125w ago - Today two more studios, namely Fox and Universal, have signed on to bring PlayStation Network movies to PS3 and PSP console users beginning this coming January.

The news comes according to a report in the Nikkei newspaper, and to quote from Variety:

"Starting in January, Fox and Universal will join Sony and Disney in supplying pics online to users of Sony PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable machines for either unlimited-time purchase or limited-time rental.

The aim is to boost use of Sony game gear with popular Hollywood titles. The exact number and titles of the pics has yet to be announced."

170w ago - Sony's recent patent filing indicates that a universal video game console controller may be joining the trend of such devices including universal TV remotes.

The Sony patent, which was filed in August 2008 but appeared online on February 18 of this year, reads to quote:

"Just like remote controls, game consoles, and thus game controllers, are becoming widespread. It is not surprising to find more than one game consoles in a household, especially when competing game console manufacturers attempt to attract unconventional consumer groups in the gaming industry.

As understood herein, it would be useful to have a universal controller that would be able to work with a variety of game consoles."

This controller would feature a touch sensitive liquid crystal display that would display various button layouts depending on the consoles. For example, a Nintendo console would pull up a Nintendo controller layout, a Microsoft console would pull up a Microsoft controller layout and a PlayStation console would pull up a PS controller layout.

The patent also notes that this controller will have...

181w ago - Universal Studios is preparing to launch its line of Blu-ray / DVD hybrids known as 'Flipper discs' in 2010, which could benefit Sony's PlayStation 3.

For those curious, the hybrid discs hold a Blu-ray film on one side and a 9GB DVD version on the other.

To quote: "The technology allows a single disc to offer a 50GB Blu-Ray version of a film on one side, and a 9GB DVD version on the other. It's a plan by Universal (and most likely the rest of the Blu-ray Consortium) to increase the adoption of Blu-ray HD films by giving consumers the option to future-proof their content.

One of the key components in Sony's PlayStation 3 is its Blu-ray drive, offering gamers a chance to experience high definition movies. If the Flipper discs prove to be a popular format, it could help cement the PS3 as the home entertainment console of choice.

The first dual-format Flipper discs are due to go on sale on 19th January 2010 in the US, with the very first product being the Jason Bourne trilogy, a box set containing The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. No pricing has yet been announced."

189w ago - Update: A second video is now available below as well!

Today Freeplay has released a video which appears to demonstrate Sony's new PSP Go hacked, showing a 'Hello Go' Universal PSP Hello World screen.

Although he doesn't specifically state which game was used, there are apparently several known user mode exploits... but as always, obtaining a kernel mode exploit proves more challenging.

At the end of the video he states that he has no plans to release the PSP exploit, likely because Sony could then easily patch it as they would just need to update the corresponding PKG file on their servers.

To quote from the video's caption: "Just in case anyone doubted that the exploit was real... here's a Hello World running on a PSP Go. It will work on any firmware and any PSP hardware version. No, you can't have it "

"Yes, there are unreleased PSP exploits out there for various games. Yes, they still work, even on the PSP Go.

No, I didn't discover this exploit. It's been floating around for a while; it was just never used.

NO, I *DO NOT* plan on sharing any useful details about this. I want to see how long this will fester before Sony finally figures out how to fix it. That means I won't be sharing the files or even naming the game I used...

189w ago - It appears as though a developer has already hinted that universal game video recording is officially coming to the Xbox 360 courtesy of Microsoft.

According to Kotaku, this means the type of recording things you see in Halo 3, to quote:

"In a meeting last week with a game developer at the Tokyo Game Show, I asked them if they were planning on trying to incorporate in-game video capture into their title. The type you see in Halo 3.

The answer was interesting and, I believe, accidental.

"We'd love to have video capture in our game, but why work on something that the platform holder is already developing," said the developer, who I'm keeping anonymous to cover for his accidental slip-up.

The idea of a universal, platform-level video capture system for games seems like a good idea, and one that fits in nicely with the plans that Microsoft has for the Xbox 360."