I did not pay $48 so my friends and I could play Uncharted 2 for 15 minutes.

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saticoy

saticoy

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Hey guys, real Saticoy here. My friend James is the one who had the bad experience. Mine wasn't great either, but he did give me a copy of the game so I got my $16 worth.

Posted by Saticoy's friend under his account said:
Update: just emailed 38 Sony/Naughty Dog employees about what happened. Trying to find someone who knows who I need to talk to.

----------------------------------------------------------------

This message has been emailed to and posted on all relevant websites.

Naughty Dog and Sony – Unprofessional and Bullying

This happened at the Thousand Oaks movie theater.

I woke up this morning (October 6th) to find that some friends of mine were going to a special event featuring Uncharted 2 at a movie theatre about 20 miles away. Intrigued, I checked Sony’s website to see the details.

Quoted from http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/10/last-chance-to-get-into-the-uncharted-2-cinema-events/ at 11:33 PM October 6th:


“We’ve been telling you about the UNCHARTED 2 cinema events for a while now, but now that they’re quickly approaching, we wanted to remind you that tickets are still available for the Tuesday, October 6 events taking place in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Check out the locations and links below to purchase tickets.

We know we’ve also been lean on event details, so here’s some more information for those of you interested in attending.

Naughty Dog will be there to unveil a never-before-seen single-player level on the big screen.

Following that, select attendees will participate in an on-site multiplayer tournament that gives you the chance to win cool prizes, including the very coveted Fortune Hunter Edition.

Event also includes gift bags & raffle entry that for a chance to win lots of great prizes, from games to even more Fortune Hunter Editions.

So, if you’re in LA, SF, Seattle, or Chicago, come out to meet the Dogs, see UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves on the big screen, chow down on free food, and partake in the multiplayer tournament for your chance to win a Fortune Hunter Edition. Get your tickets now; space is limited!”

Limited! After finding tickets for the theater, I was hesitant. I was paying $16 to play in a tournament for a game that hasn’t been released yet, and had absolutely no way of guaranteeing I would receive anything other than some possible swag. After some reluctance, I picked up three tickets for two friends and myself. We carpooled the 20 miles out of the way and made it to the theater at 4:30. I was hungry. I didn’t want to pay for food, though- after all, I had already paid for my dinner. After getting our real tickets from the print out I brought, we proceeded to kill time- for one hour and fifteen minutes. They didn’t start letting people in until 5:30, and the last of the stragglers made it in sometime by 5:50.

Once inside, an MC greeted us with 10 PS3 kiosks set up behind him. He told us it was single elimination, 5 versus 5 deathmatches, and that between rounds they would raffle off 23 prizes, including 20 copies of Uncharted 2 and 1 PS3 slim. That sounded great. The first round happened, they raffled off 5 copies of U2. The second round happened, they raffled off 5 copies of U2. The third round happened, they raffled off 5 copies of U2. Our team lost. No big deal- after all, free food and 5 more copies of Uncharted 2 to be raffled off. Plus the PS3! Then, they raffled off the PS3.

Wait, it’s over? No food. No food at all. I paid $16 for the opportunity to play what’s essentially already on PSN, and received swag that the employees at GameStop or any E3 attendee would get.

This wasn’t even the equivalent of renting the game and being able to play it for a week. I didn’t pay $8 for one week- I (and my friends) paid $48 to play it for a grand total of 15 minutes for the three rounds we were in (we tied for 4th place). We paid $48 dollars and were given 3 slingpacks and 3 t-shirts- promotional materials that are always given out for FREE at any promotional event.

I then asked why there was no food served. EVERY PERSON THERE- from Naughty Dog, to Sony, to marketing people organizing it- told me I was wrong. I immediately pulled out my iPhone and looked up
Playstation.com and there it was: “See UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves on the big screen, chow down on free food, and partake in the multiplayer tournament for your chance to win a Fortune Hunter Edition. Get your tickets now; space is limited!”

Free food? There was none. In fact, the theatre didn’t permit people from bringing in outside food. Everyone was forced to buy $9 chicken fingers or $4.75 Cokes (WITH NO REFILLS!!!). This was not free. I paid $16 for my tickets expecting SOME sort of food, even if it was theater food. I told a “man-in-a-striped-shirt” (who I’ll refer to as Stripes, and who was apparently the person in charge of most people there) that it was unfair to pay $16 to play a game for 15 minutes. Here’s where it gets ridiculous. He told me to leave. I told him I wasn't going anywhere until I got a business card or the name of someone who was working there. Stripes refused to tell me, and told me to leave once again, because they were “breaking everything down,” and that I needed to leave. I looked around- all the kiosks were set up, and some of the Naughty Dog people were still talking with the rest of the attendees. I told him it didn’t look like that. He then motioned for a “bigger” Sony employee to make me leave.

THE SONY EMPLOYEE GRABBED MY SHOULDER AND ORDERED ME TO LEAVE. I responded with a simple “Please don’t touch me.” Stripey then told him to get the theater manager.

Another man came forward asking why only 15 copies of Uncharted 2 were raffled off. EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE ignored him, saying they raffled off all the ones they had. Despite that he drove two hours to get down to the theater for his son to hopefully get the game, they all IGNORED HIM and didn't care what he had to say. As the big guy was fetching the manager, a woman with a load of marketing binders in her hand asked me what the problem was, and I told her: I did not pay $48 for 3 people to play a videogame for 15 minutes, I paid because it said there would be food. I skipped lunch because of it.

She told me the website was wrong, and the free food was for the people at the event the day before- the people who didn’t pay for anything. The big guy came back with the manager- I explained to the manager the situation, and showed him the iPhone, which explicitly says “October 6th… free food…. Get your tickets now.” He apologized, and said Sony was renting the theater, and whatever they promised on their website was out of his control. He still apologized and remained the most professional person there, giving me a business card and said to call him in case Sony didn’t fix the problem.

I then showed the same thing to the marketing woman: this was on the OFFICIAL posting form Sony about the event. She told me to fill out a survey on the event with my name and my complaint. I walked over to a table and began to fill it out. The most ironic question: “Would you pay more if this event were catered?” NO! I only paid the original amount because I WAS TOLD IT WAS GOING TO HAVE FOOD.

A different lady at the survey table then tried asking me why were (the now 10+ of us who were upset by not getting food) why it mattered. She asked us: “Didn’t you get enough?” The four of us around the table broke into examples:

“If you go Denny’s, and you order a vegetarian omelet, but they give you only the vegetables and no egg, did you get enough?”

“If you go into GameStop and pay $66 for a game but only get the case and cover art but no disc, did you get enough?”

“And if you pay for dinner and a show but only get the show- did you get enough?”

YOU DID NOT GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR in those examples, and neither did we. So no, I did not get enough to satisfy the $48 that is no longer in my wallet. I promised my friends there would be food, and this would be fun- and then I had to give them their money back. Well, I guess my $48 went to paying for food for everyone that showed up the day before and DIDN'T PAY ANYTHING to get in.

Seriously, Sony?

It’s not just that I didn’t get what I paid for, but when I asked why, your employee GRABBED ME BY THE SHOULDER because his supervisor asked him to. What did I do to deserve that?

Here's the poster for the event from playstation.com:

3974600321_b2e4b71c7b.jpg

The food is a lie.
Click to expand...


All of that is true, though.
 
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Did you go to the one in Thousand Oaks? It sucked.

Edit: D'oh, didn't see that you mentioned it at the beginning.
 
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[quote name='whoknows']Huh.

I don't find that to be a big deal, I would have just stopped by McDonalds or something on the drive back.[/QUOTE]

Replace all the references of "Sony" to "Microsoft" and then you will be able to see every other person's view on the matter.
 
[quote name='whoknows']Huh.

I don't find that to be a big deal, I would have just stopped by McDonalds or something on the drive back.[/QUOTE]

Imagine you did that, and ordered a Happy Meal, but they only gave you the toy and refused to give you your money back, then asked you "Didn't you get enough?" It's exactly like that.
 
[quote name='zewone']Replace all the references of "Sony" to "Microsoft" and then you will be able to see every other person's view on the matter.[/QUOTE]
You're a moron.

[quote name='saticoy']Imagine you did that, and ordered a Happy Meal, but they only gave you the toy and refused to give you your money back, then asked you "Didn't you get enough?" It's exactly like that.[/QUOTE]

But the toy is the best part ;)

I know where you're coming from, if they said there should have been food then there should have been, but you went to see Uncharted more than to eat, right?
 
[quote name='whoknows']You're a moron.
[/quote]
Play nice.

I know where you're coming from, if they said there should have been food then there should have been, but you went to see Uncharted more than to eat, right?
Click to expand...

Let's say your go to your friends house to play Uncharted 2 on their new 1000" LCD 9001Hz TV. It's free, but you (and the other 79 guests) have to put in $16 for food. You get inside, you play 3 deathmatches for 15 minutes total over a period of 5 hours, then you're told to get out and there won't be food.

Yeah, I went to play Uncharted 2, but I only paid money because it was going towards food.
 
Again, I agree that there should have been food since they said there would be, but I'd probably just go eat something after.

What kind of food do they have at these kinds of things anyways? Were you expecting like a meal or just snacks and stuff?

Also why did you give your friends their money back? I don't see why you should have...
 
I obviously don't know about the email, but the poster you have there says nothing about "free" food, just that it will be offered, which it was. Considered your $48 spent to learn a lesson: Big corporations, especially sony, don't give a fuck about you. On the other hand, you got a tshirt and a bag for $16, which I'm sure you could sell for more than that on ebay. Sorry about the no free food, but other than that, what did you expect? You were being disorderly and refused to leave. They have the right to remove you. Yes, it's bullshit, but any ticket you buy to anything has that caveat on it.

Edit: Sorry, but I personally love "I paid $16 for my tickets expecting SOME sort of food, even if it was theater food." $16 in theater food is, what, a hot dog, a small coke and maybe a candy bar? And your examples are false anyway. A more accurate one would be going to denny's and them not having napkins. You GOT what you paid for, you just didn't get a promised extra.
 
[quote name='mietha']I obviously don't know about the email, but the poster you have there says nothing about "free" food, just that it will be offered, which it was. Considered your $48 spent to learn a lesson: Big corporations, especially sony, don't give a fuck about you. On the other hand, you got a tshirt and a bag for $16, which I'm sure you could sell for more than that on ebay. Sorry about the no free food, but other than that, what did you expect? You were being disorderly and refused to leave. They have the right to remove you. Yes, it's bullshit, but any ticket you buy to anything has that caveat on it.[/QUOTE]

If you click on the link, it says "chow down on free food". It still says it. Right now. 14+ hours after I bought my ticket, when it said the same thing.

This event was a bait-and-switch, which is very illegal in California as well everywhere else.
 
Try posting something along the same lines as this on twitter. Sony will notice especially if you have a lot of followers
 
[quote name='saticoy']If you click on the link, it says "chow down on free food". It still says it. Right now. 14+ hours after I bought my ticket, when it said the same thing.

This event was a bait-and-switch, which is very illegal in California as well everywhere else.[/QUOTE]

I do see that in the link. It sucks, but unfortunately for you there's nothing illegal about it. A complaint to the BBB and an angry posting on CAG is the best you can do.
 
Actually, the big poster in the first post says 'refreshments', which could be pitchers of water and they've lived up to their end of the deal on that. Nowhere in that poster do I see the words 'chow down on free food'.

However, I would definitely shoot off a polite and concise e-mail to Sony directly.
 
[quote name='QiG']Wow, I can't believe they'd charge to promote a game...[/QUOTE]

Get used to it. If people are dumb enough to pay, then this will continue on.
 
[quote name='mietha']Considered your $48 spent to learn a lesson: Big corporations, especially sony, don't give a fuck about you.[/QUOTE]

Learn this lesson now, it will serve you well in your daily life.
 
You're actually SHOCKED that game companies would treat their own customers like crap. That's been their business for years. You don't by a game, you buy a playing license. You can't complain about the game. Hand over your money and keep your mouth shut.

If it'd been me atthis event, I'd have left. But not before making it PERFECTLY clear to every employee present that, as they were treating their paying customers like this, I would respond by no longer buying their games and simply pirating everything.

And don't yell legalities at me. I don't care if piracy is against the law. It's a morality issue and if a company wants to pull this then you should find ways to make it undesirable for them to do so. Big businesses have always treated their own customers like dirt but they pass laws and buy off lobbyists to get away with it.
 
I was at this event and yes, it sucked for the most part.

The Emcee was useless. All he did was saying stupid cheesy shit all night and even give unfair advantages to players ("oh player #3 better start running"). Not sure what his dayjob is, but I hope he is better at that.

You were not allowed to remap the controllers to your style and there were no practice rounds or time to plan, plot, etc. They used the same map ALL night - should have changed it up each round (3 rounds, 3 maps). Loose one round, you out.

Someone noted that the LCD monitors were running 120Hz. If true, they should have turned it off, most people are not used to it. It could really throw a persons game off. It was an advantage for me since I game on my Samsung 52" LCD /w 120Hz, but it didn't help much I think.

They should have done the raffle at the very end, instead of the smaller ones broken up, because a couple people got 2 prizes, while most got nothing.

I won a copy of U2 (and just got done playing it at 5:30am haha) and I opened it in the theater to see what it looked like inside - good thing I did because the disc was loose and deeply scratched all over. I showed it to a Naughty Dog employee and he inspected it and got me another one, when he handed it to me, he made the comment "Now don't scratch this one", I was like WTF ! The reason the disc probably fell out of the hub is from the drilling of the cases. A normal thing for companies to drill through the UPC codes on promo materials, so I understand it, but don't be shocked when the product inside becomes damaged. Now, it's possible he was joking around, but he didn't smile or appear to be joking...also, since the materials they handed out were prizes and not Promotional materials, should they be drilling these holes anyways (yes, I realize it is $16, etc).

I was a team captain - got that because of my place in line (lame). I hadn't played the game since the Infamous Beta DLC and I thought the MP was lame then. I also didn't see anywhere on the email I got that we would actually PLAY the game there, it looked like a movie viewing, Demos, swag, drawings, food, etc. So, I sucked so bad and it pisses me off still, because if I had known that I needed to play, I would have practiced in the morning-afternoon on the current beta MP. Our team was eliminated the first round (I ended up -1, but we had some other guy was at least -5 or more).

I was really there for the single player gameplay and there were 3 short movies showing gameplay footage. It was cool and fun to watch in a crowd, but the second movie was was really short and kind of pointless to watch (IMO).

Emcee had no control of the room. Douch-Bags in the back row were the complete Halo 2-Halo 3 crowd. The fucking 12-16 year old mentality, to scream abnoxious shit about the people playing... such greatest hits like:

"Go back to Halo"
"Go back to Gears"
"I've had relations with your mother"

Disclaimer, I play most of the time on my 360 and just play exclusives on my PS3 - Sorry, but XBL is far superior to PSN for online play and online communications.

Like the original poster noted, no food served. I didn't expect much - Pizzas, popcorn, chips, dips, something crappy and junkie more or less, but we were left to fend for ourselves. Yes, I too got no love on a re-fill, but I gave the clerk a deep sigh and he said he would get me my water and gave me the "I'm really going to give get you your Dr Pepper" look :lol:. I agree wit the original poster, since they noted there would be food, I didn't pick up anything in the local area before arriving, but now I felt trapped to buy excessivly expensive drinks, etc. One medium drink $4.

Upon leaving, I filled out the stupid survey and ripped that event a new one. It was poorly advertised and poorly executed on almost every front.
 
Usually when you go to an event, it's all about that event right? Like a concert, ball game, even they said there will be free food, it's not exactly an event killer if there's none. Of course, i think the OP got hung up on the notion because the event sucked. If the U2 event was a good one, i don't think people cared if there's no free food.

Anyway, it was a good read and kudos to drduanduan for scoring a copy of U2 earlier than everyone else... I won't call the event totally a fiasco, since you guys got some cool freebies. The only part i find unforgivable is that you guys drove TWO hours for it :lol: That's more expensive than anything else!
 
To add insult to injury, after reading this post I got my PSBlog email that boasted about how they simply gave EVERYONE a free copy of U2 who went to a different promo event. Sorry OP lol
 
Sympathy to the OP. I know it sucks whenever you don't get what you pay for. A little bit of your post feels like "sour grapes", but you're justified because they didn't live up to their promises.

Unfortunately in your situation, you were dealing with marketing reps and other employees who have no real decision-making authority and who are not empowered to properly address your concerns.

The PR woman you spoke with was right--write (don't email--write) a formal complaint to both Sony and Naughty Dog. Keep it objective, keep it professional, but keep it honest. Those types of letters are the most powerful tool a consumer has. (Oh, the stories I could tell.)

FYI - RE: the "bouncer" dude... putting your hands on another human being in an aggressive manner is considered Assault in all 50 states. (Physically injuring them would be considered Battery.) I would've filed a police report, especially if you had witnesses.
 
[quote name='QiG']To add insult to injury, after reading this post I got my PSBlog email that boasted about how they simply gave EVERYONE a free copy of U2 who went to a different promo event. Sorry OP lol[/QUOTE]

Yeah apparently it was because the food they'd served there wasn't quite good enough.

Just kidding OP.

I think your Blog title might be a bit much though

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=10790

"Assaulted" ????
Really ?
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Actually, the big poster in the first post says 'refreshments', which could be pitchers of water and they've lived up to their end of the deal on that.[/QUOTE]

We didn't get pitchers of water at our theater. We could only buy bottles of water for $4...
 
did you spend all your money just to get into the event? is that why youre mad because you were hungry and you didnt have any money left? if thats the case i can understand your gamers rage but id be more mad about not getting to play the game since sonic is open pretty late ( if you all have one near you).
 
I did not pay $48 so my friends and I could play Uncharted 2 for 15 minutes.
Click to expand...
From your post it sounds like you did.

Hopefully you at least caught a movie while there or bought some over-priced popcorn soaked in fake butter.

mmm, that stuff is quality
 
[quote name='lokizz']did you spend all your money just to get into the event? is that why youre mad because you were hungry and you didnt have any money left? if thats the case i can understand your gamers rage but id be more mad about not getting to play the game since sonic is open pretty late ( if you all have one near you).[/QUOTE]

Nearest Sonic by LA is a few miles up from Disneyland. In-n-Out is our burger of choice.

Already contacted Sony. Just left a message with Naughty Dog.
 
After submitting my story:

[quote name='playstation.com']An automatic search of our knowledge base found the following solutions that may be relevent to your inquiry:
MLB 07 The Show (PLAYSTATION 3) - Playing online
Resistance: Fall of Man - Community options for online multiplayer games
Warhawk - Advanced Options for creating an online game
THE EYE OF JUDGMENT - Playing online
Warhawk - Game Options for creating an online game
SOCOM: Confrontation patch 1.20
Becoming a beta tester
Warhawk - "Omega Dawn" Add-On Content features
SingStar - Unable to download a purchased song from the SingStore
Gran Turismo TV for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
[/QUOTE]
 
Originally Posted by playstation.com
An automatic search of our knowledge base found the following solutions that may be relevent to your inquiry:
MLB 07 The Show (PLAYSTATION 3) - Playing online
Resistance: Fall of Man - Community options for online multiplayer games
Warhawk - Advanced Options for creating an online game
THE EYE OF JUDGMENT - Playing online
Warhawk - Game Options for creating an online game
SOCOM: Confrontation patch 1.20
Becoming a beta tester
Warhawk - "Omega Dawn" Add-On Content features
SingStar - Unable to download a purchased song from the SingStore
Gran Turismo TV for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
PSP Go - System is bunch of wank.
Uncharted 2 - Lack of food at promo screening.
Playstation Home - Free Lapdances not reciprocated by other users.
Click to expand...
Fixed.
 
It sounds like they really screwed the pooch on that event (the same person could win the raffle multiple times-- really?). On the other hand it's hard for me to imagine paying to attend a promo event like this one.
 
You guys aren't getting the OP's point. He's mad not because he didn't get a free copy of the game or free food. He's mad because he did not get what he paid for. This is a case of false advertisement. You could make it really big by going to the court on but will probably not worth the trouble. I bet you the other 5 copies were given to the employees of the event. I did not really like the idea of having to pay to go see some trailers in the first place. Seriously when did you have to pay to see trailers?

OP I understand why you upset and totally see why you had to make a fuss about it. I really hate how corporates treat their customer. When they're marketing they will say anything to make you think you're getting more than what you're paying for after that they will not give a damn about you.

Well there isn't much you can do now except make a complain to Consumer Protectiong. That will somewhat detain Sony name i guess.
 
It's crazy they even charged for it in the first place. Super crazy they made you pay and didn't even have the shit they said they would. I honestly don't see why they didn't just immediately refund you, it's supposed to be something that makes people like them more...
 
A key part of the story is missing here: Saticoy walked away with a full, retail copy of Uncharted 2.

I'm sorry about the lack of food, saticoy, but I hope that this in some way went towards making up for that.

Jeff
 
[quote name='jeffrubenstein']A key part of the story is missing here: Saticoy walked away with a full, retail copy of Uncharted 2.

I'm sorry about the lack of food, saticoy, but I hope that this in some way went towards making up for that.

Jeff[/QUOTE]OMG is that really you Jeff?

Glad you joined CAG (I post on the PS Blog a lot, but not as much as I use to). :D

I totally believe what you said anyway, there are some who just love to hate on Sony/PlayStation anyway they can here.
[quote name='benjamouth']Fixed.[/QUOTE]No, PSP Go is the best handheld device ever (you have to actually play one and experience it yourself to see how great it is. I liked it way more than expected after buying mine. Also, PS Home is awesome).

Btw OP, after reading through the PS Blog, it seems like it actually went very well and got a high rating:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009...hieves-cinema-events/comment-page-3/#comments
 
Yeah, zewone, quit being a meanie to our boy.[quote name='jeffrubenstein']A key part of the story is missing here: Saticoy walked away with a full, retail copy of Uncharted 2.

I'm sorry about the lack of food, saticoy, but I hope that this in some way went towards making up for that.

Jeff[/QUOTE]I don't think he got a copy of the game. UGamer_X went to one last night as well and didn't get a copy of the game. There were only 15 copies raffled off according to the OP. The point of the story was that they false advertised the event and he's fuming out of his ass because of it.
 
[quote name='zewone']Replace all the references of "Sony" to "Microsoft" and then you will be able to see every other person's view on the matter.[/QUOTE]
This makes no sense when the area you quoted was about McDonalds...
 
[quote name='Janaak']This makes no sense when the area you quoted was about McDonalds...[/QUOTE]

Reading comprehension. Get some.
 
[quote name='luan87us']You guys aren't getting the OP's point. He's mad not because he didn't get a free copy of the game or free food. He's mad because he did not get what he paid for. This is a case of false advertisement.[/QUOTE]

Disco. Glad someone gets it.

[quote name='jeffrubenstein']A key part of the story is missing here: Saticoy walked away with a full, retail copy of Uncharted 2.

I'm sorry about the lack of food, saticoy, but I hope that this in some way went towards making up for that.

Jeff[/QUOTE]

You're Jeff Rubenstein and I'm the queen of scotland.

[quote name='The Mana Knight']OMG is that really you Jeff?[/QUOTE]

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
 
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