Monthly Archives: January 2010

PlayStation 3 News

Bioware Has “A Few” PS3 Titles In Development

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According to Bioware’s Ray Muzyka, the company had such a good experience making Dragon Age: Origins for the PlayStation 3 that they have more in store for the system.

“We’ve got a few titles in development for PS3 right now,” Muzyka said in an interview with Eurogamers, “As well as a few for 360, across the studios I manage.”

I’m sure you’re wondering what he’s talking about… could this be a PlayStation 3 version of Mass Effect or Mass Effect 2?  Or are we talking about something completely new and awesome? It is too early to tell at this time.

“I won’t say what they are, since not all of them have been announced yet,” Muzyka said.

One game that Muzyka did mention by name: Mass Effect 3.

“We haven’t formally announced Mass Effect 3 yet (though I can say that the team is working on the next installment in the trilogy now).”

PlayStation 3 News

PS3 Heavy Rain Demo Confirmed For Feb. 11

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Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain, a game that’s stole our hearts and left us reaching for our wallets, has gone gold, and a demo for the title is inbound.

Going gold means the game’s ready to be burned to millions of Blu-Ray discs to be shipped to retail outlets everywhere.

As far as the demo is concerned, come February 11, every man, woman, child, and half-link, can get his or her hands on a demo for the game.

No word has come our way about what exactly gamers will do in the demo, but ambitious storytelling is the name of the game, so we can expect that? Yeah, probably.

Heavy Rain comes exclusively to the PlayStation 3 February 23.

PlayStation 3 News

Episodes from Liberty City confirmed for PS3

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PlayStation 3 News

BioWare Quiet on Mass Effect 2 to PS3

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BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 is one of the biggest titles of 2010. While the PlayStation 3 has a solid exclusive line-up that rivals just about any in history, the exclusion of Mass Effect 2 is a soft spot for January. However, there is a possibility that the title might still end up the PlayStation 3 platform.

In a recent Bonus Round of GameTrailers, the host Geoff Keighley showed strong belief that Mass Effect 2 will be a timed-exclusive title. Geoff Keighley stated the following:

“I think the game will eventually come out for PlayStation 3 but they just can’t talk about it yet.”

For now, this is just speculation, but hopefully the speculation turns into reality for PlayStation 3 owners.

PlayStation 3 News

PlayStation 3 Hack Released Online

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Days after announcing he’d managed to hack Sony’s PlayStation 3 console to run his own software George Hotz has released the exploit online.

Hotz, who is best known for cracking Apple’s iPhone, said in a blog posting that he had decided to release the exploit to see what others could do with it and because he wanted to move on to other work.

“Hopefully, this will ignite the PS3 scene, and you will organize and figure out how to use this to do practical things, like the iPhone when jailbreaks were first released,” he wrote. “I have a life to get back to and can’t keep working on this all day and night.”

On Friday Hotz said he had managed to hack the PlayStation 3 after five weeks of work with “very simple hardware cleverly applied, and some not so simple software.”

PlayStation 3 consoles typically only run software that has been digitally signed by Sony. It’s part of the complex digital rights management system designed to thwart software piracy but the hack represents a first crack in that digital protection.

With the release of the exploit online many programmers will likely start to examine the PlayStation 3 for ways to get deeper into the system. For some the prime goal will be to crack the encryption system that ensures illegally copied games cannot be played on the console while others will likely be motivated by the technical challenge of running their own software on the powerful PlayStation 3 platform.

“The PS3 is hacked, it’s your job to figure out something useful to do with it,” wrote Hotz in a zip file included with the exploit.

The exploit Hotz has found works with the PlayStation 3′s OtherOS feature that allows a second operating system to be installed on the machine. This feature was discontinued on newer model machines, the so-called “PS3 Slim” consoles.

Sony is also examining the code. Its Tokyo-based gaming unit, Sony Computer Entertainment, said it is looking into the claims made by Hotz and declined to comment until it has finished its investigation.

If the software is improved upon then Sony could be pushed to release a firmware update that plugs the hole or holes through which Hotz attacked the system.

That’s what happened when Hotz cracked the iPhone. Apple began a virtual cat-and-mouse with developers and would rush out system updates as soon as new versions of the iPhone Jailbreak software were published.

PlayStation 3 News

PlayStation 3 ‘Arc’ Motion Controller Shipping Fall 2010

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After September 22 but before December 21, that’s when you’ll see the PlayStation 3′s spiffy new motion controller on store shelves, says Sony. In a press release issued late last night, the company revealed its wand-based motion control peripheral for the PS3 will ship this fall in Japan, North America, and Europe with ready-to-play software. (Note to Sony: It’s just ‘software’, ‘software titles’ is technically double-dipping.)

“We have decided to release the Motion Controller in fall 2010 when we will be able to offer an exciting and varied line-up of software titles that will deliver the new entertainment experience to PS3 users, ” said Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kazuo Hirai in the press statement.

“We will continue to work to have a comprehensive portfolio of attractive and innovative games for the Motion Controller, not only from SCE Worldwide Studios but also from the third party developers and publishers, whom we have been working closely with. We look forward to soon unveiling the exciting software line-up that further expands and defines the PS3 platform as the ultimate entertainment system for the home.”

Microsoft’s ‘no controller’ motion sensing alternative, dubbed Project Natal, is due to ship by the end of the year, probably in November, placing it head-to-head with Sony’s product.

As expected, you’ll need the PlayStation Eye camera to use the double-wand system. The Eye’s been available for years, of course, and retails for $40 today. It’s also arguably the most underutilized, prematurely released official Sony peripheral in existence, so unless you’re hip to play Eye of Judgment (a totally decent card game, by the way) I’d wait to pick one up until they’re discounting it later this year, or, you know, bundling it with the PlayStation Arc.

Hold up, the PlayStation Arc? What the heck is that?

If you buy VG247′s claim, raised ‘on good authority’, a Sony insider says that’s what the motion controller’s actually named. You know, Arc. Like the plasma bolts spit from a Tesla Coil.

Interestingly, Sony says–my emphasis–that it will “vigorously promote the Motion Controller as the de facto controller of the PS3 platform along with the DUALSHOCK series controller.”

Translation: The Arc–I mean Tentatively Labeled Motion Controller Wand Duo PlayStation Accessory Thingy–gets to ride up front with the big boys. No lounging in the backseat or huddling in the trunk with neglected peripherals like the Eye, or the forlorn SIXAXIS accelerometer.

PlayStation 3 News

Just Cause 2 on PS3 Will Allow Direct Uploads To YouTube

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The PlayStation 3 verrsion of Just Cause 2, Square Enix’s upcoming open-world game, will have an interesting new feature. In order to help you capture those moments of gameplay that have to be seen to be believed, you will be able to upload clips directly to YouTube.

The game will automatically record the last 30 seconds of play to upload those once-in-a-lifteime occurrences, but will also give you the ability to set up 10-minute videos through the in-game menu.

Although the game will release on both PS3 and Xbox 360, only the PS3 version will have this feature.

PlayStation 3 News

Sony says PS3 sold 3 million units in UK

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Sony has announced that the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console has sold 3 million units in the United Kingdom since it was launched.

“We’d like to offer a huge thank you to our retail partners in helping us pass the 3 million PS3 milestone,” said Ray Maguire of Sony UK.  “The £249 price point is enabling us to reach a much broader audience and our line up of software, Heavy Rain, and God of War III – and that’s just in Q1 – should help maintain the momentum.” Back in July of last year, the console had reportedly moved 2.2 million units in the region, highlighting a very decent 800,000 units sold in the second half of 2009.

Around the same time, Microsoft had said the Xbox 360 was up to 3.9 million units in the UK, while in December of 2009, Nintendo revealed that the Wii had reached 6 million unit sales. The Wii is leading the market easily worldwide with 56 million units sold globally.

Microsoft revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that the Xbox 360 console sold 39 million units worldwide since it was launched. The last time the global installed base of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) was revealed by Sony was in its Q2 2009 financial data, and at the time the console had sold 27 million units worldwide.

PS4 News

Sony develops next-gen Blu-ray format for Playstation 4

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High-level Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida recently told Play3 that the future Playstation 4 will use optical storage discs such as Blu-ray for its game library.

According to Anthony Severino of Playstation Lifestyle, Sony will have to  “go above and beyond” the current Blu-Ray format if it is to “withstand” the standard PlayStation 10-year lifecycle.

“While Blu-Ray is here to stay and certainly has plenty of life left in it, so does the PlayStation 3,” wrote Severino.

“When the time arrives for the PlayStation 4 to be released, there could be a need for such a massive capacity storage medium. If Sony sees a need for such a format in the future, they’d likely look to the PS 4 to replicate the success the PS3 had in ushering in Blu-Ray.”



Indeed, GameInformer reports that Sony is currently working on a successor to Blu-ray. The new format is apparently similar to the previously announced Holographic Versatile Disc, with a capacity of 6TB. 



Severino noted that 6TB was “more than enough” to support 1080p HD video, 3D imagery, uncompressed loseless HD audio, along with any other AV codec. 



“On top of all that storage, the format can use the massive amount of available space to implicate extra security measures, a major positive when pitching the format to game developers (and movie studios) who don’t want their games pirated,” he added.

PlayStation 3 News

Shin Megami Tensei Revealed for PS3?

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According to Japanese blog My Game News Flash, a new page has shown up on Amazon.jp with a listing for a brand new entry in the Shin Megami Tensei series exclusively for the Playstation 3. This doesn’t appear to be Persona 5 either, since those games don’t have the Shin Megami Tensei branding coming before it like it does in the West.

Not much else is known, but due to the fact that a page does now exist, and with the history of video game-related leaks that the site is known for, we may have come upon some evidence that suggest the game is close to being completed.