In a case where red faces and quick excuses multiplied like rabbits, Sony found itself in the awkward position of actually advertising Microsoft’s Project Gotham Racing 3 video game on the official PSP video download site. The error occurred when a screenshot of PGR 3 was used to identify a Gran Turismo HD preview movie.
Larry Hryb, Xbox Live’s Director of Programming, found the gaffe particularly amusing and posted a message on his blog, pointing to the error by Sony. "Until they fix it, you can see that clearly the main image used on Sony’sPSP Connect site (since removed) to promote the Gran Turismo HD Preview was stolen borrowed from the Xbox 360 title Project Gotham Racing 3. You can find the original PGR3 shot they used from Bizarre Creations here. I grabbed a screen shot of the original web page and posted it on Flickr to capture the moment." Hryb ended his blog post by saying, "This one was too good for me not to stop my vacation for a few minutes to post."
Although the error was an honest one, in the light of the fierce competition between the two giant game console manufacturers, an incident which would normally bring good natured laughter to the industry has turned into a small public relations embarrassment for Sony. A Sony representative stated that the problem would be addressed, and at the time of this writing, the PGR 3 image was replaced with the proper graphic from Gran Turismo HD.
The situation is reminiscent of another story involving Sony last July. In the opening animated intro of the PlayStation 3’s official site, an Apple logo flashed on-screen, along with a PS3. It turned out to be a mistake on the part of Sony, which apparently did not purchase the full version of Apple’s Shake–as a result, causing the Apple watermark to appear for a moment during the animation used on the website.
With additional reporting by Chris Pereira.
