Sony's Three Speech launches podcast, takes cheap shot at Major Nelson
Listening to the Three Speech podcast, we are reminded of the right and wrong way to do your man-of-the-people PR. As a professional shill, Major Nelson is arguably the most well known in our business, but at least the man doesn't make any qualms about it. From the very moment that you step into his domain, it is made abundantly clear that Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb works for Microsoft. The same, however, can not be said about Sony's "semi-official" blog, Three Speech. With dodgy language and a staff that refuses to attach themselves publicly to their editorial, the blog has been under scrutiny ever since it launched. Speaking of which, their podcast did just that today and aside from being an hour long train wreck, they had some choice words for their Microsoft counter-part, Major Nelson.
"Microsoft have got their significant other and I think the PlayStation offering, if you ask me, is far superior and a lot less slimy" said Ben Furneaux, who continued to refer to Nelson as the "unnamed blogger," despite writing for a blog that keeps their writers under wraps.
Continuing, Furneaux claims that Sony is more "straight to the point" with their PR, saying that "When they [Sony] delay something, they go, 'Oh, whoops. We've delayed it. Sorry.' and they're just honest about it and everybody picks on them for being blatantly honest about it." Despite living in Europe, Furneaux must have completely missed the whole PlayStation 3 launch debacle. You know, the one where even Phil Harrison didn't know what was going on, despite Three Speech having reported it themselves. Hey, he could have written it even, as is the joy of anonymity in writing on Three Speech.
After an hour of listening to a cast of Sony shills hype up a non-existant Final Fantasy VII remake, fumble over who made the Oddworld games (PROTIP: Oddworld did), pitch the PSP like used cars salesmen and ask themselves just what in the heck a Jumping Flash is, we came out even more bewildered over Three Speech.










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Grey Fox @ Jun 26th 2007 3:13AM
This is why Sony irks me so much: they try to be so damn sneaky about their marketing like were all a bunch of dumb asses.
nick @ Jun 26th 2007 3:14AM
Sony is straight to the point? In what alternate universe? Didn't they just exclaim there was going to be several hundred games for the PS3 by March, only later to say, we actually, it's much less if you take regions into consideration? Well duh! Way for being upfront about that at the beginning.
That's just the most recent incident, there are tons of others.
Kn1ves @ Jun 26th 2007 3:30AM
I think theyre commenting on their own podcast
samfish @ Jun 26th 2007 3:34AM
Hm. And they were doing so well in the PR department recently, too. Seemed like things'd been on the up'n'up there.
What goes up, though...
Spitkicker @ Jun 26th 2007 3:47AM
OH SONY....when will you learn? You guys should just not even have a PR Dept. What an absolutely horrible company. I really do hope they fail on the PS3 now. HYPOCRITES!!!
ZapDash @ Jun 26th 2007 3:48AM
I never really cared much for Sony's gaming systems one way or another, but I did like their Cameras and VCRs. But ever since the whole PS3 debacle I've been praying for the day the whole company fails. This sort of crap is what makes me lust for Sony's blood.
At least Bill Gates is honest about wanting to rule the world.
Vysis @ Jun 26th 2007 3:49AM
The fanboys sure get up early...
ZapDash @ Jun 26th 2007 3:50AM
The Fanboys never go to sleep.
Vysis @ Jun 26th 2007 3:51AM
one more thing... its funny how you guys are taking shots at sony's PR. When was the last time you guys seen Microsofts PR and Marketing?
ZapDash @ Jun 26th 2007 3:53AM
Frankly, I wouldn't "Jump in!" even if they were giving out free copies of Halo 3.
ZapDash @ Jun 26th 2007 3:55AM
And just to be fair, Nintendo's marketing makes me think of those future movies where everything is sanitized and everyone is lobotomized.
spoo @ Jun 26th 2007 3:59AM
"It makes it a bit more fluffy."
I have never laughed as hard at a podcast like I did at that comment.
I am listening now... I am not sure I can finish it. They are rambaling on and on then changing topics every 3 seconds I am not sure what they are talking about most of the time.
They also loose cred for not knowing what Jumping Flash! is. It is one of the best PSX launch/ near launch games.
Werbal @ Jun 26th 2007 4:03AM
All I want for Christmas is a PSP!
kevin @ Jun 26th 2007 4:05AM
The only people who get mad at stuff like this are the fanboys, and who gives a shit about a bunch of internet losers.
Savok @ Jun 26th 2007 4:14AM
Sony can't claim shit for at least the next decade thanks to "All I want for Christmas is a PSP".
Christ I'm sick of game companies lying to me, seriously sick to fucking death of it.
Grim Santo @ Jun 26th 2007 4:20AM
Like said in the post,Major Nelson never tried to hide in anyway that he works for Microsoft, nor does he make cheap shot at Sony. Shame on you Sony.
Darth Nihilus @ Jun 26th 2007 4:30AM
I am a little more sick of my government lying to me but I guess I have wierd priorities.
GamerG @ Jun 26th 2007 4:33AM
also they shpuld thank Major Nelson because they wouldn't have a podcast job if it wasn't for him!!
GamerG @ Jun 26th 2007 4:33AM
God the Major Nelson podcast must be one of the most transaparent around, its one guy who works for Microsoft's xbox team!! And to be fair he does seem like a proper gamer unlike these clowns!
Extinction @ Jun 26th 2007 4:34AM
Can't beleive you guys are blaiming Sony, when Sony doesn't handle threespeech. Sony handles their own official blog.
GamerG @ Jun 26th 2007 4:39AM
LOL @ 21
With people like you around its no wonder Sony can get away with campaigns like "All I want for Christmas is a PSP"!
TwistedBishop @ Jun 26th 2007 5:32AM
Great, war of the company shills.
Ian Von Porter @ Jun 26th 2007 5:53AM
xBots need to get off Mjr. Nelson's dick... it too early, too freakin' early.
ammar91994 @ Jun 26th 2007 6:13AM
#22, #21 is right, sony only handles there own blog, not threespeech.
Kite @ Jun 26th 2007 6:14AM
@21
While sony doesn't neccesarily handles threespeech, Ramp Industry does. And guess what Ramp Industries is?
Threespeech is a viral marketing trick. And while I think there is nothing wrong with viral marketing, it doesn't take away that this source is bound to be biased. Not because they are ps3 fans, but because the company behind the site is getting payed for the traffic they generate.
I thought quite a lot of people knew this :p
On topic: I just love how these people just sling mud at each other. Must be the internet :p
Rask @ Jun 26th 2007 7:00AM
Here's the thing. Larry Hyrb may be critical of the PS3, but he never EVER called the PS3 or Sony slimey.
He's had an open invitation for AYNONE from Sony to actually come on his show and have a chat with him for as long as I've been listening to his podcast (and it's the only one I actually listen to).
The way I see it is the Major takes the high road to this whole situation while Three Speech marketing staff has decided to take the low road.
Let's hope that if Playstation.Blog starts a podcast, the folks running it will actually be informed about the industry.
mj @ Jun 26th 2007 7:54AM
So, how long is GT:PSP delayed again? Because, I missed that announcement? I'm not upset that they're marketing shills with a blog. I'm upset that they suck at it. They could hire a random PS3 owner off message boards and do better.
kabes @ Jun 26th 2007 8:08AM
Sony desperately tries again, and fails in the eyes of all.
Todd @ Jun 26th 2007 8:18AM
Why does Sony continue to be so shady like this...?
Jake @ Jun 26th 2007 8:24AM
It is funny when people publicly assert something that is clearly opposite from the truth. Microsoft in general is quite straightforward. They don't really show CG and make you think it is real. They don't belittle their competition. They don't brag about their graphics the way Sony does, despite currently having the best graphics out there. I really like the way MS handles PR. Sony is a joke in that regard.
Eric @ Jun 26th 2007 8:27AM
Ian Von Porter if its too early don't read the comments jack ass
Dale @ Jun 26th 2007 8:37AM
I'm kinda bored with the whole constant sideswipes at the competition thing.
If everyone concentrated on their products rather than ragging on their rivals and being generally arrogant, a certain Japanese hardware manufacturer might be in much better shape today.
Cal @ Jun 26th 2007 8:41AM
Major Nelson is very professional, maybe that comes from his radio background, but he is very cordial and doesn't take shots at specific people and keeps his criticism of Sony very low key.
Tom @ Jun 26th 2007 8:43AM
The author of this article is an utter failure. Christ.. this weeks Major Nelson podcast talked about how Sony has JOURNALISTS run the threespeach based on information Sony gives them. Christ.. Everyone knows who funs the ****ing site. It's not a giant secret. And to pile failure on top of failure.. to attack Sony for something that JOURNALISTS AND A MARKETING COMPANY did poorly (the podcast)... that just reaks of unprofessionalism and ignorance.
DBX00 @ Jun 26th 2007 8:46AM
This is like Joystiq taking a jab at Sony and blaiming Microsoft. ThreeSpeech does not represent Sony in any official manor so Sony doesn't control the content that is released. If anything, Sony has always taken the high road and tried not to acknowledge their competition directly unless forced to in an interview. I wish people would use some common sense on these blogs but I guess they do need to drive internet traffic to make a living.
tituspullo @ Jun 26th 2007 8:48AM
you'll never see a real person attached to this blog or podcast...actors with a crapy script!
Zsavior @ Jun 26th 2007 9:05AM
This isn't anything to debate over, even if three speech is a shill umm....So what. Major Nelson is no better than them, "Hey I am a shill For MS" than why are you talking? The minute you say you are a shill people should shut off what ever you are speaking on and go somewhere else.
Now if the shill was begun they have, that is just funny. But I am not saying one shill is better than the other, major Nelson answer MS criticism with attacks, which means you can't get a fair and balanced answer out the man, why? Because he is a shill, you don't get points for admitting it. Matter of fact that makes me hate him even more because he knows his crap and revels in it.
At least if you are a shill and you are hiding it you have some freaking shame.
Ska Oreo @ Jun 26th 2007 9:25AM
It's not your honesty that people are picking on you for, it's for the constant showing of arrogance and stupidity within the PR which makes people angry.
MosquitoControl @ Jun 26th 2007 9:36AM
#35 - Sony funds that marketing company, meaning they approve of everything released by them, even if only implicitly.
So any Sony marketing weaseling can be tied back to Sony, even if all they did was pay for it. It's their job to stop it.
And yes, it's amazing that Sony is still this stupid, after the whole allIwantforChristmasismyPSP debacle.
Shall we go into Sony's brilliant marketing?
-Graffiti all over cities. Pissed everyone off.
-Racist rodents on TV. Pissed everyone off.
-Arguably racist PSP billboards Pissed everyone off.
-Alliwantforchristmasismypsp.com. Pissed everyone off.
-Threespeak. Pissing everyone off.
This doesn't even get into all the interview hyperbole. Emotion Engine, Killzone 2, Two HDMI outputs leading to multi-screen gaming, needing to work more hours and save in order to pay for the PS3...
Sony is playing the World like it's Japan. They are showing the utmost confidence in their system, to the point of absolute absurdity. It might fly in Japan. To the rest of us it's delusional arrogance and outright lies. We want a company confident, but also honest. Nintendo and Microsoft certainly hide quite a bit, certainly play with the truth, and certainly give hyperbole. But they never do it to the extent Sony has been, nor do they constantly get caught in flat-out lies.
Don't think for a second all of this Sony backlash doesn't come from the way the company face treats the public - like idiots. It all stems back to us remembering the Toy Story graphics we were promised with the PS but never saw. Once we started hearing similar things about the PS3 the tide turned. People knew it was smoke up their ass hoping to take money out of our wallets.
Maybe things will change with Kuturagi gone. Maybe not. Kaz and Phil have been every bit as guilty.
ChuckSteak0331 @ Jun 26th 2007 9:38AM
People keep saying how straight forward MS is. If they were, then tell me the exact number of failed 360's. Not, "It is within industry standards" Because we all know its not!
sheppy @ Jun 26th 2007 9:39AM
*slaps head*
Look, ThreeSpeech isn't run by Sony, merely financed by it. Also, who pays attention to them nowadays anyway? Having said that, yeah, it is pretty low. Maybe Jack Of No Trades got a job there or something?
Now, having said that...
@Jake
"It is funny when people publicly assert something that is clearly opposite from the truth. Microsoft in general is quite straightforward."
People shouldn't pay attention to the 360 failure rate but the GREAT customer service...
"They don't really show CG and make you think it is real."
Halo 2 immediately springs to mind, even if Too Human doesn't.
"They don't belittle their competition."
"Real me don't play with duckies, real men get tattoos." Among many other choice words. Fact of the matter is, before Sony or Nintendo chimed in this war, Peter Moore was talking a whole bunch of shit. Still is, in fact. Only when Wii made it's E3 debut to the huge, huge crowds did the attitude towards Nintendo turn from condescending to "Hey... let's be friends... you can buy a 360 and a Wii... and they like compliment each other... I need a hug."
"They don't brag about their graphics the way Sony does, despite currently having the best graphics out there."
BULL... SHIT...
You've SEEN an MS commercial before, right? Hell, according to MS PR at the time, Perfect Dark Zero was the best looking FPS of all time. Not to mention they spent how many millions whoring out Gears as a graphical showpiece?
"I really like the way MS handles PR. Sony is a joke in that regard."
Frankly, Sony and MS PR blows. Nintendo as well. PR for gaming companies suck across the board.
Rask @ Jun 26th 2007 9:45AM
Ugh. I just finished listening to the whole thing and words fail me..
First of all, mic levels. Some people were very loud, other people you could hardly hear. The volume levels also kept changing throughout the show which made for a very annoying experience.
The shots at MS PR that the Joystiq article singles out very a 10 second segment of the show and can easily be countered by "All I want for xmas is a psp". That thing was slimier than anything MS has ever put out for advertising. At least when you see a MS ad, you know it's an ad for the 360 and it's games. That's always very clear and plain as day.
That whole segment I really found distasteful was when they were talking about churches in games and mentionned a church seen in screenies in GTA 4. Then that spun out to a conversation about attacking a church during mass and then afterwards degraded into napalming a baptism???
All you were listening to here is your dumber than average 20-23yo male gamer promoting Sony products and trying to bash the competition.
I thought the segment about them enjoying the Home beta to the fullest before they "let the rest of the rabble in" was absolutely priceless. Nothing like your marketers saying that a product rocks when it's exclusive but is going to suck when the general public gets access to it.
A very very poor showing for threespeech.com for their very first podcast.
sheppy @ Jun 26th 2007 9:49AM
"-Graffiti all over cities. Pissed everyone off."
Yet they paid to use those walls. They only pissed off a vocal minority. Most people I knew could give a shit less. Somehow a cartoony character with a PSP for a skateboard is much less offensive than "East Side Ridin Niggaz Balls Out." And just as proof of some people overreactions, let's not forget an ATHF promotion brought Beantown to a state of mass hysteria.
"-Racist rodents on TV. Pissed everyone off."
Taco Bell dog pissed people off. Special interest groups will find racism in anything instead of being hilariously written. Jar Jar Binks, anyone?
"-Arguably racist PSP billboards Pissed everyone off."
Ye Olde Blinders served the ignorant masses well on this one. The controversial image in question was the least violent. But it was white dominating black so apparently that's much more offensive than black striking white or both of them looking equally exhausted as if after a battle.
"-Alliwantforchristmasismypsp.com. Pissed everyone off."
You're telling me you didn't find that funny? Tragic and sad, but funny.
"-Threespeak. Pissing everyone off."
Granted, but I hate listening to corporate toadies anyway. This is like getting a Nintendo Power subscription and bitching that they ignore Playstation and Xbox news...
Travis @ Jun 26th 2007 10:00AM
Stories like this are exactly why this site is losing all their level-headed readers and turning into a Xbox 360 fansite.
This entire article reads like an upset 360 user who can't believe the unkind things that were said about his machine. Even pulling out stories about the PS3 and shouting "See! It's you that sucks!"
Grow up Joystiq.
Nick Stark @ Jun 26th 2007 10:09AM
If you think Sony is "just honest" then you are in serious denial.
Richard Mitchell @ Jun 26th 2007 10:21AM
Sheppy,
When did MS use CG to show off Halo 2? If you're referring to the announcement trailer, the only thing that changed was realtime reflections on the Chief's visor. That was an in-engine trailer (hell, most of it is still in the game), Bungie just realized later in development that the realtime reflections were too much for it to handle.
copa @ Jun 26th 2007 10:22AM
Three Speech is funded entirely by Sony. I can't believe the jokers that are claiming Sony has no influence over its content.
I suspect one or two of the posters on this thread are funded entirely by Sony as well.
Joshua Marketis @ Jun 26th 2007 10:26AM
@ Rask
"Let's hope that if Playstation.Blog starts a podcast, the folks running it will actually be informed about the industry."
I have to agree. PlayStation.Blog seem to be getting things right while ThreeSpeaches just bumbles backwards. They should shut the thing down.
apotheosis.x @ Jun 26th 2007 10:26AM
Three Speech is crap, and so is Sony. It's part of their troll-esque marketing strategy because they obviously can't win by having the superior content anymore, so they do the same thing any little bully does: Start picking on people.
Sony is synonymous with Pathetic.
sheppy @ Jun 26th 2007 10:27AM
"When did MS use CG to show off Halo 2? If you're referring to the announcement trailer, the only thing that changed was realtime reflections on the Chief's visor. That was an in-engine trailer (hell, most of it is still in the game), Bungie just realized later in development that the realtime reflections were too much for it to handle."
Uhhh... yeah... reflections.... that and the whole delivering the bomb into the covenant ship. When that sequence was originally shown, it looked much better. The bumpmapping also didn't have the pixel stepladdering edges either persistant in the full release. Likewise, once MS shows the cutscenes, it never has the annoying shallow LOD texture swapping issues.