PlayStation Vita owners to get cheap downloads for PSP collection?
In a Sony sales briefing today, Sony had distributed a pamphlet that outlined how PlayStation Vita owners could make use of their UMD’s that they have from the PSP on the new system. According to a report by Andriasang, Sony might be looking into offering a service where owners of the UMD version of a game would be able to download the same title at a special price.
There were rumors, previously, that Sony might make a peripheral for the PS Vita that would allow PSP UMD’s to be playable on the PS Vita. This peripheral was rumored to be an external device that would play the UMD’s and connect to the PS Vita, sort of like an external DVD drive on computers. So far this rumor has not been confirmed.
With the PlayStation Vita, Sony has been trying to show the its fans that this time around things will be different. Making the right moves in both the hardware and software, Sony has showed to developers and consumers that Vita will not disappoint.
New PlayStation 3 Motion Controller Prototype
At TGS today Sony has shown off the new Motion Controller. The controller was originally revealed during E3 2009 and has been criticized for its “ugliness” and for looking like another certain object. It uses the ball on the top of the controller and the PlayStation Eye to track the movements of the controller. Hirai said that “very accurate” movement can be realized and the reality can be “enhanced” via slight vibration feedback.
Before:
After:
As you can see in the before and after pictures, the top part before the ball, has now curved out and so has the bottom. The Motion Controller is still on schedule to launch in Spring 2010.
*Image credits to Joystiq
Sony in the Process of Rebranding Itself
With the announcement of the PS3 Slim (not officially called the PS3 Slim) we have been seeing new things coming from Sony on the PS3. As in a previous article, Sony planning new PS3 Box art with PS3 Slim Announcement?, Sony is now in the process of rebranding it’s flagship PS3 in the market. With the announcement of the PS3 Slim, it was more than just a new version of the PS3. It was a whole rebranding process with a new logo to go with it.
The new logo is now a third for the PS3 in it’s lifespan. With the original PLAYSTATION 3 Logo with the Spider-Man font as the original marketing figure for the PS3 it was very effective. It was effective in the way that the public quickly made the comparison with the Spider-Man font and were not very happy with it. Lately instead of seeing the PLAYSTATION 3 logo on commercials they were seeing something new in a sense. Instead of it being called PLAYSTATION 3 it was now just PS3, still in the Spider-Man font. This marked the first transition into being known as the PS3 instead of PlayStation 3.
The PS3 Slim has come with a change and Sony’s John Koller has told Ars Technica that, “We’re in the process of replacing the Spider-Man font to the PS3 logo. [The new design] will be the logo moving forward, that will be in place on the hardware and peripherals and software, starting with Uncharted 2.” With that information it confirmed that the PS3 was not only changing its logo, it was changing it’s whole image. Starting with the logo on the PS3, then the logo on the box art, and finally the logo for marketing.
Now to follow up on our previous post about the new box art, Sony planning new PS3 Box art with PS3 Slim Announcement?, the final design has been released and is shown in the new image from the Gundam bundle box. On the left you could see the new PS3 logo on the box, without PLAYSTATION 3 in Spider-Man font on the side, and with a MUCH cleaner look.
With this change, things are starting to be more consistent and it gives Sony a cleaner look on their products. Sony has gone back to their old marketing way’s and if they can market the PS3 like they did with the PS2, they can not only re-gain the lead this console generation, they can win it.
Sony GamesCom 2009 Pre-Roundup
Today is GamesCom for Sony and Microsoft and I have put together a pre-roundup of what might and/or is going to happen during the Sony Conference. You can find live blog’s at multiple sources and articles of what is going to happen and what is rumored to happen. Today everything will be cleared up and hopefully the Ps3 went on a diet.
Name: GamesCom
When: August 18, 2009, 12pm-3pm ET | 11am-2pm CT | 9am-12pm PT
Where: Cologne, Germany
Where to find Sony GamesCom coverage:
IGN – Live Blog Coverage
GameSpot – Live Blog Coverage
EuroGamer – Live Blog Coverage
What to hopefully expect announced:
- PS3 Slim
- PS3 Backwards Compatibility with PS2 Games
- PS3 Price Cut
- Firmware 3.0
- New PSN Features/EU Video Store
- GT5 Release Date
- Massive LittleBigPlanet announcement
- PSP Go App Store Information
- Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on PSP
- New PSP game ‘Dead Nation’
- Demos of games
Full PS3 backwards compatibility this month?
With the recent Sony patent for the emulation of the Emotion Engine on the PS3, which allows software emulation of PS2 games instead of hardware, has brought out a new rumor. According to to the German website Demo News, they got a comment from a Sony employee that states that full backwards compatibility is coming to US PS3’s as a firmware update in the “next few weeks.â€
With this information it could mean that with this implementation, Sony would want full backwards compatibility in all PS3 Slims by its launch. There is no denying that there is a PS3 Slim with all the recent news of Sony signing manufacturing agreements with both Foxconn and Pegatron to build a revised model in time for a July delivery.
When could all this be announced though, well The Games Convention is the 31st of July to the 2nd of August, which they can announce it then with the price cut. This is just in time for the holidays and making GT5 a bigger possibility it will come out this year.
[Read]
Sony’s PSP Go Leaked Before E3
Looks like the PSP Go is a go go! There has been leaked images from the Qore video that was set to release in June, but was leaked early. GamingConsoleNetwork originally leaked with the images from Qore, but has since gone down. There is now released press images of the actual PSP Go. It will have a spiffy specifications increase over the PSP-3000. With 16GB’s of internal memory, built-in Bluetooth which can connect to cell phone, and a micro card memory slot. It also features a 3.8″ screen and is UMD-less, which means that to get games you will have to download them from the Playstation Store, which is similar to the Apple Store. With the Bluetooth capability there can be the option to transfer images, files, music, etc. to other PSP’s from yours. Although it is not confirmed that you have the ability to transfer things from PSP to PSP, but it can be a possibility. E3 this year will be big!
We will update you more as soon as we get more information, until then look at the PSP Go pictures and video!
