PS3 Ειδήσεις {News Topic}

[Daredevil]

Sony Online Announces Xbox Live-style Centralized Hub

 

News has it that Sony Online, publishers of MMO's such as the EverQuest series, Star Wars Galaxies, and the recently unleashed Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, has plans of releasing a new online service, designed to help keep track of online worlds players are participating in. Titled, "Station Launcher", the service offers very similar features to Microsoft's ever popular Xbox Live network. Enabling gamers to download games and network content more efficiently, no hints on any achievements scoring system or trophy rooms have yet been revealed, but it does add in several other features, such as Instant Messenger and iTunes.

quote:

Station Launcher will keep tabs on all your Sony Online products, and automatically ensure you're locked and loaded with any patches and (should you wish it) expansion packs that might strike your fancy. It will be able to import your friends lists from all SOE products, so you can keep track of your buddy's progress in PlanetSide (yep - it still exists) even as you explore the newly-announcedRise of Kunark expansion in EverQuest II. It can also port external friends lists from instant messenger clients like ICQ and AIM. Sony Online hopes to cooperate with other MMO publishers (Blizzard and NCSoft come to mind) to incorporate their products into the system as well.

 

Of course, this is a Sony-owned company, so Station Launcher looks to offer downloads of Sony's music and film libraries, to help occupy those moments when you aren't grinding through some fantasy wasteland in heavy armor.

 

With such a wide range of functions, Station Launcher seems well poised to earn itself a large collection of direct competitors, and possibly be a jack of all trades, master of none, as the saying goes. However, the PC world is in need of a good, centralized provider of all things digital, and Station Launcher seems as likely as ever to provide that solution when it arrives, hopefully later this year.

News source: gamesradar.com

[Daredevil]

New PlayStation 3 SDK released - OS memory footprint lessened

 

Developer blog Innerbits has a great breakdown of the most recent PlayStation 3 Software Development Kit, version 1.60. They provide detailed information on some of the more technical aspects of the PS3's operating system from a developer's perspective. The site analyzed the memory cost of the different features of the SDK and detailed the major ones. Here are the most interesting bits:

• OS footprint reduced from 64MB in December to 52MB in the most recent release, roughly a 20% drop in resource cost.
  
• Friends list costs 25 MB (?!) + 8MB for startup
  
• Remote play for PS3 games possible - costs only 8 MB
  
• PS3 OS cost: 84MB | X360 OS cost: 32MB (ouch)

Sony is clearly trying hard to optimize the OS, improving it every release and adding more functionality while reducing memory footprint. Unfortunately, there is still a long way to go. Every megabyte that the PlayStation 3 OS uses is one less megabyte of space that developers can use for better textures, quicker load times, and faster framerates. Sony is going to have a difficult time convincing studios to incorporate the different PSN features if the developers have to devote such a large amount of memory to them.

 

According to Innerbits, the next SDK release should be late May or June. They anticipate gaining additional memory back, so hopefully in the future we'll see more and more game companies utilize these features as their resource cost drop.

 

Read

[privateer]

Japanese store stop selling PS2,PS3,PSP?

 

 

Metafrash:

 

Information about no longer carrying new products

 

We regret to announce...

 

PlayStation 2

PlayStation 3

PlayStation Portable

 

As well as all related items will no longer be carried as of April 30th.

Please accept our apologies.

[privateer]

Medal of Honor Airborne trailer

 

http://www.playsyde.com/news_4340_en.html

[Daredevil]

Hack To Play PS2 Backups On PS3

 

A clever young chap out there, has discovered a way for PS3 owners to finally play backup PlayStation 2 games on the system. This new method will allow the PlayStation 3 to read and run the discs just as if they were original discs. We at Maxconsole do not endorse or encourage this for any copying or pirating use, as that's illegal, but on the other hand, it's news from the gaming community which needs to be brought to the attention of all.

[privateer]

Sony Posts Biggest Loss in Four Years on PS3 Consoles (Update1)

 

By Hiroshi Suzuki

 

May 16 (Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp., the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker, reported its biggest loss in four years after the PlayStation 3 game console failed to spur as much demand as Nintendo Co.'s Wii player.

 

The net loss totaled 67.6 billion yen ($562 million) in the three months ended March 31, from 66.5 billion yen a year earlier, Tokyo-based Sony said in a statement today. The company posted a 111.1 billion yen loss in the quarter ended March 2003.

 

PlayStation 3 is being outsold by Wii by about two to one, causing a loss at Sony's game division, its second-largest by revenue. The loss exceeded profits from electronics such as Bravia televisions, and the movie unit, whose ``Spider-Man 3'' generated record box-office sales when it opened this month.

 

``The extent of the recovery in the game business will be the main theme this fiscal year,'' Naoki Fujiwara, who oversees $720 million at Shinkin Asset Management Co. in Tokyo, said before the earnings announcement.

 

For the year ending March 2008, Sony forecasts net income of 320 billion yen, more than double the 126.3 billion yen for the year just ended, on sales of Bravia liquid-crystal display televisions and a narrower loss at the games division.

 

Sales for the quarter rose 13 percent to 2.09 trillion yen. Its operating loss, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, widened to 113.4 billion yen from a 62.2 billion yen loss a year earlier.

 

The earnings compare with estimates for a net loss of 75.8 billion yen on sales of 2.02 trillion yen, based on a Bloomberg survey on 11 analysts prior to the announcement.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a5_p6Qu_ws5U&refer=home

[KYRIAKOS_GKLEZAKOS]

It will be worth the bankruptcy...

[Daredevil]

Sony - 5.5 Million PS3s Now Shipped

 

Following their yearly financial announcements, Sony has posted their hardware and software shipment figures. The company shipped an impressive 5.5 million PS3s, 14.2 million PS2s and a very respectable 8.36 million PSP units. Software shipments were actually lower than last year's figures but the PS3 still managed 13.2 million units, PS2 shipped 193 million units and the PSP, 54.1 million units.

 

quote:

Gaming Highlights

 

Fiscal year loss 232.3 billion yen ($1.969 billion)

 

Sales increased 6.1% from previous year. Software sales decreased from previous year.

 

 

 

Hardware production shipments

 

PS2 14.2 million units -2.02 million units

 

PSP 8.36 million units -5.7 million units

 

PS3 5.5 million units

 

 

 

Software production shipments

 

PS2 193 million units -30 million units

 

PSP 54.1 million units +12.5 million units

 

PS3 13.2 million units

 

 

 

Inventory 3/31 198.8 billion yen ($1.685 billion) +78.4% from previous year

 

Inventory increase 95.6 billion yen or 92.6% from Q3 to Q4

 

 

 

The deterioration was primarily the result of the loss arising from the sale of PS3 at strategic price points lower than its production cost during the introductory period, as well as the recording of other charges in association with preparation for the launch of the PS3 platform. In addition, operating income from the PS2 business declined due to decrease in software sales, while opeating income from the PSP business increased primarily due to continued cost reductions in hardware production.

 

News source: vgchartz.com

[privateer]

Rockstar Games Announces Midnight Club: Los Angeles for PS3 and 360

 

Rockstar Games Announces Midnight Club: Los Angeles for PLAYSTATION�3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360™

Fourth Installment of the Blockbuster Racing Franchise Unveiled

 

New York, NY – May 16, 2007 – Rockstar Games is proud to announce the fourth installment of its critically-acclaimed and genre-defining Midnight Club franchise, Midnight Club: Los Angeles. Developed by series creator Rockstar San Diego, Midnight Club: Los Angeles will be available for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION 3 system in early 2008.

 

"Midnight Club's addictive blend of freedom, style and sheer sense of speed sets it apart from its competition," said Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games. "With Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Rockstar San Diego looks to once again push the boundaries and expectations of what a racing game can be. Rockstar San Diego has always been the technology leader in delivering the ultimate racing experience, and with this game, they are looking to re-define the idea of a completely immersive racing game experience, both offline and online."

 

"On prior consoles, the Midnight Club franchise continually raised the bar for racing games, evolving from being the first ever street racing game to setting the defining standard for credibly integrating street racing culture with an intense racing experience," said Jay Panek, Producer of the Midnight Club series. "With Midnight Club: Los Angeles, our goal is to evolve on all possible levels and stay true to the hardcore gaming experience the series is known for, while making it accessible to casual gamers and car enthusiasts."

 

Consistently the most innovative, highest-rated street racing franchise, Midnight Club set the standard of what an open-world racing game can be. Midnight Club: Los Angeles will deliver a truly immersive next-generation racing experience that is second to none.

 

For more information about Midnight Club, please visit our website at http://www.rockstargames.com/

[privateer]

Heavenly Sword multiplayer possible

 

Heavenly Sword is around 90 per cent complete at the moment, reckons Antoniades, with mainly testing and bug finding to do before its September launch. And he's confident that Ninja Theory has used the extended development time to really wrestle an impressive performance from Sony's new console.

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=76451

[privateer]

NBA08

[gt]19608[/gt]

[privateer]

Lair trailer

 

[gt]19606[/gt]

 

Gameplay

[gt]19636[/gt]

[privateer]

Pain (PSN)

 

[gt]19611[/gt]

[privateer]

LittleBigPlanet

 

[gt]19615[/gt]

[privateer]

Heavenly Sword - Keeping Lookout Cutscene

 

[gt]19617[/gt]

 

Heavenly Sword - Gamers Day 07 Onstage Demonstration

[gt]19628[/gt]

 

Trailer:

[gt]19630[/gt]