» Sony plays the pretend gameSony plays the pretend game

December 11th, 2006 by Edwin in General Gaming News

Looks like Sony has shot itself in the foot again, if this thread in the Something Awful forums is anything to go by. There seems to be a deluge of Sony PSP fansites appearing all over the Internet overnight just like mushrooms, and it seems as though demand for this portable handheld gaming system has skyrocketed to an unprecedented high. All I want For Xmas is a PSP is yet another of such fansites, but upon further investigation, there is more than meets the eye.

Despite giving the illusion that this fansite was started by a couple of “kids”, there are a couple of disturbing clues which make their credibility dip to an all time low. One of them raps atrociously while looking way too mature to be a pimply-faced teen, all in an effort to persuade their parents to pick up a PSP for them this Christmas. Heck, if I were the parent, I wouldn’t want to pick up a handheld that causes my kid to act in such a weird manner! In addition, the site uses only lower case letters, uses the number “2″ in favor of the written word, publishes fake user-generated comments in an effort to bolster its credibility, while posting homemade rap videos that are truly the domain of those who can stomach bad music.

All the above isn’t really a crime, but what stinks is the registered domain is owned by a marketing company known as Zipatoni, and judging by Sony’s past actions, it isn’t beneath them to test the stupidity of their target market with carelessly strung advertisement campaigns.

Source: Joystiq

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One Comment on “Sony plays the pretend game”

» More on Sony’s failed viral marketing campaignMore on Sony’s failed viral marketing campaign » Game Addicts Says:

December 14th, 2006 at 6:08 pm

[...] Remember the Sony fan site that we covered a few days’ ago that featured Sony playing the dumb card on its customers and public once again? Apparently, they decided that enough was enough, finally issuing an apology on the website that stirred a hornet’s nest. Personally, I think that it is a case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t. No apologies would definitely irk a large segment of the population as they would think that Sony is still having its head stuck somewhere up in the great big blue sky. An issued apology would look pretty dumb on their part too, as it shows the immaturity of the once infallible giant consumer electronics company. [...]