Posted by Oculin in PS3, Rumors, Sony | 1 comment

80GB PS3 Phasing Out In Japan?

The farther along in the year we get the more evidence that shows a possibly PS3 price drop or redesign is coming soon. A post by Kotaku about the PS3’s status in japan recently shows even more evidence of change coming. PS3 consoles are starting to become sold out in many stores in Japan. Not only that but 7 11 isn’t accepting anymore pre-orders. I think its pretty much guarantee that some sort of change is coming.

Posted by SuburbanHell in PS3, Sony | 0 comments

Bestbuy’s newest PS3 Bundle

Last weekend, Best Buy had a “cutesy” bundle of Little Big Planet & Wall-E.  This weekend, they are trying to appeal to the hardcore gamer, and appeal they have.

On sale this Sunday, an 80GB PS3 bundled with two of the biggest titles on the system:  Metal Gear Solid 4 and Killzone 2, all for the standard PS3 asking price of $400.

As Kotaku mentioned in their report, “It’s like getting a Wii with Twilight Princess and Mario Galaxy, or a 360 with Gears 2 and Halo 3. But perhaps more importantly, it’s also one hell of a saving”

If you don’t own a PS3 yet, this may be the weekend you think about changing that.

Link

Posted by SuburbanHell in PS2, PS3, Sony | 6 comments

Backwards Compatibility coming back to the PS3?

Sony Patents Emotion Engine Emulation Technology For Cell Processors

In an effort to reduce the cost of manufacturing a PS3 (and thusly reduce the price, Sony removed several elements of the original PlayStation 3.  One of these was the Emption Engine, a chip Sony designed as the PS2’s CPU, the backbone of what makes the Original PS3 play PS2 games.

Sony’s new line of thinking?  What if the PS3’s cell processor could emulate the Emotion Engine? Then, all PlayStation 3s would be able to play PS2 games even if a console didn’t have the proper hardware. Well, according to a recent patent filed by Sony Computer Entertainment in the US, Sony has the code and technology ready to do this.

There aren’t too many reasons why Sony would want the PS3’s Cell processor to emulate the PS2’s Emotion Engine, so the natural speculation is the return of backwards compatibility to the PS3 in either a firmware update, or future versions of the PS3.

Backwards Compatibility returning to the PS3 will definitely help Sony move some units, it was a major factor in selling the PS2 and the original PS3, and it’s something, in my mind, that Sony has to look back and regret removing as it likely cost them quite a few sales of former PS2 gamers.

Story courtesy of Silconera

Posted by SuburbanHell in PS3, Sony | 1 comment

No more Hulu on PS3

Engadget reports that PS3 websurfers are no longer able to play videos via the webservice Hulu as of this morning.  Thanks to the PS3 browser’s Flash support the PS3 was able to keep access to Hulu without PlayOn or other workarounds, but now users see the above message indicating “Unfortunately, this video is not available on your platform. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

Is this some odd glitch related to the recent 2.80 firmware update or other temporary problem?  Not likely — The Hulu T.O.S. was just updated on June 26, and although there were no PS3-specific passages, changing a browser’s user-string to match the PS3 reveals it is definitely being specifically blocked.

Posted by SuburbanHell in PS3, Sony | 1 comment

PS3 Firmware 3.0 = NXE?

Per VG247, the details for PS3 Firmware 3.0 have been discovered and are being touted as “huge overhaul” for the console that has been compared to XBox Live’s NXE “in some respects”.

The previously-rumored reputation system will be included in the firmware update.  “A reputation system in which users will be able to evaluate each other will be provided for…  game applications… There will be a new API available to so the user can… allow users and also obtain users’ reputation.”

A “grief reporting system” will also be included, allowing gamers to take screenshots of offensive players and submit them to Sony. This is going to be similar to the LittleBigPlanet system, and is likely to include a text input.

Additionally, Firmware 3.0 will allow patches will be downloaded in the background, meaning you’ll no longer have to sit staring at the screen while <insert game here> updates itself with a 500Mb fix.

Simultaneous HDMI and digital optical outputting will also be included in the release.

It was indicated that there’s more to the firmware update included as well, but we’ll have to wait to find out the rest.