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Say That Again

by Mike Masnick

Mon, Aug 4th 2008 9:48am




Filed Under:
bittorrent, david reeves, games, psp

Companies:
sony


Sony Exec Tells Frustrated PSP Users To Get Games Via BitTorrent

from the did-he-really-just-say-that? dept

Sony, as a company, has had something of a split personality on issues having to do with unauthorized file sharing. The content side of the business is obviously very much against it. But the consumer electronics side of the house recognizes how it can be quite beneficial towards raising the value of consumer electronics. Even so, it's still a bit of a surprise to hear an exec basically tell fans to just download unauthorized content. Reader Yakko Warner points us to the news that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe CEO David Reeves was telling frustrated PSP users in Australia and New Zealand that they're going to have to keep waiting for games to show up there... or they can just download them off BitTorrent:

"You can wait for it and you can have it in good quality, you know you can get the stuff from Bittorrent if you want to and download PSP games, it's up to you."
One would imagine that the legal team at Sony isn't exactly thrilled about the "it's up to you" line at the end there.

19 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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  1.  

    Sigh

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 10:22am

    They need to make up their minds

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    Yeah

    icon
    PaulT (profile), Aug 4th, 2008 @ 10:23am

    Although Europe seems to be slightly better treated, it's the same thing for many consoles. "Sorry we introduced region coding to stop you playing the game for the next year, we need that gap to translate the game into 6 languages you don't speak".

    3 hints for Sony et al: It's a global market that should not be artificially restricted. Let the customer choose. If import demand is high, you need to release the game into that region.

    If they follow that set of rules, there are no problems - I don't hear Nintendo complaining that a lack of region coding is killing DS sales...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  

    Who was he talking to?

    identicon
    Dave, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 10:45am

    I don't think this was a message to Australian/Kiwi customers. This seemed more like a message to the people in charge of SCE Australia, telling them to get their house in order, because the market abhors a vacuum as much as nature.

    Then again, maybe I only heard it that way because I've been reading Techdirt for so long...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    Seems the opposite . . .

    identicon
    Truthseeker, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 10:55am

    I dont know the context here but it sounds as if here were making an argument against downloading from bitorrent. Its a logical flawed one and kinda passive-aggressive, but he seems to be saying if you want a quality a title, you will have to wait?

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 11:01am

    from what i understand it seems to be saying "download the poor quality version from bittorrent, but when the real thing arrives, it will be better in every way, if you can stand to wait for it"

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  

    If only...

    identicon
    nick nack, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 11:11am

    If only the music industry would start embracing this too!

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  7.  

    Re:

    identicon
    Yakko Warner, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 11:23am

    Perhaps, but how different is a torrented version from the real version?

    Besides, when the options are 1) don't play at all until they release it, or 2) play an unofficial, torrented copy until they release it, and then decide to upgrade to the "superior quality" release version when it finally comes...?

    He doesn't seem to be making a compelling case to wait; and one could very easily see this comment as encouraging *not* waiting, if not permanently then at least in the interim.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  8.  
    identicon
    Mr. Vage, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 11:26am

    Sounds like he just authorized everyone to download PSP games illegally. I'd love to see Sony bring someone to court for pirating games, just to have this little statement destroy the whole case.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  9.  

    Jeez.

    identicon
    Sticky Tape Guru, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 11:59am

    At least Sony's trying its best to support those branded communities.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  10.  

    He is not endorsing pirating at all...

    identicon
    mcs, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 12:27pm

    He was questioned about the lack of supply to New Zealand and the increase in pirating in those parts. He said those countries dont have a big enough demand to supply them right now. He said for them wait for quality content or keep pirating. I dont see what's wrong. What would be the politically correct thing? You better wait Aussies, otherwise we will send the FBI over there and karate chop your PC. I mean seriously, if the demand isnt high enough to work on making them games, why would the pirating be bad enough for them to bust their butts on legal issues? For those saying that this statement would win them a court case...good luck bringing a knife to a gun fight.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  11.  
    identicon
    Overcast, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 1:57pm

    After the 'rootkit' fiasco, I avoid their products like the plague... hehe

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  12.  

    Re: Re:

    identicon
    Spectere, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 2:55pm

    As far as PSP games go, the torrented version differs from the real version in that you can actually get some semblance of battery life out of the PSP if you load games from a memory stick, rather than a puny 3-4 hours (which I usually get when I play UMD games from my phat PSP). Also, you can have multiple games with you without having to carry around a bunch of bulky cases. So, um, I guess in a way the torrented versions are superior to the retail ones.

    That's why the first thing I do when I buy a PSP game is rip the ISO. The PSP actually becomes a viable portable system when you do that. <_<

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  13.  

    Chocolate

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 3:07pm

    Ive been running my games off of my Memory stick for years.

    It wasnt really my decision per se, There was a violent. superglue pocket psp reaction.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  14.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 4:09pm

    WTF? You are bending what this guy is saying. Talking about stretching what a person states.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  15.  
    identicon
    anzac, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 4:46pm

    region encoding has screwed us down here. The majority of people i know (late 20-30 somethings) will purchase music/dvds/games etc if they are on the shelf. BUT they will not accept a wait of 6-18 months for official distribution. if it is reviewed on the net but not on the shelf, torrent copies are eagerly seeked. This has had the effect of shortening delay times on US tv series lately as tv execs realised poor ratings were due to the fact that the audience had already seen the show by the time it was first run on TV & the same will hopefully happen with games etc. Now if only we can get an explaination as to why we pay a HUGE markup compared to the states?!?!?

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  16.  

    Hmm...

    identicon
    Keill Randor, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 6:46pm

    Well, to be honest, Sony has always been a 'slightly' schizophrenic company - with many arguments and battles between its consumer electronics and content producing sides - this just seems to be another gun-shot in the fight between the two... (I just wish the CE side would finally defeat the content side - that would help with all the copyright stuff too, but I don't really see that happeneing any time soon (if ever)).

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  17.  

    More Profit!

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 10:51pm

    Sony can probably make more off someone by suing them for infringement than they would have from the sale otherwise. So really, since lawsuits are more profitable than sales, he's just helping Sony increase profits.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  18.  

    Downloads usually inferior...

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Aug 5th, 2008 @ 7:46pm

    The torrent'd versions of games usually cut out the cut scenes, some dialog, back ground images in menus etc to get the file size down. You sometimes see 512M versions, 1G and 'full size' versions of the same game. If the cut scenes are important to the game, you miss a lot. I recall playing the 512M version of a game, and not having any clue what to do next as the instructions on where to go were in a cut scene! It was fun enough until that point that I bought the game anyway.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  19.  
    identicon
    دردشه, Jul 11th, 2009 @ 9:30am

    Sony can probably make more off someone by suing them for infringement than they would have from the sale otherwise

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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