Sony Doesn't Want Your Money

The response by the Sony rep. is ridiculous. I'm almost certain that this did not come down from a person in authority within the Sony PR group. The fact is the negative publicity generated by this story is almost certainly greater than the impact of a negative review in OXM.

Most Bravia buyers are going to do their homework and evaluate the purchase based on several factors, including reviews. To limit the customer base to a few selective reviews with potentially favorable publications is a very questionable practice and makes me question any Sony product review.

To further show how silly this is, despite the console battle between Sony and MS, they are partners in many other ventures, through various other divisions... Anyone seen a Sony computer lately??? Vista sure runs well on it, despite the "console war".

also dan if you do the review anyway make sure you send them a copy of the article so they know that the ppl heard exactly what they had to say about ms and ms customers

sony is a gompany of a**holes dan do the review anyway i mean u own a sony bravia so review that one besides it`d probaly some how come off as an insult to sony which is no less than they deserve i mean what kids company openly says they don`t want to affilate with ms cause they are competing against them hell it isn`t your magazines fault the ps3 sucks if they won`t allow a review do it anyway and make sure it`s noted whta they had to say on the matter tell ppl how sony does buisness also more reviews for 26 inch sets wouldn`t hurt plz review some samsung hdtv`s cause i don`t trust vizio

It is a little surprising that just shows you we aren't blowing up the console war. They really are in battle mode. Heck if I were you I would be afraid to open a box from Sony. But I will tell you this my mom bought the Sony Bravia 42" plasma and I bought a 50" Samsung DLP projection and for the 1500 or so $ difference you would just have to not like money to go Sony. that Samsung has 1 of the best pictures i've ever seen and I have checked out alot of TVs'.

If I understand correctly, Dan is making a very valid point.The console wars have grown in its scope.

“I have to support our friends over at our sister company," said the Sony representative.”

Sony has said that they don’t want Xbox 360 customer’s money.

Why,because they would rather support their sister company than take money from a MS customer. Yes, Sony has the right to pick and choose it customers.

In Japan business is war and Sony is in a real console war with MS.

Sony knows what the implications are by stating that they don’t want a review of one of their products by a MS friendly company. You can’t get around the fact that they don’t want Xbox 360 customers using their products.

Otherwise,They would have agreed to a loner and welcomed any potential Xbox 360 customers to buy one of their HDTV’s.

I recently got an email from Sony asking me to check out their new products and I politely replied "Dan Dizzle is going to pass on this opportunity."

Dan,

I can understand their predicament. If they provide a free unit(even it has to be returned) then they have to accept the possibility that you might say you will do one thing, but do something else. You have no incentive to be truthful since there's no out-of-pocket expense. Catch my drift? However, if you were to go buy the TV yourself then you will feel totally responsible for making a totally truthful and accurate review. Why would you go through all the trouble of actually spending money on a product then trash it or lie about it, especially one that costs you thousands of dollars? This is one of those grey areas issues with regards to tech and game reviews. It's always been an issue when reviewing products you've received free from manufacturers. I had this same issue when I worked for a market research firm. We were called as expert witnesses in a lawsuit regarding a graphics card patent infringement. We were required to test some cards and even though I had all of them in my own library, they were all free from the manufacturers. In order to not show any favoritism we had to buy all the products with our own money and test them that way. I bought about $3000 worth of graphics cards. :) Anyway, I think you should have kept this to yourself and instead bought the TV and reviewed it anyway. And when you write the review then make sure to note in it that Sony wouldn't send you a review unit and that you spent your own money on it. It would given your review even more credibility and still have given Sony a nice zing for being stupid for declining a review sample. :)

Tommy McClain

I'm pretty happy with my Samsung HDTV, so even if Sony wanted my money for its HDTVs i would have to pass.

DanOXM "It's an independent product with an independent usage."
Haddit "That's your criteria and yours alone."

And surely it's not a crazy concept, that we might judge a television on its own merits, without thinking about what else that company creates? I'd say it's extremely important, and quite editorially valid. Anybody who's doing it the other way around isn't a reviewer I'd trust.

While I can understand that there are lots of reasons why Sony could deny sending a product to review. Because you talk about the Xbox doesn't seem like a very good one. But if Sony issues with the 360 and feels that a Bravia TV is not a suitable match for the 360, then perhaps I should look for one from another manufacture.

I have to say on a personal note, that it is reasonable for Sony to not want to support your magazine in any way, shape or form. Your magazine, while being an excellent publication, supports Microsoft to Sony's detriment due to the focus of its coverage, and Sony's giving you one of their very high quality displays would benefit your magazine. Therefore, giving you a set would be illogical from a corporate perspective.
This really has little to do with corporate integrity, and Sony doesn't mean to offend potential consumers. They just don't want to help out your magazine, since your magazine doesn't help them out where it counts (i.e. the consoles, which have accounted for the vast majority of Sony's profits in the past).
I hope that your can remain free of offense, because they don't mean to offend you. They do however mean to make life as hard for the Xbox 360 and its satellite organizations (independent or otherwise) as possible.
Bravias are fantastic televisions, I have one, and so do you. I can recommend one even though Sony doesn't want to be my friend, and I hope you can be the bigger man and recommend one too.

DanOXM "It's an independent product with an independent usage."
That's your criteria and yours alone. Totally inoperative if you are attempting to editorialize.

This is really surprising to me just because of the opportunity that is being presented to Sony. They may not want to risk a bad review, but think about it this way. Bad review: loyal 360 users continue to stay away from Sony products just because they produce a rival console and miss out on a great tv while Sony loses the ability to bring in revenue. Good review: loyal 360 users who read the magazine decide to take the plunge and buy a new Sony Bravia, in turn creating a new revenue stream for Sony. It's just too much of an opportunity to waste, even if the only result is to improve its reputation for quality products.

Dan, you have to understand, they DON'T KNOW THAT. They simply don't know or cannot ascertain that your publication will indeed give their Bravia TV a positive review. You guys may or may not have journalistic integrity, but Sony doesn't know enough about you to assume that you won't review their products with bias. Sorry.

To me, it's perfectly understandable that they passed up on a review. As for me personally, I'm not a Bravia fan, nor do I support Sony TVs.

I may be a twit, but the truth remains: There is no connection between these two products except for the one in Sony's mind. If it's a good TV, it gets a good review. Even if it doesn't, it has NO reflection on the PS3. It's an HDTV. It's an independent product with an independent usage.

Sony are being douches, as usual. I just do not get that company sometimes. Every division, seemingly every rep that makes news for any reason...they are always doing or saying something that is mind-blowingly* stupid and/or anti-consumer. How the HELL did they ever get to be so dominant in the electronics industry?

* Yes, I know that "blowingly" is not a word.

This is not journalism. It's whining. Would Toshiba participate in anything a Panasonic magazine was doing? The conclusion 'Sony is not interested in 360 gamers using its products' is yellow journalism. This only shows that Sony is not interested in cooperating with a MS fan site. You are a twit, Dan.

"The problem isn't whether or not you send it back; the problem is the blatant sense of entitlement on display in this article."

For the record, yeah, we return HDTVs. We sign legally binding loan contracts with return dates. Once, a TV was damaged in transit as it went back to the company and we had to pay for it. It's what you would expect. So it's not about scoring free stuff, because it's not free stuff. It's tools to do work, and they're not ours to keep.

As for the sense of entitlement...the request was a perfectly valid, polite, professional one. We have never had any problem with the other manufacturers, and we're attending CES in a few weeks to see the new lines planned for the coming year so we can keep covering the new stuff.

What bothers me is that OXM is being held to a different standard than any other magazine. A lot of people out there like to use the word where it doesn't apply, but this is bias, plain and simple, and it was stated as such. Because Sony makes PS3, they won't work with press that doesn't cover PS3. Is the Bravia a consumer option for gamers, regardless of console? Yes. Does that make it a good options for 360 gamers? Maybe -- let's review one and find out. If Sony makes good HDTVs -- and my personal experience has been that they do -- what is Sony afraid of? Why wouldn't you fulfill this request?

Ultimately, sure, I will run a review of a set from a different manufacturer. I could review the one I bought, and I've considered doing exactly that so at least the reader gets more info.

Of course it's Sony's right to deny a review unit. But I think it's wrong.

I don't know what the problem w/half the posters is. Sony is acting ridiculous as usual.

Sony really doesn't need to get in a contest on this level w/MS. I wonder how Sony would feel if MS starts pulling software support from Sony's Vaio PCs, WMA support on PS3, or anything Sony-MS related for that matter. I would love to see how many "its MS' prerogative" posts in a thread similiar to this we'd see once people try to link to Sony.com and got restricted messeges due to MS' Internet Explorer...

The problem isn't whether or not you send it back; the problem is the blatant sense of entitlement on display in this article. Sony opts not to send you guys a Bravia for review-- that's their right. Any other publication would probably have accepted that and moved on; but not you guys. You had to post an article called "Sony Doesn't Want Your Money" in response. I've seen toddlers with more maturity.

Nij,
You don't know what your talking about the tvs are sent out on loan.
P.S- You suck at the internet

re: Nijhazer

You're kidding, right? You do realize that we send back the televisions we review? It's not like we're just sitting back in OXM Land, surrounded by 60" plasmas that we begged manufacturers to send us. Jesus.

re: Dessan

Say it slowly now: Sony television != Sony Playstation. As the one who would write the review of said TV, I have absolutely no allegiance to any console system, nor the people who manufacture said console systems. I could care less what Sony does with its divisions so long as I'm staring at a badass HDTV picture. And vice versa; if the television's crap, I could care less who makes it -- I'm going to review it like I see it.

.Dave
Associate Editor, Maximum PC
xbox: Naughty Gametag

Iv'e had my 40" bravia for awhile untill recently we upgraded to a 50 inch Plasma, the picture is absolutely amazing on that TV me and my wife were actually talking about ditching the 50" Plasma for the lesser exspensive 50" LCD bravia but after hearing that sony's answer was simply no with no reason it kind of leaves me skeptical maybe we will just keep the plasma Id hate to suport a company that shuns part of its customers. By the way I havent seen a picture as nice as the bravia in the LCD bracket acept the Samsung 40" (Model: LN-T4069F) maybe you guys should look into reviewing that to spite sony because honestly its the only one that competes.

This article sounds so bitter it's actually kind of funny. I would take it more seriously if it weren't so obvious that the entire reason this article exists is because the author got pissed when Sony wouldn't send him a free Bravia.

I understand why they didn't trust you to give a positive review. I trust you would have been fair to it, but I totally see why they wanted to steer clear of you.

This makes no sense at all, especially when they are giving away PS3's with Bravia purchases.

http://tinyurl.com/26h6eg

As far as a couple of buddies and I are concerned, their Bravia is friggin' AMAZING. Why would they shun the good press?

This is some straaange business.

-- http://www.nukoda.com --
Gamertag: MitchyD88

My parents have a Bravia and my 360 looked great on it.
Guess I won't be considering them this year when I go to upgrade my television to HDTV.