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Sony proves your PSN qualms don't fall on deaf ears
Sony may have already proved that they're listening to what we want with the redesign of the PSN Store, but there are plenty of other features people are clamoring for from the service. Peter Dille, Senior Vice President of the PlayStation Network, has written a post on the PS.Blog letting everyone know that they are listening and that features are coming. Specifically, he confirms that in-game XMB is coming this year, along with a video download service (for North America) and "other community-related services."There's lots of exciting stuff to come this year then, not to mention Home which will (literally) add a whole new dimension to the PlayStation Network. Dille promises that more information on the video download service will be coming "very soon" and states that we should "stay tuned" for "more announcements on the expanding community functions within PLAYSTATION Network in the near future." Trust us, Peter (can we call you Peter?). We've been "tuned" for over a year now. Let's here more about those features ASAP, please.Lastly, the PlayStation Network cards are finally getting released in the US. They're shipping out to retailers this Spring and will allow you to add either $20 or $50 to your PSN wallet. Handy for those of you who don't have a credit card.[Thanks to everyone that sent this in!]
Camera support to be added to High Stakes Poker "soon"
Sure, High Stakes: Poker might have come out in America last September, but it seems they've finally got around to adding camera support for the title. The feature will be coming "soon," but there's no word on whether it will come in the form of a patch or downloadable expansion from the PSN Store. However it arrives, this addition to the game makes it a much more worthwhile purchase. Up to six players will be able to simultaneously transmit their audio and video from any USB camera, including the EyeToy. Apparently, High Stakes Poker is the first console game to do this. Does this persuade any of you to pick this up, if you haven't yet?
European PS3 owners want an official Sony blog
We were incredibly pleased when SCEA started the PlayStation.Blog last June. Having a transparent method of communication between Sony and its consumers is invaluable. Since then we've seen the blog being used as both an up-front marketing tool and as a way for prominent members of the game development (and public relations) industry to communicate with the readers via the comments section. After almost a year of watching the site grow, it seems European PS3 owners are getting jealous of the service and want an equivalent site set up for PAL users.A poll has been set up by a user of the official European PlayStation forums asking whether people would like to see an official PlayStation Blog for Europe. The overwhelming majority say that yes, they would like to see one while a tiny proportion (3% at the time of writing) claim that "ThreeSpeech is good enough" for them. While we respect ThreeSpeech, it's a flawed website which people seem to be wary or suspicious of due to the "semi-official" label. A fully transparent blog for Europe could only be a good thing and we would love to see it happen.
Upcoming Warhawk expansion hinted at on PS.Blog
Dylan Jobe's latest post on the PlayStation.Blog was a long list of upcoming features for Warhawk's v1.3 patch. Not only that, but the post also contained a number of subtle hints towards a future expansion. In the image above, showing how Home-launched Warhawk games will appear in the server list, is a listing for a level, "Vaporfield Gl...", that isn't currently available. When asked by a commenter about an expansion listing that has appeared on a number of PSN release date lists under the name of "Operation Broken Mirror", Dylan oh-so-subtly remarks on how interesting his own ASCII art looks. Clicking on the ASCII art at the bottom of his post takes you to this image. It's a broken mirror! How clever. No doubt we'll be hearing more about this before too long, especially with GDC happening next week. If we learn anything new, we'll be sure to let you know.
Win a Bravia HDTV in Sony's Buzz! contest
So we're pretty sure quite a few of you are anxiously anticipating Buzz! to make its way to the PSP later this year. [Editor's note: Buzz! has NOT been announced for release in the US.] To help you brush up on your quiz show skills, SCEA's PlayStation Blog is holding a contest kicking off at noon PST today through midnight, complete with some great prizes.In all, 10 questions will be presented, and the first person to correctly answer all of them will win a 37" BRAVIA M series HDTV. Prizes will also be given to the second- and third-place winners, receiving a PS2 SingStar bundle and games and PS2 versions of Buzz! Hollywood and SingStar 90's, respectively.The full details of the contest will be posted later today, but all of you budding quiz show contestants better get ready because this may be your one and only chance to win real prizes while playing Buzz!
Buggy Lost Planet demo taken down, new demo coming soon
If you've downloaded the recent Lost Planet: Extreme Condition demo you might have had trouble getting connected to the game's online servers. It's not completely clear what the problem is, but according to the PlayStation.Blog the issues are being dealt with. The demo has been temporarily taken down from the PlayStation Network and an updated version with an actual working multiplayer mode should be coming soon. For those of you who've downloaded the demo and have got it to work, you'll now find that the servers have also been shut down in preparation for the new demo. Isn't this all really annoying? Sure. But at least it's getting a fix. Capcom assures that it will be "working overtime to correct the issues." Let's hope we get our demo back up by the end of the weekend, otherwise we'll just have to continue playing Devil May Cry 4 instead.
Firmware 2.01 coming soon
Eric Lempel has written up a new post on the PlayStation.Blog in order to tell everyone that a new firmware update is on its way. 2.01 will be available in a few days and will "improve the stability" of the PlayStation 3. Lempel assures us there are specifics to be learnt at a later date and they will let the community know closer to the time. We know that the PS3 will be receiving an update to allow its Blu-Ray features to support profile 1.1 at some point in the future. We also know that DivX support will be included in a future firmware update. Will these things be included in 2.01? Your guess is as good as ours. We'll let you know as soon as we find out more.
Next week's PSN update to occur on Tuesday
So apparently next Thursday is "Thanksgiving Day". Who knew? Because of this it seems that the PSN update will be occurring on Tuesday, instead. Why Tuesday? Why not Wednesday? Or Friday? Good questions! To be brutally honest, we have no idea. Word of the date change was found on the PlayStation.Blog where Grace Chen let everybody know in the comments section so we are doing our job and passing the message on to you, our dear readers.
New PAIN video shows off gameplay modes
Travis Williams, Senior Producer of PAIN, has written a post on the PlayStation.Blog today outlining the six different modes of gameplay the game will ship with when it is released later this month. A video has also been posted which showcases these gameplay modes - be sure to check it out. Williams is also desperate for people to continue making suggestions about the game so that they can be incorporated later, even going so far as to setup a poll on the PlayStation.Blog sidebar with the question "Who would you like to see in PAIN?" (We voted for "Sony Video Game Characters, of course). PAIN's six gameplay modes will be split equally between single player and multiplayer and involve titles such as "Spank the monkey", "HORSE" and "PAINdemonium." It's clear the developers have a special sense of humour. So check out the blog post for more info, watch the video and vote on the poll. Isn't the internet grand?
Sony set to launch its biggest hardware ad campaign
Most gamers and industry critics alike have long said it was only a matter of time before the PlayStation 3 got its legs underneath it and came out swinging. It seems that time has arrived as this weekend will not only mark the 40GB PlayStation 3's official launch in North America but also Sony's largest-ever hardware marketing campaign to promote its new console.The marketing push will center around several 30- and 60-second commercials that feature the lower-priced unit, Sony's recent and upcoming first-party and exclusive titles, the PS3's Blu-ray capability, Home and the PlayStation Network, Vice President of Marketing at SCEA Peter Dille announced on the PlayStation Blog. "Beyond the brilliant HD games that the PS3 delivers, you'll also see a big focus behind the PS3's Blu-ray movie capability and, for the first time, you'll see a major focus behind the PlayStation Network and the exclusive gaming content available on the PlayStation Store, as well as break through services like Home," he wrote."Add to that the inflow of great games and a PS3 brand campaign - our largest ever behind a hardware platform - and we think it's going to be a great holiday season for PS3," Dille wrote. In the past, we've been critical of Sony's past marketing attempts of the PlayStation brand, but we think it's right on track with these new TV spots. However, only time will tell if this new push will create the consumer awareness that translates into the desired hardware and software sales.
PlayStation.Blog promises more news to come
After today's big announcement, the PlayStation.Blog has been updated with further clarification of the price drop and 80GB launch. As well as this, the blog gives us some more information about what we will be getting out of E3 as console owners, and when. The keynote speech, as well as being put up on the PSN for everyone to download, will have a live feed, starting half an hour before the speech, (11am pacific time) at the official US PlayStation website.As well as this, at least some of the content we are expecting to see on the PSN in terms of trailers and videos will be put up shortly after the keynote address. No word of any demos, but we wouldn't be surprised if Sony pulled one or two out of their hats. Perhaps the subtly hinted imminent Heavenly Sword demo? Regardless, we're going to be inundated with content. Seybald states that there is far more to come this week that we currently aren't aware of, including more "Inside the Developer's Studio". It looks like we're going to be glued to the PSN this week, what about you?
Lair nearing completion; Devs speak on PlayStation.Blog
Ryan Hamlyn, associate producer on Lair, has written a post on the PlayStation.Blog explaining that the game is nearing completion and on track for its August 14th release date. Hamlyn has been playing the game for a while now and claims that the more he plays this game, the more fun he's having. The post also includes a short explanation on how they developed some of the larger creatures for the game, including the "Spiderwasp" shown above. It may be hard to see clearly at such a low resolution, so check out the official PlayStation.Blog Flickr account (just goes to show that Sony truly appreciate Web 2.0) , where all the screenshots from the "Inside the Developer's Studio" feature have been put up at full resolution. Simply click "all sizes" above the picture to view it in different sizes, including 1920x1080.Finally, the official Lair website is up, with exclusive new videos and "other cool content". It's pretty exciting to see the first non-launch AAA exclusive for the PS3 nearing completion. We just can't wait to finally play it.
Dave Karraker would not take a Ferrari to Home Depot
Analogy alert! Dave Karraker recently slapped a new post on the official PlayStation blog regarding developers' complaints that the PS3 is hard to develop for. His stance on the issue is thus: "Since PS3's Cell processor allows MORE features -- better physics, more complex graphical processing, lighting or sound, etc. -- there is inevitably going to be more cost in supporting those extra features. It's not that PS3 is harder to write for, it's just that you can do more with it." You know what? That sounds like a valid claim. We're seeing some very amazing things come out of the PS3 as of late.Going further down the post, Karraker talks more about the SPU's in the PS3's Cell. These are generally considered the most challenging point in a developer's learning curve and Karraker responds by giving us some Confucius-laden wisdom: "SPUs are not 'normal' processors like the PPU. There is a trade-off between performance and versatility. A Ferrari is not the best car for a visit to Home Depot." We know we'd never roll into Home Depot with our Ferrari. You can't fit anything in those cars! But what does Karraker mean? Is the SPU worthless for ports, at least making them far more difficult to program, or games that take place in big, empty warehouse stores? No matter the case, we're glad Sony's got a blog to support their baby. We know we've needed the reinforcements.[via Gamasutra]
Jack Tretton teases E3 surprises, promises "more than 100 titles" by year end
Sony has been going full throttle on it's new PlayStation.Blog with some of the biggest names at the company doing regular posts. This time, the president and CEO of SCEA, Jack Tretton weighs in with an interesting post about the past successes of the PlayStation brand and some of his thoughts of the future. It's interesting stuff and definitely worth reading. He also gives game-starved PS3 owners some good news by implying that the drought is almost done: "We have more than 15 games coming from our own internal studios alone this year for PS3. Our third party partners will weigh in with a host of great games giving us more than 100 titles by year end on that system alone."Later on in the piece are hints that we're in for some cool surprises at E3 too, stating that not only will we see new stuff on the known titles like Ratchet and Clank or Heavenly Sword, but also they will announce "a few surprises we have up our sleeves that no one has seen." Intriguing and exciting stuff and we'll find out in less than a month! Anybody want to start the random unsubstantiated guessing on what they're gonna show? I say ... Killzone Bowling and Barbie's Xtreme SOCOM Adventures.[Via N4G]
We have a new blog competitor: Sony
Uh-oh ... are the PlayStation Fanboy blogs in trouble? Sony has thrown off their gloves, and they're ready to go head-to-head against us in the blogosphere. The top people from Sony Computer Entertainment America will be sharing their thoughts on the state of PlayStation, and will undoubtedly leak a few secrets along the way.The PlayStation.Blog will feature "product news and title announcements to developer updates and industry opinion posts – all of which will come straight from the people here inside SCEA who are working, thinking and playing with this stuff every day." (Editor's note: it's two words, Pat.)Of course, we kid about this whole "competitor" thing. We've pushed Sony incessantly on getting more proactive with the gaming community, and it looks like they've finally taken our advice. This is a step in the right direction, and we can't wait to find out more from the PlayStation.Blog.
