PlayStation 3 Advert Appears In Xbox 360 Game
Earlier this month EA announced plans to
release a football game based on the UEFA Champions League event, also
releasing some screenshot-style renders to accompany the announcement,
one of which partially revealed a PlayStation 3 ad in the background…
Well, it would seem this early announcement screenshot was no one-off.
Soon after we receive preview code from EA and as we quickly begin
playing and taking screenshots it becomes very much apparent that the
PlayStation 3 ads are still there, taking up space within a game that
is not only running on an Xbox 360 but isn’t actually due out on PS3 at
all. See the evidence here and here.
So what’s this all about then? Seems a bit sneaky of Sony and how and
why on earth did Microsoft let this happen? Well, it would seem there
is something of a quirk in play, which dictates the presence of the PS3
ad regardless of what machine is running the game.
You see, having taken a look at the official UEFA site,
it would seem Sony (and indeed the PlayStation brand) is just one of
the sponsorship partners of the UEFA Champions League competition,
which would guarantee it placement on anything to do with the event and
that includes Xbox 360 games.
And there’s not really anything Microsoft can do about it. In
order for the Xbox 360 to receive a version of the title, Microsoft has
to simply accept the facts and rules of the sponsorship and, er, ‘play
ball’, otherwise it misses out.
Which is quite a nice bonus for Sony, who by sponsoring the
UEFA event not only enjoys the plentiful TV exposure, but gets to add
in clauses that stipulate versions of the game appearing on competing
consoles are forced to carry PS3 advertising.
Touché Sony, touché.
Jay Filmer
January 31, 2007
Source:
360 Gamer