Apple cameos on PS3 website ... wtf? [update 4]

by Ross Miller { Jul 7th 2006 at 1:36PM }

Load up the US PlayStation 3 website, and watch carefully on the PS3 unit just above the controller. ~~You will see a quick, subliminal blip.~~ It has been fixed. You can view the original page here.

Did you catch what it was? We did -- an Apple logo. It is unmistakable. Click on the above image for a higher-resolution screenshot.

We called Sony's PR and, after a few tries, they finally saw it, too. They were as surprised as we are. After finally seeing it, their response: "that's f---king funny." The PR firm is looking into it. We'll keep you posted as the story develops.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

[update 1: A poster on ps3forum, Aleman360, decompiled the flash file and claims to have found the culprit: an Apple product with smoke floating down on it. ~~Did Sony use a trial version of Apple Shake and couldn't remove the watermark?~~ We'll keep you posted. Thanks, bv.]

[update 2: According to the PR firm, Sony will be making an official statement later today. We'll update as soon as we get it.]

[update 3: If you refresh the web page, you will not see the Apple logo appear. However, you will also not see the smoke appear, relating back to our initial suspect. Still waiting on the official statement.]

[update 4: It appears that the issue could not have come from a trial version of Apple Shake, as the save function is turned off -- thanks, Celly. Still waiting for the official statement, and repeated requests for a comment from Apple have gone unreturned.]

Tags: Apple, Sony, WTF

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

AJ @ Jul 7th 2006 1:43PM

Isn't that just because the site is using quicktime plug-in for content?

bv @ Jul 7th 2006 1:43PM

Decompiled flash background = http://web.mac.com/mouseh/streamvideo14.swf

The person who designed this page used a trial version of Apple Shake. Notice the fog in the back of the PS3. The Apple Watermark blends through quickly as a result of this trial version. What a great win for Sony web designers.

dvddesign @ Jul 7th 2006 1:49PM

You're absolutely right BV. Wow. Sony can't even use their own software to create video content... Tsk, Tsk... Why did you buy Sonic Foundry again Sony?

dru @ Jul 7th 2006 1:52PM

Are you sure they didn't just use an apple product box when they filmed that smoke for the flash movie? It looks like they just used an ipod box or something because it was black and about the same size as the PS3

electro^plankton @ Jul 7th 2006 1:54PM

Geez, just dashed my hopes and dreams. I was seriously hoping it could run OS X. Then I would have an AWESOME entertainment/media/computer unit - one that windows media pc look like junk.

dru @ Jul 7th 2006 1:54PM

In fact, I'm sure of it because the smoke passes in front of the apple logo.

Tim @ Jul 7th 2006 1:55PM

I'm either blind, or they fixed it, because I can't see it.

Indiana Jones @ Jul 7th 2006 1:57PM

dru is right.. it cant be a water mark because smoke passes in front of it..right?!

CRP Addict @ Jul 7th 2006 2:01PM

I don't think that Sony intentionnaly used Apple stuff to create its website. The creative work that results a website is often based on previous stuff that you can find on the web or elsewhere. I think that the guys that made the website was impressed by the smoke effect (which has been filmed) so they decided to use it and added a mask to cover the Apple logo - which was a really good idea, if the mask had really covered the logo...

James @ Jul 7th 2006 2:02PM

Tim, try turning up the brightness on your monitor and looking directly under where it says PlayStation 3 just as it loads (it disappears quickly)

Marc @ Jul 7th 2006 2:03PM

Tim, your not alone. I see nothing.

Does this really matter? So what if there's an Apple logo? It's not gonna make me dump my PC and get a MAC.

madcrasher @ Jul 7th 2006 2:03PM

I'm going to say no on the watermark. It looks like they have some sort of video of smoke falling onto an iPod box and then they didn't get the keyframes quite right on the transparency when they layered the flash file together. Attention to detail, Sony!

Anonymous Rep @ Jul 7th 2006 2:03PM

Sorry, Tim - you're blind. I just loaded it at 2 PM EST, and that little blip was there.

Seems that Sony has to use someone else's stuff for their own website - I wonder if the idea was patented by Immersion? (I'm kidding - no need to start a flame war here - just sad when you think about it, that they're pushing how great they're going to be - and lo, there is the Apple logo right in the middle of the PS3).

JimmyHACK @ Jul 7th 2006 2:04PM

slow news day huh,

ya you barely notice it, the fog effect is kinda nice...

Epic @ Jul 7th 2006 2:05PM

That's hilarious. It's obviously a watermark. Eventually, this news will recirculate back home to Sony. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes before it's fixed for good.

J B Cougar @ Jul 7th 2006 2:06PM

good homework skills bv.

This isn't too bad of a flub, easily fixed I'm sure by Sony's whiz team. You know, the same team that innovated and thought up analog controllers and the "shock" rumble features in the PS2.

This could have been much, much worse. Imagine if a gamer cracked open his PS3 controller on launch day and saw "nintendo" scrawled on the motion sensing chip (and yes, I realize Nintendo would probably contract out its chips, and that they wouldn't really have "nintendo" emblazoned across the silicon). A regular Mario-spearean tragedy.

Nyxeroster @ Jul 7th 2006 2:11PM

Found this article explaining the incident:
http://www.news4gamers.com/NewsCom-3966.aspx

JimmyHACK @ Jul 7th 2006 2:12PM

ya this is definately a ipod box nota watermark at all, prolly the prop they used to disperse the smoke a lil more

Brenden @ Jul 7th 2006 2:13PM

I didn't see it at first, but after cranking up the brightness on my monitor I saw it.

Funny stuff.

Davis Cyr @ Jul 7th 2006 2:14PM

I made a ytmnd of it! ps3subliminal.ytmnd.com

Charlie @ Jul 7th 2006 2:17PM

I'm clinging to the hope that it's intentional: PS3 ships with iTunes, gamers are able to download TV shows to their drive and watch them in hi-def on their TV? Or maybe the PS3 will now include a docked iPod that acts as a hard drive.

MC Linguini @ Jul 7th 2006 2:18PM

Damn, Sony, you're breaking my heart. These dudes are seriously f'n up every chance they get. I'm sure the guys over at apple are shittin in their pants laughing right about now. "Ri-i-i-idge Racer!"

Mike @ Jul 7th 2006 2:19PM

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FrenchPoodle @ Jul 7th 2006 2:19PM

Yea I def am not seeing it haha... I treied cranking up the brightness and that isn't helping either :-

Eric @ Jul 7th 2006 2:19PM

I don't know what Apple Shake is, but this just proves Sony's lazyness. They took that exact movie of the Smoke and used it as their background. They DIDNT EVEN BOTHER Trying to take the Apple product out! Lazy Bums, YOU FAIL AT LIFE!

richard @ Jul 7th 2006 2:20PM

So that's where the Flash intro for the iPhone went!

DBX00 @ Jul 7th 2006 2:22PM

Official statement? This sounds like something more than an accident. Full Ipod support, Itunes compatibility, or anything near that would be a HUGE announcement for Sony. However, it's a lot to ask for at the point.

Eliot Phillips @ Jul 7th 2006 2:23PM

Wow, Shake now costs less than a PS3 and Sony still can't afford it?

electro^plankton @ Jul 7th 2006 2:25PM

They need to make an official statement later today? Does that mean this wasn't just some noob designer's horrible mistake?

Oh man, I'm dreaming about the possibilites again.

Epic @ Jul 7th 2006 2:25PM

Now it's gone. Try clearing the cache and refreshing. Did they fix it?

lightdarkness @ Jul 7th 2006 2:28PM

It's gone now! Along with the smoke.

James @ Jul 7th 2006 2:30PM

yep gone now

funkonaut @ Jul 7th 2006 2:31PM

Sony just updated the flash file. The smoke is gone, and so is the Apple logo.

Eric @ Jul 7th 2006 2:32PM

"Sony will be making an official statement later today."

LOL!!!!!!!! I Almost coughed up a lung when I read that! I can picture it now...

"We are terribly sorry for the confusion this may have caused our readers. We now realize that we are retarded and should kill ourselves. But we won't because of all the money we will make with our overpriced George Foreman Grill.

Sincerely,
Uh........Um........ oh yeah, Sony Corporation."

noob @ Jul 7th 2006 2:33PM

yeah i was going to say that i don't see any smoke haha. i guess they just got rid of it.

KVN @ Jul 7th 2006 2:34PM

Ok i was ready to put this in the haha someone made a mistake file.Untile i saw update 2 why would sony need to make a offical statement.Are sony and apple working together.I guess anything is possible we'll just have to wait and see.

Fuzz @ Jul 7th 2006 2:35PM

If you want to keep seeing it, click on "PS3" at the top. It will restart it. Run it a few times, and you are sure to see it.

Jon Keegan @ Jul 7th 2006 2:37PM

That is not a watermark...That is just an apple box with the logo on it...Looks like an iPod box. They should have just taped over the logo before shooting the smoke...it's too bad this happened...the smoke is a nice touch...

Chris @ Jul 7th 2006 2:38PM

come on fanboys!! Keep hope alive!

"Speaking to GameSpot, [Kutaragi] claimed that the PS3 will be able to run Apple Mac OS X (Tiger) and Linux operating systems."

http://digitalbattle.com/2006/07/01/ps3-running-os-x-and-linux

Tacklebox @ Jul 7th 2006 2:41PM

It is in fact still there... but it will only load the first time you load the page. Also if you noticed, the first time you loaded the page, it showed steam or something coming down in the background; each time after the first time it is loaded, the steam goes away.

If you are using Firefox to browse the web (and why wouldn't you be?) you can see it again by going Tools->Clear Private Data and refreshing the page. Definitely not fixed and definitely shows how Sony, once again, (see-> PS3 Controller) has proven themselves to be some unoriginal bastages.

If you don't believe me, see for yourself:
http://web.mac.com/mouseh/streamvideo14.swf

KawF @ Jul 7th 2006 2:44PM

Yes, the Cell which the PS3 uses as it's CPU, could run OSX and Windows, if Apple respectivley Microsoft were to port their respective operating systems to the Cell processor. Which is what Kutaragi actually said if I remember correctly.

This statement was of course misinterpreted by a hoard of fanboys with no understanding of basic computer archirecture.

And by the way, even corporations believe in the almighty "If it's free, it's good" doctrine. That's a major reason as to why many companies base their products on "free" as in beer, software, without caring about the "free" as in freedom part of it.

Jonathan Moore @ Jul 7th 2006 2:45PM

Sorry to disappoint, but the Shake trial doesn't create a watermark like that and Shake isn't capable of an effect like that without use of a 3rd party plugin or another software package.

The footage being used is simply someone filming dry ice smoke flowing down over a box (which happens to be an Apple box). Either the Flash designer/developer grabbed this footage from somewhere to use it or they made the horrible mistake of not covering up the Apple logo. In the end, someone's ass will be on the line.

JBO @ Jul 7th 2006 2:45PM

Good thing they didn't use MS software to create that. Imagine that disaster!

Edward James @ Jul 7th 2006 2:46PM

Isn't Microsoft coming out with an iPod Killer?
Though a Sony and Apple partnership is IMPOSSIBLE, they do have a a common "enemy"...

Eric @ Jul 7th 2006 2:47PM

"by going Tools->Clear Private Data and refreshing the page."

I Tried it, it didn't work. Does "cookies" have to be checked?

Rocky @ Jul 7th 2006 2:47PM

Could someone post the original swf file that sony had on their site? not just the background, the whole thing.

Stu L Tissimus @ Jul 7th 2006 2:53PM

Wow, Kawf. No offense, but wow.

"the Cell [...] could run OSX and Windows, if Apple respectivley Microsoft were to port their respective operating systems."

My toaster could run 3ds Max if the developer felt like porting it.

Night Elve @ Jul 7th 2006 2:59PM

Nah

If we remember Microsoft used a cracked version of a Sound Editor (Which i dont remember its name) to create some of the sound files that come with Windows XP.

So yeah this if course if hilarious.

Apple rocks the world :D

Anderson @ Jul 7th 2006 3:05PM

Hi guys.
I saw the screenshot and , to be honest, i didn't "detect" the APPLE logo at the first time, so a I made some changes on the image to see it better check it here http://latigapitanga.no.sapo.pt/sony_apple_what_large.jpg
That's cool, but since they are SONY'S webdesigners, I was expecting much more of they, but ok...
Stay cool everybody.
P.S.:I'm portuguese, so i'm sorry for my bad english.