Posted on 04/28/2007 5:47:23 PM PDT by Snickering Hound
Electronics giant Sony has sparked a major row over animal cruelty and the ethics of the computer industry by using a freshly slaughtered goat to promote a violent video game.
The corpse of the decapitated animal was the centrepiece of a party to celebrate the launch of the God Of War II game for the company's PlayStation 2 console.
Guests at the event were even invited to reach inside the goat's still-warm carcass to eat offal from its stomach.
Sickening images of the party have appeared in the company's official PlayStation magazine – but after being contacted by The Mail on Sunday, Sony issued an apology for the gruesome stunt and promised to recall the entire print run.
Critics condemned the entertainment giant, which produces scores of Hollywood blockbusters each year, for its "blood lust" and said the grotesque "sacrifice" highlighted increasing concerns over the content of video games and the lengths to which the industry will go to exploit youngsters.
At the event, guests competed to see who could eat the most offal – procured elsewhere and intended to resemble the goat's intestines – from its stomach.
They also threw knives at targets and pulled live snakes from a pit with their bare hands.
Topless girls added to the louche atmosphere by dipping grapes into guests' mouths, while a male model portraying Kratos, the game's warrior hero, handed out garlands.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare said it was "outrageous" that the animal's death had been used "to sell a few computer games".
A spokesman said: "We are always opposed to any senseless killing of an animal and this sounds like a gruesome death. We condemn Sony's actions. It is stupid and completely unjustified."
The party features across two pages of the latest edition of the company's PlayStation magazine, which was due to hit newsstands on Tuesday but has already been sent to subscribers.
We have reproduced the spread – headlined Sony's Greek Orgy – here, but have pixellated the image to spare readers the sight of the goat's decapitated head hanging by a thread of tissue from its corpse, with blood dripping to the floor.
But the magazine's readers were shown the picture in its full horror.
The article, based on a Sony Press release, shows more vivid pictures from the event under headlines such as Topless Girls! and Flesh Eating?
It asks readers how far they would go to get hold of Sony's next-generation console, the PlayStation 3.
"How about eating still warm intestines uncoiled from the carcass of a freshly slaughtered goat? At the party to celebrate God Of War II's European release, members of the Press were invited to do just that . . ."
In God Of War II, which is so violent it has been given an 18 certificate, players follow Kratos into battle against a series of fearsome characters from Greek mythology.
Sony describes it as "an adult-rated, fast-paced bloodbath – and enormous fun to boot", adding that it is "bigger, better and as brutal as ever".
One reviewer said the title featured "the most brutal, visceral combat of any action game".
Former Minister Keith Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester East and a long-time campaigner against violent computer games, branded the stunt "distasteful and irresponsible".
He said: "The slaughter of animals is not something that should be done to advertise a product.
"Sony as a global entertainment company has a social responsibility. At this event it failed in that responsibility.
"I think people should think very carefully before bringing games like this into their homes.
"I would understand if customers wanted to boycott other Sony products such as their televisions because of this controversy."
Sony, based in Japan and run by Welshman Sir Howard Stringer, is one of the largest media organisations in the world, boasting global revenues of £40billion from electronics, video games, music, television programmes and feature films – including Spider-Man 3 and Casino Royale.
It is regarded, along with Coca-Cola, Nike and Mercedes-Benz, as one of the world's most valuable brands.
The company, which released the game in the UK on Friday, admitted that the stunt had been a mistake. In a statement it said: "Sony does not condone or sanction any inappropriate behaviour by its staff or sub-contracted staff.
"It has come to our attention that at the God Of War II launch showcase, an element of the event was of an unsuitable nature.
"We are conducting an internal inquiry into aspects of the event in order to learn from the occurrence and put into place measures to ensure that this does not happen again."
The party was held last month in Athens in homage to the game's Greek mythology themes. Revellers partied against the floodlit backdrop of the Parthenon.
The Sony spokesman said the animal had not been slaughtered for the event but had been bought from a local butcher by the Greek company hired to stage the event.
What purported to be warm intestines was actually warm offal.
He said Sony's UK office had been shocked to see the report in the official PlayStation magazine, which the company licenses to publishing house Future. Sony is this weekend recalling the entire 80,000 print run of the magazine.
The offending article will be removed because of the "sensitivity of the general public over issues of animal welfare".
The firm refused to say how the goat died. It is unusual for animals in modern Greece to be killed by having their throats cut, let alone by being decapitated.
It is not the first time Sony has been involved in controversy over its games. In 2004, the PlayStation 2 game Manhunt was banned by High Street stores in the UK after it was linked to the murder of a 14-year-old Leicester boy.
Last September the relatives of a family massacred by a New Mexico teenager addicted to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City launched a £317million lawsuit against the entertainment company.
And in November, Europe's justice commissioner Franco Frattini was so shocked by the "obscene cruelty and brutality" of Sony's Rule Of Rose PlayStation game that he wrote to all EU governments urging tighter controls on the "dreadful game".
Barbecue Young goat
Barbecue Sauce
2 cup water
1 tbsp sugar
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp oregano
6 whole cloves
3 carrots, diced
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1. Cut a very young goat (8 to 12 lbs) into serving pieces. Wash and dry pieces
and place in an open pan in a 350° oven. Cook for 20 minutes using a meat
thermometer, making sure internal temperature reaches 160°.
2. Prepare barbecue sauce. Simmer for 30 minutes. Baste cabrito with sauce
every 15 to 20 minutes for 2 hours or until meat is very tender.
Hey, where’s the sensitivity over Japanese culture?
They should have killed it in the bathtub as part of the entertainment. Wait, maybe they should have ....
What perversion. This is so sick.
Too bad. Someone made a horrible choice there. That being said, the game is FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!
LMAO! I mean... that’s horrible for the goat, no really it is. But I can’t stop laughing at Sony’s refusal to admit that their day is done, and Microsoft totally owns them. Let’s see comparative sales between 360 and PS3. I rest my case
You forgot the mashed 'taters-n-gravy. AND the salad. What, NO bread?
Shame on you!
giggle........
A little odd, but I remember when my family was in Portugal for a month back in 1974, they had live rabbits and other animals at the market. You could either have it hung up and slaughtered on the spot, and then take the pieces home with you, or you could take it home live, put it in a pen in the backyard, and kill it when you wanted to eat it.
Our little villa had several pens in the backyard for this purpose. They didn’t have refrigerators in those days.
We do some local slaughtering of animals sold to friends here in Vermont. I bought half a pig from a friend, and took a lesson on how to brine the belly and smoke it for bacon.
What really made me angry with Sony was that damned rootkit business on some of their video DVDs. Goats I can deal with.
Sony's goat thing or what - ?
Just wondering.......
Well, the throwing knives at targets is fun.
A non-sensical statement.
Intestines are offal
Offal: noun
: the viscera and trimmings of a butchered animal removed in dressing
These antics just show the desperation of a company whose heyday is long gone.
Barbecue Sauce
2 cup water
1 tbsp sugar
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp oregano
6 whole cloves
3 carrots, diced
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1. Cut a very OLD goat (NO HELEN THOMAS JOKES HERE) into serving pieces. Wash and dry pieces
and place IN A LARGE PAPER BAG in a 350° oven. Cook for 20 minutes using a meat
thermometer, making sure internal temperature reaches 160°.
2. Prepare barbecue sauce. Simmer for 30 minutes. Baste the PAPER BAG with sauce
every 1 to 2 minutes for 2 hours or until meat is very tender.
3. Discard the meat....Eat the Paper Bag...(Works well with Lake Trout too...AKA Togue...Just dont add the carrots)
Maybe they’ll all come down with mad goat disease. Hey, sounds like a good theme for a game! Let’s roll it, Sony. You sick puppies, you.
we must respect Sony’s lifestyle choices. /sarc?
Yeah, this is far worse than, say, muslims cutting off the heads of innocents.
you have got to try making your own ham - its easy
www.sausagemaker.com
“”How about eating still warm intestines uncoiled from the carcass of a freshly slaughtered goat? At the party to celebrate God Of War II’s European release, members of the Press were invited to do just that . . .”
Members of the press are all too often mere presstitutes and deserve any indignities heaped upon their little pointy heads.
“GoatGuts - the Breakfast of Presstitutes.”
Apologies to Wheaties.
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