During the E3 keynote, Sony announced that they will be offering discounted PS3 “Greatest Hits” games, a popular tradition amongst video game developers. Each game will now cost only $29USD instead of the usual fourty to fifty. Resistance, MotorStorm, Warhawk, Call of Duty 3, Fight Night, NFS: Carbon, RSV, and Assassin’s Creed; Oblivion: Elder Scrolls, and Ninja Gaiden are all expected to be included in the discounted series. Should be very soon.
Information courtesy of engadget. Image courtesy of Gizmodo.
Great news to our friends in Europe – Sony has opened registration for you to beta test new titles before they are released! You must be 18 or over, able to read and give feedback in English, be a European resident, and have a Playstation 3 with a broadband connection. The beta site suggests, “You do not need to be technologically minded. However, you must be flexibile and be prepared to set aside some of your spare time and evenings to participate in specific Test Nights, general game testing and surveys..”
Seems pretty straightforward. I beta tested once for a SOCOM PSP title and it was pretty neat to get a plain brown box with an unreleased game that said beta all over the disc. I kinda felt like a secret agent and ran back into the house with glee until I realized the game was horrible.
Sony Corp. Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda said Friday the company has no plan to reduce the price of its Playstation 3 game console. “Our strategy is not to sell more quantity for PS3 but to concentrate on profitability,” Oneda told investors at a Nomura Asia Equity forum in Singapore. “Our plan is not to reduce the price.” The comments came as rival Microsoft Corp. plans to cut the price on a popular model of its Xbox 360 game console as early as Sunday in an effort to boost sales.
Joystiq posted a very interesting memo from Wal-Mart today which states that the PS3 (40gb) will be replaced by a new model in early August. Product refreshes are not uncommon for Sony, especially in their PS3 line. With the E3 Expo coming up next week, this item is sure to start a wildfire of speculation. Some are speculating that it could merely mean the addition of the Dualshock controller. It wouldn’t surprise me if they release a model with a slightly larger hard drive and a smaller RSX chip. What do you think?
Sony Corp.’s Playstation 3 hardware and Konami Inc.’s Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots fell out of the top 10 video game sales this week at Amazon.com following increased demand last month. On Tuesday, the PS3 ranked at No. 13 and MGS4 ranked at No. 15 in Amazon’s Video Games division. MGS4 held at No. 10 one week ago at the retailer. Products from Nintendo Co. currently dominate the top 10 sales, including Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, and Wii Fit.
I just purchased a Playstation 3 myself, and it is one of the most revolutionary devices I’ve ever used. In comparison to the feeling I had upon first using the brown Sega console, NES, SNES, PS, PS2, XBox360, etc..it just doesn’t compare. The firmware has nearly reached maturity at 2.41 and things are only going to get better from here. The graphics are absolutely stunning and the Playstation Store has a great selection of unique and familiar titles. Many of the games sold on the store are also online multiplayer compatible.
Metal Gear Solid 4 is absolutely stunning, so far. I have only played about 20 minutes into it but it is truly an artistic masterpiece. I just need to work on my sneaking.
According to my Playstation, firmware 2.41 for the Playstation 3 is live. After a huge debacle surrounding its release, Sony pulled the firmware because it was causing certain PS3′s to freeze. The whole situation was blown out of proportion though, because it seemed like the cases were limited and most users who were able to download the firmware say that it works fine. Full coverage of whats included in the firmware can be found here.
Hey, everyone. It’s time again for the PLAYSTATION Store weekly update.
Qore Digital Magazine
Qore Episode 02: July, 2008 ($2.99 Issue, $24.99 Annual Subscription)
Episode 02 of Qore: Presented by the PLAYSTATION Network includes Part one of a three part series following the development of Resistance 2 and the exclusive release of the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm demo.
File size: 1.71 GB
Add-on Game Content
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock July 4th 2008 Holiday Single (free)
FREE “Top Gun Anthem” as performed by Steve Ouimette. For all song credits please visit www.redoctane.com
File size: 14.9 MB
Rock Band
Build your Rock Band library by purchasing these song game tracks. For song credits, visit www.RockBand.com.
“Promised Land” – Vesuvius (free)
“Who’s Going Home with You Tonight?” – Trapt ($0.99)
“Time Is Running Out” – Papa Roach ($0.99)
“Down at the Whisky” – Motley Crüe ($0.99)
Crüe Fest Pack 1 ($2.99) – includes “Time Is Running Out” – Papa Roach, “Down at the Whisky” – Motley Crüe, and “Who’s Going Home with You Tonight?” – Trapt.
Killzone 2 Trailer
Two years after the Helghast assault on Vekta, the ISA are taking the fight to Helghan. Their primary objective is to capture the Helghast leader, Emperor Visari, and bring the Helghast war machine to a halt. You assume the role of Sev, a battle-hardened member of the Legion, a special forces unit tasked with securing the Pyrrhus, the capital of Helghan.
File size: 33 MB (SD), 66 MB (HD)
Valkyria Chronicles Teaser Trailer
An introductory trailer to the epic world of Valkyria Chronicles.
File size: 62 MB (HD)
Battlefield: Bad Company Bad World Trailer
Haggard and Sweetwater have a serious discussion about a well known song.
File size: 47 MB (HD)
Battlefield: Bad Company Rainbow Sprinkles Trailer
Sarge tries to stack the troops up to breach an important objective.
File size: 62 MB (HD)
Battlefield: Bad Company Snake Eyes Trailer
See what the characters of B-Company encounter on their journey for gold.
File size: 53 MB (HD)
Dead Space Animated Comic Issue #2
The second issue of the six part Dead Space Animated Comic Series created by Ben Templesmith and Antony Johnston.
File size: 269 MB (HD)
Dead Space Animated Comic Issue #3
The third issue of the six part Dead Space Animated Comic Series created by Ben Templesmith and Antony Johnston.
File size: 368 MB (HD)
Tiger Woods ‘09 Course Video
Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’09 features new and improved course-rendering technology that gives all of the courses in the game a special look; one that captures the essence of the courses themselves. To see the improvements first-hand, check out these videos from EA Sports.
File size: 104 MB (HD)
Vampire Rain Altered Species #1
Not all is what it seems on this cold, wet night. A waitress, having just finished her shift begins her long walk home as she becomes frightened and takes a wrong turn down a dark alleyway. This could be the last mistake she will ever make.
File size: 153 MB (HD)
Vampire Rain Altered Species #2
Strategy is a key factor here. Use extreme caution when planning your course of action. One wrong step and this team of elite AIB agents could end up the main course of a Nightwalker buffet. There are no rules of engagement here: kill ‘em all!
File size: 116 MB (HD)
Movie and Blu-ray Trailers (free)
Lakeview Terrace
In Lakeview Terrace, a young couple has just moved into their California dream home when they become the target of their next-door neighbor, who disapproves of their interracial relationship.
File size: 29 MB (SD), 108 MB (HD), 148 MB (1080)
John Mayer Live In Los Angeles
This special concert includes three sets: an acoustic performance, a rare set with John Mayer Trio, as well as a set featuring Mayer’s full band.
File size: 134 MB (HD), 178 MB (1080)
Vantage Point
While giving a speech in Madrid, the President of the United States is shot and a bomb explodes killing dozens of people. The incident is seen from the perspective of different people, including secret service agents and the assassins, led by a well-known terrorist.
File size: 98 MB (HD), 129 MB (1080)
Persepolis
Writer and Director Marjane Satrapi draws a poignant story about a young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, when people’s hopes were dashed as fundamentalists took power.
File size: 76 MB (HD), 99 MB (1080)
PS3 Themes (free)
Woodward Theme
Customize your PS3 system with a cool Woodward Theme. This theme allows you to change up the look of your background and XMB icons. Download today!
File size: 3.18 MB
Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution Theme
Customize your PS3 system with a cool Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution Theme. This theme allows you to change up the look of your background and XMB icons. Download today!
File size: 2.32 MB
PS3 Wallpaper (free)
Top Spin 3 Wallpaper
Customize the background of your PS3 system with this new Top Spin 3 Wallpaper.
File sizes: 203K – 883K
PLAYSTATION Store for PC
Here is this week’s content release for the PLAYSTATION Store for PC. To download these games to your PSP, navigate to http://store.playstation.com. There, you’ll find descriptions of the content and directions on how to get started. For more on the PLAYSTATION Store for PC, please click here.
Sony has the worst luck sometimes with software releases – if anyone who has used their personal audio products they can certainly attest to that. It’s most certain they mean well by their releases for the PS3, especially after the two hype-inducing video introductions and FAQ. Firmware 2.4 came out at 12AM on the dot like the premiere of a new movie. Users snatched it up quickly and suddenly problems started appearing. I coincidentally happened to see the problems begin because I was surfing the official Playstation forums and saw a few topics on it. It seems like a lukewarm problem and was only affecting 60GB models, but a problem nonetheless.
There are even videos on YouTube. Damn.
Well, thankfully its not too bad. Sony says, “We are aware of a number of consumers experiencing an issue with installing firmware 2.40 on PS3. While our consumer services department has seen a low volume of calls on this topic, we are committed to enabling the community and XMB access features delivered in the 2.40 update. In order to further assess the issue, we have temporarily taken the firmware offline for further testing. We are working diligently to isolate the problem for those few consumers and to identify a solution before we put the firmware back up.”
Sony has revealed new information and video about the July 2nd, 2008 Playstation 3 2.4 Firmware Update. Years ago, if you had told me that Sony had a blog that reached out to the consumer by supplying information and videos about new features I would have laughed. If you had told me that at the end of said videos they asked for feedback I would have laughed even harder. Well, it is truly a different time now – Sony is reaching out and trying to include the community in their progress. As I watched the videos I felt that they were truly confident in their work and wanted people to comment with ideas and suggestions.
In-game XMB looks great, and one can hope that it will be introduced for video playback as well.
The trophy UI in its introduction is functional, but needs some graphical improvement. Specific information about trophies and how to accomplish them appears how it should, but just doesn’t have that Sony feel to it yet. The addition of being able to view your friends trophies is nice, as well as the leveling system. There was no mention of the maximum level nor the real purpose of leveling other than bragging rights. Perhaps if Sony gave rewards to the customer for reaching certain levels (a discount off PSNStore, expanded avatar options for example) then it would be more desireable.
The following first-party games are also slated to offer Trophy support:
BUZZ! Quiz TV
LittleBigPlanet
MotorStorm Pacific Rift
NBA 09 – PS3
PAIN
PixelJunk Eden
Resistance 2
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation
Warhawk
To further emphasize the community aspects of this system software update, the amount of people you can add to your PSN friends list has been doubled, to 100.
The update also adds a mini-control panel that you can use while playing music and an internet search feature powered by Google that allows you to initiate search directly from the XMB (similar to what was added to the PSP recently). In addition, when you’re using the XMB or accessing the XMB from in-game, the current time and date will be displayed in the upper right hand corner. There are a few more minor enhancements included in this update, once the update is live you’ll be able to read about them here.
PS3Fanboy has provided additional pictures of the Playstation 3 2.4 firmware update we covered earlier today, and things look pretty slick. Trophies and in-game XMB are shown off, but I am just not finding myself very impressed here with the trophy interface. While I encourage adding the system, lets hope that they continue to make it better.
Trophy Collection access.
Latest trophies.
In-game XMB access.
Your friend’s level and number of trophies.
XMB search engine access.
How much trophy % you’ve accomplished in a particular game.
Sony Develops “SmartAR” Integrated Augmented Reality Technology
Sony Memory Stick Gets a Speed Boost of Up to 50 MB/sec
Sony Bravia HX929 Firmware Available, New Features Abound
Sir Howard Stringer Addresses PSN/Qriocity Customers
PSP®go Phase Out
Music Unlimited Service Coming to Your PSP
