There's general agreement that Sony stumbled out of the gate with the PlayStation 3. Months of intense hype were followed by a late launch (fully a year after the Xbox 360) and a staggering $600 price tag for the deluxe model.
Even worse, the PS3 didn't initially have any real must-have exclusive titles, and despite the power of its vaunted Cell processor, multiplatform games from third-party developers didn't look appreciably better than the respective titles on the Xbox 360.
Since then, the company's been modifying the PlayStation product line to better fit the competitive market landscape. As of August 2008, a new "bargain" PS3 is available with a larger, 80GB hard drive, and a "deluxe" model is due in November, doubling the capacity to 160GB.
Both, however, lack backward compatibility with PS2 games and do not come with flash card readers. If those features are a must, it might be best to pick up the 80GB "Metal Gear" bundle version on eBay w... More »
The new Xbox 360 Dashboard OS update is coming soon and it is going to be one of the biggest changes to the Xbox 360 since the system hit the market.
It is going to include the first complete redesign of the Xbox interface called the NXE by all the cool kids. The New Xbox Experience (NXE) is going to be the best thing to hit the Xbox and it is going to completely redefine how we use it.
One of the niftiest things at Penny Arcade Expo 08 was seeing the new Xbox dashboard. Xbox Live's own Major Nelson showed it off. He made sure to stress that it is still a work in progress and that there was an army of programmers over in Redmond that were cranking out code and testing it as he gave the demo.
As a side note if you ever go to a game expo or press event and Major Nelson asks you not to film something in the presentation and you do it anyway and then go on and keep on filming after he notices you and calls you out and you don't stop it then y... More »
Courtesy of gr8npwrflOZ, this video shows a demo of a keyboard, and the developer has reportedly tried a hard drive although things run quite slowly.
To quote: This is a free standing plug-in mod for the PSP that will allow you to plug in USB keyboards, mice, and joysticks.
Video is available below, via YouTube!
Near Future Laboratory has put some information on their analog version of a PS2 controller for the PSX project online recently.
This is the one that slows the analog part of the controller down over time, so that when you play a title like Katamari Damacy the Prince will get tired. A lot more details are available linked above.
To quote in part: So, this is my analog version of a playful Playstation 2 controller for the PSX project — the one that slows the analog part of the controller down over time so, you know.. when I’m playing Katamari Damacy it’s a bit more realistic that the Prince gets tired or during GTA, my guy actually gets tired from running away from liquor store heists and stuff.
I’m looking at two approaches. The first is digital — basically intercepting and modifying the communication between the console and the controller. (I’ve described the protocol, and there’s lots of great, hard-gained information out and about... More »
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I was well and truly stuck about a third of the way through the A Class races in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. When you’re starting in last place and playing catch up with an equally powerful car, making just one mistake means you’re toast - especially on a speedway-style circuit.
I’d all but given up on the thought of beating the game until Logitech told me they were sending over a Driving Force GT. It probably won’t come as a shock when I tell you that Gran Turismo 5 Prologue comes alive when it’s played with a force-feedback wheel.
The jump between a Sixaxis and the Driving Force GT is of a similar magnitude to the jump between the 8-way digital joysticks of the 16-bit era and the dual-analogs of recent years. You can feel the car lose traction, and intuitively wrestle the back end into submission.
All of a sudden I could actually compete. Not only could I reliably take someone under heavy brakes, I could gently guide a car around the Hi... More »
Seems that Sony's not only trying to compete with Xbox Live and Nintendo's similar services, but also with Apple's iTunes. The news of the day is that the PS3 will be able to hook up to your cellphone and you surely know that this is just another reason for those PSP Phone rumors to resurface. We're already loving the Remote Play functionality featured on the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 and we guess that it can be expanded in order to allow the next-gen gaming device to connect to many other gadgets.
Linking a PS3 to a mobile phone means hardcore media streaming and maybe a chance to take screenshots and capture videos from the games you play, plus some neat content management of your saves and files. We'll see this new feature being launched by April 2008, probably with the aid of a brand new firmware. I'm curios to see if the connectivity option is only available for Sony's phones, or we'll be able to hook up iPhones to our beloved consoles.
Can ... More »
Trademark application sparks excitement over SEGA re-entry into console market.
SEGA Corporation has filed a new application to protect the trademark Dreamcast - sparking rumours that the Japanese publisher is planning on making a shock return to the console manufacturing market with the Dreamcast 2.
The application, sent to the United States Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR) dated August 13 2007, relates to:
"Home video game machines; player-operated electronic controllers for electronic video game machines; video game interactive controller, namely, hand held pads, and floor pads or mats; joysticks for video games; computer cursor control devices, namely, computer mouse; flash memory cards; video game software, computer game programs".
Web chatter suggests the proof is in the detail of the application - the original Dreamcast didn't have a floor mat accessory and the Dreamcast's ... More »
ralferoo posted HERE of his new PS3 Puzzle Bobble clone called Pubble.
Pubble is a homebrew Puzzle Bobble style game for the PS3 supporting up to 5 players on a single PS3. If you don't have that many sixaxis controllers, you can plug in standard USB joysticks and use those too!
This screenshot (below) should give you an idea of what the game is about...
Express instructions:
1. Download Pubble v0.2.9b for PS3. [Right-click, Save As]
2. Unpack it to a USB memory stick.
3. On the PS3, select [System Settings]/[Install Other OS].
4. Ignore the warning about needing a partition - you don't.
5. Select the otheros.bld on the memory stick and wait for it to flash.
6. Select [System Settings]/[Default ... More »
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