Posted Jul 1st 2008 12:00PM by Alan Tsang Filed under: News
Besides the Roadrunner and our beloved PS3, the Cell processor can now add another task it can do into its repertoire. Repsol, one of the world's ten largest oil companies, is employing the use the of the Cell processor, more specifically the PowerXCell 8i variant on a BladeCenter QS22 computer, to "analyze undersea rock formations in the search for untapped reserves." An analyst commented that 75% of the reserves are in deep water, which are 30,000 feet below and are estimated to hold 56 billion barrels of oil. This amount would meet the entire U.S. demand for oil and gas for about five years. The use of a technique called reverse time migration will allow Repsol to survey regions as much as six times faster and reach areas that were inaccessible before. What do you guys think about this? Will this lower gas prices somewhere far, far away from $5 a gallon? Are you going to mod your PS3 to start drilling for oil in your backyard? Ah, the possibilities...
Sony's Kaz Hirai confirmed to reporters that 65nm Cell processors have been used in PS3s since the "last holiday season." Launch PS3 systems used a more expensive, and more energy-hungry 90nm process. The graphics chip for the PS3, known as RSX, will also be getting an upgrade this Fall. The move to a 65nm process will once again lower manufactuering costs for the Japanese electronics giant, and will also make the system much more energy efficient.
Sony is focused on restore profitability to its games division, especially after it revealed the significant $3 billion loss it has incurred on the PS3 so far. Investors will undoubtedly cheer at this news.
Posted Jun 26th 2008 2:30PM by Majed Athab Filed under: News
Sony revealed tons of figures today, including one concerning the PlayStation Network. The company has stated in its corporate strategy meeting that over 9.8 million people have registered accounts on the PSN. In total, 170 million downloads have been accumulated between these users. In related news, it was just last month that Japan celebrated making the one millionth mark.
Other figures from Sony include total sales for current gen platforms. PS3 and PSP had a combined 49 million total sell-in units. The PS3 and PSP have sold 12 million and 37 million, respectively.
Sony's Strategy presentation today revealed more than just a video download service. Some other little tid-bits of info spilled out as well. Firstly, as seen above, White Knight Story is aiming to be out this fiscal year. That means sometime between now and April 2009. No doubt we'll be seeing more of the game, as well as a less-vague release date at E3 next month.
A weather and news service was also revealed as part of a new Life With PlayStation brand. This will feature an interactive globe showing real time weather reports and headlines from all over the world. This feature will also support geo-tagged photos (awesome) and other features which will be released over time. Again, we'll probably hear more about this whole Life With PlayStation brand at E3.
Finally, it's been confirmed that the PSP will gain direct access to the PlayStation Store at some point during this fiscal year. Sadly, there are no more details than that. While this is definitely getting us excited for E3, we have to wonder whether Sony are keeping back any actual surprises for the event. Is it possible that they could have all this and more to reveal to us next month?
Sony has updated their corporate strategy today to include some exciting new pieces of information regarding what we can expect in the future. Amid talk of using external expertise to accelerate R&D efficiency and improving "non-game content and services in tandem with enhanced network capability," something else caught our eye. The document states plans to roll out a video download service across Sony branded products between now and fiscal year 2010. Starting with the US PlayStation Network this Summer.
Kaz Hirai has gone on to say, at what we assume is a stockholder's meeting today, that the video download service will be made available "at later dates," with more information to be revealed next month. That'll be at E3 then. We're looking forward to hearing more in a couple of weeks.
[Via Engadget; Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Source - Sony's new corporate strategy Source - Summer launch for the US
It's a well-known fact that Sony has been losing a lot of money on the PS3 this generation. Although it's the most expensive console on the market, it's also the most expensive to produce, thanks to the combination of bleeding-edge technologies, Blu-ray and the Cell processor. When the system launched in fiscal 2007, the Japanese electronics giant had to swallow a whopping cost of $2.16 billion. Fiscal 2008, however, has been much kinder to the company, with PS3 hardware costs eating up $1.16 billion, thanks to the lowered cost of manufacturing. Combined, PS3 has cost the company $3.32 billion dollars ... so far.
The astronomical figure Sony has invested into the PS3 shows its confidence in its success. However, the company did note that unless it reaches "favorable market penetration," the PS3 would have a "significant negative impact" on the company's profitability.
Software is where the company will the company will recoup costs, and with an excellent holiday lineup in store for PS3 gamers, we're sure that Sony has little to worry about for the rest of this generation. But remember, while other companies are eager to make profit off of you on day one, Sony put their necks on the line to give you a great deal on a monstrously powerful system.
Not sure whether to drop that five bucks (or three quid) on the new Hot Shots Golf course or not? A new preview on the PlayStation.Blog might help you make up your mind. Technically, you already have the new Oceania Resort Course, as it's included in the latest game patch. You simply need to unlock it with the key, which is on the PSN Store right now.
The course is promised to be one of the most difficult yet, and includes many features of the Australian outback, including kangeroos, alligators and ... giant lobsters? There will be official tournaments coming up especially for the Oceania course, which we should hear about before too long. If you want to see more images of the course, be sure to check out the preview post over at the PlayStation.Blog.
Posted Jun 16th 2008 2:30PM by Majed Athab Filed under: News
It's not surprising to see Sony top the list of a "most innovative brand" survey. With creations such as the Walkman, CDs, and Blu-ray, there hasn't been any other company that has left such a footprint in our media-driven pop culture. Consumers haven't forgotten these achievements, as a recent survey revealed that Sony was perceived the most innovative brand beating out the likes of Apple, Microsoft, and Nintendo.
The survey was conducted by branding consultancy Incite. 500 people between the ages of 18 and 65 took part in the British led poll. There were a lot of other big names on the list. Do you want to know what other companies Sony beat out? Check out the top 20 list after the break.
The reasoning behind this controller is simple -- create similar games that made the Wii such a huge hit and perhaps the PS3 will gain a bigger audience as well. The system's got pretty much everything else under the sun as a feature (insert in-game XMB stab here), but is creating their own Wii-mote a bit too far for Sony to step?
Japanese site Watch Impress has a new batch of screenshots showing more of the gorgeous art style of upcoming PSN game PixelJunk Eden. Not only that, but they include a few exciting tid bits of info regarding the game. Specifically, they mention that the soundtrack consists of almost 100 minutes of specially recorded music by Kyoto-based artist Baiyon.
The game will also include 3-player co-op play (no online, presumbly) as well as trophies and remote play support. Perhaps most intriguing, however, is the mention of screen recording and YouTube uploading compatibility. This was recently added to the PS3 SDK but we didn't expect to see it integrated into new games so quickly. PixelJunk Eden comes out sometime this Summer and you can bet your bottom dollar we'll be grabbing it day one. Will you?
In another Sony announcement made today, it appears that two games being developed by the internal London studios have now been potentially canned. The Getaway and Eight Days are now out of production, thanks to budgetary redistribution. Gamesindustry.biz have the full statement from Sony, in which they state that "this decision was made following an internal review of all games and it was deemed that with the incredibly strong list of exclusive first party titles coming up both this year and in the near future, resource should be reallocated to enhance those projects closer to completion."
It's thought that this is a direct result of Phil Harrison's successor, Shuhei Yoshida, becoming President of Sony's Worldwide Studios. We heard relatively recently from The Getaway's lead writer that the game was still in production and UK newspaper The Guardian had a recent article claiming Eight Days was ramping up to full production, so it's disheartening to hear that the projects have been canned.
[UPDATE] CVG states that "A Sony UK representative assured CVG that both titles had been "completely cancelled", and so will not be rescued from the bin at a later date."
Sony has announced today that they are opening up the PS3 with regards to in-game advertising. With the emphasis clearly placed on seamless "dynamic" advertising (read: no billboards in fantasy titles, etc), game publishers and advertising firms will be able to buy and sell space within games in order to reach the "elusive 18-34 male" demographic. They will be able to do this through Sony's in-game advertising partner, IGA Worldwide. This partnership exists with both SCEE and SCEA, so expect to see advertisements appearing on both sides of the pond.
The first company to jump on the bandwagon is EA, who has announced a multi-year deal with IGA Worldwide to include dynamic advertisements within EA's broad range of titles. This will include Madden, NBA, NASCAR and NHL as well as games such as Burnout and Need For Speed. Intriguingly, these adverts can be updated in realtime, "keeping ads fresh and relevant to each gamer" whilst maintaining "an authentic gaming experience." We don't really have a problem with adverts within games, as long as they truly are seamless (much like the product placement in MGS4). Hopefully this will make the PS3 an even more attractive platform for developers.
Over the past few years, Sony's controversial attempts at viral marketing for the PlayStation brand were not well-received by the general public. The company had been criticized on numerous occasions for various failed ad campaigns. Campaigns which didn't just fail to hit their target markets, but more importantly had an adverse effect leaving many people angry, rebellious, or just plain dumbfounded. A good example of one of these wrongfully done ads is the recent image of a naked man and his literal eleventh finger promoting the PlayStation 3. Just take a look at the universalheat this drew in.
This recent controversy rekindled the memory of all the horrible ads that have appeared in promotion for both the PS3 and the PlayStation Portable. But, it hasn't always been this bad. The general consensus on PlayStation One and PlayStation 2 ads were favorable; however, as 2006 rolled in with the PSP already under fire and the PS3 on the way, a new directionwasemerging for the corporate giant. Was there such a need to be edgy Sony? You were doing so well.
We had thought the era of Sony's marketing fumbles had ended, but apparently it hasn't. So in honor of the embarrassing and often painful ad campaigns over the past few years, we present this look into the top ten worst PlayStation brand ads ever. We're sure Sony won't be too happy about us digging up old skeletons, but this is history and an interesting one at that. It's also one that's hard to forget. And besides, early next month we'll have a top ten best PlayStation ads list just so we're not being lopsided here. So get clicking, and see what NSFW atrocities we've compiled.
Sony has confirmed to us today that SingStar Vol 2 will be released in Europe on June 20th. Those lucky Australians will get it on June 19th -- technically almost two days earlier, thanks to the time difference. Vol 2 will feature a new pack of thirty songs, none of which are currently available on the SingStore. Sony is careful to tell us that licensing songs for a disc and licensing for the SingStore are two very different things, so don't expect to see these tunes available for download day and date with Vol 2's release. There's no reason why they won't be up eventually, however.
If you fancy seeing the really rather excellent tracklist for Vol 2 then take a peek after the jump. Sure, changing discs mid-party is a bit of a pain, but Sony has made is as painless as possible. We're particularly excited about the Killers, Kaiser Chiefs and Nirvana tracks. Good stuff, indeed.
Posted May 19th 2008 10:30PM by Nick Doerr Filed under: News
There was an earthquake in Sichuan recently -- a pretty bad one. Corporations and individual people have been taking care of donations, including Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong. They have put together some eBay auctions for autographed PlayStation paraphernalia. All proceeds go to World Vision Hong Kong.
SiliconEra has put together a listing for the items and some of them are still without bids! The only problem is you have to be physically present in Hong Kong to claim these prizes. So if you want some pre-paid PlayStation Network cards signed by some pretty famous Sony folk, or a model, a singer, or an actress, go for it. It's for a good cause, but since it forces you to be in Hong Kong, it's a bit difficult to be the good Samaritan.
Besides the Roadrunner and our beloved PS3, the Cell processor can now add another task it can do into its repertoire. Repsol, one of the world's ten largest oil companies, is employing the use the of the Cell processor, more specifically the PowerXCell 8i variant on a BladeCenter QS22 computer, to "analyze undersea rock formations in the search for untapped reserves." An analyst commented that 75% of the reserves are in deep water, which are 30,000 feet below and are estimated to hold 56 billion barrels of oil. This amount would meet the entire U.S. demand for oil and gas for about five years. The use of a technique called reverse time migration will allow Repsol to survey regions as much as six times faster and reach areas that were inaccessible before.
