PS3 Fanboy

Europe's exclusive PVR service, called PlayTV, looks to be a winner. So much so that Americans (like a majority of the PS3 Fanboy team) are jealous of their friends across the Atlantic. If the features and services provided by PlayTV weren't incredible enough, it utilizes a genuinely sexy interface that (dare we say?) looks better than Sony's XMB. Watch this "leaked" footage from Leipzig to see for yourself.

[Via digg]

The Leipzig Games Convention has come and gone, and the critics agree: Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 is the best PS3 game on the show floor. What? I guess Sony made a big deal about FIFA for no reason. The jury stated "Football is coming home: the best current football game celebrates its PS3 premiere with diving, wall building and complete online support - including leagues and rankings."

The game is apparently so good that it also won an award for being the best PS2 game at the show. We knew that Germans loved their soccer, but we didn't know that they'd prefer this game over all the other games at Games Conference! A shock victory, perhaps?

Can something look too good? That's what we're asking when we look at these brand new screenshots of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Of course the cars look good. But we're taken aback by the detail found in the drivers and the environments. The attention to detail is more than impeccable -- it's scary.

So how does it look when it's in motion? Click past the break to see. Or, watch in glorious HD.

Straight from Leipzig, the developers at Guerrilla demonstrated some of the gameplay features of the highly anticipated PS3 first person shooter, Killzone 2. While the game is mostly known for its graphics technology, gamers should be most curious about the way the game plays. Certainly, is the gameplay as advanced as the way it looks? Watch this new footage to see the cover and aiming system in work in this new video.

Come and get these downloads while they're hot. We're a bit late with this post so they've cooled down a bit, but nevertheless the following still requires your attention. In celebration of the Leipzig Games Convention Sony yesterday released a whole load of new stuff onto the European PSN. The full list is below, but we feel we must begin with a disclaimer; the Folklore demo will only be available until the end of August. Here's the full list of new content:

• Folklore demo (free)
• Heavenly Sword Anime episode 3 (free)
• Heavenly Sword Making-Of episode 3 (free)
• 3 Warhawk trailers (all free)
• PSN Software Showcase video (free)
• Heavenly Sword trailer (free)
• Snake Ball trailer (free)
• PlayStation Eye showcase video (free)
• Metal Gear Solid 4 demonstration video (free)
• Stranglehold trailer (free)
• Unreal Tournament 3 trailer (free)

Reminder (We know how you people like to skip the blurb and jump straight to the list): The Folklore demo will be available only until the end of August. So go get it now!

We're jealous of Jem. At this very moment, he's drowning in a sea of new and upcoming games that we can only dream of playing. Devil May Cry 4, we're certain, is one of those games. Capcom released a new trailer to the German masses, as if gamers around the world weren't excited quite enough. Watch it here, squeal, and then download it in HD for more fun.

To see more mayhem and destruction, check out some new gameplay footage after the cut.

[Update: New video has been added!]
Wait ... haven't we seen this trailer before? Yes, the opening moments of this Leipzig-edition Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer starts exactly the same as the previous trailer. But just wait. Your patience will be rewarded ... with bosses. Giant metallic tentacled beasts roar as they take down opposing forces with ease. What's that chill we feel? Could it be fear ... or uncontrollable excitement?

Watch the trailer after the cut.

After his Leipzig presentation, Hideo Kojima took some time to answer some questions from the audience. When asked if Metal Gear Online will be separate from the main MGS4 game, he answered: "When you play story mode you will be able to go online and it will have extra stuff at the end. Haven't decided whether it will be separate or not, but if you buy MGS4 you can play a portion of online at least."

When asked about rumble, Kojima-san told a tale of woe: "In Kojima Productions there is a man, we call him The Rumble Guy, and he has nothing to do right now. So every day I worry about him. I want to include Rumble so that he has something to do." Please Sony! Give The Rumble Guy something to do!

Finally, when asked about a 360 version, he reconfirmed what we knew all along: "Right now it's only being made for PS3. No plans for 360 for now." For the complete Q&A, visit Joystiq.

Slowly but surely, interesting morsels of information are streaming out of Leipzig. Here, Jeux-France managed to capture some new video of Gran Turismo 5. Over four minutes of glorious real-time gameplay to feast on. We could say things like "that looks great!" But, we think you're more than capable of making that judgment yourself.

[Thanks, Stefan Torestam! Via N4G]

In Leipzig today, SCEE announced PlayTV, a TV tuner and personal video recorder (PVR) for the PS3. PlayTV will be available in UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain early in 2008, with other PAL territories to follow in the future. [Update: Kotaku has confirmed that the service is unlikely to come to America. "The problem with the DVR is that the U.S. doesn't have terrestrial digital television yet, so while some cities like San Diego have it not nearly support in the U.S. to make it worth the effort for Sony. When that changes, and it will, Sony will be on the ball, Harrison said."]

PlayTV will allow users to watch, pause and record live TV. PlayTV can also record individual shows, or entire series to the PS3 hard drive. The videos can then be watched from the PS3, or can be transferred to the PSP to watch on the go. PlayTV will provide a 7-day Electronic Programme Guide (EPG2) utilizing the "widely available" DVB-T format.

The peripheral will feature two TV tuners that are 1080p compatible, allowing users to view, record and play full HD television signals. Through the PlayStation Network, the program will be constantly updated, to improve the service and offer new functionality.

See the full press release after the break.

Do you have what it takes to be the world's best virtual football player? The FIFA Interactive World Cup begins this October, and the Grand Final will take place in the Sony Centre in Berlin next May. Players will be able to compete in one of twenty FIWC Qualifier Events around the world, or online through the PlayStation Network.

Not only will players be vying for fame, but the grand prize winner will receive a cash prize of $20,000 USD. The FIWC will be open exclusively to PS3 players.Simon Rutter, VP Sales & Marketing for SCEE commented: "With the added realism that PS3 brings to FIFA 08, we have every belief that now is the time to truly make an impact with the FIFA Interactive World Cup, We're looking forward to PS3 fans helping to make the tournament every bit as iconic for gamers as the real FIFA World Cup is for football fans."

While Xbox 360 enjoys a superior version of American football in Madden 2008, it appears that the rest of the world will enjoy a superior soccer game on PS3 through FIFA 2008. Which game of "football" will reign supreme? Registration for the FIWC opens today at www.FIFA.com/FIWC.

Maybe EA has finally learned the importance of the PS3 community. Maybe they finally tackled the challenges of developing for Sony's next-gen hardware. Or maybe EA wanted gamers to just shut up about the 60 fps debacle caused by Madden 2008.

Whatever the reason, EA representatives were keen to make note that the upcoming FIFA 08 was, in fact, running at 60 fps on both the Xbox 360 and PS3. At Leipzig, the development team showed the game off on PS3, highlighting that the game wasn't sloppily ported for our platform. Rather, it was developed from the ground-up for both platforms.

That's the way it always should've been, EA.

According to the BBC, a new peripheral will be announced at Leipzig "that will allow the recording and playback of digital TV" on the PS3. This isn't news for those that remember previous statements that said they're going "to release a digital tuner for the PS3, turning it into a programmable TV recorder."

The Sony keynote is just moments away -- stay tuned for what will undoubtedly be some interesting fireworks we'll be able to share with you.

[Via Joystiq]

The Konami press conference at Leipzig was supposed to feature a brand-new trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4. The crowd, jittery in anticipation, shivered as they saw the opening moments of Kojima's latest ... and were shocked to hear the audio start fading away -- and the video, gone. Konami pulled the plug due to "technical difficulties." Now, the trailer is being rescheduled for tomorrow, to satiate the bloodthirsty crowd.

At the very least, Europe knows that Kojima is aiming for a simultaneous release for its upcoming PS3-exclusive. "In the past, I felt bad that the European versions of Metal Gear were always last. I can confidently say that we aim to have a simultaneous worldwide release with Metal Gear Solid 4."