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Battery life could be prohibiting rumble in Sixaxis
Sources close to Inner Bits reportedly tell them that Sony unsurprisingly has been working for the past few months on engineering the Sixaxis controller to shake and rattle (it already rolls). The problem currently lies with battery life. "Between the rumble and the wireless support, the batteries are draining too fast to be acceptable for consumers," said the report. The project has been going on for months and Inner Bits believe (as do we) that Sony will manage to find an efficient solution.One point the report brings up is Sony public relations, as they have in the past cited rumble as "not next-gen" (pending a now-settled Immersion lawsuit) and then getting those who already have rumble-less Sixaxis pads to upgrade. Rumble has rarely been used as an integral feature to gameplay (one exception includes finding hidden objects in Psychonauts).[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Sony Blu-ray player drops to $500, now cheaper than PS3
The Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray player has been dropped $100 in price to $499, putting it below the price of the PlayStation 3.Sony, who once touted the PS3 as the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market, has appeared to have crossed off its own talking point. But if priced the same, the BDP-S300 would be a tough sale against the game console, whose only apparent benefit is quieter hardware. We don't want to suggest the PS3, now with only one model in North America, may drop below the $600 threshold, but the Blu-ray player's reduced price may indicate that the manufacturing costs for Blu-ray components have lowered, making the console less of a loss leader for Sony.The High Definition disc format is still competing against the Toshiba-backed HD-DVD for market share. The cheapest standalone HD-DVD player still costs $100 ($200 this Father's Day) less than the BDP-S300.[Via Engadget; thanks, Jonah]
European Commisioner: MS has a week to explain Xbox 360 scratching disc issue
European Commissioner for Consumers Meglena Kuneva wants to get to the bottom of the Xbox 360 scratching disc issue and she wants answers from Microsoft within one week. In a visit to The Netherlands yesterday, Kuneva confirmed that she had written to Microsoft requesting information on how they plan on resolving the issues there and "whether the same problem has occurred on other markets," according to a newsbrief on the ECC website.The inquiry was prompted by a report from Dutch TV show Kassa that concluded that certain models of Xbox 360 were indeed the cause of the disc scratching.In a (mostly English) radio interview, Kuneva said that "Within one week i expect to receive an answer ... and then we will draw the plan on how we could proceed further." She also said that although she does not have the power to order a recall, she'll be "more than happy to act if I have legal ground." (Listen to streaming .wma; interview starts around 2:53.)Given the anecdotal evidence we have, the disc scratching problem has certainly come up in other markets. It'll be interesting to see what Microsoft reveals on the matter over the next week.[Via Engadget & The Inquirer]
EA chief: 'biggest battle will be in Europe'
Forget United States or Japan, the fate of the console war will largely be determined by how well each console maker can conquer the European market, according to Electronic Arts' international publishing head Gerhard Florin."I believe the biggest fight will be in Europe," said Florin, speaking at this week's Reuters Technology, Media and Telecoms summit in Paris. "Whoever wins the hardware war in Europe, most likely will be the overall winner."Defining how one "wins" the hardware war can be tough enough -- is it sheer quantity of units sold, profits, or something else? As the NPD reports have shown, almost any statistic can be spun to show victory. And if Nintendo continues its dominance in United States and Japan while magically losing ground in Europe, can we really call it a loser?Ubisoft may already be cognizant of the importance of Europe as a battleground, today hinting at a European exclusive PlayStation 3 title. So long as these words mean smaller or even nonexistent delays between PAL releases and releases elsewhere, we think the console owners are ultimately the winner.
Xbox 360 Elite uses HDMI 1.2; no support for Dolby TrueHD
For audiophiles, this may hurt. For everyone else, this may induce yawning.The Xbox 360 Elite will ship with HDMI version 1.2, as opposed to the latest version 1.3. What do you lose with such a monstrous degradation? HDMI 1.3 adds support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio streams; this can be accomplished in HDMI 1.2 if the player can decode these streams into uncompressed audio, but unfortunately neither the Xbox 360 nor HD DVD add-on support it. (For reference, the PlayStation 3 was the first device to use HDMI 1.3.)Other differences include audio / lip sync technology, a greater transfer speed -- which would matter if you were outputting above 1080p, but that is currently the maximum resolution -- and Deep Color, which again will be more distinguishable in future resolutions.For now, the only major disparity will be the audio. Does this affect anyone's decision to purchase the Elite?[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Ben Heck explains how to make Wii laptop
Remember that crazy Wii laptop Engadget commissioned from mod extraordinaire Ben Heckendorn? Well, Ben Heck was kind enough to write up a thorough how-to guide so that we can emulate his work. The third and final part of his instructional guide has been posted onto Engadget so that you can now get out your soldering iron and copies of Hardware Hackery for Dummies and give your Wii a crazy makeover. Part 1 ripped up the console. (O, the humanity!) Part 2 rearranges the parts and designs the case. Part 3 creates the casing and puts it all together. Hack, mod and enjoy, but be wary: if you screw up, a replacement will be extremely hard to find.
Aussies get 360 HD DVD March 29 for $249 AUD
In a short but sweet news post, Xbox Zone revealed new details on the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive it discovered from Xbox Australia. The most pertinent news is that Oz will get its chance to pick up the add-on peripheral on March 29 for $249 AUD, which translates to approximately the $200 price tag for the US edition.The initial shipments of the drive will come with a Universal Remote Control (we presume he means the official Microsoft one) and a copy of King Kong on HD DVD. We're not going to pretend we can gauge the next-gen format market in Australia right now, so anyone hailing from the Land Down Under is more than welcome to contribute observations.
Rumor: Dell considers gaming handheld
Is Dell looking to take on the DS and PSP in the portable console front? Not likely, but it sounds like they might have found another option.Dell's Global Gaming Chief Abizar Vakharia, at a European Innovation event in Marbella, Spain, was quoted as saying "you know, [a future gaming handheld is] definitely one that's on the radar screen, but we have no plans to talk about anything today."Dell has shown great interest in touting itself as the premier hardware for PC gaming, even buying game-centric hardware company Alienware. Will Dell make a portable PC with a size similar to PSP? Probably, and they'll probably market its "awesome graphics and gaming capabilities." But it doesn't sound like that hardware will surface anytime soon, assuming it passes the prototype stage. We'll still lament the plethora of garbage-ware that they'll fill the device with.[Via Engadget]
Westinghouse and the blinking PS3: HDCP gone awry?
Some PlayStation 3 users who play on Westinghouse 1080p screens might have noticed a blinking problem when loading up their games, wherein no sound comes up and the screen's imagery blinks off and on. Popular Mechanics has been following the story and trying to deduce the culprit of this problem.The blinking phenomenon stems from High-Bandwidth Digital Copy Protection, or HDCP, a form of DRM for signals that run through HDMI cables. Initially, Westinghouse VP of Marketing Rey Roque explained that the issue was firmware within some of their television sets but has now retracted that assertion, placing the blinking blame on the PlayStation 3 itself. Roque notes, "Westinghouse products are fully compliant with the HDMI and HDCP specs." Westinghouse and Sony reportedly met yesterday to discuss the issue, but Popular Mechanics went ahead and offered a quick-and-dirty fix to the problem: simply unplug HDMI cable, wait a few seconds, and plug it back in. Video of the phenomenon and its quick fix is embedded after the break.[Via /.]
Is Sega cutting off Dreamcast disc production?
According to sources speaking to Dreamcast-Scene, Sega may cease production of the GD-ROM disc format this February. The GD-ROM is the Dreamcast's only official format, so this revelation would essentially be Sega pulling the life support from its final console, which has managed to retain developer interest even six years after Sega declared it dead.However, we know of a handful of Dreamcast games coming out in the next few months, so what's to become of them? If all else fails, they could release them as unlicensed CD-ROM titles. [Thanks, fyreblazer]
Rumor: 3rd party cables void the PS3 warranty
A rumor has been circulating that using 3rd party component cables will void the warranty of your PlayStation 3. The origins of this rumor stem from AVS forum poster ragedogg69 who tells this tale but fails to mention what exactly was wrong with his console. Our phone call to Sony tech support left us with ambivalent answers. Our representative explained that if a third-party cable caused our PS3 to short-circuit then, quite obviously, Sony would see that as the fault of said third-party and not their problem. However, if the problem was seemingly unrelated, such as a failure of the Blu-ray drive, the operator's response became less clear.The Consumerist dug into the PlayStation 3's warranty and found a clause that rather unclearly states that you assume the liability and risk of using non-Sony products with the console.We contacted Sony and received the following official statement:At SCEA, we have the same warranty for PS3 as we have for the other PlayStation platforms. Our Customer Service department will trouble shoot fully to see what the set-up environment is and what may be causing the issues. We are determining more info about this specific instance. In typical situations, video cables would not void the warranty, but each situation is unique. In other words, buyer beware. Through Froogle we found some first-party PS2 component cables, which are compatible with the PS3, for sub-$20. For that price, you're better off being safe than sorry.[Via Netjak; thanks to the very many people who sent this in!]
Horror film Blu-ray disc plays only on PS3 [update 1]
If you've been looking to watch cave-diving girls chased by evil, flesh-eating Gollums in high definition, then you better have a PlayStation 3. According to IMDB news, the Blu-ray version of The Descent is confirmed to not work on Pioneer Elite and Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray players but functions perfectly on the PS3. The reason? The disc utilizes BD-Java technology for picture-in-picture video commentary, which is not supported by the standalone Blu-ray players.Sony has confirmed that they are working on an update to the player's operating systems, but how are they going to deliver said updates to consumers who already have the faulty player?[Via 1UP][Update 1: It's Pioneer's Elite, not Panasonic. Thanks to everyone who pointed it out.]
How the Wii stole Christmas, or vice-versa
A word of caution: you might need to reconsider where you position your Christmas tree. One Joystiq reader -- some call him Tim -- has tipped us off to some trouble he has been having playing Twilight Princess while a light-laden Christmas tree laid lovingly next to his TV. Turns out, his cursor was jumping "ALL OVER the place" and he has sent us pictures to prove it.Continue reading for the evidence. And remember to keep your Christmas tree away from the Wiimote. It's probably good Feng Shui, anyways.[Thanks, Tim!]
Miyamoto wanted a $100 Wii [update 1]
In an interview with Business Week (we've blogged it before), Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto explained that he had wanted the Wii to cost only $100 (likely he means manufacturing cost, though the retail price would shrink accordingly). Miyamoto then admitted that, had they not used NAND flash memory and other pricey parts, they "might have succeeded."We currently don't know how much it costs Nintendo to make a Wii, but knowing that they are making money with every purchase it must cost them less than $250 (probably less than $200, considering the packaged sensor bar, Wiimote, and Wii Sports game). While we don't know how much the flash memory costs (there is 512 MB of internal memory), we found 1GB flash cards on NewEgg for only $22. How close to $100 did Nintendo get? What are these "other pricey parts" that might have been avoided? [Update 1: The powers of the pro-Sony, anti-Nintendo god must have struck me with a golden apple. Obviously, one in my position cannot make such a mistake otherwise. Misrepresentation of Miyamoto quotation fixed.]
PS3 bitten by Yellow Dog Linux
Terra Soft has confirmed on its website that Yellow Dog Linux will be compatible with the PlayStation 3. Few other details are given, though video demonstrations are promised as coming soon.Sony has as recently as August shown interest in bringing Linux or OS X to the console. Terra Soft's confirmation indicates that they either (a) are wishful thinkers or (b) have made a deal with Sony to bring their Linux variant to the super computer/game console behemoth. Video demonstrations might suggest they have a dev kit in house, but those have yet to materialize.We've sent off a list of questions to Terra Soft; we'll let you know what we hear.See Also:Sony to support homebrew with Linux on PS3[Via Engadget; thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
More Wii accessories, prices revealed
The Nintendo of Japan website has a new page showing off all the not-so-extravagant Wii accessories; namely, the power cord, input cables, and "official" Nintendo SD cards. The accessories and prices revealed: Power adapter* (¥3,000) Ethernet adapter (¥2,800) 512MB SD card (¥3,800) Composite input cables* (¥1,000) D-Cable input (¥2,500) S-Video input cables (¥2,500) Component input cables (¥2,500) The 512MB SD card equates to approximately US$32, which is double the price for a non-Nintendo SD card with the exact same functionality. Just remember that it costs Nintendo a hefty fee to put its logo on its own products.Note: accessories with an asterisk (*) besides them are pre-packaged with the Wii.[Via Engadget; thanks to all who sent this in!]
