-
Sony: PlayStation Network Will Return This Week
PlayStation Network, down since April 20, will return this week, said Kazuo Hirai, the second-in-command for Sony Corp., at a news conference today in Tokyo. When PSN comes online, PS3 users will face a mandatory system software update that also requires them to change their account passwords before they can sign into the service. That…
By Owen Good Published May 1, 2011 -
Developer reveals gameplay, character creation for D&D Daggerdale
Dungeons & Dragons Daggerdale is a hack-and-slash action game coming out for Xbox, Playstation and PC in late May. This visit to the Forgotten Realms is the first time console players have been able to play a D&D videogame in several years. Atari Producer Michael Fahrny answered a few of our questions about designing a…
By Ed Grabianowski Published April 29, 2011 -
Credit Card Companies See No Sign of PSN Hack Fraud
Speaking to Bloomberg, spokesmen for Wells Fargo & Co., American Express Co. and MasterCard Inc. said they were monitoring cardholder accounts and hadn’t seen unauthorized activity relating to Sony. [Bloomberg]
By Brian Crecente Published April 28, 2011 -
Sony Comes Clean: PlayStation Network Hackers Have Stolen Personal Data
A security breach in the Playstation Network by still unidentified hackers resulted in stolen personal information, Sony confirmed today. Sony says while personal information was likely stolen they don’t believe credit card numbers were and that they hope to have the Playstation Network service back up within a week. The news comes more than nine…
By Brian Crecente Published April 26, 2011 -
Sony PlayStation Tablets’ Touchscreen D-Pad In Real Life
A virtual d-pad has worked better on tablets and phones than many have expected, but mostly for games designed with those limitations in mind. [Impress Watch] One thing hasn’t changed: Sony knows how to make pretty hardware. The slate-style tablet isn’t as thin as you’d think. Sony’s New PlayStation Tablet is a Sexy Beast Today…
By Joel Johnson Published April 26, 2011 -
Sony’s S2 PlayStation Tablet Looks Familiar
Sony’s S1 tablet looks like a beautiful piece of gear. We’re really digging the tapered, magazine-like edge to it. The S2, though? With the dual screens and touch interface? It looks like a fan mock-up of a 3DS Lite, albeit a very pretty one.
By Luke Plunkett Published April 26, 2011 -
Sony’s New PlayStation Tablet is a Sexy Beast
Today in Tokyo, Sony revealed that its latest PlayStation hardware, the 9.4 inch Sony S1. It’s the first tablet that is (officially) capable of playing PlayStation games, such as PlayStation 1 games or Sony-approved titles for mobile platforms. It is the first Sony tablet to carry the “PlayStation Certified” logo. The S1 is slated for…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 26, 2011 -
The Human Who Sleeps On PlayStation Magazines
Under Twitter user Bros’ mattress, there is a treasure trove of magazines – fifteen years of Dengeki PlayStation magazines to be exact. Bros started with the September 27, 1996 issue and hasn’t looked back. Bros has looked under the bed, though. In an age when paper is becoming increasingly meaningless, it’s comforting to note that…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 25, 2011 -
Digital Pioneer Who Established Sony Computer Entertainment Dies At 81
Norio Ohga, the former chairman of Sony who, in 1993, established Sony Computer Entertainment and paved the way for the PlayStation, died Saturday morning in Tokyo. He was 81. Ohga’s digital media vision had far reaching impact, not just for his company but for all electronics manufacturers. In video games, Sony and Nintendo had been…
By Owen Good Published April 23, 2011 -
It’s Time For Chrono Trigger To Become A PSone Classic
Looks like the enhanced PlayStation port of Square Enix’s seminal role-playing game Chrono Trigger is bound for the PlayStation 3 and PSP. The ESRB has just rated Chrono Trigger for those platforms, so expect the update of that JRPG favorite to show up as a PSone Classic on a PlayStation Store near you soon.
By Michael McWhertor Published April 22, 2011 -
How One Man Stopped Square-Enix From Letting Gamers Kill Yahweh
The attempt to include overt references to Judeo-Christian figures in the classic role-playing game Xenogears caused a few translators to quit — they feared a violent backlash — and prompted a change in the name of the game’s final boss, according to one of the people who brought the game to America. On this week’s…
By Drew Cohen Published April 22, 2011 -
Robbing A Convenience Store With A PlayStation Controller Is Doing It Wrong
A St. Petersburg, Florida man tried—and failed miserably—to rob a convenience store by subjecting the clerk to the business end of a PlayStation controller, reports Bay 9 News. His mistake? By performing said robbery in the presence of “a police officer who walked into the store in the middle of the robbery,” according to police.…
By Michael McWhertor Published April 19, 2011 -
Sony Bigwig Trash Talks Nintendo 3DS and Hurts Our Feelings
During an interview with Fortune Magazine, SCEA’s charming CEO Jack Tretton discussed the company’s business strategies…and then indulged in some nasty smack talk. “If you’re really going to sustain technology for a decade, you have to be cutting edge when you launch a platform,” Tretton explains to the business mag. Reasonable enough. But the Playstaion…
By Drew Cohen Published April 8, 2011 -
How the Playstation Helped Shape the Most Interesting iPad Game of the Year
It all started with a song, an instrumental created with a Playstation by Canadian musician Jim Guthrie, it seems. Speaking to NOW Magazine, Guthrie explains how he went from days creating music for Three Gut Records to working with a team of five on what would become iPad gaming darling Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery –…
By Brian Crecente Published April 4, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallThe Joys Of A Console’s First Moments
Know what I tend to remember consoles by? Not their games, or controllers, or even hardware casings. I usually remember them for their boot-up jingles. As silly as that sounds, those first few seconds of animation and music really set the tone for what the platform holder hopes is to come, and more than any…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 29, 2011 -
PS3 Hacker Flees the Long Arm of Sony for South American Freedom
The saga of George “geohot” Hotz continues, hurtling deeper into absurdity with each growing unit of acceleration. He fought the law and lost—a judge demanded he hand over his PS3-hack relevant hard drives. His answer? I’m out, bitches. According to a court document filed by Sony in its noble, interminable battle to prevent people from…
By Sam Biddle Published March 23, 2011 -
Read The Humble Beginnings of Grand Theft Auto From 16 Years Ago
Grand Theft Auto, the controversial and violent video game series that has sold in excess of 100 million units, began its life as a simple design document in 1995, back when the game was still known as Race’n’Chase. Reading that design doc isn’t nearly as much fun as playing a Grand Theft Auto game, but…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 21, 2011 -
Kevin Butler, as You’ve Never Seen Him Before (NSFW)
Cat’s out of the bag, folks. Kevin Butler is not really PlayStation’s vice president of everything from First Person Shooter Relations to Rumor Confirmation. He is, in fact, the actor Jerry Lambert, who played quite the cringe-inducing straight man in the most recent episode of Showtime’s “Shameless” on Monday. KB, under the auspices of being…
By Owen Good Published March 18, 2011