PlayStation

SOCOM 4 Full Deployment Edition Gives You Move Bundle with $70 Savings

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 25, 2011 | 14 comments

2011 is gearing up to be an exciting time for PlayStation 3 and Move fans. January saw the release of LittleBigPlanet 2 and just this week, Killzone 3 was released with full native Move and 3D support. Now set for an April 19th release, SOCOM 4 will give PlayStation 3 owners another exclusive FPS with full Move support from the ground up. The SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs Full Deployment Edition for $149.99 will come packed with:

SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs video game on Blu-ray disc
PlayStation Move Motion Controller
PlayStation Move Navigation Controller
PlayStation Move sharp shooter
PlayStation Eye Camera

This limited time bundle will allow those who want to experience Move for the first time to save $70 versus buying the individual pieces needed for the full Move experience. Of course FPS fans, SOCOM 4 is Dualshock 3 compatible as well with the regular edition costing $59.99.

Gran Turismo 5 Update 1.07 Now Available

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 25, 2011 | 13 comments

Hey GT5 fans, a new small update awaits you before your next gaming session that is set to fix some glitches and bring on some overall enhancements.

[Major Changes and New Features]

Friend Rankings

In Drift Trials and Time Trials, you can now display leaderboards that shows only your friends. While it was difficult before to locate your friends in the general leaderboards, this now makes it easier to compare laptimes with them, allowing you to compete between just your friends for the best laps and scores.

[Correction of Known Issues]

– The calculation of performance points (PP) which is an index of a car’s performance, is now calculated without taking into account the tyre selection.You can now combine the performance point restriction and the tyre restriction when setting the regulations for a lounge.

– Fixed the issue where the performance of electric cars increased/decreased after a certain amount of driving.

– Downloaded replays from Seasonal Event Rankings can now be viewed properly.

[Other Changes]

– Cars worth over 1,000,000 Cr. (Including those in a gift car ticket form) are now prohibited from being traded to prevent issues during the trading process. When lending and borrowing cars between friends, please utilize the car loan system.

Sony Qriocity Overview on the PlayStation 3 (Video)

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 24, 2011 | 7 comments

Earlier today, I wrote about how I believe Sony can battle the likes of Apple and make Qriocity, their cloud music streaming service, a hit. For those who are wondering how Qriocity looks on a device like the PlayStation 3, the following video is for you. In the video, I go over the user interface and not only how to navigate the service, but how to get the most out of it as well. Your comments are always welcome below or you can reach us on Facebook, Twitter and voicemail at (661) 750-BLOG.

No PS4 in the Immediate Future

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 18, 2011 | 20 comments

Many would agree that there isn’t a need for a PlayStation 4 yet. The PS3, year after year continues to expand on its offerings. The little console that started out with games and Blu-ray playback can now deliver a new and much improved PSN store, Netflix, Hulu and Vudu movies services. Sony also via software has added 3D gaming and 3D Blu-ray capability to every PS3 and has taken motion control gaming to the next level with the release of the PlayStation Move a little over 6 months ago. With Sony’s Qriocity Music and Movie streaming service expanding to countries, and games continuing to improve upon their last year counterparts like Killzone 3, Uncharted 3 and LittleBigPlanet 2, there seems to be little getting in the way of the PS3 staying fresh, up to date and cutting edge, 5 years after its release.

Because of that, there seems to be little point for Sony to start working on the PS4. If work began on the machine now, we could see a 2013 or 2014 release date and I don’t think the consumer is ready for another machine yet and frankly with Sony focusing on the NGP, their Tablets and Sony Ericsson lineup, I think the company has enough going for them. Luckily, Sony seems to be on the same page.

Sony PS3 Firmware 3.56 Now Live, Qriocity Feature Now Available for United States

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 17, 2011 | 20 comments

Sony has just released the PlayStation 3 Firmware 3.56, adding its Qriocity Music Unlimited cloud service to the PS3, as well as select Bravia and Blu-ray players. The PSP will soon gain this feature via a separate update. Those who turn on their PS3 will be greeted with a notification that will point them to their system update. The small update will only take a few minutes to complete, though once logged back into your PS3, you will note that the “Terms of Service/User Agreement And Private Policy” has been changed. In order to continue, you have to agree to the new set of terms, mostly like centered around Qriocity.

As we have reported in the past, Qriocity first went live in December in the UK and Ireland and soon expanded to other European countries in January. A month later and the service is now live for the United States, allowing users access to over 6 million songs. This cloud based music service allows users to stream unlimited music, with a Premium at $9.99 or Basic at $3.99. The premium service allows access to premium channels such as Hot Songs, Global 100, Local 100 and Pop 100 to name a few. Other premium features including the capability to search the entire Qriocity music data base, and music synchronization.

New PS3 Terms of Service

Music synchronization might be one of the killer features of this service. Once activated on your PC (yup, sorry Mac users), you can download a program that will scan your music library and sync it with your main account. Now, whenever you log into a Qriocity enabled device with your account, you will have access to all of your music. Sony is currently offering a free 30 day premium trial offer.

Qriocity Premium Channels

Current Qriocity enabled devices include your Web Browser (Mac or PC with FireFox and Safari support), PlayStation 3, 2011 Bravia TV’s, Blu-ray Players and the PSP soon. Sony is looking to bring this service to its up coming lineup of Android phones (Xperia Arc, Play, Neo, Pro) and plans to further expand the service to other Android phones and iOS devices.

Sony Releases Official Statement Regarding PS3 Circumvention Devices and Pirated Software

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 16, 2011 | 55 comments

Our site has been a little shy on covering the PlayStation 3 hacking dilemma of the past month. Now, Sony has released their official statement.

Notice: Unauthorized circumvention devices for the PlayStation 3 system have been recently released by hackers. These devices permit the use of unauthorized or pirated software. Use of such devices or software violates the terms of the “System Software License Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System” and the “Terms of Services and User Agreement” for the PlayStation Network/Qriocity and its Community Code of Conduct provisions. Violation of the System Software Licence Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System invalidates the consumer guarantee for that system. In addition, copying or playing pirated software is a violation of International Copyright Laws. Consumers using circumvention devices or running unauthorized or pirated software will have access to the PlayStation Network and access to Qriocity services through PlayStation 3 system terminated permanently.

To avoid this, consumers must immediately cease use and remove all circumvention devices and delete all unauthorized or pirated software from their PlayStation 3 systems.

To be honest, I couldn’t agree more. Sure Sony taking the guy who made it and released on YouTube to court might be a tad silly. After all, once something is out there on the web, it’s really hard to single handily target one person and solve the situation. The information is out there and I don’t think prosecuting one person will really detour others. Instead, I would use that money (after all, those corporate lawyers are not cheap) for better purposes. But to ban somebody for life from PSN? Extremely fair. I don’t personally agree with the idea of jailbreaking your PS3 or any other device, just to get free content but as stated, I don’t believe lawyers will solve anything either so I think this is a good step for Sony.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Details, Specs and Games

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 14, 2011 | 84 comments

With the Mobile World Congress 2011 (MWC) now in full swing, we have a clear vision of not only the many leaked products from Sony Ericsson, but their exact specs, offerings and release date information. The most infamous product over the last several months from Sony Ericsson has been the Xperia Play. Before we knew the details of the phone, many had though that the device would be a fusion of Sony’s PlayStation and Ericsson division, thus calling it the PlayStation Phone but things are now much more clear. First, the nitty gritty specs of the phone and then we will dive deeper into the games being offered, as well as some video and pictures of the device.

Sony Releases Filmy App for the PlayStation 3 for HD Videos. We Provide Video Overview

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 10, 2011 | 1 comment

During this Tuesday’s regular PSN update, Sony also released a new application for the PS3 called Filmy under the Media tab. Designed to cater to those who enjoy HD videos, Filmy is specifically designed to play back AVCHD files on the PlayStation. Many of Sony’s Cybershot and Handycam camcorders record in this format, but other manufacturers have used this codec as well. The video-only application is priced at $5, and there is a 15-minute free demo available as well. Once you’ve launched the application, you will be greeted with a simple and clean menu that gives you the option to either view your video in a timeline or look at your video on a world map, great for those who own GPS enabled cameras and even more familiar for those who have used iPhoto. Other features include finding video based on favorites and face/smile detection. Now hit the jump as we provide a full video overview of the application.

Sony Makes $887 Million Net Profit in Q3, Sees Rise in Sales in Most Divisions

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 3, 2011 | 0 comments

Sony has just announced their Q3 Holiday results with ¥137.5 billion (approximately US $1.68b) operating income and a total of $887 million in net profit. Compared to 2009, this is actually down by nearly 6% though this is mostly due to a 5% stronger yen and not an actual reflection of the companies performance. Sony’s Consumer, Professional and Devices division dropped 47 percent to ¥26.8b ($327.3m) as margins have shrunk, thanks to the global recession, factored with already fierce competition between rivals like Samsung and LG. On the other hand, Sony’s Networked Products and Services (which includes the PlayStation brand) saw a dramatic 134% jump to ¥45.7b ($559.78), helping offset the decline of the consumer products.

The good news for Sony is that in midsts of all the woes mentioned above, the electronic giant was able to raise unit sales in almost all divisions compared to 2009. Bravia sales were up 2.5 million, totaling 7.9 million. Video cameras was able to sell only .1 million more, an expected decline with most portable devices now having some form of video capturing method built in while Compact Digital Cameras saw a 1 million unit sales increase. The now profitable PlayStation division saw the PS3 lose .2 million units compared to the 2009 Q3 but is ahead of 2009 sales. The PlayStation 3 saw a total of 13 million unit sales in 2009 while the company now sits at a healthy 15 million units sold and still has another quarter to go. The same cannot be said for the PlayStation Portable which saw sales slip .6 million units, down to 3.6 million units. Now in its 11th year, the PlayStation 2 still managed to sell 2.1 million units, on par with the year prior.

Software sales on the other hand were a completely different story with sales raising both on the PS3 and the PSP. PlayStation 3 software sales were up an amazing 10 million units, with 57.6 million pieces of software sold. The PSP, though down in hardware sales also saw an increase in software consumption with a 1.5 million unit increase to sit at 16.5 million units of software sold. The PS2 on the other hand took a big hit, seeing a 5.9 million unit drop, down to 5.3 million.

[Via Sony]

Our NGP Video Overview Including HD Pictures, Specs and Game/Device Footage

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 31, 2011 | 3 comments

For those of you who’ve been waiting for any spec of detail you can get about the upcoming handheld device from Sony, the NGP aka PSP2, we’ve finally got our video uploaded to YouTube after some technical difficulties and you are in for a treat. We not only go over some of the announcement, but we have all HD Pictures of the NGP and the current spec list. We also have some great game footage and some videos showing the devices different functionalities used in different game scenarios. Expect more videos from us as we cover the device in more depth and detail.

The NGP aka PSP2. Full Game List, So Far (updated)

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 27, 2011 | 4 comments

One thing should be apparent about the NGP, that it’s crazy powerful. It has Quad Core ARM Cortex-A9 core with a SGX543MP4+ graphics card. All that should really mean nothing to the average person but what should mean something to you is Uncharted and Killzone which are synonymous with crazy graphics and thats exactly what the NGP is going to deliver. As shown with Hideo Kojima onstage, he was able to port over MGS4 from the PlayStation 3 and have it run on the NGP with no problem. What kind of game franchises are already being developed for the NGP and by who? Besides the obvious being Sony and it’s first party studios who have brought you games like God of War, Killzone and Uncharted, some third party studios include:

Capcom
Sega
Tecmo Koei
Konami
Epic
Activision
Square-Enix

All of these companies have announced games in development for the system. Hit the jump to see a full list of the currently announced titles that are in development, as well as a full publisher breakdown.

The NGP aka PSP2. We Have Full HD Pictures

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 27, 2011 | 1 comment

Want to look at some pictures of the NGP aka PSP2? We got all of them in full HD galore for your viewing pleasure.

Checkout the full gallery below and if you’re looking for NGP specs, we have those too!

The NGP aka PSP2. We Have Full Specs

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 27, 2011 | 53 comments

The PSP2 which is actually called the NGP (Next Generation Portable) although we are not sure if this will be the official name when it launches this Holiday season or not was finally shown off last night in Tokyo and we have both specs and official pictures to show you. First, the device is crazy powerful and packs a lot of up to date technology, something that the PSP and PSPgo both lack. In comparison to the Nintendo 3DS, there really isn’t one. The NGP is for people who take gaming, media and the connected life serious. But more on that later. Lets get some specs out first like the fact that this thing has a Quad Core processor inside.

CPU: ARM Cortex -9 core (4 core)

GPU: SGX543MP4+

Multi-touch 5-inch organic light emitting display (OLED) as the front display ( Resolution 960 x 544)

Read touch pad

Two cameras (front and rear)

Sound: Built in stereo speakers

Dual analog sticks

Built in Microphone

Sensors: Six-Axis motion sensor with accelerometer. Same internals of the PlayStation Move

PlayStation Network access, including ““LiveArea™”, “Near” and “Activity” log features Trophy Support

NGP will be able to play PSP titles, minis, PS one classics, video and comics from the PlayStation Store.

3G

Wifi (802.11 b/g/n)

Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR

Now how a full spec breakdown.

Live Blogging the PlayStation Teams "Live From Japan: PlayStation Meeting 2011" (Pictures and Specs)

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 26, 2011 | 15 comments

Well, I can’t say that our site was magically able to afford a ticket to Tokyo and attend the PlayStation meet so instead, I’ll be going through all the news provided by Sony and other media sites and will be reporting them here. So check back now and especially in the following day and we gather all the bits of information that is likely to be the PlayStation Portable 2 (PSP2) or the PlayStation Phone.

10:10: Video montage of the PlayStation vision that was shown at the 2005 E3 is being shown. This is to show what their vision was then and where they are now, almost 6 years later.

“Let me start off by showing you video footage. It is the same clip we showed at E3 5 1/2 years ago, because we want to revisit the image of the future we revealed in 2005”

10:12 Kaz Hirai: “I believe a lot of what we envisioned back then has materialized for our users.”

10:13 Kaz is setting the audience up for the new device they are looking to introduce.

“Today, I’d like to speak about a whole new world that PlayStation is about to bring to reality”

Kaz believes that the PlayStation 3 “has won its place as the center of the living room” and that the next challenge for Sony will be to win what device is in peoples hand.

10:15 A whopping 80% of PS3’s are connected to the internet.

10:16 As of January 25th, there is over 69 million PSN accounts. This includes PS3, PSP and accounts created to access PlayStation content online like the PlayStation Blog.

“When we released PSP, cell phone providers were unable to deliver PlayStation quality content. After 6 years, these multi-function handheld devices are ready for PlayStation-like experiences”

10:20 Sony wants to deliver the PlayStation experience to a wider audiences, something that was not possible in 2005, especially with phone technology.

10:21 Sony has announced the PlayStation Suit. It is a cross endeavor platform.

“PS Suite will make PS content available on Android smartphones and tablets”

Hit the jump for our continuing live coverage and additional photos.

NGP: With Front/Rear Camera and Front/Back Touchscreen

Live Blogging the PlayStation Teams “Live From Japan: PlayStation Meeting 2011” (Pictures and Specs)

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 26, 2011 | 5 comments

10:10: Video montage of the PlayStation vision that was shown at the 2005 E3 is being shown. This is to show what their vision was then and where they are now, almost 6 years later.

“Let me start off by showing you video footage. It is the same clip we showed at E3 5 1/2 years ago, because we want to revisit the image of the future we revealed in 2005”

10:12 Kaz Hirai: “I believe a lot of what we envisioned back then has materialized for our users.”

10:13 Kaz is setting the audience up for the new device they are looking to introduce.

“Today, I’d like to speak about a whole new world that PlayStation is about to bring to reality”

Kaz believes that the PlayStation 3 “has won its place as the center of the living room” and that the next challenge for Sony will be to win what device is in peoples hand.

10:15 A whopping 80% of PS3’s are connected to the internet.

10:16 As of January 25th, there is over 69 million PSN accounts. This includes PS3, PSP and accounts created to access PlayStation content online like the PlayStation Blog.

“When we released PSP, cell phone providers were unable to deliver PlayStation quality content. After 6 years, these multi-function handheld devices are ready for PlayStation-like experiences”

10:20 Sony wants to deliver the PlayStation experience to a wider audiences, something that was not possible in 2005, especially with phone technology.

10:21 Sony has announced the PlayStation Suit. It is a cross endeavor platform.

“PS Suite will make PS content available on Android smartphones and tablets”

Hit the jump for our continuing live coverage and additional photos.

NGP: With Front/Rear Camera and Front/Back Touchscreen