Lik Sang Out Of Business.........

[Negativecreep0]

They are shutting down and site sony as the reason. www.liksang.com

check it out!

[ChadTower]

I've bought many things from them.  Sad day.

[Lilwolf]

yeah... it sucks..

too bad they wouldn't back down on selling specific items that they knew where going to get them in trouble....

They where GREAT for other items

[RayB]

Wow, that's really underhanded. Childish even. I believe the purpose of this is strictly to create ill-will towards Sony.

They aren't really shutting down. They will re-appear under a new name, same address. They sell alot more than just Sony products.

[ChadTower]

Yeah, but the cost of defending themselves against Sony was probably very high.  Lawsuits have nothing to do with merit and everything to do with who has bigger lawyers in their pants.

[Fat_Trucker]

Interestingly though, Sony launched the case at the High Court in London, citing 'safety concerns' as their reason for bringing the suit, stating that Lik-Sang were selling hardware that didn't conform to European safety standards.

However, when ordered from Lik-Sang, these items ship with all the relevant (approved) power adapters etc.
Sony won the suit on this premise, when its clear the motivation behind it was to secure control of the territorial markets. This could be construed as a monopolistic practice (particularly if its proven that the case was brought under a false pretense) which is meant to be illegal over here.

Added to the fact that the PS3 (when its finally released over here in March) is going to cost £425 (about $800) without a game, with games retailing at £49.99 (about $95) each, which is far more than just about everyone I know is willing to pay, when the 360 offers virtually the same experience at half the price.

[releasedtruth]

I like my Sony products, hard not to, but they ran Bleem! out of business and that did make me sad. Metal Gear Solid for dreamcast was so good. Lik-sang was the only place to get half the crazy case mods, japanese controllers, etc.

[leapinlew]

Sony is doing nothing but getting bad press:

Sony Root Kit
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html

PS3 Delayed over and over
http://news.com.com/2061-10797_3-6041208.html

Sony batteries exploding everywhere
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15254251/

Blu Ray sucks
http://bluraysucks.com/

Honorable Mentions:
PSP Sales stink
UMD format never takes hold
Sony Memory Stick is overpriced and underutilized

Probably the worst thing to happen to Sonys stock was when SNAAKE couldn't get the proper firmware on his PSP and dramatic hilarity ensues:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=57602.0

Yes sir... hard times for Sony fanboys

[DarkBubble]

Sony's been a bit too 80's Nintendo in their business practices.  Probably about time they were brought down a few notches.  Given their history with shotty launch consoles and the fact that they're , I've got a feeling that the PS3 will become the worst case of warranty repairs they've ever faced.  I wouldn't doubt there's some large runs of bad game discs too.

[Grasshopper]

That's a real shame. I've bought items from Lik-Sang on several occasions and I've always found them an easy company to deal with, and they sell quirky items that you just can't get elsewhere.

It's clearly a disgraceful abuse of the legal process. Sony seem to be behaving as badly as Micro$oft these days.

It looks like like my next console might end up being a generic PC with TV out running a version of Linux.

[ahofle]

It's clearly a disgraceful abuse of the legal process. Sony seem to be behaving as badly as Micro$oft these days.

My thoughts exactly. 

[lloydcom]

It's real nice to know that a company can control its stock once it has left the warehouse.  Its also interesting to know that if I bought a PSP from Lik Sang with all its proper European adapters, that Sony would not cover the item with a warranty.

I cannot say I was Lik Sang's customer of the month, but I was in the market for a Topgun, and now I have to wait until another company sells them.

I was also in the market for a PSP, but now knowing Sony's intentions towards the gaming community I think I will pass.  Nintendo will be getting my business from now on. 

I do not condone the use of mod chips or any modifications to use pirated software, and they did stock them, but these items could have been avoided or dropped, and Lik Sang could have continued trading.

So sorry to see you go Lik Sang, but we will be waiting to buy from you again, when you have the company name changed.

[GoPodular.com]

If Sony is selling the stuff to Lik-Sang... aren't they getting their money anyhow?  It's not like they were fake.

I don't see the point Sony is trying to make.

[Fozzy The Bear]

I cannot say I was Lik Sang's customer of the month, but I was in the market for a Topgun, and now I have to wait until another company sells them.

WHY???  You can buy them direct from the manufacturer... for less money and cheaper shipping than you got from Lik Sang.

Although I have to agree that Sony have commited a dreadful abuse of the legal system if their grounds were as stated.

Although the curious thing to note on this is that a case brought in the UK courts can not be prosecuted and enforced against a company trading in another country, let alone on another continent.  They can't be fined or have to pay damages to Sony based on this ruling because UK Law does NOT apply in China!! and there is nothing and nobody who can stop them continuing to supply goods by mail to UK customers. UNLESS! Sony took out the same case in Lik Sang's own country... (Which in any case they would lose).

SO given the above...... Lik Sang giving this as the excuse for closing, is actually nonsense. There is much more to this than they are saying, no doubt the true story will emerge at some point.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[patrickl]

Well, if they sell/sold to customers in the UK couldn't that be deemed illegal and brought to court in the UK?

[Fozzy The Bear]

Well, if they sell/sold to customers in the UK couldn't that be deemed illegal and brought to court in the UK?

You can't proscecute the customer for buying it! The item in itself is NOT Illegal.

You can bring any case you like to court..... It doesn't mean that any ruling reached by a Judge can actually be applied in another jurisdiction. In this case on an entirely different continent, with entirely different laws.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[RandyT]

It's possible that their main market was the UK (or EU) and Sony could have gotten customs to seize all Lik-Sang goods heading in those directions.  That probably would have been devastating for them.

Pretty sad nonetheless.

RandyT

[Fozzy The Bear]

It's possible that their main market was the UK (or EU) and Sony could have gotten customs to seize all Lik-Sang goods heading in those directions. 

We've actually seen cases like that before in the UK..... UK Customs would refuse to do that on the grounds that the costs would be astronomical (and who's going to pay for it), and in fact under UK Law the Courts could not rule that they should do it either.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[Howard_Casto]

Sony's been a bit too 80's Nintendo in their business practices. 

Now hold on... this is comparing apples to oranges.  Nintendo has always offered a reliable product and quality games for a reasonable price.  This has never been true of sony. 

Whenever sony gets bad press I do my little dance of glee.  Their sucess in the market has soley been due to them standing on the backs of giants (and not giving the giants any credit or money) and sheer luck.  I won't shed a tear when sony's gaming division finally goes out of business. 

The lik sang thing is just another example of sony thinking their poo doesn't stink and they can do whatever the heck they want. 

I love how Sony responds with "it's not our fault" and then you read that they did indeed sue lik sang but claim wasn't their fault because sang didn't show up.  What kind of backwards logic is that?  It'd be like me rapeing a girl and then saying I was innocent because she didn't fight back. 

Sony not everybody has the cash you do, they probably didn't defened themselves because they knew they wouldn't have the funds to take you on. 

[Gambit]

Sony's been a bit too 80's Nintendo in their business practices.

Nintendo was the best thing that could happen to the home arcade scene in the 80's.

They came into the scene with a quality product with quality games. Much different then what everyone else was doing. Such as Atari who seemed to just flood the market with as many games as fast as possible, most of which no better than pong.

And lets not forget Nintendos greatest gift to the home arcade machine industry..... The thumbpad controller.

[leapinlew]

Sony's been a bit too 80's Nintendo in their business practices.

Nintendo was the best thing that could happen to the home arcade scene in the 80's.

They came into the scene with a quality product with quality games. Much different then what everyone else was doing. Such as Atari who seemed to just flood the market with as many games as fast as possible, most of which no better than pong.

And lets not forget Nintendos greatest gift to the home arcade machine industry..... The thumbpad controller.

You have some misleading information there that I would like to point out as false. There were definetly some junk cartridges made for the Atari system - but most of them were not made by Atari. Atari allowed anyone to make a game for their system. It was an open platform. The result was lots of companies creating crap just to make a buck.

I'll agree with you that they were junk games though! Nintendo games were far superior graphically and playability.

As for the controller... they were first to popularize the thumpad controller. They also produced more goofy controllers than anyone else. Glove, Robot, etc. They aren't afraid to take a gamble.

While I love nintendo... I loved my atari first!

[ChadTower]

Atari allowed anyone to make a game for their system. It was an open platform.

It was not an open platform.  They sued the crap out of the first third party developers (Activision was the big one).  The end result was Activision winning but (IIRC) having to pay a royalty for each copy sold, leading eventually to the licensing schemes that developers use today.

[leapinlew]

Atari allowed anyone to make a game for their system. It was an open platform.

It was not an open platform.  They sued the crap out of the first third party developers (Activision was the big one).  The end result was Activision winning but (IIRC) having to pay a royalty for each copy sold, leading eventually to the licensing schemes that developers use today.

your right.... kind of. I definetly should have choosen my language more carefully. Here is a good history of the 2600 if your interested in doing some reading on the worlds best system! 

http://www.classicgaming.com/museum/2600/

[DarkBubble]

For all the years of being considered a kiddy company and the recent innovations, Nintendo was once a cutthroat company who didn't like to play fair.  They kept a stranglehold on developers and distributors.  They forced developers to tweak their games to fit the mappers that they used in cartridges outside of Japan, often resulting in downgraded audio and visuals in the process.  They sued unlicensed 3rd party developers and took Galoob to court over the Game Genie.

[Rudi]

Is there anywhere else where I can get a pair of LCD Topguns?  That's the last control I need for my next cab, and was about to buy one next month.  Shows you what happens when you wait.....

-Rudi

[ahofle]

See Fozzy's post above.

[ften]

Sony's been a bit too 80's Nintendo in their business practices. 

Now hold on... this is comparing apples to oranges.  Nintendo has always offered a reliable product and quality games for a reasonable price.  This has never been true of Sony. 

Whenever sony gets bad press I do my little dance of glee.  Their sucess in the market has soley been due to them standing on the backs of giants (and not giving the giants any credit or money) and sheer luck.  I won't shed a tear when sony's gaming division finally goes out of business. 

The lik sang thing is just another example of sony thinking their poo doesn't stink and they can do whatever the heck they want. 

I love how Sony responds with "it's not our fault" and then you read that they did indeed sue lik sang but claim wasn't their fault because sang didn't show up.  What kind of backwards logic is that?  It'd be like me rapeing a girl and then saying I was innocent because she didn't fight back. 

Sony not everybody has the cash you do, they probably didn't defened themselves because they knew they wouldn't have the funds to take you on. 

Amusingly Sony filed suit against Lik-Sang in 2 differnt courts, 1 in Hong Kong and 1 in the UK at the same time. Sony fails to mention that in there "Sour Grapes" release.
http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3900
Some days it's great being a big company, misrepersent information, and sue happy and have the money to back it up.
Also on another note someone else mentioned, I'm pretty sure Lik-Sang stopped selling mod chips and pirate backup (Not counting the GBAMP) tools a while ago.

-tom

[Rudi]

Alright.  Who is the manufacturer?

Rudi

[DarkBubble]

Also on another note someone else mentioned, I'm pretty sure Lik-Sang stopped selling mod chips and pirate backup (Not counting the GBAMP) tools a while ago.

Around 2 years ago, I thought.  Last things even close that I remember seeing would have been the DC-X boot disk and maybe the Region-X DVD region bypass disk for movie playback on PS2.

I'd have bought from them a long time ago if not for the shipping costs.  I kept finding all of these neat little bits for next to nothing but even after adding it all up, it would have cost more in shipping than the sum of the prices.

[u_rebelscum]

Sony's been a bit too 80's Nintendo in their business practices.

For all the years of being considered a kiddy company and the recent innovations, Nintendo was once a cutthroat company who didn't like to play fair.  They kept a stranglehold on developers and distributors.  They forced developers to tweak their games to fit the mappers that they used in cartridges outside of Japan, often resulting in downgraded audio and visuals in the process.  They sued unlicensed 3rd party developers and took Galoob to court over the Game Genie.

I remember that.

And lets not forget Nintendos greatest gift to the home arcade machine industry..... The thumbpad controller.

I know most like 'em but personally, I don't like thumbpads.  No, let me restate that: I bought arcade stick controllers for all the consoles I have owned, and will use a thumbpad/gamepad only if I need too (such as: at a friends house and want to be social and play a game with 'em), or for testing inputs in mame, or hacked into a real stick.  [shrug]