|
Post by Matt on Jul 11, 2006 20:57:29 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300] Sony pulls controversial PSP ads[/glow] [UPDATE]: Publisher confirms termination of ad campaign, apologizes to those who were offended.By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpot Debate over a recent Sony billboard in the Netherlands advertising the release of the Ceramic White PlayStation Portable in the region was fittingly white-hot last week. That's when an ad featuring a Caucasian woman holding a black woman by the jaw in a threatening manner was decried as racially insensitive. Today, one of those who criticized the ad and condemned Sony for running it, California Assemblyman Leland Yee, instead commended the publisher. According to a statement from Yee, Sony has pulled the advertising campaign and apologized to anyone offended by it. "I am pleased to see Sony taking responsibility for their racially charged ad and appropriately pulling it from the marketplace," Yee said. "Sony did the right thing by recognizing their insensitive mistake and apologizing for offending many of their customers." Yee was backed in his condemnation of Sony by representatives from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the civil rights education group Sojourn to the Past. Sony originally defended the ad, saying its only intent was to contrast the colors of its two models of PSP. It still didn't sit well with Rick Callender, president of the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP. "Their attempt to contrast colors clearly created controversy and sparked painful feelings in the global community," Callender said. "Hopefully in the future, Sony will employ a better litmus test to their ad campaigns to determine if they will be sour to the taste of worldwide consumers." [UPDATE]: A Sony representative confirmed for GameSpot that the ads had been pulled, and offered the following statement: Whilst the images used in the campaign were intended solely to highlight the contrast between the different colors available for the PSP, we recognize that the subject matter of one specific image may have caused concern in some countries not directly affected by the advertising. As a result, we have now withdrawn the campaign. We further recognize that people have a wide variety of perceptions about such imagery and we wish to apologize to those who perceived the advert differently to that intended. In future, we will apply greater sensitivity in our selection of campaign imagery, and will take due account of the increasingly global reach of such local adverts, and their potential impact in other countries. According to the Sony representative, the company had only received a single complaint about the ads from within the Netherlands. www.gamespot.com/news/6153816.html
|
|
|
Post by Matt on Jul 13, 2006 19:22:04 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Target discontinues UMD movies[/glow]Posted Jul 12th 2006 With dwindling Hollywood support and anemic sales dragging it down already, the UMD format is unlikely to be pleased by news that all Target stores will cease selling films stored on the proprietary PSP format. Though UMD games are quite safe, this latest move is likely to cast further doubt on the format's viability in the realm of movies. Those looking to place blame will likely find some good targets in the pricing of the discs, the general lack of bonus features compared to their DVD counterparts and the fact that for Universal Media Discs, they aren''t very "universal" at all. One retailer's move is hardly a death knell for UMD movies, but perhaps the PSP would be better off by forgetting Hollywood and shoving its solid games library (which has made great strides in the last few months) back into the spotlight. Of course, those already enamored by portable movies should probably rush to their nearest Target before the shelves are empty and the format forgotten. Here are some of the titles you might want to remember it by (all chosen at random, of course): Cheaper by the Dozen Crash Cruel Intentions Cursed Doom Dumb and Dumber Gone in 60 Seconds Never Die Alone www.joystiq.com/2006/07/12/target-discontinues-umd-movies/
|
|
|
Post by Benjammin on Jul 14, 2006 2:24:09 GMT -5
And this was a suprise how?
I do feel sorrow for the PSP . . . oh wait, nevermind I don't. If Sony actually put some thought into this system, and the developers actually gave a monkeys butt, then this would have stood a chance at taking down the DS. But alas, another handheld system falls before Nintendo's might. Score: 5-0
|
|
|
Post by Matt on Jul 19, 2006 15:03:05 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]LocoRoco Debuts at Seven[/glow]Sony's biggest PSP title yet gets off to a fair start.by Anoop Gantayat July 19, 2006 - The biggest game in Japan for the week spanning 7/10 to 7/16 was Konami's Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 13. According to tracking info shared on Famitsu.com, the PS2 baseball title took the top spot in its first week of sales. Previous installments have been released for the GameCube as well, but Konami went exclusively with the PS2 this time. Trailing Jikkyou were Persona 3 for the PS2, also in its debut week, and New Super Mario Bros (DS), which has managed to stay in the top three since its release back on May 25. Sony's latest PS2 Ape Escape game, Sarugetchu Million Monkeys, took fourth place, ahead of Nintendo's super hot Motto Nou wo Kitaeru (DS), the Japan-only sequel to Brain Age. Spots six and seven saw a couple of new, original portable games. The Nintendo published, Red Entertainment developed DS adventure title Project Hacker debuted in sixth place following a highly visible television marketing campaign from Nintendo. PSP's LocoRoco managed a debut in seventh place following what appears to be Sony's biggest marketing campaign for the PSP yet. Rounding out the list were the original Brain Age (DS), which has been in the top 10 pretty much constantly since its release on 5/19/2005, Nintendo's DS English training software, itself a constant stay since its 1/26/2006 release, and Naruto RPG 3 (DS), the latest Naruto game from Takara Tomy. psp.ign.com/articles/719/719685p1.html
|
|
|
Post by Matt on Jul 19, 2006 15:06:32 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300] WTF Date and Screens[/glow] Find out when the $@#* it's coming to stores and check out brand-new images.by Chris Roper July 18, 2006 - Are you ready for some portable gaming so zany that your first reaction will be WTF? D3Publisher of America today announced that its PSP mini-game-filled WTF, otherwise known as the family-friendly Work Time Fun, will be heading to stores on September 26th, just in time for school. For those unfamiliar with WTF, the game is essentially a collection of mini-games that are rather zany in nature. Players will earn cash (fake, in-game cash -- don't get your hopes up) for completing each of its more than 30 crazy mini-games. Money can be spent to unlock more games or hundreds of unique prizes, or even "real world" items for your PSP, like a bar calculator or ramen timer. In addition to the singleplayer aspect, WTF will also allow for multiplayer Wi-Fi play in five of its mini-games. For an extended look at WTF, check out our hands-on impressions from E3. See the article for more info and screencaps: psp.ign.com/articles/719/719578p1.html
|
|
|
Post by Matt on Jul 22, 2006 18:27:12 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300] Sony committed to targeted UMD launches[/glow] PSP maker says it is working with movie studios to better understand PSP owners and tailor UMD media for them.By Tim Surette, GameSpot Posted Jul 20, 2006 1:16 pm PT The Universal Media Disc, the proprietary format for Sony's PlayStation Portable, has shown signs that it may go the way of the Sony-made Minidisc and Betamax. Though movies formatted on UMDs quickly generated excitement in the industry after the portable's launch, subsequent disappointing sales have caused many movie studios to scale back their support. In an interview with United Press International, senior vice president of marketing for SCEA Peter Dille says Sony hasn't yet given up on UMD movies. But in order for UMD movies to stay afloat, Dille says movie studios are going to have to understand the PSP owner. "SCEA has been providing the Hollywood studios with data on the PSP consumer, both from a demographic and psychographic point of view, in an effort for them to better tailor their product offering to this new and emerging market," he said. "As such, we have seen studios cutting back on releasing their full content on UMD, as unlike the DVD market, the PSP consumer is targeted. We are committed to helping the studios better understand our product and our consumer and will continue to educate them as we evolve and enhance the functionality of the PSP." It may take more than a few charts and graphs to keep the latest home video releases on UMDs alive. Gamers have been ripping DVDs onto memory sticks for as long as they have been playing Lumines, and even Sony recently announced memory-stick movies called Memory Stick Entertainment Packs. Retailers are also questioning the future of UMD movies, as Best Buy and Wal-Mart have reportedly cut back on UMD shelf space and Target has nixed the format altogether. www.gamespot.com/news/6154397.html
|
|
|
Post by Matt on Jul 22, 2006 23:41:37 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Comic-Con 2006: PSP = PS3 Remote[/glow]Your Portable will be getting stuck between the couch cushions a little more often.by Kathleen Sanders July 21, 2006 - If you didn't take the time to attend Sony's "PSP University" at the San Diego Comic-Con this morning, here is the only notable news you missed: It turns out that the PSP will "definitely" work as a remote control for the PS3. According to the speaker, it will have additional functionality and interactivity with Sony's next-generation PlayStation 3, but more details weren't revealed. Other info and bullet points (which isn't much for anyone who has been keeping up) included... The claim that Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and Pursuit Force are "great games" and "great reasons to own a PSP." Ads for PSP Greatest Hits Collection, which will be released on July 25. Clips from upcoming titles like Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters, U.S. Navy S.E.A.L.S. Fireteam Bravo 2, and Gangs of London (all of which look pretty cool). Trailers of movies coming to UMD format like Napoleon Dynamite and Office Space PSP's firmware update next scheduled for next Thursday will offer RSS Video feed support for its web browser (it already supports RSS audio feed) Thursday's firmware update will also have a demo of World Tour Soccer 2 There are no plans to improve text entry on the PSP and no plans for a first-party keyboard Sony is in discussion with wireless providers to create more internet hotspots for your PSP to easily connect to the web Video out is something Sony knows is important and is working on getting done Sony Connect is working on a way to provide downloadable movies (similar to the music currently provided), but are held up trying to find a system to protect intellectual properties Oh, and one final note: If you stuck around to the end of class, Sony handed out 32MB Memory Sticks with demos and game trailers. Score! ps3.ign.com/articles/720/720195p1.html
|
|
|
Post by Matt on Jul 24, 2006 16:27:53 GMT -5
|
|