PlayStation

Editorial: Sony Wont Let Me Buy Another PS3

by Sohrab Osati | May 17, 2010 | 2 comments

The title might be a tad misleading, but follow me on this and you might agree as well. I’ve been in the Playstation family since launch. I remember getting my original Playstation, back when they came in large cases, similar to what you have now, not the CD case layout most Playstation users remember. I got my PS2 on launch date. I got myy PSP-1000 and PSPgo on launch date. For my PS3, I waited in line for a day and got screwed out of getting one, so the next day on eBay, I spent $1,500 for the 60GB. Yea, I was one of those people…Since then, my PS3 has seen a few upgrades: a 320GB drive and currently a 500GB drive. A big reason for this is that I have a lot of media and a lot of games as well when I look back. I look at my PS3 as my entertainment hub. So when guests come over, my Movies, Photos, and Games sections each have folders with categories. Under the Games section, there is a PS3 Demo (with around 50 games) and PS3 Games (with around 25 games), PSP Games, and PSP Demo section. There is a section for all the Qore episodes. Same idea in the Video section. Game Trailers, Movie Trailers, The Tester, Random etc etc. A tad OCD yes but it makes it nice for when people come over.

This brings me to why I cannot own a second PS3. I love the PS3 slim. Yes, I wish I could get the Memory Card, Extra USB and Backwards compatibility back but it is what it is. I’m ok with that. The reason I cannot get one is because of saved games. I would love to stick a PS3 slim in my bedroom and, when I don’t feel like being in the living room, be able to play my games. As I mentioned, I have nearly 25 downloadable games and another 20 Blu-ray based games. But if I want to play a game from where I left off, I would then have to remember which unit has the most current saved game, boot it up, copy paste the file on a flash drive and then erase and paste on the new machine and play. In short, it’s not going to happen. This is when I truly hope for the idea of a more premium PSN network coming. Keep what’s currently free, well, free, because frankly, for most, that’s more then enough. But for those of us who want a little more functionality like that, I’m willing to pay. Having said that, this is a very tricky territory. Either it has to cost less then Xbox Live and have the same features when you combine Free and Paid PSN or it needs to cost the same or more, but offer features not found on Live. This is a must because Sony has been saying as of late that they are in the same park as Live and for the most part, I agree. But if they come out, offer exactly the same features as Live for the same price, then it becomes sticky in terms of PR. So Sony, please let me buy another PS3, I want to give you my money, I really do. It’s just currently entirely inconvenient because, before, during the PS and PS2 era, everything went on a memory card and that was easy enough to grab between machines.

Editorial: PS3 Back Up Takes Forever

by Sohrab Osati | May 12, 2010 | 21 comments

Holy sweet mother. Ive backed up my PS3 before but not in a long time. I have the original 60GB unit which ive upgraded to a 120GB then, 320GB and currently, I have a 500GB hard drive in there. I have about 300GB worth of content on my PS3 but lately, my PS3 will bootup and tell me that the correct disc count not be found. So I believe the drive that I have in there is dying. I finally got around to grabbing a 750GB WD drive to back up to. (keep in mind, most new drives on shelves come with the NTSF format and the PS3 only talks to Fat32, so you will need to reformat your drive). But now that its backing up, its quoting me 48 hours….

If anybody has seen quotes on computers, you know that they can be off. Computer will say about a minute to transfer a file and 10 seconds later its done. Having said that, I started the back up last night around 7pm and its currently 4:35pm and I still have another 20 hours to go. I hope my PS3 dosent explode?

New Sony Vaio P Acts As PS3 Keyboard

by Sohrab Osati | May 11, 2010 | 10 comments

So we were teased about the new Vaio P and before, we had mentioned that Sony was looking to add Remote Play connectivity to it’s Vaio series as well. The first of this we saw was in recently yesterday announced Sony Vaio P which feature the Remote Play function. Now comes some news out of Japan that these units can act as a bluetooth keyboard for PS3 users. I’m not gonna lie, I don’t think this is what anybody envisioned as the Remote Play functionality and I don’t mean this in a good way. I’m sure more functionality will trickle out but this is one of those things where we wished Sony didn’t use it’s engineering cash to develop. This would be a much better function on their upcoming Experia series. Why? Well I have my iPhone on me all the time and so it’s convenient for me to use it on my AppleTV. But if my MacBook hooked up to it as well, I would never use it because I would need to have a bulky (granted the Vaio P is very small) computer next to me, just so I can type in some stuff…Come on Sony, either wow us with something useful or don’t bother and spend the cash elsewhere. We say it for you.

LittleBigPlanet 2 Debut Trailer

by Sohrab Osati | May 10, 2010 | 4 comments

I have two recommendations: A. When you click on the video, change it to the HD setting. B. Close your web browser for the rest of the day because you will find nothing better on the web.

Rumor: PS3 To Gain Background Update Downloads

by Sohrab Osati | May 5, 2010 | 24 comments

So this is completely a rumor and we all know how those work, especially with the PS3. Otherwise, we would have cross game voice chat and would be paying for PSN and all sorts of crazy things. But the guys over at TheSixthAxis are reporting that with the next rounds of updates, the PS3 might be able to scan your game library, see what games need updates and download them for you. This would be such a fantastic feature. Nothing beats being excited about a game (for example, I only play LittleBigPlanet because that’s my and my girlfriend’s game and we only get to play it when shes visiting from school in Hawaii) and nothing takes the excitement out more than when you need to sit for 10 minutes and do updates before playing. Also, I have a huge library of PS3 games; somewhere in the neighborhood of 50+. I would love to know that I have the most recent update for any game I have and if I feel like playing Warhawk, I can just jump into it. But as I said, don’t hold your breath.

[Via TheSixthAxis]

Sony Offering Protection Plans for PS3 and PSP

by Jenni Petot | May 4, 2010 | 26 comments

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) announced this week that they will now be offering extended warranties for the PS3 and PSP. The catch? You must still be in the one year manufacturer warranty period to purchase an extended protection plan. This is great news and exciting for new Sony gaming console owners but a bit disappointing for early adapters like myself. I personally camped out for two nights back in 2006 to pre-order my 60GB Playstation 3, and although I can’t get this protection plan, it’s been three and a half years later and my system still works like new. *Knock on wood*

For owners of the PS3, here are the two options for an extension plan. For the price of a new game, you can protect your PS3 system for a few years. I think it’s a very reasonable price.

PS3 warranty extension for 1 year (49.99)
PS3 warranty extension for 2 years (59.99)

For PSP owners the following options are available, and respectively, they are less expensive than the PS3 plans.

PSP 1 year extension plan (29.99)
PSP 2 year extension plan (39.99)
PSP extension + accidental damage coverage for 1 and 2 years are 39.99 or 49.99

Having my system for over 3 years with no issues shows me how reliable these black beauties are. I am very glad to hear that Sony is confident in their products and how reliable they are to now offer the protection plans for Playstation. Now I’m going to do just that: play.

If you are eligible to purchase the extended protection plan, call Sony at 1-866-716-7669.

Sony Removes Linux From PS3. Cry Me A River

by Sohrab Osati | May 4, 2010 | 43 comments

“Ok. Does believing you’re the last sane man on the planet make you crazy? ‘Cause if it does, maybe I am.” (Name that movie, folks) But sites like Gizmodo, Engadget and others are all up in arms with pitchforks, blasting Sony for removing the Linux feature from the fat PS3s. Now, as a practice, I understand why people are upset. You bought your unit with the understanding that it would give you the option to install Linux and now Sony has taken away that feature. So as principle, yes it sucks. Having said that, I installed Yellow Dog Linux on my PS3 as well and it was cool. After twice jumping into it, I never did again and once I upgraded to a 320GB drive and now, my current 500GB, I didn’t even bother. Why? Because it was too slow. Linux couldn’t access all the power of the PS3 and booting in and out was a pain and a half. Once in there, woohoo, I can go on AIM or write a paper? Come on. Plus, who do you honestly know that has Linux on their PS3? Really, ask all of your friends out there, and most will probably look at you like you’re crazy. So does it suck? Um, sure. But is it really a big deal? No. So, I think everybody needs to calm down a tad over this.

PSN Videos Now Playable On Your PC

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 29, 2010 | 8 comments

Here is a little interesting tidbit. Today, I jumped on Media Go, which is Sony’s version of iTunes so to speak for the PSP. The service allows for you to add Music, Photos and Videos to your PSP. The Media Go Software will also talk with iTunes and grab files from it (Even over a network; my iTunes library is on my Mac and it was able to grab music from it no problem). To my surprise, when I logged into the Media Go software today, where you also have access to the PSN store to download content for your PC, I found a new feature.

Sony has now given you the ability to watch your downloaded videos, which were originally meant for your PSP and PSPgo exclusively, on your PC as well. This of course is a very welcome feature. If we have the files on our computer, why not be able to play them on there as well? In iTunes, the video content you download is not just meant for your iPhone or iPod. Those who ran the update will note that the Media Go software also asked for a new update which, besides the random enhancement and bug fixes, also adds compatibility for some Sony Ericsson phones as well. The reason this interests me is that like I’ve always said, PSN needs to be at the core of Sony’s business model. Its laptops, cellphones and other mobile devices all need to have access to the content on there. This not only makes PSN more valuable when you know your content is good for 10 platforms versus 2 (PSP and PS3), but also makes your products more valuable as it gives them an ever-growing content service.

While all these features and ideas are great, I do have one small caveat with the Media Go platform. Why is there not a Mac version? I mean, seriously. Do Mac users not buy PSP and PS3’s and other Sony products? The majority of my media is on my Mac it would be nice to be able to just dock my PSPgo and PSP-1000 with my Mac. Come on, Sony.

My Current PSP Setup:

New Marketing Strategy For Sony

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 26, 2010 | 73 comments

Starting Monday (today), Sony is going to kick off a new year long ad campaign that includes many of its portfolio stars, starting off with Taylor Swift, showing off the Cyber-shot DSC-TX7. This will be a series of star-studded spots that Sony ( SNE – news – people ) plans to roll out this year, as a part of a $100-million-plus TV, print and digital ad campaign. Each ad will feature a Sony-affiliated celebrity to pitch its electronic products, such as its 3-D television and its e-reader. The idea of this new campaign is that instead of focusing in on the many products that Sony makes, it will aim for a particular market and let them know of the product. For example, in 2008 Sony spent nearly $5 billion on their global ad campaigns that ranged from laptops to DVD players.

First, I have to say that I’m floored by this. I’m wondering if of that $5 billion, $4.9 billion was spent outside of the states. Ask any Playstation owner and they will tell you that Sony has had no air presence whatsoever; Microsoft has dominated the airwaves with its Xbox ads. No matter what show or channel you watch, when they produced a big game (i.e. Halo or Gears of War), they had endless commercials running. Most of all, the sheer number of commercials and TV shows that the 360 is in as product placement is insane. This of course has been something that has hurt the PS3 and the PSP and thus, their software sales. I will give it to Sony though for their efforts with Kevin Butler in the past year. Those ads are fantastic and hilarious. My issue in this case is: where were they the other 3 years? I also mention this because the PlayStation brand is one important aspect of their business but Sony is fighting off too many players in too many markets. In the TV market you see Samsung commercials left and right. Computers and cell phones and it’s either iPhone/Droid or MacBook/HP. And for cameras, Canon and Nikon. Yet, we never see any form of Sony add showing us off their products.

Hidden PS3 3.30 Firmware Features

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 26, 2010 | 17 comments

Sony released their PS3 firmware 3.30 mid last week that added new trophy features and began to get the console ready for its 3D premiere. However, as I had mentioned, it seemed too large of an update (size-wise) and that there had to be more to it. Well, it seems like we weren’t too far off with our analysis. First come unconfirmed reports that there is a Flash enhancement for the web browser, and if true, this should be welcomed by those who are big into flash games or media content. Now your PS3 can better accommodate you. Also unconfirmed is enhanced region-free Blu-ray playback.

Now for the confirmed features. For you audiophiles out there, there is a toggle for Bitstream Direct (output audio with the original digital signal prioritized) or Mix (mixed with sound effects such as button sounds and then converted to bitstream format) on Blu-ray movies. For those who like to play PS3 games remotely, currently, only the PSP and PSPgo exist as your option. However, with this update, future Vaio owners can also get in on the remote play action as well. We’re not clearly sure what this means. Will this be something future Vaio’s can do? Or will current Vaio’s get access to the PS3 and its content via software update? Nobody is currently sure about this since Sony hasn’t announced any particular detail about it.

This presents an interesting concept and something that I’ve been a staunch supporter for. Sony as a company has a lot of leverage. They produce movies, music and games. They have cameras, camcorders, computers and TVs. The PS3 really needs to be the hub of all of these units with PSN at its core to deliver the content. From there, they need to leverage their other units to feed off of this base. If you have a PS3 with your movies, games and music, and a PSN account that gives you access to all forms of content, and you’re ready for your next computer purchase, are you more likely to purchase a Vaio or an HP if you know that your Vaio or Sony Ericsson has access to the PS3 and PSN? This of course can be one further step to justify a premium price that Sony rightly charges for its products. For a lot of people sometimes hardware quality is not enough to see the difference. Media and software are king and the PS3 and PSN can help to deliver this.

[Via PlayStation UK]

Gamer Log: Brutal Legend and inFAMOUS

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 24, 2010 | 792 comments

Well I finally beat Brutal Legend. I have to say I enjoyed the game a lot but for some reason, I couldn’t play the game for long periods of time. It gave me motion sickness pretty quick. Also, I think the Trophies that you need to get in this game were pretty difficult to achieve. I’ve taken my time and I’m only 30% complete. I mean going back and finding all the serpent statues or landmarks is kinda hard and time staking. I wish you could have atleast teleported or flew around, once you had beaten the game.

On that note, I’ve yet to play God of War or Final Fantasy 13 and I own every Final Fantasy game. However, I’ve told myself that I have a lot of games are just sitting on the shelf and that I have to beat those before I buy those games. For instance, I’ve had inFamous and Mirrors Edge since launch and I just unwrapped inFamous. Mirrors Edge is also still in the wrapper. So tonight is a night of inFamous, dinner and then the recently-released Avatar on Blu-ray on a 60″ Sony SXRD. Nice!

PS3 Gets Firmware 3.30 Upgrade

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 21, 2010 | 38 comments

Get ready to boot up your PS3 for a firmware update! It’s been one that many people have been wanting for a while. Cross Voice Chat, Better trophy options! This is a fantastic option for those who live more on the competitive side of the gaming world and want to compare:

Trophy enhancements –- Now you can more easily sort trophies in the [Trophy Collection] and [Comparing Trophy] sections. Sorting can be done with [Trophy Collection] in the [Game Category] and also when comparing trophies with your friends in the [Friend Category]
Trophy Folder (Title List) can be sorted by game name/ by title according to the date in which you earned your last trophy (ascending/descending)
Add-on list (Group list) can be sorted by original/the date in which you earned your last trophy (ascending/descending)
Trophy list can be sorted by original/trophy name/grade/date of obtaining the trophy (ascending/descending)

This update is also designed to slowly get the PS3 ready for its July 3D firmware update, so go ahead and update away! For those who want to download to a flash drive or hard drive, hit up the PS3 Official site.

Update:
Either a lot of people are downloading this and it’s clogging up the pipes at Sony, or this is a fairly large update that does more then we have been told. I have a feeling that it’s both, especially since it’s getting the PS3 ready for 3D. It could be that Sony has to add a lot of changes to the OS and instead of one huge/slow update, they are slowly piecing it together.

Two 3D Firmwares Needed For PS3?

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 20, 2010 | 7 comments

Take this one with a grain of salt; there is still no legitimate proof one way or another and things could change at any time. Regardless, Techradar is reporting that the upcoming June firmware update to the PS3 will be indeed be giving the PS3 3D capabilities, but only on the gaming side. A separate firmware upgrade will be needed to enable its Blu-ray 3D capabilities. This seems like an odd move as June is also when Sony is planning on launching its 3D televisions and we would assume the more units out there that can deliver 3D to their televisions (and we assume nearly 35 Million PS3’s is a good count) but we’re no engineers or executives at Sony. This also seems odd because Sony will give the S570 and the S470 Blu-ray player a 3D firmware update this July. Remember that this early news may not be entirely accurate, or else we would have had Cross Game Voice Chat by now and that’s been rumored or accidently leaked near every firmware update. Keep your eyes and ears open for more!

Heavy Rain Hits 1 Million in Sales

by Jenni Petot | Apr 13, 2010 | 2 comments

PlayStation 3 exclusive title: Heavy Rain has hit the one million mark in worldwide sales. PSN blog said, “Praised by media for its gripping storyline, thought-provoking themes, innovation and engaging example of non-linear storytelling, it’s no surprise that more than a million gamers agree.”

From playing the downloadable demo on the PSN store, I could instantly tell that this was such a unique game. I purchased the game last month but embarrassed to say I have yet to play it. I plan to start it this week! Reviews say the game starts out slow but if I stick with it (which I will) it’s like nothing I’ve experienced before in a game. The demo alone has different outcomes. Every decision you make, big or small in the game, effects what happens to the characters and story. You swap gameplay between four characters in the game and if one dies, no game over; you just don’t see their side of the story. Also, there’s over 20 different endings in the game! Each character has their own set of endings depending on your decisions and who died. That’s pretty mind-boggling to me.

Has anyone played Heavy Rain yet? I can’t wait to see what path and ending awaits me; hopefully I can keep all of my characters alive.

Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition adds another dimension

by Jenni Petot | Apr 11, 2010 | 1 comment

Batman: Arkham Asylum was one of my favorite games released in 2009. It took many by surprise with how amazing this caped crusader game was. To expand on the success of the game, Warner Bros. Interactive is releasing a game of the year edition May 11th for PS3 and Xbox 360.

What’s different about this game? For the most part it will be the same game as when it was first released in August 2009. The story revolves around Batman escorting the Joker back to Arkham Asylum. The Joker, of course, has a plan in motion and takes control over Arkham where the Dark Knight encounters thugs, Bane, Scarecrow and others.The graphics are incredible and gameplay is so fun using Batman’s abilities and gadgets like grappling between gargoyles and exploding gel. Having watched behind the scenes, I learned that the developers really did their homework on Batman and pleased fans like myself with characters, gameplay and story. It’s easy to say that I absolutely love this game.

Here’s a big change: you can now play the game entirely in 3D. The game will come with two pairs of Trioviz 3D glasses. Now, these are the old school red and blue lens glasses which may throw some color off but it’s still cool none the less. Early reviews say the game works on normal and HDTVs and the 3D looks impressive, especially when throwing batarangs.

In addition to 3D, the Game of the Year Edition includes challenge maps standard that were previously downloadable content. Four more challenge maps were also added with online leader boards, while the Joker challenge maps are still a PS3 exclusive.

I am very curious to try the 3D feature in this edition even if it doesn’t look as amazing as 3D games do on the new Sony Bravia 3D TVs. If you haven’t yet played this game, I highly recommend it! Then you can get excited as I am for Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 to come out. Release date is pending, but is expected in Q4 2010 or early 2011.