Sony was very quick to announce to the world when it won an Emmy award from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences… or so it had thought.

Australian blog Hydrapinion tracked down a couple representatives from the NATAS to get an explanation of the award. The blogger was first told that the SIXAXIS had indeed won the award, and it was based on a panel, not from a submission by Sony itself.

While the information about the panel may be the true, the SIXAXIS part may not be. A follow-up from another NATAS representative had this to say:

I understand you had contacted Cheryl Daly, Director of Communications at NATAS to confirm if Sony won for their PS3 controller. This is incorrect, Sony won for their dual shock analog controller. The award is from the Video Game Technology Group. It was nominated by our internal group and considered along with the Nintendo D-Pad both of which were considered Emmy worthy for the development of the generation of controllers that followed the classic joysticks.

I would like to confirm that Sony did not win for their PS3 controller, they won for their Dual Shock Analog controller.

So how do you like that? The award is based on the original DualShock released for the PSone back in 1997. The award category is “Peripheral Development and Technological Impact of Video Game Controllers,” and Sony isn’t the only winner. Nintendo also holds a spot, though it’s not specified exactly which controller is receiving the award, as all Nintendo systems came with a d-pad.

Ah, but wait! A gaming fansite submitted its own inquiry to SCEA for clarification, and a Sony PR representative had only this to say:

It was the SIXAXIS. The press release was correct.

Great, so we’re now more confused than ever. Clear as mud. I’ve already fired off a few messages to my contacts at Sony and NATAS to get to the bottom of this. Watch this space for updates.

There is one thing that Sony can clearly claim victory, but didn’t, is its win for its Xross Media Bar interface found in the PSP and PS3 in the category “Outstanding Innovation and Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for the Best Use of Personal Media Display and Presentation Technology.” I wonder why they never announced that.

See the full awards and winners list here.

Update 01/10/2007: Sony issued a statement to DailyTech regarding the award.