233w ago - Bluepoint Games President Andy O'Neil was pleased to reveal today that Blast Factor for PlayStation 3 will offer PS3 trophies as of this Thursday.

To quote: Hey All! We've had a lot of email over the last few months asking about Trophies for Blast Factor, so I'm very pleased to announce that a new updated version of Blast Factor with that sweet Trophy goodness will be winging its way to your PS3 this Thursday!

We've had a lot of fun putting the Trophy challenges together, and we reckon that we've got a good selection for Blast Factor fans of all abilities. Watch out though, there are a couple that are going to be a challenge to even the most hardcore of Blast Factor players!

We've added 25 Trophies in total across the original game and the 2 expansion packs, with around 15 Trophies in Blast Factor: Basic Research and its 90+ levels, and 10 Trophies split between the Multiplayer expansion and Advanced Research with its addition of 80+ levels and Hybrid mode.

We've also added rumble support for the DualShock 3 Controller for that extra tactile goodness. All existing versions of Blast Factor will get automatically patched when you start the game, so you won't even need to download the new version from the store.

And yes, this update is FREE! So...

239w ago - This generation console war is still finely in the balance. Sure, the Wii is way out in front, while the PS3 and Xbox 360 trade positions on a monthly basis, but with a long way to go, I still feel it's anyone's market.

So what will swing it for one of the consoles? What will make the all-important mainstream consumer choose one over the other and take it on to victory?

While some of us have owned and played a next generation console for two to three years, we are the early adopters, the hardcore gamers (except for Wii owners) who want the latest and greatest system to experience our hobby on. And generally, although price may be a slight concern, we're willing to pay through the nose for that cutting-edge experience.

But with prices dropping and this generation of consoles moving in to the second phase, the general populous are entering the fray and choosing their games system to replace the last-gen console they have been happy with for the past few years. The question remains: what will influence their buying decisions?

I feel this generation has given consumers a real choice that no other generation has quite managed:-

The PS3 is a powerful games console that Sony has also tried to develop in to something more: a multimedia living room hub offering the Internet...

280w ago - At CES on Monday, a journalist got to speak to the head honcho of LionsGate and decided to ask him what made the company favor Blu-ray. He was expecting an example such as they thought it was the superior format, but he surprised him by saying that Blu-ray has tighter piracy controls.

The main man chose piracy as his first line of reasoning which made the journalist a little angered in an industry where high flyer's are totally insulated from the real world.

To quote: And while Beeks seemed like he had solid command over the finer points of the movie industry, I was interested to see why his studio chose Blu-ray over the alternative.

Expecting the canned answer like, "Well, we thought it was the superior format and I'm happy to say that we were right," you could imagine my surprise when the very first reason he gave was Blu-ray's piracy controls.

For those of you who don't know, Blu-ray's piracy controls--largely based on AACS, BD+, and BD-ROM Mark--are easily the most stringent format to date and have only partially been circumvented to this point.

Regardless, I was utterly appalled at the thought that with all of its benefits--high-capacity, interesting new features to employ while playing movies, major industry backing--Beeks chose piracy as the first talking point.