201w ago - According to trade publication MCVUK (linked above), supplies of the PS3 are running dry in the UK channels.

This adds merit to rumors that the PS3 is going to get a price cut and also that the emergence of the PS3 Slim is imminent.

To quote: Rumors and speculation have been rife for many weeks now, but MCV can reveal that Sony is clearing PS3 hardware stock from the channel ahead of what is expected to be a new price point introduced from early September.

A press conference at the Gamescom event in Cologne next Tuesday (August 18th) is expected to provide details of the price cut - and possibly the launch of the rumoured redesigned PS3 Slim.

But ahead of that, UK retail has already begun to comment on the current lack of hardware stock on the market.

Two of the UK's leading national retailers have confirmed to MCV that they have been told not to expect any further supplies of the console until later this month or early September.

224w ago - The original Dirt was a hit across the board, which naturally means that Codemasters is hard at work on a sequel. Known quite simply as Dirt 2, this follow-up was unveiled by the English publisher at a press event last night in San Francisco.

During the presentation, the big theme that Codemasters was hammering on for this sequel was the idea of off-road racing with an extreme sports attitude. What does that mean, exactly?

The first game featured voice-over work by motocross legend Travis Pastrana, but this time around Codemasters is looking to go full tilt with the game's presentation.

A teaser video revealed a scene from the player's RV, the hub where you control all your career mode exploits, and it was a raucous collection of grime, half-naked women, and general insanity. That should serve as a good hint of what the overall attitude will be.

But of course, this is still a racing game, and gussying up the user interface will take you only so far. Thankfully, Codemasters revealed some intriguing information about the type of racing you'll be doing this time around. The biggest chunk of information they let out is the inclusion of stadium rally events.

They showed a gameplay video of a fictional stadium built around London's Battersea Power Station, with...

242w ago - One lucky Gran Turismo fan recently had a chance to actually talk to Gran Turismo series creator Kazunori Yamauchi about all things Gran Turismo. Of course, one of the things that came up was Gran Turismo 5's release date.

When told about fans expecting the game to be released in 2010, Yamauchi laughed it off and said that the game will be released sooner than expected. As vague as ever, but it does raise hopes of a possible 2009 release.

Yamauchi also gave out a few more details about the game, including the current status of damage implementation. Apparently, some companies like Porsche (apparently, their contracts with other game makers have ended so Polyphony Digital is negotiating with them) have already given Polyphony Digital the go signal to total their cars, but other manufacturers (Yamauchi mentioned Ferrari) are being stubborn about it, even for minor side mirror damage stuff.

Yamauchi also confirmed that the "rubber band effect", a performance boost that gives a player a slight increase in grip and power when he's more than 2 seconds behind the race leader, will be implemented in some races. Online races that feature qualifying laps won't have this feature, though.

Speaking of online races, Yamauchi also mentioned that private online races are coming, but they...

242w ago - Recently research by DFC Intelligence, who has been involved in market research of the video games industry since 1995, has concluded that Sony's production losses per PlayStation 3 is so great that the console can not be expected to break even across its entire lifetime.

To quote: Analyst Wanda Meloni took the stage to discuss the key trends that will shape the market in the near future.

After briefly introducing the basic standings of each of the major console manufacturers, Meloni argued that "Sony has the most to lose with this current generation."

Based on DFC's most current research, she says, Sony's production losses per individual PS3 mean that the console can't be expected to "break even" across its lifetime.

In addition, while Sony owned 67 percent of the market at the height of the PS2 era, DFS intelligence expects that it will only maintain between 40 to 50 percent of the market by the end of the current generation.

245w ago - According to the official Japanese SCEJ site, the current closed PlayStation 3 Home BETA is due to end in a matter of weeks, presumably then opening up the final 1.0 version to a wider public.

Additionally, here's a list of companies that have signed up as partners for Home, providing content, spaces etc:

- IREM
- Activision
- Acquire
- Atlus
- Walt Disney Japan
- SNK
- EA
- Capcom
- Q Entertainment
- Game Republic
- Genki
- Koei
- Konami
- Spike
- Sega
- D3 Publisher
- Tecmo
- Nippon Ichi Software
- Hudson
- Bandai Namco Games
- Ubisoft

Finally, Home has a major presence at TGS this year, as can be seen by these photographs from the show.