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Sony adds 3D movies, videos to PlayStation Network
While we wait for more 3D on the way on Blu-ray or from Sony's 3D Net channel that will debut next year, add another option to the mix: PlayStation Network. A poster on AVSForum spotted the new category on their PS3 a few days ago, currently offering Monster House for rental at $4.99, while a Bon Jovi video and trailer for the previously mentioned 3D Net are free downloads. Curiously, only stereo audio is currently available on any of them, and the 720p Monster House file is only a 4GB download. The picture quality still seemed relatively sharp and without ghosting, but we'll need to compare it to the Blu-ray to see how much was lost in the transition.%Gallery-106332%
Sony's scheming a streaming music and video subscription service, too?
Perhaps you've heard that Apple's investing in digital video distribution at the moment? Perhaps you've read that Amazon's working on a subscription video network, too? Sony makes number three, as the Financial Times is reporting the electronics giant is looking to launch a multimedia platform of its own. Starting with the PlayStation 3 and PSP, and then later extending to internet-connected Sony TVs, Blu-ray players, Vaio computers and phones, the service will reportedly offer both music and video sometime next year in what's no doubt an attempt to work out deep-seated guilt at the death of Connect. You won't have to wait nearly that long, however, to find out what's what -- the publication says Sir Stringer intends to preempt Apple's six-string reveal by announcing the PlayStation Network-based service from IFA 2010 in Germany. Call us crazy, but this sounds like a perfect fit for the Sony's out-of-the-blue $130 Netbox. [Thanks, dedparrot]
Sony ponders charging for 'online pass' game functionality
We specifically told you guys not to tell your friends at Sony about a certain "feature" of EA Sports whereby the player is charged $10 to unlock online content and multiplayer functionality. And what do we have here? It looks like someone spilled the beans, because GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that Sony Computer Entertainment head Andrew House has been giving the matter some serious thought. "On the principle of making online portions of the game available or unlocked from the disc-based release for a fee," he said, "we're broadly supportive... and we're exploring actively the same option for our own content." Of course, this runs counter the free and democratic nature of PlayStation Network, but you know how strategies can change once someone gets dollar signs in their eyes.
TUAW's Daily App: PSN Go
We've spotlighted a few different Xbox Live browsers here on the site before, so here's a little console balance. PSN Go is an app designed to let you browse and control your PlayStation Network account (the account that you set up when you've got a PS3 connected to the Internet). It's unofficial (not created by Sony) and made by a third party, but you can log in with a PSN name and password and browse through your friend lists, gamer profile, trophy lists, and other PSN information. Unfortunately, unlike most of the other "account browser" apps that we've seen, this one is priced a little higher than free -- it's US $1.99. While that's still not a lot, it is quite a bit to pay for just the opportunity to browse friends' lists when away from your console. Still, the app has a full in-app game database, and it's pretty well polished and runs great. Plus, it's getting updated; it's all set for the iPhone 4's Retina Display, and it's seen a few UI improvements and bug fixes already. If you find yourself browsing your PSN account quite a bit (especially when not at home), it's probably worth the couple bucks.
Hulu Plus will be a downloadable app on PS3, require PlayStation Plus subscription?
The mathematical symbols are aligned... and they're pointing to a greater cash outlay if you want to have (a legitimate copy of) Hulu on your PlayStation 3. Technologizer recently discovered the highlighted line above in the source code for the Hulu website, and if correct, you'll need a PlayStation Plus subscription on top of your Hulu Plus one in order to stream the best brain-numbing shows from broadcast TV. While that adds up to an additional $18 for three months or $50 annually on top of your $10 monthly Hulu Plus fee, it's not like you'll get a better deal on a different game console -- Microsoft has confirmed Hulu will require Xbox Live Gold when it launches on Xbox 360 next year. Besides, this isn't like those janky Netflix Instant Streaming Discs -- further down the source code, there are hints that Hulu's developing a bona fide app for PlayStation 3. See the relevant section of the code right after the break.
PlayStation Plus coming via PS3 firmware 3.40 (update: now available)
At last, the first post-E3 firmware update for the PlayStation 3, and as you might've suspected, this one's got PlayStation Plus packed into the mix. We've talked about the service a bit so far, but to recap, $50 annual nets you a 50 percent discount on PSN titles, early access to betas, and one hour of demo time on select full titles (among other benefits). If you're not willing to shell out the Ulysses S Grant, however, however, there's a few other treats in the software patch, including five-star ratings for content purchased on the Store, video editor and uploader for Facebook and YouTube (note: not a video capture service, gotta use what the HDD already has), and expanded integration into Picasa and Facebook photo galleries. Speaking of Facebook, a new app will appear on the social site for showing off your PSN profile and befriending others. As usual, no exact date for the firmware is given, but if history's any indication, it won't be very long at all. Update: We just checked our consoles and, sure enough, the update is live. We're downloading now and will let you know if there's anything peculiar. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] %Gallery-96494%
Sony explains PlayStation Plus: here's what your $50 annually buys (update)
With less than a week before PlayStation Network's premium subscription plan launches, many gamers still haven't the foggiest idea what it does -- which isn't terribly promising for a service that costs $50 a year, or even $18 for three months. Thankfully, the official PlayStation.Blog has stepped forward to clear up that noise, explaining more concretely what comes with PlayStation Plus. While you'll still get online network play for free -- assuming you've accepted Sophie's Sony's Choice -- if you choose to pay the extra fee you'll get free monthly games attached to your account, as long as you remain a subscriber. Furthermore, PSN titles will be discounted up to 50 percent by the sheer power of your will, you'll get early access to betas, and you can try certain full games for an hour (not just a demo) before you buy them. You can also turn on an automatic update feature that will download patches and the like automatically, and the company hints it may even (finally) bring us cross-game voice chat. Without knowing which games are included, we still don't know if it's worth our annual Ulysses S. Grant, but at least now the service sounds like it's worthy of consideration. Update: Looks like the US will get a free copy of Wipeout HD at launch, and European gamers will get LittleBigPlanet as well -- see our more coverage link for the full EU slate. Now that's more like it.
Bloomberg: Hulu coming to PlayStation network 'soon'
It was just two weeks ago in the runup to E3 that Reuters spread rumors of Hulu coming to the Xbox 360 and the iPad as some sort of paid service, and now Bloomberg is adding to the chatter, saying that everyone's favorite video service is also in talks to become part of Sony's Playstation Network and appear on the PS3 "soon." As with the previous rumors, Hulu on PS3 is said to be a paid service, but nothing's actually confirmed yet. So is Hulu playing Microsoft, Sony and Apple against each other in a bid to collect the biggest exclusivity fee possible, or are we about to see an aggressive Netflix-style multiplatform rollout? We'll see.
Dreamcast resurrection: classic Sega titles coming to XBLA and PSN later this year
The Dreamcast lives on! Crazy Taxi and Sonic Adventure are reviving Sega's final console, only this time on Microsoft and Sony's hardware. They are the two inaugural titles that will hit the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network later this year, to be followed by other classics from Sega's better days. As the now software-only company tells it, you'll basically be getting the original games, replete with (slightly) higher-res visuals, surround sound, online leaderboards, and Trophy and Achievement integration. We don't know what pricing will be like just yet, but Sonic Adventure will be coming at us in time for the 11th anniversary of the Dreamcast's original launch in the US (September 9, 1999).
PlayStation Network down for 'regularly scheduled maintenance' -- RDR posses take the day off
Wondering why your murderous, alcohol-fueled rampage across the old Southwest has been interrupted? The PlayStation Network is taking a personal day for maintenance (it happens sometimes, even on services we pay for, so insert PSN+ rumors here) from 8 a.m. (PST) to 8:30 p.m. Turning on your PS3 for some Red Dead Redemption or other gaming in the interim displays the above message so for now, all of your Home friends will have to wait. In the meantime, Netflix streaming is still a go so queue up 3:10 to Yuma (the original version, of course) and give that tired horse a break. Update: Looks like everything is back up and running, let us know if you spot any extra features, dimensions or otherwise. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
3DTV-enabled Super Stardust HD turns up early on UK PSN?
A few UK PlayStation 3 gamers have found they already have access to the 3D version of Super Stardust HD, reporting it "looks gorgeous" and (presumably thanks to the recent update) automatically adjusts the TV to the proper settings and prompts the player to slip on their shutter glasses. While the PSN store only shows a few updates, if you already have the game (and a 3DTV, of course) deleting it and redownloading should nab the new version. Of course, if 2D is the way to play we'd recommend holding off as a few have reported the new edition is limited to 720p resolution only, instead of the original 1080p. While that might be necessary to keep everything exploding smoothly in 3D at 60 frames per second, per eye, we're sure existing HDTV owners would appreciate every pixel they can get, so until we get some official release notes we'd leave this to the early adopting glasses wearers only.
PlayStation Network adds HBO content before Zune / Xbox 360, follows iTunes pricing
Congratulations PSN, you are the first video game console to sell content from HBO. That means you can't buy True Blood, The Sopranos or Rome on Xbox via Zune yet, but you already could on iTunes if you were willing to pay $3 per episode. Contrary to a few reports, that premium pricing doesn't extend to the rest of HBO's lineup which share their $2 per episode pricing with the SD versions of most TV shows on the PSN and elsewhere. It's actually not a terrible price, with the season two DVDs of True Blood available for $32 on Amazon buying all twelve episodes one by one will only cost an extra $4, and still let you avoid any that don't feature your character of choice removing their shirt. the only sad part is that just like iTunes, there's still no HD availability, so we hope you like 480p -- and if you're reading this site, you probably don't. Hey Sony, make a big deal when you've negotiated some higher resolution or lower prices than what's available elsewhere, and tell HBO to stop crowing to the Wall Street Journal about its ability to charge premium prices when it really isn't -- when you sell an episode of The Wire for the same price as the pilot for Bionic Woman that's nothing to brag about.
Sony rumored to be announcing premium PSN service at E3
We've been hearing about a premium PlayStation Network service for some time now -- even from Sony's Kaz Hirai himself -- and if a report from VG247 is to be believed, it looks like it could finally become a reality at E3 next month. According to the site, a "highly-placed source" says that Sony will be announcing the service and a slew of new premium PSN features during its June 15th keynote at the show, and that it will cost less than £50 (or $70) per year. As we'd heard previously, the current PSN service would apparently remain as-is for anyone that doesn't wish to upgrade, but it seems that Sony will be throwing in some pretty big incentives to get folks to pay up -- you'll supposedly get a free PSN game from a choice of "two to four" each month with your subscription. Details on the premium service are otherwise still pretty light, but VG247 says it will include a music streaming service similar to Spotify.
Sony signs up all six major studios for HD movies on PlayStation Network
Well, it looks like Sony has a little treat for PS3 users now that they're able to turn their consoles back on -- it's just announced that it has signed up all six major studios to deliver HD movies on the PlayStation Network (the first company to do so, as Sony is happy to point out). That includes 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. and, of course, Sony Pictures Entertainment, which combined have an initial slate of 19 HD movies available to buy or rent -- including "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Star Trek," "District 9," "Inglourious Basterds," and "The Wizard of Oz," to name a few. Those are only available in the US at the moment, but Sony says it plans to also roll them out to the U.K., France, Germany, and Spain "soon."
The apocalyPS3 ends in global resurrection, ARM chip at fault
The early belief that the PSN was spreading a brickitis infection to PS3s around the world has turned out to be not quite accurate. Yes, PSN was inaccessible over that extremely stressful day (for PS3 owners, the rest of us have been quite fine, thank you), but we're hearing from Eurogamer that the villain in this story was an ARM chip inside the console -- the very same one, in fact, that led to a few Zunes losing their minds back in 2008. The big problem here was simply a bit of hardware that couldn't get its bearings straight after expecting 2010 to be a leap year, and the arrival of March 1 "fixed" everything for all eight affected PS3 SKUs (of a total of eleven). That leaves Sony with four years to make sure this problem isn't heard from again, and if it doesn't, we'll be placing blame for the real 2012 apocalypse firmly on Howard Stringer's shoulders.
PS3 issues apparently resolved, game on
Rejoice: PS3s across the land are now once again playable. That's the word according to our friends at Joystiq, who say that the clock issue affecting "fat" PS3s has been somehow resolved and games are once again working correctly. We're not sure if this means Sony's fixed something on the network side or if the internal clock just ran past a certain time, but at least our long nightmare is seemingly over. Hit up Joy for a quick Q/A on the whole situation, including a way to potentially save lost trophy data.
Sony: Don't turn on your PS3 until PSN bug is fixed
Uh, wow. That PlayStation Network issue that struck late last night has officially ballooned into a full-on PlayStation disaster: Sony is now saying you shouldn't use "fat" PS3 models at all, since a clock-related bug might cause data loss. The PS3 slim isn't affected, however -- which explains some of the conflicting reports we heard last night. Sony says they're working to get this fixed in the next 24 hours, but for now it looks like older PS3 owners are out of luck -- we'll do our best to keep you entertained, guys.
PlayStation Network down, so are lots of PS3s (update)
It's unclear exactly what's going on at the moment, but it appears that the PlayStation Network is down and causing a whole host of related problems for PS3 systems, including 8001050F error codes, game crashes, corrupted trophy info, and even the complete inability to launch certain titles. There's no ETA on when things will get back to normal -- looks like it's gonna be a Blu-ray kind of evening for PS3 owners out there. Update: Sony's tweeted that it's "looking into it," and our boys at Joy say that owners of original PS3s are seeing their clocks reset and even data loss in some cases. We'll keep you updated. Update 2: Given that issues started to appear as February 28th became March 1st, it's being speculated that the PSN woes are related to an improper handling of leap years. Similar to the issue that bricked those Zunes back in 2008. Sorry, manually setting your date doesn't help, we tried. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Sony Qriocity on-demand movie service coming February 2010
Say hello to Qriocity, Sony's first step toward building an Online Service to rival iTunes, Netflix and anything else that makes money by selling you downloadable content. Headed to your nearest XMB in February and getting a dedicated remote control button on Sony's future TV sets, this service will allow you to stream movies in SD or HD, and Sony Insider reports that with a strong web connection you'll be able to get a solid 720p output. A large roster of film publishers have been recruited, while Sony promises "hundreds" of films will be available at Qriocity's launch. Come past the break to scope out the UI.
Possible PSN premium services detailed in leaked survey?
It's hard to put too much credence in a survey. Not only is it easy to fake (although this one sounds fairly legit and has popped up elsewhere), but the questions posed could be purely theoretical. That caveat aside, there's a bunch of very interesting stuff in this list of features we just got from someone who claims to have done a survey for Sony about its plans to charge for "premium" PlayStation Network content. The actual subscription costs flung around ranged from $20 to $60 a year, or alternatively $6 to $9 a month, and while some features might sound familiar to Xbox Live members, there's plenty of innovative stuff here that we wouldn't mind seeing pop up on either platform, including: Customer Service Priority Access Exclusive Experiences with Sony Brands Extended Console Warranty 3 Years Access to Beta Games Early Access to All Store Content Member Demo Sharing of Full Game Cross-game Voice Chat Access Full Title Trial - 1st Hour Is Free Token Wagering User-to-user Challenges Free Access to PSOne Classics, PSP Minis, and PS3/PSP Themes Discounts on Store Content Member Only In-game Content Trophy Alerts Cloud Storage Space for Games Online Music Service Online Music Video Service Automatic Downloads and Updates Loyalty Program Rewards Facebook Connectivity Catch-up TV Netflix Access Without Disc What a mouthful! There are definitions of all these after the break, and while the survey seems to imply that not all of these would be available in whatever paid service Sony launches, we could imagine quite a few PS3 users (ourselves, for instance) shelling out cash for some of the perks listed -- as long as they can swallow their Xbox Live Gold-deriding pride. [Thanks, Christopher]
