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 Lik Sang shuts up shop; Sony to blame |
| Posted by NiktheGreek - 10-24-06 21:05 - 0 comments |
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Today, Lik Sang issued a press release stating that it had ceased trading due to recent legal action from Sony Computer Entertainment. Here's that release, in full.
| QUOTE | Hong Kong, October 24th of 2006 - Lik-Sang.com, the popular gaming retailer from Hong Kong, has today announced that it is forced to close down due to multiple legal actions brought against it by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Sony claimed that Lik-Sang infringed its trade marks, copyright and registered design rights by selling Sony PSP consoles from Asia to European customers, and have recently obtained a judgment in the High Court of London (England) rendering Lik-Sang's sales of PSP consoles unlawful.
As of today, Lik-Sang.com will not be in the position to accept any new orders and will cancel and refund all existing orders that have already been placed. Furthermore, Lik-Sang is working closely with banks and PayPal to refund any store credits held by the company, and the customer support department is taking care of any open transactions such as pending RMAs or repairs and shipping related matters. The staff of Lik-Sang will make sure that nobody will get hurt in the crossfire of this ordeal.
A Sony spokesperson declined to comment directly on the lawsuit against Lik-Sang, but recently went on to tell Gamesindustry.biz that "ultimately, we're trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards, due to voltage supply differences et cetera; is not - in PS3's case - backwards compatible with either PS1 or PS2 software; will not play European Blu-Ray movies or DVDs; and will not be covered by warranty".
Lik Sang strongly disagrees with Sony's opinion that their customers need this kind of protection and pointed out that PSP consoles shipped from Lik-Sang contained genuine Sony 100V-240V AC Adapters that carry CE and other safety marks and are compatible world wide. All PSP consoles were in conformity with all EU and UK consumer safety regulations.
Furthermore, Sony have failed to disclose to the London High Court that not only the world wide gaming community in more than 100 countries relied on Lik-Sang for their gaming needs, but also Sony Europe's very own top directors repeatedly got their Sony PSP hard or software imports in nicely packed Lik-Sang parcels with free Lik-Sang Mugs or Lik-Sang Badge Holders, starting just two days after Japan's official release, as early as 14th of December 2004 (more than nine months earlier than the legal action). The list of PSP related Sony Europe orders reads like the who's who of the videogames industry, and includes Ray Maguire (Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Alan Duncan (UK Marketing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Chris Sorrell (Creative Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Rob Parkin (Development Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited), just to name a few.
"Today is Sony Europe victory about PSP, tomorrow is Sony Europe’s ongoing pressure about PlayStation 3. With this precedent set, next week could already be the stage for complaints from Sony America about the same thing, or from other console manufacturers about other consoles to other regions, or even from any publisher about any specific software title to any country they don’t see fit. It’s the beginning of the end... of the World as we know it", stated Pascal Clarysse, formerly known as the Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com.
"Blame it on Sony. That's the latest dark spot in their shameful track record as gaming industry leader. The Empire finally 'won', few dominating retailers from the UK probably will rejoice the news, but everybody else in the gaming world lost something today." |
For it's part, Sony Computer Entertainment has issued a response:
| QUOTE | Sony denies responsibility for closure of Lik-Sang
Ellie Gibson 17:59 24/10/2006
Accuses retailer of "sour grapes"
In a statement issued to GamesIndustry.biz, Sony has denied any responsibility for the closure of Lik-Sang - accusing the online retailer of "sour grapes".
The statement begins by observing that Sony Computer Entertainment has successfully sued Pacific Game Technology, which uses Lik-Sang as one of its trading names, for infringing intellectual property rights.
"Lik-Sang did not contest this case (i.e. they did not turn up and therefore incurred no legal costs). We have been awarded substantial costs against Lik-Sang which have not been paid," the statement claims.
"We would therefore strongly deny that our actions have had anything to do with this website closing (we assume the legal entity is still trading), and would suggest that this release is sour grapes on behalf of Lik-Sang which is aimed to belittle Sony Computer Entertainment and the British judicial system that found against them."
Earlier today, Lik-Sang announced it was going out of business, citing a series of lawsuits filed by Sony as the reason for the closure. The retailer also alleged that several SCE executives purchased import PSP hardware and software on its website.
Sony responded, "The purchasing of PSP consoles by SCE employees would be for investigatory purposes. We would also like to express our surprise at a company releasing personal information about its consumers, as this is contrary to data protection principles around the world." |
Over the years, Lik Sang has supported the Dreamcast despite being out of production and commercially unpopular. It was the first site I used to import a game (Border Down, just three years ago), and it has supplied most of my import games since then. I've spent hundreds of pounds with them, and their service has always been first class - games arrived promptly, and were well-packaged.
Sony has sued Lik Sang for shipping PSP consoles from Asia to Europe, from a multitude of countries. It claims that this is for safety reasons, as US and Japanese safety standards are not equal to those of the UK and the EU. This is in spite of the 110v-240v power adaptor which means that step-down convertors aren't necessary for use in Europe, just a plug shape convertor. This is also in spite of the fact that PSP games are region free (however, the flop UMD movies aren't).
My take on this? Gamers have lost a brilliant service, and a bunch of people have lost their jobs thanks to an act of corporate spite on Sony's part. And make no mistake, this is spite - there is no other reason that Sony would launch lawsuits from multiple countries at the same time, it's simply crippling in terms of cost and time and would obviously kill a company of Lik Sang's size.
Why does Sony want to stop imports, particularly to Europe? It's pretty simple. Things here are expensive, and they are often delayed. A PSP core pack costs £149.99 here, and $199.99 in the US. At current prices, that's $280. Even including the relevant taxes, we're being shafted. The same goes for other Sony games and hardware. When Sony chooses to delay a release, it chooses Europe - by four months in the case of the Playstation 3, and nine months for the PSP. Who wouldn't choose a cheaper and earlier import release? Sony wants to make sure you can't, to protect it's own profits. It wants to protect the status quo, shafting some of us in favour of others. The PS3 and PSP are region free for games. Doesn't mean a damn thing if you can't buy the games from other regions - and hey, Play-Asia is already refusing to ship PSP games to the EU.
But hey, Sony has said that we don't mind the delays. I imagine they think we won't mind the increased cost, or the bullying business tactics.
Show them that they are wrong. Boycott Sony.
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| ... Or is it? |
| Posted by NiktheGreek - 02-16-06 13:56 - 0 comments |
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As ever, Nik may prove to be spectacularly wrong. Apparently, even when Sega says the Dreamcast is on it's way out, that means squat now. Getting me all mushy for nothing...
You can thank http://www.dreamcast-scene.com for this exciting news:
"For the last few days, a heated disscussion in our forums has been burning about Sega of Japan's statement that Under Defeat will be the last Dreamcast game, according to their product page on Sega.co.jp.
As you can see they have included the line "ドリームキャストの最後を飾るのは、このソフトだ!" which means something like "This will become the last Dreamcast game!".
We contacted Milestone Inc., the creators of some of the latest Dreamcast games, Chaos Field in 2004 and Radilgy in February 2006, and asked them about their point of view.
Their official statement was that they don't think that Under Defeat will be the last Dreamcast game and they already contacted Sega of Japan to secure that Dreamcast games and GD-ROMs can still be produced in future.
Again, the mystery of the fate of the Dreamcast's future ended in a positive way. The Dreamcast refuses to die once more. Eight years and running."
So hey, who knows what the future holds? Sega says Under Defeat is the last game to be released on the DC, but it looks like they're not the only ones with a say in this and that third-party developers are determined to keep the system going (how ironic). In which case, I'll have a Trigger Heart Exelica, please! |
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| The end is here... |
| Posted by NiktheGreek - 02-1-06 18:29 - 2 comments |
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It appears that Sega has officially confirmed it - G.Rev's Under Defeat will be the last Dreamcast game ever to be officially released anywhere, and thus the final game ever released for Sega console hardware. This move comes four years after the final US release of NHL 2K2, and the final European release later that year. Obviously, I'll inform you of any changes to this policy, but for now the Dreamcast has it's official termination date set in stone.
This would give the Dreamcast a final tally of seven years and four months of software support, from the November 27th 1998 Japanese release date to when Under Defeat hits the shelves on March 23rd 2006.
For those wondering where this leaves the site, fret not. It will continue to be updated, as my ultimate goal is to have at least every PAL game reviewed here, as well as the significant NTSC releases. All it means is that there will be an upper limit to the total number of titles available for review, but with hundreds left I can't imagine the site will stop updating any time soon.
New, for the personal bit. Sad day? You bet. This is the end of a legacy which began in earnest 23 years ago with the release of the SG-1000, an era which has seen Sega reshape the market both demographically and technologically, while releasing some of the finest games in history. It is also an era that has encompassed awful corporate strategy that saw the fans lose confidence, hundreds of millions of dollars in losses and bitter fights with other companies and media critics. No matter what your opinion of Sega is or was, there is no getting around the fact that it had a huge impact on the console hardware industry, one which will last far beyond it's years competing in that industry. I only hope that other companies can learn from Sega's mistakes and strive to match it's better qualities.
RIP Sega consoles
July 1983 - March 2006 |
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| It all seems so long ago... |
| Posted by NiktheGreek - 01-30-06 23:14 - 0 comments |
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And yet so very painful still. It's five years to the day since Sega confirmed that it was pulling out of the hardware market for good and that the Dreamcast was to be dicontinued.
Of course, in those five years we've still had some excellent games - Sonic Adventure 2, Shenmue 2, Rez, Ikaruga and Border Down all spring to mind - but it's still a sad day. But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining, and there's new imports going on sale in the next couple of months. So raise a glass to the little console that could, and to it's continued afterlife! |
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| New game information |
| Posted by NiktheGreek - 01-14-06 22:17 - 0 comments |
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In following tradition, time to give ordering and game specifications for the latest Dreamcast games. There's two scheduled for 2006 so far, Rajirugi and Under Defeat. Without further ado...
Rajirugi
Milestone, 16th February 2006
 The creators of December 2004's Chaos Field return with an all-new vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up ported from the Naomi arcade board, this time employing cel-shading to give a more cartoony feel to proceedings. The game has a strong mobile phone theme with battery and signal indicators forming a part of the HUD, and for good reason: the game is set in an age of global communications via radio wave, with everything now being adapted for reception - buildings, vehicles, and even the human body itself. However, a radio allergy has developed over time with similar effects to hayfever. A company developing a medicine for this condition has suddenly had all it's buildings occupied by the terrorist group UMBRA, and hostages include the father of the main character (Sizzle, according to the babelfish translation). As expected, the character jumps into a combat vehicle and takes to the skies to defeat UMBRA, rescue dad and ensure that the radio allergy is brought under control.
Gameplay seems to have relatively few features to distinguish it from the crowd. The main attack types are a standard spread shot, a close-range swipe and a shielding button. The main gimmick is the signal strength, which determines the worth of the score multiplier. It is a single-player game, and like Chaos Field seems to have little or no added content in the home port. Still, it's looking to play fairly well and is presented in an interesting manner, with a nice array of characters. Note that nobody seems to actually know what the name translates as, with Milestone offering "Radilgy", Sega offering "Radirgy" and others going for "Rajirugi".
Asia-based importers
Regular edition
Lik Sang ($59.90 / £33.83 / €49.36 - free shipping)
Play-Asia ($59.90 / £34.34 / €50.08 - cheapest shipping $2.60)
Sega Direct edition with limited edition phonecard
Play-Asia ($79.90 / £45.80 / €66.80 - cheapest shipping $2.60)
Segagaga Domain ($71.00 / £41.00 / €60.00 - 1st class airmail shipping included)
US-based importers
Regular edition
NCSX ($53 - shipping unknown)
UK-based importers
Sega Direct edition with limited edition phonecard
Video Game Imports (£47.99 - shipping unknown)
Official Milestone website
Official Rajirugi website
In following tradition, time to give ordering and game specifications for the latest Dreamcast games. There's two scheduled for 2006 so far, Rajirugi and Under Defeat. Without further ado...
Under Defeat
G.Revolution, 23rd March 2006
 Back in September 2003, little-known Japanese developers G.Rev released a game called Border Down on the Dreamcast, following a petition by the good people of Dreamcast Scene. While it met with only lukewarm success in the gaming press (being awarded 6/10 in the influential UK magazine Edge), it went down extremely well with players, as well it should - a great example of a horizontally-scrolling shooter on a system lacking them, with great graphics and some good extras for the home version. Now, they're back with an arcade-perfect port of Under Defeat, their Naomi-based vertically-scrolling helicopter shooter, reminiscent of Zero Gunner 2. The story centres around the warring factions of the Empire and the Union, which have been fighting for over a decade. A ceasefire is arranged, but lots of new and experimental weapons are thrown about and things seem to take a turn for the worse. What basically ensues is you and a helicopter against an entire army.
The game plays semi-traditionally. You have simple shot and bomb buttons, but letting go of the shot button allows you to rotate your helicopter, allowing for shooting in various different directions. It's also possible to dire off small drone copters, which increase firepower. There's a small variety of weapons to collect, with vulcan, cannon and rocket shots available to the player. Under Defeat is a two-player game, and features excellent realistic graphics. The home port features the original arcade soundtrack and an all-new arranged soundtrack, as well as the option to save replays which can be played back from any angle. For the obsessives, there's also a high-quality art gallery to browse at your leisure. There's a limited edition coming too, which contains the official sound track - it promises to be a sought-after item, following the limited edition version of Border Down which now sells for silly prices.
Asia-based importers
Regular edition
Lik Sang ($64.90 / £36.54 / €53.48 - free shipping)
Play-Asia ($59.90 / £34.34 / €50.08 - no shipping quote)
Limited Edition with OST
Play-Asia ($79.90 / £45.80 / €66.80 - no shipping quote)
Segagaga Domain ($80.00 / £47.00 / €68.00 - 1st class airmail shipping included)
US-based importers
Regular edition
NCSX ($58 - shipping unknown)
Limited Edition with OST
NCSX ($78 - shipping unknown)
Official G.Revolution website
Official Under Defeat website |
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