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Sony To Offer Partial Refunds For PS Vita

mpicpp sends this report from the Houston Chronicle: "Hundreds of thousands of people who bought the handheld gaming console PlayStation Vita are in line for a partial refund from Sony because of questionable claims in its advertising. The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday it had reached a settlement with Sony Computer Entertainment America, the U.S.-based arm of the PlayStation business, over advertising claims that the government contended were misleading.

As part of the proposed settlement, Sony will provide refunds to those who bought the PS Vita console before June 1, 2012. They'll be eligible for either a $25 cash or credit refund — or a $50 merchandise voucher from Sony. ... Among the claims challenged by the FTC: That the pocket-sized console would revolutionize gaming mobility by allowing consumers to play their PlayStation 3 games via "remote play" on the console anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection, [and] that people could engage in "cross-platform" play by starting a game on a PlayStation 3, pausing it, and continuing the game with the PS Vita from where they left off. Not really true, the FTC said.

60 comments

  1. Questionable claims by Thanshin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder what would happen if citizens could sue the government for "questionable claims during campaign".

    1. Re:Questionable claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You'd have to prove it came from the candidate and not from some "unrelated, not taking instructions from us, we promise *wink* *wink*" PAC.

    2. Re:Questionable claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You could get a partial refund of whatever you paid for your vote.

    3. Re:Questionable claims by Charliemopps · · Score: 2

      We'd have one continuous legal battle from now until the sun burns out?

    4. Re:Questionable claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You can keep your doctor, you can keep your insurance plan, period.
      The average family will see a reduction in insurance premiums of around $2500.

      I have literally dozens of recording of Obama saying both the above, not a PAC. He lied, and knew he lied when he said it (a whistleblower in meetings said they knew they were lying and decided to do it anyways)

      Hows that for you?

    5. Re:Questionable claims by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      That of course assumes that any government would pass a law allowing this kind of thing.

      Governments don't tend to do that kind of thing. In fact, they tend to give themselves exemptions.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    6. Re:Questionable claims by operagost · · Score: 1
      Not to mention:

      With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that's just not the case, because there are laws on the books that Congress has passed

      March 28, 2011

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    7. Re:Questionable claims by Kneissl · · Score: 2

      You could get a partial refund of whatever you paid for your vote.

      What about what my military shipmates paid in blood for my vote?

    8. Re:Questionable claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, a partial citizenship card? Can I use that as a credit toward the next time I misplaced my real one? :D

    9. Re: Questionable claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Simple: the citizens in question would find themselves on a watch list. Some... "Unpleasant" consequences would ensue. You will find that it's very, very unsettling having to face the absolute power of the State utterly alone, without your fellow wannabe "rebels" behind you.

    10. Re:Questionable claims by lamber45 · · Score: 1

      Well, technically he still hasn't suspended deportations (or otherwise changed immigration policy) through an executive order. His "My fellow americans..." speech last Thursday was explaining a policy that the Department of Justice had told the Department of Homeland Security it could follow. He's taking credit for it for the purpose of arguing with Congress, and he would certainly veto anything that actively undoes it ("let's deport people by a random lottery", "let's deport everyone who has an anchor baby and is not yet a citizen", "let's deport everyone, Citizen or not, with a Muslim-sounding first name or an Irish-sounding last name"), but he hasn't done anything that the next President couldn't undo.

    11. Re:Questionable claims by pla · · Score: 1

      You could get a partial refund of whatever you paid for your vote.

      So 80% of my income taxes over the past six years, then? Well, I'd rather have a functional, non-full-of-shit government, but, I'll take what I can get - Cut me a check, Barry!

    12. Re:Questionable claims by ultranova · · Score: 1

      I wonder what would happen if citizens could sue the government for "questionable claims during campaign".

      Nothing good. These are the same citizens who get to vote again every few years, yet keep voting the same people in. Why would getting courts involved do anything but make politics even more vicious and dysfunctional?

      I suppose if you want the nation to collapse...

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    13. Re:Questionable claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, anything Sony does right now is questionable. Like they have a gun to their head. Didn't they get attacked by a virus or something recently?

    14. Re:Questionable claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      maybe if you can prove their blood actually paid for your ability to vote. i didn't know we were that close to the end, and that they brought us back from the brink. oh wait, you're just a theoretical jingoist.

    15. Re:Questionable claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They paid it to the wrong scumbags. Bait and switch. You were told that if you sacrificed yourselves, you would keep your country free. Guess what: your country has turned into a police state, largely with your help.

      Try doing something for The People and not The Government.

    16. Re:Questionable claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've got it! Let's put all the Japanese into concentration camps in Wyoming!

    17. Re: Questionable claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I kept my doctor. The people saying what you said have never even tried Obamacare.

    18. Re:Questionable claims by cmorriss · · Score: 1

      Well, technically he still hasn't suspended deportations (or otherwise changed immigration policy) through an executive order.

      He used a Presidential Memorandum which is effectively indistinguishable from an executive order as defined in Armstrong v. United States (1871). Nice try, though. Yes, the next president can undo it. That doesn't make it right.

      --
      10 minutes working on a sig. What a waste.
    19. Re:Questionable claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uh you can keep your docter and you can keep your existing insurance plan and my moms insurance premiums did go down
      So what the fuck was your point again?

    20. Re:Questionable claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Correct i kept my docter here in washington we have Apple health its really nice free medical everything including dental
      Have never had a single problem and have NEVER seen anybody who was not happy with it ohh and if you for some ignorant reason still dont like it your still allowed to pay for a insurance plan from whatever company you want so whats the problem i fail to see any of your guys points obamacare is the greatest thing to ever happen to the american health care system period. And it woks period.

    21. Re:Questionable claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://kff.org/health-reform/press-release/premiums-set-to-decline-slightly-for-benchmark-aca-marketplace-insurance-plans-in-2015/

      National premiums have gone down an average of 8 to 15 percent nationwide
      Anyone who claims different is just an asshat

    22. Re:Questionable claims by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      I kept my doctor and saw my premiums go down. Who do I complain to?

  2. Slashdot Deals? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    First Beta. Then Dice shilling. Now they're becoming a third rate discount provider?
     
    Good God, this place really has gone down the crapper.

    1. Re:Slashdot Deals? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When the ITT Tech, Dryer, or some other for profit certification/degree mill starts advertising for 'IT' degrees, then we will know that Slashdot is completely dead.

      Right now, it's just mostly dead.

    2. Re:Slashdot Deals? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If only that "close and dont show me this again" button could prevent me from seeing related whiny posts like yours. Just click the button and shut up.

    3. Re:Slashdot Deals? by pla · · Score: 1

      If only that "close and dont show me this again" button...

      ...Fucking worked?

      As far as I can tell, it works exactly once, per browser session. Close and reopen /. even on the same computer, and get the "deals" BS again.

      Of course, I can't rule out the possibility that it would remember the setting for logged-in users. But - oh bother - it appears that I need to load Slashdot before I can log in.

    4. Re:Slashdot Deals? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, I thought ya'll were talking about some magic close slashdot and don't show me again button. You know, to get rid of the whiners.

  3. Personal social media accounts by mwvdlee · · Score: 3, Insightful

    From TFA

    The FTC also alleged that Deutsch LA misled consumers by asking employees to post positive tweets about the console on their personal Twitter accounts — without disclosing their connection to the ad agency or Sony.

    There is no such thing as a personal twitter account.
    There are only corporate twitter accounts and anonymous twitter accounts which your employer does not know about.

    --
    Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
    1. Re:Personal social media accounts by sholden · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Which category does the twitter account of a non-incorporated business owner go in?
      Which category does the twitter account of a retired person go in?
      Which category does the twitter account of an unemployed person go in?

    2. Re:Personal social media accounts by Thanshin · · Score: 1

      There is no such thing as a personal twitter account.

      "of or concerning one's private life, relationships, and emotions rather than matters connected with one's public or professional career."

    3. Re:Personal social media accounts by Jason+Levine · · Score: 2

      I disagree. My employer actually knows about my Twitter account. However, I don't tweet anything about my day job. I don't even mention where I work ever. The things I discuss on Twitter are totally separate from my work. If my employer ever told me to start posting glowingly positive things about my company on my personal Twitter account, I'd refuse on the grounds that it is my personal account, not a work account. If they wanted to open a company Twitter account and have me manage it - posting positive things about my company during working hours - I'd be more than happy to. I just refuse to let my work life bleed into my personal life.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    4. Re:Personal social media accounts by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      I guess it depends where you work and how high you are in the company hierarchy for this to be effective though. Somebody like Larry Ellison, co-founder and chairman of Oracle, couldn't have a "personal" Twitter account, because he is so well known, and anything he said would be taken under suspicion as being connected to the company. Looking further down the line, you got guys like Scott Hanselman of Microsoft, who tries to maintain a personal blog and podcast, but you still see plenty of people calling him out when he pushes things like Surface Pro or Windows 10. Even if he truly believes that they are great products, some people will still call him a shill for Microsoft.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    5. Re:Personal social media accounts by sound+vision · · Score: 1

      "Bleeding over" is the old paradigm where you could choose not to discuss certain things at work, and they would generally remain outside the workplace. These days, many companies are getting out the needles and actively sucking the blood from wherever it can be found. If you haven't noticed this at your own company, you are either lucky to work at one of the few business with integrity, or you have spent your life very effectively keeping your head down, way down, into the sand. Even just here on Slashdot, there are stories about employers searching around social media and other sites for dirt to dig up. Sometimes it happens by chance as people at the company surf the web, sometimes it's done deliberately by someone who wants to get rid of you, sometimes it's done as part of a background check.
      Situations where you don't want your employer to have access to your social media accounts:
      You're gay or have undergone a sex change.
      You've smoked a joint or drank a beer.
      You have political/social/philosophical views that someone above you doesn't like.
      You work as a dancer or stripper for extra income.
      You link to a song or poem that gets misinterpreted and offends a Professionally Offended manager.
      Do I need to continue? I've seen people being terminated for all of these things in news reports, and I've witnessed it happen to several people I know personally.

    6. Re:Personal social media accounts by Trogre · · Score: 1

      That has to be the silliest statement I have read today.

      And I spent much of this morning reading YouTube comments.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    7. Re:Personal social media accounts by lgw · · Score: 1

      Which category does the twitter account of a retired person go in?
      Which category does the twitter account of an unemployed person go in?

      That's the "employer discovered the Twitter account the employee thought was anonymous" bucket!

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    8. Re:Personal social media accounts by lgw · · Score: 1

      It still astonishes me that people do personal stuff in the internet using their real name. I still can't get my head around that.

      It's not like anyone's successfully hiding their identity from the NSA these days, sure, but from a casual search of your name by your boss? I don't even show up, except for my LinkedIn account.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    9. Re:Personal social media accounts by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      My real name on Slashdot is an artifact of me signing up in the late 90's when I didn't care about using my real name online. For most other activities online, nowadays, I use a pseudonym and I take care not to link the two. If I could change my username from my real name to my pseudonym, I would. I don't want to simply abandon this account and come back in as a new user under my pseudonym, though.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    10. Re:Personal social media accounts by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      I've heard of employers who do this. I'm lucky enough that my employer doesn't. I wasn't responding that company snooping on personal social media activity never happens, though. I was responding to a statement that personal Twitter accounts don't exist. That there are only "corporate twitter accounts and anonymous twitter accounts which your employer does not know about." There are still some places that respect employees enough to allow them to post their personal stuff on their own time without interfering.

      That being said, I do take care about what I post, but that's just my usual posting style. Even under the pseudonym that I use, I don't post anything I wouldn't say in front of my wife, boss, parents, friends, etc. No matter how "private" you think your social media posting is, it can be passed along and brought to the attention of someone you deal with in real life who won't like what you have to say. Free speech doesn't mean freedom from repercussions. This doesn't mean I don't tackle "controversial" topics. I might come out as for Issue A when my employer is officially against Issue A. That's my right. What I won't say is "My Employer - Some Company, Inc. - is wrong for opposing Issue A."

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
  4. anyone know more? by slashmydots · · Score: 2

    What about those two claims was specifically not followed through on from a technical perspective? I saw the commercials that claimed it did both of those and they were pretty black and white. All the article says was that less than all games supported pausing and resuming on the Vita. There has to be more to it.

    1. Re:anyone know more? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think the issue is that they emphasized remote play as a big feature between the Vita and PS3, and actually only a small percentage of PS3 games supported it.

    2. Re:anyone know more? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about that there are NO actual games (including the one shown in the ad, MLB 2012) that allow you to pause on the PS3, then just pick up the game on the Vita? Games (and there are very, very few) that allow anything similar require you to save on the PS3, quit the game on the PS3, then either own a separate game on the Vita that can sync the save and start playing from there or launch remote play, then relaunch the game on the Vita with questionable/unplayable quality depending on your connection. Also, you can't play any real-time multiplayer games across 3G. Only turn based.

      Read up here: http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2014/11/sony-computer-entertainment-america-provide-consumer-refunds

  5. Simple marketing trick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This scene takes place in the office of an advertising company:

    Marketing guy: "How many Mac users clicked on that don't show again button?"

    Assistant: "15%, including the 6% that later clicked on the picture of the girl with big tits. Here is the drill-down link."

  6. Re:PS4 next by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm still waiting for my "Other OS" refund for the PS3

  7. Re:PS4 next by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's the hilarious thing, it does do sleep/wake. It does it in the same way Microsoft deals with "Shutdown" in Windows 8: When you turn off the console, instead of turning the fuck off, it goes into "sleep" mode so that turning it back on is imperceptibly faster. (Also this allows it to keep the USB ports powered so you can recharge your controller while the console is "off.")

    Sleep/wake from within games, which the Xbox One has supported since launch, on the other hand: not so much.

  8. Friends Don't Let Friends... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ...Buy Sony.

    1. Re:Friends Don't Let Friends... by mSparks43 · · Score: 1

      Certainly gone that way. Such a shame, the PS3 & Other OS got me off pc gaming and onto the console.

      PS4 gets me off the console and back into PC gaming. (luckily I didn't buy a PS4 before finding out online play was now pay monthly. So knew not to bother)

    2. Re:Friends Don't Let Friends... by gohmifune · · Score: 1

      Since when is it pay monthly. My understanding is that it may require PS+ which isn't the same thing.

    3. Re:Friends Don't Let Friends... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      PS+ is a paid service which runs for (I think) $50 per year now. PSN in general is free, but you need PS+ to play online on PS4.

    4. Re:Friends Don't Let Friends... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure you don't pay monthly. No in fact you pay ahead for service extending credit to Sony they can in turn collect interest on. A "PS+" membership is $50 for 12 months. $50 / 12 = $4.17 a month. Doesn't seem like much but given the fact that there really never was any benefit to having PS+, now they have made it almost mandatory for the largest block of their customers. So that means your PS4 costs you not $399 but in fact it costs you $399 + 4*$50, that is ~ $600 for the console where the $399 is the down payment and you pay off the other $200 over time. $600 over 4 years and you haven't played a single game with it yet either. IF you are even just a casual player and purchase 2 top tier titles for $60 a year and 3 less glamorous for $30 you are blowing an additional $840 dollars on top of those $600. That means Sony is going to make $1440 off revenue from that console and that's not counting movies and music purchases or even DLC to go with those games. Also consider that many games offer up to 2/3 of the initial game price of $60 in DLC add-ons.

      The only justice here is that radioactive Fukushima rice is giving these people bone cancer.

    5. Re:Friends Don't Let Friends... by mSparks43 · · Score: 1

      PS+ is a subscription service
      And
      https://support.us.playstation...

      Which is why I didn't end up buying one.
      Went round to a friends to see if it was worth getting. "Lets fire up multiplayer then" - "We can't, you have to pay extra for that".

      Then Battlefield 4 came out on the PS3 (it was advertised as PS4 "exclusive") which settled the argument. (BF4 is still a crashy pile of shite btw, but only FPS other than BF3 with realistic helicopters afaik)

      Next title I play regularily will be back on the PC, which I haven't really done since the counter strike days.

  9. Re:PS4 next by Narishma · · Score: 1

    The PS4 doesn't have Intel hardware, and there's nothing generic about it.

    --
    Mada mada dane.
  10. Re:PS4 next by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's nothing generic about the sand in your vagina either. Maybe if your fat ass runs a few miles you can pop out a pearl.

  11. Re:PS4 next by almitydave · · Score: 2

    It runs a customized AMD x86-64 APU based on their desktop processors (including Radeon GPU), so no, not Intel-manufactured hardware; but compare this to past consoles with specialized processors. I would imagine this makes cross-platform development somewhat easier.

    --
    my, your, his/her/its, our, your, their
    I'm, you're, he's/she's/it's, we're, you're, they're
  12. So was it not in fact by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A nut, you can play, outside?

  13. Re:PS4 next by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ur an asshole

  14. Refund by slapout · · Score: 1

    "Sorry our computers are down at the moment"

    --
    Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
  15. $50 merchandise voucher from Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope it's not like the PSN compromise apology. "$50 merchandise voucher from Sony", pick from your choice of three pre-selected crappy download games that you would never buy anyway!

  16. Re:PS4 next by Dahamma · · Score: 1

    Actually, turns out the PS4 *does* do all of what was claimed for the PS Vita - you can play PS4 games on the Vita over Wifi including pausing and continue.

    Their sleep/wake is a lot slower than promised, true. But it's a big improvement over the PS3, and it also does finally let you go back to the system menu while the current app/game is paused...