News

Game Informer is allowing anyone to read the June issue in digital format for free until May 30th. It works pretty well with a little bit of lag. I hope they're going to make it available for download so it can be taken on the go without being reliant on an internet connection.

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For over a year now, Game Informer has offered a digital subscription to the magazine that was simple in design. With the most recent June issue we went back to the drawing board and started building digital issues from the ground up, with some added digital bonuses.

From exclusive content to interactive pages, the new Game Informer Digital magazine is all about an easy reading experience as it is created to be native to your computer screen and take advantage of all the things a computer-based digital edition can offer. Like any project however, we managed to make the product before we had all the bells and whistles in place. So if you are interested in getting a Game Informer Digital subscription you will need to visit your local Gamestop until we can make digital subscriptions available online.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/05/26/game-informer-digital-june-edition-goes-free-until-may-30th.aspx

Good job, LG. I doubt this will ever pass, but LG is trying to stop sales of the Sony PS3 since they claim that the Blu-ray player infringes on their IP. Isn't imaginary property fun?

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According to the documents, LG said it holds two patents that it believes Sony violates in the PlayStation 3 related to the way a Blu-ray player reproduces data from a Blu-ray disc. The company cited another patent that covers the "reproduction of multiple data streams" by way of multiple camera angles. LG also said Sony violates a patent it holds on the display of text subtitles on Blu-ray.

LG's decision to take aim at Sony follows a complaint filed by Sony with the ITC in late December. In that complaint, Sony said that LG violates patents it holds for mobile phones. The company asked the ITC to bar LG from selling its mobile phones in the United States.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20030963-17.html

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Well, nobody saw this one coming. Sony has patented an external device that allows you to play PS2 games on a PS3. The device contains RAM, CPU and GPU, but no disc slot, as the PS3 will spin the disc. But while first impressions may suggest this is an unnecessary and expensive method for playing what can almost be classed as retro games, it's actually the best method from a gamer's perspective.

Linky
I wouldn't advise you to actually read the article, though. Tons of incorrect information about the way the original PS3 BC worked.






I'm okay with this. Basically, it works the same way that the launch PS3 did, only with the PS3 connected to an external box to do the actual PS2 processing. So long as Sony doesn't get obnoxious with the pricing ($50 would be the sweet spot, considering it probably costs Sony $20 to make the components that go into it), I think this is probably the best solution for all. It might even relight the fire under the PS2 market that Sony keeps saying isn't dead. I would obviously prefer an SKU with it integrated, particularly now that we have the cooler-running and supposedly-more-reliable Slim PS3, but I suppose this is a good compromise.

Also, if Sony are really nice and make it region free (unlike the original PS3 BC), I would snap one up in an instant, even though I own a CECHA PS3. Next Page »

So, after »that whole Linux fiasco happened (which is currently tied up in courts, just so you know), Sony probably thought that they were safe from any major threats to their system. Then this happened.

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Who needs George Hotz anyway? A USB modchip for the PS3 has emerged from the mists this morning, purporting to allow the dumping of games onto nearby storage -- the console's internal HDD and external drives are both a-ok -- as well as the subsequent playing of said games without the need for the original disc. Could it be the backup/piracy nirvana Sony loyalists have been awaiting for so long? Well, there's a video showing the little USB device apparently working, and the PSX-Scene team say they have personally verified that it does what it claims to do, but skepticism remains advisable here. The PS3 has been a fortress of hacker unfriendliness, so we'd rather kick back, relax, and wait for some braver souls than us to do the testing. For now, the video awaits after the break.

Linky.

Just... wow.


What it basically does is work the same way that Pre-2009 PSPs did with Pandora Batteries, in that inserting the proprietary drive into the USB port kicks the system into service mode so you can fiddle with it. Basically, this exploit exists for the same reason as it did on the PSP, because that is the method that Sony themselves use in order to fix PS3 consoles that ended up with screwed up firmware installs and other low level issues. This supposedly allows everything from dumping your PS3 games to the hard drive (internal or external) to downgrading the system firmware. And because the dongle interacts with the hardware on a machine code level using Sony's own software, there is nothing Sony could do to prevent its use until they change the hardware itself to no longer allow the system to boot in that way (which is what they ultimately had to do with the PSP with the 3000).



One thing that must be kept in mind is that, regardless of where you usually come down on the "open platform versus closed platform and consumers rights therein" argument, this is completely, totally crazy illegal. Not because of any whining Sony will do about their hardware being hacked, but because the way this thing was developed was apparently by the guys that made it getting their hands of one of the dongle's that Sony's guys use themselves, copying the hardware and dumping the software, then copying both to their own drive design. Because of that, when this explodes like it obviously will, Sony will probably be able to successfully block the sale of them in America/Britain/etc. Not that that really matters, I suppose.

Sony announced firmware 3.21 yesterday. What long-wanted feature does it bring to the PS3 XMB? Finally add .mkv support? Cross game chat? Automatic trophy syncing? No!

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The next system software update for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) system will be released on April 1, 2010 (JST), and will disable the “Install Other OS” feature that was available on the PS3 systems prior to the current slimmer models, launched in September 2009. This feature enabled users to install an operating system, but due to security concerns, Sony Computer Entertainment will remove the functionality through the 3.21 system software update.

In addition, disabling the “Other OS” feature will help ensure that PS3 owners will continue to have access to the broad range of gaming and entertainment content from SCE and its content partners on a more secure system.

Linky.

That's right ladies and gents, Sony is once again doing the "we don't want you to have this feature you paid for anymore" conga line by introducing another force-upgrade firmware solely dedicated to removing stuff Sony promised wouldn't go anywhere.

Said By Yahoo Games

Think you paid too much for your Playstation 3? Don't expect any sympathy from Sony.
In the company's fiscal 2008 annual report, Sony revealed that they've now lost roughly $3.3 billion (that's billion with a B) on the Playstation 3 since its launch. That breaks down to $2.16 billion in 2007, followed by a notably smaller but equally daunting $1.16 billion loss in 2008.

Linky.

For comparison purposes only, really. Unlike Microsoft, who has nothing to really show for their losses with the Xbox 360; I doubt Sony shareholders are worried too much about it as Sony's Blu-Ray gamble paid off. It does show that Sony managed to halve their operating losses within a year while Microsoft is seemingly having more trouble doing so (in addition to losing far more money), though the over a billion put aside for the warranty extension and repair program probably didn't help Microsoft meet their goal.

According to Kotaku, Rockstar has no ideas as to why the mega-hyped GTA IV is a glitchy unplayable mess to select few users. Thankfully, it seems the problems aren't as widespread as they were with the comically broken Bully: Scholarship Edition, and Rockstar sounds to be urgently searching for a way to fix it (and hopefully that will turn out better than Bully did, as well). However, regardless of the efforts that Rockstar takes, it is pretty unforgivable that they can't manage to code a game for either console without having to supplant it with a patch just to get it to run. Thank you, seventh generation! We truly love the laziness that built in hard drives has ushered.

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Rockstar declined to comment on the issue officially, so I went to the phone and called up Rockstar Support to see what they had to say about the problem.

A very friendly, and obviously unhappy, fellow answered the phone who, after thanking me for not yelling at him and apologizing profusely for the problem, spilled quite a bit of beans on the issue:

The man told me that the problem is apparently only effecting the 60 GB version of the Playstation 3, but that it didn't matter than my particular console was a launch console (Yes, I told a little white lie and said my copy was locking up.) He said the problem is not across the board for the 60GB PS3s but rather only impacts some, so their tech folks are working around the clock to try and figure out what is causing the issue.

He did ask me to make sure that my harddrive wasn't full and that I had the latest firmware update, but confessed that that really isn't what's causing most of the problem. He also said that the Xbox 360 is having the "exact same problem," which has further stumped their tech folks.

Lovely. And people wonder why PC gaming is dead.

An now it is guaranteed: Sony will not replace the 60gb model, allowing European sales to tank harder.

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Following the previous announcement that the £349 60GB PS3 bundle that includes two first-party titles is only going to be available for a limited time, UK gamers had hoped Sony would be bringing the 80GB model, already out in the US, to our shores. However, in a statement Sony Computer Entertainment Europe said that "as the 60GB stock is depleted the £299 40GB sku will be the only version available going forward".
Gamers considering whether to invest in a PS3 this Christmas will at least for now have two versions of the console to choose from - the £349 60GB model and the £299.99 40GB model.

Linky.



Having defied all expectation over their stupidity, Sony still continues to give Europeans the shaft with the hope that they won't notice. What morons.

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After weeks of speculation Sony has officially unveiled the lower-spec 40GB PlayStation 3 and has announced that it's heading to the UK on October 10 at the cut-down cost of 299 GBP. What's more, Sony is also slashing the cost of the 60GB PS3 down to 349 GBP.

The lower capacity hard drive aside, the entry level 40GB PS3 only has two USB ports (compared to the usual four), the multi-memory card port has been removed and the machine will not be backwards compatible with PlayStation 2 titles, because Sony reckons there has been "reduced emphasis placed on this feature amongst later purchasers of PS3".

Linky.

No PS2 support? Screw that. I hope Sony doesn't get it into their minds that people don't want PS2 support when people begin to flock to the system simply because of its lower price. Especially since they have announced that they are killing the 60gb as well (I personally think it is so they can replace it with the 80gb model, but who knows?).

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"The truth is the PS3’s tools and the way it works just sucks. The truth is they are both virtually the same in terms of hardware when it comes to how powerful they are, maybe the PS3 has a few different things that makes it a bit more advance, and Sony has this idea that it is designed for optimal development but that’s a load of crap. In the last generation we would make the game for PS2 and then port it over to Xbox, but because Xbox was easier to develop for, we could actually enhance the title a little if we wanted to. The case with this generation is different, now we make the game for 360 first and then port it over to PS3, but we really don’t have the time to mess with how the PS3 works to really add to much more. It will change in the future, but for now it sucks.”

Well, this is bound to set the sparks flying. There are several parts of this statement that make it sound as if EA is completely incompetent, and others that actually sound viable. But in general, we can only compare to what we've seen from other developers on the PS3...and we have to conclude that EA, quite simply, is lagging behind. There are plenty of great-looking PS3 games on the way, and 2K Sports has already said one of their titles, NBA 2K8, would run at 60fps on the PS3, very much unlike Madden 08.

Linky.

Nice to see them using big boy words like SUCK

EA talk total rubbish, they are now a lazy 3rd grade developer that makes lousy games for maximum profit, not helped by the fact that most developers now are getting the hang of coding for the PS3; and even Ubisoft went on record as saying it was no more difficult to develop for the PS3 than the 360 (cue GRAW2) and that EA were mad in complaining that it was impossible to make the games equally as good.

Sony has updated the PS3 firmware to version 1.60. Is anyone thinking that the PS3 will turn into a PSP-like disaster and be a multimedia device instead of a gaming platform? The new firmware adds support for bluetooth input devices as well.

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Additionally, the new PS3 software will support Folding@home, a distributed computing project created by Stanford University in 2000 in order to better understand the process of protein folding and how it correlates to serious diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and various forms of cancer. Research into protein folding, however, requires an enormous amount of computing power. Similar to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence's famed SETI@home project, in which thousands of PC users are donating a slice of their computers' processing time to aid in the hunt for intelligent life in outer space, Folding@home has been relying on contributions from PC users around the world since its inception.

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Sony's video game unit and Immersion have ended their patent fight and signed a deal that opens the door to putting the latter's Rumble technology into the former's PlayStation 3, the companies said Thursday.

Rumble technology makes a video game controller vibrate so that action on the screen seems more real--for example, when a race car is off the track--and has been a key feature in controllers for Sony's market-dominating PlayStation 2 console.

Linky

After what seems like years of Sony feeding everyone crap about how Rumble didn't work (including press releases put out last week), Sony has finally all-but admitted it for the crap it was. I'm personally glad, and look forward to what it will bring.

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Still hopeful that Sony might one day bring rumble back to the PlayStation 3? It doesn't look like it's going to happen. A company called SplitFish has announced new rumble tech that works with motion sensing and sidesteps Immersion's patents, but Sony told GameDaily BIZ that it's not interested.

Linky
So, to try to save face in light of this new technology, Sony is again pointing out that rumble wouldn't work with the SixAxis technology; despite the fact that everyone and their mother knew full well that it was a lie far before Immersion called Sony on it.
What exactly are they trying to prove?

Said By Gamespot

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) senior vice president of marketing Peter Dille took to a side stage inside the booth to announce that the company had shipped 1 million PlayStation 3 units into the North American retail channel by the end of December.

Linky.
I'm actually rather pleased that Sony overcame the hardware shortages so quickly, which is so far far better than what was done with the PS2. I only wish they would start with higher launch numbers, for the sake of safety at least.

While the Japanese and American launches of November 11th and 17th (respectively) are safe, the European launch date has been pushed back into March of next year. The amount of units has dropped drastically down to only 500,000 PS3's worldwide (which is even less than the infamous PS2 launch.) The announcement led Sony's recently rebounding stock to drop a full percent on the Nikkei Dow before closing.

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Sony is the principal supplier of blue laser diodes, not only for its own Blu-ray Disc players and PS3 consoles, but also for other BD manufacturers as well, including player makers Matsushita, Pioneer and Philips. Sony also supplies diodes for Blu-ray burners. Two months ago, Taiwan BD burner maker Lite-on IT, which also produces drives under the BenQ brand, voiced its concern in Taiwan's Commercial Times that Sony may have earmarked so many blue laser diodes for its own PS3 that it could not fill orders for other customers.