NATAS disputes Sony's Sixaxis Emmy claims
Says it was for Dual Shock.
Having given up howling with anguish, Sony's US public relations department is now trying to claw its own brains out using a Memory Stick. Or so we'd surmise - what they're not doing right now is responding to claims they misled the public about an Emmy award for the PlayStation 3 Sixaxis controller.
Industry sites, including our own sister publication GamesIndustry.biz, earlier reported on a release issued by the company claiming Sixaxis had been awarded a Technology and Engineering Emmy by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Except Sixaxis didn't win the award, as blogger Séamus Byrne discovered when he contacted NATAS, confused as to how Sixaxis - whose refinements include a lighter build, wireless Bluetooth technology and a motion sensor - had managed to secure such an accolade in the face of competition from Nintendo's Wiimote.
"Sony won for their Dual Shock analog controller," a representative informed him. "The award is from the Video Game Technology Group. It was nominated by our internal group and considered along with the Nintendo D-Pad both of which were considered Emmy worthy for the development of the generation of controllers that followed the classic joysticks.
"I would like to confirm that Sony did not win for their PS3 controller, they won for their Dual Shock Analog controller," the NATAS representative concluded. Somewhat at odds, then, with Monday's press release: "Sony Computer Entertainment America Wins Emmy Award for PLAYSTATION 3 SIXAXIS Wireless Controller," where SCEA president and CEO Jack Tretton attributed his company's fictional success to "overwhelming consumer demand and critical acclaim".