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Sony Warns of PS3 Scams 135

Posted by Zonk from the don't-take-any-wooden-consoles dept.
GameDaily reports that Sony is warning of scams based around their PlayStation 3 console. The company has apparently noticed enough scamming web-based offers that it felt the need to warn consumers. From the article: "It's become increasingly common with new console launches for some consumers to buy up whole batches of a system, only to sell them immediately on sites like eBay for major profits. Beyond that, however, there are certain even more seedy individuals out there who unfortunately will do anything they can to scam you out of your money completely. They know that some consumers get desperate when it comes to purchasing a newly launched console and they'll do anything they can to exploit that."
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Sony Warns of PS3 Scams More

Sony Warns of PS3 Scams

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  • I knew I was being scamed (Score:5, Funny)

    by HappySqurriel ( 1010623 ) on Wednesday November 01, 2006 @06:17PM (#16680875)
    Yeah I knew that EBgames was trying to scam me the second I saw that $600 price tag ...
    No one in their right mind would think a gaming console cost that much money ...

    Seriously though, a lot of scams would be less effective if there was a reasonable supply of consoles.
    • I think this is the first news from/about Sony that I've seen in a year that wasn't negative.

      • Re:I knew I was being scamed (Score:4, Funny)

        by eln ( 21727 ) * on Wednesday November 01, 2006 @06:31PM (#16681123)
        You missed the original headline, which was edited before the article went live:

        "Sony Warns of PS3 Scams, Eats Puppies"
      • I think this is the first news from/about Sony that I've seen in a year that wasn't negative.
        It was posted by Zonk, so it's an obvious troll.. he knew enough negative comments would be added to balance everything out.

        • It was posted by Zonk, so it's an obvious troll.. he knew enough negative comments would be added to balance everything out.

          So he posted this on the assumption that any posting of the words "Sony" and "PS3" (noting that PS3 is not really one word, and combinations can include 0 if one or the other is true) will generate a huge amount of negative commentary to equate to bad press for Sony.

          I'd be more surprised at this conclusion if that wasn't the least sick and twisted thing I've heard today.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by deepb ( 981634 )
      No one in their right mind would think a gaming console cost that much money ...
      That's why it also plays Blu-Ray discs. Considering the fact that Blu-Ray players currently cost around $1,000 (US), I don't see what you're complaining about.

      If you don't have $600 to spend on that sort of device, that's fine.. but don't question the sanity of people who do.
      • You Are Wrong Because:

        Irrelevant Comparisons
        Example: A hundred dollars is a good price for a toaster, compared to buying a Ferrari.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AuMatar ( 183847 )
        Thats great- for the less than 5% of people who have an HD-TV. Of course, a large chunk of those people either already have, or do not want, a bluray player, so it may help 1% or so of gamers. ANd going from the PS2, its probably a shitty BluRay player. Thats great for that 1%. Too bad it fucks over the vast majority of gamers. But wii always have another option.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by deepb ( 981634 )
          Thats great- for the less than 5% of people who have an HD-TV. Of course, a large chunk of those people either already have, or do not want, a bluray player, so it may help 1% or so of gamers. ANd going from the PS2, its probably a shitty BluRay player.
          1 in 6 households have an HDTV (from from 1 in 14 two years ago) - note the distinct "upward trend". So yeah, it is great.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by AuMatar ( 183847 )
            Bullshit. Nowhere near 1 in 6 houses have an HDTV. 1in 6 purchases might be an HDTV, but not 1 in 6 marketshare. Hell, 1 in 6 houses haven't even bought an HDTV since HD started being pushed.
            • You know what's great about Internet postings? It's how people can be so certain of themselves and yet not provide fact one to back up that certitude. Go, man, go!

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Perseid ( 660451 )
        $600 for a gaming console = insane
        $1000 for a Blu-Ray player = insane

        Oh, wait. You said I wasn't supposed to do that. Sorry. My bad.

        Maybe I'll go out and market a new video disc that has players at $10000 so that when I release my game console at $5000 people will think they're getting a deal...

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by timster ( 32400 )
        There's nothing about a Blu-Ray player that is particularly expensive to produce, and that $1,000 price is a completely artificial one designed to appeal to early adopters. I certainly question their sanity; in mere months, the price will be less than $300. The ability to play the handful of released Blu-Ray titles in the meantime cannot possibly be worth $700, and barebones players will probably be $150 within a year or so.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by deepb ( 981634 )

          There's nothing about a Blu-Ray player that is particularly expensive to produce, and that $1,000 price is a completely artificial one designed to appeal to early adopters. I certainly question their sanity; in mere months, the price will be less than $300. The ability to play the handful of released Blu-Ray titles in the meantime cannot possibly be worth $700, and barebones players will probably be $150 within a year or so.

          Any chance you could provide the source of this information? Particularly, where di

          • Blue ray is going to be a flash in the PAN..A FAILED flash in the pan I think as well, the new 18 gb disc from Toshiba I read about will be on the market soon, are compatible all the way around and can be made in existing factories at VERY LITTLE RETOOL costs. The industry is stuck on recovering their outlay costs before really tooling up for massive blue ray orders which aren't going to appear. Sony is in the end going to eat BlueRay and PSP format just like they ate the minidisc format here in the states.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by timster ( 32400 )
            It's pretty much obvious if you examine the history and apply some economics. Modern consumer technology products generally aren't made from expensive raw materials; rather, the companies which sell them incur substantial research, development, and capital costs (to build the sophisticated factories necessary to produce them). In economic terms, the marginal cost is small and the startup cost is high.

            Upon startup, supply is naturally very limited due to production ramps and such, while demand is high amon

        • Doesn't "artificial price" mean "price I'm unwilling to pay"?

      • That's why it also plays Blu-Ray discs.

        But Blu-Ray is teh suck. Why I want to buy some orphaned format. Believe me, Sony don't know how to make a standard. Beta-Max, Memory Stick, others. They always find way to lose.
        • Blu-Ray is supported by a myriad of corporations, much like the other famous Sony-based(it was a Sony/Phillips collaboration) standard [wikipedia.org]. Its competitor, HD-DVD, is supported by...Microsoft.
      • My store sells IDE bluray drives for $750. These are burners too. (No idea why we still don't have SATA Blu Ray drives, but that's annother matter...) Our cost on them is like $600, IIRC.

        You can now purchase a stand alone bluray player for around $400 (first link on a quick froogle search) [tvauthority.com].

        Now, that may still make the PS3 a good value, *IF* one cares about bluray. But let's not overstate the value that it has. PS3 without bluray would probably cost roughly $400 (A semi-educated guess as to the true cost
        • Just need to correct myself. That player I linked was not bluray. It's in the bluray/HDDVD catagory on the site I linked from. That's what Iget for doing a 30 second search on froogle.

          I can't seem to find Bluray players for under $700, which makes me wonder why the burner we carry is so much less...
    • Go adjust the $200 figure of the original SNES for inflation. You get $600.
      • Go adjust the $200 figure of the original SNES for inflation. You get $600.

        Go adjust $2500 figure of my 486-based computer for inflation. You get $7500.

        Go adjust $490 figure of the average 1997 DVD player for inflation. You get $1000

        Electronics' pricing generally doesn't work that way.

    • My NES in 1985 was 250 and adjusted for inflation is 443.67.

    • Seriously though, a lot of scams would be less effective if there was a reasonable supply of consoles.

      mmm, and how does one create a "reasonable supply" ? Supposing you *knew* that you could sell 20 million PS3's within the first month of release... How you do create a supply of 20 millions PS3's ? Hmm... you either build a factory that can make 2mil/month and store them up for 10 months (but then why wouldn't you just start selling them right away), or you build a (very expensive) factory that can make 1

      • By "Reasonable Supply" I was not saying that Sony needed to supply enough for every potential PS3 owner on day one ...

        How I would define "Reasonable Supply" is enough units to (nearly) satisfy everyone who wants to pre-order, and a steady stream that (roughly) matches demand following the launch. Now it may not be a popular opinion, but there is no reason why there should be massive shortages of a console at launch; from past system launches it should be clear to everyone that if you don't have 500,000 - 1,

  • Other PS3 scams include... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by iapetus ( 24050 ) on Wednesday November 01, 2006 @06:19PM (#16680921) Homepage
    * Committing to a worldwide simultaneous launch, then delaying the launch in the largest of your markets
    * Preventing consumers from importing PS3s by driving companies that try to export them out of business with multiple spurious lawsuits
    * Presenting CGI as real-time footage
    • and:

      *claiming the controller uses six axes
      *claiming vibration impedes motion sensing
      *claiming there were giant crabs in medieval Japan (there were ... but not as big as the one depicted in the demo)

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by catprog ( 849688 )
        It does use 6 3 axis for motion 3 axis for tilting The only things though are correct

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by justchris ( 802302 )
          That's still only 3 axes. It does not matter whether you are moving along the x-axis or rotating around the x-axis, you're still only utilizing one axis of motion, you are simply used 2 different types of motion, angular and linear. This does not spontaneously create a new axis, no matter how complex your movements might be.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by Maserati ( 8679 )
            Three axes of translation + three axes of rotation = 6-axis controller.

            Get over it.
          • It does not matter whether you are moving along the x-axis or rotating around the x-axis, you're still only utilizing one axis of motion, you are simply used 2 different types of motion

            Doesn't have to be. As long as they are using three independant axes for rotation and three independant axes for translation they do not have to be the same axes. It is easiest if they are (and if they are orthogonal) but they don't have to be. There are two seperate sensors that detect position and translation. There very
            • Yes, actually, they do have to use the same axes. In 3-dimensional space (the space we're all currently stuck in), there are only 3 axes. Or rather, we're only aware of 3. I won't go so far as to say it's impossible for the Sixaxis to use 6 completely unrelated axes, but if it does, we, as 3-dimensional beings, are not only incapable of moving a controller along/around these axes, but even if we could, we would no longer be able to see the controller (or incidentally our hands, since they would have move
              • You can define 2 coordinate systems containing three axes to not coincide, that are correlated by a 3x3 transfer matrix. Six seperate axes in a 3D world. I do it every day. I am a modeling and simulation programmer... you could not do any interesting simulations without this principle.
                • You can do a lot of things on a computer that aren't possible in natural space.

                  Incidentally, are each of the three axes in these sets perpendicular to each other? And can you define one set of 3 axes perpindicular to each other, then define a set of three axes (also perpendicular to each other), where the origin of the second set is not a point in the coordinate system of the first set?

      • I'm happy as long as I have real time weapon switching!

      • Re:Other PS3 scams include... (Score:5, Informative)

        by J. T. MacLeod ( 111094 ) on Wednesday November 01, 2006 @10:32PM (#16683801)
        Six axes:
        1. X
        2. Y
        3. Z
        4. Roll
        5. Pitch
        6. Yaw

        Count 'em. Six. I'm not a Sony apologist. Just a pedant.

        • Six axes:
          1. X
          2. Y
          3. Z
          4. Roll
          5. Pitch
          6. Yaw

          Actually it's 3 axes (X, Y, Z) and 3 angles (Roll, Pitch, Yaw)

          The first 3 indicate position in 3D space while the other 3 indicate orientation (eg, the direction you're facing).

          However, the vast majority of 3D games don't allow the user to directly specify a position in the X,Y,Z axis, instead you specify the orientation of the character (Roll, Pitch, Yaw) and speed so that, after some time, the character will have moved (walked, flyed, swimmed, driven) to the desir

    • Technically the graphics in the game are CGI as well as both are generated by computers. I think you meant they used pre-rendered video instead of real-time rendered graphics.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by batkiwi ( 137781 )
        Prerendered video in games is commonly called "FMV" whcih is also a bit of a misnomer since the output of any console is video, and it certainly is in FULL motion.

        I'd say CGI has passed on to be commonly accepted as "Computer generated video which is not renedered in realtime."
        • You forgot the ending of your sentence:

          I'd say CGI has passed on to be commonly accepted as "Computer generated video which is not renedered in realtime."

          ...by morons.

          CGI is "computer generated imagery" and has always been a half-assed acronym. I agree with your parent poster's assessment. "Pre-rendered video" is probably the best term to use here, as that's the important distinction. After all, it's all computer-generated, it's all full-motion. It's all video. But some of it is rendered on-the-fly, w

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by empaler ( 130732 )
      On the positive side, they worded it so it could apply to the Wii as well.

      Still, I hate them. Really. I just received the mail order TV tuner card I was going to use for the Wii I was getting shipped from Lik-sang so I could use my monster monitor for it.

      Really, not really angry at Sony any more. I just hate them. I really hate them. And I am a god-damned tree-hugging hippie.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by JordanL ( 886154 )

      * Committing to a worldwide simultaneous launch, then delaying the launch in the largest of your markets

      Last I checked, the PS2 and PS1 had higher sell through in NTSC.

      * Preventing consumers from importing PS3s by driving companies that try to export them out of business with multiple spurious lawsuits

      Last I checked, each locale has its own laws, regulations and certifications that all electronics must legally pass in order to be safe for the consumer.

      * Presenting CGI as real-time footage

      L

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by iapetus ( 24050 )
        Last I checked, the Financial Times had this to say:

        Sony does not provide a breakdown of its sales by region. But last year, Japan accounted for 20 per cent of overall sales of Y7,159bn, while North America accounted for 23 per cent and European countries 26 per cent.

        Financial Times [ft.com]

        Last I checked, the power supply shipped with a Canadian PSP (and I believe this applies to the models sold in the US and Japan as well) carries the CE mark certifying that it conforms to the relevant European regulations.

        Last

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by JordanL ( 886154 )
          Ah so it should have read:

          * Committing (read: Gave initial report) to a worldwide simultaneous launch, then delaying the launch in the largest of your markets (if you combine all of Sony's divisions)
          * Preventing consumers from importing PS3s (into regions for which the product hasn't been tested or certified for the local area's electricity and communication standards, and is illegal to use or operate) by driving companies that try to export them out of business with multiple spurious lawsuits
          * Presen

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by iapetus ( 24050 )
            Skip 'between the lines' and you're pretty much right. How clear can I make it that the PSP (the hardware which Sony used to put Lik Sang out of business on the basis that you define) is certified for the local area's electricity and communication standards? Again, when I posted that I had the power supply from a Canadian launch unit sitting right in front of me, because unlike yourself I choose to actually make sure I know what I'm talking about before sounding off.

            And I don't care whether Sony had a compl

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by JordanL ( 886154 )
              Stop sounding self-important. Video games are about making money. That's what Microsoft is in it for, what Sony is in it for, and what Nintendo is in it for. It is their first motivation; all of them. Acting indignant because one of them acted on their motivations, jsut like they all do, makes you look impossibly childish.
  • so I won't need to worry about PS3 pre-order scams at all.

    I'll wait until they sell it for $250 USD. I'm in no rush.
    • That $250 benchmark ain't gonna spare ya. I am betting the spams and scams will be:

      Buy you PS3 direct from Jappan! $250 pre odor now!

      Go to http;//www.geocities. com/spamohoy123 - oopsy! no space before com
      • "$250 pre odor now!"

        We store them in Sumo's crotch for minimum 3 day for desired effect!"
      • probably. I'll buy mine in person at Costco when I do finally get a PS3, along with an HDTV flat panel - and do it for under $600 including tax.

        In a couple of years.
    • I'll wait until they sell it for $250 USD. I'm in no rush.
      Sony isn't reselling the PS2 (with a new controller) under a different name, so I think you might be waiting for quite a long time. Hey, at least it's a good excuse not to buy an HDTV!
      • I can buy a PS2 right now for about $150. In fact, my son went out and did that this summer.

        Therefore, I can expect to buy a PS3 in 2009 for about $250. The games will still work the same. And I'll have an HDTV set for $300 USD then (a good one, with no bugs). And the PS3 won't have those early adoption failure rates.

        Makes no never mind to me.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by deepb ( 981634 )
          And the PS3 won't have those early adoption failure rates.
          The PS3 hasn't even been released yet - it's completely impossible to know what the failure rate (or even the internal build quality) is going to be... but hey, whatever helps you sleep at night.
          • The first releases of any product, no matter the product or manufacturer, are going to have more hardware problems than later releases. Period.
    • Don't bet on it. I'm in Europe, and although I preordered the Wii months ago, I was told by the dealer that he'd be getting a meager 20 units, and I'm number 270 on the list.

      I think I'll try to be there when the store opens, which should be a historic first where I come from.

  • Scamming it up (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mrmagicmiked ( 1016984 ) on Wednesday November 01, 2006 @06:27PM (#16681051)
    I had every intention of buying about 5-6 consoles and flipping them on eBay. Hey, everyone's doing it.
    • I had every intention of buying about 5-6 consoles and flipping them on eBay. Hey, everyone's doing it.

      Just make sure they're not the exploding kind. EBay frowns on that.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by soft_guy ( 534437 )
      I had every intention of buying about 5-6 consoles and flipping them on eBay. Hey, everyone's doing it.

      Not only that, but I am planning to sell the console in one auction and the box in a separate auction. I will write at the bottom in small print: "You are bidding on a PS3 Box only." Some fool will pay me $800 for just the box.
    • Everyone doing something is not a moral justification. Slavery seems like the most pertinent example. I don't wish to imply that reselling the PS3 is like that though.

      Although the PS3 is a luxury item, gouging people on it is still greedy.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ledow ( 319597 ) *
        No, everybody doing something is not a good justification. However, if that "something" is totally within the rights of the law and not harmful and not "forced" on anyone, there's no need to get uppity.

        People stupid enough to pay more to have a console now? That's THEIR problem. Why NOT sell it to them? Do you think Sony would feel guilty (or even be "in the wrong", or even be "shunned" by the collectors) for charging $1000 for a console on release day and $950 the next etc.? Hell no. The only problem
      • I don't wish to imply that reselling the PS3 is like that though.

        I should hope not. I, for one, congratulate people who gouge others on PS3s. "A fool and his money are soon parted." Anyone stupid enough to pay extra to a gouger for one of these things absolutely deserves to be separated from his money, and if some gougers can successfully take these morons' money away from them, then more power to them.

        Heck, I think that anyone paying the normal retail price ($600) for a PS3 is a fool; anyone paying extr
      • Selling the unit at a profit is business, and not really any more greedy than any other business. It's certainly not a scam no matter how Sony wants to represent it, unless you're selling fake units or something that is not-a-PS3 (or not a complete one).

        IMHO, selling there's nothing wrong with selling at good profit luxury item - aka something not a necessity - as none of the buyers will be out any quality of life if they have to go without the product.

  • Sue (Score:3, Funny)

    by AKAImBatman ( 238306 ) * <akaimbatman AT gmail DOT com> on Wednesday November 01, 2006 @06:33PM (#16681171) Homepage Journal
    there are certain even more seedy individuals out there who unfortunately will do anything they can to scam you out of your money completely.

    Why doesn't Sony just sue them out of business. They're good at that.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jimicus ( 737525 )
      there are certain even more seedy individuals out there who unfortunately will do anything they can to scam you out of your money completely.

      Why doesn't Sony just sue them out of business. They're good at that.


      Because it's rather hard to sue yourself out of business?
    • Why doesn't Sony just sue them out of business. They're good at that.

      Because Sony's not losing any money from this, it's only their customers losing money.

      (I feel like this whole discussion is a cynicism/sarcasm contest. How'd I do?) :)

      • Remember, Sony's profit on the consoles is currently in the negetive to near-zero range. That being so, they're hoping to profit from game sales. So if somebody spends $1000 on a PS3, that's a couple hundred bucks that they could have been spending on games to Sony's profit (assuming the don't also have the extra few hundred on-hand at the time to purchase games).

        Still, nothing illegal about it, but Sony's gripe is probably that they're not getting their expected slice of the pie. Perhaps they should dire
  • Just remember that I'm the only one taking pre-orders for the PS3. Really. And due to demand you're going to need to send me at $1000 to get one. No, $2000! Yes $5000 is all it takes. Order now, and I'll even provide an extra bonnus 7th axis on your controller!

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Makk ( 1021441 )
      Ooo 7 IS better then 6 afterall.. Much as 3 IS better then 2.. Yet 'Wii' is better then $600 ;)
  • "Beyond that, however, there are certain even more seedy individuals out there who unfortunately will do anything they can to scam you out of your money completely. They know that some consumers get desperate when it comes to purchasing a newly launched console and they'll do anything they can to exploit that."

    Also on the desk of the big wig who typed that up, a report on how lowering projection creates more pandamonium, citing the PS2 launch. It sounds like the scams they are citing are their current busi
  • Sony is advising us against buying their console.
    • I wouldn't be surprised if sony is in on the ebay scam themselves, it's not beyond a company to double dipp. And ebay and Sony are both powerful enough and corrupt enough to come to such a lucrative agreement.
  • Maybe its just me, but Next Gen holds no appeal to me at this current time. I'd rather buy a ps2 for cheap, but I already have one. Tons of games, most reasonably priced.

    Also without an HD TV I don't freel I'm missing much. Gameplay is important and I see nothing about the Next Gen gameplay that makes me want to rush out a buy one. I do think the WII is more interesting than the 360/ps3, but I'm not that excited by it.

  • Many of the speculators selling XBox 360 units on eBay lost money. The price was high for only a few weeks; then it dropped to slightly below retail. Endless failed "reserve not met" auctions as speculators desperately tried to unload their inventory without losing money.

    eBay sometimes creates the illusion that prices are higher than they really are. You can see the asking prices on auctions coming up, but not, usually, the actual prices at which a sale took place or high bid on failed auctions. Only p

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