From cens.com:
[QUOTE]
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., one of the world`s leading manufacturers on electronic manufacturing service (EMS) basis, recently joined Sony`s supply chain to deliver Play Station 3 (PS3) consoles, according to industry sources.

The sources noted that Sony has set a shipment goal of 10 million PS3 consoles for the first quarter of 2008. This means fierce competition in the global market for game consoles and will lead to a boom in the sector making consumer electronics.

Insiders in the sector said that Sony has cut the selling price of PS3 consoles, and, at the mean time, planned to launch low-price models, with ASUSTeK Computer Inc. and Hon Hai Precision to supply the models.
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Full Story: cens.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From next-gen.biz:
[QUOTE]
He also notes that should whisperings about a PlayStation 2 price cut to $99 and the release of a new $399 40GB PS3 turn out to be more than just rumors, the Tokyo Game Show would be an ideal venue for Sony to make such announcements.

"We think that both of these ideas have merit, and note that Sony Computer Entertainment president Kaz Hirai is the keynote speaker at next week's Tokyo Game Show. If the rumors are true, we cannot think of a better forum for making such an announcement, given that the event is less than a week before the launch of archrival Microsoft's Halo 3.

"Should Sony choose to cut prices next week, we think that hardware sales will trend much higher for the balance of the year, and we are prepared to revise our 18% sales growth estimate upward."

Pachter also reaffirmed his past forecast that the 80GB PS3 (without a game) is in line for a price cut to $499 prior to Thanksgiving.
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Full Story: next-gen.biz
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

New video released of the Playstation Home Beta Upgrade with New Feautures and Locations.

From biz.gamedaily.com:
[QUOTE]
This past weekend, we met up with Matthew Callaway, product director for Winamp, as he showed us the new Winamp Remote on a Nintendo Wii. The result in the Wii Web Browser shows a simplified interface that feels inspired by iPod where players use a simple four-direction control scheme to select and stream video, audio, podcasts or even a friend's media collection. Callaway says that the same interface is what PlayStation 3 owners would see as console specific changes are done behind the scenes as the host PC optimizes the stream based on the console and the connection speed.

The product is relatively simple; users store their music files on a PC with Winamp running. Then they enable the application for remote access. After setting that up, users fire up the Wii or PlayStation 3 web browser and head to http://winamp.com/remote to sign in. As long as the host PC is on, has Winamp running and connected to the Internet, the user can allow a friend to stream music and video from that machine too. If the user was on the road, at a party, over a friend's or trapped in a coffee house with bad music, they can access their tunes remotely from anywhere with an Internet connection.
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Full Story: biz.gamedaily.com
Download WinAmp 5.5 Beta: beta.aol.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From n4g.com:
[QUOTE]
Today a Dutch game site posted their interview with Hideo Kojima himself. When the following question was asked, he said:

* Question: Was it difficult to say goodbye to this big franchise?
* Answer Kojima: No, actually not. I believe the MGS range will continue. Just like the James Bond frinchise. This is a job for my new staff and they may use the MGS for a new franchise however they like. I won't be a part of this according the details, but will only be the producer.
The only sad thing is to say goodbye to Solid Snake, because I created that character.
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Full Story: n4g.com | gamert.nl
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From gamesradar.com:
[QUOTE]
It might be the platform of choice for frat-pack teabaggers, FPS enthusiasts and people who play Blue Dragon, but Xbox 360 just isn't cool, according to a recent poll. In a list compiled by the SuperBrands group, Nintendo and PlayStation eased into the top 20 coolest brands, while Microsoft's next-gen console failed to impress.

PlayStation clocked in just below Google at sixth place in the top twenty list of cool brands, while Nintendo reached ninth place. Aston Martin topped the table, followed by iPod and YouTube.
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Full Story: gamesradar.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From psu.com:
[QUOTE]
The PlayStation 3 firmware v1.93 has just been released.

According to recent reports, the new firmware update only fixes minor networking bugs from the 1.92 patch. Also Warhawk should be running much smoother with the update.
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Full Story: psu.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From gamasutra.com:
[QUOTE]
Specifically, the overall numbers are impressive, with game hardware and software sales combined up to $993 million in August 2007, from just $669 million in August 2006. Overall game hardware numbers were particularly strong, up to $384 million from $198 million the previous year, but all sectors saw growth.

Turning to hardware sales for the month, the top sellers for August 2007 in North America, listed in descending order with lifetime to date statistics in brackets, are as follows:
Nintendo Wii - 403,600 (4.0 million)
Nintendo DS - 383,300 (12.7 million)
Xbox 360 - 276,700 (6.3 million)
PlayStation 2 - 202,000 (39.1 million)
PlayStation Portable - 151,200 (8.3 million)
PlayStation 3 - 130,600 (1.75 million)

Comparing to July's sales, the Xbox 360's sales have surged from 170,000 to 276,700 thanks to its price cut, but the PlayStation 3's sales have actually declined in August over July's 159,000.
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Full Story: gamasutra.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From biz.gamedaily.com:
[QUOTE]
Sony's PlayStation 3 will follow Microsoft's Xbox 360 into the video market, but will blaze its own distinct path.
That's the early word from Sony Computer Entertainment America president and CEO Jack Tretton, who does not expect the PS3 to adopt the monthly fee imposed by its rival console on the Xbox Live service. The latter continues to gain traction not just for online gaming but also as a platform for downloadable movies, TV episodes and other content.

Tretton said that a key differentiator for Sony would be that unlike Microsoft, SCEA can count on content to come from within the company.
"Everybody in the world has rightly pointed out that Sony is uniquely positioned with having a great heritage in hardware, and a great heritage in software -- they own a music business, they own a successful movie studio and a successful gaming division," he said. "So just based on our internal resources alone we should be able to take advantage of synergies. We're working closely together to come up with a service that we think will be of benefit to the consumer as well as not just the PlayStation brand but potentially across all Sony properties."

But the real question has always been the timing of this new strategy, and the only answers coming thus far from SCEA is not quite yet.
"Given that it's September, it's not something that we see happening in 2007," Tretton said. "But I would say the near future and clearly within this platform lifecycle."
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Full Story: biz.gamedaily.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From gamesindustry.biz:
[QUOTE]
"One of the challenges that we have is to get over the mentality of Home being your typical product launch," said MacDonald, speaking in an exclusive interview published today.
"In the past we'd make a game, put it on a disc and launch it in the shops. But this is so different.
"It's a constantly evolving thing. Week by week and month by month it evolves. There isn't going to be this 'big bang' launch. That's how you do it in the Web 2.0 world, if you're familiar with the launch of Gmail or something like that," detailed MacDonald.

"It's already out there in a closed beta and we're going to an open beta in the next couple of months and then it will be available on the Cross Media Bar soon after," said MacDonald, vice president of SCE worldwide studios.
"At the moment the closed beta is employees, trusted third-parties and people like that. An open beta will be a wider audience but it won't be open to everybody.
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Full Story: gamesindustry.biz
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From gizmodo.com:
[QUOTE]
PS3 fans will be happy with Logitech's new headset and keyboard. The Cordless Vantage headset and MediaBoard keyboard both have Bluetooth technology, and will be out Stateside in time for the Holidays.

The headset and keyboard cost $79.99 each and will be available in the US in November and Europe the following month.
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Full Story: gizmodo.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From n4g.com
[QUOTE]
On Sony's UK site the release date is given for PS3 Home. The release date is said to be July-September. Keep your eyes peeled for Home this month, at least for the UK.
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Full Story: uk.playstation.com | n4g.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From gamers-creed.co:
[QUOTE]
This paper studies a deferred pixel shading algorithm implemented on a Cell-based computer entertainment system. The pixel shader runs on the Synergistic Processing Units (SPUs) of the Cell and works concurrently with the GPU to render images. The system's unified memory architecture allows the Cell and GPU to exchange data through shared textures.

The SPUs use the Cell DMA list capability to gather irregular fine-grained fragments of texture data generated by the GPU. They return resultant shadow textures the same way. The shading computation ran at up to 85 Hz at HDTV 720p resolution on 5 SPUs and generated 30.72 gigaops of performance. This is comparable to the performance of the algorithm running on a state of the art high end GPU. These results indicate that a hybrid solution in which the Cell and GPU work together can produce higher performance than either device working alone.
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Download: research.scea.com
News-Source: gamers-creed.co
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From next-gen.biz:
[QUOTE]
NCsoft North America CEO Robert Garriott expounded on the recently announced partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment that will bring NCsoft properties to PS3.

He said that Sony's online vision for PS3 melds with NCsoft's strategy. "The ideal system would be an extremely capable, stable platform, with the best Internet connectivity and greatest freedom of web access and interaction available to the user," he said. "This combination of access, openness and ability to bring NCsoft to the console market is very attractive. In this case, we felt like Sony fit the bill."

It's rather easy to see where Garriott is going with his comments. Although he doesn't ever mention the Xbox 360 or Xbox Live, NCsoft apparently prefers Sony's more lax approach to online, in which game companies have a greater ability to choose how their games will utilize online, whereas Microsoft has a more closed online strategy that sacrifices some of that freedom for a standardized setup run by Microsoft.

PS3 NCsoft games would incorporate "traditional subscription models, micropayment systems and free-to-play games with membership options," according to the CEO.
[/QUOTE]

Full Story: next-gen.biz
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From kotaku.com:
[QUOTE]
While the potential may sound saucy, Home's 18-plus zones will most likely be less randy than other unnamed online social networks, with Edwards riffing about stuff like casinos and mature rated game trailers being restricted to the kids. Expect less "Wild West" experiences, says Edwards, and more family geared Home socializing.

The execs also touch on some of the economic aspects of Home, touting the potential for consumer-to-consumer exchanges via built in tools, including, for example, virtual t-shirt sales. With the recent registration of Sony's Dress trademark, one might wonder how close to completion some of these tools may be.
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Full Story: kotaku.com | threespeech.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From videobusiness.com:
[QUOTE]
New Line Home Entertainment will set holiday style Nov. 20, when it releases Hairspray in three standard DVD versions and on Blu-ray Disc, the studio's first high-definition release.

The dual-format supporting studio also will release the musical on HD DVD, but not until the first half of 2008 due to the format's lack of regional coding, making the title a de facto Blu-ray exclusive in the fourth quarter.
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Full Story: videobusiness.com (via n4g.com)
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From out-law.com:
[QUOTE]
A documentary that cited video games among the reasons for childhood obesity did not treat Sony unfairly when criticising the PlayStation maker's refusal to sponsor a fitness scheme for kids. Sony also lost a claim that the company's privacy was breached.

The ruling was published by Ofcom, the regulator for the UK's communications industries, yesterday. Sony Computer Entertainment UK Ltd had complained that Ian Wright's Unfit Kids, a Channel 4 show presented by the former footballer, made Sony the target for unfair, one-side and pejorative comment.

Sony also argued that its privacy was "unwarrantably infringed" when footage of the company's offices and logo were used and a confidential email from the company was included in the programme.
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Full Story: out-law.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From biz.gamedaily.com:
[QUOTE]
Ken Kutaragi, a true pioneer in the video game industry, will be honored at the ESA's special children's charities fundraising event, Nite to Unite for Kids. He will get the 2008 Champion Honoree award for his contributions to the gaming world.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has sent word that Ken Kutaragi, who is now honorary chairman, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) and senior technology advisor, Sony Corporation following his official retirement in June, will be the 2008 Champion Honoree at the "Nite to Unite for Kids" (NTU) event.
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Full Story: biz.gamedaily.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From gamesindustry.biz
[QUOTE]
Epic's Mark Rein has clarified rumours regarding Unreal Tournament 3's release date on PlayStation 3.

"The PS3 console exclusivity is not in doubt. We are shipping the game on the PS3 well before the Xbox 360 version ships," Rein told GamesIndustry.biz "That's the version we are working on right now. We do not have a date for the Xbox 360 version."
"Nothing has changed at this point," Rein said. "We're working toward a November release."
[/QUOTE]

Full Story: gamesindustry.biz
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From kotaku.com:
[QUOTE]
USA Today ran one of those no-brainer stories today about how people won't, in fact, pay anything for electronics and do have limits for how much they're willing to spend. The story was spurred by last week's announcement by Steve Jobs that he was dropping the price of the iPhone by $200 (Hey, it suckered me into getting one.)

After citing an analyst saying that most consumers will only pay about $400 for a "typical electronic item" the story goes on to list "several recent cutting-edge devices (that) have struggled to find buyers" among them, both the PS3 and Blu-ray players.
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Full Story: kotaku.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From wired.com:
[QUOTE]
The folks at Curmudgeongamer decided to test the backwards compatibility of both the 60 GB and 80 GB versions of the PS3. With graphs and everything!

Using Sony's Software Compatibility Search tool and his own library of 90 PS2 games, Curmudgeon's jvm found that the 60 GB was compatible with 98.9% of his games. All but one worked perfectly, or with "minor inconvenient issues" like corrupted audio or graphics. The 80 GB didn't fare quite as well: 12 of jvm's games were unplayable, giving the unit an overall score of 84%.
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Full Story: wired.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From arstechnica.com:
[QUOTE]
Our mole has a great track record: both the Xbox 360 HDMI story and the wired Xbox 360 Rock Band controllers have since been confirmed. Whoever our friendly inside source is, he's got some great contacts. Now he's ready to tell us what Sony's console pricing plans may soon look like. Here's how Sony's platform pricing will shape up by the holiday shopping season:

* 80GB PlayStation 3: $499.99
* 40GB PlayStation 3: $399.99
* Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray movie pack in with one, or both
* PlayStation 2: $99.99
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Full Story: arstechnica.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com

From thebitbag.com:
[QUOTE]
New Rules for a New IT World, will showcase ways to use the PLAYSTATION3 (PS3) system as a powerful personal computing device by running the Linux operating system and Firefox web browser during the Office 2.0 Conference in San Francisco on September 5-7, 2007.

The PLAYSTATION3 system will be powering the conference's agendas and special announcement via a Wi-Fi network that will be broadcasted on flat panel displays throughout the conference. From building web pages to using word processors and accessing email, PS3 allows consumers to not only enjoy games and entertainment in the living room, but also to take advantage of the office productivity and Web 2.0 applications available today.
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Full Story: thebitbag.com
Discuss on our forums: forums.ps3scene.com