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How Sony Screwed Up

Thursday, 16 November 2006 funny ps3 sony

Over the course of this (sure to be epic) post, I’m going to look into all the cock-ups Sony has thrown at the fans in the last year as they awaited the Playstation 3. Let this serve as a reminder as to how these guys act and why you shouldn’t fall for their marketing crap.

It’s ordered chronologically starting from 365 days ago. Enjoy the theatre of carnage that is: Sony: The PS3 Story

Remember: This is just about the PS3. Sony have fouled up in plenty of other market segments (take the rootkit on their audio CDs for one example).

  1. Sony announces they’re sticking with the “boomerang” control
  2. Sony screw Europe by changing their Japanese Blu-Ray discs to Region 1 (US)
  3. First hints of a serious delay from the release date of March 2006
  4. Rumour-of-Retraction 1: Controller will be re-redesigned
  5. Sony says nothing for too long
  6. Sony: The hard disk is [optional](javascript:void(0);/1163663566500/)
  7. $900 price tag, Sony shares tumble
  8. Confirmed: PS3 is delayed, Blu-Ray blamed
  9. Retraction: Controller will be redesigned
  10. Games will be region free
  11. Sony refuse to demo in Hi-Def
  12. Sony Devs “confirm” Price tag is $499
  13. Sony says $499 is incorrect
  14. PS3 to be unplayable at E3 '06
  15. Sony still bidding on components at T-6months
  16. Price: $399 Date: Early November 06
  17. Sony will lose $900M launching the PS3
  18. PS3 is no more powerful than a 360
  19. Partial-Retraction: Price: $499/$599
  20. Retraction: 20gig PS3 has no HDMI [PDF Warning]
  21. New controller is here [No link, sorry]
  22. Ubisoft spits on the PS3
  23. Sony Pres: HDMI gives you the same quality
  24. Sony: PS3 is ‘Too Cheap’
  25. Sony silently remove functionality
  26. No wireless controller or memory card support for cheap model
  27. No vibration in the controller
  28. Sony screws Europe #2: Price: £425 ($802)
  29. Sony: 5M people will buy a PS3 even without games
  30. Price (US): Still $599
  31. 88% say the PS3 is too damned expensive
  32. Sony: “We get no breaks [on the PS3 price]”
  33. HDMI is useless
  34. Porting games to take 3 years
  35. Sony: “PC Dead, Nintendo For Kids, We Innovate”
  36. Sony: We want the PS3 to be like an iPod
  37. Kutaragi confuses the hell out of everyone
  38. PS3 controller used to rumble in '99
  39. Sony CEO: “PS3 is Future Proof, Xbox 360 is a transitional product”
  40. Only 20 PS3s per store
  41. Japanese Developers [about the PS3]: “meh”
  42. 90% of developers think the PS3 is too expensive
  43. First bundle price: $1016
  44. PS3 still not in assembly for another month
  45. Sony borrows 80 BILLION Yen
  46. Rumour that Apple is working with Sony
  47. Retraction: Sony say putting the Apple logo on their site was a “mistake”
  48. Leak: Internal Q&A document hits the net
  49. PS3 Cell CPU yields are terrible
  50. Rumoured Re-Retraction: Blu-Ray and Cell are both holding back the PS3
  51. Sony are unsure what the PS3 IS
  52. PS3 will slow the industry
  53. Report: Developers avoid PS3
  54. THQ scrap WWE Smackdown vs Raw '07 [Ed - YEY!]
  55. More developers ditch the PS3
  56. Dev kits ship; Devs are “underwhelmed”
  57. PS3 has worse texture capabilities than the 360
  58. More cancelled PS3 games
  59. PS2 memory cards need an adaptor to work in the PS3
  60. Sony still haven’t started making retail PS3s but aim for 200k units
  61. PS3 launching with 700k units
  62. PS3 to have shipped 4,000,000 units by Dec 31st 2006
  63. PS3 will cure cancer
  64. Stock Retraction: Only 50% of promised PS3s for Japan
  65. Sony underclock the PS3’s GPU
  66. Blu-Ray laser shortage!
  67. PS3 not shipping with HDMI cables
  68. Blu-Ray drives are almost twice as slow as the 360’s DVD drive.
  69. Sony screws Europe #3: PAL delayed until March '07
  70. Extreme shortages for launch
  71. Sony screws Japan #3: Launch numbers reduced again
  72. Sony: No 1080p games at launch
  73. Sony shares get trashed again from delay news
  74. Sony Devs cannot get a PS3
  75. Sony: Eeeek!
  76. Hollywood: Blu-Ray sucks
  77. Europe: FU too, Sony
  78. Gran Turismo HD to cost $1000 for the whole game
  79. Sony gives away an Xbox 360 as a first prize… Whoops.
  80. Price drop! Oh hang on… No… only for Japan
  81. Sony fans: “meh”
  82. Game price: $75-$85 Retraction: $59.99
  83. PS3s overheat
  84. Ubisoft: PS3s have less available memory
  85. Preorders start
  86. Preorders stop
  87. Sony worries about overheating issues
  88. eBay bans preorder-sellers
  89. PS3 comes with composite but no component cables
  90. Sony fake a report
  91. Sony might screw Europe (tentative #4): Another delay?
  92. IGN rate the new controller as the worst “next-gen” controller
  93. Sony definitely screws Europe #4/5: Importing a PS3 is illegal
  94. PS3 reviews: “meh”
  95. PS1 games still don’t work
  96. MS retaliates over #90
  97. Sony going to miss their lowered targets
  98. Europe screws Europe: UK Judge agrees with Sony: imports are not allowed
  99. Sony buries Lik-Sang in legal woes
  100. PS3 is a massive power hog
  101. Sony misses 100k target for Japan
  102. PS3 no better than a Xbox 360
  103. Nine minutes to install Riiiiidge Raaaacer
  104. MS reckon Sony’s online gaming network is “busted”
  105. SIXAXIS controllers go bad
  106. EA (a Sony supporter) predicts Sony missing targets
  107. Sony Exec: Sony “overreached” by including Blu-Ray with the PS3
  108. PS3 boot & start is too slow
  109. Best Buy cancel all preorders due to lack of stock
  110. Best Buy Employee: shipments slashed in half
  111. First proper review scores 6.4
  112. NBA Live '07 cancelled
  113. Tony Hawk Project 8 better on the 360
  114. Three “launch games” delayed and one cancelled
  115. PS3 rated third of third
  116. PS3 demos suck
  117. Glitches on older games
  118. Sony admits backwards-compatibility is nowhere near ready
  119. CoD3 is better on the 360
  120. You don’t get a power cable with the rechargeable controllers
  121. 720p games play at 480p on 1080i screens
  122. Four people shot waiting for PS3s

There. 122 reasons for you to drop that crazy idea in the back of your head, put there, do doubt, from watching too many Sony adverts.

The very last thing you want to do is get swept up in “operation human shield”. Let other morons waste all that money on a PS3. Let them find out that the controller sucks. Let them find out that they look (and play) worse than the same games on your 360.

Why people are queuing for this crap is beyond me… But at least its not my money they’re wasting.