Sony Computer Entertainment has declared its intention to take "the most appropriate action" against an online retailer making its Beretta and butter from a replica air gun. The weapon, based on one wielded by the goofy, treasure-hunting protagonist of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, is currently listed for $169.88 on the King of Swords website. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, a Sony representative noted that the "PS3 Uncharted Drake's Fortune Full Metal M92 Airsoft Gun" was in no way an officially endorsed or condoned product, despite its use of the game's artwork in advertisement.
This isn't the first time a publisher has rushed to arms over the sale of replica weapons. In February of this year, Square Enix took stern legal action against those hoping to sell real things based on fake things.
Reader Comments (33)
Posted: May 20th 2008 8:19AM SheppyReturns said
Good, they should license the IP if they wish to profit from it.
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Posted: May 20th 2008 8:24AM (Unverified) said
Replica guns don't kill people...PS3 games kill people.
Thank you.
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Thank you.
Posted: May 20th 2008 8:35AM (Unverified) said
*waits for Glenn Beck to create a news statistic about video games causing gun violence*
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Posted: May 20th 2008 8:40AM (Unverified) said
uhhh the chick has blonde hair. brunettes just don't have as much fun.
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Posted: May 23rd 2008 11:33AM (Unverified) said
On the disc the producers talk about how she had brown hair at the start of the process which ultimately was switched to blonde (for some reason).
Which begs the question: how old is that image and where did these fake gun peddlers dig it up from?
:)
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Which begs the question: how old is that image and where did these fake gun peddlers dig it up from?
:)
Posted: May 20th 2008 10:42AM (Unverified) said
Sony is mad because someone made an airshit product based on their IP.
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Posted: May 20th 2008 9:17AM (Unverified) said
Actually that seems normal. Many I.P. infringing products often goes unnoticed by their owners. After all the people running Sony are humans, and the web is one big pile of mess.
Personally I am more amazed that Nintendo has yet to shut down the Mother 3 translation.
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Personally I am more amazed that Nintendo has yet to shut down the Mother 3 translation.
Posted: May 20th 2008 9:27AM borland502 said
*shrug* Corporate America can move slowly, especially if the infringement is small scale. Immersion didn't sue Sony right away either.
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Posted: May 20th 2008 10:44AM SoCoolCurt said
lol i found that quite hilarious too. i guess Sony can be glad to know that their employees arent just randomly surfing the net on the clock.....well unless they are reading this site or something.
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Posted: May 20th 2008 1:17PM embassy said
Legal stuff takes time, lots of time. they're waiting for it to sell before jumping, what's the point of suing someone if there was no commercial gain from the infringement? Suing someone isnt free. And even if they win a judgement, it doesnt mean the infringing company has the funds to pay. It takes years for stuff like this to get settled. So its really a hassle sony ( or anyone) doesnt want to go through.
now if this shit sold 89 million units since january we have a different story....
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now if this shit sold 89 million units since january we have a different story....
Posted: May 20th 2008 1:40PM ScottG13 said
Incorrect. IP is special in that a holder must "vigorously defend" their interests to prevent their trademarks from being genericized. It has nothing to do with "waiting for sales." Making claims against infringers are much more difficult if you knowingly let them infringe. I doubt Sony knew about this, but I have a hard time believing they don't have people who surf the net looking for infringement on their various properties and have Legal shoot of C&D letters. That's generally all it takes. I actually do some of that for my own company. You have to protect your interests.
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Posted: May 20th 2008 9:31AM (Unverified) said
it's okay sony, the gun makes people want to buy your games!
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Posted: May 20th 2008 9:45AM (Unverified) said
I saw "Beretta and butter" and knew it was Ludwig. Awesome.
On topic, I figured this would happen. Given all the controversy over violent games, I didn't think that any game company would actually license something like this.
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On topic, I figured this would happen. Given all the controversy over violent games, I didn't think that any game company would actually license something like this.
Posted: May 20th 2008 12:36PM (Unverified) said
I saw guns and thought it'd be about yanks and guns.
Correct.
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Correct.
Posted: May 20th 2008 10:16AM (Unverified) said
That's not even what the Beretta looks like in that game. The Beretta in Uncharted is nickel plated with a black rubber handle. The other 9MM that looks like it was a Walther is black with a wooden handle. If I was Sony I would be pissed for intellectual property infringement and pissed because they were too stupid to even infringe correctly.
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Posted: May 20th 2008 10:46AM SoCoolCurt said
lol they should sue them extra for being retarded. or maybe they thought, chinese knock-off style, if they just changed it a the slightest bit, they could get away with it.
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Posted: May 20th 2008 10:21AM (Unverified) said
What a rip-off! That's a full-auto HFC Beretta airsoft replica without any bells or whistles - you can get it from major airsoft retailers for 90 bucks. If Sony is suing that company - they deserve it.
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Posted: May 20th 2008 10:41AM (Unverified) said
I wonder if sony would try to sue someone for selling a custom berreta that looked like the one from drakes fortune.
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Posted: May 20th 2008 11:17AM (Unverified) said
Did anyone else notice that scene looks like she's aboot to give him a blow job, anyway they could argue if it is a real world gun they can only be forced to remove the game references.
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Posted: May 20th 2008 1:44PM (Unverified) said
"making its Beretta and butter"
That's incredibly lame.
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That's incredibly lame.
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