Hi everyone. We’ve been listening to all of your feedback about the PS3 and PSP, and with these next firmware updates (coming soon), we’ve added a number of new features and improved some existing functionality to make your PS3/PSP experience even better.
PSP (v5.00) update
Let’s start with the v5.00 update for PSP. In this version, you’ll notice the addition of the PlayStation Network icon on the XMB. You can now sign up for PlayStation Network, manage your account and access PlayStation Store directly from your PSP - meaning you can download games directly to your PSP while connected via Wi-Fi. Getting games, demos and trailers while on-the-go has never been easier! Check out the screen below.
The current PlayStation Store on the PC will be down in the interim as we take some time to revamp. Don’t worry, it will re-launch soon after we’ve made some tweaks. Please keep in mind, if you already have a PlayStation Network account, simply sign i... More »
The Financial Times is reporting that Kazuo Hirai "has ruled out cutting the price of the PlayStation 3 console before Christmas, insisting that the PS3 is better value than rivals half its price."
To quote: Mr Hirai argues that the basic Xbox has no hard disk drive while the PS3 plays high-definition Blu-Ray movies as standard. “When you really compare apples to apples, then I think we have a very good value proposition,” he said.
“The answer is yes, if you’re asking, ‘Are these the prices we’re going with this Christmas?’” said Kazuo Hirai, president and group chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment, in an interview with the Financial Times.
The console kids both announced Second Life-style virtual environments at the Tokyo Game Show today. Both games show striking similarities to Linden Lab's creation.
Players are represented by avatars which live a virtual life - engaging in relationships, going about day-to-day business. These can be personalised to look as similar (or different) to how the user looks in real life.
Sony's "Home" virtual world for the Playstation 3 will be released on November 19th, after its delay twice already. It will go up against Microsoft's Xbox 360 "New Xbox Experience".
Ryoji Akagawa of Sony said that around 24 game design companies would provide the content needed for Home - but didn't give much else away.
Game expert, Hirokazu Hamamura head of Japanese publisher Enterbrain told Associated Press, "You still can't tell what (Home)'s all about."
Microsoft's John Schappert said, "Our goal is to make the Xbox experience more visual... More »
Update: Final Fantasy XIII's composer Masashi Hamauzu was presenting the live event. He didn't say much but has said the main theme doesn't have a title yet and probably won't until the game is completed. He also had a 5 minute "interview" talking about the process of composing a song. That's all we have so far.
According to ff13.xrea.jp, the Live Premiere Final Fantasy XIII event that was taking place today only lasted 20 minutes and included the trailers without voices.
The event lasted 25 minutes less than it was supposed to and included no new announcements from Square-Enix. They did preview two new tracks including the main theme though.
Sadly, that was the main point of the show...it was a live music event. We'll update you as we get more info.
Just over two weeks ago there were reports of WipEout HD crashing/freezing and some partially-working DIY-style fixes.
The good news is, WipEout HD has now been patched in order to fix the common game freezing problem among PSN users with over 50 friends.
Currently this patch is available for the European version only, though it is expected to go live in America very soon. The patch notes, which can be retrieved from within the game, state that your save file needs to be deleted after the patch has been installed for the fix to take affect.
This means your lap times, team loyalties and other single-player stats and options will be lost. Your trophies and leaderboard scores, however, won't be lost.
If you've been sidestepping the issue by playing whilst signed out of the PSN, starting again is no doubt quite an annoyance. Don't... More »
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 »
For years, the Tokyo Game Show has been the one show on the calendar you can bet Sony is going to put on a performance.
Okay, they may have had a few issues in the past (overheating PS3s) but in general, TGS is their best show of the year. They nearly always headline the keynote and usually announce something or other.
This year, however, I can't help but feel that Sony isn't trying. Firstly, conceding the keynote to Microsoft is bad news, especially on home soil. With no major announcements from Sony, it was up to the publishers to deliver. At Square Enix, they had a closed cinema screening showing a trailer of their upcoming titles.
Problem was, the queue took forever and the film was too long (around 20 minutes). They showed all their development projects, of which half I'm sure most were uninterested in. There were no playable next-gen titles outside of the 360 area and the Square Enix booth was right next to Microsoft's.
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