SPOnG reported yesterday on the mix-up over the technology Emmys in which Sony Computer Entertainment America mistakenly issued a press statement earlier this week claiming that they had won a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award for the Sixaxis wireless controller.
Sony has now had to eat some humble pie and has issued a retraction which reads: "In a press release dated January 8, 2007, SCEA announced we had been recognized by NATAS with a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award for the Sixaxis wireless controller…Due to miscommunication between the two organisations, this information was incorrectly reported."
The statement, which still appears to apportion some of the blame for the mix-up to NATAS, outlines that SCEA actually won the award for the PS2 Dual Shock controller.
This is interesting in light of comments from SCEA's PR chief Dave Karraker who told Next-Gen.biz before the above retraction was released, "I accepted the award myself and all they said was that the award was for 'technological innovation for device controller' ... but looking back, they never really did say for which one".
So, not only does SCEA now walk away with enough egg on its face to make it look like the attack of the killer-pregnant ostriches, the cock-up has also managed to completely undermine the award that it actually did win for the Dual Shock. If it wasn't such a shame for the Sony staff who have put the work in to achieve the PS2's dominance, it would be hilarious as one PR disaster follows the next.
It would be easy to see this as 'Big Lie Theory' ("that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility"); that somehow Sony marketing geniuses felt that if - only for a short time - enough people thought that the Sixaxis was an award-winning piece of kit then the idea would become viral.
To SPOnG this looks more like the scene from at the ‘VH1 Fashion Awards’ in the Zoolander movie. Derek Zoolander – so convinced that he has won – rushes the stage and accepts his award. Everybody else cringes - arrogance and desire overtake communication and detail.
That said, of course, NATAS must also bear some of the fault. The idea of giving an innovation award for a piece of kit that's well past its sell-by date is in itself awe-inspiring for its lack of insight into the technology. No wonder Sony assumed that NATAS must have been talking about its 'latest' controller. NATAS will also have read the press release that SCEA put out!
Let's hope that this ice-cold bucket of wake-up embarrassment on a world stage will make Sony look at the way it's been handling things… and change.
And yes, that’s right, they even have Emmys for technology now!
Sony has now had to eat some humble pie and has issued a retraction which reads: "In a press release dated January 8, 2007, SCEA announced we had been recognized by NATAS with a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award for the Sixaxis wireless controller…Due to miscommunication between the two organisations, this information was incorrectly reported."
The statement, which still appears to apportion some of the blame for the mix-up to NATAS, outlines that SCEA actually won the award for the PS2 Dual Shock controller.
This is interesting in light of comments from SCEA's PR chief Dave Karraker who told Next-Gen.biz before the above retraction was released, "I accepted the award myself and all they said was that the award was for 'technological innovation for device controller' ... but looking back, they never really did say for which one".
So, not only does SCEA now walk away with enough egg on its face to make it look like the attack of the killer-pregnant ostriches, the cock-up has also managed to completely undermine the award that it actually did win for the Dual Shock. If it wasn't such a shame for the Sony staff who have put the work in to achieve the PS2's dominance, it would be hilarious as one PR disaster follows the next.
It would be easy to see this as 'Big Lie Theory' ("that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility"); that somehow Sony marketing geniuses felt that if - only for a short time - enough people thought that the Sixaxis was an award-winning piece of kit then the idea would become viral.
To SPOnG this looks more like the scene from at the ‘VH1 Fashion Awards’ in the Zoolander movie. Derek Zoolander – so convinced that he has won – rushes the stage and accepts his award. Everybody else cringes - arrogance and desire overtake communication and detail.
That said, of course, NATAS must also bear some of the fault. The idea of giving an innovation award for a piece of kit that's well past its sell-by date is in itself awe-inspiring for its lack of insight into the technology. No wonder Sony assumed that NATAS must have been talking about its 'latest' controller. NATAS will also have read the press release that SCEA put out!
Let's hope that this ice-cold bucket of wake-up embarrassment on a world stage will make Sony look at the way it's been handling things… and change.
And yes, that’s right, they even have Emmys for technology now!
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Comments
RiseFromYourGrave 11 Jan 2007 12:59
1/5
i like the zoolander analogy, but sony is a huge company, made up of lots of people paid good money to prevent f**kups and no-one checked?
maybe youre right, and i just cant get my head round the incompetence
maybe youre right, and i just cant get my head round the incompetence
SCiARA 11 Jan 2007 13:00
2/5
I really can’t see Sony changing their ways yet, to early for that. They need to really f**k up on a global level like, I dunno, coming last in the "console war" and the HD format "war" but as PS3's will sell well no matter what and dual hd players surfacing by year end they will continue to be the Prince Phillip of the games industry
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PreciousRoi 11 Jan 2007 13:52
3/5
well, its only an Emmy anyway...these are the same Emmys that gave the first ever 'heavy metal' Emmy to Jethro Tull...
...its also pretty telling of how shallow these guys are when you consider that (assuming this is correct now) they gave the award to the (completely absent of innovation) PS2 iteration of the DualShock and the original NES pad...
The awards by right of merit SHOULD have gone to the SNES pad and the original DualShock, or the original DualShock alone, rather than its merly slightly refined younger sibling. But hey the PS2 sold a lot of consoles, so that must be the right one...right?
Congratulations to the Emmys and Sony for proving that they both still have their heads up their respective anal cavities.
...its also pretty telling of how shallow these guys are when you consider that (assuming this is correct now) they gave the award to the (completely absent of innovation) PS2 iteration of the DualShock and the original NES pad...
The awards by right of merit SHOULD have gone to the SNES pad and the original DualShock, or the original DualShock alone, rather than its merly slightly refined younger sibling. But hey the PS2 sold a lot of consoles, so that must be the right one...right?
Congratulations to the Emmys and Sony for proving that they both still have their heads up their respective anal cavities.
PreciousRoi 11 Jan 2007 21:33
4/5
award actually did go to the original DualShock and NOT the PS2 controller as stated in the article.
shame on me for not catching this myself...
shame on me for not catching this myself...
PreciousRoi 11 Jan 2007 21:34
5/5
award actually did go to the original DualShock and NOT the PS2 controller as stated in the article.
shame on me for not catching this myself...could someone check and confirm just which controller Sony did win the award for?
shame on me for not catching this myself...could someone check and confirm just which controller Sony did win the award for?