“We are aware of a number of consumers experiencing an issue with installing firmware 2.40 on PS3. While our consumer services department has seen a low volume of calls on this topic, we are committed to enabling the community and XMB access features delivered in the 2.40 update. In order to further assess the issue, we have temporarily taken the firmware offline for further testing. We are working diligently to isolate the problem for those few consumers and to identify a solution before we put the firmware back up.”

We are still waiting to hear back from SCEA about what sort of solution they may be able to provide to those who have already updated their firmware and are having problems. If you're adventurous, some gamers have already come up with their own solution.

Sony says that once a solution is found they will make sure to update the official Playstation Blog with the information.

Firmware Update Page [Playstation Blog]

The bundles, retailing in Europe for €60, include one Siaxis controller and one of the following games: F1, GT5 Prologue, Folklore or MotorStorm. Looks like the package deal will be Europe-only, though.

PlayStation.Blog is a Year Old Today [PlayStation.Blog]

Qualifying institutions (college level and above) will be given a chance to purchase PSP and PlayStation 2 development kits complete with the hardware, dev software, and SDK, along with demo codes and samples so teachers can illustrate how the hardware works to students. The goal here is to generate a fresh crop of college graduates armed with the knowledge they need to create on SCEA hardware.

Interested parties can hit the link below for contact information, and if you are currently in a game programming or computer architecture class, start bugging the hell out of your professor so you too can get your hands on a PlayStation 2 with the word TOOL on the side in big letters.

PlayStation-edu [The Official PlayStation Blog]

But that's not necessarily a bad thing. A developer doesn't always have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to hardcore shooters, and SOCOM is about as hardcore as they come.

The team did talk up a few of the changes coming to this latest iteration while they were showing SOCOM Confrontation off during last Friday's SCEA Pre-E3 Judges Day held by Sony in Hollywood.

In SOCOM Confrontation, you can now fully customize your character, tweaking the look of your character head to toe, with the type of special force unit a gamer chooses providing them access to different bits of customizable gear. Customization includes the ability to add armor to your character, though the more body armor you wear the slower they move.

Players can now sprint in game. Running, something that long ago became a mainstay of most shooters, has somehow never shown up in SOCOM titles before. Now that it's in the game, I'm not super impressed with the way it's being implemented, mostly because it doesn't allow you to change directions as you run. It's an odd choice, one that seems to indicates that Slant Six isn't really behind adding sprinting to the game.

The biggest change to actual SOCOM game play would have to be Slant Six Games' use of the Sixaxis motion controls in the game. While you're never forced to use them, you can use tilting and up-and-down motions to go prone, squat or lean. Leaning with the Sixaxis took a little getting used to, but seemed to work well. It was a little unsettling that players don't lock to cover, as with most games that use a cover system, but the end result felt far more organic, and, I suspect, true to life.

These few changes, Sixaxis controls, character customization and running, are so slight that they're not really noticeable. Instead the chief focus of the team, it seems, is to create a next-gen version of the popular PlayStation franchise that emphasizes graphics over any significant shift in gameplay.

And the graphics are a significant step up from the PS2 entries in the series. They don't however leave other PlayStation 3 titles in the dust; instead they seem to be about on par with some of the better titles I've seen hitting the console recently.

The thirty minutes I spent with SOCOM Confrontation was liquid fast, interrupted only occasionally by in-progress bugs. The map I played on, a next-gen version of classic "Crossroads," is as deep as I remember it, with the ability to go through most doors, access most rooftops, and create choke points by blowing select access points. The map is packed with nuance, lots of tiny little details that breath life into it.

But most of the changes I noticed on the map and in the game were cosmetic, changes to the look and, perhaps, the depth of the game, but nothing that really changes the way you play the game, for good or bad.

I think this, coupled with the fact that SOCOM Confrontation is online, multiplayer only, will feel more like a title meant to tide SOCOM fans over until the next full installment hits, rather then quench their thirst for some Playstation 3 SOCOM gaming.

Folks from Media Molecule told me at a recent event that LittleBigPlanet has a pretty robust tool built into it for reporting problems. The reporting tool allows gamers to stop the action instantly, take a snapshot of a scene and send in the picture with a report of what they see that's wrong. The report is filled out by selecting from a number of fields. The form lets you report just about anything, be it copyright infringement, pornography, illegal activities or, shudder, copyrighted pornography.

The game is fun, and it's cute—no, strike that, it's fucking cute—and last week I got a chance to sit down with Alex Evans, technical director for the game, and go to town with LittleBigPlanet's "Create" function.

We've all seen the sped up videos of someone whipping out custom levels for the game in less time than it takes to start most games up, but I wanted to know just how easy or hard it was for someone with no experience.

After quickly walking me through the basics of design, Evans set me loose in the world.

My first step was creating a rag doll. The rag doll is one of the few things in LittleBigPlanet that have any sort of limitations on them. The sorts of things you can select to decorate and animate the sackcloth figure is limited to what Media Molecule provides, but they provide a lot.

I, for instance, created a blood-red doll with devil horns, a devil tail, a stitch for an eye, a patch over the other, a pointed goatee, a shock of long hair and a puppet on his left hand. (Later I discovered that you can use the game's control to have your rag doll open and close the mouth of the puppet on his hand.)

Evans stuck to a simpler looking doll, but then placed a piece of cardboard on his head, like a mask, and used a PS3 camera to take a picture of my head, which he proceeded to stamp onto the piece of cardboard, so the doll had my smiling face.

Once we created our dolls we hopped over to "My Moon" which is essentially your PS3's hard drive, the place where all of the custom maps are stored and where you go to start with a blank slate.

Evans dropped a background down for me, one featuring a forest scene, and then I got to work. First I selected the material I wanted to work with, I selected sponge so the rag dolls could grab them. Then I choose to make it a circle. Initially I just dropped a circle of red sponge on the floor of the map, but then I used my controller to drag out a shape of sponge that sort of looked like a large oak tree.

Evans then dropped down sections of rock wall. Since physics effect everything in the game, you can't just float objects in the sky, ala Mario, but have to start with them embedded in the ground.. After Evans placed rock walls next to and over my tree in the shape of a giant upside down L, I created a second section of rock connected to his, holding down a PS3 button and painting the rock out with a thumbstick.

Next, Evans used the same square shape he had been building with to cut out stairs in the rock. Removing chunks of things is as simple as pressing the X button.

Then Evans decided to show me how you can create moving objects, placing a spinning wheel of sponge on the rock. While he was talking I grabbed a hold of the spinning circle of sponge and then let go, sending my rag doll shooting straight up into the air. Evans was intrigued. "Let's create a vertical level," he said.

So we did, in about five minutes, copying the spinning sponge shape, we pasted more of them up the wall and then dropped down a starting line for a race at the base of my red tree and a finish line up top on a precipice of rock.

Next we through down some rock off to the right and turned it into ice. When touched, ice objects freeze your rag doll into a block of ice until you can break them free by vigorously shaking your controller. You can also set things on fire, touching these objects will turn your doll into a puff of ash; or electrify objects which also destroys your doll when touched.

While Evans was busy turning peripheral objects into ice, I decided to go ahead and set my pretty tree on fire. Now we had a level.

Saving the level we created Evans dropped out of the create mode and let us play it. The starting line includes a little countdown that starts once both dolls stand on it and a gate that pops open when it's time to start racing.

The level, it turns out, was painfully difficult, so difficult in fact that Evans was growing increasingly frustrated trying to get to the finish line. Nothing feels better than frustrating a game designer with your diabolic game design... nothing.

We ended up going way over the amount of time I really supposed to be on the game, as the two of us kept vying to make it up the rock construct without either falling on the flaming tree or getting shot into the ice blocks.

Finally I managed to reach the summit and the race was over.

Evans reminded me that while user-created and shared maps are a big part of the game, they're certainly not the only part. In fact, LittleBigPlanet is going to ship with it's own robust, story-driven campaign which can be played solo or with friends.

And the game continues to impress on the cute level too. I was able to catch a glimpse of the menu interface for the first time last week and it's just painfully adorable. You and your friend's rag dolls are hanging out in what appears to be a cardboard cut-out rocket ship. The ships three windows will eventually, I suspect, all show options, but I only saw out one window.

The window neatly framed a hanging moon, the My Moon of your personal content; a felt-decorated Earth, the Craft Earth where other users creations will be shown by location; and a chunk of material currently called the info fridge where you can track your friends and news.

Neatest part? There's a Playstation 3 controller sitting in the rocket ship with you and when you use your controller to move around between the menus your rag doll uses the almost-life size controller to do the same thing in real time. It's this loving attention to detail that lets me know this game is going to continue to impress through launch and beyond.

He has to. Resistance 2 online play will support up to 60 players on one map, and without some way of sorting through some of those problems the matches just wouldn't be any fun to play.

If you really don't care about the confusion of such a mighty match, if you revel in the disorder, you can still play the matches you want, but for the rest of us Price and his team has some pretty neat ideas.

As he announced in Europe, Resistance 2 will feature a multiplayer mode that breaks those 60 gamers into smaller squads. While the matches I saw and played through featured ten squads of six, Price said that other size squads will also be used in the game.

While the members of the squad don't have to stick together, they do spawn together and it pays to stick to your group. Once spawned, the game's AI looks at the larger battle taking place on the map and issues automatic orders to your and your squad, marking your new objective on the map with a star in a circle.

Objectives can include taking a control point, defending an area, even coming to the rescue of another squad under heavy fire or taking out one particular member of an opposing squad.

Resistance 2 automatically matches you up with an enemy squad, making sure to give the two opposing forces the same sorts of orders so they're always fighting one another. The AI also does it's best to make sure that when possible your objectives and the objectives of other squads in the larger army aren't near one another, so team mates will be more inclined to stick together and follow orders.

A player can decide to just run around the map attacking other enemy squads, but an in-game point system awards far more points for doing what you're told and for getting kills on that squad matched to you. And not only do those points let you get in-game buffs of sorts like a shield, but they're also used to help permanently rank up your character outside the game.

There are some other really neat tweaks to squad play as well. For instance, the enemy squad your team is taking on will be marked to make them more identifiable. (In the build I played they were tinted red, but Price says that something more subtle will be implemented by launch.) Those enemy players who are doing well will be marked with a large red star over their head. The longer they are on a kill spree, the more successful they are, more points someone will get for killing them. This bounty-like system can award up to four times the normal number of points for taking out these skilled players and will likely go a long way to help balance the game for new players and make it more challenging for skilled gamers.

I'm a long-time fan of first-person shooters, and like many of my ilk, can get a little touchy when someone starts messing with the formula, but playing through a couple of matches on one of Resistance 2's enormous maps populated with 60 gamers made me a believer.

The spawn locations, the use of orders, the tight-knit squad system, all made me feel as if I was playing a much smaller, more manageable match, more importantly it made me feel as if my effort meant something, instead of it being lost in a frenzied 60 person free-for-all.

While I loved the system, I think it's just as important that Price and his team aren't forcing people to use it. Not only can you choose to play traditional matches in the game, with 60 people on board, you can also just ignore what you're asking to do in the squad play and go-it alone. Player choice is an important factor in shooters, guiding players to make smart tactical decisions is a great thing, but not forcing them to do so is even better.

While the version of Resistance 2 was missing a bit of polish and quite a bit of features, I was still impressed with how far Resistance multiplayer has come since the first title hit. Visually, the game seems a bit grittier, and the play more fluid.

Price wasn't showing off the single player campaign at last week's event or the eight-player co-op, but what I did see of the title left me both impressed and eager to see more.

Just arrived at the top of The Roosevelt Hotel where Sony has kicked off their Gamer's Day. This time around the company has decided to cut to the chase and just let us dive in to the rooms full of games they have present for hands-on.

So far I've seen consoles set up for Buzz! PS3, Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet, MotorStorm 2: Pacific Rift, Resistance 2 and SOCOM: Confrontation. PSN titles on hand are Linger-In Shadows, PixelJunk Eden and Siren: Blood Curse and Playstation Portable titles playable are BUZZ! PSP, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee and Secret Agent Clank.

Stay tuned for hands-on impressions of all of these games from myself and McWhertor throughout the day.

Whatever it is, it's almost certainly PlayStation related—and one could speculate that a more polished digital delivery of approved info via the PlayStation Network might be a compelling service, from a marketing perspective. We'll be digging around for more info, but your best guesses in the comments are welcome.

Qore [USPTO]

The freezing issues with Grand Theft Auto IV is affecting a limited number of Playstation 3s and there has been a low volume of calls to customer service about the issue, Sony Computer Entertainment of America said today in the first public statement about the apparent problem.

Despite the "limited number" of people effected by the freezing, Sony says they are working with Rockstar to isolate the issue and identify a solution.

Yes, we are aware of what the message boards and a few of the industry blogs are saying about a 'freezing' issue with GTA IV on a limited number of PS3s. Although we have seen an extremely low volume of contacts to our customer service department regarding such an issue, we want to ensure that every consumer has a great experience on our console and with GTA IV. All parties involved are working to isolate the problem for those few units and identify a solution.

"We are continually looking for ways to enhance the player experience on the PLAYSTATION®Network, and downloadable content through the PLAYSTATION Store is just one of our areas of focus," said Grace Chen, Senior Manager for the PLAYSTATION Store. “We anticipate that this price adjustment will meet the expectations of our Canadian consumers and provide them with a better PLAYSTATION Network experience."

We know that there are a lot of readers coming here from beyond North America (notably the UK, Oz, Germany, and more). We're in the process of working out how to make sure your needs are addressed. We hear what you're saying.

Details are still incredibly scarce on the movie and television download service that was shown to publishers earlier this year at Destination PlayStation, but Dille teases that Sony will "be offering a video service for PS3 in a way that separates the service from others you've seen or used." The LA Times sources anonymous film execs who say that video downloads could... yes, could be transmitting via PlayStation 3 connections this summer.

Clear some space on your calendars, folks!

Sony to launch online video service for PlayStation 3 [LA Times]

The total list of closures is as follows:

PlayStation 2

* Amplitude
* Destruction Derby Arenas
* Everybody's Golf
* EyeToy Chat
* F1 '04
* Jak X
* Lemmings PS2
* My Street
* Syphon Filter Omega Strain
* This is Football 2004
* This is Football 2005
* Twisted Metal: Black Online

PlayStation Portable

* Lemmings
* World Tour Soccer 2

Sony US to shut down some servers [Eurogamer] [Pic]">Pic]

I'm still pretty psyched about the ability to download my Blu-ray movies to the PSP for watching on the go.

Sony told me that according to Sony Pictures they expect to release the first Blu-ray disc movies with Portable Copy "later this year", but that they don't have a specific timeframe yet.

The technology, they told me, is currently under development, so Sony is also unclear on whether a PSP firmware update will be required to get it to work.

Singstar 90's will be available as a stand alone game or it can be purchased in a bundle with two mics. It will also feature several play modes including the co-op Duet Mode, One-on-One battle mode, eight player Pass-the-Mic mode. And as if that weren't enough, it will also be compatible with the Eye Toy so you may record your performances for later posterity and embarrassment.

Make the jump for the full press release with all the details

Sony Computer Entertainment America Continues to Grow PlayStation(R)2 Social
Gaming Library With SingStar '90s

From Grunge Rock to Boy Bands, Fifth Installment in the Party Favorite
Franchise Features Artists MC Hammer, Nirvana, Sir Mix A Lot, New Kids on the
Block and more

FOSTER CITY, Calif., March 18 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Computer Entertainment
America Inc. (SCEA) announced today the release of SingStar(TM) '90s, the
latest installment in the ever growing multi-million selling SingStar(TM)
franchise, available exclusively for the PlayStation(R)2 computer
entertainment system. Developed by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's
Worldwide Studios, London Studio, SingStar '90s brings a hit list of Grunge,
R&B, Rap and Pop music from artists that defined the decade including Paula
Abdul, En Vogue, Vanilla Ice, Boyz II Men, Nirvana and more.
Available both as a stand-alone disc and packaged with two high-quality
USB microphones, the addition of SingStar '90s as the fifth installment to the
SingStar catalogue provides PlayStation(R) fans with over 150 chart-topping
songs and music videos to sing, compete and have fun with friends and family.
Players can easily access any of the song lists while playing from SingStar
'90s, SingStar(TM) Rocks!, SingStar(TM) Pop, SingStar(TM) '80s, or
SingStar(TM) Amped with the disc swap feature which allows for seamless
transition between titles.
"The SingStar franchise has been instrumental in making PlayStation 2 a
social entertainment hub in the home. SingStar '90s will build on this success
and provide fans with the songs and videos that made boy bands and flannel
shirts all the rage," said Jeff Reese, director, software marketing, SCEA.
"This year will be landmark for SingStar as we continue to deliver compelling
content on PlayStation 2 while also revolutionizing the franchise as we bring
it to PlayStation 3 on May 20 by giving players access to purchase hundreds of
songs and videos across multiple genres, build and customize party playlists,
and build a community of user-created performances."
Regardless of music or gaming ability, aspiring rock stars can select from
30 hit songs to sing along with while watching the actual music video on
screen. Performing to such crowd pleasing favorites as "U Can't Touch This",
"Pump up the Jam", and "Ice Ice Baby", players can take their turn in the
spotlight solo-style or share the spotlight with multiplayer modes, including
cooperative Duet Mode, one-on-one Battle Mode, and the team-based Pass-the-Mic
which accommodates up to eight players. In addition, SingStar '90s is
compatible with the popular EyeToy(R) USB camera which allows players to watch
themselves belt it out as the main act and record their performance for
playback. Players can also save their favorite vocal performances onto a
Memory Card for future audio playback and customize and enhance playback with
numerous effects.
SCEA will support SingStar '90s with a media advertising campaign, full
promotional support including in-store demonstrations, retailer supported
Social Gaming Areas, merchandising support, broad-based public relations
support, and an immersive and interactive SingStar website at
http://www.us.playstation.com/singstar/.
The independent Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has rated
SingStar '90s "T" for "Teen". For more information about the ESRB, please
visit www.esrb.org.

Ready at Dawn certainly achieved their goals, but they didn't do so without a bit of stumbling.

Loved:
Channeling God of War: This pocket-sized God of War is an amazing reproduction of the big screen version. Everything from the epic scope of the backdrop, to over-the-top battles, to the hidden sex mini-games is packed into this excellent title.
Pacing: As with the original, Chains of Olympus keeps you enthralled with a storyline you care about and the perfectly paced blending of battles and puzzle solving.
Graphics: Miniaturized, Kratos is just as much a bad-ass as he was in the original games. The detail of animation is at times awe-inspiring, and the character design at times almost surpasses the first two in the franchise.
Controls: With the exception of a few quick-time boss battle kills, the controls are flawless, allowing you to hammer out 40 to 50-chain attacks on a screen full of enemies.
Weapons: From the Gauntlets of Zeus to Kratos' mainstay Blades of Chaos, the portable God of War comes packed with an amazing selection of boostable weapons, a half dozen all told.
Bonus Material: While the game's five hours or so of campaign play was more than enough to satisfy my God of War bloodlust, it's nice that the game also includes five challenges that unlock silly bonus material, like being able to play as Kratos in a dress, and a God difficulty.
Addictive: Because of the vagaries of early builds and demos, I managed to play through chunks of Chains of Olympus three to four times, and it never got old. In fact, I had a lot of trouble putting it down. It's rare that a game gets its claws into me so deep. Even rarer that it would be on the PSP.

Hated
The Thumbstick: There are a number of big monster, quick time event kills in which you have to do timed swirls with the thumbstick and often it just doesn't register. There's nothing as annoying as failing in a boss battle or creature fight because of the hardware.
Save Points: There are a couple of unforgivable save points in the game. Why on earth would you put a save point right before the unskippable cut-scene that introduces an incredibly hard boss battle?
Story: This prequel to the original God of War has a wonderful, potentially emotional plot marred by disjointed delivery. There are moments in the game that could have truly touched gamers, but felt too forced to work.

God of War: Chains of Olympus delivers more to the Playstation Portable than I thought was possible. The game is nearly flawless in its production value and what minor issues it does have has more to do with the irritating difficulty than any real design flaws. My only disappointment lies in the story, which had such great potential for evocative gaming, but never fully delivers.

Set aside a chunk of one day to sit down and enjoy this experience uninterrupted from beginning to end. If I could only buy one game for the PSP, this would be it.

God of War: Chains of Olympus, developed by Ready at Dawn, published by SCEA, released March 4, for $40. Available on Playstation Portable, played to completion.

Following so far?

Ian Jackson will be taking over duties as Vice President, Sales. Currently, Phil Rosenberg is listed on the SCEA corporate website as Vice President of Sales and Business Development, no word yet on whether his responsibilities are being split, or if he's headed off somewhere else.

Finally, Sally Buchanan has been appointed Vice President, Human Resources, a title that isn't currently listed on the SCEA website. Lots of executive changes going on in the Sony camp right now, what with the Phil Harrison resigning from his position at SCEE WWS, it will be interesting to see if any other changes are happening up top at Sony in the near future.

SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA EXPANDS EXECUTIVE TEAM WITH APPOINTMENTS OF THREE INDUSTRY VETERANS TO KEY MANAGEMENT ROLES

Appointments Include Industry Veterans Robert Dyer to Senior Vice-President, Publisher Relations, Ian Jackson to Vice-President, Sales and Sally Buchanan to Vice-President, Human Resources

FOSTER CITY, Calif., February 25, 2008 - Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today announced the executive appointments of Robert Dyer to Senior Vice President, Publisher Relations, Ian Jackson to Vice President, Sales and Sally Buchanan to Vice President, Human Resources. Buchanan, Dyer and Jackson, who bring nearly 50 years of combined industry experience, will add further depth and experience to an already stellar executive team. These three key positions, which take effect in March and April 2008 and report directly to SCEA President and CEO Jack Tretton, will help further lead the company's efforts in sales, merchandising, cooperative marketing, recruiting and publisher relations.

"Rob Dyer, Ian Jackson and Sally Buchanan's proven records of strategic leadership and innovation, combined with their extensive industry experience re-enforce their new roles as a great fit for our organization," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, SCEA. "These three appointments augment an already strong executive staff at SCEA and provide the company with additional leadership to focus on key relationships with some of the most important constituencies, our publishing partners, retail community, and internal employees, as we continue to build on the momentum generated in early 2008 by the PlayStation family of products."

Dyer will be responsible for executing the strategy and vision for SCEA's industry partnerships with external developers and publishers as well as oversee strategic co-marketing programs. Dyer, who has more than two decades of senior leadership experience in the game and entertainment industry, joins SCEA from Crave Entertainment Group, where he served as President and COO since 2004, and helped to direct the game and publishing company to secure more than $300 million in revenue in 2007. Prior to joining Crave Entertainment Group, Dyer managed all areas of operations as President of Eidos Interactive and Crystal Dynamics, two of the industry's leading developers and publishers of entertainment software.

With Dyer's appointment, Riley Russell will move into a more focused position as Chief Legal Officer and Senior Vice President of Corporate Development including the additional responsibility of managing licensee relations for first-party intellectual properties.

Jackson will oversee strategic sales and promotional initiatives across all PlayStation platforms in North America. Bringing extensive sales and marketing experience from some of the largest digital entertainment companies in the industry, Jackson most recently held the role of Managing Director for Sony Computer Entertainment Canada and was responsible for maintaining the company's leadership position in the Canadian market. Previously, Jackson also held strategic sales and marketing positions at Electronic Arts, Panasonic and Microsoft where he worked closely with retailers, distributors and channel partners to execute product launches and sales activities. To build on the strong management team already in place for SCE Canada, Steve Turvey will replace Jackson as General Manager.

Buchanan, who has been with SCEA since 1994, will oversee the strategic Human Resources initiatives including career planning, leadership development, succession planning and talent acquisition, and retention strategies for SCEA. Prior to joining SCEA, Buchanan held varying roles in Human Resources within the technology and staffing industries.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation® and PS one® game console, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system, the ground-breaking PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system and its online and network services PLAYSTATION®Network and PLAYSTATION®Store.
Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation family of products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PS one game console, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, PLAYSTATION 3 and the PSP system for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif., Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

The multiplayer beta test for Metal Gear Online will kick off in April for those who pre-order the game. Run, do not walk, to your local retailer and bring a fiver with you.

The emergence of Blu-ray as the de facto high definition standard is one more reason why PS3 is a great value to consumers...The combination of strong sales, Blu-ray dominance and widely-anticipated games all point to 2008 as a breakthrough year for PS3.

SCEA's Playstation 3 Folding@home project, which went live back on March 22, recently topped one million user, meaning that about 3,000 PS3 users have registered for Folding@home a day since the software went live on the console.

"Since partnering with SCEI, we have seen our research capabilities increase by leaps and bounds through the continued participation of Folding@home users," said Vijay Pande, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University and Folding@home project lead. "Now we have over one million PS3 users registered for Folding@home, allowing us to address questions previously considered impossible to tackle computationally, with the goal of finding cures to some of the world's most life-threatening diseases. We are grateful for the extraordinary worldwide participation by PS3 and PC users around the globe."

Thanks to all of those PS3 owners willing to tie their console to the network, and pay the resulting electric bill, PS3 users make up about 74 percent of the total teraflop computing power of the Folding@home project.

Well done Sony, well done. Oh, speaking of well done, Team Kotaku is currently ranked number 106 at folding@home. If you haven't signed up (for Folding@home) and own a PS3, you really should.

One Million PLAYSTATION(R)3 Users Participate in Folding@home Research Project

PS3(R) Users Support Research Efforts of Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Certain Forms of Cancer

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today announced that since PLAYSTATION(R)3 (PS3(R)) took part in Stanford University's Folding@home(TM) project on March 22, 2007, the total number of registered users has reached over one million users. This equates to roughly 3,000 PS3 users registering for Folding@home per day or 2 new registered users every minute worldwide.
"Since partnering with SCEI, we have seen our research capabilities increase by leaps and bounds through the continued participation of Folding@home users," said Vijay Pande, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University and Folding@home project lead. "Now we have over one million PS3 users registered for Folding@home, allowing us to address questions previously considered impossible to tackle computationally, with the goal of finding cures to some of the world's most life-threatening diseases.
We are grateful for the extraordinary worldwide participation by PS3 and PC users around the globe."
Folding@home aims to understand protein folding and misfolding, and how these are related to diseases and many forms of cancer. When proteins do not fold correctly, there can be serious consequences, including many well-known diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Parkinson's disease, and many cancers and cancer-related syndromes.
Prior to the inclusion of PS3 in March 2007, the Folding@home project leveraged the distributed computing power of personal computers from around the world. Now a network of roughly 10,000 PS3s can accomplish the same
amount of work as a network of 100,000 PCs, and have the ability to perform research simulations in weeks rather than years. In fact, it took just six months after PS3 joining Folding@home for the project to surpass a petaflops (*1), a computing milestone that had never been reached before by a distributed computing network.
On September 16, 2007, Folding@home was recognized by Guinness World Records(TM) as the world's most powerful distributed computing network.
Currently PS3 users make up approximately 74 percent of the total teraflop computing power of the Folding@home project. For more information, please see official website: http://www.scei.co.jp/folding/en/.

(*1) A petaflops is the ability of a computer to do one quadrillion floating point operations per second (FLOPS).

Patapon Pata-Price: $19.99 [PlayStation Blog]

I was stepping into the mini-van this afternoon, bound for Kansas on the way to Georgia, when the FedEx guy stopped by and handed me this nifty Patapon card. As if the nifty tribe celebration wasn't enough to put a smile on my face, inside the signed card was a demo of the game, due out in March. I know what I'll be doing during the trip.

Classy, I kinda like the subtlety of Sony Computer Entertainment of America's holiday card. Maybe they should hire these people to do their commercials. The card also included a $20 PSN gift card, very cool. More pics after the jump.

We compete very effectively right now. The thing that we care most about and what is relative to our online experience is that we currently have 3 million users and they have downloaded 60 million pieces of content. In my opinion, they are the biggest ringing endorsement of our online efforts. As long as we continue to grow our install base we are on the right track for our online efforts.

We're trying to certainly cut down on the amount of times we do it. But on occasion when we've got these good features ready to go, let's give them out to the consumers. Let's get them out there. We definitely understand that it does happen frequently and that can be somewhat annoying to some users.

We hear you. We hear everyone. Yeah. There's some challenges, but we definitely hear you.

Unfortunately, no solid sales figures were provided for the period, with which we could fuel this fire. Instead, Otzman wrote that "It's SCEA policy not to disclose our unit sales numbers until NPD numbers are officially released which will be December 13th." SCEA has decided to stick to cryptic percentage boosts for all of its PS3 sales info.

The whole thing promises to grounded in emotion, giving players "possible interactions for playing as the wind." Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be talking about the game's weapon set at a future date and how online deathmatch works not long after that.

MIGS: First Details On flOwer [Gamasutra]

Some of the changes to note are Sony's clarification on "offensive, hateful, or vulgar" content streamed or presented via the PSN. It's up to SCEA's discretion whether content that spews forth from users is deemed "racially, ethnically, religiously, or sexually offensive, libelous, defaming, threatening, bullying or stalking." Further, the agreement touches on user generated spam, viruses, worms and third-party copyright infringement.

SCEA also extends the PlayStation Network user agreement to the PSP, most likely to protect themselves in the likely event of increased networking functionality on the portable.

The full list of changes is highlighted at the link below.

PLAYSTATION NETWORK TERMS OF SERVICE AND USER AGREEMENT [PlayStation.com]

Could Cammie Dunaway, the marketing maven who just jumped ship from Yahoo, be looking to land somewhere with game? That's what several tipsters tell us. Specifically that Yahoo's soon to be chief marketeer may be on her way to Nintendo of America, where a trio of vacancies are looking to be filled thanks to the recent departures of George Harrison, Perrin Kaplan and Beth Llewelyn.

In her internal goodbye note Dunaway says:

"While I can't share the specifics until mid next week, suffice it to say that it is a natural fit for someone who loves driving profitable revenue for big, well loved consumer brands and can't pass up the opportunity to be the coolest Mom in the universe."

She also added that she would be staying in the area.

Of course all of that could mean Disney. Heck it could be anywhere from McDonald's to the NSA depending on what type of kid you have. Even if it is in gaming, there's always the possibility that she could land at Sony Computer Entertainment of America, where David Karraker's shoes have yet to be filled.

What say NOA and SCEA? Absolutely nothing, dressed up to be a big fat no comment. We could wait until next week to find out, but it would be oh so much more fun if someone just shot us a tip now and cut the suspense.

The Cammie Dunaway Files [Valleywag]

Instead, the handicapping of the PS3 was part of an effort to "encourage buyers of the entry-level PlayStation 3 to purchase more games designed specifically for the new system." If only there were some other ways of doing that outside of ripping out the PS3's ability to play PS2 games better than an actual PS2 in so many cases.

God, I just can't think of any. Obviously having better PS3 software won't work. Nor would working more closely with third parties to help them ship their PS3 ports of Xbox 360 titles day and date, feature for feature. I'll admit... I'm stumped!

Sony Slashes Price of PlayStation 3 [Wall Street Journal (subscription required)]

Darlene has an ideal blend of experience within the video game industry, including in-game advertising, making her a perfect fit for this newly created position. She will be tasked with the important role of working closely with our internal teams as well as our third-party publishers and external advertising agencies to develop business and marketing strategies for our newly formed online advertising group.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Announces In-Game Advertising Business Unit Industry Veteran Darlene Kindler Joins Company as Director of Network Advertising

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) Inc. today announced the creation of a new in-game advertising business unit. The company also announced that Darlene Kindler, a 25-year consumer electronic industry veteran, has joined the company as director of Network Advertising, effective immediately. Kindler will report to Phil Rosenberg, senior vice president of Sales and Business Development. In this new role, Kindler will be responsible for SCEA's in-game advertising strategy across all PlayStation(R) platforms including PLAYSTATION(R)Network.
Kindler brings to SCEA a wealth of experience in consumer electronics and technical related industries, working for companies such as Nintendo of America, Inc., IREM America Corp., Data East, Inc., 3dfx Interactive and Adscape Media. Most recently, Kindler was vice president of Publishing for Adscape Media, an in-game advertising company that was acquired by Google in March 2007. In her previous role at Nintendo, she was part of the company's early start-up team and was one of the key people credited with establishing a European distribution network for Nintendo.
"Darlene has an ideal blend of experience within the video game industry, including in-game advertising, making her a perfect fit for this newly created position," said Rosenberg. "She will be tasked with the important role of working closely with our internal teams as well as our third-party publishers and external advertising agencies to develop business and marketing strategies for our newly formed online advertising group."
The appointment of Kindler comes on the heels of SCEA's announced partnership in July with Nielsen Media Research. Together the companies are working to develop measurement systems for game network advertising. SCEA will share its game network data from PLAYSTATION(R)3 (PS3TM) as well as PLAYSTATION(R)Network, which encompasses PLAYSTATION(R)Home. PLAYSTATION Home is designed to serve as a 3D community gathering place for PS3 users from around the world and will present opportunities for SCEA to deliver dynamic, relevant advertisements in game. SCEA will depict brands in various forms within the game, where users would expect to see them in real life on billboards and posters, on shopping bags and soda cans and on images of TV screens. SCEA will continue to explore ways to incorporate dynamic advertising into other online environments.

We ran the story a bit earlier this morning that the UK is getting a 40GB PS3 model at a fancy new €399 price point. The new model won't support PS2 backwards compatibility and will have two less USB ports and no multi-card memory reader.

What wasn't clear from the release was what exactly was going on with the 60GB model, which is being reduced in price to €499. Turns out it is indeed going the way of the US version of the 60GB model.

From Nick Sharples, Sony's Director of Corporate Communications in Europe:

The 60GB Starter pack will remain on sale until stocks run out (a number of months, depending on territory.) Thereafter, the 40GB model will be the only SKU in the SCEE region.

I feel like we need to have a wake or something. Meanwhile the SCEA folks remind us that no announcements have been made for North America about potential price drops, SKU shuffling or new models.