Xbox Group product manager Aaron Greenberg has refuted reports that Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology Corp will develop a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360, claiming owners of the console would not be interested in such an add-on.
"We have no plans to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience," he told Major Nelson. "We believe that we shouldn't force people to pay for things they don't want."
Following the commercial failure of the HD-DVD format Microsoft decided to invest in, Greenberg also stated that Microsoft's position on high-definition movie and TV content is currently centred around digital distribution.
"We've invested in a massive library of entertainment content. That's why we're bringing things like Netflix to members in the US, that's why we're growing our library in Europe, that's why we're adding all types of entertainment experiences around the world.
"And Blu-ray: who knows? I'll tell you one thing: if you look... More »
With retailer reports indicating the impending discontinuation of the 80GB PlayStation 3, many are left wondering what will come to take the place of Sony’s high-end console SKU. Supposed insiders are pointing to a new model with a 120 to 160GB hard drive and the new DualShock 3 controller, though Sony denies such plans.
The latest word, however, is that Sony itself has yet to decide on its next PlayStation 3 model. GameDaily cites a source close to Sony that SCEI is currently holding meetings to settle on what the next package will be.
According to the source, Sony is considering the distance it should put between its SKUs. Thus far, the high-end and entry-level PlayStation 3 consoles feature a main difference of 40GB of hard drive space.
The original launch 20GB machine, besides being deficient by 40GB, was also without flash card readers and Wi-Fi when compared with the 60GB model. The later release of the 40GB, aside from storage space, als... More »
At CES this year, Kaz Hirai, the President of Sony Computer Entertainment, stated that the PlayStation 3 was going to be profitable in 2008; unlike the huge losses it made for Sony in 2007.
After Hirai's statement the production costs were reported to be cut in half from the high $800 production costs down to $400 for each unit. Due to this news it sounded unlikely that the price was going to be cut again. Rumors were beginning to circulate that said the price was going to be cut to $299 in late January.
Combining the statement of Kaz Hirai and the $400 production costs, it doesn't really seem to increase the chance of a price cut so early in the year. That is probably why Sony confirmed to Bloomberg that they have no plans to cut the price of the PlayStation 3 in Japan, North America or Europe. Sorry for the people waiting for the PS3 to drop another $100, but it probably won't happen any time soon.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) can categorically deny that there is a 40% failure rate on the newly release 40GB PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3) as has been reported on a Dutch website. Having launched in October, the 40GB PS3 has encountered the same industry leading, very low failure rates, comparable to the low level failure rates of the 60GB PS3.
“We are very proud of the quality and reliability of PLAYSTATION 3 and are disappointed that such extremely sloppy journalism has resulted in this totally inaccurate story,” said David Reeves, President, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. “Since launching the 40GB PS3, we have experienced a fantastic jump in sales and the failure rates have remained at the very low level that we not only strive for, but have been achieving since the launch of PS3.”
Says he was "merely putting Wii Sports into a wider cultural context".
Nintendo has moved to clarify comments made by UK boss David Yarnton yesterday at a London press conference.
Yarnton, Nintendo UK general manager, said in his speech: "For all the recent talk of record breaking entertainment launches, it might just be that the defining and most influential video game of this generation is a simple game of tennis that the whole family can gather around and play and enjoy together."
While we saw this as a thinly veiled dig at Microsoft's record-breaking Halo 3 launch in September, Nintendo has denied Yarnton was making reference to the multi-million selling FPS.
In a statement Nintendo said today: "We did not mention any games or other companies and it was certainly not a dig at anyone. We were merely putting Wii Sports into a wider cultural context alongside cinema, books and TV. We would echo the recent comments from our US colleag... More »
This post in the PlayStation forums claims that Sony Customer Service told the owner of a bricked PS3 that plugging his console into a surge protector had voided his warranty, and that he'd have to pay $150 to have the unit repaired.
This sounded pretty unlikely to us, so we contacted Sony and were told that, no, plugging your PS3 into a surge protector does not void your warranty. Duh. Ok, they didn't actually say "Duh," but it was clearly implied.
Sony will be contacting the customer with the bricked PS3 to resolve the matter and sort out any misunderstandings.
According to the Associated Press, Japanese business daily Nikkei said Saturday that Sony was planning to shed costly semiconductor assets in a deal that could be worth about 100 billion yen ($870 million). Nikkei reported that an agreement could be reached in the next few months, allowing Sony to focus on audiovisual equipment instead.
Sony was said to be considering establishing a joint venture with Toshiba following any sale in order to ensure that there was a ready supply of chips for its gaming devices, specifically the PlayStation 3’s Cell processor, which Sony developed in conjunction with Toshiba and IBM. Sony Computer Entertainment could even secure a minority stake in any venture, it was reported.
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