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.

The game is still listed as only appearing on the Xbox 360 and PC at 2K Games' BioShock page and the title has been called an "Xbox 360 exclusive" in the past, a claim the official Xbox site does not make for the game. We'll keep our digits crossed in hopes that ThreeSpeech knows what they're talking about.

In the meantime, we await response from 2K. Thanks to Neil (aka Barbara) for the pointer! Michael McWhertor

UPDATE: 2K reps just contacted us to let us know "BioShock is exclusive to Xbox360 and PC Games for Windows."

Future PS3 Games [ThreeSpeech]

From the release:

Any PS3 owner playing MotorStorm online will receive Time Trial Mode automatically - you won't even need to download this one from the PLAYSTATION Store. Take any vehicle out on the track of your choice and go hell for leather to lay down the quickest lap time. You can race against ghost vehicles of your previous efforts, other players' times and the best attempts from the MotorStorm development team - and then upload your best times to the global online rankings. In addition, more tracks, vehicles and game modes will be available later in the month, and thereafter on a regular basis.

More tracks? More vehicles? Ghost data from the Evolution Studios team? Love it. Michael McWhertor

PLAYSTATION NETWORK / DOWNLOADABLE PACKS RELEASE [ThreeSpeech]

Well I'm disappointed that you would use those as the first questions. I think Home should be used for a much wider and more beneficial scope than that, but I think that people can express their creativity inside Home in a wide variety of ways and it's not necessarily for us to dictate what that should be. However, if somebody feels uncomfortable about an encounter on Home, it's very easy for them to ban that person from their friends list...

Still, I applaud the folks at Three Speech, who somehow managed to keep the focus on porn potential even after witnessing the delightful LittleBigPlanet. While the rest of us were dreaming of little burlap people bouncing off stars, those guys were keeping it real. Michael Fahey

FURTHER PHIL HARRISON INTERVIEW FROM GDC [Three Speech via Eurogamer]

There was some debate yesterday on Three Speech about whether or not Sony has any comment on the current "solid" rumors by Luke Smith from 1UP and CVG regarding Killzone being shown at GDC next month, possibly with a playable demo. The response is:

"No, Killzone won't be at GDC at all," stated SCEA Manager, Ryan Bowling, in a conversation with IGN held yesterday afternoon. "The time for that game is coming and we'll have new information about it in the future, but not at GDC."

Does that still leave room for it to be shown at a private event during, before or right after GDC? I suppose. It's hard to tell if this is about semantics or corrections. Brian Crecente

KILLZONE WILL NOT BE SHOWN AT GDC NEXT MONTH [Three Speech]

That huge price gap left many Europeans, quite used to getting it in the wallet, a little steamed.

So PS3 blog ThreeSpeech went right to the source, Sony Computer Entertainment's UK managing director Ray Maguire, to ask the obvious: "Why is the PlayStation 3 425 in the UK when it is the equivalent of 300 in the US and 250 in Japan?"

His answer?

Here's a snippet:

If you just take the pound against the Euro over the last few months, you'll see that the swing between 0.68 and 0.66 would make a difference of 12 on a straight conversion. We don't deal with consumers using a varying RRP - we don't say to them: "Today, you're RRP is 500, but tomorrow, by the way, you'll have to redo all your POS because it's 600." We have to take a reasonable guess. When it comes to looking at the total infrastructure, we have to build it down from the RRP. The UK, in particular, is quite expensive to deal with. Transport costs a lot of money. There's taxation which is obviously government-controlled, so is more onerous. The cost of living is high, therefore people need to be paid more money at retail and in our own operations than some of our European counterparts.

That's a sampling of paragraph four of his six paragraph explanation as to how the pricing it set. You can read on, and look for comfort, but you aren't likely to find it. You will however find very in depth details on how Sony determines pricing throughout the PAL territories. And you might just walk away with a bit of a headache. Michael McWhertor

RAY MAGUIRE INTERVIEW [ThreeSpeech]

Yesterday's speculation about the rumored development problems that Icognito's Warhawk were having came to a head, warranting more concrete official and semi-official denials that the title is in trouble. With so many news posts and blog updates ending in question marks, it seemed vague statements from spokesfolk weren't enough to quiet the gossip.

The Three Speech blog updated today with:

There has also been speculation flying around that Warhawk may be cancelled. We can confirm that this is categorically not true. Warhawk is currently scheduled for a June 07 release in the UK.

Who said anything about cancelled? Not us! Gaming mega-site Gamespot also got some rumor squashing statements from the company.

The rumors are false. We're still in development with the same team at Incognito and we're excited to show the progress of the game to media within the next month or so. At the same time, we'll be able to confirm an updated release date, too.

Hmm. Updated release date, eh? Who wants to make a guess? Michael McWhertor

Warhawk down? [Gamespot]
Rumor: Warhawk In Trouble? [Kotaku]

F1 Championship Edition Gallery

Firmware upscaling fix? Afraid not, but some welcome features were hinted at, including:

Multi-tasking (included will be audio/video conferencing while browsing the XMB and its features/gameplay)
New XMB display options
New animations for audio playback
New photo album options
PlayStation Store auto [download] resume
PSP remote play advanced access option (so that you can have access to your PS3's content anywhere that has a internet connection)

Phil and the Sony rep's in attendance also allegedly gave further details on Euro pricing (" 425 or lower" for the 60 GB model) and Sony's SingStore. Check out the post for greater detail, but take with a grain of salt until confirmation hits. Michael McWhertor

PS3 to Launch Earlier and Cheaper than expected in EU [PS3Forums]

Well, "some elements" that is. After the next-gen Killzone trailer shown at E3 2005, the following revelation that it was entirely pre-rendered, the huge dip in graphical quality from Tekken fantasy (2005) to Tekken reality (2006), a similar drop for Capcom's Devil May Cry 4, well, we're all a bit jaded I think.

But, speaking with OPM, Sony's Phil Harrison said of the highly anticipated Guerilla title:

With Killzone, the expectation internally and externally is very high - and I won't show it until it's going to exceed people's expectations. It will be next year before we show it again, but it's coming along very well. The team are working very hard, they know exactly what they have to do and there's no doubt they will achieve it, but there's nothing to be served by something that doesn't satisfy my goals for the project. I can tell you, though, that some elements already exceed the trailer.

We'll just see about that, Phil. Then we'll go into mind-numbing nitpickery about how this particle effect looks "just okay" and this shadow "looks a bit worse" and this and that and the other thing. Don't you just hate us and our unrealistic expectations already? Michael McWhertor

MORE COMMENTS FROM PHIL HARRISON LIFTED FROM FORTHCOMING INTERVIEW

After pulling the global launch rug out from under our friends across the pond, it seems that Phil Harrison, President of Worldwide Studios for Sony, would like to prepare the Euros for further disappointment. Just to be safe.

Speaking with the UK version of the Official PlayStation Magazine, Mr. Harrison had the following to say about the proposed March 2007 launch date for the PS3:

Given that all of our previous statements about launching in Europe simultaneously with the US and Japan turned out not to be the case, I would not like to make any definitive statements on that. It's not my job to comment on hardware supply issues other than to say some very smart people are working very hard to catch up. In fact, the ramp up is already starting to happen in supply and output, just obviously too late for us to have launched in Europe at the same times as the US.

Well, that's fair! Stil, I can't imagine that anyone will be happy to see units dedicated for the European market shifted to other territories. With the exception of the country of Japan and North America! Hahaha! Take that, France, Germany, Spain and the UK! You too, Luxembourg and Austria! Michael McWhertor

Phil Harrison Interview [ThreeSpeech]