games we're denied and stop being a dick about it.

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written by danzuke (NetPhantom), October 24, 2006

not piracy though... Lik-Sang sells(sold) legit import games

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written by greshkov, October 25, 2006

oh. well, fuck sony then.

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written by B, October 27, 2006

They didn't sue them over games being imported. They sued them cause they sold Japaneses PSPs to Europe before the system launched there. They sued them in every European country cause the last time I checked Europe is a continent, therefore if they olny sued them in Spain, those rulings would hold no power in the other countries. Lik-sang was wrong. So since it was Sony who decided that it sucks to lose money to some illegal stuff they're wrong. Go buy your stuff from Play-Asia. They have better prices. If Lik-sang had listened to Sony way back when, when they told them to stop their practices, then they wouldn't be in the situation that they're in now. But everyone loves to piss on Sony like he's that kid that everyone likes to pick on at school cause the cool kids do it. Its cool for people to sue them, but when another entity is cutting into their bottom line, and they decide to do something about it, they're the bad guy. I guess it doesn't matter that Microsoft and Nintendo sued them as well. Maybe Sony sued them to get rid of them, maybe they didn't. But before you say that Sony doesn't care about gamers, remember how many retards want Sony to fail, and think about how little competition there would be, then tell me if they're really mad about gamers losing out or is it just another "Achievement" of Microsoft and Nintendo fans getting more people to jump on the anti Sony bandwagon.

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written by greshkov, October 27, 2006

sony doesn't care about gamers! sorry, i just had to say it. basically, if they did sue over selling jdm psp's before the official european launch, then it is breaking a street date, and i'm game for taking people to court over that because it's not fair to other companies.

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written by B, October 27, 2006

No Sony doesn't care about gamers. But neither does anyone else. I wasn't saying that they do, I was just saying before people are so adamant about saying that Sony doesn't care, they need to look at every other manufacturer and realize that everyone is in it for the money. So don't single out any company, cause we're all just dollar signs to them.