There's Something Wrong With My PlayStation 2

People seem to have unreasonably high expectations for the redemption of this post-Obama America we now live in--we'll be catapulted into a new golden economic era powered by Top Chef discussions, racism will get punched in the neck so hard our collective colorblindness will render traffic lights useless, milk will cease going bad, etc.--but it would be perilous for us to lose sight of the fact that, in good times and bad, people are effin' shady. Reminding us of this infallibly consistent truth, Joystiq ran some incredible images taken by an anonymous source who works at one of Sony's distribution centers. What you're looking at here are, ahem, “PlayStation 2 consoles” that people have returned to retailers, who then ship them off to Sony for compensation. Take special note of the sneer quotes in that last sentence, as it should require, I dunno, no more than one eyeball and half a lobe to deduce that the objets d'scam seem below are not, in fact, Genuine Sony PlayStation 2 Computer Entertainment Systems.

I really love the all-wood PlayStation 2, because someone took the care of placing an actual PS2 serial number sticker on the back, as though someone wouldn't be tipped off to the system's questionable authenticity by the fact that it's MADE OF WOOD. And, hey, smaller carbon footprint! The obvious thing here would be to blame overworked, underpaid, and understandably indifferent retail workers for allowing these to slip through, but has anyone considered a grand conspiracy between return-counter clerks and a vast network of DIY consumer electronics counterfeiters? No? Yeah, you're probably right.