If you're really starved for anything related to Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII, then we might have an appetizer for you today. It's not much at all, but GameInformer has gotten a hold of five screenshots that, for the most part, haven't been seen. Whether or not these are hi-res screencaps of the closed-door videos shown at TGS are anyone's guess, but they seem to detail predominantly summoned creatures, a big ol' airship of ultimate destruction, and that funky Seifer-meets-beanie guy. Whether or not five screenshots tickle your fancy is up to you, but it's good to see a trickle of info about this game every now and then.

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Engadget is reporting that the new 40GB PS3 - which is on sale right now in Europe and Australia and which will be released in early November in America and Japan - is built quite differently from its 60GB and 80GB brethren. It seems Sony has done a bit of cleaning up of the internals of the machine by utilising a new motherboard and smaller components. Even the Cell itself has had a bit of a spruce up and the chips inside the 40GB SKUs are of the 65nm variety.

This means that the 40GB PS3 runs quieter, cooler and at a lower power consumption than its big brothers. For audio-visual-philes this can only be a good thing when the PS3 is being used as a media hub. We've never had a problem with our PS3s making noise, but we're always happy to see technology get improved.

So firmware 2.00 is coming and, if this is any indication, it's coming soon. What will it contain? At this moment, there's nothing concrete except for Remote Start - which is a great feature, but we know that you guys are expecting so much more. We'll keep you up to date with any developments.

Playlogic, an independent games developer and publisher based in the Netherlands, have told UK trade magazine MCV that they are working on a new IP for the PS3. The game is still in the very early stages, but they are confident that it will be a worthy addition to the console's lineup. Playlogic have also made a promise to increase their presence within the UK thanks to successes in the region with Obscure II, Infernal and Xyanide Resurrection.

The in-house development studio is currently working on a Wii port of their survival horror title Obscure II as well as a new Simon the Sorcerer game for the PC (yes - we're excited too!), both of which will be out in the first quarter of 2008. Today's announcement marks the first time that Playlogic will have moved into the next generation and we're always happy to see developers jump onboard the PS3 bandwagon. We look forward to seeing what they come up with.

Evan Wells sat down with PALGN for an interview about Uncharted recently, talking the game up with words of praise and the promise of treats. Well, he talked about the game, anyway. It's a long interview, so we'll skip the story stuff in case you don't want to know. Wells believes our first playthrough will last from 10-12 hours, but with four levels of difficulty, the hardcore bunch will probably enjoy trying out the hardest mode of all. There are 60 little treasures hidden throughout the game as well, so finding them will probably take more than one run through the game unless you're very, very meticulous.

Also, "we've also put into the game a medal system, so as you're playing the game if you perform special feats you'll get medals, such as getting a certain number of headshots, getting a certain number of headshots in a row, killing people, doing a special brawl combo, just lots of things along the way that will unlock the medals. The medals then contribute to your overall medal score and your medal scores then feed into our bonus system which allows all of the unlockables to be unlocked." Sounds like there's plenty to do in the game other than just blaze through it! The medal system is also planned to turn into a trophy system once Home hits. Rumble is built right into the game, so for those of you who'll be importing Dual Shock 3's, you've got a surefire rumbling game on your hands.

The meat of the interview is why Uncharted could only be on the PS3. Wells explains a number of reasons. First, standard hard drive creates the seamless, load free world. Blu-ray helped squeeze the 24GB game on a single disc -- he says it wouldn't have been impossible on DVD, but the game would have been very, very different. Future games, Wells declares, will probably demand a dual-layered Blu-ray disc. The Cell processor served as a very handy tool for compiling all of Nathan's 3,500 animations as well, so you'll see the right reaction, or a random/new reaction, every time something happens. Wells admitted that "As far as the Cell processor and the SPU's are concerned we were only using about 1/3 to 1/2 of the SPU's at one time and so there is still quite a bit more we can do." We can't wait to see what the future holds, but for now, we can't wait to play Uncharted!

The question if retail outlets would receive shipments of the 40GB PS3 around Oct. 28 has been answered. Yes they did, and Wal-Mart has gone so far as put the darn thing on the shelf! A sharp-eyed PS3 Fanboy recently spotted the goof at a Wal-Mart in Birmingham, Ala., which is about three days ahead of the 40GB's officially scheduled Nov. 2 launch.

We're sure we'll hear more stories of retailers jumping the gun in the next few days, and while we're sure it doesn't make Sony a happy camper, it's definitely a win for us.

[Thanks for the tip, H. Phillips!]

The latest issue of Famitsu features an interview with the Monster Hunter team. Many PS3 fans were angered when the company made a surprising platform change for the upcoming Monster Hunter 3. The PS3 version of the game was canceled and became a Wii exclusive.

According to Famitsu (translation by IGN), representatives of Capcom had a "big apology" for PS3 fans. "Famitsu pointed out that some people may have purchased a PS3 once Monster Hunter 3 was announced last year. This drew a big apology from the Capcom reps, who said that PS3 owners should wait for further announcements in the series."

Capcom is supposedly increasing their focus on PS3 development, but no significant projects have been announced for PS3 yet. A PS3 port of Lost Planet was recently revealed at its Gamers Day. If Capcom's asking PS3 owners to "wait" for another MH-related announcement, we have a feeling many Sony fans are going to be quite disappointed.

[Via PSPHyper]

Take a lot of unnecessary plastic, a game that seems unplayable even in the 1980's, and a humorous English accent and you've got yourself a full dissection of the PolyStation 3 -- that's right, the PolyStation 3. As far as knock-off's go, this one's got a brilliant mini-PS3 design, executed in a way that would make one-dollar stores across the world cry in pain. There's nothing we can say about this video except insist you watch it. Stuff like this should be destroyed at the core. Oh, if you haven't beaten Bioshock, you may get treated to a spoiler near the end. Fair warning.

[via Digg]

A long-forgotten PS1-era "franchise" may be making a return to the PS3. Blasto has been spotted in the US Patents & Trademarks Office database. The filing comes from Sony Computer Entertainment America and was filed just six days ago, October 23rd. Interestingly, there appears to be some kind of online element to the game, as described by the listing: "OPERATING A REAL-TIME GAME FOR OTHERS OVER GLOBAL AND LOCAL AREA COMPUTER NETWORKS."

What will this Blasto trademark lead to? A brand new online game? Or just a re-release of the PS1 classic? It's hard to tell right now, but considering how poorly received the original game was, we'd much prefer a new game.

[Thanks, Joe!]

Here are twenty new screenshots from the PS3 build of TimeShift. The demo, which is currently available on Xbox 360 and PC, showcases the various time shifting abilities you have: you can rewind time, slow time and pause time -- each has their own strategic benefits. This looks like a solid shooter, but will it be able to stand out in a very crowded holiday, which includes Call of Duty 4 and Haze?

[Correction: TimeShift is not currently on the PS Store.]

Reggie Fils-Aime, one of the heads of the hydra at Nintendo (figuratively speaking ... or are we?), was recently asked which titles he was jealous weren't on the Wii. Without hesitation, Fils-Aime barked out: "I've been very intrigued with Little Big Planet (from Sony). I don't know that it belongs on their platform." He then said Nintendo would like the first person shooters from Microsoft like Halo and Bioshock. But he never said those didn't belong on the 360.

Now, color us crazy, but is Fils-Aime implying that LittleBigPlanet would serve audiences better on the Wii? He does realize the graphics would get a pretty noticeable downgrade and that there needs to be a very open, accessible, and powerful online platform behind the game, right? No? Oh well. Sure, it may seem like it fits in with the casual crowd more, but the casual crowd also wouldn't build a level and upload it for their friends to play. What do you guys think? Is the PS3 the right platform for LittleBigPlanet or not?

It's been over two years since we've heard anything about Eight Days and The Getaway 3. We just saw a video of them way back when the PS3 was trying to find its legs. It seems the website LusoPlay has stumbled upon some information about the games, however, and it may or may not be true we'll see some information on both in the coming month.

Says a poorly translated LusoPlay: "We know that the month of November will be the month of all revelations, and even prepared a small event for these two games." So if Sony has prepared a small event, we should be hearing something pretty soon, right? As far as we know, there's nothing planned in November besides the Great Influx of Games (GIG for those with an acronym fetish). Still, we don't know everything. We'll file this under the big ol' rumor section for now.

[via PS3Forums]

If you're a human, you probably don't like spending money unnecessarily. If you're like us humans, you'd love to hear about deals that will save you some cash and still deliver some excitement -- like gaming. Today we've got a deal on NBA 2K8 -- a pretty new game whose price has been slashed from $60 to $45, so grab one while you can. If you've read our review, you'll know that newbies should beware, but players of previous iterations will feel right at home with their b-ball (if the kids seriously are still calling it that) skills.

[Via CAG]

Quickly scanning this week's Blu-ray releases, it's hard to notice anything but Spider-Man 3 or its trilogy, but if you're a tree-hugging hippie, you'll definitely be in for a treat.

• Spider-Man: The High Definition Trilogy
• Spider-Man 3
• David Gilmour: Remember That Night
• The Polar Express
• Exotic Saltwater Aquarium
• Fireplace: Visions of Tranquility
• HDScape Sampler
• License to Wed
• Antarctica Dreaming: Wildlife on Ice
• HD Window: Hawaii
• Visions of the Sea: Explorations
• Serenity: Southern Seas
• HD Window: The Great Southwest
• Digital Video Essentials
• StarGaze II: Visions of the Universe

Although there's 15 releases this week, it definitely isn't the strongest lineup we've seen. However, we're pretty excited to finally see Digital Video Essentials heading our way.

The Poll Police are cracking down on an interesting bit of crime this week -- by crime we mean news and by interesting we mean surprising. Sony unleashed the PlayStation Eye this past week, bundled with the Eye of Judgment collectible card game. Much to our surprise, these cards face the music of mass duplication and loss of card-sales. Our poll this week has four parts so all witnesses can testify -- do you have EoJ? Would you copy cards to build a "better" deck? If you don't have the game, how would you play it? Don't worry, you're in no danger from answering this poll, so be honest.

How are you going to play Eye of Judgment?
	I own it, but I'm going to buy my cards.
	I own it, but I'll copy my cards from now on.
	I don't own it, but I'd buy the cards if I did.
	I don't own it, but I'd print duplicates.
pollcode.com free polls

To us, the only downside to this copying conundrum is the idea that profits will decline for Sony and Wizards of the Coast, which will decrease support for expansions and other card games on the PS3 in the future. To CCG players, this is devastating. See, copying the cards means nothing if you've played the game. There are so many limitations on the more "powerful" cards that stacking a deck is pointless. All you could do is build a decent one, which most players who purchased the PS Eye bundle package already have. That's just our two cents. Check out the results of last week's poll to see how many people actually hate games!