Amazing how fast they've fallen. What is wrong with this company these days? As if exploding laptop batteries, rootkit viruses propagated by listening to CDs on your computer, and totally screwing up the PS3 release (and getting their ass kicked by the Wii) weren't enough, now we get this: RMX ----- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=451414&in_page_id=1770&ct=5 Slaughter: Horror at Sony's depraved promotion stunt with decapitated goat by GLEN OWEN and RHODRI PHILLIPS - More by this author » Last updated at 22:45pm on 28th April 2007 Comments Comments Electronics giant Sony has sparked a major row over animal cruelty and the ethics of the computer industry by using a freshly slaughtered goat to promote a violent video game. The corpse of the decapitated animal was the centrepiece of a party to celebrate the launch of the God Of War II game for the company’s PlayStation 2 console. GRUESOME: One of the party hosts stands over the goat's carcass Guests at the event were even invited to reach inside the goat’s still-warm carcass to eat offal from its stomach. Sickening images of the party have appeared in the company’s official PlayStation magazine – but after being contacted by The Mail on Sunday, Sony issued an apology for the gruesome stunt and promised to recall the entire print run. Critics condemned the entertainment giant, which produces scores of Hollywood blockbusters each year, for its "blood lust" and said the grotesque "sacrifice" highlighted increasing concerns over the content of video games and the lengths to which the industry will go to exploit youngsters. At the event, guests competed to see who could eat the most offal – procured elsewhere and intended to resemble the goat’s intestines – from its stomach. They also threw knives at targets and pulled live snakes from a pit with their bare hands. Topless girls added to the louche atmosphere by dipping grapes into guests’ mouths, while a male model portraying Kratos, the game’s warrior hero, handed out garlands. The International Fund for Animal Welfare said it was "outrageous" that the animal’s death had been used "to sell a few computer games". A spokesman said: "We are always opposed to any senseless killing of an animal and this sounds like a gruesome death. We condemn Sony’s actions. It is stupid and completely unjustified." The party features across two pages of the latest edition of the company’s PlayStation magazine, which was due to hit newsstands on Tuesday but has already been sent to subscribers. We have reproduced the spread – headlined Sony’s Greek Orgy – here, but have pixellated the image to spare readers the sight of the goat’s decapitated head hanging by a thread of tissue from its corpse, with blood dripping to the floor. But the magazine’s readers were shown the picture in its full horror. The article, based on a Sony Press release, shows more vivid pictures from the event under headlines such as Topless Girls! and Flesh Eating? It asks readers how far they would go to get hold of Sony’s next-generation console, the PlayStation 3. "How about eating still warm intestines uncoiled from the carcass of a freshly slaughtered goat? At the party to celebrate God Of War II’s European release, members of the Press were invited to do just that . . ." In God Of War II, which is so violent it has been given an 18 certificate, players follow Kratos into battle against a series of fearsome characters from Greek mythology. Sony describes it as "an adult-rated, fast-paced bloodbath – and enormous fun to boot", adding that it is "bigger, better and as brutal as ever". One reviewer said the title featured "the most brutal, visceral combat of any action game". Former Minister Keith Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester East and a long-time campaigner against violent computer games, branded the stunt "distasteful and irresponsible". He said: "The slaughter of animals is not something that should be done to advertise a product. "Sony as a global entertainment company has a social responsibility. At this event it failed in that responsibility. "I think people should think very carefully before bringing games like this into their homes. "I would understand if customers wanted to boycott other Sony products such as their televisions because of this controversy." Sony, based in Japan and run by Welshman Sir Howard Stringer, is one of the largest media organisations in the world, boasting global revenues of £40billion from electronics, video games, music, television programmes and feature films – including Spider-Man 3 and Casino Royale. It is regarded, along with Coca-Cola, Nike and Mercedes-Benz, as one of the world’s most valuable brands. The company, which released the game in the UK on Friday, admitted that the stunt had been a mistake. In a statement it said: "Sony does not condone or sanction any inappropriate behaviour by its staff or sub-contracted staff. "It has come to our attention that at the God Of War II launch showcase, an element of the event was of an unsuitable nature. "We are conducting an internal inquiry into aspects of the event in order to learn from the occurrence and put into place measures to ensure that this does not happen again." The party was held last month in Athens in homage to the game’s Greek mythology themes. Revellers partied against the floodlit backdrop of the Parthenon. The Sony spokesman said the animal had not been slaughtered for the event but had been bought from a local butcher by the Greek company hired to stage the event. What purported to be warm intestines was actually warm offal. He said Sony’s UK office had been shocked to see the report in the official PlayStation magazine, which the company licenses to publishing house Future. Sony is this weekend recalling the entire 80,000 print run of the magazine. The offending article will be removed because of the "sensitivity of the general public over issues of animal welfare". The firm refused to say how the goat died. It is unusual for animals in modern Greece to be killed by having their throats cut, let alone by being decapitated. It is not the first time Sony has been involved in controversy over its games. In 2004, the PlayStation 2 game Manhunt was banned by High Street stores in the UK after it was linked to the murder of a 14-year-old Leicester boy. Last September the relatives of a family massacred by a New Mexico teenager addicted to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City launched a £317million lawsuit against the entertainment company. And in November, Europe’s justice commissioner Franco Frattini was so shocked by the "obscene cruelty and brutality" of Sony’s Rule Of Rose PlayStation game that he wrote to all EU governments urging tighter controls on the "dreadful game".
That is whack. Who sacrifices animals and decapitates animals these days other than people who make food.
After all this negative press about Sony its hard for me to go back and buy a Sony product. Our TV's from Sony have been absolutly amazing, 15 years life from both and I was about to buy the new LCD's Sony has. Maybe I'll go buy a Panasonic Plasma instead... You really have to wonder...
Oh great...boy am I going to hear about this one tonight from my vegan-anti-corporate partner. But actually, this is messed up. The hell is this, the work of satanic groups?
Ummmmm..................yeah......................ummmmmm....... That's all the comes to mind after reading that.
Looks like another situation where upper management is not doing their job watching what's going on. I'd guess this was green lighted / signed off on by someone who didn't even look at the plan. Probably some sub-contract promo company with young employees making decisions they shouldn't be making. What's new..........
Ken Kutaragi, the exec behind all of the Playstation consoles, just bailed Sony too. The media are already pegging the PS3 as a flop, and the BluRay drive inclusion a mistake.
I didnt see anywhere that SONY or any reps admitted it was a real goat.. are we sure it wasnt a prop goat ? I cant fathom ANY company using a real dead animal like that.
Ken Kutaragi was becomming arrogant and did not communicate with the CEO, thus was being let go. Besides Kaz Harai(sp?) is a better exec anyway. The media hates Playstation yet they also hate Windows/Zune which are Microsoft products! Blu Ray is beating HD-DVD in sales of movies by a very large margin. Ps3 is in it for the long run just wait, a year from now you will see PS3 taking off as good games start to come out. Yea the DS beats the PSP in sales, but PSP is still doing quite well itself, besting sony's original estimates. Oh and Ps2 is still outselling every console, you dont see any Xbox 1's around. God of War II just came out and Guitar Hero III is comming for Ps2 later this year. All these ps2 users will buy Ps3 in 2008 when Ps3 price drops. Also MSFT still has not made any money on Xbox/ Xbox 360. They are still losing money and sales of 360 have dropped sharply. Though will pick up with Halo 3. As far as Ps3 exclusive games go, Warhawk, Havenly Swoard, MGS, Final Fantasy 13, Ratchet and Clank, etc are still exclusive. Sony didnt care for GTA exclusivity cuz really after GTA III, its just been the same old stuff. No one really cares anymore. Sony wants to get NEW IP not only sequals of old games. Did anyof you see LittleBigPlanet now that game is gorgeous, and created a huge stir at GDC. I'm sick of people putting down Sony, without knowing the real facts. And no i dont have a Ps3, I will get one when there are games for it. I currently own 360..waiting for H3 beta to begin. As far as the goat thing goes its ridiculous that some of you wont consider buying a sony TV, cuz of some stupid publicity stunt done by a playstation MAGAZINE not even the Sony corporate ad agency.
Well, that's a pretty rosy picture painted to make Sony look good. On the execs talents, I would question your refernce point - what are your qualifications to judge who is a better senior exec of Sony? Are you Jack Welch? As for BluRay vs. HD-DVD sales, it's way early to tell. The only numbers I've ever seen were released basically by Sony, and it included a short period of a few weeks where there were lots of Bluray releases, and only a couple of half-decent HD-DVD releases. Most of the reliable news sites state that this data is vague and inconclusive at best. The Wii and XBOX 360 are embarassing Sony in the console wars. Sony has had a laundry list of embarassments lately, and this is just the icing on the cake. I also think it's telling that you go on about all the exclusive PS titles, then say Sony doesn't care about exclusivity. You better bet your behind they do! The GTA series is the top selling games of PS2 of all time. They make up 3 of the top 4 highest selling games (1,2 and 4) and they outsell the next 10 on the top selling game list. You better believe they care about exclusive releases. As for the stunt, you ought to go back and re-read the article. The magazine was just the group who published the pictures. The release party was organized by SONY the company. IMO if you want to defend them, you at least ought to be intellectually honest in your points.
It's not just the goat thing...which is truly disgusting even if it is a prop goat. Anyway, any company that would surreptitiously load a virus on to customer's computers to prevent piracy has truly "lost it" in my book. They knew about it, denied it at first and then - when the public became enraged - admitted their wrongdoing. This company has lost a lot of consumer trust...and then now this? WTF? I love my PSP, my PS2 and my Wega TV but no more. I cannot give more money to a company that has clearly lost its corporate mind. RMX
its not just Sony that says they sold more, its the actual numbers, look at this website.. http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/ you can see the spike in HD-DVD when a bunch of HD-DVD fanboys got together and bought tons of pre orders to try and push HD-DVD up on Amazon.com's top selling list. Also remember most of the studios with exception of universal support Blu-Ray.
Well I wouldnt worry too much about your LCD having a root kit. Sony's TVs, Laptop's, Monitors, Digital Camera's are still top notch and loved by the media. I am still pissed about them killing of Aibo. Now that I finally am willing to spend the money for it.
Sony is loosing more money on the PS3 then MSFT is on the 360. Sony had a flop with the 20gb barebones PS3 and dropped it, yet MSFT is launching yet another model of the 360. I dont mean to pick on Sony, I would love to have a 60gb PS3 but it is way too expensive right now, as you said most people will wait for the price to drop a little. Truth be told, the only people making a profit on next gen systems is Nintendo with the Wii. The scalpers are making even better profit, still re-selling Wii for 1 and a half times more then what it is worth because of what I believe to be an artificial shortage created by Nintendo to draw up buzz, and make everyone want one because of the rarity.
Sony is still making a killing from ps2 sales to offset SOME of the ps3 costs. 360 came after only 4 years of the xbox release. Sony released Ps2 7 years ago and its STILL selling ridiculously. Yes Microsoft as a whole has a TON of cash to invest into xbox, but how much more are they going to inject into Xbox? If IPTV on 360 and 360 over all doesnt turn a profit, there probably wont be another xbox.
I have heard that too. The hard drive in the PS3 is essentially a laptop hard drive, so you could swap it out for a larger one. But you would need the special plate to put into the slot to make the hard drive slot compatible with a SATA or eSATA hard drive's.
yep. I dont know all the details (goes in one ear and out the other) but I have heard of people putting in 150gig hard drives in their PS3's. Dont know what you would do with all that space though. Bragging rights I assume.
If you run Linux on your PS3 (I have no clue how) you can save Blue Ray Movies onto the hard drive, so you would need a bit more space to put a couple movies on there (Talladega Nights is 21gb) and some 100% completed game files.
I read a step by step process on how to get Linux on a PS3 and I was lost by step 4. I read somewhere (dont know if its true) that someone got Windows to work on their PS3.
