Sony rumoured to be planning closure of major division next month

There are rumours that Sony is going to close a major division after the Consumer Electronics Show, a rumour that Sony has denied. The source of the rumour is the Times of London, which contends that Sony is going to announce the closure of factories and major divisions early next month.

Of course, gaming is one of Sony's major divisions, but even if this rumour turns out to be true, I doubt that Sony's going to close its PlayStation group. It's an incredibly strong brand, with the PS2 still going strong. I suspect that the economical climate will have an impact on the PS3's eventual successor, with fewer high tech, high end features, but given the success that Sony has had with PlayStation since the PS1, I'd be genuinely surprised if they did shut down the division.

Reuters via Kotaku

Related Posts:
Home entering open beta tomorrow
Sony has £50,000 for PSN prototypes

Sony making a bit less of a loss on PS3 - console now costs $448.73 to build

An investigation by tech research company iSuppli has estimated that it costs Sony $448.73 to build a single PlayStation3. The standard price of the entry level machine is the US is $399.

We are not businessmen, but that doesn't sound like the sort of deal Alan Sugar would sign off with much enthusiasm.

This is at least a staggering drop from the estimated $800-or-so it's believed to have cost Sony to stuff a blu-ray drive and all other electronic bits into PS3 back in 2006 when it launched in the US and Japan, so there's something Sony executives can put on a graph and make look impressive - "We are now losing less money than ever!"

No plans for a PSP2- David Reeves

We might have to wait a while for a sucessor to the PSP, according to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss David Reeves. "...there are currently no plans for a PSP2" he said, speaking to MCV. "I go to Tokyo quite a lot and no one has referred to it - I think they have their hands full at the moment."

It makes sense. At the moment, there isn't a need to update the PSP hardware. Sony designed the handheld to be the most powerful one on the market and it currently has few contenders on that front. It also sold the PSP as a multimedia player, and it's still more than powerful enough to play high quality music and video. While I still don't think that the PSP's design really lends itself well to good handheld gaming, I don't currently see what Sony's rationale would be in releasing a new one, not to mention the rather sad news that Sony's losing 8,000 workers form its electronics division.

via Kotaku

Related Posts:
2009 will be year of the PSP, says Sony
Resistance 2 to feature cunning Resistance PSP synergy

Latest American PS3 ad is surprisingly good

Few can deny that Sony puts a lot of effort into their ads. Some of them, like the one showing the PS3 octopus/city thingie, work quite well. Others, like the This is Living campaign, seem to be so intent on being hip and viral that they forget to sell the console. This latest effort gets the balance just right. Great production values, a little odd, but most importantly you get to see the games that Sony's trying to sell you.

via PS3Fanboy

Related Posts:
Game breaking glitch found in LittleBigPlanet
Check out twenty minutes of Heavy Rain

The PS2 is now an "open platform" in Europe

In a surprisingly canny move, Sony has declared that the PS2 is an "open platform" in Europe. Before you had to get official approval from Sony to get a game release, but that's no longer the case. You'll still have to have a PS2 dev kit to develop games, although Sony apparently lends them out. In practice, this means it's a lot cheaper for indie developers to make games for the substantial PS2 user base.

It's a smart idea. No doubt we'll get some more dubious stuff appearing- I don't give it long before some developer tries to cobble together a porn title- but there's also the chance we'll see some really great indie stuff appearing. It's a good way of giving a little more life to a console. Of course, you still have to have a fair amount of cash to cover publishing and distribution, but the barriers to entry have definitely been lowered.

GameDaily via CVG

Related Posts:
2009 will be year of the PSP, says Sony
PS3 Firmware 2.5 is live, adds Flash 9 support

2009 will be year of the PSP, says Sony

Sony's marketing machine is in full swing, with PlayStation Canada marketing manger Mark Levitan stating that "...2009 is going to be the year of the PSP."

"We have Resistance: Retribution coming in February but I've seen a lot of the stuff in development and it is not a mistake by any means to a buy a PSP now."

To be honest, I'm still not that sold on the idea of the PSP. Technically, it's an amazing piece of kit, capable of some fantastic graphical feats. But the design of the console seems to encourage PS2 style console games which simply don't work as well on a handheld. Good portable games can't work in the same way that console blockbusters can. They have to be instantly playable and not demand long play sessions. I'm looking forward to seeing the next batch of stuff, but I'm hoping that it'll be properly geared towards the portable format.

here via CVG

PSP joins forces with FON WiFi community in Japan

Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has just announced that it will be teaming up with FON to provide free WiFi access to PSP users. FON is a free hotspot community, which works by having members share their connections out to each other, creating a large network of freely accessible wireless access points.

The PSPxFON collaboration opens up around 44,000 hotspots in Japan, including some 2,200 in Tokyo. Should be handy for browsing the internet as well as "downloading demos, clips and wallpapers".

FON is by no means limited to Japan though - BT shares a similar partnership with the service here in the UK. With a bit of luck and if the strategy proves a success, Sony might even consider taking the collaboration worldwide. We'll keep you posted.

(via Edge)

Related posts: Europe to get VidZone music video on PS3 / PSP | PSP Go!View arrives

Rumour: Phil Harrison buggered off because of the PS4?

According to VG247, 'highly placed sources' within Sony have let slip of the real reason why Phil Harrison decided to call time on his Sony career. And oddly, it's because of the PS4.

"He could see he was about to get involved in another PlayStation cycle, and obviously wanted something new," said the unnamed source. "The same thing was happening again and he'd been through it enough times to want to move on."

It sounds logical that Harrison might just be a bit sick of the whole thing by now, and him coming out and saying he's taking off because of the PS4 wouldn't have exactly helped sales of the PS3.

Then again, this could be one those 'unnamed source' things that's a big old load of crap. Thankfully this blog thing lets me get away with posting that kind of thing. Phew.

Source: VG247
Related posts: Harrison leaves Sony......and joins Atari

Sony's games division sees sales double - is the PS3 actually MAKING money now?

Sony has been having a spot of financial trouble in the first financial quarter. Its net income has dropped a staggering 47.4 percent to ¥35.0 billion (around £163m). The company has issued a profit warning. The problems stem from a strong Yen and problems at Sony Ericsson's end (perhaps due to the fact it has been making the same boring-ass phone handset for the past decade).

But salvation is at hand from what might seem an unlikely source: the game division - specifically the PlayStation 3. In fact, over the past year, PS3 sales have doubled and Sony expects the performance to help drive the company on the road to recovery.

Overall, the revenue from the games division has improved 16.7 percent year on year. It even moved form an operating LOSS of ¥29.2 billion in the first quarter of last year to a PROFIT of ¥5.4 billion this year. Once again, the PS3 is specifically cited as a source of this.

Despite price cuts and the ongoing struggle to claw back market share from Microsoft, the increased software sales and reduced manufacturing costs have put the console in fine fettle. At the same time PS2 sales continue to slow, but PSP sales are still inching upward.

(via Gamasutra)

Related posts: PS3 sales downturn following MGS4 | 80GB hardware heading to Europe

Rumour: Major PS3 exclusive to be announced in August?

According to the Playstation Lifestyle blog, there's soon to be a brand new PS3 title announced that'll blow all those recent gaming announcements out of the water.

"Do you think Killzone 2 looks amazing , are you thrilled about the 256 online player mode of MAG , Looking forward to the great gameplay of inFamous , I'm very thrilled to announce that the 3 previous games are NOTHING compared with the new announcement coming on 3 August," states said blog.

So far we can be sure that the title isn't an RPG, an FPS, or the first next gen appearance of the Twisted Metal series. Or that its anything to do with the Square Enix event happening at the same time.

Now, let's start a few rumours. My first thought goes to that allegedly stunning title that only a BBC journo has witnessed. Could this be the moment that we all finally get a true peek at its wonders? The batch of 'tags' attached to said post include the likes of 'explosions' 'military' 'bullets' and 'violence'. So I'm guessing some form of bloody violent title.

But then, that's all a bit dull really. Maybe this is the first viewing of Shenmue 3? Well no, its not. But there's always that dream.

Source: Playstation Lifestyle
Related posts: Wipeout HD delayed? Brand new Killzone 2 screenshots

Wipeout HD delayed due to epilepsy worries?

A little rumour currently flowing around the web hints towards the strange lack of Wipeout HD news being down to the game failing some form of epilepsy test.

SCEE boss David Reeves may claim that the delay is all due to to some form of "really, really tricky technical problem," but the rumours go that Wipeout HD simply can't be released in its current form.

Now if this is true, it raises two interesting questions. Firstly, how has the game managed to reach the end of development without someone noticing that all those flashing lights speedily zipping by could cause a bit of a problem?

And lastly, how on earth can someone test a game for epilepsy problems? Do they strap down a dozen folk suffering from said disorder and wait until they suffer from a seizure? Now that I'm intrigued about.

Related posts: Where has Wiptout HD buggered off to? Wipeout HD IS coming

Hirai: 40GB PS3 still a "very powerful machine"

With Sony now phasing the 40GB PS3 out in Europe, to be replaced by an 80GB model, Sony boss Kaz Hirai has been swift to reassure all those PS3 owners stuck with a 40GB model.

"40GB is obviously less than 80GB, but it's still a high number and a very powerful machine. We strive to evolve and offer the most compelling value we can at any point in time. If consumers require extra hard drive, they can just swap it out," said Hirai.

Which is essentially fair enough. This current generation of consoles are constantly being tweaked and fiddled around with to prove the best value for the manufacturer/consumer, so we can't be too hard on Sony in this regard. We ARE going to start to need more space on our hard drives soon, so the introduction of something a little bigger was always expected.

Still, it's a little odd that Sony have introduced yet another version of the PS3 when they were originally so critical of Microsoft doing the same. Especially with the lost functionality from the original 60GB machine with backwards compatibility.

Source: MCV
Related posts: Kaz aiming for 150 million PS3 sales, Sony confirms 80GB PS3 for Europe

Sony won't be slashing the PS3 price to keep up with Microsoft

Microsoft might have confirmed that they're introducing a 60GB console (I wonder where they got that idea) to the masses, but Sony have denied claims that they'll follow with a price cut.

With Microsoft intruding this heftier sized version of the Premium/Pro console, the old 20GB model will be seeing a price cut to $299. And most expect Sony to hit back with a similar price drop to keep the PS3 competitive in terms of price at the tills.

But according to Nobuyuki Oneda, Sony's chief financial officer, that isn't quite the case. "Our plan is not to reduce the price. Our strategy is not to sell more quantity for PS3 but to concentrate on profitability."

Which is fair enough really, considering Sony's eagerness to keep the PS3 from being too much of a financial strain on the company. Safe to say that this little price trim will do bugger all for the Xbox 360 as the PS3 marches relentlessly on to an ultimate victory. Had to get that in.

Source: Gamespot
Related posts: Sony deny another price cut, Sony nervous. Apparently

Sony partners up with Double Fusion - in-game ad vultures are circling

Remember last month, when Sony buddied up with IGA Worldwide? Yeah, it wasn't exactly earth shattering. However, it's all part of a wider scheme to bring in more in-game advertising to the PS3. It's not stopping there though and a deal has been signed with yet another in-game ad company, Double Fusion.

"PS3 is open for the ad business," said Phil Rosenberg, Senior Vice President, SCEA. "We are very excited about hosting contextually relevant and well-crafted creative advertising on PS3," he added, "PlayStation is taking a major role in enabling this fast-developing sector that is both positive and inevitable for the games medium."

Forgive my cynicism, but should positive things necessarily go hand in hand with inevitable things? Oh never mind, it certainly is inevitable as companies realise that people are frighteningly good at ignoring all traditional venues of advertising. The idea of a game hosting a few tastefully done, suitable adverts in the right places isn't too repellent.

However, what is also inevitable is that somewhere down the line, an ad-company is going to go a step too far, and utterly ruin a game experience with their intrusive adverts. It WILL happen sooner or later. On the other hand, once marketing and online gaming cross over more and more, there's more potential for controversy, whether it be protests against an evil corporation or something that's totally un-pc. Or something accidentally hilarious. I'm looking forward to that side of it anyway.

Double Fusion (via Joystiq)

Related posts: Ed Bartlett of IGA talks in-game advertising | Sony preps 'open' in game advertising platform

40GB PS3 on the way out - replaced by a brand new model in August?

A peek at a Wal-Mart gaming spreadsheet may just have spoiled Sony's big surprise for E3. According to this little list, the 40GB PS3 is to be replaced by a BRAND NEW model come August.

Now, on the one hand, maybe this is a sign that Sony have seen sense and decided to hand back our backwards compatibility, and perhaps a heftier hard-drive into the bargain?

OR, the much more likely theory, is that this will simply be the 'new version' of the console that will come complete with the DualShock 3 rather than the Sixaxis. A bit dull yes, but thinking about things logically, it certainly seems the most likely option.

But bugger logic. Let's spread some wild speculation. My friends neighbour was listening in to a Sony employee's conversation in McDonalds the other day, and apparently this new model is a 150GB PS3, complete with 2 DualShock 3 controllers, Home, and a demo of Killzone 2. Let's see if anyone else posts this one elsewhere on the web. I do hope so.

Source: Joystiq
Related posts: New PS2 soon, How much does Sony lose per console?

2.40 bricked systems because of "system administrative data "

Did you PS3 go the way of the dodo after downloading the 2.40 firmware update? Well, Sony have blamed it all on "system administrative data contained on the HDD."

Quite what that actually means is something I'm not quite sure of. Probably something to do with magic and pixies. And a nasty old badger that somehow got tossed into the mix, causing all these dead consoles.

There's a touch of good news for those of you with dead consoles as Sony are encouraging you to get in touch with Customer Services which will hopefully offer some form of fix for your ailing machine.

Last of all they're all apologetic about the whole affair too. Aww. Shame they didn't just bloody test the damn update fully so it wasn't needed...

Source: Three Speech
Related posts: Firmware 2.41 available now, 2.40 bricking PS3s!

Yoshida claims future multi-platform titles will have "something extra" on PS3

Speaking to the allegedly independent PS3 related blog 'Three Speech' (incidentally the second best blog on such topic currently on the go) new Sony President of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida claims that future multi-platform titles will be better on the PS3.

As far as I can see, with major publishers like Activision and EA, their major titles will be day-and-date with the Xbox 360 and their quality will be really good," said Yoshida. "And some of the titles, I expect, will have something extra because of the PS3's abilities and the space on the Blu-ray format."

Yoshida claims it's the sheer number of consumers available to multi-platform titles that are stopping developers pushing forward with just the PS3 in mind, stating that its "natural for third-part developers trying to recoup [their] investment."

The blu-ray factor still has yet to firmly be shown outside the stunning work that was Metal Gear Solid 4, so if Yoshida is correct, we could be looking at the PS3 being the home of the best multi-platform titles in the not too distant future.

Source: Three Speech
Related posts: PS3 underestimated, Yoshida namaed as Harrisons successor

Hackers phish the US PlayStation website

Sneaky hackers have recently compromised Sony's main US PlayStation portal in an attempt to thieve PlayStation owners' credit card details.

Two sections of the site were targeted: those promoting SingStar and God of War. Nice to see that hackers have a strong sense of sexual equality when it comes to credit card fraud.

Security software vendor Sophos warned that the attack causes a pop-up to appear on victim's computers alerting them to a bogus viral infection. Naturally the phony page then appears to go through the motions of scanning for the problem before offering to remove the infection, just as long as you hand over your card details.

So, errr, don't.

(via Tech Digest)

Related posts: Hackers target PSN | Why hackers love PS3s

Sony show off Firmware 2.40 in snazzy video

Sony have launched a delightful little walkthrough video for Firmware 2.40 on the PS3, and all is pretty unexciting really if you ask me. Essentially, 2.40 will give us all access to the in-game XMB that's been talked about for bloody ages, and from this first video, Sony are still playing catch up to Xbox Live.

The ability to send a message to other folks while in game? I can already do that on my 360. The chance to play whatever tunes I like in game? Again, I've been doing that on my Xbox 360 for bloody ages too.

Though in Sony's defence, their online set up is still brand spankingly free, and now offers just about everything that the subscription based Xbox Live! system is able to give.

The very end of the video promises chat on the 'Trophy system' next time, so that one should be quite exciting. No word on when it'll be available, nor any release date for 2.40 other than "very soon."

DualShock 3 finally arriving July 4th? Or is it November?

Rumours are building that the long awaited appearance of the DualShock 3 on European shores is all set for July 4th, with a number of lesser known websites declaring that they will despatch said items on that particular date.

But, that flies in the face of a slightly earlier rumour that hints towards the vibrating controller arriving in Europe just before Christmas, around the start of November.

For me, you can forget the July date. It's far too close, and there are NO hints towards that date on the more well known gaming related trade sites on the web. Plus, there are still LOADS of the Sixaxis on the shop shelves, and Sony will be eager to shift that little lot before showing off a new pad.

A date just before Chrimbo sounds about perfect to me, and it's what those of you that are worried about importing should work towards. Although why you don't just import a cheap pad from elsewhere in the world I'll never know. Not only will you get your pad much earlier, but it'll be a damn sight cheaper than waiting for the extraordinary SCEE set price we'll have to contend with.

UPDATE: Well, what do you know, we were waaaaay off. An official Sony press release is saying July 2nd in fact, That's, like, scant hours away. Amazing really. Somehow we don't think we'll quite be able to believe it's all truly happening until the little feller is buzzing happily away in our hands.

Source: CVG
Related posts: DualShock 3 on sale in Japan, DualShock 3 FINALLY coming to Europe?

Kaz coins new buzzword! "True generation" quality only available on PS3

The PS3 is NOT current-gen. It is certainly not next-gen. It's true-gen - a whole new type of hardware generation, presumably one which puts the PS3 in a quiet, peaceful place where it can carry out its business without fear of those nasty people from Nintendo and Microsoft.

"As PlayStation 3 approaches the second anniversary of its release, the release of PS3 software titles with the true generation quality only available on PS3 is accelerating," said Kaz.

He also admitted openly to the PS3's difficult start in life but stated that a refocus on the PS3's gaming prowess and successful titles in late 2007 had helped turn its fortunes around.

Kaz didn't mention exactly which upcoming games we could count as true-gen, but did say that Metal Gear Solid 4 was one of them. So can we take it that true generation games are long running franchises given a major graphical overhaul and only minimal changes to gameplay? At least that's God of War 3 safe then.

(via Kotaku)

Related posts: Kaz confused over PS3 | Kaz confident about the future

See Life with PlayStation in action

In addition to yesterday's brief bit of info, there's now a video floating around the web. It's shaky and in a foreign language, but hey, you can see stuff happening. It could be really exciting stuff, and that's exciting!

Yes, it is a huge rip off of an idea that Nintendo tried out a year ago. But we're inclined to agree with Kaz's assertion that it could be greatly expanded over time and become something far more interesting, mainly because of the sheer difference in power between the systems.

The first stage appears to be news and weather organised by their locations on a globe. You'll navigate with your Sixaxis DualShock 3, natch. Then later it'll be a place to store "photos and movies according to their recorded time and place."

Intriguing, and keeping the idea of integrated photo and video editing tools on the PS3 alive. Pricing and availability has yet to be confirmed. Probably safer to think of a date somewhere post-Home.

(via Engadget)

Related posts: DiVX available to game devs | PlayTV dated and priced

PS3 sales figures tumble in Japan - PSP still sells loads

A mixture of good and bad news for Sony with this weeks Japanese hardware sales figures, as the PSP heads back to top spot, but the PS3 sinks back below both Nintendo consoles.

Over 50,000 fewer PS3 consoles flew off the shop shelves this week, with an overall total of 20,336 leaving the PS3 in forth spot in the overall table. Though the blow this piece of news will have been will no doubt have been softened by the PSP being the console to retake the top spot with figures of almost 60,000.

The good old PS2 managed almost six and a half thousand consoles sold, thoroughly thrashing the Xbox 360 which struggled to sell over two and a half thousand units. Never let it be said that the Japanese don't have any taste.

So a mixture of good and bad news for Sony, though with 85,000 consoles sold in total, they can't be too down in the dumps. That's even more than the Wii and DS combined.

Source: Next-Gen
Related posts: PSP shifts over 30 million, Piracy helps the PSP sell

PlayStation Video Store to hit the US this summer, Europe and Japan to follow

Along with the Life with PlayStation concept, Kaz Kirai has re-confirmed that the PlayStation Store will soon be sporting a Video Download Service in the near future. While this isn't a strictly official announcement, it is confirmed in a set of presentation files found here (page 6).

Other sites are also revealing that the time frame on the service is summer for the US, but Europe and Japan will be coming later. Anyone care to wager on who'll be third on the list?

There will also be a more official and public announcement made at E3. Meanwhile, Korea is already enjoying its own video store service so hopefully there shouldn't be any huge obstacles to prevent a smooth roll out. Naturally, this has been a highly anticipated move following Xbox 360's successful launch of its Video Marketplace. Now we're just itching to know what the actual content will be.

(via Joystiq)

Related posts: Video store rumoured | God of War 3 also at E3?

Sony creates Life with Playstation

No, the PS3 not being used as part of an elaborate new Frankenstein machine (although, AI, distributed computing... anything could happen). Instead this is a new initiative from Sony, called 'Life with PlayStation'.

It was unveiled at the Sony Strategic Meeting in Tokyo and it's a system to let PlayStation users view daily world news on an interactive virtual globe. Errr... isn't that like the Nintendo Wii News Channel?

Anyway, you'll be able to cruise a globe and pick up different news pieces from cities and locations of your choice. Its other feature is that it will boast geo-tagged pictures to be viewed on the globe, so it'll be a bit like Google Maps too.

There's no reason why such a system shouldn't work. However, customisation options will paramount to its popularity. Furthermore, the geo-tagged photo option raises an interesting question about where you are going upload the content from. It would seem silly to be forced to do so from a computer. Could this pave the way to a photo uploading tool for PS3? How about some more sophisticated editing tools?

(via PS3Attitude)

Related posts: PS3 Trophies? | YouTube for PS3 games

Scheduled downtime on PSN today

The PlayStation network is due for a bit of downtime this afternoon for a spot of 'scheduled maintenance'. We are definitely thinking Firmware 2.40 and all its trophy-spilling, in-game XMB goodness, but only because the timing is about right.

It also isn't clear whether it will only affect North America or absolutely everyone, but a bulk of users are certainly going to find themselves sans PSN this afternoon. The down starts at 0800 PST and ends at 1400 PST (so lunch time throughout most of the afternoon here).

You won't be able to access the Store or play any games online in that time. You'll still be able to sit through a few gruelling hours of Metal Gear Solid 4 videos though if you like.

(via PlayStation Knowledge Centre)

Related posts: MGS Database heads to Europe | PS3+MMOs=Win

Sony admit that the "piracy problem" has helped PSP shift units

Speaking to MCV, SCEE boss David Reeves has admitted that the ease of piracy with the PSP has helped the dinky little handheld shift so many units.

"There is a piracy problem on PSP. We know about it, we know how it's done. It sometimes fuels the growth of hardware sales, but on balance we are not happy about it," said Reeves at last weeks DevStation conference.

Now Sony may be reluctant to admit it, but it wouldn't be too surprising to discover that the relative ease of piracy may have played a huge part in Sony actually being in the industry long enough to release a handheld.

Think about the PS1 back in the day. How many people did you know who purchased a console, and then proceeded to spend masses of cash on 'copied games' at your local market? I know I knew bloody loads of them.

Source: MCV
Related posts: LocoRoco 2 on the way, PSP is WAY better than the DS

DualShock 3 pads FINALLY heading to Europe?

If you've wandered into any gaming retail store in the last week, you may just have noticed quite a blatant tell tale sign that SCEE may be gearing up for the launch of the DualShock 3 controller.

With the Sixaxis controller still retailing for a whopping £35, a double pack of said pads has been spotted in stores for only an extra £5. To some a bit of a bargain, and to others a blatant sign that SCEE are eager to shift as much stock as possible before the 'better' pad is available.

Still no official word from Sony as to when us Europeans will FINALLY see the DualShock 3, but this does point to be it coming sooner rather than later. Rumours still hint towards the end of June/start of July, so hopefully we might get some kind of official word soon enough.

Related posts: DualShock 3 ignores Europe, No MGS4 DualShock 3 bundle for us

Sony's new plan to turn university students into future PlayStation devs

Sony is rolling out a new initiative across the pond that should bolster the ranks of skilled PlayStation developers in years to come. PlayStation-edu (way to make PlayStation into the least exciting word ever) is a new program that will give university students much more access to PlayStation platforms.

By signing up, universities will be granted access to PS2 and PSP development kits complete with all the demo software, hardware and SDK needed to get to grips with Sony's consoles. It isn't really about making games unfortunately - Sony just wants people who are fresh out of uni to have some inkling about the inner machinations of its consoles.

Given the significant advantage Microsoft has won itself by bringing its rival Xbox 360 console closer in line with traditional PC development than any previous console, Sony has everything to gain from making sure as many as people as humanly possible know how to find their way around a PlayStation. Especially as the PSP languishes in a dark patch in its history, some fresh talent clearly wouldn't go amiss.

(via PlayStation blog)

Related posts: Sony sees red | Ready at Dawn has some spare PSP dev kits

Sony partners with IGA to introduce dynamic in-game advertising system on PlayStation 3

SCEA and SCEE have just announced the introduction of a new dynamic in-game advertising on PS3. IGA Worldwide has been selected as the first advertisement distribution partner, but others such as Double Fusion are expected to join later.

"The PS3 platform is primed to leverage the high growth potential of the in-game advertising market," said Phil Rosenberg, Senior Vice President, SCEA. "Ads that are organic to the environment not only benefit developers and advertisers, but also create a richer experience for gamers."

Well, that certainly is the Great White Hope of many within the games industry, but let's not forget that the concept has yet to prove itself completely and there are some -even at Sony - who don't share such faith. Not that these fears matter much - it's now well on its way to PS3.

Sony hints at new team behind BioShock PS3; "unannounced components" also, errr, announced

Sony's PlayStation blog has voiced some more official rumblings on the upcoming PS3 port of 2007's mega-hit, BioShock.

The teams behind the port are the main focus of the piece and most intriguing of all is the new mystery team that's helping to tackle some of the trickier aspects of the PS3 conversion. It refuses to mention any names, but reassures us that it is a development partner "with some outstanding PS3-specific coding chops helping out with the project".

So, as long as it's not the same team that did the Orange Box conversion we'll be laughing.

Other than that, you've got the original 2K Boston and 2K Australia teams handling the lion's share of the work load. The latter was behind the core technologies such as the graphics engine while 2K Boston is working on those mysterious "as-yet-unannounced components of the PS3 version" which we're promised will contain something new over the Xbox 360 and PC versions.

2K Marin, which was also closely involved with the original has team members involved too working on, amongst other things, bug fixing and making builds.

BioShock

Related posts: BioShock PS3 is "genetically enhanced" | EGM paints a bland picture for port quality

Qore blimey! Sony is charging for demos now?

Sorry about the header. SCEA and games mag publisher, Future, have announced an agreement to bring "a highly interactive, monthly lifestyle gaming program" to PlayStation 3. The first edition is out this Thursday.

From a first glance it sounds like a very interesting idea. Qore will provide exclusive news, developer interviews, in-depth game previews, behind-the-scenes footage, add-on content, and beta invites. It's all filmed in HD too. Oh there's just one other thing: subscribing to Qore grants "special access to game demos". Alarm bells are definitely ringing now.

So basically, Sony wants you to fork up $3 each month (or $25 for the year) to get your hands on game demos, which I clearly remember being free prior to Qore. Very not cool.

PS3 no longer on "life support" apparently

According to Sony Chairman Howard Stringer, the PS3 is finally off "life support" and ready to become a "spectacular" success.

Speaking at the D6 Technology and Media Conference, Stringer admits that the PS3 didn't exactly come bursting into life, stating that the powerful console was "on life support for a while."

Apparently, Stringer claims, games that made full use of the "capacity" of the console are on their merry way, obviously hinting towards the kind of system sellers that will force the PS3 to fly off the shop shelves.

What he DOESN'T go on to say is that, for Europe at least, the only reason the PS3 failed to be an immediate success was that bloody ridiculous initial price point. Yes we may be technology crazed over here, and used to paying a premium, but that was expecting just a hint too much. Saying that, I splashed out £425 on launch day, so I guess that makes me the moron this time.

Source: All Things Digital
Related posts: Springer happy with Wii shortages, How much does Sony lose per console sold

Sony of Japan's remarkable show of honesty

I spoke to SCEI's Keiichiro Toyama at Scandinavian developer conference Nordic Game last week, and he said that Siren's retail release in Japan was down to the fact that Japanese gamers aren't really experienced with downloading content. So what happens with games which rely on DLC to extend their lifespan? They get re-released, of course.

And so you see above you the boxart for the new version of Motorstorm, recently launched in Japan. And as you can clearly see, it's called Motorstorm Complete.

Given that many people complained that the original felt half-finished, probably rushed out to meet launch, and that the later downloadable content was essentially an admission that it was incomplete, the title here should prompt a few rueful laughs and shakes of the head from Sony fans. I was never too big on Motorstorm anyway, so I'm finding this whole thing quite amusing. But for those of you who plumped for the off-road racer at launch - are you now feeling a teensy bit ripped off?

(thanks to Infernal Monkey on NeoGAF for the pic)

Sony is decidedly miffed about Uncharted BB gun

Sony has revealed that it is pursuing action - presumably of the angry legal letters and eventually court variety - over Uncharted-branded airsoft guns being peddled in the good old US of A.

KingofSwords.com has ripped off the logo, promotional artwork and some screenshots to promote the "Full Metal Heavy Weight M92 Gas Gun With Real Wood Grips, Gas-Powered Blowback and Full-Auto / Semi-Auto Selection".

Sony is adamant that "The Drake's gun is not licensed or in any way sanctioned by SCE, and one we certainly do not condone."

Sony's reaction is not surprising in the least. It wouldn't really do wonders for the whole game-violence debate if Sony were to allow and/or endorse replica handguns being sold off the back of one of its biggest current-gen titles.

On the bright side, that a company is willing to risk Sony's wrath by marketing these replicas does say good things about the popularity of the game and its protagonist. Mind you I also spotted an 'In the Name of the King - Famer's Boomerang' on the same site, so maybe I'm talking bollocks.

(via Eurogamer)

Related posts: Sony brushes with the game-violence debate | A mandatory link to a GTA IV story with some vague legal connection