PS3 Fanboy

2008 was "The Year of the PS3?" Pfft. Excuse me, but even PS3's fantastic 2008 library won't be able to compete with the likes of 2009. In one year, you'll see the likes of Killzone 2, Uncharted 2 and Heavy Rain. And there's tons of other exclusives, PlayStation Network titles, and third party titles that are bound for the system. (And to think, there are still games that haven't been revealed yet!)

The following list includes games that are currently scheduled for a 2009 release. However, as was the case in 2008, some of these games may stumble into delays. The list is broken up in order, with PS3 exclusives coming first. (And boy, are there a lot!)

• PS3 Exclusives
• PlayStation Network Exclusives
• Multiplatform Titles

[Update: Slickdeals has uncovered yet another promotion: this offer allows you to select one game, one Blu-ray movie (as low as $12.99), and get a free Blu-ray disc remote for free. Make sure you enter the code PS3BDREM during checkout. The deal is right here.]

Here comes another set of Amazon PS3 Gold Box deals. This time around the offering will be a mix of games and Blu-rays. Kicking things off is Motorstorm: Pacific Rift for $39.98 (deal is over -- replacing it is Fallout 3 for $49.98) They also have a deal where if you purchase the 160 GB Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Pack for $449.98, you'll get a free Blu-ray disc remote for free. Both offers are limited to one per household and only while supplies last.

The nine remaining Lighting Deals are offered only for a couple of hours or until they are sold out. Hints at what each item will be are provided after the jump -- wanna try and guess what they'll be in the comments? The deals will go live at each corresponding time. We'll update this post throughout the day with the identity of each item and the price, so stay tuned:

• It's over!

[Update: All gone already!]

Amazon is offering a free copy of The Dark Knight on Blu-ray and Resistance 2 Collector's Edition with the purchase of a PlayStation 3 80GB for $399.99 with free shipping. Just click here, add all three items to your cart, then enter the coupon code PSKNIGHT during checkout.

The weird thing is, some parts of the site are claiming the deal is valid for today (December 9th) only while the official rules are stating the offer is "valid 12 AM Pacific time, December 9, 2008, through 11:59 PM. Pacific time, December 10, 2008." Our suggestion? If you are interested, take advantage of this today and not wait until tomorrow to find out if the offer is still valid. The deal is right through here.

[Via Slickdeals]

Here's some great news for the PS3 in the land of the rising sun: sales have more than double during the week of November 24th to November 30th, going from 17,436 units sold to 34,978 units sold. You can check out the sales chart in Japanese here. This is largely due to the release of Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, which debuted at second place on the weekly software sales chart by moving 168,405 copies. Epic win!

[Via MaxConsole]

Greennpeace, an environmental organization, had put together a report on how environmentally friendly a number of leading companies are. Each company is given a score out of a possible 45 points; the higher the score is, the greener the company is deemed. Included in them are the big three video game manufacturers: Sony received a 24/45, compared to Microsoft's score of 15/45 and Nintendo's abysmally low score of 4/45.

So why does Sony deserve the higher score? Speaking to Edge Online, Greenpeace's toxics campaigner Iza Kruszewska cites a number of reasons, including high marks for "chemical management and take-back initiatives." Sony is the first company to introduce a take-back recycling program for all their products in the US, according to Kruszewska.

But what about all those reports which indicate each PS3 uses as much power as a fridge? Kruszewska admits they are true, but reminds us that "there is a wider picture to look at than just the power consumption of a console." He offers this in the PS3's defense: "If you look at the graphics processor that your PS3 or 360 will have, it's hard to put them into exactly the same category [as the Wii]. I mean, the PS3 is being used by universities globally when they have lots of number crunching to do because it's that powerful. We're talking about a 9-core processor here."

Well, there you have it, environmentally-conscious boys and girls -- now you know the PS3 is Mother Earth's console of choice.

SCEE president David Reeves has revealed that internal Sony numbers indicate the PlayStation 3 is "300,000 units ahead of Xbox 360" in the PAL territories. This is in response to Microsoft claims that the 360 is outselling the PS3 in Europe. Note that both statements can be true: the 360 could be outselling the PS3 in the recent months but the total tally would show that Sony's console is still ahead.

Furthermore, Reeves disclosed to MCVUK that there are no price cuts planned for the near future. "No we are not going to go down in price; neither are we going to go down in price on PS3 in spring time either." This echoes what SCEE told Eurogamer late last month. "As soon as we got the manufacturing price down on PSOne we lowered the price. Same with PS2. But we're not doing that on PS3 -- that's not the model, even if people are expecting it." Read his full statement here.

Were you ogling at the European LittleBigPlanet bundle we told you about back in the summer? But alas, you live in the United States. Not to worry, because for today only, you can pick up 160 GB Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Pack and get LittleBigPlanet for free. This is just one of the discounts Amazon will be offering as part of their 15 Days, 15 Great Video Game deals event. Not the best deal in the universe, but you do get two of the best exclusives on the system for one price. Take advantage of this offer here (scroll down to see the deal).

[Via Joystiq -- thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

John Koller, the director of hardware marketing at Sony, was asked by MTV Multiplayer one of the hot-button questions in this type of economy: is the PS3 recession-proof? Koller, the sly guy that he is, didn't give a direct answer. "Good question, given the reality of how things are from a macro perspective. First off, I want to say that we're very bullish on sales for this holiday season and beyond. In fact, we're very excited about the numbers we've been seeing coming in. There's a lot of talk about whether gaming is recession proof. I'm not sure I can answer that. I can say the PS3 is selling extremely well. Maybe those rumors about people forgoing vacations for gaming might be coming true a little bit here."

The less than stellar numbers last month would suggest the PS3 isn't quite recession-proof -- in October it sold 190,000 units, which doesn't sound too bad ... until you realize the Xbox 360 sold almost twice that amount. Maybe Koller is right; maybe people are giving up their vacations to buy a PS3 (or some other console, for that matter). What do you think?

According Capcom's vice president of strategic planning and business development Christian Svensson, Sony's data indicates that approximately 50% of PS3 owners are also PSP owners. Svensson made the comment on the official Capcom forums in a thread that was discussing the possibility of the newly launched adhocParty making it stateside. "An interesting note from Sony's data that they've been sharing with us ... about 50% of PS3 owners, also own a PSP." We are unsure of whether the data was collected from around the world or just in the US.

Does this statistic sound right to you? Do most of you who have a PS3 also own Sony's handheld?

Following the resounding success of our October Buyer's Guide, PS3Fanboy is back again to give our readers a little bit of consumer guidance as we move into the month of November. Even though there are fewer releases compared to October, there are still a good number of titles for gamers to tread through -- so we've done the work for you and hand-selected the ones we think you should check out. Without further ado, let's take at look at the picks on our November Buyer's Guide.

Did anyone else notice that with the latest firmware update, the PLAYSTATION Store and PLAYSTATION Network have reverted back to the less-loud PlayStation Store and PlayStation Network. Does this mean the PS3 is now PlayStation 3 (it's officially spelled PLAYSTATION 3)? What do you prefer?