There is a bit of an Internet teacup storm going on at the moment over the story of a PS3 developer who published some rather negative comments about the console on his website. And then got fired. Errr, did SPOnG miss a meeting?
Sony artist, Josh Robinson, made the following comments on his website.
"Now in my opinion it doesn’t matter how good the PS3 is. If the Xbox 360 is better, then it doesn’t really matter how the cell processors work or how good they say it is. Realistically one of them will be better over all. Now I’ve spoken with people who are on the technical side of the PS3. I’ve also talked with people on the technical side of the Xbox 360. The consistent comment I am hearing from people on my end is, “The Xbox 360 is better”. They are saying that it is capable of just doing more. (Shrugs) Now take that for what its worth. If you watch all the videos on the PS3 they will say how much more powerful it is than the Xbox and vice versa. Im just telling you what I am hearing."
Robinson then goes on to tell PS3week in an interview today that he couldn’t understand why Sony fired him.
When asked about how his life has changed since Sony sacked him for publishing the article, Robinson replies, "Yeah I can’t believe how out of control everything got. It’s absolutely absurd how the internet can take something relatively harmless and turn it into something so insane".
"Let me first just say, all I really did was write a few paragraphs that gave my opinion on publicly released information. I never actually released any information. After reading my small article the reader is not any more informed about the PS3 than he was before the article. I didn’t reveal any tech info and I didn’t reveal different shipping plans. I’m still in awe at the whole uproar over what amounts to NO information".
Is this guy brave? Stupid? Or both? Should we applaud him for speaking truthfully about his opinions on PS3 versus Xbox 360? Or should we just write him off as a loudmouth punk 3D artist with ideas above his station?
Let us know what you think in the forum below.
Sony artist, Josh Robinson, made the following comments on his website.
"Now in my opinion it doesn’t matter how good the PS3 is. If the Xbox 360 is better, then it doesn’t really matter how the cell processors work or how good they say it is. Realistically one of them will be better over all. Now I’ve spoken with people who are on the technical side of the PS3. I’ve also talked with people on the technical side of the Xbox 360. The consistent comment I am hearing from people on my end is, “The Xbox 360 is better”. They are saying that it is capable of just doing more. (Shrugs) Now take that for what its worth. If you watch all the videos on the PS3 they will say how much more powerful it is than the Xbox and vice versa. Im just telling you what I am hearing."
Robinson then goes on to tell PS3week in an interview today that he couldn’t understand why Sony fired him.
When asked about how his life has changed since Sony sacked him for publishing the article, Robinson replies, "Yeah I can’t believe how out of control everything got. It’s absolutely absurd how the internet can take something relatively harmless and turn it into something so insane".
"Let me first just say, all I really did was write a few paragraphs that gave my opinion on publicly released information. I never actually released any information. After reading my small article the reader is not any more informed about the PS3 than he was before the article. I didn’t reveal any tech info and I didn’t reveal different shipping plans. I’m still in awe at the whole uproar over what amounts to NO information".
Is this guy brave? Stupid? Or both? Should we applaud him for speaking truthfully about his opinions on PS3 versus Xbox 360? Or should we just write him off as a loudmouth punk 3D artist with ideas above his station?
Let us know what you think in the forum below.
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Comments
thane_jaw 2 Feb 2006 12:51
1/17
Well he should be applauded for his commitment to sticking by what he said. Having said that, he does say very positive things about sony and his relationship with them, despite having left the company (something he acknowledges that he was preparing to do anyway). Its just a bit strange. He seems blown away that he got fired for his comments and given that they were supposedly checked by people within sony for NDA and tone - I can imagine that this would be a bit out of the blue for him. I guess that a sony employee could be seen to be bashing their own console (despite "only" being a artist) is unexceptable to them and duely action was taken regardless of the relationship etc.
king skins 2 Feb 2006 12:54
2/17
Seams quite harsh from what he has said... which is not a lot. Although I suppose it's never going to go down very well if you say your rivals are better than the company you work for.
Maybe Sony where just using him as a example, so people in the future don't go posting articles on the interweb about how s**t Sony is in the future.
I suppose this is a bad thing if you want people giving honest options about the company they work from, you will just get people giving you the company marketing line from now on.
Maybe Sony where just using him as a example, so people in the future don't go posting articles on the interweb about how s**t Sony is in the future.
I suppose this is a bad thing if you want people giving honest options about the company they work from, you will just get people giving you the company marketing line from now on.
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thane_jaw 2 Feb 2006 14:06
3/17
king skins wrote:
Seams quite harsh from what he has said... which is not a lot. Although I suppose it's never going to go down very well if you say your rivals are better than the company you work for.
Maybe Sony where just using him as a example, so people in the future don't go posting articles on the interweb about how s**t Sony is in the future.
I suppose this is a bad thing if you want people giving honest options about the company they work from, you will just get people giving you the company marketing line from now on.
Maybe Sony where just using him as a example, so people in the future don't go posting articles on the interweb about how s**t Sony is in the future.
I suppose this is a bad thing if you want people giving honest options about the company they work from, you will just get people giving you the company marketing line from now on.
Major Nelson (Larry Hryb) is “Xbox Live Director of Programming” and he's got his own blog and podcast about the 360. This is tenuous and slightly on a tangent so bear with me, he talks about things (not just the 360 but PSP, DS and the PC as well - though not to the same extent) from a design/ internal perspective and is covered by Microsofts NDA. His podcasts do seem to tow the party line, but he still does balance things and he does go into the old consoles and what he;s playing on the handhelds (although not really against the ps3 cos he just says that he doesn't know anything and thus can't really comment). Whilst I take everything with a pinch of salt, its nice to have someone on the inside even being slightly critical of problems/ issues with the 360 or simply being aware of them and taking the time to respond. Sony would do well to coerce someone into doing something similar.
I don't think sony have shot themselves in the foot over this, it was a no-win situation for them. If he'd been allowed to stay on, it'd have created dissent within the company. Its strange how such a nice guy (he doesn't appear to be your regular nutter) with (what appeaered to be) friendly links to sony upper management could have caused such a fuss. Especially when he acknowledges that he's basing his comments on released information, available to all.
majin dboy 2 Feb 2006 15:15
4/17
feck it.its not a big deal.
the only thing Sony accomplished by doing this is generated some very cold publicity and lose most likely a very talented artist.
the only thing Sony accomplished by doing this is generated some very cold publicity and lose most likely a very talented artist.
king skins 2 Feb 2006 16:20
5/17
Yeah I browse to Major Nelson's blog, its quite good and the best place to find info on new content on Live Arcade and Marketplace.
Does anyone have a link to the original article he wrote? Its been pulled down from the original site
Does anyone have a link to the original article he wrote? Its been pulled down from the original site
realvictory 2 Feb 2006 17:23
6/17
majin dboy wrote:
feck it.its not a big deal.
the only thing Sony accomplished by doing this is generated some very cold publicity and lose most likely a very talented artist.
the only thing Sony accomplished by doing this is generated some very cold publicity and lose most likely a very talented artist.
Yeah, I think so, too. They're not going stop everybody saying anything is better than the PS3, so firing someone doesn't help anyone, really. And reacting to it makes it look like they do have something to cover up.
tyrion 2 Feb 2006 17:59
7/17
realvictory wrote:
Yeah, I think so, too. They're not going stop everybody saying anything is better than the PS3, so firing someone doesn't help anyone, really. And reacting to it makes it look like they do have something to cover up.
If you have an employee bad-mouthing the main product of one of your divisions and saying "he's heard" that the competitor's product is better and also saying "between the lines" that the product is going to miss its stated release date, don't you think you would have words?
He didn't clear the article with management. Running it past a few mates who work in the same dept as you do doesn't count. Especially not if they also write for the site that you are going to post it on.
I'd have expected him to get a talking to if nothing else, but since he was already planning on leaving Sony, and had made people aware of that, his managers had no recourse but to sack him.
Remember the guy who got sacked from Microsoft for putting photos of Apple G5s arriving at the loading dock? Same thing.
thane_jaw 2 Feb 2006 18:56
8/17
No idea where the original link is, the guy says he took it down within 30 minutes of being asked to.
talking of employees doing silly things, does anyone remember what happened to that idiot kid who took a picture of him and the 360 months before it came out. his dad was playtesting it and was able to bring it home, so this kid starting showing snaps of himself around the net to prove it. I can't remember any follow up.
fluffstardx 2 Feb 2006 20:07
9/17
He has basically said "the tech guys thinks it's ass". I sure as hell wouldn't keep him on, and I'd be sure to follow up by finding out who proof-read it and what tech guys said it.
Is it me or is the PS3 project falling apart? There's a lot of images ripping it's shape and size, rumours abound of programming issues, word of delays... S**t, I'm beginning to actually pity them. After all, competition is healthy; look at how great the SNES/MD war was!
Is it me or is the PS3 project falling apart? There's a lot of images ripping it's shape and size, rumours abound of programming issues, word of delays... S**t, I'm beginning to actually pity them. After all, competition is healthy; look at how great the SNES/MD war was!
tg0006 2 Feb 2006 22:27
10/17
I can see on both sides. I dont think he should have been fired because he was talking the truth. on the other hand, if this makes sence, if sony thought he revealed something he shouldnt have, then i probably would have fired him too.
majin dboy 3 Feb 2006 00:34
11/17
someone wrote:PS3 falling apart.
i wouldnt go as far as saying that but i can c were ur cumin from.i think the PS3 has still got many obsticles to overcome,but at the end of the day when all is said and done and the dust has settled,three facts will remain....
...its a sony console
...it will create mainstream hype
...iit will have "GR8" games
therefore...it will sell well.
i wouldnt go as far as saying that but i can c were ur cumin from.i think the PS3 has still got many obsticles to overcome,but at the end of the day when all is said and done and the dust has settled,three facts will remain....
...its a sony console
...it will create mainstream hype
...iit will have "GR8" games
therefore...it will sell well.
thane_jaw 3 Feb 2006 01:10
12/17
I think we're kinda isolated from the rest of europe in england, especially in terms of consoles per household percentages. Sony looks set to do really well in Europe, where demand for the 360 hasn't been as high as here and the states. Despite what ever Microsoft and Nintendo are trying to achieve, its practically a given that the strong support of the ps2 will carry through to the ps3, although I can't see such a strong adoption rate due to increased prices, and the advantage the ps2 had being a DVD player before they were common retail items. Plus all my ps2 owning friends have only just heard about it and are busy wringing their mitts in anticipation even though they never play their ps2 anymore. That kind of herd mentatility is hard to defeat.
Plus sony is cool compared to Microsoft and Nintendo (as the common man would have it).
Plus sony is cool compared to Microsoft and Nintendo (as the common man would have it).
tyrion 3 Feb 2006 08:54
13/17
fluffstardx wrote:
Is it me or is the PS3 project falling apart? There's a lot of images ripping it's shape and size, rumours abound of programming issues, word of delays... S**t, I'm beginning to actually pity them. After all, competition is healthy; look at how great the SNES/MD war was!
I don't think the project is really "falling apart" as you put it, I think that in the absence of any news, people are making things up or leaping on the smallest factoid and blowing it out of all proportion. The same thing is happening with the Revolution, but with more positive conclusions.
I think it comes down to the fact that a lot of gamers on the Internet are old-school Nintendo-loving, Sony-hating console gamers.
LUPOS 3 Feb 2006 15:23
14/17
tyrion wrote:
I think it comes down to the fact that a lot of gamers on the Internet are old-school Nintendo-loving, Sony-hating console gamers.
DID THOSE FOOKS AT SONY PAY YOU TO SAY THAT?!?! i'll bust a zapper round in their bitch asses!!
*p-kang*
*p-kang*
;)
_____
vault 13 3 Feb 2006 21:20
15/17
There's one thing I will say. True hardcore gamers will buy any system if there is but one single game they will play on it. That's how I got my X-Box, good ol' Jet Set Radio FUUUUUTTTTTUUUURRRREE!
Too bad nobody buys good games anymore.
I hate when people say there's no good games on system x, so it sucks. EVERY major console now has good games on it. We hate these companies for absurd reasons and refuse to buy them because of it. Did you know Bic pens test on animals? Or that Exxon ruins Mounds of wildlife preserve each year? Or that KFC kills animals in very inhumane ways? Do we care? Of course not. Why? Well lots of reasons. Why do we hate certain console developers? Certainly not for any reasons such as those mentioned above. We all claim to be sooo much better than the average gamer or person for that matter. That we know all, that buying into Microsoft or Sony is wrong, immoral, and will destroy the future of gaming as we know it. (we still love you Nintendo) Is this more important than the enviroment? I certainly do not think so. We need to really put things into perspective sometimes and realize that buying a Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo made product will not hurt anyone but your own bank account.
Here's a point too, if we all bitch at developers who create cookie cutter, no risk games; who actually bought Psychonauts or any other out of box game this year? I know I haven't bought alot of those inventive that came out last year that I wanted, sometimes in favor of more mainstream titles. Think about it.
Too bad nobody buys good games anymore.
I hate when people say there's no good games on system x, so it sucks. EVERY major console now has good games on it. We hate these companies for absurd reasons and refuse to buy them because of it. Did you know Bic pens test on animals? Or that Exxon ruins Mounds of wildlife preserve each year? Or that KFC kills animals in very inhumane ways? Do we care? Of course not. Why? Well lots of reasons. Why do we hate certain console developers? Certainly not for any reasons such as those mentioned above. We all claim to be sooo much better than the average gamer or person for that matter. That we know all, that buying into Microsoft or Sony is wrong, immoral, and will destroy the future of gaming as we know it. (we still love you Nintendo) Is this more important than the enviroment? I certainly do not think so. We need to really put things into perspective sometimes and realize that buying a Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo made product will not hurt anyone but your own bank account.
Here's a point too, if we all bitch at developers who create cookie cutter, no risk games; who actually bought Psychonauts or any other out of box game this year? I know I haven't bought alot of those inventive that came out last year that I wanted, sometimes in favor of more mainstream titles. Think about it.
LUPOS 3 Feb 2006 21:34
16/17
vault 13 wrote:
who actually bought Psychonauts or any other out of box game this year?
i baught psychonauts the day it came out.
electropnakton a few days after it came otu whiel i was int he land of the rising sun... and last year i actually got aaroudn to purchasing alot of the sega xbox games i had always ment to but didnt... like gun valkyrie and panzer dragoon and craytaxi 3 (not that ct3 coutns as original)
baught katamari for a freind. hooked several frieds on it and they have subb siquently purchased it.
all in all... ive been pretty good this past year... come to think of it... i dont really remember buyign any big name games except for my 360 games... cause those are launch titles... cant be helped
ps vault... doa tourny tonight?!
______
vault 13 5 Feb 2006 02:05
17/17
Your post severely denied for the brash unadherance to basic grammar and spelling rules. You now have purchased 30 copies of True Crime: New York City and Driv3r in my eyes.