Sony has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after being accused of making misleading claims about the capabilities of the PS Vita. The claims – which Sony described as “game-changing” features in advertisements around the Vita’s launch – primarily revolve around how the handheld would be able to interact with the PlayStation 3.
“ Sony claimed, for example, that PS Vita users could pause any game they were playing on their PS3 at any time and continue playing that game on PS Vita from where they left off,” the FTC explains. “This feature, however, was only available for a handful of PS3 games, and the pause capability described in the advertisements varied significantly from game to game.” Similarly, the FTC says Sony exaggerated the Vita’s remote play feature, which is supported by only a handful of PS3 , and falsely claimed that Vita owners would be able to play multiplayer games live over a 3G connection.
The Commission also disagreed with Deutsch LA, the advertising agency that handled the launch campaign, saying that employees were instructed to promote the Vita on Twitter without disclosing their partnership with Sony.
“As we enter the biggest consumer season of the year, we should remind companies that if they make product promises to consumers – as Sony did with the PS Vita’s ‘game-changing’ features – they should deliver on those commitments,” Jessica Rich, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said in a statement.
As part of the settlement, Sony is prohibited from making these claims in the future, and consumers who purchased a Vita device before June 1, 2012, are eligible for a $25 cash refund or a $50 credit toward select games or services. Sony is expected to notify owners of eligible devices via email. “The FTC does not hesitate to act on behalf of consumers when companies or advertisers make false claims about a product,” Rich explained.
Unfortunately, three years later, the advertising for the Vita isn't much better.
