Japan: PS3 Outsells Wii in November

Sony’s PlayStation 3 has outsold Nintendo’s Wii in Japan over a four week period for the first time since the systems launched last year.

According to figures from publisher Enterbrain, Sony shifted 183,217 PS3s during the four weeks ended November 25, in comparison to 159,193 Wiis, reports Reuters.

Having dominated the gaming hardware market during the previous generation, Sony has struggled to establish its next-gen console amidst fierce competition from Microsoft’s Xbox 360 (in the US and Europe), which launched a year prior to the PS3, and Nintendo’s family-friendly Wii, both of which have built up far larger user bases.

A lack of AAA software and a high price point have often been cited as reasons for slower-than-expected consumer uptake of the PS3, although a growing software library and recent price cut, as well as the introduction of an entry-level 40GB unit, have clearly aided sales.

While the news that Sony trumped its rivals during November in Japan will be welcomed by the Japanese platform holder, KBC Securities analyst Hiroshi Kamide questioned whether the PS3 sales momentum could be sustained.

Sony: no shortage of exclusives on the PS3

Sony has brushed off suggestions that the PS3 lacks exclusive titles, claiming that the console will receive 15 exclusive releases during the period of September 2007 to April 2008.

Speaking to Reuters.com, Sony’s senior vice president of marketing Peter Dille said that there will be some 15 exclusive titles released on the PS3 during the aforementioned period.

With the 360 having played host to a wealth of great games this year – many of them exclusive – and the Wii’s older architecture and unique control system often resulting in noticeably different types of game, the PS3 has come in for a bit of stick over its comparative lack of exclusive titles since launch.

But while Sony concedes that high development costs have meant that most third party publishers are now more likely to take their games multiformat, Dille has said that Sony isn’t overly concerned by this, and understands the situation. “We understand publishers are needing to recoup their investment,” he told Reuters, going on to say that “from our perspective, as long as the games aren't going exclusive to other platforms, PS3 gamers are not actually losing anything.”

In response to this, Dille told the news agency that Sony has been beefing up its own internal development capacity, which now numbers 15 studios – more than Microsoft and Nintendo combined.

While we have to admit that decent PS3 exclusives have been a bit sparse this year, considering the console has barely been out a year in the States and Japan (and even less, if you’re here in Europe), this patchiness is understandable: just look at how empty the 360 release schedule was throughout most of 2006.

Certainly, with the likes of Haze, GT5 and MGS4 due next year, we reckon the PS3 is looking at a much better 2008.

Hacker Uses Sony PlayStation 3 to Crack Passwords

Using a PS3, a senior security consultant has come up with a way to drastically increase the processing capability of cracking passwords.

Nick Breese, a senior security consultant at Auckland-based Security-assessment.com, has come up with a way to drastically increase the processing capability of cracking passwords, using a PS3.

By implementing common ciphers and hash functions using vector computing, Breese has pushed the current upper limit of 10--15 million cycles per second -- in Intel-based architecture -- up to 1.4 billion cycles per second.

Breese, who has been working on the project, called "Crackstation", for the past six months, used the Sony PlayStation 3 gaming console for his break-through research. PS3's Cell Broadband Engine technology was created by IBM, Toshiba and Sony. The companies collaborated to create the CBE, commonly known as Cell, processor, which consists of one scalar processor and eight vector processors.

By design, PS3 is very suitable for cryptography, says Breese. Intel processors are designed to do all kinds of complex calculations, whereas the PS3 is good at doing simple things very quickly. "And believe it or not, cryptography really is simple," he says. "Lots of simple operations being done one at the time."

The strength of cryptography implementations is usually based on its cracking time -- how long it would take for someone to sit down and crack it, says Breese. His discovery has demonstrated that the capability of cracking encryption algorithms has multiplied by 100.

Breese's discovery "will unfortunately make cryptography cracking faster", he says. However, he hopes that his research will help drive the need for stronger cryptography to be used, and push for better implementations of cryptography.

The big implication for the industry is the fact that using Intel processors as a benchmark just is not good enough anymore, he says.

Within PS3, in Breese's case running Linux, there are six SPU (Synergistic Processing Unit) processor cores. Each core is able to do four calculations -- so across all of the cores it is possible to do 24 calculations at the same time, he says. The simplistic design of the processor architecture also helped increase the speed, he says.

Breese was looking for a way to optimize processing to make MD5 calculations go very quickly, he says. MD5 (Message-Digest algorithm 5) is one of the most used cryptographic hash functions. The PS3 managed to conduct over 1.4 billion MD5 calculations a second, he says.

But the speed increase relates to the use of SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) computing, rather than solely the PS3, he says. "It's just that the Cell processor cluster within the Playstation 3 is very good at it," he says.

Vector, or SIMD, computing involves performing calculations against a data group, rather than against a single piece of data, which is known as scalar computing, says Breese. Using vector computing allowed him to run cryptography calculations in parallel, he says.

Breese presented his findings at the Kiwicon hacker conference, held in Wellington earlier this month.

"We seem to have a world's first here, with potentially huge implications around the validity of some encryption algorithms going forward," says Security-assessment.com chief executive Peter Benson. "While we have not currently worked on distributing load across PS3s, the theory is there to increase this level of performance further."

The team rewrote some of the code to run under the vector-based methodology, and as soon as they did that they started getting "some pretty spectacular results", says Benson. It took a while before the company decided to release the numbers "because we just didn't believe them," he says.

Breese also increased the speed in x86 processors by using the same method on the x86-equivalent technology known as SSE (Streaming SIMD Extensions), but the increase was not as significant. He found that the x86 SSE2 implementation could conduct over three times the number of MD5 calculations than the scalar equivalent.

Breese says the initial reason for embarking on the research project was to get the company to buy him a PS3.

Wait... Orange Box is Cool on PS3?

Following one particularly negative preview, other consumer sites are saying EA UK's PS3 port of The Orange Box is A-OK.

Recently, Next-Gen ran a blog entry that referenced a 1Up preview of The Orange Box that was pretty dire: "… It's apparent that this version suffers from a number of technical flaws, which at best merely hinder game play and at worst make the experience downright unplayable," read the preview.

“Framerate is a consistent issue throughout the Half-Life series of games included in The Orange Box."

Now in more recent previews, IGN and GameSpy are saying not to get all bent out of shape.

From IGN's article [via Kotaku]: "I have both good and bad news for PS3 owners. The Orange Box is still a fantastic collection and runs well for the most part, but there are some technical issues that put it behind the 360 version.

"Before you freak, know that in my time playing The Orange Box on PS3, I only encountered a few truly troubling framerate issues. For the bulk of my playtime, the pieces of The Orange Box run fine. Sure, there's more hitching than on 360, but I was still drawn in to the dense world Valve created. The technical issues aren't going to be enough to deter anyone who wants to enjoy Orange Box on PS3. Unless you require your games to never dip below 30fps, you should not strike The Orange Box off your PS3 holiday wish list."

GameSpy said that it had the final PS3 code in hand: "Our initial encounter with Half-Life 2 was quite good. In regard to performance alongside the 360 version, we'd say that our first hour with the game was velvety smooth, and there's nothing about Half-Life 2 on PS3 that is diminished from what you'll get on 360. The same can be said for Episode One.

"However, drops in framerates did begin occurring in Episode Two. "Perhaps they don't rival a slideshow, but they're noticeable... On the other hand, we're not sure if it's something that's going to matter to gamers who aren't fairly hardcore."

So PS3 users shouldn't have to worry too much about The Orange Box being "unplayable," at least according to these reviews.

Ken Kutaragi (the father of 230 million PlayStations) to receive Lifetime Achievement Award 2008

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), has named Honorary Chairman and former President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, Ken Kutaragi, the recipient of the coveted 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award which will be bestowed at the Interactive Achievement Awards (IAA) ceremony on February 7th 2008 at Red Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in conjunction with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit 2008.

Recognized internationally as the “Father of PlayStation,” Kutaragi will be honored for revolutionizing the global in-home entertainment market with the creation and monstrous success of the PlayStation computer entertainment systems. The launch of the original PlayStation which was launched in 1994 and the PlayStation 2 which launched in 2000 went on to become the most popular gaming system of the era, resulting in combined shipments of more than 230 million units worldwide.

“Ken Kutaragi’s passion, innovative thinking and business savvy sparked a monumental movement that was unstoppable,” said Joseph Olin, president, AIAS. “If it wasn’t for Ken and his concept of the original PlayStation, there wouldn’t be the billion dollar industry there is today. His contributions have clearly set new standards for developers, publishers and consumers worldwide.”

Sony announces PSP Extended Life Battery Kit

Some three years ago, everyone and their PSP-lovin' cousin was moaning about the miserable battery life of Sony's PlayStation Portable, and while the outfit did unveil the Stamina Battery for the original PSP-1000, we're quite pleased to see an extended pack being offered up for it and the new, oh-so-slim PSP-2000. Apparently, the simply-titled Extended Life Battery Kit will consist of a 2,200 mAh battery pack that offers 20-percent more life on the older units and a whopping 80-percent more life on the slims. Additionally, two custom covers (Piano Black and Ice Silver) will be included to conceal the additional bulge, and those who just can't put their PSP down long enough to find an AC outlet can snatch this up for $44.99 in mid-December.

Real Racers Actually Use Gran Turismo To Train

I bet you’ve heard rumors before that Gran Turismo was used as an actual training tool but have you ever seen proof? Well thanks to the Japan Times we now have quotes from big time racers that actually use it to memorize the curves of tracks they haven’t been to in awhile.

“Formula 1 racing drivers such as Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and BMW’s Kazuki Nakajima have been seen practicing in front of a console. Whenever a new track comes onto the racing calendar, like Fuji Speedway did last October after a 30-year absence, and drivers cannot get there to practice for real, many fire up “Gran Turismo.” They say it’s the only way to memorize the track layout and braking markers — the points where you must start killing the speed to take an upcoming corner.”

Now while that’s impressive on its own, the next bit this interview presents is even more incredible. Apparently GT creator Kazunori Yamauchi clocked over 1,000 laps on a famous German track and then had a go at it in real life. In his first 12 laps he was driving at 90% capacity and after a few more he was clocking times that rivaled that of the pack. This test and interview definitely shows that Gran Turismo has finally come of age as more than a game and can be considered a real-life simulator.

Here’s one more test that will boggle the mind:

“And how did Yamauchi do in his first race driving the Mazda MX-5? Not bad at all. Having done more than 2,000 laps of the Tsukuba Circuit in his game, Yamauchi only needed a dozen laps of real-world driving before he was clocking the same times as the rest of the field — many of whom had been circling that track regularly for years. But then, as I mentioned, Yamauchi is a good driver. The same year, he was only 0.4 secs behind Loeb’s best Le Mans lap time when they battled it out on “Gran Turismo” at maker Polyphony Digital’s Tokyo headquarters. “

Unreal Tournament 3 heading to the PS3

Unreal Tournament 3 was officially announced yesterday as heading to the PS3. Mark Rein, an administrator for Epic Games, stated:

"The PlayStation 3 version of Unreal Tournament 3 has gone gold! We got news last night that Unreal Tournament 3 has been approved by SCEA and has been released to North American manufacturing.

Midway has started talking to retailers to figure out exact timing and they will have a formal announcement early next week when everyone is back from the Thanksgiving holiday. My guess is that Midway will start shipping the title to North American retailers on Monday December 10th and it could show up in stores as early as December 11th but more likely toward the middle of that week.

I think PS3 owners are going to really enjoy UT3 this holiday so make sure you get it on your shopping list!

For PAL territories, specifically UK and Europe, we have a few localization-related tasks to complete and then we should be starting the certification process pretty soon. My best guess is early next year (January or February) for the game to ship over there."

Fox News Uses Actor As Kid With Dusty Playstation 3

Redi Godshaw, the kid with the unusually dusty PS3, is a professional actor and has been paid to act on FOX shows before.

He goes on FOX news, with a horrendously dusty PS3, and it is never mentioned either that A.) He is a professional actor, or B.) His PS3 was far beyond normal levels of ‘dusty’.

So is that really him and is he really the dusty PS3 kid or did Fox News hire him to slam on Sony?

PS3 First Year Sales Match Xbox 360's

After a year, it seems like the PS3 is right on par with the Xbox 360 as far as sales go. With the holiday season coming up and with the recent price cuts, the PS3 is also gaining some momentum. But can they keep it up?

Playstation 3 Outsells Wii in Japan for Second Week Straight

The latest sales are in from Japan for the week starting 12/11 and ending 18/11, and surprisingly, the PS3 is holding on in there with its new 40GB model, fighting off Nintendo’s Wii for another week. The Xbox360 saw a rise, and Super Mario Galaxy and Heavenly Sword also had respectable sales. Find out the numbers after the jump.

DSLite: 81,000
PSP: 66,000
PS2: 8,800
PS3: 53,000
Wii: 36,000
Xbox360: 5,700

FFXIII To Fully Utilize PS3 Specs, Feature Controllable Airships, & More…

Good news for PS3 owners and fans of the Final Fantasy series. In a recent interview conducted with Tetsuya Nomura regarding Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy XIII, the video game director employed by Square Enix had a lot to say.

Nomura stated that the amount of disc space available due to the advent of Blu-Ray technology will allow the jump from Final Fantasy XII to XIII to rival that of the jump made from VI to VII.

In addition to announcing some new wrinkles for the franchise such as the ability to control air ships and conduct airborne assaults, he also helped put an end to rumors regarding a 360 release, by confirming that the title would “of course” be a Playstation 3 exclusive.

He didn’t stop there though. The man revered by many in the industry as a top ten developer added that Final Fantasy XIII will be the first PS3 release to fully utilize the consoles specifications.

PlayStation Store for PSP goes live in the US

The online Playstation Store for the PSP just quietly went live on our side of the world with two downloadable PSP titles, 16 PSone titles, and a handful of themes, wallpapers, and videos. Wipeout Pure and Syphon Filter: Combat Ops are the first two $10 PSP games out of the gate, and highlights of the PSone list include Twisted Metal 2, Crash Bandicoot, and Tekken 2, all for $6. The store requires the download of a Windows-only loader app to transfer files to your PSP. Check it all out here.

One year down: How do the PlayStations stack up?

On the eve of the PlayStation 3's first birthday, the entire team was huddled inside PS Fanboy Headquarters, located deep inside a cavernous mountain off the coast of Bangladesh. There, we were visited by a celestial being who spoke only one immensely insightful sentence: "There is perhaps no greater litmus test for measuring success than to look back at one's past accomplishments."

At first, we weren't quite sure what our ethereal host wanted us to do with this incredibly important message. After hours upon hours of internal discussion, we made no headway into uncovering what we believe is certainly the key to finding the meaning of life.

With nothing else to do, we began talking about our undying love for the PlayStation 3, but the PS2 and PS1 kept creeping into the conversation until we started to compare the three systems. And now that the PlayStation 3 has just turned a year old, what better time to look back at how it stacks up against the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation than the present?

So sit down, grab a hot cup of cocoa and be prepared to be wowed, because some of our findings may surprise you.

Units shipped

Of course, the most common way gamers look at a console's success is how many units it's shipped or sold. While most people know the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 are the largest-selling home consoles ever with more than 100 million units sold each, did you know that, in its first year, the PS3 nearly doubled the sales of the original PlayStation?

While it's way too early to tell if the PS3 will reach the success of the PS1 or PS2, it is eye-opening to realize how well it's off to when directly compared to its eldest sibling.

Launch
Although many gamers were pretty skeptical regarding the "success" of the PlayStation 3's launch, Sony continued to toot its horn saying it was more successful than its predecessors. "[The] PlayStation 3 launch has been, objectively by any measure, more successful than PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2 or other competing system out previously," boasted Phil Harrison in a February interview.

To back up that claim, Sony reported the PS3 was the fastest PlayStation console to reach 1 million sales, only taking the new machine six weeks to hit the landmark. Although reliable sales figures for the PS2 and PS1 are hard to come by today, the PlayStation 2 was breaking records in its own right when it launched. In the first 24 hours, the PlayStation 2 sold 500,000 units and generated more than $250 million in total revenue. Moreover, it was, at the time, the most successful launch ever and shattered that of the Sega Dreamcast's $97 million and with it, the hopes and dreams of millions of Sega fanboys.

Bringing up the rear is the original PlayStation having shipped 800,000 units from its launch in September to the end of the year.

Although sales figures are important to the companies involved, gamers care more about the games, right? Well, in this three-way fight, the PlayStation 2 is the clear winner in terms of sheer numbers when it launched with 29 titles, headlined by Tekken Tag Tournament. Due to several unanticipated delays to high-profile games such as Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the PlayStation 3 only had a dozen titles available at launch. While the North American PS3 launch was a bit light on the software side with only 12 titles, Europe received double that amount when it shipped there in March. Funny enough, the original PlayStation, which many regard as having one of the best libraries of all time, only had 12 titles when it launched, too.
Price cuts
Undoubtedly, the PS3's biggest criticism has been its hefty price tag, which, depending on how you look at it, has forced Sony to cut the price and offer new, cheaper hardware models. While the PS1 and PS2 were both launched at the $300 price mark, Sony chose to overstuff the PS3 with features like Blu-ray, HDMI port, WiFi and more, which caused the 60GB and 20GB model to a skyscraping $600 and 500 price tag, respectively.

Having launched in North America on Sept. 9, 1995, the PlayStation 1 didn't see its first price cut until more than a year later when Sony cut it from $300 to $200. Taking a page from its older brother's playbook, the PS2 didn't get a price reduction until May 2002, which was roughly 19 months after its initial release.

Whether you look at it as Sony realizing its newest console was in trouble or if it was just being nice, the PS3 got its first mark down only eight months later when Sony slashed the price of the 60GB from $600 to $500 and launched the 80GB model with Motorstorm at the original $600 mark in August. However, that price didn't even last very long before Sony once again slashed the 80GB PS3's price by $100 and introduced the more wallet-friendly 40GB unit.

If judging by price cuts alone, it appears that Sony realized it couldn't stay in the game with such a higher-priced unit than its competitors and quickly reacted to meet industry norms. Although it's still higher priced than the Xbox 360 and Wii, there's no debating the technology-for-dollar deal consumers are getting. With two price cuts in its first year, we don't expect to see Sony slicing and dicing the PlayStation 3 for awhile.
Software sales
Although the PS3 and PS1 shared the same amount of games on launch day, the story is far different when looking at it at the end of both system's first year on the market. The PlayStation threw down 116 titles, while the PlayStation 3 has only managed to release 65 titles so far in North America and even less in Europe. However, the PS2 is the winner here boasting more than 200 games all within its first year of existence.

Looking at the PS3 lagging so far behind in sheer number of games is a bit concerning, but with Kaz Hirai's recent announcement that Sony will release more than 380 games on the PS3 and PlayStation Network, it makes it a lot easier to stomach the drought. On the other hand, since that number includes 180 PlayStation Network games, many will undoubtedly be games originally released on past PlayStation consoles, so that takes away a bit of our enthusiasm.

Online services
With the technology still in its infancy, Sony eschewed online support for the PlayStation 1 and didn't give any online love for the PS2 until 2002, several years after its release.

Having finally understood the massive popularity of online play, Sony made sure the PlayStation 3 was online capable right out of the box. The PlayStation Network, while still free, now offers most of the same features that Xbox Live users are enjoying. Boasting more than 5.5. million users, the PlayStation Network has definitely been a step in the right direction, and with Home, the PlayStation Store, downloadable movies and music, and further online integration of the PSP and PS3, the PSN will most assuredly close the gap between it and Xbox Live.

Hardware problems
Longtime PlayStation owners can attest to the frustrating nights spent flipping over-heated PlayStations on their backsides or being filled with rage when met with the dreaded "Disc Read Error" on the PS2. With so many hardware problems, Sony quickly became the brunt of many jokes throughout the industry and journalists and gamers alike fully expected the PlayStation 3 to follow in its predecessors' footsteps.

However, that hasn't happened. Somewhere down the line, Sony has seemed to rectify this issue as the mass majority of PlayStation 3 owners have had the surprising luxury of still owning their original system without experiencing any problems whatsoever.

Even though recent reports claimed the PS3 had hardware failure rate of 40%, those claims were quickly denied by Sony of Europe and eventually the site pulled the article altogether. We imagine if the numbers were anywhere near that high, we'd see internet riots the likes of which only Xbox 360 fanboys can relate.

Conclusion
As the dust settles, it's clear the PlayStation 3 isn't quite keeping up to the pace its elder siblings set in the generations before it. Even PlayStation fanboys must admit that the PlayStation 3 had a rocky start ... and that's putting it lightly. But despite its setbacks, it appears the PS3 has finally found its identity. With a competitive price tag, a massive surge in software and the biggest marketing push Sony has ever put behind its consoles, all indicators point to the PlayStation 3 having a stellar year and putting all those bad memories to rest for good.

Sony halves cost of PS3 development kit

Sony has slashed the price of the PlayStation 3 development kit by almost half, promising to further reduce costs as more studios adopt the console technology.

The PlayStation 3 Reference Tool will now be available for JPY 950,000 in Japan, USD 10,250 in North America and EUR 7500 in Europe.

"As more and more new titles are developed for the PS3 format, SCEI will significantly reduce the price of the Reference Tool in order to contribute to the cost saving measures of the development community," said the company.

The console giant has also begun to integrate new programming tools into the PlayStation 3 Software Development Kit from SN Systems, including ProDG, SN Distributed Build System, SN Linker and SN Compiler.

As well as new tools, Sony has also added programming functions to the PS3 Debugging Station allowing it to be used alongside the Reference Tool, rather than being used as just a quality assurance system for games in development.

Gamers use PS3s to do biomedical research

It's kind of like SETI@home, but with PS3s instead of PCs and molecules instead of aliens. In the latest volunteer scientist program, called PS3GRID, anyone who owns a Sony PlayStation3 can donate their system´s downtime to compute enzymatic reactions and ion conductivity to help an international team of biomedical researchers.

PS3GRID is coordinated by researchers at the Research Unit on Biomedical Informatics (GRIB) at the Instituto Municipal de Investigación Médica and the Universidad Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain. The distributed infrastructure enables any PS3 to do computations on atomic and molecular simulations.

The researchers, headed by GRIB scientist Gianni De Fabritiis, chose the PS3 because it is the first consumer device to contain the IBM Cell processor. "The Cell," which is more than an order of magnitude faster than standard Intel or AMD processors, optimizes the types of computation commonly used in graphics applications. In addition, the Cell offers an inexpensive and powerful method to perform highly detailed molecular dynamics simulations of biomedical systems. Using the Cell, a PS3 has the computational power equivalent to about 20 PCs.

To date, 130 PS3s are hooked up to PS3GRID. Essentially, each PS3 helps to model a very large molecular system at the atomic level over a longer period of time than could be achieved with the researchers´ own systems. One step of a molecular dynamics simulation usually takes about 1 femtosecond (10^-15 seconds). Due to large computational costs, simulations of evolving systems are usually limited to a few nanoseconds (10^-9 seconds). However, biological processes commonly occur over timescales of micro- (10^-6 seconds) or milliseconds (10^-3 seconds).

With the computational power of enough PS3s, simulations might be carried out for longer periods, enabling molecular dynamics simulations to give broader insight into a variety of biomedical applications.

"Given that there are currently 3 million PS3s in the world, the combined computational force of all the PS3s reaches that of a powerful supercomputer," said De Fabritiis.

PS3 owners can join the collaboration online at http://www.ps3grid.net/. At the site, users download the 512-MB program to a pen drive, and then insert the pen drive into the USB port on a PS3. After installing the program with a click, the program starts automatically. An Ethernet (cable) connection is also required to connect to the Internet. To return to game mode, the PS3 is simply restarted.

More advanced users also have the option to install Linux on their PS3s. With Linux the PS3 can double as a normal computer for browsing the net, writing documents and running BOINC.

Wal-mart "Secret Sale" on PS3

For those of you who were looking into going blu-ray or thinking about picking up a PS3 this holiday, Wal-mart is having a deal that you might not be able to pass up. According to a forum thread, from 8 AM on 11/24 through 11:59 PM on 11/25, the 80GB PS3 ($499) will come with 10 FREE Blu-ray movies instantly. You can choose any 10 BD titles under $30 within the store and they will override the prices to zero. For those stores that carry BD already, additional titles are being sent in for the sale. For those that do not have BD in their store, products will be sent to each store specifically for this sale. So you get this, plus the 5 FREE movies by mail, adding up to a grand total of 15 FREE BD movies.

Sony sends PS3 birthday cakes to the press

SCEA's PR team shipped out a number of PS3 birthday cakes to press today to mark the 1 year anniversary of PS3 launch. Happy Birthday PS3!

Sony Expecting 'Great Deal of Momentum' with PS3

Although it would appear that Nintendo has decided not to bother discussing October's NPD results (letting the data speak for itself), Microsoft has already issued its response and now Sony has chimed in.

"October 2007 was a strong month for the PlayStation brand, according to NPD data. Overall the PlayStation brand showed a 39% increase in total retail dollars generated year-over-year in the US with total sales of $353.4 million for the month. Overall, SCEA's console business remains strong with combined sales of PS3 and PS2 for the month of October at $258.5 million in revenue," commented SCEA in a release.

And while the PS3 sold just 121K units for October, the price cut hadn't taken effect yet. According to CEO Howard Stringer, PS3 sales have recently zoomed to 100,000 per week. "SCEA expects a great deal of momentum moving forward this holiday and beyond with the availability of new PS3 hardware and pricing. Based on internal data, the company is already seeing a great spike in sales with a 192% lift for the PS3 over the past two weeks," SCEA continued.

The company also commented on the growth of its portable: "The PSP sold 286K units at retail for the month of October. Overall sales of the PSP are up 120% year over year due to the popularity of the slimmer and lighter PSP , which includes video-out capabilities for $169. And with 24 first and third-party software titles being released this holiday season, such as SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of The Lions, as well as new spots for the wildly popular "Dude, get your own" campaign, the PSP will undoubtedly continue to gain momentum through the coming months."

Finally regarding the aging PS2, SCEA noted: "Seven years into its life cycle the PS2 remains the best-selling gaming platform ever released, selling 183K units for the month of October. The release of games such as BUZZ! The Mega Quiz, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and the just released limited-edition PS2 bundled with SingStar Pop will continue to make the console a perfect choice for families interested in social games and will be hugely popular this holiday season."

Firmware v2.01 Coming Soon

We all know that the recent update of the PS3 to Firmware v2.00 isn't perfect. That's why Sony's PlayStation Network Operations director, Eric Lempel, has given us a heads up that they have a new System Software in the works, to be released very soon. He says that Firmware v2.01 is a minor update that will improve the stability of PLAYSTATION 3. That is all he has given us for now, but just know that they are working fast and hard on fixing those few bugs people are having.

Analyst: Xbox 360 to outsell PS3 by 2-to-1 at Xmas

The Xbox 360 will outsell the PlayStation 3 by 2-to-1 in the run-up to Christmas. That's according to predictions made by simExchange in its October review report. But while you may think that doesn't bode well for Sony, it might not be so bad after all.

You see, the latest NPD figures show that during October, the Xbox 360 sold 366,000 units, with the PS3 managing 121,000. Some simple maths will tell you that the 360 is already winning by 3-to-1. So a 2-to-1 margin could be seen as a bit of a victory for Sony.

Indeed, sales this month are already improving for the PlayStation 3, particularly in North America where last week Sony managed to shift a much-improved 100,000 PS3s.

simExchange analyst Jesse Divnich says that Microsoft will flog slightly more than 2 million Xbox 360 consoles between now and Christmas, with Sony shifting just over 1 million. She also said that the Wii would continue its domination, with Nintendo selling 3.28 million of them.

Major leaps in PS3 visuals for at least four more years

Insomniac Games is in a pretty unique position. The company isn't owned by Sony, yet is responsible for two of the PlayStation 3's most important Sony published titles: Resistance and Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com in an exclusive interview to be published tomorrow, Insomniac's Brain Hastings has given his opinion on the current state of PlayStation 3 development and what's still to come.

Talking specifically about the recently released Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction, Brian pointed out what the team has been able to do with the game engine this time around:

"The amount of action we're able to put on the screen at 60 frames per second really dwarfs what we were able to do a year ago at 30 frames per second," said Hastings. "What's most exciting is the way things are headed right now I think we'll see just as big a leap from our second generation engine to our third as we did from the first to second."

Looking ahead, he was equally as optimistic: "We're already seeing a big leap in what people are able to do with the PS3 now compared to a year ago, and we're going to see just as big a leap between now and the end of 2008," said the Insomniac Games Chief Creative Officer. "I think we're going to continue seeing major leaps each year in what people are able to do with the machine for at least three or four more years."

And how are future games going to look better? It seems it's all down to the use of the much talked about PlayStation 3 SPUs, which until now haven't been fully used by developers.

"The tech and gameplay teams have moved tons of things over to the SPUs that used to run on the PPU," said Hastings on the improvements made to Insomniac's game engine. "Collision and physics are entirely running on SPUs now, which allows us to put much more on the screen at once than we were able to with Resistance. Moving more and more code to the SPUs is an ongoing process and I think we'll continue to see major benefits from this for several more years."

PS3 outsells Wii in Japan

The PlayStation 3 has overtaken the Nintendo Wii in the Japanese hardware sales chart, notching up 38 per cent more sales for the week ending November 11.

The Nintendo DS continued to sit atop the chart, selling 78,884 units while the PlayStation Portable also remained largely unchanged selling 58,964 according to Media Create.

But the PlayStation 3 more than trebled its previous week's sales, shifting 55,924 consoles.

By contrast the Wii continued to slide, falling just under 10 per cent to 34,456 units, despite the recent release of major title Super Mario Galaxy.

Meanwhile the PlayStation 2 dropped below the 10,000 mark, while the Xbox 360 also fell back to more normal sales levels after some software-related bursts in the past month.

The full sales list is as follows:

1. Nintendo DS: 78,884
2. PlayStation Portable: 58,964
3. PlayStation 3: 55,924
4. Nintendo Wii: 34,456
5. PlayStation 2: 9043
6. Xbox 360: 5817

Obvious PS3 tricks you may have forgotten about

Although there probably do a million cool little tricks you can do with the pS3, we thought it would only be worth mentioning the top 10 useful ones that you may have forgotten about or never knew. SO heres the list:

1. Play PS3 games from any country
2. Reset your video mode by continuing to press the power button on the console when turning it on (if you have an HDMI issue, this is always a good way to re-establish a poor handshake).
3. Tap the PS button to see your battery charge remaining (duh).
4. Google PS3 Game Saves, save some data onto a USB, then copy it into your save data folder. Voila, you magically beat a game you don't even own!
5. Six-person video/phone chat ... thanks PS Eye!
6. Multiple page mode in the browser (choose to open a new window in the browser, then use L3 to toggle between pages).
7. Easily upgradeable hard drives.
8. Share your PS Store downloads on up to five other PS3's!
9. Force a PS3 to show your files ... just stick stuff in folders called, verbatim, "VIDEO" or "PICTURE" -- if that doesn't work, hit triangle and choose "Display All". Though, if you're rockin' on Tversity, this isn't really necessary.
10. Hand-in-hand with #9, you can change your album art for copied CDs using this method.

Price cut boosts PS3 sales 250-300% in US

Sony said that it has sold more than 100,000 PS3 consoles in the week ending November 11, an increase of 250 to 300 per cent from the average weekly sales before the price drop.

According to an AP report, Sony said it was selling between 30,000 and 40,000 PS3 consoles per week prior to the October 18 price cut and introduction of the 40GB model.

In the week ending October 29, sales rose to 75,000. The next week, sales rose to more than 100,000.

"It's the breakthrough we've been anticipating," Sony chairman and CEO Howard Stringer told The Associated Press. "We've been holding our breath."

Stringer said that the price cut and introduction of a cheaper console makes the PS3 more competitive against Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360 as the holiday season opens.

"Obviously, we've taken so much heat over the year on PS3. Finally, the turning point has been passed," he said.

Stringer also said that Sony is poised to benefit from the difficulty Nintendo has had producing Wii consoles fast enough to keep up with demand.

"It's a little fortuitous that the Wii is running out of hardware."

Nintendo has shipped 9.3 million Wii consoles worldwide as of October, but is expected to ship 22.3 million by March 2008. Sony has sold 5 million PS3 consoles worldwide as of October and hopes to ship 11 million by March 2008.

Microsoft, meanwhile, has sold approximately 11.6 million Xbox 360 consoles in the two years that it has been on the market.

Sony executives said the rising sales also will boost the Blu-ray high definition DVD format.

"It puts us vastly ahead of where the other format is going to be in terms of an installed base in people's homes by the end of this holiday season," said Sony's chief marketing officer, Andrew House.

Video of New Research Conducted with PlayStation Eye

Most of you probably already know about the launch of the PlayStation Eye. Well the people at PlayStation Research & Development are at it again. Here is a glimpse into some of the new research that uses the PS Eye.

Here are some tech demos created by Anton Mikhailov. Anton has been using PS Eye to let users add their own content into games. So far, he’s focused on simple, familiar games (like lunar lander and tank battle) that he can code for PS3 in a day or so. These games are pretty old school, but they become amazingly fun again when you get to add your own content. And when the PS3 adds physics to your content, things become even more fun! (i.e. Little Big Planet)

Check out the videos. It seems pretty easy to add your own content.

Note that these are tech demos, not products. These are just ideas of how the PS Eye might be used in the future from PS R&D.

40GB Playstation 3 Consumes 67W Less Power

According to Japanese gaming website Game Watch the new 40GB Playstation 3’s consume 67W less power than the other versions. They measured each value closely and took pictures as proof as shown below.

Original Playstation Power Consumtion40 GB Power Consumption

The comparison along with side by side shots of the two consoles can be seen at Game Watch’s site PC Watch.

They are one of the largest Japanese gaming sites around and often do such test so there should be no doubt this new information is 100% true.

So it looks like Sony has reworked the internals quite a bit in the last few months, to say the least.

DivX support coming to the PS3 soon

A press release sent out by DivX Inc. today details a partnership with Sony which will allow DivX media support on the PlayStation 3. This will be enabled via a firmware update at some point in the (hopefully, near) future. Game developers are also now able to incorporate DivX video into games using tools within the 2.0 SDK.

"We are excited to work with Sony Computer Entertainment to bring DivX to PS3," said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. "Our technology will expand the multimedia functionality of PS3 by enabling users to enjoy access to the broad library of content in the DivX digital media format."

This is, of course, great news and is a feature that we know is being called for from the PlayStation 3 community. However, DivX support on its own is not much more than an aid to video pirates. We're hoping this is the start of some sort of digital video download service, which utilizes the DivX format. Sony has always planned on a service such as this and now would be a great time to implement it. We'll keep you informed.

PS3 Turns One!

Frost the cake and wrap the presents - today marks the PlayStation 3's first birthday.

It's been a tumultuous 12 months for Sony's new pride and joy. PS3 sales remain lodged in third place behind the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360, several top-tier titles have been hit with delays and there are ongoing rumblings from some game programmers that the system is a beast to work on.

But the chunky toddler seems to be finally finding his feet. Sales are on the rise, thanks in part to a new $399 PS3 model, while improvements to the console's system software have added some nifty features.

And most importantly, the killer games are finally starting to arrive, heralded by a pointy-eared alien and his robot life partner. What? Oh come on, they're so a couple. Don't even.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is the first game since the year-old launch title Resistance: Fall of Man (also by Ratchet creators Insomnicac Games) that could truly convince some fence-sitters to take the next-gen PlayStation plunge.

It's the latest installment in the five-year-old fan-favorite franchise -- say that fifty times fast -- and easily the best, though it doesn't stray far from the R&C formula: Explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and boldly blow the crap out of everything that stands in your way.

The story centers on an evil space monarch trying to eliminate Ratchet as the sole survivor of his species (Clank's Tin Man-like discovery that he has a soul also factors in there), though this mainly serves as the spark that drives the duo from one visually stunning world to another, upgrading weapons, exploring sprawling environments and finding new and often hilarious ways to eliminate their opposition. Everything fits together seamlessly, and even the corny one-liners seem a little funnier this time around.

Tools of Destruction is not going to blow your mind with innovative new approaches to gameplay or storytelling. There are all-new weapons and creatures and planets and mini-games, but at its core this is the same Ratchet you know and love, wrapped up in a slick high-def package. Which isn't a bad thing, really.

About the only major fault with Tools of Destruction is that it has no multilayer component. Fans of Ratchet: Deadlocked who enjoyed blowing the bolts out of one another on the PS2 will have to content themselves with solo play in this installment.

For Sony's sake, we hope Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is a sign of games to come, and not just a happy blip. The PS3 is finally starting to move from a crawl to a walk.

PS3 for $319!

Still looking to get a PS3 this holiday? Then this is the deal for you. Debating on getting a PS3? Then this might give you more issues. Simply click on the image, print out the coupon, and head off to Kmart. With the 20% off coupon, you can buy a 40GB PS3 for $319 or a 80GB one for $400.

Note: The top coupon is valid from 11/11 - 11/17 while the bottom coupon is the same as the top one (20% off of anything in the store) and is available from 11/18 - 11/21.

Update: All good things don't last forever. Kmart is starting to catch on and isn't accepting the coupon at some places. Maybe your Kmart hasn't found out yet, head out and test your luck.

PS3 firmware 2.00

Firmware 2.00 has finally been released. This update, which has been a year in the making, was supposed to herald a new era of functionality for PS3. Many expected in-game XMB, additional video codecs, and more. However, we're saddened to say that none of that made the cut for this update. Here's what was included:

• Remote Start - As hinted by the last PSP firmware update, Remote Play has been enhanced with a brand new feature. Using Remote Start, PSP owners will be able to turn on and access their PS3's content from any wi-fi hotspot. For example, while vacationing, you may find out about an excellent Thursday Store update. You'll be able to turn on your PS3 and start downloading content to your PS3 while you're away. When you're done, you can turn the system off as well.
• Information Board - On the upper right-hand corner of the XMB, you'll see a scrolling list of headlines, hand-picked by Sony. Currently, these will all be related to video games and PlayStation. If a specific headline is particularly interesting, PS3 owners will be able to access Information Board from Network and see the content in greater detail. Importing your own RSS feeds is something that's planned for a future firmware upgrade. This feature can be disabled in Settings.

• Themes - PSP owners recently got access to the ability to create custom themes for their system. PS3 owners will also get this feature. Not only will you be able to customize your wallpaper, you'll be able to change the icons and fonts used in the XMB. An official theme creator will be available for the PC, so users will be able to create their own and share with their friends. Additionally, new themes will be made available on PlayStation.com and the PLAYSTATION Store. The best user-generated themes will also be featured on the official site.
• XMB Color Selector - The background of the XMB is no longer out of your control. The color of the XMB waves background can be selected in Settings.
• Music & Photo Playlists - You can now open and create your own playlists from within the XMB. For example, you can create a "Party Mix," which features your favorite songs from your PS3. Playlists cannot be imported from Memory Stick, and music and photo playlists cannot be combined. However, future firmware updates will improve this feature.
• Additional Sorting Options - Currently, music can be sorted by Artist and Album on the PS3. Additionally, users will be able to sort by Year.
• DualShock 3 support - You'll be able to turn on and off DualShock 3 support from the Settings menu on the XMB.

• PLAYSTATION Network XMB group - The PLAYSTATION Network will get its own icon on the XMB, and will be featured between Network and Friends. Within the PLAYSTATION Network, you'll be able to access the PLAYSTATION Store and Account Management. "Other features" will be included in the future, such as Home.
• Canon printer support - Additional printers are now supported by the PS3.

When speaking with SCEA representatives, we found out that in-game XMB support is still in the works, and that additional video support is "almost definitely" happening. However, there's still no clear indication as to when these features will be incorporated. A regular schedule of updates is planned for the coming year, but specific details were not provided. More is definitely to come, as Sony attempts to make the PS3 more of a home media center than a gaming console.