From cnet.com:
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With Sony's decision to drop the price of the Playstation 3 to a far more affordable level, I believe the company will enjoy a significant surge in sales this holiday season. And while I have some issues with the upcoming catalog of games (it's a bit weak), it's strong enough to justify people spending their cash on the device.

As I mentioned above, the Wii will have a strong holiday season. Along those lines, the Wii will probably be sold out for much of the season and people will be standing in line once again. And for all of those who weren't able to pick up a Wii, the Playstation 3 will be the next logical choice.

Think about it: you're standing in line for a Wii and you're told it's sold out. Knowing all too well that your kids want a new video game console, the affordable Playstation 3 is sitting there for the taking. So, in a rush to get holiday shopping over with, you ask for the Sony console.

Now, will all Sony sales end up this way? Not a chance. In fact, you can probably expect a significant growth in sales from the price drop alone. But it certainly won't hurt that the Wii will be sold out again and the PS3 will not, will it?

Sony made the right move because, well, it had to at this point. Expect to see Sony surging in the numbers.

Overall Sony Playstation 3 outlook: moderate to strong
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Full Story: cnet.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From n4g.com:
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Gametrailers interviewed Ryan Payton about new features, user feedback and blu-ray necessity with Metal Gear Solid 4. The most interesting segment being when they asked Ryan Payton if Blu-ray was needed for MGS4. He replies: "The fact remains that we couldn't do what what we're doing on MGS4 without Blu-ray because we really eat up that capacity".
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Full Story: gametrailers.com
News-Source: n4g.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From mercurynews.com:
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Sony, meanwhile, sold only 119,400 PlayStation 3s and 215,000 PlayStation 2s. Clearly, that's why Sony had to make the move to launch the 40-gigabyte console at $399. That should help put Sony back in the game, but I very much doubt that the former leader of the industry will move out of third place.

One piece of news that came out this week was that Sony pleaded with third-party developers not to abandon its struggling platform. That change in attitude is a marked difference compared to the arrogance of past years. The argument is that the PS 3 will show its strength as developers learn how to make games for it. But developers know they can staff four or five Wii teams with the same number of people it takes to make one PS 3 game. We may have a glut of Wii games soon, but that's not as bad as not having enough games on the PS 3.
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Full Story: mercurynews.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From 1up.com:
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Though some of the kinks are still being worked out, when someone finishes work on a mod and clicks "export to PS3" it becomes a file they can host on their own, submit it to a fan website, on simply pass along the file to their friends. Players then download the files onto a PS3 compatible memory stick of their choice and load it into the game. Alternatively, the modifications can be hosted on a dedicated server and when a player someone logs onto that server, the files automatically download to the PS3 hard drive. Server hosts can flick a switch forcing people to download the information off a separate website, rather than hogging server bandwidth, but it's an option. Whether it will function within the PS3's own web browser isn't yet known.
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Full Story: 1up.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From kotaku.com:
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The US Dollar, it's not looking so hot right now. Something about people not being sensible when purchasing property. End result is that a lot of foreign markets are seeing some issues when it comes to pricing. Like Canada! The mighty Canadian dollar has recently pulled level with the US dollar, meaning one Canadian dollar gets you...one US dollar. Pity game prices don't reflect that: most games and hardware in Canada are still accounting for the old exchange rate. Which means Canadians be gettin' ripped off by about 5-10%.

Enter Sony. They've just lowered the price of both PSN downloads and the PS3 itself to match the new exchange rate, with the Canadian pricing for all PS3 models now matching those in the US ($399 for the 40GB, $499 for the 80GB). Which is great, great news for Canadians, and a brilliant PR move by both SCEA and SCE Canada.
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Full Story: kotaku.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From thesixthaxis.com:
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Yeah, it's there, about 5 hours early. Go get it now before the rest of the world realises. It's 736 MB, and naturally only on the Japanese Store.
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Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From joystiq.com:
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In an interview with Newsweek, Sony America CEO Jack Tretton explains why the 40GB PS3's lack of backwards compatibility with such simple math, it's hard to argue. Tretton breaks down the math all fancy like and makes intelligible that which we've been missing this whole time. The old 60GB PS3 with full BC was $600. The new 40GB PS3 with no PS2 BC is $400. By adding the cost of a PS2 at $129, the total for the two consoles is $529 ($70 less than the original 60GB price). Tretton says, "I've got two machines that do everything the same machine did a year ago at $599. So it's hard for me to see that as a negative for the consumer." That may be some fantastic spin, but at least it's not a lie. Of course, the math would be easier to swallow if the 60GB wasn't really $500, and if said consumer hadn't come to depend on the PS3's upscaling of old games.
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Full Story: joystiq.com | newsweek.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From biz.gamedaily.com:
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Immediately after SCEA officially announced the new 40GB model for $399, GameDaily BIZ got on the phone with Senior Vice President of Marketing Peter Dille. He expects the new price point to make a huge impact. We also discussed controlling leaks, backwards compatibility, Blu-ray momentum and more.

* PD: I haven't seen the September data yet and obviously it won't reflect any of the momentum that we have with this announcement. But to answer your question, we expect tremendous acceleration in the PS3 business following this move; it's why we're doing it. And bear in mind that this isn't just a price reduction based on slow sales. We've engineered a new hardware unit to get to this lower price point. But again, I think it's also important to bear in mind that this new 40GB maintains all the core functionality of the PS3 experience. In other words, we don't have models some of which have a hard drive and some of which don't or some that have Blu-ray and some that don't. Every PS3, no matter what model you have, has Cell technology, has a Blu-ray drive built in, features Wi-Fi, free online gaming; that core experience remains unchanged.
And we expect that $399 opens up the PS3 experience to a whole new audience of people... there's basically a $50 price gap between the $399 unit and the 360's closest comparable unit. And for $50 more you get Blu-ray, you get PS3's free online gaming vs. paying a subscription with a monthly fee. Out of the box, I think the pendulum swings in the PlayStation's favor. What I can tell you, although we won't make predictions on how many we can sell week one, what I can point to is that in the U.K. when they made the introduction of their 40GB their business was up more than 170 percent, right out of the gate.
Price is a significant component here, but the other thing we're very excited about is our lineup of games. We feel we have a great holiday lineup. That combined with the [new price] I think really opens up the PS3 to a very broad audience.

* BIZ: Well, I'm very curious to see how November and December turn out with this new price point.
* PD: November is going to be a great month. We'll have a full month of sales for the 40GB; we'll have Ratchet out in the marketplace, which is just a beautiful game; Uncharted will be out a little later in November; sales of Warhawk and Heavenly Sword are still going strong; Folklore was just released. Again, we've got this very broad portfolio of games to hit the many different gaming tastes, and we think that's going to be significant, as well as the ability to play Blu-ray movies and to tap into all the multimedia functionality that the PS3 offers. We think the holidays is going to be when all this stuff is going to really kick into high gear.
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Full Story: biz.gamedaily.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From the press release:
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Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) today announced plans to introduce a new 40GB model of its PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) computer entertainment system.
Beginning November 2nd, to further enhance the HD entertainment experience, the new 40GB PS3 model will come bundled with the blockbuster movie Spider-Man(TM) 3 Blu-ray Disc(TM) (BD) from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and will be available in North America for a suggested retail price of $399 (USD/CND). The company also announced that effective immediately, the current 80GB PS3 model will be available in North America for $499 (USD/CND), $100 below the original launch price.

"We're pleased to offer the consumer a lower price point without sacrificing the core technology components that make PS3 the most advanced high-definition entertainment system available. Every PS3 comes with a Blu-ray drive, HDMI output, an integrated Wi-Fi connection, Cell Broadband Engine and a built-in hard-drive," said Jack Tretton, President and CEO, SCEA.
"This holiday season we'll be able to offer attractive retail pricing with a broad portfolio of outstanding games including Ratchet & Clank(R) Future: Tools of Destruction(TM), THE EYE OF JUDGMENT(TM), Uncharted: Drake's Fortune(TM), Heavenly Sword(TM), Call of Duty(R) 4: Modern Warfare, Assassin's Creed(TM), Haze(TM) and RockBand(TM)."

The new 40GB PS3 will no longer play PlayStation(R)2 titles, reflecting the availability of a more extensive line-up of PS3 specific titles. Consumers looking for backwards compatibility can take advantage of the limited PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility of the 80GB PS3.
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Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From gamesindustry.biz:
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Following rumours last month that Sony would sell its processor chip manufacturing facilities to Toshiba, the company has announced that it will enter into a joint venture instead.

The agreement, which should be completed by the end of March according to a report by Bloomberg, will see the transfer of manufacturing facilities to Toshiba, while manufacturing will come under the control of the Sony-Toshiba joint venture.
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Full Story: gamesindustry.biz
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From ps3fanboy.com:
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Guerrilla Games gave a nod to the Blu-ray camp, saying the graphics and level of detail found in the game could only be done with large storage space. "It is not a luxury to have Blu-ray, but rather a necessity, as compression only gets you so far. I mean, the level that we showed at E3 and Leipzig topped out around 2GB! Also having the CELL and SPUs means we can offload all of our physics processing to an SPU, or process AI using the SPU's." We're excited to hear more about the game, especially a solid release date. However, we don't expect it to come out anytime soon -- we want them to relax and craft an excellent gaming experience for us.
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Full Story: ps3fanboy.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From wired.com:
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This post in the PlayStation forums claims that Sony Customer Service told the owner of a bricked PS3 that plugging his console into a surge protector had voided his warranty, and that he'd have to pay $150 to have the unit repaired.

This sounded pretty unlikely to us, so we contacted Sony and were told that, no, plugging your PS3 into a surge protector does not void your warranty. Duh. Ok, they didn't actually say "Duh," but it was clearly implied.
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Full Story: wired.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From engadget.com:
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This unit fits snuggly within any Windows-based machine lookin' for a 5.25-inch optical drive, and it has no problems burning dual-layer BD-Rs at a furious (ahem) 4x pace. Additionally, you'll find a SATA interface along with backup software bundled in, and just in case you're not working exclusively with BD-R, it can also toast BD-RE at 2x, DVD±R at 16x, DVD±R DL at 8x, DVD-RW at 6x, CD-R at 40x and CD-RW at 24x.
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Full Story: engadget.com | impress.co.jp
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From engadget.com:
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Ah, Target. The home of so many broken street dates. Just days after letting the Xbox 360 Arcade slip out of its doors early, the retailer is apparently proving that the 40GB PlayStation 3 is indeed coming to America -- and for $399.99, no less. Reportedly, the system is all set to "officially" be released here on October 28th, and while we've no way of confirming, we're hearing that it may be bundled with the upcoming Spider-Man 3 flick, too.
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Full Story: engadget.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From next-gen.biz:
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Following a price cut to the existing 60GB PS3 from £425 to £350, and the introduction to market of a 40GB PS3 for £299, Sony's next-gen console has enjoyed it's third best weekly hardware sales since launching in the UK in March, reports MCV.

According to sales data monitor Chart Track, week-on-week PS3 hardware sales rose by 178 percent. While individual unit sales were not announced, the weekly sales total is the highest since the first two weeks following the console's launch.
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Full Story: next-gen.biz
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From gamesindustry.biz:
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Sony has confirmed that the PlayStation Eye will be out in Europe on November 7.

It will cost GBP 24.99 and come bundled with a free copy of editing suite EyeCreate, which lets users take pictures, video, and audio clips before saving them to the PlayStation 3 hard drive.

The new hardware also comes as part of The Eye of Judgement retail package, which will be out October 26. Sony has promised that consumers who buy the bundle will be able to claim a free copy of EyeCreate from the PlayStation Store.
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Full Story: gamesindustry.biz
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From biz.gamedaily.com:
[QUOTE]
Sony chief executive Sir Howard Stringer is getting his company ready to turn the PlayStation Network into a full-fledged video and music downloads service. The PlayStation Network is expected to extend beyond PlayStation platforms, he said. There's still no time frame for the launch, however.

Whenever Sony eventually does launch its video and music download service, one advantage the company will have (as previously pointed out by SCEA chief exec Jack Tretton) is that it can rely on its own movie studio to provide a wealth of content - content that would likely not appear on Xbox Live, of course.
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Full Story: biz.gamedaily.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From eurasia.nu:
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The hunt for 3D graphics access from homebrew/linux ("Other OS") on the PS3 goes on and the guys over at ps2dev.org have made significant progress recently after IronPeter managed to blit the push buffer from user land using fifo control registers.
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News-Source: eurasia.nu | ps2dev.org
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From gamasutra.com:
[QUOTE]
Talking as part of an in-depth interview published on Gamasutra today, Kojima Productions' Ryan Payton has revealed that there are over 200 developers working to complete Metal Gear Solid 4 for PlayStation 3, also commenting on the game's use of DualShock 3.

"But the game is definitely under a lot of pressure, because the way things are turning out, this could be the first "must have" PlayStation 3 title on store shelves. Or, if not the first, then the second or the third. So, in that sense, there's a lot relying on it. People at Sony know that, and we've got literally 200 guys working on this title, day and night, making sure that it's perfect."

"This will be the premiere DualShock 3 supporting game coming out within the next six months. Gran Turismo 5 is, I'm sure, going to be impressive, but we've got some things that I can't talk about that people are going to really dig."
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Full Story: gamasutra.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From engadget.com:
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Well, it looks like that CECHG01 model PlayStation 3 wasn't the only one that the FCC got to spend a bit of time with recently, with the hereto unheard of CECHH01 model now also finding its way into a couple of more recent filings with the commission. While we can't say for sure what's what, that model number is certainly more than a tad similar to the recently revealed 40GB CECHH00 model announced for Japan, which would seem to suggest that this one can't be all that different.
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Full Story: engadget.com | fcc.gov
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com