Rumor Mill: Price Cuts Coming in April For BOTH PS3 and 360

There’s been some stuff flying around in the air. No, it’s not pollen or birds; it’s a little something we’d like to call “rumors”. For some time now, there’s been rumors being thrown around about Sony’s PlayStation 3 getting a significant price cut this month. Every single analyst and their mothers have been forecasting these visions of theirs for quite some time, now. But, according to a GameStop Regional Manager in New York who wished to remain anonymous, those rumors are indeed true – and it’s coming for both systems next month.

The PS3 is indeed getting its price cut, as everyone envisioned, as per the GameStop Regional Manager who indicates that these new prices are already entered in GameStop’s systems. However, it seems that Microsoft has a little trick up their sleeves to counter Sony’s second price-cut since the PS3’s release. According to the GameStop employee, the Xbox 360 will be getting a more significant price cut than the PS3. What? Yea… that’s what I said to myself as well. What SKU is receiving the cut in price has yet to be determined, but in the case that it is the Arcade version – which is currently priced at $199.99 – that means that it might be going down to $99.99 or, in the case of the Elite, $299.99 from its current $399.99 price tag. The PS3’s two SKU’s are priced at $399.99, for the 80GB, and $499.99 for the 160GB Uncharted bundle, which gives an idea of how significant this 360 price drop has to be.

Read the whole article @ Loot Ninja

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Sony Charging Publishers for Free PS3 Game Demo Downloads

It's free to you, but costly to publishers.

You know those free demos and the downloadable content that you nab so care-free to try out new games and extend your current titles? It's costing publishers a decent bit of cash every time someone downloads this stuff on the PlayStation Network. 

MTV Multiplayer has learned that Sony implemented a per-gigabyte download charge to publishers on October 1st of last year for free content. It now costs publishers $0.16 per downloaded gigabyte, which while seemingly small, adds up to big numbers in the long run. As demos often hover around the 1GB mark these days, that means that for every one million downloads of a demo of that size, the publisher has to fork over $160,000 in fees. This charge is only in effect for the first 60 days of a piece of content's availability, but that's obviously when most of the downloads happen anyway. Paid content is not affected by this fee. 

Microsoft and Nintendo do not charge download fees, which could be part of the reason that many demos hit Xbox Live a week before the PlayStation Network - cross-platform gamers would have already downloaded it on Xbox Live, and therefore wouldn't need to nab it again on the PlayStation Network, saving the publisher some cash.

Read the whole article @ IGN

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Top Five PlayStation 3 Features Added via Firmware Updates

The PlayStation 3 launched in late 2006. Since then, Sony has added plenty of new features via constant firmware updates. Here are the top five added firmware update features on the PlayStation 3. 

5. Background Downloading (PlayStation 3 Firmware Version 1.60) 

Downloading content from the Playstation Store was a major pain in the early days. You have to stay on the same screen for long periods of time (in some cases, hours). Not to mention that you can't resume from the same point if you disconnected. 

Playstation 3 Firmware Version 1.60 fixes that cumbersome problem by enabling background downloading, which let gamers perform other functions while in the process of downloading. In addition, you can resume a download anytime and automatically shut down the Playstation 3 once the download is complete. 

4. BD-LIVE (PlayStation 3 Firmware 2.20) 

For the longest time, the Playstation 3 was the best Blu-ray player on the market. The main reason for its success was the ability to upgrade to a higher profile. Therefore, the Playstation 3 was able to stay ahead of the curve by upgrading Blu-ray Profile to 1.1 and then 2.0 (BD-LIVE). It isn't just Blu-ray movies either; firmware updates also added Windows Media, DIVX and Flash media support for the Playstation 3. 

3. Trophy Support (PlayStation 3 Firmware 2.40) 

Achievements for the Xbox 360 are a big success. Having a universal way to show off your video game accomplishments increase replayability and extend the life of a title. Sony saw the added value in that feature and decided to implement their own via the Playstation 3 Firmware 2.40. Now every Playstation 3 games from now on will include trophy support. 

Read the whole article @ PS3 News

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Video Game Publishers Pressure Sony for PlayStation 3 Price Cut

Sony risks losing more development funds to Nintendo without price cut according to publishers

Game publishers are pressuring Sony to cut the price of the PlayStation 3 or face the risk of more development funds shifting to the Nintendo Wii according to a Bloomberg article. Sony, which used to be the undisputed industry leader, currently sits in third place for this generation’s line up of video game consoles. As the VGCHARTZ sales numbers show, the Nintendo Wii has an iron grip on first place, the Microsoft Xbox 360 sits in second, and the Sony PlayStation 3 is third. 

Multiple publishers in the Bloomberg article laid down the bottom line they face due to the way console sales have played out. Development is divided in to software titles for the best selling Nintendo Wii and software titles for the rest of the market which consist of the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, and the PC.

Electronic Arts’ Peter Moore very directly stated in the Bloomberg article, "You can't ignore the guy who has half the market." Evan Wilson, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon believes Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 titles are typically more expensive to produce and as a result, “The publishers need the PS3 install base to grow in order for most of these games to be profitable.”

Read the whole article @ Daily Tech

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Third Public Call By Electronic Arts For A PS3 Price Cut In A Week

OK, we get it, Electronic Arts (ERTS) execs: Sony's (SNE) PS3 needs a price cut to stay competitive (something this blog has long believed).

The latest comes this morning from EA Sports boss Peter Moore, who tells Bloomberg: “Sony obviously still has a ways to go with their pricing."

Which follows EA manager Glen Schofield saying he's "really not sure what's going on with Sony" and EA CFO Eric Brown noting the PS1 and PS2 only took off after dramatic price cuts.

And then Sony's own developers are griping about a low install base..

Read the whole article @ Business Insider

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PlayStation 3 Outsells All Competitors in Japan Thanks to Yakuza 3

Yakuza 3 sells 372,201 copies and the PlayStation 3 sells 36,513 units for the week ending March 1

Yakuza 3 (Ryu ga gotoku 3) has powered the PlayStation 3 to number one in Japanese hardware sales for the week of February 23 through March 1. The game debuted in first place with 372,301 copies sold, second only to Metal Gear Solid 4 which sold 465,000 in its debut week.

The PlayStation 3 sold 36,513 units topping even the Nintendo DSi which sold 35,827 units. The PlayStation Portable was third with 35,588 units sold.  The PlayStation portable enjoyed software success as well selling 219,139 copies of Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce; second only to Yakuza 3 in sales for that week.

The Yakuza series is an action adventure game with a story that revolves around Kazuma Kiryu, a former Yakuza, whose release from prison after a ten-year murder sentence set up the game's plot. After his release, Kiryu returns to find his friend missing and his former gang the Toujokai Clan, has had ten billion yen ($100 million USD) stolen from them. The game series is known for exploring Yakuza culture in detail.

Read the whole article @ Daily Tech

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Sony failing to deliver promised free PS3 consoles?!

A reader on a tech site is reporting that Sony are failing to deliver the free PS3's they were offering as a sweetener with Bravia TVs.

The customer says its been nearly 5 months and they have still not received the PS3 and Sony are offering no solution to the problem.

It is unclear if this is an isolated incident or more widespread.

To quote: Dear Blorge,

I would like to bring to your attention a matter that has happened to my grandfather of all people regarding Sonys Bravia tv offer. With every 1080p television sold they would give a free Playstation 3 away.

My grandad was already looking at a Sony 40" Bravia tv. The X series. by the way the TV is brilliant. The problem was with the playstation. He ordered the TV half way through December, and it took, after a month of delays might i add, a month to get here. We were told by sony we would have to wait for the TV to get here before we could order the playstation and it would then take 28 days.

Read the whole article @ PS3 News

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Infamous Playstatiion 3 In-Game Trailer

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Confirmed: Next Insomniac Title to be a PlayStation 3 Exclusive

Ratchet and Clank and Resistance creators Insomniac Games' next title will be another PS3 exclusive, the studio revealed, ending speculation that it might go multi-platform with its titles. It's currently in development, though no further details are available. 

To quote: The information was revealed in the Los Angeles-based developer's biographical information as the studio announced it is one of the best places to work for in the state of California, according to an Employers' Group survey - the fifth-best, to be exact, and the only game studio on the list. 

As part of the release, Insomniac updated on franchise sales for its games, saying that the first three Spyro the Dragon games and its titles in the Ratchet & Clank franchise and the Resistance series have combined to sell more than 32 million units worldwide. 

The firm also specifically noted, as part of the company's background information: "Insomniac Games is currently developing an unannounced title, exclusively for PS3." 

As for the company award, Employers' Group awarded the winners based on responses to questions about work environment, policies, practices and benefits, plus a survey of a random sample of employees. 

Read the whole article @ PS3 News

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Ubisoft cans World in Conflict's console release plans

Ubisoft has informed IGN that it has no plans to release World in Conflict: Soviet Assault to any console platform this month or anytime in the future. The PC version remains unaffected and will see a release later this month.

Soviet Assault's Xbox 360 and PS3 cancellation may be surprising for some, but for us, we questioned the project's console plans as of late. After the big Vivendi / Activision merger, Massive Entertainment's recent history and Soviet Assault's early delay, we knew something was up. We call it "game-cancellation-intuition." Not very catchy, we know.

Read the whole article @ Joystiq

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New inFamous Trailer Makes Little Girl Scared

Sucker Punch's new trailer for inFamous explores the age-old adage that trailers are much cooler when narrated by little girls.

It's a fact: little girls narrating the trailers to movies and games that take place in a dark fiction setting are at least twenty times better than those narrated by movie guy voice. Don't believe me? Check out this trailer to the 1994 cult hit The Crow, or the Clocks trailer for TimeShift. That trailer alone was enough to get me to buy TimeShift. I returned it two days later, but I bought it, and that's what counts.

Read the whole article @ Kotaku

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PS3 Breaks 2 Million, PSP Breaks 3 Million

Months before its second anniversary and in a crap world economy, Sony's PLAYSTATION 3 console has sold 2 million units in the United Kingdom.

"It's a premium product, so therefore it costs a premium price, and that does give us issues in terms of the expected sell-through that analysts and the media want," explains Sony Computer Entertainment UK's Ray Maguire, "but actually when you look at it in isolation: close to a million units in a year which is really tough, at a premium price, actually shows that's a great number."

What's more, the PS3 United Kingdom sales show great potential. Meaning? If the price went down, you'd see higher sales. "We have potentially more longevity in PLAYSTATION 3 than we had in the previous PlayStations," Maguire added, "simply because if the price goes down we've still got a massive market place to sell in to."

Read the whole article @ Kotaku

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Too much Free PlayStation 3 can cause painful lumps?

Gamers beware: Keeping too tight a grip on the console and furiously pushing the buttons can cause a newly identified skin disorder marked by painful lumps on the palms, Swiss scientists said Tuesday.

Called "PlayStation palmar hidradentitis" by the scientists, the skin disorder can cause painful lesions on the palms similar to patches found on the soles of children's feet after taking part in heavy physical activity, they said.

"The tight and continuous grasping of the hand-grips together with repeated pushing of the buttons produce minor but continuous trauma to the (palm) surfaces," Vincent Piguet and colleagues at University Hospitals and Medical School of Geneva reported in the British Journal of Dermatology.

A spokesman for Sony Corp, which makes the PlayStation, noted the study involved one person and said the company had sold hundreds of millions of the consoles since the product was introduced in 1995.

"As with any leisure pursuit there are possible consequences of not following common sense, health advice and guidelines, as can be found within our instruction manuals," Sony spokesman David Wilson said.

"We would not wish to belittle this research and we will study the findings with interest, but this is the first time we have ever heard of a complaint of this nature."

Read the whole article @ Reuters

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PS3 price drop coming soon? Free PS3?

A Wall Street analyst reports that a price reduction for the PlayStation 3 will happen "in the next couple days."

Mike Hickey with investment-banking firm Janco Partners told investors on Wednesday that he expects Sony will drop the price of the console to respond to sluggish hardware sales.

"Recent channel checks indicate increased speculation for a PS3 price cut announcement from Sony in the next couple of days," Hickey wrote.

Currently the PS3 is the most expensive of the three "next-gen" consoles on the market. The Playstation 3 with an 80 GB hard drive runs $399, while the 160 GB model is priced at $499. By comparison, the most expensive Xbox 360, which includes a 120 GB hard drive, retails at $399 and the economically priced Wii, when it can be found on shelves, sells for $249.

While many Playstation fans argue that the PS3 more than makes up the price difference with its Blu-ray drive, with the economy as it is, consumers are looking harder than ever at the PS3's spendy price tag.

Read the whole article @ Examiner

Get a Free PS3! Yes, that is correct! Stay away from the hassles of earning enough to pay for it for you can get it the simple way .... straight to your doorstep! Free! Interested? Then find out how to get a Free PS3!