At PlayStation Experience 2008, it was time for Round 3 of GamingIndians vs Atindriya Bose, Country Manager of Sony Computer Entertainment India.
This time around, he sheds some light on the new 80GB PlayStation 3 set to hit stores in December, the post warranty situation for the PS3, the long-awaited PSN launch, and news of Activision moving its PS2 game manufacturing to India.
To quote: GamingIndians: Can you tell me a bit about Sony’s policy towards post-warranty PlayStation 3s?
Atindriya Bose: Currently, we are giving you a new console at 50 per cent discount in case something goes wrong with your console after warranty has expired.
GamingIndians: Won’t there be a service facility?
Atindriya Bose: Not on an immediate basis. I think currently we are just touching figures of 20,000 with the PS3. Both the PS3 and PSP have quite complex service requirements, but at the moment, the PSP numbers allow us to go ah... More »
Expanding on the previously published Radio Shack trade-in program, Best Buy offers a similar program, albeit online only (linked above, you can't bring your old stuff to a retail location).
Box up your stuff and send it with their postage, get it approved, and receive back a Best Buy gift card. I dumped a working 1st gen touch wheel 20GB iPod for ~$40.
I also dumped an old cell phone for ~$20 Decision... recycle at municipal collection for nothing or let Best Buy recycle it and pay me for it? ;)
A working 40GB PS3 with one controller and all connections gets you $102. Hey, that's better than $23 from RadioShack, right?
ExtremeTech has found that replacing the PS3's hard drive with Intel's new X-25 solid-state 80GB drive can reduce a games load times by up to 40%.
However, the drive does not greatly improve install times as the read performance of the Blu-ray drive holds it back. If anyone is considering this upgrade, it will set you back $600.
To quote: We've already raved about the stellar performance of Intel's new X-25 solid-state drive, which just happens to come in an 80GB capacity and 2.5-inch SATA form factor. Perfect for a PS3!
So after a quick FAT32 format, we dropped the drive in the PS3 unit we keep in the HDTV lab here (an original 60GB unit) to see what kind of impact it has on install times, game start times, and load times.
We took four games notorious for long installs or load times and timed them both with the original 60GB hard drive and the Intel SSD. The results may surprise you—but at $600, it's certainly not a cheap upgrad... More »
A leaked Blockbuster memo has revealed that Sony is permanently dropping the price of the discontinued 40GB PS3 as of Sunday.
The price of the 40GB will now be $360, while a bundle including a HDMI cable, Spiderman Movie, and Tansformers game will be available for $400.
To quote: According to a Blockbusters' memo leaked to us today Sony is permanently dropping the price of the discontinued 40GB model of the Playstation 3 starting Sunday.
The price drop, which was verified by calls to a number of Blockbuster stores, will drop the 40GB model to $360 and an PS3 40GB bundle with an HDMI cable, Spiderman the movie and Transformers the game to $400.
Stores that have trade-ins of the PS3 40GB will be selling it for $360 as well.
Here’s the response from Sony regarding PlayStation sales for August.
PS3 continued to generate impressive sales in August 2008, with 185,353 hardware units sold. From January to August 2008, more than 2 million PS3s have been sold in the U.S., representing a year-to-date hardware sales growth of more than 92%. Software sales were also strong for PS3, with 1.6 million units sold, representing a year-over-year growth of 92%
• Electronic Arts Sports’ Madden NFL 09 proved to be a hot seller on PlayStation platforms in August, with more than 1.1 million copies purchased by PlayStation customers, not including the Madden NFL 09 ® (PlayStation® Portable) Entertainment Pack. 643,000 units of the popular sports title were sold for PS3 alone, a 33% higher attach rate than Xbox 360 and representing an increase of 90% year-over-year when compared to Madden NFL 08 sales for PS3 in August 2007.
• Following its launch on July 29, more than 263K copie... More »
March 23rd 2007. This was the date that many Europeans had been anxiously awaiting, counting down to the day that they would get their shiny piece of the future. Expecting to find graphics that blew away the competition, and features that left all before it in the dust, many early adopters fired up the latest iteration of the Playstation only to be met with a system that lacked support, and had only a handful of exclusive features.
It is true that on launch day the PS3 did not seem to be the powerhouse, or gamer’s choice machine that it promised to be. Despite having great launch titles such as Motorstorm and Resistance, the PS3 was a victim of its own hype, delivering nothing more than a standard console launch with only a handful of killer titles. This was to continue, as time went on the entry 20GB system was axed, leaving the 60GB as the only option for those who wanted to enter the next gen... More »
Update: Everyone has their own "optimal" configuration based on what they think is important, superfluous, or just plain irrelevant, so bear that in mind -- I'd never dogmatize about which configuration is "best," because that's something only each one of you can determine.
And of course a chart like this doesn't say a thing about the subjective value of exclusives like a Halo or a Metal Gear Solid 4, as well as whose online or interface schemas deliver more bang for your buck. Some people would gladly pay more or less for access to a given franchise, or to work within the strictures of one platform's architecture versus another's.
Blurry snaps of sales flyers are fanning speculation that come September 7, Microsoft will drop the price of all three Xbox 360 models by at least fifty bucks a piece. From top to bottom, the Xbox 360 family currently ranges from $450 to $280 in variants ranging from a high-end "Elite" model with a 120GB hard drive down to a... More »
Last we heard, it was still up in the air somewhat as to whether upcoming PlayStation 3 consoles would house the elusive 65-nanometer RSX graphics processor.
According to couch21, a curious buyer of Sony's newest 80GB unit, there is a smidgen of data that hints at a 65nm chip actually being under the hood. By using the oh-so-scientific Kill-A-Watt, he discovered that his older 40GB PS3 sucked down 125.8-watts when idle, while the fresh 80GB edition ate up just 111.9-watts.
The findings were similar when looking at power draw during DVD playback and while spinning Metal Gear Solid 4. Unfortunately, this mighty fine fellow is planning to return the new unit after being disappointed by the minimal energy savings, so he's not apt to rip the thing open and prove once and for all what kind of GPU is in there.
Meanwhile, we heartily suggest that someone do just that and put... More »
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