There's general agreement that Sony stumbled out of the gate with the PlayStation 3. Months of intense hype were followed by a late launch (fully a year after the Xbox 360) and a staggering $600 price tag for the deluxe model.
Even worse, the PS3 didn't initially have any real must-have exclusive titles, and despite the power of its vaunted Cell processor, multiplatform games from third-party developers didn't look appreciably better than the respective titles on the Xbox 360.
Since then, the company's been modifying the PlayStation product line to better fit the competitive market landscape. As of August 2008, a new "bargain" PS3 is available with a larger, 80GB hard drive, and a "deluxe" model is due in November, doubling the capacity to 160GB.
Both, however, lack backward compatibility with PS2 games and do not come with flash card readers. If those features are a must, it might be best to pick up the 80GB "Metal Gear" bundle version on eBay w... More »
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 »
A short time ago Sony Computer Entertainment executive Ray Maguire was quoted in response to a question about a PlayStation 3 price cut.
"Well the pressure comes from the consumers obviously and so therefore there's always pressure on price," admitted Maguire, "but you know we have a business to run, and we have to make sure we're doing the right thing for the shareholders as well."
I am sorry, what? I know I am not a CPA, a high ranking business analyst, nor a senior executive at a multi-billion dollar company, but I can do basic math. Microsoft recently had some major price cuts on their hardware and has seen a big hardware surge in North America and especially Europe as a result. So let’s break out some hypothetical numbers shall we?
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Wal-Mart will be offering several in-store deals on electronic items on Saturday, November 8th.
Topping the list, they are offering an 80GB PlayStation 3 (likely not backwards-compatible unless from old stock) for $399 with a $100 Gift Card.
They also have an online Nintendo DS Lite Holiday Value Bundle for $149 which includes: Your choice of Nintendo DS Lite, your choice of two (2) DS games and a Princess Peach or Mario accessory tin kit.
Finally, they are offering the Ratchet & Clank PSP-3000 bundle and PS2 console, both of which include a $30 gift card.
Those interested can check out the deals HERE or linked above!
Visit our Web Shop for the latest Deals on gaming gear today!
Use Coupon Code: holiday at check-out to get 15% OFF your order!
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 »
Kaz Hirai has indicated that he expects PlayStation Home to boost sales of the PS3 this Holiday period. Moreover, he added that he expects the gaming division of Sony to be less affected by the current adverse economic conditions.
To quote: A Sony Corp. executive told the Wall Street Journal this month that the company expects the new online universe 'Home' to boost sales of the Playstation 3 this holiday.
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Chairman and Group CEO Kaz Hirai told the publication that Home, which will allow PS3 owners to mingle in a virtual world, will be available by the end of the year.
Hirai added that he expects the company's game unit to be less affected by current economic conditions.
Sony in Sept. 2007 delayed the Home online service to spring 2008. It subsequently delayed the project to the end of the year.
Sony will sell a new 160GB PS3 bundle in Nov. next to the current 80GB SKU.
According to the latest issue of Famitsu, Sony will be announce that is release the 80 GB PS3 in Japan. The 80 GB PS3 will be bundled with a DualShock 3 controller and will come in black, white, and silver.
The price for the console is 39,800 yen, the current price of the 40 GB model. There will also be a LBP 80 GB PS3 bundle which comes with 2 Dual Shocks for 44,800 yen.
Famitsu also revealed that Sony will be offering a LittleBigPlanet and DualShock 3 bundle for 7.980 yen.
To quote: One of Sony's big Tokyo Game Show announcements has leaked out early through Famitsu. Sony will be releasing the 80 gigabyte PS3 model to Japan, the magazine reveals in its latest issue. Bundled with a Dual Shock 3, the new high capacity model will sell for 39,800 yen, the current price of the 40 gigabyte model. Sony will offer the system in black, white, and silver color varieties.
The deal gets better, though, as for a limted time, Sony will be includ... More »
We recently purchased a new 80GB PlayStation 3 console, and our very own PS3 Dev Courier dissected his new system.
The item that peaked his interest the most was that it had one single 56-pin Flash chip, the S29GL128N90TFIR2, and was 128MB in size in contrast to older PS3 consoles utilizing dual (2x256MB) 48-pin chips totaling 512MB. So, he bought a new adapter, and some blank chips and proceeded to pull the 56-pin flash, and dumped it.
To our surprise, he was unable to dump more than 16MB of it! At first, we believed that the other blocks in the flash were protected via password, however there was something else brewing.
He took the 16MB dump that was made and flashed it onto a completly blank chip, and reinstalled it in the PS3.
To our surprise, it worked!
Now, if you recall, newer version PS3 Firmwares have ask... More »
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