Folding@Home Steps Into the Record Books

The PlayStation 3's computing project, Folding@Home, has been recognized by the Guinness World Records as the most powerful distributed network in the world.

"To have PS3 play such a large role in allowing Folding@home to be honored by Guinness World Records is truly incredible," said Masayuki Chatani, CTO at SCE. "This record is clear evidence of the power of PS3 and the contributions that it is making to the Folding@home network, and more importantly, scientific research."

60% of the networks total output is generated by PS3 owners and with over 670,000 users, the total power of the network has risen above a petaflop (one thousand trillion floating point operations per second)

To have Folding@home recognized by Guinness World Records as the most powerful distributed computing network ever is a reflection of the extraordinary worldwide participation by gamers and consumers around the world and for that we are very grateful," said Vijay Pande, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University. "Without them we would not be able to make the advancements we have made in our studies of several different diseases. But it is clear that none of this would be even remotely possible without the power of PS3, it has increased our research capabilities by leaps and bounds."

MGS 4 delayed until Q2 2008

Well, it's happened. Metal Gear Solid 4 has been delayed until Q2 2008 in order to "provide even greater enjoyment for more customers worldwide."

Previously the game had been set with a release date of "this winter," and things looked to be going well. While it's likely a case of the game needing some more time before it was ready, expect an avalanche of unconfirmed rumors regarding MGS4 going multiplatform in the coming days due to the line about "more customers."

Here's the full press release:

KONAMI announced today that "METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS", the latest in the METAL GEAR series, is scheduled to be released in the second quarter of 2008.

KONAMI had initially intended to release "METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS" this winter and has been working on the production of the title. KONAMI has decided to delay the title's release in order to make further improvements to the quality of the game and provide even greater enjoyment for more customers worldwide.

KONAMI will continue its efforts to make "METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS" meet everyone's expectations.

Further information regarding the release date will be announced as soon as possible.

Full details on tomorrow's free Gran Turismo 5 Prologue demo

Japan is getting a free taste of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue tomorrow along with the Tokyo Motor Show kicking off. A demo version of Prologue will be available on the Japanese PSN until November 11th. Included in the demo are seven playable cars:

• Lexus IS-F
• Nissan GT-R
• Mazda Atenza
• Subaru Impreza WRX STI
• Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR
• Daihatsu OFC-1
• BMW 135i Coupe

Also, in coordination with the Tokyo Motor Show, new cars will be unveiled in the game from October 23rd to the 25th. However, there will only be one track featured in the demo: Suzuka. No online play will be included with the demo, but single player will have you competing against 15 other racers, making for a less solitary experience than last year's Gran Turismo HD.

Sony to sell new 40GB PlayStation 3 in U.S.

Sony will launch a cheaper model of its PlayStation 3 in the United States, hoping to attract more buyers as it goes up against rival game consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo this holiday.

The company also cut the price of its highest-capacity model by about 17 percent.

The new version of the PS3 will come with a 40-gigabyte hard drive, cost $400, and go on sale on November 2, said Jack Tretton, president of Sony Computer Entertainment America.

The price of the 80-gigabyte version will be cut to $500 from $600.

The 40-gigabyte model has already made its debut in Europe and Japan, and was widely expected to come to the United States ahead of the crucial year-end shopping season that accounts for the largest single chunk of annual video game software and hardware sales.

For the new 40-gigabyte PS3, Sony has removed its ability to play games for the predecessor PlayStation 2, which is still selling strong despite its aging technology. It also lacks the media card slots found in the higher version as well as having only 2 USB ports.

Target scan shows 40 GB PS3 coming Oct. 28 for $399

The last thing any street date's parents want to see is their kid hanging around with Target. No matter what sweet talking the red rings make, the street date's only going to end up one way: Broken. Just ask the Xbox 360 Arcade, or the Xbox 360 Elite, if the store's not selling items before their time, they're advertising them. The streak continues with this listing for the 40 GB PS3 captured at a Target price check kiosk.