From gamesindustry.biz:
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Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian, who recently hosted investors on a visit to videogame companies in the San Francisco area, warns against counting Sony out over the long haul.

"Despite ongoing modest sales trends for PS3 hardware in North America, we believe the platform may benefit from an improving software lineup - MGS 4, LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2 - and the late 2008 rollout of more robust online services," he wrote in a note to investors.

Sebastian also thinks that the PS3 could benefit from the Blu-ray format victory, a prolonged console cycle and the potential migration of the large PS2 installed base. He does not think a PS3 price cut is likely this year, however, as Sony focuses on achieving segment profitability.
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From Playstation Blog:
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The games industry is always on the look-out for new, talented engineers and programmers who understand how the hardware works under the hood. However, it isn't possible to buy a PlayStation development kit at your local computer store and development for the PlayStation has remained a mystery, even to very interested individuals. It gives me great pleasure to unveil the mystery and announce the PlayStation-edu program! We expect this program to be a great tool to teach students about the PlayStation platforms.

PlayStation-edu is a program for universities and colleges to get access to PS2 and PSP development kits...the same ones that professional developers use to make the games you love to play. You get the development software, the hardware, and the SDK to learn and experiment with. SCEA wants to make sure that students who are graduating from college are ready to program on PlayStation hardware and that means getting it into your hands.

PlayStation-edu is not a general game creation program (sorry artists and designers). It is for computer science and engineering students who want to understand how the hardware works in the PlayStation consoles. Schools which teach game programming or computer architecture can use the development kits in their classes. Participants will get demo code and samples, as well as documentation about how things work. We want the dev kits used in the classroom! Students in PlayStation-edu will have access to our support web site where they can talk with other students in the program on our forums.

Of course, there are a couple caveats (aren't there always?): Yes, your school will need to sign some legal agreements with us and yes, "get access to" means that your school will need to purchase the hardware.

For more information and application information, educators may contact me (Mark Danks) at applications@psp-edu.scedev.net. Only requests for applications from qualified school representatives will be responded to, so any students reading this should have their teacher submit the request. Also, this is only for universities and colleges, so high school students will need to wait a few years.
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From gamasutra.com:
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According to a new NPD report, adoption of next-gen video format Blu-ray is on the rise, with familiarity with the format up 10 percent to 45 percent over last year, and 43 percent of PlayStation 3 owners watching Blu-ray movies at least once a month.

NPD says that while only six percent of consumers plan to purchase a Blu-ray device in the next six months, the number was higher (nine percent) amongst HDTV owners, which it says "translates to a pool of almost 4 million potential BD player buyers."

NPD also found that 80 percent of dedicated set-top player owners planned to purchase Blu-ray discs rather than standard DVDS, citing "leading-edge technology" and a "superior viewing experience."
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From blu-ray.com:
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Representatives from SonyNEC Optiarc, the optical drive arm of the joint Sony and NEC collaboration, have revealed that they predict prices of Blu-ray combo drives - which can read Blu-ray discs and write DVD and CD - will reach sub-$100 prices by this upcoming holiday season. Additionally, it is expected that similar notebook drives would reach the $150 level by that same time.
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Full Story: blu-ray.com
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From next-gen.biz:
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Sony has announced a partnership with in-game advertising firm IGA Worldwide approving the delivery of dynamic ads to PS3 games.

The in-game ad specialist is the first outside agency to receive approval to deliver in-game ads to the platform.

As opposed to static advertisements, dynamic ads allow companies to change their advertisements on a regular basis, opening up new revenue sources. Technology even enables advertisers to place new ads in already completed games and back catalog titles.
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Full Story: next-gen.biz
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From gamesindustry.biz:
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Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced that it has stopped production on two PlayStation 3 titles that were in development at the Sony London Studio - Eight Days and The Getaway.

A statement from the Corporation read as follows: "It has been agreed that production of both Eight Days and The Getaway will cease immediately due to the redistribution of resources and budget.
This decision was made following an internal review of all games and it was deemed that with the incredibly strong list of exclusive first party titles coming up both this year and in the near future, resource should be reallocated to enhance those projects closer to completion."

UPDATE: It has now been confirmed that these projects have been shelved permanently, and work is not scheduled to restart at a later date.
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From blog.wired.com:
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Sony's long-promised PlayStation 3 virtual world Home is still on track for a 2008 release, although it'll likely stay in beta.

While talking to senior director of PlayStation Network Susan Panico yesterday about Sony's new online PS3 magazine Qore, we got very briefly onto the subject of Home. Saying that the software is still due for release at the end of the year, Panico noted that the "rollout will be similar to Gmail," describing what will launch this year as an "open, working beta."
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From eurogamer.net:
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Jun Takeuchi has said that the PlayStation 3's Sixaxis controller wasn't a viable option for aiming in Resident Evil 5.

Responding to an inquiry from a European journalist, who raised the prospect of a PS3 control system similar to Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, Takeuchi said Sony's much-maligned motion-sensing controller "was not quite sensitive enough for that".
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From playstationlifestyle.net:
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It has been brought to my attention that PlayStation Underground held a secret focus group earlier this year. A small group of PS3 owners were sent to a facility in ****** ****, California to test a new PlayStation product in development.

Once inside the testing facility, these PS3 owners were shown a mini-tripod that stood about 12 inches high. and what looked like 4 black PS3 "wiimotes". Well they were essentially "wiimotes" for the PS3, but didn't need a "nunchuck" attachment. I will refer to them as "PS3motes" for now on.

You can have up to 4 of these "PS3motes" connected at one time. A demonstrator at this focus group was there showing off the "PS3motes" capabilities, along with some mini-games to play. The mini games ranged from tennis, to fencing, to a "really really cool" paintball game. The demonstrator even used the "PS3mote" to play "Quake" on his laptop.

The "PS3mote" is said to be incredibly responsive and accurate. When the demonstrator crouched while playing the paintball game, the character on screen did as well.

The focus group was then given different designs of the "PS3mote" and were given the opportunity to choose which one felt most comfortable, and looked the best. Then ended the focus group session.
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Full Story: playstationlifestyle.net
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From Playstation US Blog
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Today we are announcing that Qore: Presented by the PLAYSTATION Network, a highly interactive, monthly lifestyle gaming program covering the world inside PLAYSTATION is on its way to PS3. Qore has been developed to give PS3 users early access to game related content at a level of quality, interactivity and depth. Everything is filmed in HD. Qore will feature exclusive news, developer interviews, in-depth game previews and behind-the-scenes looks at PlayStation games and special access to game demos, special beta invitations, game add-ons and other downloadable game-related content.

Our premier episode will be available on Thursday, June 5. The premier episode includes in-depth exclusive and never-before released content on upcoming PlayStation titles such as SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Secret Agent Clank, Soul Calibur 4 and Afro Samurai, as well as the latest Blu-ray Disc trailers, an exclusive SOCOM: Confrontation theme with an invitation to the SOCOM: Confrontation beta, art galleries and other surprises. We also know that many of you are big fans of Veronica Belmont, the widely-known host of numerous online video programs and podcasts and an avid gamer, so we've chosen her to be your host.

To get Qore, simply log onto PSN and go to the PLAYSTATION Store, as you would purchase any other form of downloadable content. Once the single Episode or annual subscription is purchased, that month's episode will be downloaded under the "Game" heading on the Cross Media Bar (XMB). Users who purchase the "Qore Annual Subscription" will notice only that month's episode is available to download. The following month, the new episode will automatically appear in your download list. The introductory price for Qore is $2.99 for a single episode and $24.99 for an annual subscription of 13 episodes, using your PLAYSTATION Network wallet.

As Peter Dille mentioned in a previous PLAYSTATION Network post, the broader service and community initiatives launching on the PLAYSTATION Network this year such as Qore, PlayStation Home and the Video Download Service are all evidence of our dedication to delivering an all-encompassing entertainment experience for PS fans. Qore is the first in a series of planned original programming specifically created for the PLAYSTATION Network community and we hope you enjoy it.
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