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GTA IV Trailer Now Online
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Adventure, Culture, PlayStation 3, Simulation, Trailers, Xbox 360,
Rockstar Games officially released the first teaser trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV. Scheduled to ship on October 16th, the game will be the first entry in the series for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. The trailer gives a brief, but detailed look at the updated look for Liberty City, and the focus this time appears to be on a Russian immigrant character. Beyond that, it is hard to get a feel for where Rockstar is taking the sandbox game series, particularly story and gameplay-wise. One can get glimpses of the product parodies that gamers have gotten used to for the game, but beyond that, the trailer does it’s job – whet gamer’s appetites for more to come.
Read More 
| Rockstar Games
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It didn’t take long for someone to dissect the European PlayStation 3 to see what makes it tick, and the hardware geeks at Beyond3D have analyzed the motherboard pictures and compared them with the US and Japanese PlayStation 3 to see if they can determine the exact differences, and where Sony might be going with their hardware design optimizations. The known difference is the removal of the Emotion Engine that provided hardware compatibility with the PlayStation 2. Other optimizations seem to have the Graphics Synthesizer connected between the RSX chip and the HDMI transmitter. Beyond3D seems to believe that the Graphics Synth chip will eventually be integrated into the RSX. Another unexpected development has the southbridge chipset shrinking for the PS3, indicating a possible move to the 65nm production process. While this has little to do with the game playing capabilities of the PS3 (other than backward compatibility), the article does give hardware design nerds some insight into Sony’s ongoing quest to reduce costs.
Read More | Beyond3D
Despite reports of low turnouts at midnight launch events for the PlayStation 3 in Europe, Sony managed to break records for console sales during its opening weekend, moving over 165,000 units in the UK. ChartTrack in the UK believes that this sells through approximately 75% of the initial launch allocation for the UK, and surpasses all other console launches in the territory, including the Wii and the Xbox 360. Gamasutra also reports on UK software sales for the opening weekend, with Resistance: Fall of Man and Motorstorm taking spots one and two in the top ten. Of course, launch weekends are generally for the hard core; generally the first couple of million consoles sold are the easiest. Time will tell how Sony’s console does as its purchasing demographic shifts.
Read More | Gamasutra
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UK Gran Turismo Get Force Feedback Back
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Driving, Internet, PlayStation 3,
IGN is reporting that European PS3 owners are getting an updated version of Gran Turismo HD in conjunction with the system launch. Dubbed Gran Turismo HD Concept 2.0, it looks like the game is essentially the same as the previous release, with one key added feature – support for force feedback wheels. While the SIXAXIS is woefully still without rumble, those gamers with access to third-party racing wheels like Logitech’s Driving Force Pro. IGN indicates that the force feedback implementation isn’t as detailed as they would like it for the game, but this does give hope that full rumble implementation is on its way. Hopefully the updated Gran Turismo will make it to other territories soon.
Read More | IGN
Final Fintasy XIII Exclusivity “Under Discussion”
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: PlayStation 3, Rumors, Square Enix, Xbox 360,
Do you hear that? That muffled, banging sound? Yep, that’s the sound of yet another nail being driven into the PS3’s coffin. With Devil May Cry 4, Ace Combat, Grand Theft Auto, and Assassin’s Creed now non-exclusive (am I missing any more??!), and with the fairly lackluster launch of the PS3 in Europe, the 360 must be looking pretty good as a platform of choice for next-gen developers. Sony appears to be in such a pickle that even SCEE Vice President Georges Fornay has said that the exclusivity of system-seller Final Fantasy XIII is now up in the air.
Roughly translated by Google, a Jeux-France article quotes Fornay:
(Lastly, for Final Fantasy XIII, I can say to you that exclusiveness is under discussion).
My guess is that Microsoft has found itself in a good bargaining position and has been pressing their argument for non-exclusivity on game developers. And with next-gen development costs soaring, going multi-platform must be sounding like a progressively better idea to publishers and developers alike. We’ll wait for the Metal Gear Solid non-exclusivity announcement, and then I’m going to count the PS3 as officially dead.
Read More | Jeux-France
Early this morning, Sony officially made the 1.60 firmware update available for the PlayStation 3. This update includes a ton of enhancements for the console; honestly, some of the improvements should have shipped with the machine, like background downloading. A full list of the improvements and how to utilize the new features is available on Sony’s website now, but from a high level, users with 1.60 can look forward to:
- Internet Browser usability changes, including a new auto-zoom feature, a full-size virtual keyboard, flicker-fixer, and a resolution adjustment setting.
- Support for Sony’s Folding@home client for distributed protein folding research.
- Remote Play via access point, allowing Remote Play functionality for all PlayStation 3 consoles, not just the 60GB edition.
- Users can now toggle disc auto-start on the PS3
- Bluetooth keyboard and mouse support
- The ability to restore PS3 backup data onto another PS3.
A deeper look into some of the new features continues after the jump.
Click to continue reading PS3 Firmware 1.60 Now Available
Read More | Playstation.com
Gaming site Kikizo recently scored an interview with the Virtua Fighter 5 arcade lead and the designer of the PlayStation 3 version of the game, and they were able to discuss a lot about the console adaptation, the future of the franchise, and some of the reasoning behind the design decisions made for the home version of the game. Unfortunately, the two were unable to give any insight into the upcoming Xbox 360 version of the game, but they were able to talk at length about the series. The team doesn’t appear to be considering future downloadable content or microtransactions, but the team seemed open to the possibility of older versions and variants of the Virtua Fighter series becoming available, including Virtua Fighter Kids.
Read More | Kikizo
Europe PS3 Backward Compatibility Database Online
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3,
Sony’s backward compatibility database has gone online, and there is good news and bad news. The good news is that out of the door, Sony is listing 1,782 titles as compatible with the 1.60 firmware update. The bad news is that there are many high profile games not on the list, and many that are on the list are listed as having “noticeable issues.” God of War 2 is listed as having no known issues, along with most of the games in the Grand Theft Auto series. Unfortunately, San Andreas is listed as having noticeable issues, as are Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2. Final Fantasy XII has minor issues, but Final Fantasy XI is nowhere to be found. Gran Turismo 4 Prologue is on the list, but the full game is not. The Metal Gear series looks to be compatible, though. And for those wondering, like the Xbox 360, Barbie Horse Adventures is fully compatible with the PlayStation 3. The full list is online here.
Read More | GamesIndustry.biz
Devil May Cry 4 No Longer PS3 Exclusive
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: CAPCOM, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360,
Capcom today announced that the latest game in their action series, Devil May Cry 4 would no longer be a PlayStation 3 exclusive. The company today announced that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game will ship simultaneously, with a PC version coming later. The Capcom press release states that each version will be developed specifically to take advantage of each platform’s hardware, but doesn’t list how the feature sets will change. No specific ship date for Japan or America was announced. With this announcement, though, Sony loses yet another exclusive title for the platform. Part of the issue may be the fact that the PlayStation 3 hasn’t yet achieved critical mass for developers; without many consoles sold, it may be hard to justify platform-exclusivity. The larger issue may be that next-generation development costs may simply be too great for third party A-list titles to stay on one platform. Still, this has to be a hard hit for the PlayStation 3.
Read More | Capcom
Playstation 3 1.60 Firmware Update Coming This Week
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PlayStation 3,
With the European launch of the PlayStation 3 coming up, Sony is preparing to release the 1.60 firmware update for users in all territories on March 22nd. The update should, of course, enable the “full” version of the emulation software for European PlayStation 3 consoles, but in North America and Japan, users will get the following new functionality:
- Internet Browser changes: The firmware update adds a pinpoint zoom feature that automates the selection of the optimal enlargement ratio. In addition, there will be a new resolution option for adjusting web page viewing, including adjustments for flicker settings for interlaced output resolutions.
- Folding@home: The Folding@home client for protein folding research will also be enabled, as previously announced by Sony.
- Remote Play: users will now be able to use the Remote Play functionality through any wireless access point, not just through the built-in wireless on the PlayStation 3, so those users with the 20GB models will not be able to use this functionality.
- Background downloading will be enabled. This will probably not be universal background downloading; as others have mentioned, background downloads will probably not be able to take place during gaming sessions.
- Full size keyboard: Sony is adding a full-size virtual keyboard that users will be able to select rather than the current keypad-based entry.
Read More | Sony Japan (Google Translation)
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