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 (Page 1 of 1)
Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ May 20th 2008 8:19AM
Good, they should license the IP if they wish to profit from it.
konajinx @ May 20th 2008 8:24AM
Replica guns don't kill people...PS3 games kill people.
Thank you.
chez @ May 20th 2008 8:43AM
Guns don't kill people. Wappers do.
borland502 (SDF - Macross Ring) @ May 20th 2008 9:15AM
Hah! Good one.
Chase @ May 20th 2008 8:35AM
*waits for Glenn Beck to create a news statistic about video games causing gun violence*
FOXHOUND @ May 20th 2008 8:38AM
Don't bother buying the gun. The game's a lot better. And just as lethal if thrown properly. ;]
GRANTED @ May 20th 2008 8:40AM
uhhh the chick has blonde hair. brunettes just don't have as much fun.
JaKa (Because 666 gives a wrong impression!) @ May 20th 2008 11:24AM
Yeah but nobody will notice a brunette sucking you off in a dark alley.
Brucie B @ May 20th 2008 8:49AM
Sony's mad cause it's not there idea. LAME
ssuk @ May 20th 2008 9:36AM
Or mad because it infringes copyright and intellectual properties, but yeah! They're totally jealous.
FOXHOUND @ May 20th 2008 9:40AM
*their
Be genetically different.
brokenscope @ May 20th 2008 10:42AM
Sony is mad because someone made an airshit product based on their IP.
ScottG13 @ May 20th 2008 8:50AM
I like that the product was added Jan 4th to the website, but it takes Sony a Joystiq post and 5 months to actually take notice.
Way to protect your IP, Sony.
Jon @ May 20th 2008 9:17AM
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.
borland502 (SDF - Macross Ring) @ May 20th 2008 9:27AM
*shrug* Corporate America can move slowly, especially if the infringement is small scale. Immersion didn't sue Sony right away either.
ScottG13 @ May 20th 2008 9:35AM
If you want to keep your IPs from the public domain and from being genericized, you have to defend them "vigorously."
Vidikron (FU) @ May 20th 2008 10:19AM
Who says they don't?
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ May 20th 2008 10:44AM
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.
embassy @ May 20th 2008 1:17PM
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....
ScottG13 @ May 20th 2008 1:40PM
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.
Rob @ May 20th 2008 9:31AM
it's okay sony, the gun makes people want to buy your games!
GatorSax2010 @ May 20th 2008 9:45AM
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.
chez @ May 20th 2008 12:36PM
I saw guns and thought it'd be about yanks and guns.
Correct.
John @ May 20th 2008 10:16AM
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.
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ May 20th 2008 10:46AM
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.
Mike @ May 20th 2008 10:21AM
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.
brokenscope @ May 20th 2008 10:41AM
I wonder if sony would try to sue someone for selling a custom berreta that looked like the one from drakes fortune.
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ May 20th 2008 2:59PM
lol i see what you did there
Kujel @ May 20th 2008 11:17AM
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.
JaKa (Because 666 gives a wrong impression!) @ May 20th 2008 11:35AM
Have you noticed how this was updated barely after the gun was announced on Joystiq?
Now we know what those damn Sony Employers are doing!
Abscissa @ May 20th 2008 1:44PM
"making its Beretta and butter"
That's incredibly lame.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ May 21st 2008 3:27AM
I liked it.
Brodie-san @ May 23rd 2008 11:33AM
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?
:)