PS3 Fanboy

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe responded back to Eurogamer who got in touch regarding a certain D+Pad article which supposedly outlines SCEE's strategy for 2009. The company communicated that the information in the article was only "rumor and speculation." D+Pad's source claims to have attended a Sony Computer Entertainment Staff Annual Briefing which was held this past Saturday in London.

The rumored content suggests that Sony is making plans for a PS3 price cut in March 2009. Also of note, PSP versions of key PS3 titles such as LittleBigPlanet and MotorStorm were said to be shown at the briefing. Even better still, Uncharted 2 and God of War III were also apparently shown with U2 looking much like the first Uncharted and GoW3 just amazing the Hades out of the informant. Noting that reliable David Jaffe also recently saw GoW3 footage and talked a bit about it, then perhaps there might be some merit to these rumors after all.

Is K really thinking about making a full-blown first person shooter? Rumor king of EGM-fame Q seems to think so. Big K's been spotted visiting developers Infinity Ward, Treyarch and Guerilla Games. Just who knows what's going on behind-the-scenes? This wouldn't have anything to do with R going away does it? Rival shooters perhaps? Oh, the drama.

XOXO

-M

[Via Joystiq]

Are these rumors more official because they come from the "official" PlayStation Magazine in the UK? Probably not, but most of them are pretty obvious anyway. That, or we've already covered them. First up is the rumor that God of War III won't arrive until the end of 2009. Considering we've seen no footage from the game whatsoever, we knew it wasn't coming this year, but Christmas? Who knows.

The magazine goes on to say that "the BBC reckons Sony has an amazing secret game in the works for 2009." You don't say. Capcom is supposedly developing Dead Rising 2 for PS3 as well as 360, which makes sense considering their big love for multiplatform development. Sony has in-game XMB working internally - and we should hope so too, considering they're releasing it in the Summer. As for Netflix coming to PS3, that's old news. Though still a rumor.

The only two things that the magazine mentions that aren't totally obvious are that Mass Effect and its sequels will be heading to PS3 (we'll have to see about that, Microsoft have a habit of paying big bucks for their exclusives) and that Team Ico's next game will have links to Norse myths. Not a lot we can do with that information until we see more of the game, but it's nice to know. Right?

"There are a lot of different strategies under consideration, but nothing is final yet. They are considering ways to put some relevant distance between the two PS3 SKUs, but it's unclear how that will roll out," the source said. Additionally, the source said the reason for Sony considering yet another hardware configuration is because it doesn't believe there's enough difference between the 40GB and 80GB models.

So if GameDaily's source is to be trusted, there's definitely something in the works, but it doesn't seem like even Sony knows what will be coming down the pipeline at this point. Either way, consumers won't be too upset if Sony can pack in a bigger hard drive and maybe a DualShock 3 while keeping the pricing structure the same.

[Via Joystiq]

Sure, if Kojima Productions' Ryan Payton is to be believed, there won't be a Metal Gear Solid 4 demo, but if you're a reader of the Ultimate PlayStation 3 Mag, you're probably scratching your head right now. That's because after previewing a level from the game in the January issue, they say the stage they played will be available on the PlayStation Store in February.

While this most certainly isn't concrete proof of the demo heading our way, it does certainly keep the hope alive. After all, would it really be that much trouble for Konami to throw its diehard fans a bone?

GamePro France is reporting that Sony has plans for a "big bang" announcement set for Oct. 12. While rumors and speculation have been filling message boards across the internet, we feel safe to say this announcement will probably focus on the mysterious 40GB PlayStation 3.

Let's take a look at the recent events surrounding Sony's new model:

• The CECHG01 model is listed at Blu-raySavings.com
• Sony filed for a new PS3 model with the FCC
• Sony declines to comment on the rumors
• Sky says a cheaper 40GB PS3 with less features will soon be announced

We'll, can't be happy enough for Oct. 12 to come so we can finally get some real answers, but who knows, Sony could announce a new JetMoto game, right?

[via N4G]

With Tokyo Game Show only a few days away, the rumors have been flying at us faster than people running from the theaters after watching Dragon Wars. The latest rumor making its rounds is the possibility of Square announcing Final Fantasy Melody XIII for the PS3 at TGS.

A forum member at Ruliweb posted the above image with little-to-no information other than Square would be unveiling the title at the event. While we'd love to blindly accept this rumor, we remain skeptical since this is the same site that made fooled people last month with the fake Sega TGS lineup.

With Final Fantasy XIII still in development, would Square be developing a spin-off title concurrently? If the image is legit, it could be for the FF XIII soundtrack.

[Via PS3 Informer]

During the Unreal Tournament 3 screening at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival today (that's in Scotland, by the way) Games Digest noticed something strange in the game's menu. The option, "Gamercard", was quickly covered up by Mark Rein, who was giving the presentation. "Oops," he said, "you shouldn't have seen that."

Due to the "no camera" rules there is no photographic evidence, but we're still happy to commence the speculation. Especially since Mark was so secretive about it. Is it a UT3 feature? Is it Sony's answer to the 360's Gamertag? We're not sure, but we'd definitely like to know. No doubt we'll hear more before the release of Unreal Tournament 3, at least. We'll try and contact Mark for a statement, but expect him to remain extremely tight lipped. What do you suspect it could be?

EGM's superspy extraordinaire, Quatermann, has revealed some interesting nuggets of information in the latest issue of the magazine. They all center around the PS3 and they're all exciting. Don't forget though, they are still rumours. Doesn't stop us hoping though.

It seems that our own Nick Doerr is a bit of a Nostradamus. Just this morning, he predicted an unannounced non-mobile phone sequel to the Parasite Eve series. Well if Quatermann is to be believed, the next proper Parasite Eve is already in development. He also insists that Sony and Epic Games are in talks and are working together to optimise the Unreal Engine 3 for use on the PS3. Oh, and there's a potential PS3 exclusive coming out of it.

Despite Metal Gear Solid 4 being pegged for a fiscal 2007 release, there's a chance that Hideo Kojima may also be working on another title right now. Quatermann insists that it is not Zone of the Enders 3. Finally, Sony are due to release a wiimote style remote before Christmas. Not a bad selection of rumours. We'd definitely be happy if Parasite Eve and an Epic Games exclusive come to pass. We'll keep our eyes out for any developments.

Like we said, there was no truth to the information claiming that the 20GB system wouldn't be compatible with wireless controllers or be upgradable. Sony has come out and called that BS. A Sony representative said, "Both configurations will support bluetooth PS3 controllers. The only non-upgradeable feature of the 20GB configuration will be the HDMI output."

There's also some news about Sony releasing an adaptor for the use of memory sticks, SD and compact flash cards with the console.