PS3 Wins Console Green Race
Source: ps3blog.net
ps3.qj.net | The PS3 trumps the Wii and Xbox 360 as the greenest console. See link for more details.
What the PS3mote could have been or could still be
Source: ps3blog.net
There has been talk about this off and on for the past couple years. The technology is called Sixense. I haven’t heard of it being developed in any PS3 games yet though. But I can say with absolute certainty that this has been at least tested by PS3 developers and I’ll just leave it at that.
But if this did come out for the PS3 would you buy it? Would it be used in full length games? Or just mini games like the PS Eye is being used for now?
Ad hoc Party Beta
Source: ps3blog.net
Below is a video of how it works. It’s in Japanese, but you’ll get the basic idea. The interface itself is great! What it does is connect to other PSP’s in Ad hoc mode via the PS3’s PlayStation Network. You can also chat using your PS3 too.
Sad thing though is that you need your PS3 “wired” to the net. If your PS3 is wirelessly connected to the web then this service won’t work … nice logic there. But if you want to try it out it should be on the Japanese PlayStation Store today.
Ad hoc Party Beta launches on Japanese PlayStation Network
NeoGAF has a list of compatible PSP games here
GC 2008: PS3 Controller gets Wireless Keypad
Source: ps3blog.net
I’m not sure if I’ll get this or not. The only game I’d use it with is MGO. And I already have a bluetooth keyboard. It’s out in late November. Maybe just in time for Home? I can see it being more useful there. It’s nice that it has a dedicated friends and message box buttons though.
PS3 Outsells 360 in Canada in first half 2008
Source: ps3blog.net
In the first half of 2008 in Canada, the PS3 outsold the 360 170k to 129k. For once us Canadians get it right! 
80GB PS3 to Hit Pal Territories Aug 27th
Source: ps3blog.net
The official press release from Sony:
E3, LOS ANGELES, Calif., July 16, 2008 – Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) held its E3 media reception this evening at the Viceroy Hotel, Santa Monica, with David Reeves, President of SCEE, providing a European perspective on the announcements made at the Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) press conference yesterday.
Launching on 27th August 2008 throughout the PAL territories (shortly after in Russia), the new PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) 80GB model will become the mainstay of the company’s hardware line-up. The 80GB model will retail for €399 (£299), and will offer all of the features and functionality of the 40GB model with double the storage to accommodate more games, movies, graphics, music, photos and other entertainment content – all for the same price.
As with its predecessor, the new 80GB model will be a complete entertainment system comprising the highest quality games and films on Blu-ray™, as well as the ability to download exclusive content, play games online and access the internet at any time through an integrated Wi-Fi connection. The multi-functionality of the 80GB PS3, combined with an incredible number of exclusive first and third-party titles, as well as PLAYSTATION®Network, makes PS3 a comprehensive entertainment value designed to appeal to a wide range of consumers from hard-core gamers to general entertainment enthusiasts.
“We have been listening to our customers and are pleased to be able to answer one of their key requests”, said David Reeves, President, SCEE. “There is more downloadable content than ever before, with the emphasis moving towards user generated content, something clearly seen this week in LittleBigPlanet™. When you add this to the already compelling entertainment offering on PS3, where you can store games, music, videos and pictures, the extra storage becomes invaluable.”
Listening huh? What about the cries for backwards compatibility to be brought back? Not that I care as I have a 60GB PS3 but I never play PS2 games on it anyway.
The Platinum range for the PS3 will hit Europe on August 1st (day before my birthday, what a coincidence 
). Confirmed titles are Heavenly Sword (SCEE), MotorStorm™ (SCEE), Ratchet and Clank™: Tools of Destruction (SCEE), Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (SCEE), Virtua Tennis (Sega), Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft) and WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 08 (THQ).
Smackdown Vs Raw 08 hasn’t got a confirmed release date yet. The games will be priced at 30 Euros.
Two New PS3 Bundles Coming to Europe
Source: ps3blog.net
You’ve all probably read about the MGS4 Bundle that hasn’t been confirmed for Europe yet.
Well there are two new bundles coming soon to Euro land, both priced at £299.99 (399.99 euros) :
PS3 MOVIE PACK, AVAILABLE MARCH 19TH:
GRAN TURISMO 5 PROLOGUE PACK, AVAILABLE MARCH 25TH:
They really should put a remote and HDMI cable in the movie pack. It would make it a lot more enticing to people looking for a cheap Blu-ray player.
PS3 Hits 1m “Sold” Mark in the UK
Source: ps3blog.net
The Sony brand is still very strong in European and Pal territories and there’s some good news for people that take an interest in sales figures:
Officials from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) have confirmed to Gamasutra that press reports that the PlayStation 3 has now sold over one million units in the UK are accurate.
Apart from confirming that the figure refers to units sold, rather than shipped to retail, the company was reluctant to offer any other details or statements – although a major local press event was mentioned as being scheduled for later in the month.
This means that the PlayStation 3 has reached the one million unit mark a month or more sooner than the PlayStation 2, which took 50 weeks to reach the same figure. This compares to 60 weeks for the Xbox 360 and 38 weeks for the Wii – the latter of which is the current record for the UK.
Pretty good going when you take into account that the PS3 is more expensive than the 360 and Wii, which were both released before the PS3 in the UK.
Yellow Dog Linux v6.0 is now out
Source: ps3blog.net
For those out there using Yellow Dog there is a upgrade waiting for you. I’ve tried Yellow Dog and Ubuntu so far. Right now I’m sticking with Ubuntu, just because there is more support out there if I run into problems. I’m no Linux expert, I just use it on weekends sometimes. But it’s a great option if you don’t have a primary PC in the house.
Anyway some key features of YDL v6.0 are:
Yellow Dog Linux v6.0 supports:
- Sony PS3.
- Apple PowerPC G4, G5.
- IBM System p (JS2x, 510, 520, 540).
- 802.11b Airport auto-configuration; Extreme with configuration.
- Audio on all tested machines.
- Sony PS3 Sixaxis game controller.
- Cell phone internet connections with configuration.Yellow Dog Linux v6.0 key features:
- E17 & Gnome installed by default, KDE included.
- Gnash, the Flash work-alike.
- Ekiga VoIP, Pidgin IM/IRC, and Fluendo codec installer.
- kernel v2.6.23, gcc v4.1.1, gblic v2.5, and Eclipse v3.2.2.
- The only Linux distribution to include by default Cell SDK v3.0.
- IBM iRT (interactive raytrace) demo available via YDL.net Enhanced.
Terra Soft Releases YDL v6.0 for Apple PowerPC, Sony PS3, IBM System P
Game sales drive online shopping in the 2007 U.S. holiday season
Source: videogamesblogger.com
Online holiday spending in America through December 27 nears $28 billion, up 19% versus a year ago. The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas even had a 21% gain.
Stay-at-home shoppers spent $24.57 billion between November 1 - December 31 in 2006, during the same period last year they spent $29.17, a 19% rise.
We’ve known for a while now that video game sales are driving the market, because of them being the fastest-growing sector. But Kotaku reports that total sales of hardware and software were up 129% from 2006, according to market researchers Comscore. It’s really not that surprising, I bought my games online in December and saved about 30% on retail prices. Everything’s cheaper in in online shops like our Amazon Store. 
