Boy, 12, wants tips, gets phone sex

Thursday 21 June 2007
When 12-year-old Ammon Bricker from Moses Lake, Washington, found himself stuck on Ratchet & Clank he decided to call the tip line number printed on the PS2 game's disc in the hope that it could offer him a helping hand. Instead of being enlightened with a solution, however, Bricker found himself being offered a selection of sexual services.

"It said for tips and hints, call this number," Bricker toldKNDU news. "So I called it and it turned out it was a recycled number." Instead of getting hints on how to nab golden bolts, the young gamer heard the following message: "You have reached the hottest 900 line in the country, where you can now pick the service of your choice."

When Ammon told his mum, Margo Myers, what had happened she explained that her initial feeling of surprise turned into "a bit of anger". Myers took the matter up with Sony, who told her that the number had been defunct as a tips line for about two years and that it was no longer responsible for it.

Unfortunately, KNDU didn't report whether Bricker has managed to progress further in Ratchet & Clank since his accidental brush with telephone pornography, although we hope he manages to beat the platformer-cum-shooter without encounteringany more sticky spots.