From tech.blorge.com:
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First of all, unlike the Xbox 360, the PS3 is DivX certified. While the Microsoft's console can only playback some DivX files, the PS3 will get full DivX functionality. This includes the ability for game developers to use the very efficient compression format for in-game cut-scenes.

This means DivX video cut scenes will reduce stress on the machine, theoretically allowing for better load times, less power consumption, and less heat output.
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Full Story: tech.blorge.com
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From gameplayer.com.au:
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We noticed something a little strange today - we received PS3 preview and review code (provided to journalists only) on DVD format... not Blu-ray. We won't point fingers or name names, but further research through our piles of discs revealed that this was not an isolated incident and that this phenomenon is restricted to games that are, or had been, released on the Xbox 360 as well. That is, multi-format games' not all of them, but some of them.

On face value that didn't seem particularly weird - after all, most multi-format games are indistinguishable across the consoles - but we couldn't shake the feeling of being sold short. Really, shouldn't there be some type of PS3 specific optimisation that makes use of this all-powerful Blu-ray format? Given that developers have access to an extra, what, 20-odd gig with Blu-ray, shouldn't games be stepping up?
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Full Story: gameplayer.com.au (2 pages)
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From ps3fanboy.com:
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Don't have a credit card? Want to purchase things on the PLAYSTATION Store? No worries. Now you have the PLAYSTATION Network card. The kind folks at SCEA sent us an early Christmas gift -- a card that's redeemable for PS3 and PSP purchases on the PLAYSTATION Store. No further details have been officially released, but rest assured that these cards will be readily available in retail stores in the future.
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Full Story: ps3fanboy.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From gamasutra.com:
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Hardware numbers were up 47% to $1.1 billion, with the DS and Wii both nearly tripling and doubling the month prior, respectively, followed by similarly impressive jumps for the Xbox 360, PSP, PlayStation 2, and then PlayStation 3. The full charts are as follows:

Nintendo DS - 1.53 million (from 458k)
Wii - 981K (from 519k)
Xbox 360 - 770K (from 366k)
PSP - 567K (from 286k)
PlayStation 2 - 496K (from 184k)
PlayStation 3 - 466K (from 121k)

Frazier noted that both the Wii and PlayStation 3 have the most reason to celebrate, with the PS3 making the biggest month-to-month leap of any console, and the Wii seeing its best-selling month so far, outselling last December by 60%. "Since there is still an evident inventory shortage at retail," she added, "it's difficult to say just how high sales could be if you took that issue out of the equation."
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Full Story: gamasutra.com
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For those of you that have Japanese Yen and an Japanese PS Network account ready, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is now available for download on the PlayStation Store.
The online price is 4,500 yen, which is approximately 40USD/27EUR.

Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From gamesindustry.biz:
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The expansion of the PlayStation Network, which will enable users to download games, movies and music for multiple devices, will propel Sony into a software powerhouse, said CEO Sir Howard Stringer.

Sir Howard told The Financial Times that Sony would focus on innovation and shift to digitisation from hardware as pillars of growth as it nears the end of its three-year restructuring plan.

"Over the next two years we will find ourselves in competition with Apple and Microsoft," he said. "If we can connect the dots we have a great advantage over consumer electronics rivals and some advantage over Apple and Microsoft."
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Full Story: gamesindustry.biz
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From gamesindustry.biz:
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Sony Corporation's CEO, Howard Stringer, has told reporters in Tokyo that the company is still on course to post a 5 per cent operating profit in its fiscal year, which ends in March.

But crucially the company's electronics sales haven't been affected but the "dodgy" economic slowdown in the US, and that the company had no plans to sell off any of its entertainment subsidiaries.
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Full Story: gamesindustry.biz
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From joystiq.com:
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Screen Digest analyst Piers Harding-Rolls reckons that by 2011, the PlayStation 3 will not only have surpassed the Xbox 360, but will have caught up with the wildly popular Wii's worldwide install base. Though the PlayStation 3 has fared better in Japan following a price drop, the results of the American cut have yet to be revealed. A notable increase in sales is likely, but will it result in a continuing trend that eventually puts it on par with the Wii? It certainly doesn't seem realistic today, but who (aside from the analysts) knows what things await in the year 2011?
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Full Story: joystiq.com | economist.com
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From next-gen.biz:
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Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter believes that US videogame sales during November generated $1 billion, while Nintendo lead the way in the console market.

Hardware sell-through estimates for November are as follows, with The simExchange predictions in brackets for comparison purposes.
Wii - 950,000 (1,060,000)
Xbox 360 - 750,000 (728,000)
PS3 - 420,000 (410,000)
PS2 - 485,000 (n/a)
PSP - 650,000 (468,000)
DS - 1,350,000 (1,300,000)
GBA - 170,000 (n/a)
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Full Story: next-gen.biz
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From kotaku.com:
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It looks like Ash may have been right. Stuff magazine is running a rumor item on the possibility of an upcoming Aibo, the robotic dog, working with the Playstation Portable and Playstation 3. The rumor goes that the Sony Aibo PS, as they call it, is being resuscitated by Sony's Playstation division in an attempt to "bolster the PS3's arsenal."

The Aibo PS will appear with its own avatar within Home and react in the real world as he does in the PS3's upcoming interactive environment, according to the article. The rumor article goes on to say that you will be able to download new personalities for the dog from the Playstation Network and that the dog will be fully controllable using a PSP via WiFi. The dog's head camera will send a real world vid feed to the PSP's screen as well. The Dpad will control walking movement and the four main buttons will deal with head movement, which seems odd.
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Full Story: kotaku.com (incl. screenshot of magazine)
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From engadget.com:
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With prices on HD DVD players in a perpetual state of free fall, it was only a matter of time before the slashings bled over to the other camp. Sure enough, Samsung's fairly well spec'd BD-P1400 -- which was announced at $549 and sold at $499 in late August -- has sunk to $298.76 at Amazon.com.
And hey, if you need extra incentive, there's always the five free flicks that come along with it.
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Full Story: engadget.com
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