He doesn't complain about the differences in developing for one console, or PC, over another, but does say the PS3 versions of Valve products have been inferior to the original releases, and so the company's not interested in doing anything on that console again unless and until they can put something out that gives Sony players the same experience as PC and 360 users.

We look at it as if we were customers of this product, how would we want to be treated and what sort of product would we want out of it?

We've run a couple of experiments over the years of PlayStation in general; we did Half-Life on PS2 with an outside company and then we did Orange Box PS3 with an outside company. We weren't able to deliver the same type of product on PS3 and PS2 for that matter that we were on the 360 and PC.

[...]

Until we have the ability to get a PS3 team together, until we find the people who want to come to Valve or who are at Valve who want to work on that, I don't really see us moving to that platform.

We've kind of learned a lesson in that again, if we were customers of that product on PlayStation, we'd feel like we sort of got the stepchild version of the product while the guys on the PC and the 360 got the sweet version of it.

Translated, what it really means is there is no one inside Valve with any interest in PS3 development, and the company on the whole isn't interested in outsourcing any more ports after the experience with The Orange Box on PS3, which suffered some bad load times and framerate issues.

Still No PS3 Interest From Valve [CVG via TheSavePoints, thanks Meredith B.]

Speaking with CVG, CEO Kenji Matsubara has said "Whenever I discuss this with Sony reps I always ask them: 'Please cut the price', but I don't have a clear view on Sony's situation".

Yes you do, you're just having a whinge. Maybe you should ask "when is the PS3 slim" coming instead?

Tecmo Koei: "Please cut the price" of PS3 [CVG]

This new patent filing reveals a Sony motion controller that uses a mapping system to incorporate everyday objects such as "coffee mugs, drinking glasses, books, bottles, etc." as a motion controller. In the drawing, those everyday objects are illustrated by that horse-shoe-looking U in the man's hand.

Basically, this tech appears to allow players to use a variety of real world items in game play.

To map the object, players show it to the camera and rotate it so that the object is captured and saved as a file. The system can then identify this object and respond to its movements.

The manner in which the object is held can affect game play. For example, in the illustration below, the object is held "up" which reveals the lightsaber-like sword. Holding the object down turns the sword "off".

Sony Patents A Motion Control System That Uses Ordinary Objects As Controllers [Siliconera]

"We'd planned to release a PSP model without a UMD drive since the very beginning," he told Japan's GameBusiness. "But if we'd simply released the hardware, there wouldn't have been much for everyone to enjoy. We needed to prepare the right environment for it first - things like the transferral of content with the PS3 and PSN, and PC software to manage content like music and movies such as 'Media Go'".

"We wanted to release it when the delivery of digital content was on par with the delivery of physical media. That's what we've been working on these past two years. We'll be selling the PSPgo alongside the existing PSP models, because it's a product targeted at those people who are more accustomed to digital content."

Poor UMD. It never stood a chance!

Sony planned UMD-less PSP 'from the beginning' [Develop]

That's because a trio of new downloadable PSP games have been added to the store: Capcom Classics Collection Remixed, Mind Quiz, and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Essentials. If you're looking to expand on games you already own, the "Sacktue of Liberty" costume and "Monarch Signature Livery Pack" should liven up your copy of LittleBigPlanet and MotorStorm Pacific Rift, respectively.

Other exciting new North American PlayStation Store debuts await you after this.

Games & Demos
Punisher: No Mercy ($9.99)
Capcom Classics Collection Remixed for PSP ($19.99)
Mind Quiz for PSP ($9.99)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Essentials for PSP ($19.99)

Expansions & Add-ons
High Velocity Bowling Ball Pack 6 - 4th of July Americana ($0.99)
High Velocity Bowling Ball Pack 7 - Route 66 Americana ($0.99)
LittleBigPlanet Sacktue of Liberty Costume (free)
MotorStorm Pacific Rift Monarch Signature Livery Pack (free)
MotorStorm Pacific Rift Speed Expansion ($9.99)
Cross Edge Safety Pack (free)
Cross Edge Additional Dungeon 2 (free)
Cross Edge New Costume Set 1 ($3.99)
Quantum of Solace: The Game 007 Camille Map Pack ($4.99)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 The Predator ($7.50)

Guitar Hero World Tour tracks

• "21st Century (Digital Boy)" by Bad Religion ($1.99)
• "Linoleum" by NOFX ($1.99)
• "Ruby Soho" by Rancid ($1.99)
• Epitaph Punk-O-Rama Track Pack ($5.49) - "21st Century (Digital Boy)" by Bad Religion, "Linoleum" by NOFX and "Ruby Soho" by Rancid

Rock Band tracks

• "Blue Morning, Blue Day" by Foreigner ($1.99)
• "Feels Like the First Time" by Foreigner ($1.99)
• "Headknocker" by Foreigner ($1.99)
• Foreigner Pack 01 ($5.49) - "Blue Morning, Blue Day," "Headknocker," and "Feels Like the First Time" by Foreigner
• "Hey John, What's Your Name Again?" by The Devil Wears Prada ($1.99)
• "Image of the Invisible" by Thrice ($1.99)
• "Sweet Talk" by Dear and the Headlights ($1.99)
• Warped Tour 2009 Pack 02 ($5.49) - "Sweet Talk" by Dear and the Headlights, "Hey John, What's Your Name Again?" by The Devil Wears Prada, and "Image of the Invisible" by Thrice.
• Weapon of Choice" by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ($1.99)

Rock Band Unplugged tracks for PSP

• "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M. ($1.99)
• "Sin Wagon" by Dixie Chicks ($1.99)
• "Still Alive" by GLaDOS and Jonathan Coulton ($1.99)

Game Videos
Qore Episode 14 - July 2009 ($2.99)
Pulse 7/2 Edition
MotorStorm Pacific Rift Speed Expansion Pack trailer
MotorStorm Pacific Rift Adrenaline Expansion Pack trailer
Bayonetta E3 trailer

Lombax fans who put their money down on Ratchet & Clank's latest PlayStation 3 adventure at GameStop will gain exclusive access to the Insomniac Moon, a special planet laid out to resemble the Insomniac offices, chock-full of extra content that didn't make it into the game. They're calling the planet the Discovery Package. And then there's the Power Package, that lets players start off with extra hit points, an exclusive weapon skin, and the Cryo Mine Glove, which ejects mines that freeze enemies in their place.

Now how much would you pay? But wait! There's more. Also up for grabs is the Space Package, with a hot rod spaceship skin, 5,000 free bolts, and a custom PlayStation Home avatar! Or perhaps you'd prefer Amazon's Bolt Package, which includes 5,000 bolts, the Bolt Magnetizer, and a handy Box Basher?

So we've got GameStop, Amazon, and the other two will end up at Game Crazy and Best Buy. Considering the options in my area, looks like the Discovery Package for me. I suppose I could have done worse.

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time should be in stores this fall.

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time Pre-Order Goodies [PlayStation Blog]

The game will be priced at ¥3,990 (US$41) and is slated for release on August 27.

Now, five years later, the case is finally starting to heat up.

See, unlike many other cases of this ilk - which are often harmless - this one may have some teeth.

Why? Because in 2004, the two men not only sued Microsoft over Xbox Live, but Sony as well, claiming the PS2's online network infringed on the same patent. And in April of this year, Sony settled with them for an undisclosed sum.

What's more, Microsoft, rather than shrugging the case off with a team of mighty lawyers, have resorted to juvenile tricks, holding the case up for weeks in February 2009 over a single, innocent typo, and dumping 140,000 documents on Hochstein and Tenenbaum without an index.

Something tells me this may end up costing Microsoft a dollar or two, if only in the form of another "undisclosed sum".

If long-winded legal documents are your thing, you can read up on the various stages of the case here, here and here. [via PA]

The inFamous-themed Abandoned Docks of Empire City arrive with several new activities for players to participate in. There's f course the requisite shooting bad guys with lightning mini-game, which allows you to compare scores on global leaderboards. Sucker Punch will be delivering exclusive video content to the space as well, showing inFamous fans the love long after they've decided their final fate in-game.

Perhaps the most interesting addition, however, is the graffiti wall, where players gain access to various graffiti creation tools, allowing them to create new designs, share them with their friends, and have them voted on by the community for mad props.

Check out the video below to see the new inFamous Home space in action.

Naughty Dog have confirmed that a second Uncharted 2 multiplayer demo will be released, this time closer to the game's release later this year. It will be "available to an even wider group this time", so if you're not the type to scavenge around for codes or buy a completely unrelated game, this second demo may be more your thing.

Uncharted 2 Live Chat with Naughty Dog [PlayStation]

Now, with a PS3 price cut heavily expected around August, and with stocks of the existing 80GB PS3 supposedly dwindling, a July delivery date for the "new" PS3 makes sense. Ship it out in July, have it ready to sell in stores for August.

That is, if it's real. Which, remember, it may not be!

PS3代工 鴻海搶到大單 [UDN, via Engadget]

Both North America and Europe seem to have been affected by the PlayStation Network outage, though only Europe received any sort of official acknowledgement of network issues via the official forums.

The PlayStation Network is currently undergoing maintenance, which should last until 19:25 tonight. You will not be able to sign into the PlayStation Network during this time. However, if you are already signed into the PSN, either on any of our sites or on your PlayStation 3, you should remain signed in until you choose to sign out.

So the European issues should be cleared up momentarily, if they aren't already. As for North America, the PlayStation Network should be up and functioning now with the exception of the PlayStation Store itself, which Sony informed us is currently undergoing maintenance and will return shortly.

The PlayStation Store is down momentarily for maintenance. The rest of PlayStation Network (PlayStation Home, Friends Lists, Life With PlayStation, trophies, online gaming, etc) are up and running.

North American PlayStation 3 owners can always check the official website to check on the status of PSN. As of a few minutes ago the Network Status indicator was flashing between red and green with every page refresh I would initiate, but it now seems to have settled on green, the preferred color of network users everywhere.

Thanks to everyone for sending in tips!

Sony explains, "By entering into a license agreement with SCE through this program, peripheral and accessory manufacturers will gain access to technical documentations necessary for designing and creating variety of licensed products for PlayStation platforms."

The pictured "Official Licensed Product logo" will appear on product packaging as a Good House Keeping Seal of Approve of sorts — that the product lives up to PlayStation standards.

That makes the actual hardware somewhat of a steal, considering these are two must have (or at least should have) titles that will play on your PS3. Both the game and movie were adored by critics, so only buy in if you have superb taste. Asking price is $399 USD, likely part of Sony's efforts to clear out remaining PlayStation 3 80 GB stock before issuing a hardware revision and cheaper base price, as rumored.

Really the only way to top this is to put a puppy in the box.

Sony - PlayStation 3 (80GB) with LittleBigPlanet and Wall-E [Best Buy via Joystiq]

Media Molecule follows up last week's free druid costume with another new outfit for your sackboy, or perhaps sackgirl, in this case. The Sacktue of Liberty features a cardboard crown and the iconic torch. She seems to have lost her tablet somewhere along the way, but that probably wasn't all that important anyway.

Another free costume is always welcome. It almost makes up for the Fourth of July falling on a Saturday this year...almost.

The Sacktue of Liberty [Media Molecule - Thanks Felipe!]

Number-cruncher Matt Matthews has, in a report over on GameSetWatch, detailed the sales performance of Sony's new, exclusive titles, revealing a lineup of games that are two-headed beasts: somehow managing to consistently find critical success while being, relative to their exposure and advertising backing, commercial flops.

Excluding games sold as part of hardware bundles, for example, only a single game published by Sony on the PS3 has sold over a million copies at retail, and that's the original Resistance. LittleBigPlanet is close to this figure, but many other high-profile releases - such as Killzone 2, Resistance 2 and Uncharted - are not.

The numbers look even worse compared to sales for exclusive titles on other platforms. Gears of War sold a million units in a month on the 360. Gears 2 sold 1.5 million in the same amount of time. Smash Bros has sold over 4 million units on the Wii, and Mario Kart over six million.

So what gives? Matthews raises the possibility that Sony put too much faith in new stuff. Rather than having Insomniac and Naughty Dog release Ratchet & Clank and Jak & Daxter games, which would have sold, Sony let them first release all-new titles, Resistance and Uncharted, neither of which have so far matched the sales or pulling power of their better-known PS2 platformers

We're also only seeing proper releases in Sony's two biggest series - God of War and Gran Turismo - now. Well, not even now. 2009, 2010. Three, four years after the console was first released. They should perform better than any of the above titles, but you have to wonder whether it has been wise of Sony to release nothing but original titles to date (Killzone aside), when a God of War or two by now may have spurred sales of both PS3 hardware and software.

Analysis: Was Using Original IP The Best Idea For Sony's PS3 Strategy? [GameSetWatch]

At its Fan Faire in Las Vegas, Sony Online Entertainment announced the 16th expansion for EverQuest, will be released in November. Called "Underfoot," it allows players to explore new underground zones.

EverQuest II gets its sixth expansion in February 2010. Called "Sentinel's Fate", it increases the level cap to 90 and allows players to gain experience playing older, lower-level content with high level characters. Word also has it that achievements will be integrated into that game, too.

Expansions Announced for EverQuests [Eurogamer]

The PS3 had access to Hulu thanks to the console browser's flash support, leading some to wonder if this was a glitch or a block caused by the firmware. But do not adjust your set, reports Engadget:

The Hulu TOS was just updated as of June 26, and although we haven't found any PS3-specific passages, changing a browser's user-string to match the console reveals it is definitely being specifically blocked.

Hulu to PlayStation 3 Browsers: "This Video is not Available on Your Platform" [Engadget; image from FormatWarCentral]

Apparently a "project team" will be set up next month to build an all-new device that combines the functionality of a Sony Ericsson mobile phone with a handheld gaming device.

In other words, a PlayStation Phone, in spirit if not in name.

Not the first time we've seen one of the these rumours, we know, but the specifics and the source make it by far the most plausible of the lot.

UPDATE - Contacted for comment, Sony said...they do not comment on rumour and speculation.

Sony eyes cellphone/game gear hybrid - Nikkei [Reuters]

THQ's Brian Farrell tells G4's The Feed that his company already has Natal development tools. They've had them for four to six weeks, by his estimation. The same can't be said for development on Sony's PlayStation Eye powered motion control tech, which is apparently still in the third-party "discussion" stage.

Sony apparently did say to developers, via a recent dev community bulletin, that "hardware prototypes and support are in extremely limited supply," that it is "prioritizing allocation for those partners likely to be able to deliver a title that makes use of the distinctive features of this controller at its consumer launch." That launch is penciled in for Spring of 2010, a launch that may not include THQ.

On the Natal front, Farrell isn't quite yet ready to discuss what THQ has planned. He doesn't rule out motion controlled content target at core users, but says the camera tech "feels more casual to us at this point."

THQ's Experimenting With Natal, Doesn't Have Sony Kits Yet, Making A Peripheral Game [G4's The Feed]

The announcement is hidden at the bottom of an otherwise unspectacular post regarding some fun facts and figures that Game Informer printed in their July issue. Along with statistics regarding the number of babies born during the game's development (10) and the fact that the development team prefers diet Coke to diet Pepsi is the news that the inFamous demo was the fastest demo to reach the 1 million milestone on the PlayStation Network, and of course a mention of the PlayStation Home space.

One wonders why these big name game Home spaces aren't launched with the games, instead of a couple of months after. Wouldn't it serve as better marketing for the game, helping to get more people excited about its release? Will this ever actually happen, or will Home continue to feel like an afterthought?

While the only pic we currently have of the space, which includes areas to explore and a new mini-game, is the tiny one you see above, Sony's post on the matter assures us that more details to come. We cannot wait...much longer than we already have.

inFAMOUS Facts, Figures, and Future [PlayStation Blog]

Speaking with MCV, the new Sony Europe head man said "When you introduce a new piece of hardware you have the opportunity to say there is a certain premium that is associated with it, and we took that into account."

In other words, the PSPgo isn't $249 because Sony broke the bank researching it. It's not $249 because it uses radical new technology, or because it has to make up for the fact people aren't buying many PSP games.

It's $249 because it's new, and Sony knows (or at least believes) that the kind of people who will buy something when it's new will pay more for it than they probably should.

House Proud [MCV]

Suzuki, who has been with Sony since 1984, will "assist [Hirai] in managing the day-to-day operations of the PlayStation business", with a specific responsibility for strategy and product planning.

He'll assume his new position on July 1.

"From my point of view I've got to think, ‘Do I want to stock this?' Right now I can't see any justification for stocking it," says Don McCabe of Brit games retailer Chips, which operates 36 stores across the UK. "Certainly I'm not getting the response from consumers."

Chris Harwood, from Grainger Games, is similarly downbeat. He says they only sell five PSPs a week across 21 stores, and with the new model costing £200-£230 (USD$330-$380), expresses doubts over its price.

"It seems really high, especially the way PSP's going at the moment," he said. "The models they've got out now are struggling at basically £129, pretty much [the] cost price, which we're putting them out at, and they're not selling through at that. We're trying to do some bundles just to push them through and the PSP just seems to have died as a format really… Nothing sells at the minute on PSP."

Interesting! Sure, these are two of the smaller retail chains (they're no GAME), but then, it's only these smaller chains that ever have the ability to speak out on this sort of thing. Wonder how the folks at GameStop/GAME feel about the new handheld?

UK Indie Retailers Downbeat On PSP Go [Edge]

Strange the pads are announced but not the silver console itself, but then, SCEA works in mysterious ways. For example, what's the deal with those White DualShock 3s?

Registered Users: According to Edward, Home now has "7 million inhabitants", of which 3 million hail from Europe, and those "inhabitants" have downloaded 6 million "virtual items" between them.

Sounds good! Problem is, like Second Life (and, to be fair, most online titles), Sony don't count active users, they only count registered users. So if you logged into Home, walked around for 30 mins, hated it and never came back, you're still counted as an "inhabitant".

Which isn't the most useful statistic. For a better idea of how many people are actually using Home, we can look to some advertising figures...

Advertising Details: Edward revealed for the first time some details on the advertising within Home, in particular the success of two of the more prominent examples to be found so far within the service: the Red Bull air race, and the promotion for the Watchmen movie.

Edward says that the Red Bull game has logged 873,136 unique users, while the Watchmen promo tallied 812,544 unique users. With those two attractions being so prominent, and with those two numbers being so close, it looks like Home's active, regular users may well be closer to those figures than the "7 million" figure quoted.

Strange they don't quote that number. After all, if they could boast that Home had 1 million active users (which if it doesn't already have, they must be close), wouldn't that look, well, better?

Demographics: Finally, Edward says that Home's userbase skews mostly towards the "core" gamer, with the finding that a whopping 80% of Home's users are 18-35 year-old males.

So, next time someone presses you for Home stats, you'll have something to offer!

Sony's Edward Talks PlayStation Home As It Hits 7 Million Users [Gamasutra]

Speaking with CNET, Sony's Al De Leon has said:

One thing we did announce at E3 was a significant reduction in the price of development tools for PSP. The goal with that is to enable all sorts of developers to be able to develop content for the PSP. It will be mostly games, but there's certainly an opportunity to look at some non-gaming applications.

Many will point to this developer encouragement as a shameless rip-off of Apple's successful app store, but remember: the PSP has had non-gaming applications for years now, ranging from street guides to translators.

Sony PSP Go: First Look video [CNET]

According to a Fortune report, it was PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai that said the bigger PlayStation Network should rear its head next Spring. The service is said to make Sony devices "talk to each other efficiently," according to Stringer, that it will make it easier to handle digital camera images, edit video, share content and store whatever it is you download from a Sony device.

Fortune also reports that Sony has designs on making acquisitions that would "accelerate the effort," but plans to "start small" and roll out the new PlayStation Network over time.

Sony: Lost in transformation [Fortune/CNN Money]

Pool is one of those games that people who aren't involved with it on a regular basis quickly forget about once they finish playing, and video game pool even more so, as it's one of those sport genres that takes a very delicate touch to get just right. This winter Sony is banking on Hustle Kings to deliver exactly the sort of sublime billiards experiences that other games have failed to in the past. How? According the US Producer Aaron Orsak, it all comes down to ball control.

The amount of ball control is simply astounding, giving the player any and every shot option in the book…from masse shots to subtle swerves and tricky English, you can do anything to the cue ball in Hustle Kings that you can do around a real table. So the realism was there, but how would the game fare for a more casual gamer? Turns out everyone around the office, from the hardcore to the weekend warrior, to people I've rarely seen play games, found something to absolutely love about Hustle Kings.

While Aaron couldn't yet get into specifics on game modes and such, he did promise a ton of announcements in the coming months. For now, check out the game's official page for a trailer and more screens of Hustle Kings.

Introducing Hustle Kings for PSN [PlayStation Blog]

As we reported at E3, the controller actually consists of two wands, which the user holds in their hands, while the PS3 camera tracks the movement and translates it into on-screen movement. The setup seems to be an evolution of the Sony waggle controller patent that surface last October. In conjuction with the camera, the motion controllers can be replaced with other items, such as guns, displaying the player on the screen holding all sorts of items.

The Develop Conference runs from July 14-16 in Brighton, UK. SCEE's Kish Hirani will be giving the Develop Conference and offering more about the new motion controller. A name perhaps?

SCEE to detail PS3 motion controller at Develop Conference [Develop]

The two games do look mighty similar and have pretty much the same player objective. When people pointed that out in comments for a YouTube trailer of Aquatica, Ketera Software responded by saying the source code was "100% written from scratch."

This was two hours after Chen himself had seen the game and made the following Twitter post:

"I released flOw source for people to learn. I didn't expect to see it on iphone without quoting the creator http://www.ketara.ca/aqua.html."

Luckily, this scandal seems to have a happy ending. 1up.com contacted both parties for comment and received a conciliatory statement from Ketera — and now Aquatica's website reads: "Please note: Aquatica is an iPhone from-the-ground-up re-make (FAN VERSION) of the famous flOw game created by Jenova Chen of the ThatGameCompany fame. We deeply apologize for not properly crediting him earlier. Our mistakes were caused by naivety, not malice."

I'm pleased the situation was worked out so quickly — the longer a scandal festers, the harder it is for a game to get clear of it and be awesome on its own. And it is awesome to have flOw on the iPhone, even if it has a different name and isn't affiliated with Sony.

Hm. I wonder what Sony has to say about Aquatica?

Aquatica iPhone Devs Respond to flOw Creator Accusations [1up]

1. As of this week, there are now 25 million registered users on the PlayStation Network. Now, that doesn't mean there are 25 million individual users - I've got three accounts, for example - so if you trim that number down to around 12-15 million, you're probably getting closer to a more useful number.

2. Over 500 million things have been downloaded since the PSN launched. That includes everything, from games to add-ons to wallpaper.

3. The PlayStation Store currently has 200 games, 1,900 movies and 9,000 TV episodes (and other forms of "original programming). 9,000? That number got real high, real quick.

And there you have it! Hopefully enjoyed reading numbers as much as we enjoyed writing about them.

Specifically, it's a copy of Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, and the PSP is one of the newer PSP-3000 units (sorry, too early for the PSPgo). The bundle will be offered in two colours, red and blue, which Sony says is "to match the image of the notorious monsters 'Teostra' and 'Lunastra' from the game".

They'll go on sale on July 23, and will cost ¥21,000 (USD$220).

"We're proud to extend this truly unique handheld Grand Theft Auto experience to PSP and offer a downloadable version of Chinatown Wars for PSPgo," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "Rockstar Leeds has shown incredible talent in creating games that raise the bar in terms of depth and innovation on portables, and with Chinatown Wars we have a rich, fast-paced, and incredibly addictive entry into the series."

Despite record review scores, Chinatown Wars sold just 89,000 copies on the DS in it's first month on shelves, leading some to wonder if the DS was a good platform for mature gaming.

It will be interesting to see how Chinatown Wars sales compare on the PSP when it hits in North America and Europe this fall. It could prove that piracy, not maturity, was the real culprit in those sales after all.

"Rockstar's work with the GTA series has been an enormous part of the success of PlayStation platforms," said Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. "We're excited to welcome the critically acclaimed Chinatown Wars to the outstanding line-up of great games headed to the PSP platform this fall."

The game will be available as both a digital download on the Playstation Network and on UMD.

Over 8,000 investors were in attendance at the annual shareholders meeting in Tokyo. Stringer told investors that the company was trying to streamline business. For example, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai will head a new business group that brings together Sony's mobile electronics and personal computers.

"This reorganization is designed to transform Sony into a more innovative, integrated and agile global company," said Stringer earlier this year. These changes and reorganization "will now make it possible for all of Sony's parts to work together."

Sony has been posting enormous losses due to a strong yen, global economic slump and competition from rival companies like Apple and Samsung.

Sony shareholders approve new management [Japan Today] [Pic]

Instead, it will now be out "at some point this summer". So sometime in July or August, then. Shame, but if it gives them extra time to make it extra delicious, we're all for it.

Incidentally, the release will be a worldwide one, which is a rare treat for Europeans accustomed to long delays on the PlayStation Network.

[via Euro PS Blog, thanks Justin!]

"PlayStation has tremendous momentum coming out of E3, and we are seeing positive growth with more than 350 titles slated to hit across all our platforms, including many anticipated games from our publishing partners," said Playstation spokesman Patrick Seybold. "We enjoy healthy business relationships with and greatly value our publishing partners and are working closely with them to deliver the best entertainment experience."

Indeed Sony announced an impressive line-up of first and third-party PS3 and PSP titles at their annual retailer meet-up Destination Playstation and then spent a bulk of their E3 press conference whipping through triple-A title after triple-A title.

As interesting as it is to read about some publishing exec making vague threats, I'd be much more interested to learn what really prompted this. Perhaps we should be reading more into Kotick's comments in the same article about the royalties that Activision is having to pay out to Sony.

Speaking with The Times, Kotick said "I'm getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don't make it easy for me to support the platform. It's expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation".

Subtle. But wait. It gets subtler.

"They have to cut the price, because if they don't, the attach rates are likely to slow", he continues. "If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony...When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console - and the PSP [portable] too".

In that absolute worst-case scenario, that would mean no Call of Duty for Sony consoles. No Guitar Hero for Sony consoles. No Tony Hawk, either. It probably won't ever come to that, of course, but Kotick's words are still worth noting. After all, when was the last time you ever saw a third-party publisher so openly threaten a major platform holder?

Sony should beware - Activision chief is not simply playing games [The Times] [Image: Elliott Erwitt]

God of War III is expected to be out March 2010 in North America.

God of War III is expected to be out March 2010 in North America.