As Sony stop Linux on PS3 hacker vows to bring it back

Sony have disabled the 'Other OS' option on PlayStation 3 to stop users exploiting the option to hack the console. So, no more Linux on the PS3? not according to George Hotz who wrote on his blog...

Nintendo DSi XL portable gaming with extra large screens coming to the US

From bank balances to IQ scores, there are many things people would love to see increase by 93 percent. Nintendo, for its part, is determined to significantly boost the social fun of portable gaming. Launching March 28, the new, extra-large Nintendo DSi XL hand-held system makes it easier for everyone to gather around and have a good time.

PlayStation Network Service Restored - Sony say sorry! It's not a leap year!

From the official Sony website...

We are aware that the internal clock functionality in the PS3 units other than the slim model, recognized the year 2010 as a leap year. Having the internal clock date change from February 29 to March 1 (both GMT), we have verified that the symptoms are now resolved and that users are able to use their PS3 normally.

If the time displayed on the XMB is still incorrect, users are able to adjust time settings manually or via the internet.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Sony ask [PS3] PlayStation 3 owners to stop gaming - or risk trashing their console

As reported here this morning, Sony are have a lot of problems with PlayStation network - so mush so they are asking users of older PlayStation 3 console NOT to use them!

PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 concepts revealed

Over at core 77 they have published some Tai Chiem console concepts for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720...

Take a look here...

ESA top five P2P game piracy countries - Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Poland - 45 milllion notices issued

The Entertainment Software Association has released this year's fiscal report, putting out their numbers to level the finger at new targets.

Following up on last year's published report, this one has a whole bunch of new numbers to ponder.

The top five P2P game piracy countries this year are: Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and Poland. The ESA's anti-piracy program notes, 'Chief among this year's actions were five separate law enforcement raids against game pirates in California, resulting in the seizure of several thousand games and dozens of modded consoles, and the arrests of five individuals.'

But don't worry, they've expanded to other countries. 'The ESA sent takedown notices to ISPs covering more than 45 million instances of infringement of member company games in more than 100 countries worldwide.'

Source: Slashdot - read full post here...

Will PSPgo games be cheaper than iPhone games? Sony say yes...

Sony is planning to set the price of PSPgo games at a similar level to Apple iPhone titles - at 1, 2 and 5 euros.

That's according to a report by Pocket Gamer, suggesting that the low pricing could provide consumers with an incentive to buy the new 249euro hardware, which has been derided by some industry watchers as too expensive.

It would also lower the entry barrier for developers, allowing smaller studios scope for releasing games onto the Sony console.

Indeed, the site also reports Sony has been actively encouraging iPhone developers to port their existing titles to PSN, although it will still be imposing formal requirements as well as a two week QA testing period on games submitted before they are allowed for release.

These stringent checks would fit with comments previously made by SCEA director of PSN operations, Eric Lempel who recently spoke out to say that PSN wouldn't be going down the same route as the App Store.

"I want to make sure we uphold the quality of games on PSN; that doesn't mean they can't be shorter or quirky but we don't want to see a bunch of little things that don't quite make sense or provide a good experience," he stated, saying that users would expect a higher quality experience on a games focused device like PSPgo than they do on something that is primarily a mobile phone.

Sony will actively control the release schedule for games too, said the report - an involvement that should prevent the network flooding with too many titles.

Over 50 developers have so far been signed up to produce content for digital distribution via PSN ahead of the new PSPgo's launch on October 1, said the site.

Source: GamesIndustry

100 friend Xbox Live limit blamed on Halo 2 support - No easy fix

The 100-friend limit on Xbox Live is being blamed on users still playing Halo 2 on the original Xbox.

The Xbox Live online service, launched on the original Xbox, was designed to handle no more than 100 friends. More friends would not be a problem for the more robust service powering the Xbox 360, the continued popularity for Halo 2 demands continued legacy support for the original Live architecture, according to “a high-level Microsoft source” talking to website G4.

It’s not an issue that can be solved with a patch, “or else Microsoft would have released one ages ago.” Ending the friend limit means ending support for Halo 2.

Microsoft hasn’t stated when it will disable the original Xbox Live, but in the meantime Halo 2 will enjoy its top spot on the original Xbox usage charts.

Lead and Gold - Gangs of the Wild West video game - Third person shooter with team multiplayer

Lead and Gold – Gangs of the Wild West

- Third person shooter with team multiplayer

- In addition to a strong multiplayer focus, players will have the opportunity to practice versus AI driven teams either by themselves or in co-op mode.



- Supported platforms are still to be announced but the game is developed created with digital distribution both on console and PC in mind.

- The game is raising the standards for online distributed games by utilizing graphics and gameplay features similar to those used by a majority of today’s AAA-titles.

- Lead and Gold – Gangs of the Wild West catapults the player straight into the dramatic crescendo of the Western myth. Relive the high-noon duel on the main street of a frontier town or the intense firefight during a bank heist. Immerse yourself in gameplay drawing from a perfect mix of cool-headed player skill and the brutal close quarter brawl of the classic Western shoot out.

- Lead and Gold - Gangs of the Wild West is built with the GRIN Diesel Engine, previously used for Bionic Commando, Bionic Commando Rearmed and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter.

Ghostbuster on PC has no Multiplayer option as developers concentrate on console versions...

The developers of Ghostbusters have defended the decision not to include multiplayer in the PC version, which came out in the US this month.

"Multiplayer for the PC version of Ghostbusters is something that Threewave and Terminal Reality always wanted to do," Dan Irish, CEO of multiplayer developer Threewave, told Big Download. "However, our focus was on making the console version the best that they could be."

As a result, said Irish, compromises needed to be made elsewhere. "We couldn't do all versions with multiplayer simultaneously with the resources that we had available - there was simply too much to do," he explained. "Something would have to suffer."

Ghostbusters is due out for PS3 and PS2 tomorrow, 19th June, with a PSP version to follow in the autumn and Xbox 360, PC, Wii and DS versions due out later this year - the latter versions having been held up after Sony stepped in to publish the game for Atari at the 11th hour.

Apple to launch new video game platform in 2010 - the iBox?

GamesIndustry reports on comments by Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot about what to expect from the coming generation of gaming hardware. In addition to greater integration between game hardware and set-top boxes, he said he doesn't expect Apple to stop with the iPhone as a platform for games.

"We will see more customers coming to the videogame industry, and they will not only come to the basic consoles like we have today, but they will start also to come on all the boxes that you see under the TVs. TV boxes will be more powerful, and with accessibility, will help to take more people.

So we will see more consoles on which we will be able to put product." Guillemot continued, "... because you saw new interfaces with the Wii, with the Wiimote, and also with the DS, with the stylus, what we see for the future is that there will be also big announcements in interfaces.

And it will not only happen on consoles, but it will also happen on those TV boxes as well."

Sony to launch NEW PlayStation 3 slim?

Hovering around the ‘net today are these curious pictures of a rather plastic looking, but totally slim PlayStation 3 console.

The image looks a bit blurred. Redesigning and condensing the insides of the PlayStation 3 could bring the price down.

Steven Spielberg predicts end on games consoles

Hollywood director Steven Spielberg reckons that home consoles will someday go "the way of the Dodo bird," and will be replaced by a resurgence in virtual reality technology.

"Now we're all playing at home and someday we'll be playing directly on our TV sets, bypassing all of the platforms," Spielberg told The Guardian, adding that consoles will end up like old "videogame parlours" and "the Dodo bird."

The director also talked about the future of gaming and his excitement over virtual reality and 3D gaming technology.

"In the short term I would love to start seeing 3D games developed where with a good pair of glasses we get a real three-dimensional experience in front of an appropriate monitor that is designed just for 3D," said Spielberg.

"I really think virtual reality, which experimentally came and went in the eighties, is going to be redeveloped, just like 3D is being redeveloped today, and that's going to be the new platform for our gaming future."

Source: EuroGamer.

No new games consoles from Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo before 2015

Industry analyst Michael Pachter has predicted that none of the big three console manufacturers – Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft – will release a new console before at least 2013, according to a report on Edge Online.

“We do not expect a 'new' console in 2010 (other than the long-rumoured high definition Wii, which is likely to upgrade the Wii to current console technology),” he said. “We do not expect the ‘next’ generation to begin before 2013, if at all.

“We remain convinced that the publishers will resist the introduction of any video game hardware technology that requires a refresh of software, as the publishers have as yet to capitalise on the immense investments made in being competitive in the current cycle.”

This follows Patcher’s earlier predictions that Sony's PlayStation 3 will end up being the eventual ‘winner’ of the current console war, largely on the back of the success of the Blu-Ray format. However, he suggested that all three consoles will more or less end on a ‘dead heat’ and will each have sufficient market share to make significant profits.

PlayStation 3 glitches and error problems on the rise...

This seems to be on multiple sites across the web, in our own Problems section we have had a few reports on different disc problems as well.

Back in February of this year we had a user post information here about their 40GB PS3 having disc read issues. They said that their “PS3 stopped reading any disc, CD, DVD, Games and Bluray”. This was followed by other users reporting similar problems.

More recently, we heard reports of users having their Disc icon not appear on the xmb of the ps3 from a few users. They said that the PS3 game discs did not show, but Blu-ray movies worked fine.

One user even formatted their PS3 hard drive and found after doing so that the game discs started to show again. This showed that it was a software issue and not hardware.

Have you had any PS3 disc read issues, and more specifically the game discs not showing?

Source: PR news

Nintendo halve production costs of Wii console but no price drop for consumers...

If Koya Tabata, of respected financial institution Credit Suisse, is to be believed, the production cost of the Wii has nearly halved since the console launched.

According to the Financial Times, Tabata told investors in a recent note that the cost of making a Wii has dropped by 45% since it was first released back in late 2006.
The FT goes on to report that this gives Nintendo the scope to cut the price of the Wii should it need to stimulate sales. What he does not analyse, however, is whether this cut in cost is due to short term currency fluctuations or solid parts and manufacturing pricing.

That would be nice, wouldn't it? The FT's right, of course. Nintendo does have the scope to cut the price of the Wii. Whether that 45% figure is accurate or not, the cost of manufacturing the Wii will have dropped since launch. However, the message from the upper echelons of Nintendo management suggests a price cut is unlikely.

Read full post here on Spong...

Sony register PS Cloud could it be for their PlayStation 4?

Sony have patented the 'PS Cloud' with the US Patent and Trademark Office, following the announcement of a number of new 'cloud gaming' services such as OnLive and Playcast Media at this year's Games Developers Conference.

The patent has lead to speculation that Sony Computer Entertainment may well be looking to 'cloud gaming' – where the processing power of a home console is replaced by that of a remote server outside of the gamer's home – as a strategic move forward for its PlayStation division.

The future of PlayStation?

Or, put in more straightforward terms, is PS Cloud the PlayStation 4? Is the 'next' PlayStation going to resemble a server-based system that allows gamers to play and save games to a user account via a range of devices such as their PlayStation 3, their PC or even their TV set-top box?

Sony filed the patent for 'PS Cloud' on 24 March, describing PS Cloud as a provider of "entertainment services, namely, providing an online videogame that users may access through the internet".

You can see further details on the filing here.

TechRadar spoke with a SCEE rep this morning who declined to comment on the story.

Source: TechRadar

PlayStation 2 now officially $99 in US

That's right, looks like the PS2 is going to be available throughout the US for 99 dollars. 

John Koller, director of hardware marketing at Sony US just confirmed the news via PS Blog:

"Hi everyone, the last time you heard from me, I talked about the huge milestone that PlayStation 2 achieved - reaching 50 million units sold in North America. Today I'm excited to talk about another milestone in PlayStation 2's lifespan. For the first time ever, PlayStation 2 will be offered at a price point under $100 (that's $99.99 MSRP, to be exact), starting April 1!"

OnLive - New games streaming online service could mean the end of the games console?

The founder of a new service that plans to stream on-demand video games over the internet says he feels like he has a big target on his back.

No wonder, given that Stephen Perlman's vision to revolutionise the way games are distributed and played has been talked up as threatening the future of the console and of retail stores.

OnLive, which was launched in the middle of the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco to much excitement, buzz - and scepticism - aims to provide high quality gaming on low-end machines.


Read the full post on the BBC website here...