Random PS3 News Thread

[jefXfree]

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have announced that they are hosting a We are PlayStation photography competition that has now launched in Europe. Electronic Theatre ImageThe team?s jubilation at getting a BUZZ! question right; the laughter of a room full of SingStar fans; the entertaining journeys playing your PlayStation Portable! They?re all classic PlayStation moments that you?ve seen or experienced hundreds of times - but can you capture them in a photo? If you can, your name could be in the hat to win some great prizes. There?s also the possibility of a serious cash prize, the possibility of the images being used in future PlayStation campaigns as well as a new Sony D-SLR a350 digital camera and lens. Get snapping and upload your photos by the 16th March 2009 for a chance to win.

The rules are simple ? capture the perfect image of you, your friends or your family enjoying a PlayStation moment with your PLAYSTATION3, PlayStation2 or PlayStation Portable and upload it to www.weareplaystation.com. There are different categories your photos could enter: Caught in the Moment, Unexpected Places, PlayStation Parties, True Love and Endless Play. A panel of guest judges will assess top user-rated snaps on their merits and work out which photographer deserves the top prize of 1000 euros and a Sony D-SLR a350 camera. Ten runners up will receive cash prizes of 100 euros each, while the next best 100 entries will get their hands on a top PlayStation game or vouchers for the PlayStation Store. All entries have the chance of being used in a future PlayStation marketing campaign.

Of course, PlayStation is all about its community ? and that?s why we?re asking you to judge the first round of the competition. PlayStation fans can visit the website and decide which shots will be put before the judges by rating each photo with a score from one to five. Also, every time you Electronic Theatre Imageenter the site, you can give your favourite image a secret ?Super Vote? which will be used to determine the finalists in case several entries generate the same overall rating. The images with the highest average score and, in the event of a tie, with the highest number of ?Super Votes? will go before the judging panel ? so it pays to get everyone you know onto the site and voting.

With so many great moments for so many different PlayStation communities, this is the chance not only to show off your natural eye for a photograph, but also to show the world just how much fun you have with your friends ? and a PLAYSTATION3, PlayStation2 or PlayStation Portable. Visit www.weareplaystation.com for competition terms and conditions and get snapping!
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PRILOSEC DEATH

 

[BlueCali]

Sony Europe Boss Retires! - Andrew House is your new Europe Boss!

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss David Reeves has announced that he is retiring, having been with the company since 1995.

"It has been a wonderful ride with PlayStation," said David Reeves in a SCEE statement. "I have just two things to say on leaving: I want to thank all of those people who have supported SCEE and me personally in the past 14 years; you have been magnificent! Secondly, I am going to spend my time now trying to repay society for all I have taken from it. If your children are having physics lessons at the local school or wondering why their ski instructor is very elderly, your car mechanic has a bad back, or the social worker keeps bringing you PSP games, then it could just be me! Good luck to everybody at SCEE and everybody who continues to support us."

Reeves was responsible for managing over a hundred territories in Europe/PAL, and according to Sony Computer Entertainment president Kazuo Hirai, Reeves was key in building up a strong Sony base in Europe/PAL territories.

"David's contribution in firmly establishing the PlayStation brand and expanding the business in Europe/PAL territories in his 14 year tenure at SCEE is immeasurable," said Sony Computer Entertainment President and Group CEO Kazuo Hirai. "I would like to express my sincere gratitude to David for the many accomplishments he made to the PlayStation business and wish him the best luck in his future endeavors."

Reeves will be replaced by Chief Marketing Officer Andrew House, who will take over the reins on May 1.

Source: Everywhere/Kotaku

 

[BlueCali]

PlayStation's Chief of European and PAL territories, David Reeves, is set to retire at the end of April, with the games industry paying its respects to a man that has been at the forefront of driving the growth in console gaming over the last 15 years.

But industry pundits are already asking: "what does this news mean for Sony and for the wider games industry?"

"Reeves has been instrumental in building the PlayStation brand into the force it remains today," says computerandvideogames.com Editor Gavin Ogden.

"And after seeing in three console launches across nearly one hundred PAL territories, you can understand his decision to call it a day. Incoming new president, Andrew House, will now be charged with pushing PS3 sales through the roof in an industry that continues to grow and defy trends seen in other areas of the entertainment business."

Kuturagi, the greater loss

Over on PSM3 magazine, Editor Daniel Dawkins adds that, "David Reeves has presided over, through largely no fault of his own, a tumultuous period in Playstation history, and done a reasonable job of handling a series of tricky situations; from questions over PS3's pricing, to Sony's perceived lack of exclusives.

"Given that he's not responsible for global policy, more managing its implementation, I don't think there's any need to knee-jerk react to his departure. The story is simply man leaves, another man replaces him.

"Ken Kutaragi's 'retirement' was far more significant, as he was responsible for Playstation's overall direction and technical direction. Given his hands-on remit for software development, Phil Harrison's departure was also significant. For the average gamer, and to the Playstation brand, this means little".

Kaz Hirai builds his team

"The interesting thing here is not so much that David has retired, but who has replaced him," notes SPOnG.com Editor Tim Smith, arguing that Sony Computer Entertainment President Kaz Hirai is building a dream team of friends and allies to run the PlayStation division in a more centralised manner.

"This appears to be a parachute in from Sony Corporation," says Smith. "From Kaz's comments it would appear that House is - if not an ally - at least somebody who has worked with him and who is comfortable to do so again."

Smith reminds us that Andrew House joined Sony in 1990 and "in 1995, Mr House joined the marketing and communications division of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc… Kaz, of course, started at SCEA in... 1995."

"So, this looks a lot like SCEE and its marketing is being drawn more closely under a centralised management. Not surprising seeing how important SCEE is to the PlayStation brand."

Where's Reeves going?

Meanwhile, the rumour mill rumbles on over at VG247, with suggestions that David Reeves is to take up a senior position at Scottish developer Realtime Worlds, the Dundee outfit is currently working on MMO APB.

Of course, nobody at Sony or Realtime Worlds is going to comment on this rumour right not, but VG247's Pat Garratt, commenting on the rumour, adds that:

"It's worth noting that Ian Hetherington, RTW's Chairman, was a Psygnosis co-founder."

Source: techradar.com/news/gaming/hirai-builds-playstation-dream-team-592217

 

[DaMexiRican]

Pretty soon the rumors and flame wars will start LOL

 

[BlueCali]

SCEA: “We’ve captured the hardcore” with PS3, will push for casual later this year!

Sony has told VG247 that it’s “captured the hardcore” with PS3, and while it will serve that central user with titles such as Heavy Rain and God of War III later this year, it plans on pushing further into the casual space with the console.

“There’s certainly a line-up of very strong family-friendly titles that we’re looking at for PS3 in our continuing effort to appeal to that casual consumer,” said SCEA hardware marketing boss John Koller, speaking at GDC.

“We’ve captured the hardcore. The install base we have now tells us that the hardcore’s purchased. We’re moving on now to continue to support them with a tremendous line-up of games, but also look at softer brands that maybe we had with PS2 franchises we’re bringing over to PS3, or new IP.”

Koller told us to look to the past for hints to PS3’s future.

“Think of some of the latter-half PS2 franchises,” he said.

E3’s not that far away, is it?

Source: VG247.com

 

[BlueCali]

Top Developer Confirms Nobody Using PS3 To Full Capacity

I am aware I am likely to get flamed for this as due to an NDA (non disclosure order) I am unable to name the developer or the game he was working on, but I still think it is worth discussing.

Recently I travelled to see the preview demo of a hugely anticipated game coming out later this year. Once we had viewed the demo (which was interestingly given on Xbox, usually developers choose PC) we were allowed some one on one time with the technical guy to talk about the development of the game.

I am not claiming to be a tech head in any way but I was interested in what I had been reading about developers not using the PS3 to it’s full capacity. As these guys had just developed an all new engine it seemed a fair question to ask him. My question was put like this

“A lot of people say that game developers are not using the total capacity of the PS3. What have you guys done, if anything, to try to use the full potential of the machine in this new engine design and in this game”

His answer, transcribed from my dictaphone was this

“I do not think we will use the full potential of the PS3, no other developer has done so far. It is new technology and a different structure than we are used to working with. But I think we have used the PS3 very well. We have used SPU’s, the small processors, effectively.”

My follow up question was

“ So hand on heart, you would not rather play the game on Xbox 360 than PS3?”

Answer, “No, they are basically the same”

Now we all know there could be a world of difference in that basically, but I did get the feeling he was being sincere. On a show round of the studio we had we got a chance to see the game being played side by side by game testers looking for bugs and they did, graphically at least, look very similar.

On the one hand you could see this as points in the PS3’s favor. On far less than its full capacity the PS3 is able to compete rather well with the Xbox 360. A grand claim to be able to make and Sony executives always sound a little smug when they discuss this.

But my question is, if developers are never going to use the PS3’s full capacity as we all know has been indicated by Sony’s President of Worldwide Studios Phil Harrison, then what does the the theoretical full capacity count for?

Surely, it is a bit like an athlete who always runs fourth claiming that his body has the best potential to win gold if only there were more hours in the day for him to train?

Then again, perhaps we are asking ourselves the wrong question. Maybe it does not matter if the PS3 ever uses its full potential so long as it does get to the point where gameplay takes a substantial leap forward.

There are claims for example that once utilized properly the PS3 will allow a huge sand box style world to actually age, have permanent damage, and dead bodies will never disappear.

Can the tech heads put us straight, is a substantial leap forward in gameplay imminent from this much lauded system? Are we ever going to see the PS3 leave the mark people say it is capable of or is all this famed potential to be wasted?

Source: gpriceshop.com/top-developer-confirms-nobody-using-ps3-to-full-capacity

 

[xtop]

well thats no surprise, we're still a few years away from pushing it to the max

 

[BlueCali]

well thats no surprise, we're still a few years away from pushing it to the max

I think the point of the article was to defer all the people saying they have pushed the ps3 to 90% max, blah, blah, blah.

 

[BlueCali]

Rumor: PSN Beefs Up Roster With Powerhouse PSOne Lineup

We’ve all had the same thought. With the enourmous library of PlayStation One titles at Sony’s disposal, why haven’t more PSOne Classics made their way to the PS Store?

Well soon enough, you won’t have to ask that question again, as the word is that Sony will be bringing a big chunk of PSN classics to the North American PS Store. Even more specific, they plan on bringing 3 of the titles which helped make PlayStation king. Those 3 titles are Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil: Director’s Cut, and (drum roll please…) Final Fantasy VII.

No mention of when exactly this is going to happen, but you can expect them soon.

Source: PlaystationLifestyle.com

 

[Wreck]

sweet news! I'll buy em'

 

[xtop]

playstationlifestyle huh?

but yea..i'd be pretty surprised if sony didn't come to e3 packin lots of ps1 titles

 

[BlueCali]

playstationlifestyle huh?

but yea..i'd be pretty surprised if sony didn't come to e3 packin lots of ps1 titles

Yeah, I'm putting rumor in the thread title, just was typing on AIM to some other guys and hadn't changed it yet.

 

[Horhay]

Sweet! I'd buy FFVII in a heart beat!! I got MGS twin snakes for Gamecube I'll just pop in my Wii whenever I want to play it.

 

[jefXfree]

FFVII is on the JPN store. Now we just need to get it here. I heard there's been tons of PS1 games submitted, just not many released.
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NEUROMUSCULAR DISEASES FORUMS

 

[Horhay]

That's a shame too, you can imagine the amount of money they would generate by bringing FFVII to the states.

 

[DaMexiRican]

Probably see a lot more psn titles and maybe the break away controller.

 

[DaMexiRican]

Just imagine what else could be pushed out of it

 

[jefXfree]

They just released Monsters vs Aliens, which you'd think would be a kid friendly game... but that game was hard as ish! I mean, not really... but it was definitely annoying and I couldn't see a kid having fun with it.
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[jefXfree]

I doubt the PS3 will reach 100% usage until AFTER the PS4 is released.
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GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD

 

[Wreck]

I doubt the PS3 will reach 100% usage until AFTER the PS4 is released.

That makes no sense to me. I wish they would just push the envelope with this console when crapbox reveals there new one pushing more life out of this one as opposed to making a new one so fast.

 

[Wreck]

How WOULD YOU cut the cost on PS3

So I was just thinking, ... many people use PS3s as blu-ray players... even their primary BD players ... hell, I do. Still havent picked up a stand alone.

The PS3 has a shiny awesome sleek casing and at the end of the day plastic is just plastic I guess when buying in bulk... BUT .... I bet a PS3 built inside of a regular rectangular type component box would make the mfg cost a bit cheaper ... what do you think? Also, only include one usb port and slim down a few other things, stick a 20gb HD back in as this unit could be more marketed for blu-ray but as a bonus u get ps3 .... Sony could they sell Sony Ext hard drives to add on for later use ... (ofcourse anyone would work via the USB but you know how marketing goes ;p)

It would be interesting to see, a bit cheaper standalone which also works as a ps3 ... as opposed to the other way around ... I always see alot of older cats saying how theyd love to have a ps3 but hate the look and many others would love one but they cant mount in a rack because of the curve shape etc.

I'm obviously just talking out of my ass but I thought this thread could stir up some crazy ideas on how YOU would cut the cost on the ps3 ...