US Federal Trade Commission Is Making Sony Pay Up For False Vita Advertising

The United States Federal Trade Commission has reached a settlement with Sony over false advertising regarding the PS Vita, which could see US owners of the console get a $25 cash or credit refund, or $50 worth of vouchers for certain games and services. This comes after the FTC originally decided that Sony had misled customers over certain features like cross play, remote play, and cross save between the handheld and the PS3.

Apparently the adverts made it seem like all PS3 games could be played remotely with the Vita, when in fact only a certain number ever had that feature incorporated. When it came to cross save and cross play the FTC ruled that Sony hadn’t made it clear to customers that they had to own a game on both consoles, since at the time cross buy wasn’t actually in operation. In fact that wasn’t known about until August 2012, months after the original adverts. The FTC also wasn’t happy with the 3G adverts which appeared to show players using it to play online, something the Vita does not allow.

The offer of a refund or vouchers only applies to those who bought a Vita before June 1st 2012, with Sony to email all of those who are eligible to receive the funds.

Source: Polygon

6 Comments

  1. Bad kitty Sony, bad kitty…

  2. And what about blighty ?
    Do our vitas offer these said services?
    Will we see some compensation?
    Tell you what how about some compensation for the drive club saga

    • 1) no.
      2) no.
      3) no.

      I think the general word from Sony would be no, no to anything about the vita unless it involved it being the PS4’s bitch or an indie-game whore.

      *scratches head*

      I think being a Vita owner has spread my sympathies a little thin when it comes to Sony.

      On the humorous side of things, this post was given a favourite on twitter by a ten year Xbox lover, so it probably made someone’s day, although I have no idea why.

    • Nah, we just stand in line look upwards and whistle here in frosty blighty. :P
      Re: The DriveClub saga – isn’t the compensation already in progress by way of the first premium DLC pack being a freeb for game purchasers (pre-fix)….whenever that might occur?

  3. Pretty sure the ads that ran in the UK were a little more based on reality. I always remember seeing PS3 references in the USA ads and thinking that was a stretch.

  4. wuh, Sony actually marketed Vita ? News to me!

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