Write a love letter to Sony, win a PS3

by Vladimir Cole { Oct 4th 2006 at 9:45AM }

Yesterday evening, Sony announced that they're holding a contest for 10 all-expenses-paid trips to the PlayStation 3 premiere party on November 8 in Los Angeles. This party, they claim, will be so rad that attendees will brag to their grandchildren about attending it.

Hyper-hyperbole aside, the contest rules do provide Sony fans with a unique opportunity to express their love for the PlayStation 3 in video, essay, poem, PowerPoint or any other creative format. The best entries will win prizes worth approximately $2,200, including a PlayStation 3.

Don't think that this is your ticket to securing one of the 400,000 PS3s allocated to North America for launch, however. Sony's fine print notes that winners should "please allow up to 20 weeks for delivery" of their consoles.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Wargazm @ Oct 4th 2006 9:50AM

What a bunch of assholes. They can't even be bothered to put 20 PS3s aside for the winners of their own contest.

Wargazm @ Oct 4th 2006 9:51AM

my bad, 10. not 20.

Jay @ Oct 4th 2006 9:53AM

lol 20 weeks?! That's like 6 months! I might have a better chance scouring Toys R Us or the mall or even the Internet to get my hands on a PS3.

Franky Digital @ Oct 4th 2006 10:00AM

Is this a contest for publicity or Ken's ego?

juicebytim @ Oct 4th 2006 10:02AM

Okay, I understand it's a free trip and everything, but couldn't they at least give you tickets for two people? I mean they are only having 10 winners in the first place, which is pretty weak. I loved Microsofts plan with the Hex168 contest last year where the idea was to get your non-gamer friends involved in the contest, you win, they go to Zero Hour and are intrigued by the 360...they now own one and are now gamers themselves.

I may be a bit biased because I won the Hex168 contest, but a couple of my friends that won with me now play games on a regular basis because of going to Zero Hour.

Number One @ Oct 4th 2006 10:02AM

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Sony, you arrogant, disillusioned whore... You dont even have enough PS3's for the few idiots who want one... now you're giving them away? Give the repo guys an incentive to come clean you out when you go bankrupt buy leaving those expensive paper weights at the warehouse :p

Hatefully yours...

Moogle @ Oct 4th 2006 10:03AM

Meh, 20 weeks in the very unlikely chance of another delay. The legal docs were probably drawn up months ago before anything was certain.

Well, anyway, congratulations darryl and/or azn_1080p on your free PS3. :)

Raynre @ Oct 4th 2006 10:04AM

I have this in the bag. No one can deny the beauty and utter simplicity of interpretive dance!

gok @ Oct 4th 2006 10:03AM

Sony needs some xtra love because everyones dissing them nowadays :|

aZn_1080p @ Oct 4th 2006 10:10AM

OMG Awesome!! I'm gonna make a rap vid and send it in, if I win it just means another PS3 to ebay to pay for my 1080p panel...

DBX00 @ Oct 4th 2006 10:17AM

Let me get this straight...they are giving away a free trip and $2,200 worth of merchandise. Yet people are COMPLAINING??? The 20 week wait for the console is a legal footnote to cover their butt.

gamerx @ Oct 4th 2006 10:18AM

Dear Sony,

I wouldnt keep a PS3 even if i recieved it as a gift, so kiss my ass!

love,
PS3 Hater

32_Footsteps @ Oct 4th 2006 10:19AM

So, darryl's entry is going to be a copy of every single post he's made on Joystiq, right?

All I have to say is... please wait 20 weeks (aka 140 days, or around five months) for delivery? For that amount of lead time, I'd want a demo station with my name engraved on it. In platinum.

Monkeys @ Oct 4th 2006 10:21AM

Way of VC to spin a good thing to a bad thing. Imagine if this was done by Microsoft? I wonder how VC will word this post?

Chappy @ Oct 4th 2006 10:23AM

Juicebytim is right, this appears to be an analog of Microsoft's "Zero Hour" event and Hex168 contest (which by all accounts was successful in building interest and momentum for their new console). I'm surprised that only 10 gamers will get to go instead of the hundreds that went to the 360's launch, but that probably means the actual event will cater to a different crowd. with only 10 gamers on the invite list, I would expect celebrities and/or industry VIPs and far less actual gameplay. I'm curious to see if Sony creates a "Sony Premiere Party" entitlement similar to the "Zero Hour" achievement for the 10 winners.

gamerx @ Oct 4th 2006 10:26AM

on a sidenote, that red PLAYSTATION 3 logo at the top of Joystiq's post looks 10 million times better than that stupid spiderman font official logo.

ihavenoideawhatisgoingon @ Oct 4th 2006 10:34AM

anybody remember every10minutes?? How many 360's did MS ship out the
weekend BEFORE the consoles actually went on sale?? let's see...
that's 6 * 24 (6 per hour per day) for about 2 (guessing about 60
days, give or take a few) months, so that's 6*24*60. That's about
8600 or 8700 360s. THAT WERE DELIVERED BEFORE THE LAUNCH OF THE
CONSOLE!!! All of that other crap about going to a party and whatnot is just retarded. MS had the zero day that a lot more than 10 people went to (as already mentioned)

KilgoreTrout XL @ Oct 4th 2006 10:35AM

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away...

(-TW)

Blue @ Oct 4th 2006 10:36AM

I don't see the problem here. To save at least $600 on gaming hardware, I'd do a lot of things I normally wouldn't do. Praising Sony to high heaven and kissing their asses is worth saving the hit to my bank account. And the 20 weeks wait is a GOOD thing. That means it's one of the systems they make after the initial release(which as often as not seems to have bugs)

AG @ Oct 4th 2006 10:41AM

You guys need to freakin lighten up!

I for one would be happy to win this! Stop complaining, you know you Xbox/Wii fans are going to buy the PS3 especially once the price drops.

Enigma @ Oct 4th 2006 10:45AM

#16

i agree. looks like Spidey took a crap on the PS3 and thats how the logo got there.

Kite @ Oct 4th 2006 10:45AM

I actually think this event is a chance for sony to prove themselves. They obviously don't want to lose any more fans of the system.

And for the people kicking the 20-weeks argument...
...Its purely to cover themselves legally. If there would be some incident that would result in the disability of providing the ps3's to the winners, there would not be the risk of a claim.

Everything has fine print these days, no need to get all hyped about it. If you think this is a big deal, you obviously weren't paying attention when you concluded the contract with your internetprovider. Try to read those fine prints...

Greets, kite

Gamer G @ Oct 4th 2006 10:49AM

Didn't Microsoft have a big thing in the Nevada desert for thousands of people!

Sony have a do for 10 people where they get a chance of winning a PS3 in 6 months time!

Dont put yourself out eh Sony!!!

(BTW does this "20 weeks for delivery" hint at further delays?)

Usedtabe @ Oct 4th 2006 1:05PM

The winners will recieve flawed PS3's, which will make them have to buy another. And this will boost over-all sales, just as it did with the PS2. DRE anyone? I know I'm on my 3rd PS2

foobob @ Oct 4th 2006 11:08AM

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Sony, you arrogant, disillusioned whore"

hey! it's a love letter, not hate letter. loser.

LaughingTarget @ Oct 4th 2006 11:14AM

Why is anyone complaining? Just suck up the fanboy hatred, enter the constest with your best B.S. entry, sell the PS3 if you win, and get something else with the cash.

Hell, that is what I am doing.

Gimbal @ Oct 4th 2006 11:17AM

That's funny. I'm holding a contest too. A contest for Sony worth $600 in cash prises if they can convince me not to wait for a price drop. Entries must be in the form of actual gameplay. Entries involving CG cutscenes will not be taken, unless they involve hot chicks with guns kicking ass*. Please forward entires for posting on Joystiq for my perusal. Good luck, Sony.

*Although these entries will be taken, they will not count towards winning the contest.

Wii60FTW! @ Oct 4th 2006 11:26AM

@ 26 LMAO bahahaaaaa

Vesty @ Oct 4th 2006 11:40AM

hey, check out the fine print under Eligibility:
"Contest open to legal residents of United States of America and Washington, D.C, only who are 18 years of age or older, and are active PlayStation Underground members at the time of entry."

Its not even open to everyone

dvddesign @ Oct 4th 2006 11:47AM

Wow, I actually have an entry ready for this, only needing to be edited... I shot a joke video for E3 back in April for the PS2.

Didn't plan on getting a PS3 anytime soon, but I'll throw my hat into the ring on that.

Vincent @ Oct 4th 2006 11:51AM

"Contest open to legal residents of United States of America and Washington, D.C, only who are 18 years of age or older, and are active PlayStation Underground members at the time of entry."

Can they even get 10 winners out of that crowd?

dogtaggy @ Oct 4th 2006 11:55AM

I'm gonna send in an "I love the Wii" video just to kick'em when they're down.

That, or a video of all their bloopers strung together with an "I have a soft spot for retards, GO PS3!" at the end.

"It's Ridge Racer, RIIIIIDGE RACERRRRR!!" "Giant enemy crab..." "We have no rumble!" "...for massive damage" "The PS3 will retail for..." "massive damage" "599 US..."

Tom @ Oct 4th 2006 12:09PM

lol i wanna send in this video:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=93IcIzqg4gc

jayntampa @ Oct 4th 2006 12:26PM

Actually, that logo is the one they sent out in the e-mails, so it may be the standard.

Yeah, Sony has been doing a bunch of limited contests recently. They had one for just GAP members (Gamer Advisory Panel) where you write a war journal and the best 10 get flown out to Cali to hang with Insomniac for a day and play in a Resistance: Fall of Man tourney -- the winner getting a PS3.

Oh, and 20 weeks is closer to 4 1/2 months, not 6 :P

The ZeroCorpse @ Oct 4th 2006 12:44PM

All I know is that when I won my PSP and Xbox 360 from 1UP.com in their pre-launch promotions, I got my consoles about two weeks after launch day. I give major credit to 1UP.com for getting my Xbox 360 to me in the sparse launch environment we saw in November, and saving me from having to freeze my butt outside waiting in a line, or searching eBay for a reasonable profiteer selling one.

The PSP was OK, too. I got that quickly, but the PSP launch was a bust, and there was nothing worth playing. That's not 1UP's fault.

Grindstone @ Oct 4th 2006 1:13PM

So they will not even have 10 available to win. Sure, could be a deliberate legal loophole designed 4 months ago, etc.

My question is, have they even begun production on the PS3? If not, I would be highly critical of a launch happening this year. That would be my summation of why participants in this event would not get their console until 20 weeks later which is March of 2007, when the PAL players get their PS3s. The coincidence is uncanny.

Madhatter @ Oct 4th 2006 1:59PM

So Sony is asking people to create viralesque marketing materials for them for the paltry sum of $2200? And they dont even guarantee that you'll get a PS3 as soon as their available?

Hmm... Sounds like their asking their fans to do their advertising company's work for them... and only marginally compensating them for it...

iEnigma @ Oct 4th 2006 3:55PM

Think about it this way:

If you win one of the PS3s, you'll get it after all of the mediocre 1st-gen titles have come out, so you can have your money saved for more important things -- namely, MGS4, the one really good game coming to the PS3 so far. And if you already have a 360, then you can get most PS3 titles for it! But wait! You'll only be able to play in a paltry 1280x720! ...

This entire launch campaign is bogus, for lack of a better term. It seems Krazy Ken just wants you to bend over while he tells you about the benefits of Blu-Ray. No thanks, Ken.