Archive for the ‘News’ Category
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4
May
2010
Sometimes good things…
Well it’s been fun blogging for the past couple years, but sometimes good things have to come to an end. Be sure to follow me on Twitter to stay up to date as to what’s going on with me!
31
Mar
2010
New Technology: Full-Scale Digital Distribution Now Possible
Digital distribution has always seemed like a pipedream to me. This is mainly because there are several substantial roadblocks that are hindering it from coming into the market in a full-scale way. Obviously the main one, at least in the US, is the bandwidth caps imposed by the various ISP companies: Time Warner, Cox, etc. The truth of the matter is, not only do these companies not want to support a higher bandwidth model, but also the US’s technological infrastructure is antiquated and doesn’t have the capacity to support this kind of traffic, especially in rural areas. Secondly, and probably more importantly, digital distribution will disrupt that standard retail model that has been in place since the industry was birthed. This would cut out the retailers from the equation completely and ultimately lower the price of the product to the consumer, but we can’t have that now, could we?
29
Mar
2010
Grab Newly Released PS3 Games at a Hefty Discount
Has your wallet been running light recently because of all of the AAA games that were released in Q1 of this calendar year? Fear not, because Amazon.com is here to save you! If you missed the second installation of 2k Games’ adventures in Rapture, Bioshock 2, then now is that time to correct that grave error!
Not only are they running a sale on the stand alone game of $10 off the normal $60 MSRP, but they are also running a 27% off sale on the Collector’s Edition!
Currently, Amazon is running sales on other PS3 titles as well, including $20 off the enormously popular Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and a whopping $30 off the newly released Assassins Creed 2. Take advantage of these sales while they last, and also enjoy the newly restocked 120gb PS3 Slim system while it in on Amazon’s Digital store shelves!
28
Mar
2010
PS3 Shortage Coming to an End?
Despite the recent worldwide PS3 shortage, Sony’s third iteration console has still managed to put up respectable numbers on the sales reports. But the question on everyone’s mind is, if there wasn’t a shortage, would the PS3 sell more units? Because of this shortage, many websites have been price-gauging to take advantage of the high demand and low supply in the current market. The worst part about this shortage is simply the timing of it: right after the two major first party exclusive releases of God of War III and Heavy Rain. Both of these games have been hailed as AAA games by the vast majority of the gaming media and have sold well, but this is only to current PS3 owners, as it is almost impossible to find and purchase a PS3 currently. God of War III specifically was expected to be a major reason for people to come over to Sony’s side and purchase a PS3, and now it’s seeming like a missed opportunity in many aspects.
But, is there light at the end of the tunnel? Finally after over a month of being out of stock, Amazon.com has 120gb PS3 slims back on the “digital shelves”. They don’t have the 250gb models yet, so there is no telling whether this is a short term fix or beginning of the long term solution everyone’s been waiting for. Hopefully there will be a word from Sony on this matter in the next couple of days.
9
Mar
2010
Kevin Butler: GoW3 Commercial Being Unveiled Today
The beloved Kevin Butler, VP of Information Teasers, revealed the following via twitter. Source
TheKevinButler: I’m not allowed to tell u to watch the PS blog tomorrow. So don’t. (Meaning do) RT @Dann954: You need to do a GoW3 commercial badd (3/8/2010)
This will coincide nicely with the God of War 3 event going on for GDC (Game Developers Conference) that the PS Blog has scheduled for Wednesday this week. Let’s just recap really quickly all of the momentum that is running up towards the release next week of this third and final installment in the Kratos saga:
- Monday – Media embargo lifted from God of War 3 and the first reviews were allowed to be published.
- Tuesday – The official PS tv commercial for GoW3 is going to unveiled via the PS Blog
- Wednesday – The PS Blog God of War 3 meetup event at GDC
- Thursday – More GDC awesomeness will showcase the scale and depth of this title.
All leading up to… Next week’s release!
1
Mar
2010
Stop Bitching about the PS3 Glitch
This is getting truly out of hand. The PSN has been glitching for less than 24 hours and people are saying that this is comparable to the RROD devastation that afflicted early chipsets of the Xbox 360s. How fickle are people that they can’t remember history and what has happened not even a year and half ago now.
*Flashback to December 31st, 2008.*
All was well as children around the world were preparing to watch the new year’s eve celebration as the clock struck midnight. However, fate had a different sort of new years resolution for little Jimmy and the 12 other people around the planet that bought 30gb Microsoft Zunes. Because as the clock stuck midnight, every single 30gb Zune on the entire planet bricked simultaneously. Consequently the tech community freaked out, dubbing the event as the ‘Red Ring of Zune’. It turned out that this was only an internal clock issue and after 24 hours all of the Zunes (all 13 of them worldwide) returned to normal.
Now back to present day. How is this so dissimilar from what is occurring right now with the ‘fat’ PS3s? We’re lucky that our systems didn’t brick. They’re still playable for non-trophy games: ie Valkyria Chronicles, Metal Gear Solid 4, Resistance: Fall of Man, Heavenly Sword. This is the perfect opportunity to go back and play those games. Or better yet, use your system as a blu-ray player, since it is arguably the best one of those on the market. Moral of the story is that people are overreacting about this entirely situation which will more than likely auto-correct itself within a matter of hours.
What’s your take on this ‘ApocalyPS3’ (it pains me to even type that phrase). Is it just fuel for the trolls to go to town on? That’s my own personal opinion. What’s yours? Comment below.
Sony’s official advice on the situation.
UPDATE!
The PS3 is now working again. There are no patches, just turn on your PS3 and it works!
17
Nov
2009
PSN is Down? (11-17-09)
Trying to log into the PSN today I got this strange error message. Maybe the Firmware v.3.10 update that was detailed on the PS Blog yesterday is coming sooner than expected! Who knows, only time will tell.
If that is the case, Sony is trying to combat the Fall Xbox Live update that incorporates Twitter and Facebook by updating their own Firmware on the same day. Looks like the PSN is no longer playing catchup to Xbox Live, but they are rather releasing the same quality updates simultaneously.
19
Oct
2009
God Of War Collection Release Delayed
A mass email was just sent out to everyone who pre-ordered the God Of War Collection via Amazon.com detailing a delay of the product’s release. Here is the text from the email.
Hello from Amazon.com.
We have received new release date information related to your pre-ordered video game in the order you placed on XXX 2009 (Order# XXXX). The release date for the video game listed below has been changed by the publisher, and we want to provide you with a new delivery estimate based on the new release date:
“God of War: Collection”
Release date: November 17 2009
-
Apparently there has been cause to push the titile’s release back another week. Personally it does not bother me, it will simply give me more time to play other titles that I’m backlogged in. But it is a shame, because this is another week longer that I won’t be able to play the God of War 3 demo voucher that is included with the disc! Apparently no one want to release the same week as Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2. Can you blame them really?
26
Sep
2009
Retailers Struggle to Keep Up with PS3 Slim Demand
With the Holiday season creeping up ever so frequently, the question on everyone’s mind is who is going to come out on top in sales between the three current generation consoles. All three consoles have implemented price cuts recently to try to jumpstart the industry in a lagging worldwide economy. It seems to have worked, especially for the newly remodeled Playstation 3. This console managed to sell over 1.2 million units in its first 3 weeks of being on the market, more than it managed to sell all of last quarter combined!
As a safeguard measure to protect their own inventory stock from depleting too rapidly as the Holidays approach, Amazon.com has begun to limit customers to only purchasing ONE console per household. They are even reflecting this on their banner adds that can be found around the internet. Here is the text taken directly off the PS3 Slim’s product page.
PlayStation 3 120 GB purchase limit policy
As you may know, the PlayStation 3 120 GB is in great demand. In an effort to provide as many customers as possible with the opportunity to purchase PlayStation 3 120 GB, we are limiting the total number of PlayStation 3 120 GB units that can be purchased. As a result, each household may only purchase one PlayStation 3 120 GB unit. See additional policy details here.
This is most likely the first of many retailers to start to impose these restrictions. But this just comes as a shock because of the timing. It is only September, and the Holidays are still 3 months away. However with exclusive titles that the PS3 is launching such as Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, the sales are being propelled earlier than usual this 2009 Holiday!
Please leave your questions and comments below!
23
Sep
2009
Playstation Reality Show “The Tester” Starts Making Cuts
Just to recap, Playstation announced their own reality show they were going to product called The Tester. In this contest, gamers would be pitted against each other in battles of both skill and knowledge competing for a grand prize of a job testing games for Sony. Applicants were asked to submit a video explaining why they wanted to be on this show.
After all of the entries were submitted and run through, Sony has made their first cuts in an effort to narrow down the pool of talent. Starting today producers of this show have begun to call individuals whose videos caught their eye in order to schedule them for followup interviews. If you submitted a video application, cross your fingers in hopes that you will be receiving a call in the next day or so. Good luck, and may the best gamer win!