"Avatars displayed to a user, in response to user gestures in the real world, e.g. in response to manipulation of a game controller or other such expedient [PlayStation Eye or wand-based motion control?—Ed], may toss tomatoes that stick to the actor's face or bounce off the actor's face and roll along a table that appears in the movie or television show."

The virtual avatars would be overlaid just like Joel Robinson's silhouette in Mystery Science Theater 3000. In fact, the patent application actually mentions the cult U.S comedy series.

"The avatar of the audience member 39a is now out of its seat, has rushed up to the actor in the scene, and has kicked the actor in the behind while the target is still displayed. The first participant to accomplish this may be awarded points…The kicked individual may be displaced or the portion of the body that is kicked may respond. Key to this aspect of the invention is modeling the physics and the interaction of the impacting object, e.g. the duck and the underlying object, e.g. the water, in a way that is realistic. Known game technology techniques can be used to accomplish this modeling."

Sony's patent also mentions the possibility of overlaying advertising like Nike and Coke logos. Come to think of it, being able to throw tomatoes at ads might actually get me to stop skipping them. At least until the novelty wears off. Either way, crazy stuff, no? [USPTO via Silicon Era via Kotaku]

As everyone knows, Sony is a hardware company. But when making the PlayStation(s), they've become a software company as well. The problem came from the fact that they didn't know whether they're a software company or a hardware company or even both, which influenced the way the PS3 was developed. In this case, the hardware guys developed the console fairly independently then dumped it onto the software guy's lap, effectively saying "do something with it." In essence, as Tretton says, the PS3 was not developed in collaboration between the two teams. As a result of this, the software team has been cleaning up the mess made by the hardware team for years.

This is one of the biggest problems with Sony as a whole. Their UI designs are not as good as they could be because much of the company still sees themselves as a hardware force first and a software firm second. Hopefully with previous boss Ken Kutaragi out and guys like Kaz Hirai and Jack Tretton influencing development on the sure-to-be-upcoming PlayStation 4, things will be better in the next generation.

Come on, let's get out of the gutter and go on home.

The truth is, in the world of gadget writing, PR people and editors are not working against each other. Quite the contrary. There's a symbiotic relationship between the two factions. It's their job to give us information, and its our job to filter it, skeptically, with as much analysis that can be mustered. The overlapping goal is to get information out to readers as quickly and accurately as possible. Hopefully by way of a scoop for Gizmodo. Usually, this is fine and good. But this time, a line has been crossed.

To Sony: I know you've gone to great lengths to control the information about the projects you've worked on. But these are your loose lips, and we're just doing our jobs. And if you'd just look at the bigger picture, buzz is far more valuable than whatever the marketing machine can dream up. This is gossip! People love this shit. Don't fight it. Anyhow, the damning move you're pulling on Kotaku does nothing but alienate the press and readers you hope to win over, and confirms the rumor as having legs. Legs like a robot racehorse being jockeyed by Heidi Klum. My god, that is so sexy.

To Brian, Editor at Kotaku, and a friend and colleague: I'm proud of what you've done, and I don't think you had any choice but to burn this bridge. The conditions they threw down were unacceptable. Rest easy knowing that Kotaku is fast enough that you can be on top of any story within 2 minutes of embargoes lifting. You don't need them. But I know you did value the relationship you'd built with them over hundreds of fair posts, rumor and otherwise.

I'm sure things will fix themselves in time. Sometimes splits like these need to happen to redefine the boundaries between PR and edit. God bless the freedom of the press, even on such a silly topic as gadgets and gaming. As you read our words and this post, remember the time Kotaku and Giz worked on the PS3 launch in sync, with units you shipped out to us with great haste? Wasn't that great fun? Let's hope days like these are ahead of us, too.–Brian Lam

Sony Blackballs Kotaku [Kotaku]