Honestly, I can't say much about this video without ruining it for you. So, just press play.
Japan never ceases to amaze me. This could rank in the top game advertisements of all-time with the Japanese ad for God Hand. Kudos SCEJ bringing us the best game related marketing rap since the infamous Zelda Rap (or All I Want For Xmas Is A PSP, take your pick).
As you probably know by now, I'm very excited for the upcoming PS3 exclusive game, LittleBigPlanet, which comes out in a little over a week. I love the happy-go-lucky atmosphere and the bright colors...however Sony has officially thrown that out the window with a newly announced guest Sackboy character...
SEPHRIOTH
Yeah, that Sephiroth. Everyone's favorite long-haired emo villain from Final Fantasy 7. The same Sephiroth that inspired many awful fanfics, fanart, and especially other games, is now coming with his trendy Hot-Topic dress style into the world of LittleBigPlanet. Along with Sephiroth, expect thousands of 15 year old otakus who think Sephy is kawaii bishie and writes long yaoi fanfics involving him and Cloud to follow.
Also coming to LBP: Old Snake from Metal Gear Solid 4.
So, Ubisoft had their Ubidays event yesterday. Many games were discussed including Far Cry 2, Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., Prince of Persia Prodigy and others. However, the real showstopper announcement was official confirmation of the mounting rumors that Beyond Good And Evil 2 does in fact exist. At the event, Ubisoft released a little teaser trailer showing the two main characters from the first game, Jade and Pey'j, stranded in the middle of a desert.
From a technical aspect, the trailer is just stunning. Pey'j looks AMAZING and not as cartoony as he did in the first game. Jade is also looking pretty damn good as well, but we don't ever see how she looks from the front.
Here is the trailer for your viewing pleasure. Now, keep in mind that Ubisoft has stated that this is all done in the game engine...
Attention all you PS3 owners with Metal Gear Solid 4 pre ordered (which should be all of you), Konami has posted the beta version of Metal Gear Online to the Playstation Store and is ready for you to download. The actual beta of the game does not start until Monday, but you can download it (and the update) now in preparation for Monday's big event.
How do you partake in this Snaky goodness? First of all, you have to pre-order Metal Gear Solid 4 from a participating retailer. Second, you need to obtain a copy of the Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2 DVD which should be free with your pre-order. This DVD contains a refresher course on the MGS franchise and a collection of trailers for MGS4, but most importantly it comes with your ticket to participate the beta. Now that you have your code to get into the beta, boot up your PS3. On the XMB, go to the Playstation Network menu and choose Account Management. Then on the next page that comes up, choose Transaction Management, and Redeem Playstation Network Card or Promotion Code. Next, enter in the code found on your ticket into the text boxes on the page. If all goes well, it should accept your code and give you access to download the Beta...
If it doesn't work, make sure you entered the code in all capital letters. Still no luck? Well, you're probably like me and effected by Konami's royal screwing up of this beta program. According to IGN, some of the codes given out in the Metal Gear Saga DVD are invalid. How do you tell if you have an invalid code? It all has to do with the length of your key. If you have less than 12 characters in your beta code, then you need to get a new one in order to download the beta. To get a new code, try emailing Konami at mgobetasupport@konami.com, or try going back to where you pre-ordered the game and see if they'll give you a new Metal Gear Saga DVD. Or you can try downloading the beta from the European Playstaion Store, because they are lucky and can download it without using this beta code nonsense.
However, the other area in which Konami totally screwed up this beta is that you have to sign up for a Konami ID AND a "Game ID" in order to play. But guess what? The website to do that is down. However, I was smart and registered as soon as I heard it required for the beta.
I just hope Konami fixes this beta soon. I can't wait to get into the game and face off against others online with the man cannon.
If you're participating in the beta, post a comment in the article here and let me know your PSN ID and Game ID so we can have some kind of an RFG MGO night.
LittleBigPlanet Create-A-Level PLAY, CREATE, and SHARE with LittleBigPlanet! Imagine a world with no limits – a world that’s yours to shape, build and explore. Imagine the possibilities, then jump head first into the reality. LittleBigPlanet puts the power of absolute creation into your own hands. If you can see it, you can enhance it. If you can’t see it, you can invent it. File size: 79 MB (HD)
I fell out of my chair and immediately ran to my PS3 to download that new video. A few minutes later, I was basking in the glory that is LittleBigPlanet, and the new footage.
Now, what you're seeing in this new video is a level being built. Specifically, the level that Sony had up in their booth at CES a few weeks ago. Sure it's not anything too new, but as I said, anything LBP related makes me happy. Hopefully this will brighten up your day a little as well with that damn awesome Go! Team song and footage of the future PS3 classic.
Sony has put the final nail in the coffin for usage of their UMD (Universal Media Disc) format for movies by announcing that you will soon be able to transfer Blu-ray movies that you own to your PSP by way of the Playstation 3.
According to Gizmodo, the functionality will be available this year, will (most likely) be free, and will work on (almost every) Blu-ray Disc under the sun. Some specifics about the transfer process are that the movie files will be around 1GB, in standard definition, optimized for playback on the PSP, and will take about 3-5 minutes to download to the PSP's memory stick. However, the catch is that the movies will be protected by DRM (Digital Rights Managment), which is no surprise considering that you're copying a copyrighted movie onto a portable device and could easily share it with others. There's no word on what exactly the details of the DRM policy will be (one of the restraints may be that you can only copy each disc a certain number of times). My guess is that it will be just like the DRM used for PSone games downloaded from the Playstation Store.
But who knows. Knowing Sony it could be a DRM scheme that drops a rootkit on your PS3/PSP and monitors every single thing you do before dropping that rootkit in your brain and controlling you.
Some lucky guy in Marina, California managed to snag Rock Band early from the local Best Buy there. Instead of setting the game up as a demo, the Best Buy accidentally put it out for sale. This guy, "timenz", spotted it, bought it, and put it up on eBay. Needless to say, EA was not very pleased by this at all and gave the man a call asking him to return the game to the store. However, he did not do that. Then he got a call from Best Buy saying that if he returned it, he would receive a full refund and a $100 gift card, but he still refused to do it. He kept the eBay listing up, and now it is going for $326 (as of the time this article was posted).
So, fellow gamer nerds, what would you do in this situation? Auction it or return it for $100?
I'd auction it. He's doing quite well for himself if I must say so myself.
Typically I wouldn't cover ad campaigns, but I felt this one was kind of important to cover. Not just because it's Sony (admittedly, that's a part of it), but because this new campaign Sony is going to roll out is perhaps one of the best I've seen backing a game console.
As many of you may remember, PS3 ads from last year were filled with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/gqkNPcUMffU&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/gqkNPcUMffU&rel=0</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/7qamwVJaYW8&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/7qamwVJaYW8&rel=0</a>, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/DyFrekxy7wg&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/DyFrekxy7wg&rel=0</a>. Those ads caught a lot of heat for not showing off any games or being too artsy. Regardless, I thought they were alright in a David Lynchian abstract kind of way (speaking of David Lynch, look up his ads for the PS2, they're awesome).
However on Playstation.Blog, Peter Dille, Senior Vice President, Marketing & PLAYSTATION Network, announced the beginning of a new era in PS3 ads. No more abstract ads like last year, now there will be ads actually showing off games, the online capabilities, and other features of the system. As Peter said "The games are here, the price point is now $399 and we wanted to make the news loud and clear. But we need to deliver that in a way that befits the PlayStation brand." So, the result is this new ad:
Perhaps the best console ad ever. It's so damn good it makes me want to get another PS3. Peter also says that more ads are on the way, including ads that feature "upcoming third-party exclusives such as Haze from Ubisoft and Metal Gear Solid 4 from Konami" and "other great PS3 games like Burnout Paradise, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, Assassin's Creed, Madden NFL 08 and Time Crisis 4." Also, Peter stated that this new campaign is the most expensive they have ever done for hardware. Looks like Sony is trying to finally pick up the ball they dropped with the PS3 launch and everything leading up to it.
Let me just say, BRAVO SONY! Way to get your head out of your ass and make some ads that people are actually PRAISING!
So, I was browsing the interwebs today, and I saw an article on Kotaku which mentioned Re-Volt in the headline. My first thought when I saw it was "OMFG!! NEXT GEN RE-VOLT!?!" but then I calmed down once I saw the article is about a new downloadable game from Sony and Game Republic called Toy Home. Skeptical about Kotaku's claim that it looks like a next-gen Re-Volt, I decided to check out the video, and lo and behold, it is!
The game, which will be released on the Playstation Store for Playstation 3, is a racing/combat game, in which you drive as supercharged wind-up cars through in evironments such as a kid's room, what looks like a daycare center, and a living room (I think).
Here is the trailer for the game:
Also, if you've never heard of Re-Volt, you owe it to yourself to hunt it down on either PC, Sega Dreamcast, Sony Playstation, or Nintendo 64. I give it my stamp of approval (mainly the PC and Dreamcast versions, as the PS1 has some trouble running it).
Hot on the heels of a price drop and a new model introduction, a rumor has surfaced of a 6TH Playstation 3 model! Nothing about the new model is known other than the information seen in this picture from the FCC's website, the main piece of information being the model number, CECHH01. Also from this picture, we can derive that the new model has WiFi and Bluetooth. However, this is the only information known about it.
If you ask me what this could be, I think it could be a different color of the 40 GB model which is hitting Japan. Now, I did not report on this one, but Japan is getting a white 40 GB PS3 bundled with the Dual Shock 3 for the price of ¥39,980 ($341 US), and the model number on that is CECHH00. So, my guess is that this CECHH01 model is a Silver or Black version of that model.
What I really hope is that this model is the recently announced chocolate PS3 model. Sony made up a batch of 150 chocolate PS3s and a giant chocolate SIXAXIS controller for Eurochocolate, a festival dedicated to chocolate held in Perugia, Italy.
Hit the jump for more pictures of the festivities.
In a completely unsurprising move, Sony has announced that they are bringing the 40 GB Playstation 3 model to America on November 2, selling for $399.99.
This new model will have a 40 GB hard drive built in instead of 20, 60, or 80, and will include a free copy of Spider-Man 3 on Blu-ray Disc (presumably the standard edition Blu-ray release). Unlike the earlier 20 GB model, this one will have built-in WiFi in addition to the standard ethernet port. However, this new model will be eliminating many things that are standard on both the 60 GB and 80 GB models.
First up on the chopping block: USB ports! On the new model, there will only be two ports as compared to four on every other model that has come out. This is not a huge problem for most people, but it could be if you use a USB keyboard and mouse on your PS3 or want to charge your Warhawk headset, a controller, and have your USB external hard drive plugged in.
Next items to be cut: Media Card slots! Just like the earlier 20 GB model, the new one will not have slots for SD/miniSD cards, Compact Flash cards, or Memory Sticks. Not a huge loss, but a loss nonetheless.
Final item to not make the roster, backwards compatibility?! Yes, you read right. On the 40 GB model, there will be ZERO BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY. Yup, you will not be able to play your Playstation 2 or Playstation 1 games on this system. Reason why? It would have to be done with software emulation just like how the Xbox 360 does its Xbox compatibility, and Sony decided that it would not be worth it to make software emulation for each and every game. As SCEA president Jack Tretton stated, "Backward compatibility is a nice secondary consideration, but it's far from the number-one priority." Well, when you have nogoodgamestoplay, it sure is a major consideration.
A new model is not the only thing announced by Mr. Tretton today. He also announced that the 80 GB model with Motorstorm will be receiving a $100 price drop, making it $499.99 instead of $599.99. However, the 60 GB model has not received a price drop, most likely because Sony is disillusioned into believing that they are all sold out. So, now the 80 GB model with limited backwards compatibility and Motorstorm is the same price as the 60 GB model will full backwards compatibility.
Now that you know the details, what's your take on it? Leave a comment here, or in the thread about it in our forums.
After confirming the 40gb PS3 last week, Sony, apparently has another system up its sleeve. That's right. ANOTHER PS3 MODEL! This time, it's 160 GB.
According to a rumor posted on some ineternet forum (reliable isn't it) reposted on Com Net Slash, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan is going to be releasing a new 160gb model of the PS3 this November. Here is what the rumored model of the PS3 will contain...
“The PS3 160gb will have a slightly upgraded Wi-Fi and Bluetooth receiver. Also the PS3 will be available in both Black and Silver, come with an unamed Blu-Ray movie, demos and trailers packed onto the HDD and a voucher for 2 PSN titles for the first number of customers”
“At the moment the unit is only confirmed for release in Japan. A date has not been fully specified but is expected after November”
3 ethernet ports? What are they going to do with those? Is the PS3 going to be a router? 2 HDMI ports? That's what Sony promised back in '05! I do like the sound of the 2 free PSN titles and the HD being loaded with demos and trailers.
Is this real? Well, I kind of want to say it is, but I really think 3 ethernet ports and 2 HDMI ports is a little over the top, however the rest seems very plausible
I know I've knocked Microsoft in the past for having so many models, but goddamn Sony, 5 PS3 models in the course of a year? That's almost one every other month.
The rumored 40GB, $399, model of the Playstation 3 bundled with Spider-Man 3 on Blu-ray is looking more and more likely. First, there's the rumor that Sony is turning to FoxConn to help make the new model. Then there's the picture of the label of the new model from the FCC website with the new model number of CECHG01. Now, the latest proof of the new PS3 model is on the Blu-ray Savings website. The new program lists a new PS3 model, CECHG01, which is the same one seen on the FCC website. Now, if you know your PS3 models, you'll know that CECHG01 does not match any current model. CECHA01 is the 60GB model, CECHE01/98137 is the 80GB+Motorstorm model, and CECHB01 is the discontinued 20GB model.
Is CECHG01 the new $399 40GB model? All signs point to yes. Now all that's left is for Sony to step forward and confirm it.
From the category of EXTREME RUMORS, Kotaku mentioned that The International House of Mojo, a LucasArts/Telltale Games/Double Fine fansite, ran a story talking about the new game from Double Fine that will supposedly be revealed at Leipzig during Tim Schafer's (head honcho of Double Fine and designer of Day of the Tentacle and Grim Fandago at LucasArts) keynote speech on creativity in the games industry. The new game is reportedly called Brutal Legend and will star Jack Black as a roadie who dies, is banished to hell, and must get to rock heaven. Since that story was posted at IHOM, Double Fine requested that they take down the story, which we all know means that there must be some merit to it.
Personally, I think this rumor has a rather large amount of merit to it even though IHOM retracted the story. But of course, I'm a big fan of Tim Schafer and Jack Black, and it would be the most incredible thing ever if they were to team up. Maybe I think it's got merit because of how much of a fan I am of them.
As you probably know by now, I'm very excited for the upcoming PS3 exclusive game, LittleBigPlanet, which comes out in a little over a week. I love the happy-go-lucky atmosphere and the bright colors...however Sony has officially thrown that out the window with a newly announced guest Sackboy character...
Attention all you PS3 owners with Metal Gear Solid 4 pre ordered (which should be all of you), Konami has posted the beta version of Metal Gear Online to the Playstation Store and is ready for you to download. The actual beta of the game does not start until Monday, but you can download it (and the update) now in preparation for Monday's big event.
Sony has put the final nail in the coffin for usage of their UMD (Universal Media Disc) format for movies by announcing that you will soon be able to transfer Blu-ray movies that you own to your PSP by way of the Playstation 3.
Some lucky guy in Marina, California managed to snag Rock Band early from the local Best Buy there. Instead of setting the game up as a demo, the Best Buy accidentally put it out for sale. This guy, "timenz", spotted it, bought it, and 
Hot on the heels of a price drop and a new model introduction, a rumor has surfaced of a 6TH Playstation 3 model! Nothing about the new model is known other than the information seen in this picture from the FCC's website, the main piece of information being the model number, CECHH01. Also from this picture, we can derive that the new model has WiFi and Bluetooth. However, this is the only information known about it.
In a completely unsurprising move, Sony has announced that they are bringing the 
After confirming the 40gb PS3 last week, Sony, apparently has another system up its sleeve. That's right. ANOTHER PS3 MODEL! This time, it's 160 GB.
The rumored 
From the category of EXTREME RUMORS, Kotaku mentioned that 
