Eds Note: These comments were taken from here and here, both threads now deemed legendary.

That is quite a sad announcement that in the end I believe will hurt Sony more then Kotaku. This is exactly like in the media, as much as people do not like it, technically you are allowed to run what ever story (in which you even stated it was a RUMOR) you wish on the gaming industry. It is quite sad that they have to strong arm you into reporting only what they wish you to report.

It is sad that Blogging has come so far so fast, yet is still tied down by events like this. Its as if they do not respect blogging as a legitimate source of journalism. I am not going to say Sony is the only company guilty of this, but this is just another mark that really saddens me that people and companies tend to fall behind as things evolve quickly thanks to the internet.

My advice is to get as many people who have shown any interest in kotaku to talk to Dave and see if they cannot convince him that the world has changed and stuff like this shouldn't be tolerated. Espeicially in such a connected world, this news post will seriously hurt Sony. I wouldn't be surprised if this is Digged, and within a few days reported in a few papers.

by Scazza

Well you don't really wanna be dealing with them anyway.

I'm surprise you didn't write an email to them first saying something like "your constant mistakes and utter stupidity and arrogance has made it impossible to continue a relationship with you! or to even ackowledge your existance."

by aden.exe

I don't agree that companies should only have relationships with media outlets who print what they want printed. That kind of attempted media control is dangerous and foolish. You're not their staff, you're a reporter.

You did the right thing. By giving you exclusives, Sony would only improve their relationship with your audience, the hardcore and passionate gamers. Now, not only do they lose an avenue for improving the strength of the Playstation brand, but they also come off looking like an immature sore loser.

Besides, this was one of the few positive Sony/PS3 posts on this site to begin with, and is practically plastered in banners reading "Disclaimer: This is a rumor". Amazing that this is the one to break the relationship.

by timothymichaelclark

Companies can do what they want with journos - invite them or not, feed them information or not, give them hardware or not. What they cannot do is expect any journo worth their salt to yield to their demands. I think the very attempt of trying to influence a story is unethical, and I think Sony stepped over the line on this. Kotaku proved their weight-worth so to speak. I choose you, Kotaku!

by weatherman

I suppose it's better to be blackballed than blueballed.

Sorry I couldn't resist

by Zod-like

Big, big, big ups to Kotaku.

Anyone who is against Kotaku really doesn't get the situation. Whether it's a rumor or a fact or an anecdote. Whether it's a new system, new game or the fact that the newest kirby game has red AND green apples...

None of that matters.

What this is, is ethics. A journalist (which, by standing up to Sony... is exactly how the Kotaku writers are behaving) owes no loyalty to anyone or anything but the truth. That even includes reporting a rumor - provided it's stated as such.

As journalists, you can NEVER let anyone dictate to you what you say or how you say it (including when), so long as you adhere to being honest.

If you want to read someone kowtow to a corporation, the go read Sony's site. I'm sure they have some blog in the vein of 'All I want for Xmas is a PSP'.

I'll stick with Kotaku. At least I know where their loyalties lie - with us, the readers.

by blaine

I can see the point coming from both sides:

Sony (Karracker):
Why did you go overboard with your blacklisting of Kotaku for reporting a rumor? It looks like you guys are trying to control the media.

Kotaku (Brian):
Was it really worth losing a relationship with Sony over this story?

by DigitalHero

I'm split down the middle on this one. The college kid of years ago in me wants to raise my fist and say, "Rigthon, Kotaku!," but the older side of me who understands how the world and big business works wants to shame you for making a move that bars me from reading anymore exclusive Sony news on your site.

While you did take a great stand and should be applauded for your integrity, I have to agree with others here who have posted that you have done a disservice to your loyal readers. Don't hate the player, people, hate the game. That's the way it most certainly is in the rest of the world and you shouldn't be too shocked to learn that's the way it works with the journalism of the 21st century.

I hope that at some point your relationship with Sony gets repaired and we can still get some good Sony news here on Kotaku, even if it most of the time it is packaged with a little slice of hate. Opinions are great. Losing the ability to even have one on exclusive news, however, is not so great.

Dave's just doing his job. While it may suck and you may have the opportunity right now to villify the man and the company he works for, he gave you fair warning and the opportunity to have a conversation on how to remedy the situation before it even happened.

And to all those who think that Sony is the only company that pulls this kind of crap, keep dreaming. Just like they aren't the only ones who filed suit against Lik-Sang, they aren't the only ones blackballing journalists either. I'm not saying by any means that it's right or cool, but if you think MS, Nintendo and developers don't operate in the exact same manner, you need to pull off the blinders. It just happens to be magnified by about 1000% with Sony because of the perceived immediate failure of the PS3.

by instantpop

i'm split down the middle too. as a 1st party developer for sony and an avid kotakuite it's hard for me to make the distinction of who is right and who is wrong. i think it applies to both parties, but ultimately i think the readers of the site lose out the most of anyone. i don't think printing a rumor warrants the sony response, but i alos don't think it's worth hurting the readers for either.

live and learn i guess.

in any case, the t-shirt needs to be:

"Kotaku: We have big, huge blackballs"

by ortholomeux

I'm going to jump on here and disagree with all 131 of you ! (just cause I can)

Sony is clearly planning for a 'big splash' in 6 days and would prefer to make it themselves. Any sort of conjecture or guessing as to what that splash will be can't really help them (Sony) in any way. With all the negative press they are suffering of late, it's perfectly understandable to me that they would rather avoid any pre-judgement of what they have to offer.

I mean, really .. how can they win ? If the guessing-what-they-got aims too high, they (Sony) will be slaughtered for underachieving .. which is pretty much inevitable.

I'd personally hate to be in the position of releasing a new product (any product) that's already the subject of mostly negative press, only to have an update for said product overshadowed by negative expectations. If you read the comments on what little kotaku posted, they are ALREADY flaming them, and doing it based on very little info.

I can see both points of view on this, but I'm going to give the PS3 people the benefit of the doubt and believe that they are working very hard to build their product in to something great. I'm also going to give them time and encouragement to do it. I see great potential in the PS3 and look forward to having a good time with mine in the years to come.

Just my 2c, as always .. I *could* be wrong :)

by RacerX10

As much as I don't appreciate Sony's attempt to manipulate the news, I also don't agree with Brian's action, either.

I mean, look, it's only a small rumor. To pick a fight over it and risking a long-term relationship is a stupid move, especially if it's with a major player in the videogames industry. Sure, you get this instant satisfaction for standing up to your journalism principle, but it's only short-lived.

In a long run, you'll get screwed. You'll miss news conferences, game previews and other things that make kotaku appealing to its readers.

In the corporate world, you gotta work and keep your business partners together even if you personally hate them.

What Brian did here was that instead of trying to negotiate with Sony's PR and trying to work something out for both sides, he just went ahead with his thing THEN sent them the notice for confirmation.

Plus, it's just a small rumor, it's not worth it. If you get $10 million salary raise by doing this, so hell yeah go for it. But fighting over something like this? Bad judgement, Crecente, and you just brought the entire Kotaku's future with it.

It's like bombing your neighborhood's home then ask him later if he permits it. This destroy-first-ask-later is lame.

by HobbaHobba

Just think of the repercussions of Sony's action had they been say... the Republican Party.

Imagine if you will a well known and respected journalist attempting to confirm or simply receive a comment from the Republican Party concerning a potential rumor about their practices and policies. Imagine now that the Republican Party politely asks said journalist not to run their story, offering no comment on the rumor.

No harm done. Common practice... whatever.

Now imagine the above scenario, but the Republican Party is threatening to blackball said journalist should they run the story anyway. And by the way, this journalist works for CNN, and CNN decides to go ahead with their story regardless of the aforementioned threats.

Do you think the Republicans would get away with blackballing CNN?

Imagine the complete shitstorm of legal trouble the Republican Party would be in had they been exposed trying to threaten someone against using their 1st Amendment rights.

Now... imagine the ginormous fucking MEDIA CIRCUS that would ensue!

I think this is a golden opportunity for the blogging community to take a stand and be treated as proper journalists, if the want to. Bloggers- boycott Sony at GDC.

What's to stop Sony from doing this to anyone else? Report on a rumor and we'll blackball you?!?

Lie down and take it game journalists, and you'll do nothing but prove to everyone that people who write about games are nothing but corporate schills who make a living turning press releases into editorial.

Want to be treated like real journalists?

Stand up for each other, now is your chance. I'm looking at you N'gai!

Leave the corporate schill business to those jokers at IGN.

by Stranger

Although I feel bad for the folks at Sony who have been working hard to save the PS3, I must say that this is a terrible way to respond.

I used to work with Disney PR. If anyone wrote something negative about Disney, they would not get invited to the next press conference (and they were HUGE). Even still, the e-mail Karraker sent was amazing. No professional PR person would have written something like this in my experience. The 2 most important words to a PR person - NO COMMENT.

I am not a Sony supporter but it sounds like Karraker was put on the spot. For him to write the e-mail he did smacks of either 1) unprofessionalism or 2) his perception of a personal relationship with Crecente that would supercede his journalistic integrity.

Fair and balanced have lost their meaning in today's world. Showing soldier's coffins, Abu Ghraib, Halliburton, pretty much everything out of China...the fight against information censorship is a long and bloody one that will never stop. It doesn't matter if the news is about a new kind of tire or a world war. The truth should ALWAYS be paramount for a journalist, and it is the PR person's job to put out the fire. Not stop people from playing with matches.

All Sony had to do is say "no comment". A rumor is a rumor. By writing that e-mail, Karraker has lended credence to the argument. Guys, people knew about the iPhone months ago. Will that really stop anyone from buying it when it comes out? Good news is good news, no matter when it is released. Sure, it steals a little of your thunder. Who cares?

For fans of Watchmen...remember Rorschach's last line. "Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise."

BTW - You've gotta wonder what's happening at Sony right now - their big secret has been let out of the bag.

by Shiraz

i swear, sony has this development thing all backwards:

step 1:
- make rumors about potential project ideas to trigger public response
step2:
- collect feedback from people excited or disgusted about ideas
step3:
- take steps to guarantee things that people are excited about become a reality and lives up to the anticipation

.... NOT

step1:
- man outrages claims about changing the world
step2:
- get pissed off about a rumor concerning something that's going to happen tuesday...
step3:
- get the people they're supposed to be marketing to angry.

... funny stuff sony. This one I can forsee being in the MBA textbooks one day..

... now roll of the dice: am i number 500?

by epionx111

Sony realised they fucked up again, and this is bad PR they can fix. So Dave's bosses called him and said, call them, discuss it, and back down. Cause it will only get worse. And it was very smart of them to do.

Thank you Sony for acting like a man and admitting (through backing down) that you made a mistake, and talked it over rather then just passing threats through email.

Yea Kotaku, and yea Brian!

by JustCrim

That was fast.

It was hard to find a side in this debacle, to the point where it was pretty much impossible and unnecessary.

As you said, everyone was doing their job. I can't blame Sony for trying to protect the information (it's pretty obvious now that it was their big surprise for GDC) and I can't blame Kotaku for doing what everyone else does in posting rumours. This was surely a touchy subject for Sony and they wanted to prevent any of the information from leaking before the announcement at all costs, but in the end their public image was probably more important. After all, the deed was done.

Ah well. I'm sure it must've sucked for you and Sony. Either way, thanks for taking it so professionally and not going on a complete anti-Sony tirade like you could have.

by PaiPaiMaster

It's good to see Sony finally admit to a mistake.

I was expecting them to claim that Kotaku's incompatibility with SIXAXIS motion sensing FORCED them to cut ties with you. :)

by Nill

Well, I got a couple of ways to look at this, I'm going to start with a metaphor: Sony tried to pull out the weed in its garden which turned out to be the root of a tree.

Second, a remark from history:

The pope (Sony) tried to excommunicate England (Kotaku) from the catholic church (gaming community). Only to realise that the other countries were more fond of England than the Pope.

Anyone here willing to make a stirring epic poem about this victory of free-media over the corporation? David over Goliath? Kratos over Apollo?

by Spiderbait

DAMN IT! WHY DIDENT YOU TELL ME BEFORE I SMASHED MY PS3 IN BLIND RAGE! !!! Aww man....i got to go buy another one now...shucks,

by Mortified Penguin

Kotaku: Backward Compatible with Sony

by digitalmonkey

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