PS3 Firmware Update 3.10 Up and Live

By Joe Haygood | November 19, 2009

sony_ps3480 It is always a nice surprise to log into your PS3 and see that there is a new update for your machine. I was unaware that a new firmware update was coming to the PS3, but it seems that the 3.10 update has been in the works for a little while now. So far, I do not see much change in the interface, save that I can change the background of my display card that others will see in their friends list. Also, it now tiles up pictures, according to the notes, but I had no pictures on the system to see if this was true.

Another item that I cannot verify is Facebook integration. I have read on several other sites that there is some basic Facebook integration, but I could not find it anywhere.

If you want the latest firmware, just head to the System Update selection under the Settings section of the XMB. It is a small update, and took about 15 minutes max to download and install.

Capcom Is Thrilled Adhoc Party Is Coming November 19th

By Paul Munn | November 16, 2009

ps3_adhocparty_us Last week the PS Blog mentioned that Adhoc Party was finally coming to the USA, and IGN notes they’ve gotten a press release that says this Thursday the 19th is the big day for its release. This is very welcome news, and Capcom immediately blurted out a very hastily written email right after Friday’s announcement that couldn’t contain their excitement at never having to add online modes to their PSP games:

Did you hear the news? Sony’s Ad-hoc Party feature for the PSP is coming to North America this month! This awesome new service allows you to play Monster Hunter Freedom Unite ONLINE by enabling your PSP to play through your PS3. This is HUGE news for Monster Hunter fans as now they can play MHFU with their Monster Hunter buddies around the country! The new feature also allows you to use text or voice chat to communicate with friends, which is critical for coordinating those 4 player hunts and taking out those tougher Monsters.

Granted that Adhoc Party will actually bring lots and lots of OLD PSP games online, going back literally years with no patching needed, but it’s also letting developers off the hook to a certain extent. Keep in mind that your PS3 will have to be dedicated to this to work — no DVD, Blu-ray or Netflix use by someone else in your household while you’re online with the PSP — and that you need a hard-line ethernet connection to it so the PSP can talk to it via the built-in Wi-Fi chipset. It’s a great deal for existing PS3 owners at zero dollars and zero cents and no ongoing online service fee.

All of that said, the technical triumphs of things like the two excellent Syphon Filter PSP games from the Sony Bend Studio that included not just online play for a first-person shooter but also had voice chat proved years ago that it could be done, and done well, without having to fall back to another service. Yes, this is just like having Xbox Live to fall back on if you think about it, and yes, this might help boost sales, but there are side benefits to running your own servers.
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Weekend AeroProTip: Beatles Rock Band

By Joe Fourhman | November 7, 2009

GAME> The Beatles: Rock Band (2009)
SYSTEM> Sony PlayStation3
SOURCE> Email from GameStop, October 2009

Sssh! This code was a GameStop exclusive! Don’t tell anybody!

Netflix Instant Streaming to Start Tomorrow On PS3

By Joe Haygood | November 5, 2009

netflixps3

We all saw the announcement a week or so ago that mentioned Netflix Instant Streaming coming to PS3 sometime in November. Well that time seems to be tomorrow, as I just received an email from Netflix stating that my Instant Streaming disc will be arriving tomorrow (November 6th).

Anyone else receive their announcement email yet? And are you surprised with how quickly this announcement went from press conference to reality. I mean, it is Sony, not Apple.

Sony Rotates The Shield Harmonics On Trophy Data

By Paul Munn | October 29, 2009

trophies_with_border When TripleTags closed up shop for good last week I felt bad about the great art those guys had put together for my “now playing” card, but I’d fallen out of habit updating my Trophy card there. Plus I’d signed up on GamerDNA.com’s site after hearing they were getting Trophy data from SCEA daily. And it worked, sort of, at least until this past week. It turns out that neither they nor Raptr can get Trophy data any longer, confirming my early suspicions that these sites weren’t authorized to get that data in the first place.

This makes me want TripleTags back so I can have a really great-looking Trophy card again instead of the sad-looking one available on the PSN. So why did it go under? Site owner Joshua “SectionZ” Hernandez (a guest of the Aeropodcast) posted on Facebook that he didn’t have time to maintain it any longer now that his new game software company Metamoorephosis is off to a great start with purcussONE and bitFLIP.

Will GamerDNA and Raptr get Trophy data back? I imagine they could continue to try and scrape it off of the site. I suspect this is what PlayFire is doing with the EU arm of Sony. But without an official connection it’ll be a losing battle.

Lexar Memory Stick Deals

By Paul Munn | October 21, 2009

lexar_mspd_w15px_border Think your PSP-2000 or 3000 is perfectly fine compared to a Go? Got enough space in there for some tantalizing digital downloads? If you need more, check out a couple of deals on Memory Stick Pro Duo cards I saw over at DealNews. You can get a 4GB stick for $9.99 and an 8GB for $14.99 with $2.95 shipping additional on either of them at JR.com.

That’s a great deal for a whopping amount of storage. I’ve had a 4GB stick in my PSP for probably three years now and think that as more and more PSP games go download-only an 8GB will only be more useful.

NPD Says The PS3 Price Cut Worked

By Paul Munn | October 19, 2009

ps_logo_gray_95x95 The NPD numbers covering September (five weeks from August 30th to October 6th to be exact) are out, and the PlayStation 3 price cut to $299 seems to have worked. Microsoft cut their console down to size as well, of course, and even Nintendo decided to take a dip in the profitability of their console with their drop to $199, boosting everyone’s numbers, but the PS3 outsold everything except for the DS.

The DS didn’t exactly blow its doors off, though. The DS sold 524k, the PS3 sold 491k, the Wii sold 462k, the Xbox 360 sold 352k, and the PSP (pre-Go, remember) chugged along at 191K. In last place, limping along, is the PS2 with 142k units sold. The 360’s number is nothing to sneeze at, but it looks like that PS3 price cut showed that consumers still really did want a PlayStation 3 after all this time. Does Microsoft consider that along with having sold a full 110,000 units less than the Wii this time a problem?

September was also notable for stopping a long slide of months where game sales were down significantly from the previous year. This is no small feat, even if this month just meant staying on par with 2008. New consoles on the market could have been a big part of that and if the holidays are good to those new console owners it could very well be a very happy holiday for all three console makers after all.

Seen at Gamespot.

Angry at the PSP Go? Just Wait.

By Paul Munn | October 6, 2009

mob_pitchforks_small Reviewers are giving the Go some serious flak for what isn’t a surprise: the fact that you can’t use UMDs in it. This seems to be the number one crucial failing of the new handheld and it’s a deliberate design decision. ArsTechnica spells it out clearly, bashing the Go as a pro-Sony and anti-consumer device with a price point that’s “almost a sick joke” in this recession. It’s all about having one seller with no price competition from retail.

Hm, let me think, what else raised this kind of torch-and-pitchfork no-retail-competition gamer rage in the past? What was it? I’m having a hard time remembering now since everyone has since gone back to their homes and stoped raging against it since it’s considered a success. Oh yeah, it’s Steam!
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UK retailers already dropping PSPgo price

By Adam Englebright | October 5, 2009

sony_psp_go
The PSPgo has been out for about four days, and… well, Eurogamer is reporting that UK retailers Amazon.co.uk, Play.com, and GAME have already dropped the price of Sony’s new handheld to £199.99, (or about $350). Other retailers have retained the original price, and Sony have announced an 120% sales increase in PSP’s overall, however, sales of the PSPgo only equalled PSP-3000 sales.

PSP ads in GMail compromising my ability to view my inbox

By Stephen Munn | October 5, 2009

Weird PSP ad in Gmail If you use GMail, you’re familiar with the Google ads that appear just above the message controls. For the past few weeks, I’ve been struggling with the ads for PSP software that have been showing up here. For some reason, the letters “ffi” in “Official” are larger and fancier than the rest of the text. This pushes the line of text down slightly and makes it impossible to click the items below it, most importantly, the “Back to Inbox” text. Of course, I can still get to my Inbox using one of the other links on the page, like the column on the left, but this is still a pain in the ass. I’ve become used to clicking here, and every time I do so, I’m suddenly viewing Sony’s Gran Turismo for PSP website.

Maybe it’s the conspiracy theorist in me, but this almost seems as though it was planned. I wonder how many click-throughs Sony’s getting for this, entirely by accident. Is anyone else seeing this, or do I need to check my settings?

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