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Sony Exec Tells Frustrated PSP Users To Get Games Via BitTorrent

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

Mon, Aug 4th 2008 9:48am — Mike Masnick

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.

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Filed Under: bittorrent, david reeves, games, psp
Companies: sony

19 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 4 Aug 2008 @ 10:22am

Sigh
They need to make up their minds
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PaulT (profile), 4 Aug 2008 @ 10:23am

Yeah
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...
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Dave, 4 Aug 2008 @ 10:45am

Who was he talking to?
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...
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Truthseeker, 4 Aug 2008 @ 10:55am

Seems the opposite . . .
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?
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Aug 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"
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nick nack, 4 Aug 2008 @ 11:11am

If only...
If only the music industry would start embracing this too!
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Yakko Warner, 4 Aug 2008 @ 11:23am

Re:
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.
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Mr. Vage, 4 Aug 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.
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Sticky Tape Guru, 4 Aug 2008 @ 11:59am

Jeez.
At least Sony's trying its best to support those branded communities.
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mcs, 4 Aug 2008 @ 12:27pm

He is not endorsing pirating at all...
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.
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Overcast, 4 Aug 2008 @ 1:57pm

After the 'rootkit' fiasco, I avoid their products like the plague... hehe
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Spectere, 4 Aug 2008 @ 2:55pm

Re: Re:
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. <_<
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Aug 2008 @ 3:07pm

Chocolate
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.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Aug 2008 @ 4:09pm

WTF? You are bending what this guy is saying. Talking about stretching what a person states.
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anzac, 4 Aug 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?!?!?
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Keill Randor, 4 Aug 2008 @ 6:46pm

Hmm...
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)).
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Aug 2008 @ 10:51pm

More Profit!
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.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Aug 2008 @ 7:46pm

Downloads usually inferior...
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.
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دردشه, 11 Jul 2009 @ 9:30am

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