All Entries Tagged With: "Sony"

A Proposition for Sony: Worldwide PlayStation Store

One of the most appreciated aspects of Sony’s consoles this generation – and this applies to both the PS3 and the PSP – is that, when it comes to games, they are “region free”. What does this mean? For those of you who don’t know, various forms of media are typically locked into one region, and can only be played on devices that originate in that region. If you look on the front and/or back of any DVD or BluRay you purchase in North America, you’ll typically see a “Region 1” somewhere on it. This means that it can only be played in DVD or BluRay players native to “Region 1”, which is basically all of North America.

Music Unlimited Coming to a PS3 Near You Later This Year

Sony has revealed at IFA 2010 the new cloud-based music service that will be available for PlayStation 3 owners later this year: Music Unlimited.

Music Unlimited will give people access to a ton of songs that are stored and synchronized through the cloud. Aside from being able to access this on the console, it can also be accessed through Bravia TVs, BlueRay Disk players and Home Theater systems and VAIO computers. Any single account can be used for access, making it pretty sufficient.

“We are excited to offer our customers high quality, cloud-based entertainment experiences across many of Sony’s network-enabled devices,” said Kazuo Hirai, President of Networked Products & Services Group, Sony Corporation. “Services powered by Qriocity will revolutionise the way that users play, listen, watch, share, communicate, learn, discover and create their digital entertainment content.”

Further information about Music Unlimited will be available soon, so keep on the lookout for more news!

Steve Jobs: “We’ve Sold More Handhelds than Nintendo and Sony Combined”

Today Steve Jobs took the stage at his yearly music conference at the Apple Yerba Buena location in California. Every year, Jobs takes this time to showcase some of the upcoming products its iPod line of music players. This morning was no different as Jobs presented on lookers as well as live-streamers 3 new additions to the iPod family.

If you recall back to earlier this year during the iOS4 presentation and the announcement of the upcomming Gamecenter, Apple made it very clear who it’s competitors are by showing off some rather glaring statistics and differences between Nintendo and Sony’s effort, and what the iPhone and iPod Touch platform has achieved in less time. Today Jobs calls them out both again. This time by letting them know who wears the handheld crown. Take a look at the slide below.

Portable White Knight Chronicles Officially Announced

In this week’s Famitsu, something that Sony has been hinting around finally was announced – White Knight Chronicles: Episode.Portable – Dogma Wars. This is a version of the title for the PlayStation Portable that is aiming for a release in Japan sometime in 2011. I’m tired of making jokes about how long the first White Knight Chronicles took to localize, so I’ll just tell everyone to not hold your breath for this to come stateside.

This new portable iteration features the White Knight once again, except this time around it’s the enemy. So, something must have taken place in the 10,000 years since Leonard’s adventures in the first two PS3 outings. Not a whole lot is known about this title yet, but it seems to continue the tradition of RPGs that start on a console making their way to a handheld platform, much like Valkyria Chronicles and Kingdom Hearts. I’ll definitely be keeping my eye on this one.

New Sony Game to Be Announced In 2 Days

Teaser sites, don’t you love them? Always keeping your interest with their countdown to the promised day of reveal. The teaser site that has recently caught the attention of many is one that that belongs Sony.

The site in question is simply called “amimono,” and it displays an animation of a middle-aged looking man knitting some type of ball while two other men stand in the background, looking like they’re waiting for something, telling by their stance. The word “amimono” evens means “knitting” when translated to English. Aside from that, nothing else is known about the title.

So hold tight, eager ones, for the big announce is set for Wednesday night.

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Are Xenogears and Other PS1-era RPGs Coming Soon to the North American PSN?

Suikoden II. Vagrant Story. Xenogears. What comes to your mind when you think of these three classic RPGs? Probably something along the lines of missing the hay day of RPGs back in the PS1 era, before voice acting, before such a focus on pristine visuals and before games started putting those two things above any substance at all.

You may or may not know, then, that two of these three titles are available on the PSN in regions outside North America. Hopefully that will change soon, and we have a few hints from Sony that it will. In the comments on a recent post on the PlayStation Blog about updates to the PSN, Sony’s Ro Hernandez had a few choice remarks to make when anxious fans inquired about these PS1 classics.

A fan asked if there was anything new to report on PS1 classics like Xenogears, which has been available on the PSN for over two years in Japan, and the reply was:

“Unfortunately not, still being tested…”

On the topic of Vagrant Story, which is already available on the Japanese and European PSN, he replied:

“Hopefully soon??”

And, finally, in regards to Suikoden II, it was said:

“We’ll see what we can do!”

So, take those comments how you will, but one thing is sure – Sony knows that fans in North America want these classics added to the PlayStation Store sooner rather than later, so hopefully we’ll see some movement in that regard in the coming months.

[Examiner]

GamesCom 2010: Killzone 3 Multi-Player Footage Shows Mechs, Jetpacks, and Mayhem

Killzone 3 multi-player was shown off at Sony’s Press Conference yesterday at GamesCom 2010 with this action-packed game-play trailer and there were some serious upgrades to be seen since Killzone 2 dropped in January of ‘09. One of the more notable experiences shown off in the footage is the hijacking of a mech once the person who was stomping around in it got caught off guard and murdered, something all Killzone fans will want to see immediately. Check out the GamesCom multi-player action after the break and be on the lookout for more as this shooter’s details unfold over the coming season.

PS3 sharper than Xbox, says UK Advertising Standards Authority

2010 has not been a good year so far for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console. A lack of decent exclusive titles, a lackluster E3 conference, the loss of supposedly exclusive titles to Sony and now this – a ruling from the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority printed in one of the countries most widely read daily newspapers.

Sony’s Ultimate Weapon Gaming Headsets Are Sexay

That’s really the only way to describe the just announced Ultimate Weapon Gaming Headset from Sony. This bad boy comes in two very distinct flavors. The first, or “budget” model is the DR-GA200, the second “fully loaded” model is the DR-GA500, and while both will be sporting 40mm drive units and “triple enfolding” designs (whatever that means) only the 500’s will have the ability to pump out 7.1 surround with the help of an external decoder box.

While details, even in the press release, are still to be determined (including the price) the fact that these are all about gaming cannot be denied especially considering that the 500’s will be bundled with a copy of EA’s Medal of Honor this October. What I am trying to figure out at this point is whether or not these bad boys are wireless, which I think is somewhat safe to assume especially with Sony’s obsession with Blutooth technology. Sony is promising that their Ultimate Weapon will allow for “long sessions of wear without the growing distraction of discomfort.” I just hope the price doesn’t cause discomfort in my wallet. Hit the jump to check out the decoder box as well as the full press release.

Independent Release of Limited Edition Fable III Controller Shows Respect for Cash-Strapped Gamers

No, that’s not a skin.

As we previously reported, on October 5 Microsoft will be releasing their Limited Edition Fable III wireless controller. Being debuted 3 weeks before Fable III hits store shelves, there has been no word yet from Microsoft or Lionhead if this controller will be released in any deluxe package with the game itself.

With the massive influx of limited edition game releases packaging exclusive but otherwise useless swag (Halo, Call of Duty, GoldenEye, and the list is only getting longer), Microsoft is taking a unique approach to getting cash-strapped gamers to throw in a few extra coins for unnecessary yet fantastically attractive accessories. Practically speaking, this approach seems to actually be a fairer and more respectful way to entice gamers.

While devoted fans will pick up Fable III regardless, its truly gracious for Microsoft to give loyalists the chance to purchase what they can, when they can. It’s a terrible feeling to not be able to pick up these kind of great extras simply because it couldn’t be afforded at the same time as the intended purchase of the game itself. No gamer should be made to choose between holding out to buy a limited edition release while their friends enjoy it now, buying the game alone so that they could eat, or buying the limited edition and simply not eating.

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Young Thor Review (PSP/PS3)

Young Thor is a PlayStation Mini title that can be played on either the PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Portable. The game is a throwback to Norse mythological history which adds a cutesy-theme to the Action you can expect from hammering trolls, unleashing lightning attacks on arachnids, and more. In this brief yet satisfying title you are faced with a decent degree of challenge as well as re-playability and though the PlayStation Minis have no trophy support (at no fault to the developer Frima Studio) this game does feature a built-in Achievement system that will further extend the play for perfectionists and those who seek a higher degree of completion from their games.

Killzone 3 Beta Site Is Up… Kind Of

Read the title? Awesome. Then you should definitely have an idea of what’s going on here. But, since I’m here to provide you with the details, I’ll be kind of enough to spew out the latest news with regards to Killzone 3.

If you go to the following site, http://beta.killzone.com/kz3/beta-login.html, you’ll immediately notice that Guerrilla Games has launched a beta site with a gated login (which no one has access to yet). If you’re under the impression that this might be some fan-made concoction to tease people like our Contributing Editor and local PlayStation 3 “supporter” Jon Ireson, you’re mistaken. To prove it, the Killzone 2 Community Website service on PSN lists “Killzone 3 Beta Website” as a launchable site, as per Iron Star Movement.

It’s a bit difficult to call this out when there is substantial proof. So, with that said, we’ll do our best to contact both Sony and Guerrilla Games regarding the launch of this beta site to try to pin down more details. Aside from Jon Ireson doing cartwheels to the song “Strokin’” by the blind Clarence Carter, we’re pretty excited to find out exactly what this site will showcase.