Four Things Sony Can Do to Turn the Tide for the PS3 in 2009

Arstechnica feels they have the solution for Sony in order to make their PS3 more successful this year.

Their suggestions are broken down into four main areas as follows:

1) Drop the freaking price: The hard truth is, in the current economy people aren't willing to pay $400 for what is primarily a toy.

2) Let's get serious about online: What do we want? Cross-game invites. We want voice chat in all games. We want... well, we want Xbox Live on the PS3. Don't tell me that's impossible to do for free—Valve created what amounts to a PC version of Xbox Live with Steam's social features, and that doesn't cost anything.

3) Stop making us wait for Thursday: Nintendo has Monday, Microsoft releases Arcade games on Wednesday, and Sony forces everyone to wait until Thursday. PS3 owners get Rock Band songs, demos, and even games later than everyone else.

4) Remember that games are for fun: Sony wants you to know that the PS3 is a high-end, high-class piece of technology. This is a recession. People are pinching pennies, and they want to have fun.

The Wii looks fun for kids and adults, the 360 is inexpensive and features an easy to use online system for playing with your buddies, and the PS3 always comes off as a luxury item. It needs to look fun!

Read the whole article @ PS3 News

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!

Preview: Killzone 2 Online Multiplayer Dazzles & Bots Confirmed

It's been a long wait, but I finally had the chance to engage in Killzone 2's much-anticipated online multiplayer at the Leipzig Games Convention in Germany. Teased at E3 in Los Angeles last month, I have been practically foaming at the mouth to give it a go. Here's how it went down.

I was lucky enough to be in the first session at the show, meaning that aside from internal testing, I was first outside of Guerrilla Games' development studio to play multiplayer. Prior to playing, our group of about 8 journalists received some prep, outlining many of the online features that we'd get our hands on.

Essentially, it was the same presentation that I saw during E3, with one addition--bots. Eric Boltjes, senior online designer, confirmed that A.I. bots will be available to add in both online and offline games, and that they will excellently mimic human behavior and use all special abilities just as a normal player would. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see them in action today, but I did get to face off against some of the development team back in Amsterdam who were ready to make mince meet out of my inexperienced hide.

Read the whole article @ PS3 News

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!

Angry gamer asks Sony to define what a 'valued' gamer is?

Sony recently sent out e-mails which stated "We’ve chosen to offer access to Home to a select number of PLAYSTATION 3 owners, and as a valued member of PLAYSTATION Network, you have been selected."

However, one gamer is pretty angry that he wasn't selected as he has spent over $2000 on games and many hours online, but it seems far less loyal PS3 fans have been selected and speculates that he wasn't selected purely because he never purchased MGS4!

To quote: Now SCEE define valued please because looking at the forums and other news sites it seems people who have signed up to the PSN in 2008 and have less than 5 posts in the forums seem to have had more success than the likes of the owners who have had membership since late 2006 and spend more than a £1000 on PSN and BD games (not forgetting the BD films), lets not forget the amount of time these people spend online with their purchases.

Lets also remember that feature on the playstation website were you can add what hardware and software you own (of which I keep up to date religiously). It seems that feature is also worthless and pretty pointless.

So what did get you into the HOME Beta this month? I spoke to a friend at SONY in London and he told me that most people who bought MGS4 are the chosen ones. I can counter that claim tho so it may not be 100% true, but as I have spent over £1000 on PS3 titles and spent hours online the only game I did not purchase was MGS4, maybe it is true.

Read the whole article @ PS3 News

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!