PlayStation 3

Sony to Pay £250K Fine in UK for 2011 PSN Data Breach

by Sohrab Osati | Jul 18, 2013 | 0 comments

Just a little over two years ago, Sony’s PlayStation Network was hacked which resulted in a quarter million customer accounts being leaked to the internet. Sony in turn would take down PSN for over a month which resulted in a loss of revenue for the company and, with no access to PSN, gamers could not access the PlayStation Store or game online. To help take care of gamers, Sony offered those who wanted free credit and identity theft monitoring for two years free PlayStation + for two months, and a host of free games once the service was back up and running. During these last two years, most gamers have moved on and enjoyed PSN but government agencies around the world haven’t been as understanding.

Sony Video Unlimited Now Allows Access to Purchased Content on Multiple Devices

by Sohrab Osati | Jul 17, 2013 | 4 comments

In edition to Vidzone for the PlayStation 3 which brings access to over 55,000 music videos, Sony continues to beef up its media presence on PlayStation devices. Till now, unlike iTunes which ties your purchases to your account, allowing you to redownload your content on your Mac, PC, and iOS device, Video Unlimited has tied your purchases to the device. That means that if you bought a movie on the PS3, it would stay on the PS3 unless you actually transferred it to say the PS Vita by connecting the two devices. In fact, after your download, the said content would disappear from your download list. PS3 to PS3 would even be trickier and PS3 to PS4? Who knows! That is, till now.

Vidzone App Brings Over 55,000 Music Videos to the PlayStation 3

by Sohrab Osati | Jul 17, 2013 | 3 comments

If the PlayStation 3 is your media hub and where you turn for entertainment, then this latest app should bring a smile to your face. Vidzone, which has been available for European users for years, is finally coming to the US and will offer PS3 owners access to over 55,000 music videos. The free app with ad support gives you direct access to more than 13,000 artists like Justin Timberlake, Daft Punk, P!nk, Foo Fighters, J.Cole, and David Guetta. Besides the major record labels which include Sony/BMG and Universal, Vidzone also has access to more than 7,500 independent labels, ensuring that indie bands are not left out.

PSN Passes 110 Million Accounts, Xbox Live Sits at 48 Million

by Sohrab Osati | Jul 12, 2013 | 5 comments

The PlayStation train is continuing to chug for Sony while pulling ahead of Microsoft in all different sectors. Despite being released a year after the Xbox 360 and always having a price difference of $100 or more, the PS3 continues to go strong and is now ahead of the Xbox 360 in worldwide sales by nearly 500,000 units. With newly-released titles like The Last of Us and upcoming exclusives like Beyond: Two Souls, Diablo 3 (new for consoles), Ratchet & Clank: Into The Nexus, and Gran Turismo 6 headed to the PS3, it’s easy to see why the PlayStation brand is as strong as ever.

Now, Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment has released some new stats for the PlayStation Network (PSN) which place it well ahead of Xbox Live with a 62 million user difference between the two services.

Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus Coming to PS3 This Holiday

by Brien Bell | Jul 10, 2013 | 5 comments

Insomniac Games has been a staple of the PlayStation family since Disruptor on the PS1. With their Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet & Clank, and Resistance franchises, Insomniac was as close to a first-party studio as one could be–until they decided to move on. After 2011’s release of Resistance 3, Insomniac entered a deal with EA Partners, an arrangement that would see the formerly PlayStation-exclusive developer create games for other platforms while remaining an independent studio. Their EA Partners game, Fuse, released on PS3 and Xbox 360 this spring to lukewarm reviews, though our own Sohrab Osati enjoyed it quite a bit. However, when Insomniac President Ted Price came on stage at the Microsoft press briefing during this year’s E3 to announce Sunset Overdrive–funded by Microsoft Studios and exclusive to the Xbox One–many PlayStation faithful were left wondering just what this meant for any future games by the Burbank, CA and Raleigh-Durham, NC-based developer.

Editorial: For the Love of JRPG’s

by Sarah Ingram | Jul 7, 2013 | 16 comments

I have a video game weakness, and that is role playing games – specifically, Japanese role playing games. Something about their involved story-lines, side quests, endless equipment combinations and specializations, and music and artwork hooks me no matter what world or crisis it surrounds. My initial love for the Playstation system specifically comes from these types of experiences. Nothing hooked me more into a video game than the beautiful, intricate details in the art style of Dark Cloud, as primitive as it was, and I’m sure we’ve all experienced that moment of excitement when a cut scene would begin: I remember yelling for my brother when one would pop up in Final Fantasy IX. They’ve made me smile, cry, and occasionally throw my controller down in anger (FFVII. end of disc 1. you know.).

When I first started gaming on my own, and buying games outside of the influence of my brother, I gravitated towards games like Tales of Symphonia and Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX. As I grew up this love for what they offered grew, and I not only indulged in new titles like Star Ocean and Resonance of Fate, but also went back and experienced games I had previously missed, like Kingdom Hearts and Phantom Brave. Now, as an adult with my own money, I have started the slow (and expensive) process of picking up those titles that I may have missed before. Collecting them adds to my enjoyment: having them on display seems fitting for the role they’ve played in my life, and collecting the ones I’ve missed as a kid gives me the opportunity to more completely immerse myself in the genre.

PlayStation Plus for July: Battlefield 3, Jet Set Radio HD and More

by Brien Bell | Jul 2, 2013 | 0 comments

PlayStation Plus has been on a lot of people’s minds over the past month. In June, the service celebrated its 2-year-anniversary – and the first anniversary of the Instant Game Collection program – by offering a bevy of great games for subscribers. At E3, SCEA President Jack Tretton announced that PlayStation Plus would be coming to PS4 this holiday, and that it would be required for multiplayer games on the system. One caveat to the online requirement, however, is for free-to-play games–Sony is leaving it up to developers whether such games will be locked behind a pay wall. Needless to say, the future of PlayStation Plus is shaping up to be interesting. But for now, the present of PlayStation Plus is looking pretty good.

PSA: PlayStation Plus Will Be Required for PS4 in Order to Play Online

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 28, 2013 | 3 comments

One of the key differentiation between the PS3 and Xbox 360 has been the lack of online fees. While on the PS3 anyone can access Netflix (normal fees apply) or play Battlefield 3 online for free, on the 360, an additional monthly payment is required for Xbox Live. While a pleasant option for PlayStation fans, this approach is an unsustainable one by Sony as online games continue to grow which means further expenses for the company. With the PS4, all of this will change and gamers will be required to have PlayStation+ in order to access online gaming, but there is more to it than that.

Editorial: Why I Think Sony Won E3

by Sarah Ingram | Jun 23, 2013 | 13 comments

Now that the dust has settled and we have all had some time to digest the news that came out of E3, I feel like it’s the right time to reflect about what we saw and what it means. I was able to catch both the Microsoft and Playstation conferences live as they happened, and once it was all over there was a clear winner for me. But I didn’t go into the expo already declaring Sony the winner: I really wanted to see what each had to say about the hardware, sharing, used games and connectivity. And what I ended up getting out of a comparison of the two presentations after the fact was something a little more, and something I think is much more important.

Sony really handed it to Microsoft this year. I watched Microsoft first, and was admittedly impressed. The games looked good, they had Insomniac on their stage, and a partnership with Twitch is nothing to shake a stick at. I expected the DR and used game news, and was interested in learning more about the cloud sharing. The price tag didn’t even surprise me, and I was curious as to what Sony had in store. I had originally predicted that if Microsoft went through with some of these things, then Sony would have to follow suit. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. They allow used games, there is the capability to play games offline, and they hit the price tag out of the park, something even I didn’t expect. It was an all round A+ performance.

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX Preview (video)

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 23, 2013 | 0 comments

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX is a collection of three Kingdom Hearts games, remastered in HD and exclusive to the PS3. This includes Kingdom Hearts 1 Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. With Square Enix barely offering a game worth playing this generation, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX marks a change of pace and a game worthy of purchasing from the once dominant company.

In edition to improved HD graphics, games will include additional bosses and improved controls for the Disney/Final Fantasy RPG crossover. After the jump, a video preview from out time with the game at E3.

‘The Last of Us’ Devs, Neil Druckmann & Bruce Strale Interview Reveals Interesting Insight to Game Development

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 20, 2013 | 0 comments

Those who know me in real life will attest to my monstrous collection of movies of once on DVD and now on Blu-ray. For me, it’s not just about being a film buff though I am and instead, more about what it takes to bring these huge ideas to screen. Be it a movie or now a game, millions of dollars and hundreds of hours are spent in order to craft a tale worth telling.

When it comes to the finished product, the game industry, much like the film industry though tends to focus on the same generic questions and debates when it comes to interviews instead of focusing on the people behind the team. Who are these people and what struggles did they have to over come to create the product that they delivered. Sometimes the results are less than stellar and other times, you have a masterpiece on your hand like The Last of Us. Thanks to a great interview by Greg Miller of IGN with Neil Druckmann & Bruce Strale, the lead devs on the game, we are able to get some unique insight on how The Last of Us could have sucked.

PS3 Uncharted 3 GOTY Edition Bundle Updated With a Year of PS+

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 20, 2013 | 3 comments

While PS4 might be the new popular kid on the block, lets not forget that the PS3 is still king when it comes to units sold. In fact, currently the PS3 sits 77.7 million units sold while the PS4 is at zero. Joking aside, Sony knows that despite the arrival of the PS4 later this year, that the PS3 will continue to sell for years to come. In fact for Sony, the PS3 continues to be a big part of their strategy with built in features like Music & Video Unlimited and Blu-ray, a format they helped co-create. In order to keep things exciting, Sony has updated the PS3 Uncharted 3 Game of the Year Edition bundle.

Dear Readers, What Won You Over at E3?

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 16, 2013 | 2 comments

There is always a lot of talk after a show like E3 of who won and who lost. Like all real things though, the outcome is far more complicated then that. While Nintendo didn’t bother to really show up, Sony and Microsoft were poised to butt heads with more concrete information about the PS4 and Xbox One. Being a long time PlayStation fan, I have to say that there are parts of the Xbox One vision that I get and connect with. Still, a lot of the announcements and news from the Xbox camp the past month has been purely bizarre and anti-consumer in some ways while Sony has been able to better connect to gamers. With an array of exclusive games like Killzone: Shadow Fall, inFamous: Second Son, The Last of Us, Beyond: Two Souls Gran Turismo 6, and Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5, Sony had game after game to show for PlayStation at E3.

This of course doesn’t mean that there weren’t a host of other good content out there. Microsoft has been able to woe in EA/Popcap and get a timed exclusive for Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare while long time favorite series of mine, Command & Conquer is once again to PC with a new entry. All of this translates as a victory for gamers with lots of old favorites making debuts like Call of Duty and Battlefield while new IP’s like Puppeteer, Tearaway, and Titanfall had plenty of spotlight left for themselves.

Just How Big is the PlayStation 4? Let’s Compare

by Brien Bell | Jun 15, 2013 | 5 comments

The PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One have been revealed in all their glory. The press, the retailers, the investors, the developers, they’ve all had their hands and eyes on the two boxes for the better half of a week. For those of us at home, we’re left wondering one crucial thing: just how are these things going to fit under my television?

The folks over at PSMania.net may have your answer. While Microsoft has not revealed the exact dimensions of the Xbox One, the clever folks at this PlayStation fansite have cobbled together a pretty good estimation based on, of all things, the size of the system’s USB ports. Since USB port sizes are standard, it gave them a good basis from which to determine the rest of the system’s size. Take all these measurements with a grain of salt, but here’s a look at the launch and slim models of the PS3 and Xbox 360, and the revealed models of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4:

How Does PlayStation Thank Their Developers at E3?

by Brien Bell | Jun 14, 2013 | 4 comments

PlayStation loves developers. They even made shirts up to prove it. But how do you show your big partners just how much you appreciate them? Why, custom PlayStation 3s, of course!

Adam Boyes, Vice President of Developer Relations for PlayStation and one of the men responsible for this awesome video, took to Twitter on the last day of E3 to show off some of the wonderful custom PS3 units being given to some of the biggest developers out there. Created by graphic design artist Javier Riquelme, these awesome mods are one-of-a-kind, so don’t head to your local GameStop expecting to pick up one of these beautiful consoles.