Given the PS3's precipitous fall from presumed console war winner to a seemingly perpetual runner-up status in domestic and foreign sales, we could probably fill a list of 101 dumb business moments using Sony alone. While Fortune's list of 101 dumb business moments of 2007 isn't so narrowly focused, Sony still manages to show up twice for two separate PR blunders.

Fortune gives the 61st position on the list to Sony's over-the-top God of War II launch party and the furor it drew from animal rights groups. Never mind that the reality of the event was much tamer than the media sensationalism -- in public relations, perception quickly becomes reality (In fact, even now Fortune repeats the Sony-denied claim that journalists were invited to "reach inside the still-warm carcass of a freshly slaughtered goat to eat offal from its stomach.")

Trailing right behind at No. 63 on the list is the Church of England's vocal objections to the use of Manchester Cathedral in Sony's Resistance: Fall of Man. Again, it doesn't really matter that Sony apologized twice or that the cathedral's use wasn't any worse than that seen in popular movies. Once the story is out there, the PR damage is hard to undo. Dumb, but true.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

Update: Sony has written to clarify that Steinberg is not taking over Karraker's PR duties. He is, instead, handling marketing for Sony's hardware. We're sorry about the miscommunication.

When Sony's Dave Karraker left the company for the greener, more distilled pastures of vodka marketing, the company was temporarily left without a mouthpiece for PlayStation 3 and PSP issues. That gap has now been filled by Scott A. Steinberg. Steinberg seems to have the right sort of resume for the job, after working with Sega during the Genesis days. Since then, he's worked with Crystal Dynamics, Eidos and at the (legitimate, but less cool) Napster. He'll take over as Vice President of Product Marketing for SCEA on October 1.

Though not quite the maelstrom that Karraker walked into, we doubt Steinberg's in for anything close to a cakewalk. That said, this is a man who probably, at some point, had to justify the existence of the 32X ("The polygons are gouraud shaded!"), so it's not exactly his first time at the rodeo.

Dave Karraker, Sr. Director of Corporate Communications for Sony Computer Entertainment America, has announced that he'll be leaving the company on Friday to take a position with Skyy Spirits. In an email to Joystiq and other media outlets, Karraker wrote, "I imagine you media sleuths will be unearthing this news soon, so I wanted to send you a personal email to let you know I have made the very difficult decision to leave Sony. I am saddened to leave such a great group of people, but I have been presented a global opportunity near my home in an industry where I have previous experience that I feel I must pursue."

Karraker has been our go-to guy on Sony stuff since last September. Entering into some less than optimal circumstances, he's always managed to answer our questions while sailing the previously iceberg-bound Sony PR ship to calmer waters. We'll miss you, Dave.

Min-E3 is a conundrum, wrapped in an enigma, with little to no information getting out at the moment. The approx. 4,000 journalists invited to the event -- a secret selection process made entirely by publishers and not the ESA -- know the general location of where to go in Santa Monica those days in July, but that's it, no further information. That story will come out soon enough, but this is about the PR agencies.

Tom Ohle of Evolve PR has written in his personal blog about the legitimate issues faced by smaller companies in this post -"real" -E3 landscape. Without delving into "inside baseball" territory, the old E3 was a general free for all, for better and for worse, but it did get a lot of attention. Reports about Min-E3's shrinkage have a certain level of spin to them, it's not that exhibitors don't want to go -- the new Min-E3 is designed more or less to keep them out. The same scenario that happened to the invite-only journalists is being played out with the exhibitors.

Ohle writes, "The event will still allow the industry's biggest publishers to showcase their wares, while effectively cutting the legs out from the rest of the industry ... think of every small company that spent a massive portion of their marketing and PR budget on a booth in Kentia, just so they could get to the one event that allowed them to show their products to a ton of media and retail buyers."

When hookers are offered to game reviewers for better scores ... well, the game industry just got a whole lot more interesting! Official Australian PlayStation 2 Magazine's former editor Richie Young says he was offered sex, money, gifts, overseas trips and advertising support to influence game review scores.

Well, let's see, the advertising support is a common practice. So are the trips and gifts (those are just called junkets). The money is interesting -- but hookers? In Australia? Imagine what the American game reviewers get offered. EGM Editor Dan Hsu's now classic editorial spoke to this issue, but to this day he hasn't stepped up to the plate with a follow-through.

A lot of issues dredged up in Young's post are just the truth of what happens. It's dirty and it's sad. None of it is anything the magazines and review sites don't have to deal with every single day ... it's just the hookers that make this story over the top.

[via ScreenPlay, thanks Flyingdoormat]

Sony has partnered with 12 personalities and organizations to promote the PlayStation 3 launch in the UK. The strategy, not unlike the 'All I Want for Xmas is a PSP' fiasco, is to encourage the promoters to distribute content "inspired by PS3" across their own digital social networks, including personal and company websites, blogs, and MySpace. The key difference between this new initiative and the botched PSP marketing effort is an apparent transparency. "We've been transparent throughout that at the end of the day this is about shifting units," claimed Rana Reeves, a director of Shine Communications, which helped to develop Sony's latest marketing strategy.

Shine has dubbed the process the "digital echo." Basically, it's craftier and cheaper for Sony to advertise under the guise of user-generated content than to invest solely in traditional means (television, radio, etc.). Participants agree because it gives these individuals and companies an opportunity to cross-promote their own products and brands. It works something like this: design and fashion magazine KCTV hosts a PS3-inspired fashion show at the Sony-owned '3 Rooms' venue in London's East End. Afterward, guest attendees (roughly 120 in all) each blog about or distribute content pertaining to the event. In addition, KCTV posts a highlight video across its digital network, which includes MySpace and YouTube. The result: Sony extends its 'PlayStation' brand to further reaches of the intertubes. Spooky.

Source: Media Guardian [registration required]

Sony lacks a community man, a public personality who is more than just a mouth. Sony lacks a Major Nelson.

Microsoft's Larry Hryb has emerged as a personality capable of transforming the Xbox image from a cold, black box into a lively community of gamers, both hardcore and casual. What's more, he's built his celebrity on trust, successfully balancing his employer's expectations with honest commentary produced for the consumer's sake. In other words, he's likeable -- and he's selling the brand. Does Sony need that guy to succeed?

[Thanks, Joe]

Gamasutra's running an interview with game designer American McGee. The man's name is a marketing tool in its own right. McGee recognizes it saying, "Certainly it helps in branding the games. With today's game market, building proper awareness is as important as building a good game."

So, what does he think his name means to gamers?

"I've seen positive and negative responses. For the 'fans,' I think they have come to expect something a little different from the mainstream. That's my hope anyway. For the detractors, I get the sense they feel I haven't earned the name-above-the-title right. In either case, it does seem that it brings some awareness, and all PR, good or bad, is a good thing."

When Alice came out, many moons ago, we had only known American McGee as a level designer for Doom II and Quake, and let's be honest, he hasn't done much for gamers since. Yes, American McGee Presents Bad Day L.A. ships this month, but two games in how many years? Will Wright seems to get more done on his coffee break and he doesn't slap his name on the top of every game. Can you imagine a title like David Jaffe Presents God of War 2?

When is it appropriate to slap the developer's name on the title of a game? How many game developers are at the level where it matters to the consumer?

Yesterday at the Develop Conference in Brighton, Jennie and I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with the founder of Lionhead Studios, Peter Molyneux. We chatted about the issue of hype, frustrations surrounding PC gaming and Peter's early days in the industry, amongst other topics.

Fable was pretty much portrayed as one of the most open games of all time, but in terms of hype, it failed to meet the high expectations that you gave the game. There was even a forum post where you apologized about this: why did it get to that level?

Well, it started with this fatal line that I made and that was that I wanted to make Fable the greatest role playing game of all time. I kinda still defend that because I honestly don't see the point in making a game that you don't honestly believe has a chance of being the greatest game of all time. I meet the press quite a lot, every 6-8 weeks there's some sort of press interview. The way I work then is to get a system in, play around with it, polish it, make it better. Sometimes I leave it as it is and sometimes I throw it away.

At the end of the final keynote of the Develop Conference in Brighton, Jennie and I walked up to Sony Computer Entertainment big boss Phil Harrison, with the intention of a) thrusting a Joystiq t-shirt into his hands and b), asking him two questions on the topic of the company's perceived arrogance. What he said is below, but the most interesting part for me was what he said off-tape.

What would you say to the suggestion that Sony is being arrogant?

There's always going to be a risk when you are market leader for ten years that we start to lose perspective; and we have to make sure that we don't lose perspective. But I don't think we're arrogant, I think we have to recognize that we're in a highly competitive industry and that anything that we say will be eternally editorialized by professionals and consumers alike. So we're always in the spotlight.

Sony's Kaz Hirai has let his inner stroppiness out in an interview with PlayStation Magazine, where he moans at Microsoft for copying Sony's strategies and disses Microsoft's plan for an HD-DVD add-on whilst simultaneously bigging up his own company's Blu-ray plan.

In a response to the interviewer's leading question/statement "Sony and Microsoft seem to be taking the exact same path...", Kaz responds by saying that "Every time we go down a path, we look behind and they're right there - we just can't shake these guys. I wish that they would come up with some strategies of their own..." It's possible that we'd be more likely to agree with this statement if we knew exactly what he meant, because as it stands this is the PR equivalent of trash talk.

This childish display of "Miss! That kid's copying me!" reminds me of one of my favorite poems as a child called Please Mrs Butler by Allan Ahlberg, summmarized thusly: moan all you want, but don't expect sympathy from anyone. Especially when your complaint sits on very shaky ground.

More PR strangeness from Sony: Niall O'Hanrahan, a representative of Sony Computer Entertainment in Ireland has added his words to the boiling pot of Sony sound bites. Speaking to the Irish Times, his words offer a slightly more pessimistic tone. Regarding tasks that Sony has set itself with the PS3, O'Hanrahan said "we have a marketing challenge from now until launch. This is not a done deal. It will require a lot of effort from us." He also referred to the extra competition that the PS3 has to face due to its role as more than just a game console: "Competition is now not limited to direct competition. We compete with MP3 players. We noticed at E3 that games for PCs are back."

It's nice to see someone from Sony remaining realistic about the challenges the company faces as it tries to sell the PS3 to early adopters, especially considering the jolt that the value of the PlayStation brand must have taken after the console's price was announced. However, we have to point out an obvious contradiction in his words. Wasn't it Phil Harrison that said a few days ago that the PS3 will make the PC irrelevant? Who are we supposed to believe: Phil's harsh words for the PC, or O'Hanrahan's word of warning about PCs being "back" (in town)?

According to Next-Gen.biz, SCEA's PR chief, Molly Smith, resigned yesterday after leading the operation from the PlayStation 1 until now, a ten-year tenure. Sony has yet to make an official announcement.

While it's easy (and fun) to chalk this up to throwing in the old PR towel amidst a recent spate of spin-proof doozies, the burn out rate in the PR industry is high.  After working for one company in one position for ten years, when Sony does comment on her departure, she'll have left to spend more time with her family, or pursue other avenues. The real question is, will her replacement help Sony out of this rut they're in?

[Thanks, David]

Microsoft's friendly PR staff was briefly chagrined when the Xbox 360 on their E3 Blogger Bus locked up while playing Tony Hawk. Perhaps forgetting he was surrounded by blogger nerds, Online Community Group Manager John Porcaro (who runs GamerScoreBlog) wondered aloud if the unit had over-heated since it was enclosed in a tight space -- the opposite of what tech support recommends. Fortunately for the MS Candy Crew, it appeared to be a false alarm. A reset quickly returned the 360 to playable condition. Moral of the story: Always ensure proper console ventilation before offering free junkfood to the alternative media.

Marketing speak, otherwise known as the art of saying as little as possible about your product in as many words as possible, is by its very nature a boring and frustrating language. Imagine having a conversation with someone where 90% of your questions are either skillfully diverted onto a different topic or stopped in their tracks with a cold "no comment". Of course, we can't blame companies for not wanting to reveal their inner-secrets to us and the public (and we don't mind being surprised every now and again) but that doesn't mean we can't spice up our favorite Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo marketing banter. Enter Gizoogle, a free online jive translator. So without further ado, here are three shining examples of PR-speak made good, yo.

Peter 'Playa' Moore -- "Then we explained tha Xbox 360 as a liv'n entertainment experience powered by human energy thiznat revolves around you n makes you at tha centa of yo experience n thugz were like, snaps b*tch, 'I git that.'"

Phil 'Pizzle' Harrison --  "SCE is unique in hav'n innovative develizzles studios in tha US, Europe n Japan, thizzay have each created numerous global hit titles. By combin'n tha wealth of creativity n mad skillz of games develizzles we can dramatically change tha landscape of computa entertainment, Hollaz to the East Side. I am honored ta be tak'n on thizzat challenge work'n alongside tha bizzle thugz in tha business."

Shigeru 'Shiggy' Miyamoto -- "Video games is bad fo' you? That's wizzle they said 'bout rock-n-roll."

[Quotes found using ThinkExist. Gizoogle via Rocketboom. Image via Clean Funny.]