Tribalwar

Sony launches PlayStation 'Home' Virtual Community

Submitted by: DVADER @ 10:04 AM | Thursday, December 11, 2008 | (url: http://money.cnn....)

Sony Corp.'s much delayed virtual community for owners of its PlayStation 3 game console will start worldwide Thursday, but it's unlikely to attract many newcomers to the machine, company officials said.

The free-of-charge PlayStation Home service is mainly meant to make gaming more fun for people who already own the PS3, they said.

Junji "JB" Shoda, a Sony Computer Entertainment Japan vice president, who oversees Home, said Wednesday the service isn't meant to rival virtual worlds like Linden Lab's "Second Life," which can be played on personal computers and has drawn millions of people.

Strong October NPD defies market plunge

Submitted by: DudeofDeath @ 11:34 AM | Friday, November 14, 2008 | (url: http://www.gamesp...)

US gaming industry sees 18 percent year-over-year growth to $1.31 billion; Fable II tops software, Wii retains hardware crown, while Xbox 360 outsells PS3 nearly 2 to 1.

TOP-SELLING HARDWARE - OCTOBER 2008
Wii--803,000
Nintendo DS--491,000
Xbox 360--371,000
PlayStation Portable--193,000
PlayStation 3--190,000
PlayStation 2--136,000

3 new MGS4 Trailers

Submitted by: KnightMare @ 03:48 PM | Tuesday, May 13, 2008 | (url: http://kotaku.com...)

3 new MGS4 trailers from the game's wrap party in Japan today.

Analyst: HD DVD demise hasn't meant scramble for Blu-ray

Submitted by: DudeofDeath @ 07:56 PM | Wednesday, April 30, 2008 | (url: http://news.yahoo...)

(AP) -- Sales of Blu-ray disc players haven't been helped by maker Toshiba's capitulation over producing the rival HD DVD format, research firm NPD Group said Wednesday.

PlayStation "Home" Delayed again

Submitted by: DudeofDeath @ 09:24 AM | Wednesday, April 23, 2008 | (url: http://www.msnbc....)

"Home" had originally been scheduled for launch in late 2007 but was delayed until early 2008. Now Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. plans to open up an early version of the virtual universe in the second half of 2008.

The delay is another setback to Sony, which has much riding on the PS3 but faces fierce competition from Microsoft's XBox 360 and Nintendo's Wii.

PS3 to Support DTS-HD Master Audio

Submitted by: DudeofDeath @ 10:51 PM | Thursday, April 10, 2008 | (url: http://www.dailyt...)

"Further cementing its reputation for being the most capable and versatile Blu-ray Disc player on the market, an upcoming PlayStation 3 firmware update will introduce DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio support to the console". - Daily Tech

Hands-On with Metal Gear Solid 4

Submitted by: KnightMare @ 12:14 PM | Thursday, April 3, 2008 | (url: http://www.gamepr...)

Nestled in the snowy heart of Nasu, Japan, Konami and Kojima Productions recently held a secret "boot camp" where the companies showed off a nearly complete version of the anticipated PlayStation 3 action-epic Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Only a handful of gaming insiders were invited, but GamePro was there to get exclusive access to an enormous portion of the game. This is our report, complete with extensive hands-on impressions.


skip to the gameplay videos:
http://www.gamepro.com/sony/ps3/games/previews/173928.shtml

[PS360] GTA IV Multiplayer Modes

Submitted by: Evil Light Bulb @ 11:40 AM | Friday, March 14, 2008 | (url: http://www.gta4.n...)

Compared to the previous games GTA IV will be looking to significantly expand its base multiplayer options. This time around up to 16 players will be able to play together in 15 multiplayer modes ranging from Races to Cops N Crooks. All of these modes will feature a robust set of customizable options that can be set by the host. Players will also be able to fully customize their online characters so there won't be 16 Nikos running around.

If the game hits PCs as expected later this year these built in features will no doubt be a boon to the mod community.

[PS3] 80GB BC MGS4 DS3 = $499.99

Submitted by: Evil Light Bulb @ 03:36 PM | Tuesday, February 26, 2008 | (url: http://blog.us.pl...)

Sony made several announcements today sure to receive varying levels of enthusiasm. First, the Dual Shock 3 will hit store shelves in April (to coincide with GT5:P) and will retail at $54.99. They followed that up by anouncing a red God of War PSP bundle that will arrive in March. Finally, they unveiled the follow-up to the now defunct 80GB sku. A new sku with the same semi-hardware backwards compatibility, Dual Shock 3 packed in AND Metal Gear Solid 4 included. This bundle will be available starting mid-June.

[NPD - JAN] PS3 Outsells Everything. Nearly, Wii Included.

Submitted by: Evil Light Bulb @ 11:10 AM | Friday, February 15, 2008 | (url: http://www.gamasu...)

Hardware:

Wii - 274K (from 1.35 million)
PlayStation 3 - 269K (from 798K)
Nintendo DS - 251K (from 2.47 million)
PSP - 230K (from 1.06 million)
Xbox 360 - 230K (from 1.26 million)


Software:

The full rundown is as follows:

1. Call of Duty 4 (Xbox 360, Activision) - 330.9K
2. Wii Play w/remote (Wii, Nintendo) - 298.1K
3. Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock w/guitar (Wii, Activision) - 239.6K
4. Rock Band (Xbox 360, MTV/Harmonix) - 183.8K
5. Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock w/guitar (Xbox 360, Neversoft/Activision) - 182.7K
6. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, Nintendo) - 172K
7. Burnout Paradise (Xbox 360, EA) - 144.1K
8. Call of Duty 4 (Xbox 360, Activision) - 140K
9. Mario Party (DS, Nintendo) - 138.5K
10. Mario and Sonic: Olympic

Activision Announces GHIII: Aerosmith

Submitted by: SpenXcore @ 11:30 AM | Friday, February 15, 2008 | (url: http://www.psu.co...)

New GHIII expansion due this June.

EA and NFL to Fuck Exclusively

Submitted by: Evil Light Bulb @ 01:21 PM | Tuesday, February 12, 2008 | (url: http://blog.wired...)

Apparently comfortable with the current exclusivity arrangement, EA and the NFL have extended the relationship until 2013. This means no triumphant NFL return for the 2K series among other things. Right now the only alternatives appear to be BCFE and the Euphoria based 'Backbreaker.' Supposedly the makers of the Euphoria engine were in talks with EA to try and get something done for the Madden series.

Cell (PS3) now 45nm

Submitted by: KnightMare @ 10:27 AM | Friday, February 8, 2008 | (url: http://arstechnic...)

The 45nm Cell will use about 40 percent less power than its 65nm predecessor, and its die area will be reduced by 34 percent. The greatly reduced power budget will cut down on the amount of active cooling required by the console, which in turn will make it cheaper to produce and more reliable (this means fewer warrantied returns). Also affecting Sony's per-unit cost is the reduction in overall die size. A smaller die means a smaller, cheaper package; it also means that yields will be better and that each chip will cost less overall.

[PS3 - Rumor] New 120GB + DS3 Coming

Submitted by: Evil Light Bulb @ 09:42 AM | Monday, January 28, 2008 | (url: http://arstechnic...)

""Sony is, in fact, phasing out the 80GB PS3. Sony is going to stay with the two-SKU approach though, and the prices look to stay the same," the mole told me. I heard sirens in the background, and the mole seemed nervous. "The Spiderman 3 pack-in will disappear as well once the 80GB unit is gone. In order to maintain a similar value proposition to the 80GB/Spiderman 3 bundle, I expect to see a storage increase to 120 or 160GB at the same price point, plus the new Dual-Shock 3 controller... what are you trying to accomplish with this story?""

The person behind this information has so far been correct on forecasting the 360 bundled games, $400 40GB PS3, 360 HDMI revisions, and Rock Band pricing.

Blu-ray to win in 2008, HD DVD price cuts are "useless resistance"

Submitted by: GlassShadow @ 04:35 PM | Monday, January 28, 2008 | (url: http://www.engadg...)

Gartner, the fat lady of research firms, is singing HD DVD's swan song this morning.
"Gartner believes that Toshiba's price-cutting may prolong HD DVD's life a little, but the limited line-up of film titles will inflict fatal damage on the format." ... "Gartner expects that, by the end of 2008, Blu-ray will be the winning format in the consumer market, and the war will be over."