119w ago - With news of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunamis in Japan, several Sony factories are currently closed as a result of the disaster.

To quote from Engadget (linked above): "Sony and Toyota have both stopped operations in their factories due to damage. Tragically, one Honda worker lost his life after a wall collapsed, while several Panasonic workers are said to have suffered minor injuries.

It remains to be seen exactly what impacts this will have on consumers, but Sony's closed factories were responsible for the production of Blu-ray discs and batteries, while the numerous automotive shutdowns could result in short-term shortages. This bad news sent stocks downward, with German share prices for Sony dropping 2.5 percent and Honda 4.5 percent.

We're still watching with concern to see what other impacts the resultant tsunamis could have, but for now we'll keep hoping for the best."

173w ago - Today several European users have reported receiving an invitation to participate in the latest PlayStation Home closed PS3 Beta testing.

Participants receive an access code coupled with the standard NDA agreement in the e-mail, as follows:

Dear Beta Tester,

You have been invited to take part in the Private Beta for PlayStation®Home.

This Beta is to test and obtain your feedback on changes that have been made based on suggestions by yourselves and members of the PS Home Community.

User Hells Vacancy of N4G provided the following additional details, to quote:

"For this Beta, Event Nights are taking place on select dates.

Each Event Night will concentrate on specific features in PS Home. The dates for the Event Nights are:

• Wednesday, 24th of February
• Tuesday, 2nd of March

The Event Nights will start at 8pm UK time and finish at 10pm UK time.

The PS Home Beta Servers will only be open during the above mentioned dates and times."

199w ago - Today Sony's Social Media Senior Specialist Chris Morell has shared a 'behind closed doors' GamesCom video of Lost Planet 2 for PlayStation 3.

To quote: Even though Capcom's US offices are quite literally a stone's throw from our HQ at SCEA, I had to travel all the way to Cologne, Germany to get my hands on Lost Planet 2 for PS3.

Sure, we all know the history of the original Lost Planet on PS3, but with the sequel it's a new day. Playing through the Gamescom demo, Lost Planet 2 is like night and day from the first.

And to walk me through it is Capcom's Chris Kramer, who also answers many of my/your questions with the game running on PS3 in the background.

205w ago - Update #2: Casshern23 has now created an updated guide on How to Get Closed Beta & Other Items Free in PlayStation Home.

Update: For those having issues with the FilePack below, give the PlayStation Home Item Hack FilePack Fix a try with the Updated Guide!

Today we received an e-mail from Leviathan letting us know of a recent PlayStation Home hack that he wishes to share here!

Similar to the PlayStation Home Replacement Posters & Custom Trailer, this basically uses SimpleDNS/PowerDNS, Apache Server and WireShark for HTTP sniffing.

Below is a FilePack and guide for those who wish to give this a try!

Download: PlayStation Home Item Hack FilePack

PlayStation Home Item Hack

Tools...

209w ago - Obviously the PSP Go is designed to be a gaming system in its open state, but what about when it's closed?

JoyStiq (linked above) contacted Sony to find out if it was even possible to play games in the handheld's shuttered mode and if the company had any titles in development that would utilize the functionality.

To quote: A representative for Sony told us it hasn't announced any titles in development that strictly use the PSP Go's L/R shoulder buttons, but that "users will be able to play those games with the PSP Go in closed mode."

The Sony rep continued, "Users will be able to access content and applications on the XMB such as videos, music and Skype when the panel is closed - but users will need to launch the application first before closing the panel."

Other accessible features when the panel is closed include "original applications," like the clock and calendar.