If this is true... Then... Wow...

[deadish]

It just business.

This... Surely this is just how companies normally react? It's like companies paying sports stars to wear their gear, or food companies paying to have their foods shown in white goods advertising. The only difference is that there are only 2 companies involved. I can't imagine at all that Sony haven't been doing the same from day one, this article was just written by a Sony fan as obvious slander and propaganda.

Welcome to life...

No. The difference is, in advertising it's common knowledge that the celebrities are paid endorsers of said products with the goal to promote and raise awareness of said product.
If this is true, MS and collaborators are doing it on the quiet with deception and misrepresentation of their competitor's product being the goal. Either way, we consumers are the ones being messed with.

Manipluative advertising is unethetical no matter how you cut it - advertising to kids to get to their parent's wallet.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

It just business.

This... Surely this is just how companies normally react? It's like companies paying sports stars to wear their gear, or food companies paying to have their foods shown in white goods advertising. The only difference is that there are only 2 companies involved. I can't imagine at all that Sony haven't been doing the same from day one, this article was just written by a Sony fan as obvious slander and propaganda.

Welcome to life...

No. The difference is, in advertising it's common knowledge that the celebrities are paid endorsers of said products with the goal to promote and raise awareness of said product.
If this is true, MS and collaborators are doing it on the quiet with deception and misrepresentation of their competitor's product being the goal. Either way, we consumers are the ones being messed with.

Manipluative advertising is unethetical no matter how you cut it - advertising to kids to get to their parent's wallet.

Surely it's common knowledge for this too? When I see David Beckham wearing an Addidas hat I say 'oh, he must have been paid by Adidas.' But when I see a game being displayed or shown on a particular console I think 'oh, they must have been paid by that consoles manufacturer.' Noone has ever told me I just presume...

Surely it's a non issue, right? How is it unethical? A company paying to get their product seen... how is that different to product placement anywhere else? How is that manipulative?

 

[veloper]

I heard this rumor that Sony is paying for these rumors.

Source please.

Good one.
It does sound a little too far fetched this time and too often we just love the excuse to get angry at something.

I won't dismiss all rumour out of hand, but there needs to more to it.
So on the one hand the early rumours on XBO and DRM did turn out to be true, but on the other hand, the DRM scheme makes diabolical sense and the sources then were more reliable.

 

[Vareoth]

I'll stay skeptical about this simply because this seems like a pretty dumb move which is even beyond Microsoft's usual stupidity.

I would also like a better source than NeoGAF.

 

[Toxic Sniper]

True story: A NeoGAF insider told me his friend in the games industry said that Half LIfe 3 would be spoiled at E3. It will also be a Sony exclusive because this is a NeoGAF rumor.

 

[Jack Nief]

What I really found interesting was this particular post. I wouldn't have even found it until I jumped around randomly. Basically it sums up the Xbox One reveal and fiasco thus far.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=61470097&postcount=2641

Wow.

 

[deadish]

Surely it's common knowledge for this too? When I see David Beckham wearing an Addidas hat I say 'oh, he must have been paid by Adidas.' But when I see a game being displayed or shown on a particular console I think 'oh, they must have been paid by that consoles manufacturer.' Noone has ever told me I just presume...

Surely it's a non issue, right? How is it unethical? A company paying to get their product seen... how is that different to product placement anywhere else? How is that manipulative?

The "official" reason for advertising is to increase awareness of your product - people can't buy it if they don't know about it.

When it get's manipulative ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv3qPM8BLdE

well, less just say it become quite the grey area.

While society tolerates manipulative advertisements. Pushing it too far can earn the companies a PR black eye - e.g. advertising to easily influenced young children; banned in some countries.

What MS is rumoured to be doing however, more or less goes into deception territory. To my knowledge, usage of misleading or false statements in an advertisement is illegal in just about every country. While what MS is doing here isn't strictly advertising, hence it's legal, the aims of deception are the same.

That said, I doubt this would happen now that it's circulating the rumour mill. People will be watching developers/publishers like hawks with this rumour fresh in their minds. No developer/publisher will be stupid enough to risk it.

 

[CloudAtlas]

Thread from where this is. [http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=576869]

"Two of our most trusted neoGAF insiders have said that Microsoft is reacting hard to what has went down, and so they're going to try to dismantle PS4's image as a "for gamers" console by paying publishers and devs to not show their multiplatform titles during E3 on a PS4. In other words, even if the multiplatform version is coming out for the PS4, they won't be able to show them at E3, thus contributing to the perception that somehow Sony is getting significantly less support for PS4 than Microsoft is "for gamers."

Just Wow Microsoft. Just wow. If what I read is true, Microsoft is going to try to make the PS4 look Barren, by baring PS4 version of Multiplat games from E3. Just... Wow! This is, by far, the worst rumor about them I've heard! This is worst then Always On (Semi-Confirmed), no used games (Still Confused, but it seems like it's true in some sense), and mandatory Kinect (Completely Confirmed), I'm just... Wow!

I don't know, this seems to be a dubious rumour. Would only believe it when I see it.

 

[Goofguy]

Even if this was true, it would be such a terrible idea. We don't live in a bubble, gamers would catch wind eventually. We're on the internet daily and at some point, the truth would get out. Then the veritable shit would hit the fan for Microsoft.

 

[Ghaleon640]

Never fix your own problems, exaggerate others problems to make yourself feel better. I can see the self help books on the shelf now. Thank you Microsoft. I am now a more learned man.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

On one hand: Dubious rumor from shady source.
On the other hand: This is exactly as dumb and sleazetastic I'd expect M$ to be after the Xbone pre-emptively bombed.
So I'm gonna withhold my judgement for the time being.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Sounds pretty standard actually, you think those exclusivity deals on 360 happened on accident?
No devs were downright threatened with bans from 360 unless some deal was made, in the same way retailers threaten them with exclusivity deals... the world of business is all but kind and fluffy.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

Yet again, Microsofts only strategy seems to be "let's keep throwing money at the problem until it goes away"

 

[xPixelatedx]

Thread from where this is. [http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=576869]

"Two of our most trusted neoGAF insiders have said that Microsoft is reacting hard to what has went down, and so they're going to try to dismantle PS4's image as a "for gamers" console by paying publishers and devs to not show their multiplatform titles during E3 on a PS4. In other words, even if the multiplatform version is coming out for the PS4, they won't be able to show them at E3, thus contributing to the perception that somehow Sony is getting significantly less support for PS4 than Microsoft is "for gamers."

Why not? This is exactly what I suspected happened with the wiiU as well.
Welcome to the new console wars of 2013+, where companies fight each other not at the store, but through backdoor shenanigans. Look how many devs backpedaled on the wiiU; some almost instantly after it came out (even though it's initial sales were fine). I can easily see some payoffs happening, and before you try to dismantle my theory, look at Rayman... it was DONE!!! Done but still shelved and not allowed on the wiiU. Suspicious... very suspicious. Yes they are now making it multi-platform, but that still has nothing to do with the fact the wiiU one was "put away". It's not like you can't make a game multiplatform AFTER releasing it on another console. If anything, the fact that it is now multiplatform and still was shelved for the wiiU basically confirmed someone paid ubisoft, or at the very least, made some kind of deal with them. After all, this deal only benefits the PS3 and the Xbox, not ubisoft themselves. Think about that for a bit.

 

[aguspal]

I am just happy if this all results in a battle of the two best companies: Nintendo Vs Sony only.

Since I love them both, its fitting! (I grew up with Sony But I also love Nintendo).

 

[Shoggoth2588]

"Alright people, the reveal event didn't turn out very well...we're going to have to really buckle down and put in some hard, honest work to regain consumer support and regain consumer trust"

"By reworking the system to make it more user friendly?"

"What?! Hell no! We're going to pay off developers to ensure they don't show PS4 versions of multiplatform games! Trust me, we don't need to change: They're going to buy the Xbox One just the way it is."

---

I can't find the article but at one point Microsoft reps did say that people people would buy the XBone no matter how poor the thing looks. They're right too; Fable of War: Combat Evolved has a heavy draw as does Banjo-Kazooie (though not as much of a draw as it was a decade ago). It would be kind of funny if those devs take the money and show off the Wii U and, PC versions of those multi-platform games...though Watch Dogs is the only multiplatform game I can think of that would work in this context...

 

[Colt47]

That was surreal... the relevant quote is on thread page 63. I briefly thought the OP was seeing if we check sources.

*slow claps*

I gave up at page 23. All I got from the thread was over-heating, yadda, RRoD, yadda yadda, XBOX 720, yadda yadda yadda, and lol the cloud.

You must have the fortitude of a fortifiably fortitious creature! I tip my hat.

*tips hat*

You can un-tip your hat. After two pages, I jumped straight to the last page and text-searched for "reacting hard", then followed the quote link.

I tip MY hat to you for actually trying to read the whole thread.

My life! I'll never get that back.

T_T

[small]Never...[/small]

Cross not thunk so gud...

Nothing two cups of coffee and a beer can't fix!

 

[Tom_green_day]

Since when did NeoGaf forum users become credible sources? And why are people acting like it's instantly true? I'm sure they'll try to push their console but I highly doubt they'll attack Sony instead of just improving their own console, even I'm not that stupid. People who work for these corporations are the cleverest business minds around, they wouldn't be stupid enough to use this tactic. NeoGaf posters however...

 

[Agent Cross]

My life! I'll never get that back.

T_T

[small]Never...[/small]

Cross not thunk so gud...

Nothing two cups of coffee and a beer can't fix!

Alcohol is in the process of mending my spirit as we speak good sir.