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Lik-Sang Is Out Of Business

AKAImBatman writes "Thanks to Sony's heavy handed tactics, popular game importer Lik-Sang is closing its doors. All Lik-Sang customers are having their orders cancelled and refunded. Any attempt to place a new order redirects your web browser to the news of Lik-Sang's demise." From the announcement: "'Today is Sony Europe victory about PSP, tomorrow is Sony Europe's ongoing pressure about PlayStation 3. With this precedent set, next week could already be the stage for complaints from Sony America about the same thing, or from other console manufacturers about other consoles to other regions, or even from any publisher about any specific software title to any country they don't see fit. It's the beginning of the end... of the World as we know it', stated Pascal Clarysse, formerly known as the Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com. 'Blame it on Sony. That's the latest dark spot in their shameful track record as gaming industry leader. The Empire finally won, a few dominating retailers from the UK probably will rejoice the news, but everybody else in the gaming world lost something today.'" Many thanks to Sony for ruining it for the rest of us. I hope that your business model makes up for the customer goodwill you're lighting on fire today. Update: 10/24 21:34 GMT by Z : Eurogamer has Sony's response to Lik-Sang's accusations.

12 of 722 comments (clear)

  1. BOYCOTT SONY! by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Informative
    To add to my submission, I think we should outright BOYCOTT Sony. As consumers, we've put up with rootkits, massive price increases, being treated like criminals when we're customers, faulty products, and just about every other mistreatment imaginable. Well, I think it's ENOUGH. I draw the line at shutting down a perfectly legal and useful business.

    If you're not already Boycotting Sony for their misdeeds, then I call upon you to stop purchasing ALL Sony products. Yes, that means no PSP, PS3, or PS2 stuff. (The PS2 and PSP games can be purchased used without majorly impacting a boycott, but it's better if anything Sony sits on the shelf.) More importantly, though, we have to hit Sony where it hurts! Which means no more Sony movies, music, and television.

    That means that we can't watch, purchase, or rent popular movies like:

    • James Bond: Casino Royale
    • Open Season
    • Monster House
    • Spiderman 3
    • Stranger Than Fiction
    • The Da Vinci Code
    • Zoom


    It also means that we need to stop watching popular television shows like:

    • The King of Queens
    • JEOPARDY!
    • Wheel of Fortune
    • Ripley's Believe It or Not!
    • Dragon Tales
    • The Boondocks


    Understandably, some of these are very entertaining pictures/shows that I (and I'm sure many others) would enjoy seeing. Unfortunately, a complete boycott means that every Sony product line must fail. So I ask you all, politely and humbly, will you boycott Sony? There is no excuse for their behavior, and I cannot in good conscience allow my dollars to support that behavior. If you feel the same way, then I would ask you to LOUDLY proclaim that you are joining the boycott.

    Thank you.

    P.S. If anyone has Sony contact info, please post it. A flood of angry but well-worded letters will help Sony pay attention to our displeasure.

    P.P.S. Read the Lik-Sang announcement for yourself! Apparently, Sony Europe's execs are big customers of Lik-Sang!

    /End Soapbox
    1. Re:BOYCOTT SONY! by _xeno_ · · Score: 5, Informative

      It also means you can't buy any music by "Weird Al" Yankovic. His label, Volcano, is a subsidiary of Sony BMG. I'm sad to say I didn't realize this until after I got "Straight Outta Lynwood" home and noticed that, below the sticker that read "this CD does not conform to CD Audio specifications and may not play in all CD players" there was a Sony BMG logo.

      So if you want to boycott Sony, you also have to boycott "Weird Al," something Slashdot may not enjoy doing.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
  2. Way to go Sony. by dpaluszek · · Score: 5, Informative

    You are only hurting your business, and complementing your competition.

    Just like the above posters, I will not recommend nor buy anything from Sony. They are a hack company, and I'm done with them.

  3. Sad day for gamers everywhere by TheBiGW · · Score: 5, Informative
    This is a sad day for gamers everywhere. Lik-sang were one of the finest gaming websites anywhere in the world. Lets hope the founders setup another website similar to lik-sang very shortly.

    I wonder if play-asia.com are worried?

    --
    Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for an hour. Set him on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
  4. I bloody hope Play-Asia aren't next... by Channard · · Score: 4, Informative
    .. since I really don't give a monkeys about the PSP, but it's where I've had a bunch of region-free 360 games from for half the UK shelf price. Microsoft have shown no sign of legal action against them yet, but given that Play Asia also sell Sony stuff, I'm a little worried.

    This isn't the first time Lik-Sang have run into trouble. They changed hands a year or two ago when they were being sued for selling mod-chips. I thought they'd at least be safe now, but no. Perhaps Sony should have funnelled the money they spent on the lawsuit into making their SoundStage software half-decent and producing an MP3 player that doesn't use their shitty ATRAC format.

  5. Double standards and stupid by Tellarin · · Score: 3, Informative

    Sony suing Lik-Sang is one of the most stupid things I've seen a company do.

    And besides that, it is also a obvious example of double standards. Even Sony directors were huge clients of Lik-Sang.

    For example (as stated in the note):
    - Ray Maguire (Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd)
    - Alan Duncan (UK Marketing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd)
    - Chris Sorrell (Creative Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd)
    - Rob Parkin (Development Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited)

    I'll be avoiding Sony stuff after this...

  6. Re: "Does not conform to CD Audio...." by twistedsymphony · · Score: 4, Informative

    No it's says that because it's a "Dual-Disc" release meaning it's a double sided "flipper" disc with one side Audio CD and the other side DVD (either DVD Audio or DVD Video). these discs change the location of the audio layer from a depth of 1.2mm to .6 mm which means some players will have trouble reading it... hence the warning.

  7. Re:Boycotts don't work by quantum+bit · · Score: 3, Informative

    As someone who has worked on many of them over the last 5-6 years, I can tell you that the Vaio (at least the laptop line) was never a great product.

  8. Re:Does anyone remember the old Sony? by antifoidulus · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually a few days ago the Japanese minister of trade, Akira Amarai, publicly expressed similar concerns. He is worried about Sony's long term competitiveness as well as the effect that the poor reputation of the Sony brand has had on all Japanese electronics in general.

  9. Re:your all on crack by kfg · · Score: 3, Informative

    What on Earth are you smokin'?

    I used to sell Sony batteries in my retail store. I had no contract with Sony. I did not need Sony's permission. Sony didn't even know I existed; and liked it that way.

    I could have sold Sony TVs, Game machines, whatever on the same terms.

    I bought them from someone who owned them. I resold them. It's a pretty straightforward equation. Sony did not rely on contract issues in the lawsuit (if Lik-Sang got their stuff under contract from Sony, Sony could have just stopped selling to them. Problem solved).

    No, Sony invoked consumer protection law; just as consumer protection law would now prevent me from selling certain . . . Sony batteries.

    KFG

  10. Re:Are you a walking billboard? by fossa · · Score: 4, Informative

    "A good pair of running shoes is going to set you back at least $100, no matter what. If you buy anything cheaper, you're simply risking injury."

    It is simply untrue to claim that inexpensive running shoes come with the risk of injury. Sorry to drift off-topic, but this is an oft repeated falsehood that I once believed myself, and I'd like to share what I've since learned. Review literature on the subject concludes that the only reliable predictors for injury are experience level, training load, and history of previous injury. In particular, a sudden increase in training load often results in injury, and one might speculate that beginners are more prone to this error.

    There is no evidence that cushioning or motion control technologies have done anything to reduce the incidence of injury over the years. Indeed, some groups, including westerners on concrete, run in bare feet, without obviously higher injury rates than those wearing "good" running shoes, though peer-reviewed studies are scarce. The biomechanics of running and running injuries are simply not well understood. As such it's difficult to claim that any particular design can reduce injury rates.

  11. Sony's Response by miller60 · · Score: 3, Informative
    Sony has provide a statement to GamesIndustry.biz in which it proves it can be a sore winner by bashing Lik-Sang:


    "Lik-Sang did not contest this case (i.e. they did not turn up and therefore incurred no legal costs). We have been awarded substantial costs against Lik-Sang which have not been paid," the statement claims. "We would therefore strongly deny that our actions have had anything to do with this website closing (we assume the legal entity is still trading), and would suggest that this release is sour grapes on behalf of Lik-Sang which is aimed to belittle Sony Computer Entertainment and the British judicial system that found against them."

    The mention of "substantial costs" suggests the size of the judgment may have been what caused Lik-Sang to close its doors.