150w ago - A few months back we reported that ITV was in talks with Sony, and today TechRadar.com (linked above) reports that UK Channel 4 is interested in bringing their 4oD on-demand service to the PlayStation 3 entertainment system as well.

If 4oD was available on the PS3, fans would be able to view popular shows on demand including Skins, Father Ted and Come Dine With Me amongst others.

An unnamed source from Channel 4 has recenrly revealed to Broadcast Magazine that they are seeking to launch on the PS3 platform.

To quote: "Channel 4 is in talks with Sony to bring video on demand service 4oD to the PlayStation 3 and is also developing an iPad app. A report in Broadcast magazine reveals that talks are already ongoing, suggesting that they are still in the early stages.

Although the BBC iPlayer has already been a huge hit on the PS3 Channel 4's service would be the first commercial arrival. 'We're looking to launch on the PS3,' a source told Broadcast Magazine."

220w ago - Sony's Home team has told GamesIndustry (linked above) that its online service is becoming the "perfect storm" for games publishers looking to interact directly with their consumers.

To quote: Three months after launch, and with the first tangiable user details being fed back to partners, publishers are now able to build more unique content for users, and turn that content in revenues.

"Every major publisher is interested in Home. Here you can speak directly to the PlayStation audience on the platform that your product is on," said Jack Buser, director of Home for Sony Computer Entertainment, in an exclusive interview published today.

"You have publishers and brands coming into Home looking to engage with an audience, but they also have the opportunity to generate revenue. It's a model that makes sense for everybody. It's kind of a perfect storm," he said.

Peter Edwards, director of the Home Platform Group at Sony, added that content creators are now looking at the future potential of the service, after a few months of creating standard software for Home.

"As is the way with most platforms, the first round of development is pretty safe. It works," he said.

"But people are getting the hang of how it works, and that's starting to come through in...

236w ago - Square Enix has revealed that they were releasing a version of FFXI for the PlayStation 3, but they ran into a small hitch... the Sony rep they were talking to about a PS3 version actually quit the company!

To quote: But when we caught up with the FFXI development team at the Fan Fest event in Hollywood, California over the weekend, we learned an interesting tidbit: It turns out Square Enix was indeed looking into the possibility of releasing a version of FFXI for the PS3, until they ran into a small snag.

"Initially we were in talks with a representative from Sony [to achieve this], but it appears that that person quit," said FFXI producer Hiromichi Tanaka, inducing laughter from the rest of the team. Tanaka also explained why it's a little more complicated to make the PS2 version work than, say, simply releasing some sort of patch or update for the PS3.

"[Current] PS3s don't have PS3-side PS2 emulation, and it doesn't look like Sony has any plans to address that issue. For that kind of thing to even be conceivable, it would have to be on a disc. Digital downloads wouldn't work for this. The disc has to be in the system for the emulator to work."

236w ago - Just under a week ago this rumor surfaced, and today Sony Computer Entertainment of America's senior marketing manager John Kohler stated that the company is indeed interested in providing downloadable PlayStation 2 titles on the PlayStation 3 console.

He also went on to reiterate that using a larger 3rd-party hard drive on the PS3 is encouraged, and will not void the warranty in the interview as follows:

Let's talk more about that. I'd love to download my favorite PS2 games onto my PS3's hard drive so I don't have to worry about finding the discs. Will Sony ever provide downloadable PS2 games to play on the PS3?

We're still sorting through that. We're absolutely interested, but there are some technical hurdles there that we have to overcome first. But this is something that we're absolutely interested in. You make good points, there are a lot of people who would be interested in playing the strongest PS2 games on their PS3. Nothing's imminent on that, but it's something we are interested in as well.

With the release of the 160GB PlayStation 3 bundle, is storage space becoming less of an issue for the PS3? I recently installed a 500GB drive in my PS3 and I couldn't...

245w ago - Electronic Arts is hunting to rebuild its connection with the hardcore by releasing a plethora of new IP's titles that appeal specifically to a certain section of the gaming arena.

Their recent deal with an internal Epic Games Studio "People Can Fly" (creators of Painkiller) and Grasshopper Studios is just a minor step in this direction.

They are also looking out to buying out companies who have produced a quality lineup of games. After their failure to capture Take-Two Studios, the rumor mill strongly suggests that Electronic Arts are seriously contemplating in buying out Epic Games.

Their main aim is to fund the development of the next generation of Unreal technology and acquire exclusive licensing rights over it (Unreal 4.0). This also means that we might be witness to the next Unreal Tournament game and Gears of War sequel being published by Electronic Arts as well.

A minor step in this direction has already taken place with an EA employee being shifted to Microsoft in the development of "Gears of War 2" to ascertain the potential and viability of the series in the future.

Westwood (EA Pacific), Maxis, Bioware, Pandemic and now the target is setting to shift to Delta Squad and its components, the question is will we be ready if all this epic transaction...