PlayStation 4

For those members across the sea (or those with a European login) you’ll find that the much anticipated game God of War III is available for download according to the European PlayStation Blog.

While I haven’t had the chance to play it firsthand (2671MB and currently downloading) some of the buzz surrounding reports on the Euro PlayStation blog is that the demo is a near direct correlation from E3 2009.  Those awaiting a demo in the States may be stuck sitting around in anticipation. There is no indication of a similar demo on the US blog, and after checking the store not too long ago, I can confirm that it’s not there. If it does happen to be the demo from the God of War collection released in September of last year, you may not be missing anything new. However, keep your eyes glued to the PlayStation store over the next week, and hopefully our favorite anti-hero will make an appearance soon.

NBA Jam will be coming to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, according to the CV of an EA software engineer.

Superannuation reports that Andrea Schiel’s LinkedIn profile had the next edition of the series down as coming to HD consoles as well as Wii.

The profile’s since been edited to remove the mention. However, a screengrab exists at AGB

EA has already confirmed that a Wii version of the game will be released this year.

In a recent interview with Final Fantasy XIII director Yoshinori Kitase, he explains the difficulty in recreating the masterpiece that is Final Fantasy VII on PlayStation 3.

“This issue is related to whether a Final Fantasy VII remake will happen or not,” Kitase told Ultimania Magazine, “It is very hard to make games on PlayStation 3 in the same style as the games in [the PSone] era had. Making graphics will take enormous time.”

In that same interview, Motomu Toriyama explained the lesser amount of towns in Final Fantasy XIII, also blaming the high-definition era.

“Yes, [a ‘non-stop’ story] is one of the reasons [of the game's linearity],” Toriyama said, “but more importantly, it is a result of considering high-definition graphics will be the mainstream. Considering the amount of work to make graphics that deserve high-definition, it is hard to make towns in the conventional style.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

PlayStation 3 has been giving tough times to owners lately and we hope you recollect the issues faced after updating to 3.00 firmware. Now, a discussion thread about the firmware 3.10 crashing Blu-ray drives of PS3 consoles is catching everybody’s attention.

PlayStation 3 official forum members have cited the firmware 3.10 update bearing PS3 freezes while playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Many other members have reported similar freezing issues with other games too. Basically, the game disc on the Blu-ray drives gets affected. For some PS3 owners, the optical drive won’t read disc after freeze occurs.

Just like the firmware 3.00 update, the PlayStation 3 owners suffer game freezes yet again. Yeh sure, Xbox 360 owners who were Red Ring of Death victims can now smirk on these PS3 freezing victims. Apparently, the issue has something to do with the firmware update or the Blu-ray drive itself.

A PlayStation 3 gamer has apparently abandoned the game for ever, after her avatar was repeatedly hassled in Sony’s PlayStation Home virtual world.

Some nasty man kept getting behind her, it seems, and crouching down.

Her roommate, Whoef, was outraged on her behalf, and pleads eloquently  in a web post for drastic measures.

While the perpetrator is punished, he says, the victim should be given a free personal space which includes a mini-game. “The game consists of the harasser being placed in a very small courtyard and the victim, using an automatic tomato gun, shoots tomatoes at their harassers,” he suggests.

“Home should create the Home Jail, then the harassers can harass each other, since that seems to be their only purpose for being on Home. Put them where they belong. There is no reason Home can’t make money on future rapists,” he continues.

“After losing all their items, like a real jail, Home can sell them orange jumpsuits, flip-flops and they can decorate their jail cells with a few items such as bunk bed, toilet and a bed roll.”

He really ought to start his own site – the guy’s inspired.