Sony Remasters Select PSP Game Titles

It’s been a while since the PlayStation Portable System was improved or for that upgraded in anyway. With the Nintendo DS advancing into newer technology *Cough*3D*Cough* before Sony’s PSP system. Even the most devoted PSP gamers are becoming fed up with the low definition graphics (all be it, still better then the Nintendo DS), and are to frustrated to wait until the PSP’s successor the NGP is released.

Two days ago on May 22, Sony announced the Japanese release of a new “PSP Remaster” title series. The name itself serves as a dead giveaway, Sony will be revitalizing select PSP game titles for the PS3 in high-def Blu-Ray.

In addition to remastering select game titles, some games may receive new add-on content plus stereoscopic 3D support. However, Sony didn’t stop there users will also be able to share game save data between their PSP and PS3 systems. Imagine for a second, being able to play on the subway – and when you get home being able to continue where you left off earlier that day on a large TV screen.

The first PSP Remaster title announced was Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, sadly this is set only to launch in Japan at an unknown time and date. Meaning for now North American PSP users will have to deal with the low definition, eye straining graphics they’ve grown accustomed to.

With the Monster Hunter Portable series making its way to the PS3, what other titles would you like to see come? I for one would love to see MGS: Peace Walker and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 make their way in glorious HD to the PS3.

Hyperkin’s PS3 Remotext Combines QWERTY, Blu-ray Controls and D-Pad

When gamers sit down and I’ve been guilty of this myself, we sometimes tend to surround ourselves with a slew of gadgets to enrich our experience. A Dualshock 3 controller to game with, a bluetooth headset to talk with and a keyboard to chat online with. Sometimes, even that Blu-ray remote will sneak into that pile as well. Now, the folks at Hyperkin are looking to change this experience with the Hyperkin’s Remotext for PS3. This multifunction remote offers gamers two analog nubs with a near-complete set of gaming controls, a QWERTY keypad, and a slide-out Blu-ray remote panel. Though not bluetooth enabled, you will find a USB receiver in the box, as well as a pair of rechargeable AA batteries. We don’t have a price or release date to report but the guys at Hyperkin’s will be officially showcasing the hybrid remote at E3.

As always, hit the jump for the official press release. While there, what do you guys think about the remote? Do you like devices like this or prefer a more individual setup with separate keyboard and remote?

PlayStation Network Undergoes Maintenance (05-24-11) (updated)

The PlayStation Network is set to go under maintenance today from 8am until approximately 5pm Pacific time. During the down time, Sony is looking to tweak and enhance registration, password reset and Account Management which means those services will be unavailable during the down time. According to Sony, although some users might have difficulty signing into PSN on the PS3 and to additional services like the PlayStation Blog, the majority of users should have no problem accessing the services, including playing online.

It also comes as no surprise that the PlayStation Store, therefor will not be returning today as it had been rumored in the past. Instead, Sony has gone on record and stated that their goal is to have the store up by the months end. Meaning, check it out next Tuesday folks.

I personally wouldn’t be surprised if this maintenance further has to do with the recent hacking incidents as Sony wants to test for any weaknesses in their system. A few down hours to test and beef up the system is a lot better then another major downtime. You can bet that ever since PSN came  back up, that hackers have been doing their best to to try and exploit the system game.

Hit the jump for the official press release fro Sony. While you are there, let us know if you are experiencing any problems with PSN or if things are going smooth for you.

Updated:

Maintenance has now been completed and full PSN services have been restored to all web and console users.

PlayStation Move Sharp Shooter Unboxing (video)

I know we are more then a little late but it took me over two months to get my order fulfilled by Amazon, seeing how as they were sold out in every retail store that I visited. After that, even thought our video unboxing was filmed, it’s been sitting in my editing cue for the past month but alas, I’ve finished. Bellow is a video unboxing of the PlayStation Move Sharp Shooter. Besides seeing what’s inside the box, I go over some tips on how to properly place your Move controllers inside and a list of games that are compatible. Those looking to purchase one will note that you can place an order on Amazon who has them in stock with no sales tax!

Sony Plans to Restore PSN Services ‘Fully’ by May 31st

Chances are that for those of you who are eager to jump on your PlayStation 3 and play some online games or hang out in PlayStation Home will  be able to do sometime this week. As we reported earlier, Sony is in the final stages of testing out the PSN network. Part of this will also be a new firmware that will be issued to all PS3 owners. Still, if the above does happen, it doesn’t mean that all services will be available.

Shigenori Yoshida, a Tokyo-based spokesman said that by May 31st, the company hopes to have full PSN and Qriocity services restored. At this point, it remains unclear as to what services might not be up and running but speculation can lead to such services as Qriocity, Folding@Home and PlayStation Store thought those remain our own personal guesses. Here is to hoping that Sony can indeed restore some PSN functionality this week but I would rather them take their time and do it right, as opposed to a rushed solution which could harm the company and the millions of users down the line again.

[Via Bloomberg]

A Personal Letter from Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer to PSN and Qriocity Users

As Sony continues to wrap up maintenance on PSN and Qriocity services, Sony President and CEO, Sir Howard Stringer has written an open letter to those who have been affected by this outage. Lets just remember that the real bad buys are the hackers and not Sony shall we?

The letter is after the jump.

Editorial: Those Who Blame Sony for the PSN Meltdown Need to Grow Up

When I normally start off an article, I like to recap the past events that have taken place in order to give the readers a sense of past and direction for the article. However, covering the PSN fiasco really needs no introduction. What started off as users wondering why PSN was down was soon covered on the PlayStation Blog and a week later, had Katie Couric pondering how Sony would respond to all of this though I’m doubtful if Couric and most traditional journalists have a single clue as to what PSN really is.

Though I’m not surprised by it, I feel like it’s worth mentioning that I am disgusted. Every gaming website out there and non-gaming sites as well are simply doing what our pop culture, TMZ/Kotaku reporting outlets tend to do: come up with some catchy headline to bash the intended target in order to maximize their readership. Facts simply don’t mean much; instead, who can write the juciest, most angry piece they can to, in this case, burn Sony and PlayStation to the ground. To put things into perspective, it was reported again that SOE (Sony Online Entertainment) was just breached as well, with over 24 million accounts being hacked. How many of you can honestly say that you were also aware of the fact that the data was from 2007 and that  none of the exposed card data was from U.S. subscribers? On top of that, only  900 of the 12,700 exposed cards were even active. Is this still a horrible situation for those potential 900 victims? Of course, but it’s sure a lot less scary than a headline which reads, “Sony Hacked Again. Another 24 Million Accounts Exposed!”. On top of that, with all the data breaches going on, people are still forgetting the fact that the credit card data was indeed encrypted and hacking into servers is one thing, while getting those informations is another thing. However, nobody wants to report that because it’s boring. Now some might point out and say that we are a Sony centric website and that we don’t want to bash Sony. Fair enough, let’s go along with the story that Sony is a evil giant corporation that only cares about itself, the fans, and buyers of its products.

Hit to jump for my full opinion.

Battle: Los Angeles Announced for Blu-ray

Yes and a hell yes. I loved Battle: Los Angeles and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced a June 14th Blu-ray release date for this movie. Viewers will have the choice of a single disc Blu-ray package or the Blu-ray + DVD Combo package. Blu-ray special features which will be available for both packages include:

• Acting with Aliens
• Behind The Battle
• Building the Aliens
• Creating L.A. in LA
• Preparing for Battle
• Shooting the Aliens
• Boot Camp
• Directing the Battle
• The Freeway Battle
• Staff Sergeant Nantz
• Marines Behind The Scenes
• Aliens Ambush The Marines
• Battling Unknown Forces
• Technical Sargent Santos
• Alien Autopsy
• Gas Station Explosion
• Visual FX on the Freeway
• Do You Believe in Aliens?
• Alien Command & Control
• PS3 Theme

If you’re still looking for another incentive, then look no further then the Resistance 3, single player demo that will be available as well.

[Via Blu-ray]

Reminder, Even with PSN Down, Netflix and VUDU Still Work on your PS3

It goes without saying that the last two weeks have been a trying time for PlayStation fans and employees alike who we sometimes we forget are really taking the short end of the stick. Not only is their service down too, but they are getting the brunt of the frustration for an event that is not in their hands to control. I figured this was as good as anytime to point out like the previous article we ran that while PSN is down, your PlayStation 3 still has plenty to offer and entertain you with. Our previous article was mainly pointing out the PS3’s offline functionalities like Blu-ray movies, photos, and single player games. So what about those of you who want some more media via the web? Well I can indeed report that both Netflix and VUDU still function 100% without PSN. Though they will ask you to log into your PSN account, you can actually bypass that and enjoy the full offering from both services as they are not tied to PSN in any shape. All you need is a internet connection like before.

Sony and PlayStation Coachella 2011 Wrap Up (Videos and Pictures)

During Coachella 2011, attendees were treated to two different presences from Sony, one of which was a PlayStation Loft which housed the brand new Mortal Kombat, SOCOM 4 and Motorstorm Apocalypse, all in 3D. If that wasn’t your thing, you could also play Sport Champions, Killzone 3 and MLB: The Show 2011 with the PlayStation Move. And if that wasn’t enough (surely you are just being picky now), you could listen to  music via Qriocity, stream movies from Netflix and chill with some adorable Sackboys and Sackgirls by playing LittleBigPlanet 2.

Now lets say PlayStation just isn’t your thing, but new technology is. That’s where the Sony Loft comes into play. Smaller than the PlayStation destination, the Sony Loft housed Bravia televisions with Sony’s 3D Handycams, VAIO laptops and touchscreen desktops. But free WiFi and 3D wasn’t the only thing Sony had to offer. Coachella attendees could borrow a Sony Bloggie Touch for the day and return to the loft to upload their videos and pictures to Facebook and other social networking sites.

So why was Sony here with some of the latest technologies? It wasn’t to simply offer the only two air conditioned tents, though that didn’t hurt one bit. The crowd who attends Coachella is the demograph that Sony seeks.  They’re young, hip, iPhone-equipped and social networking aware. For the generation who attended, technology is not just a tool but a way of life that is interwoven into their everyday routine. But they don’t simply equal another sold product. Instead, when we use our products, we are proud of them and show them to others when we attend a party, head to Disneyland or are simply asked what we took our pictures on. We are an advertising machine and will be loyal to a brand. So when we use our tech, it’s not just in our own dark compound but instead at a social event where we share our experience and hopefully, the brand of product that we use. This social experience, if captured properly, can turn into a great advertising method for Sony, something that no commercial can replicate: a referral or recommendation from a friend.

In the end, for the techies, those looking to escape the sun, and anybody lucky enough to check out a Bloggie Touch to share their experience with online, courtesy of Sony, the experience provided by the electronic giant was a pleasant one. With a helpful staff on hand and both lofts and plenty of products on display to play with, Sony provided a rich experience to the attending crowd while displayed their products in a none intrusive and modern way.

After the jump, you will find videos and pictures from our time spent at Coachella. All videos and pictures were taken on the Sony Bloggie Touch.

PS3 Deals: SOCOM 4 $47.99, Mortal Kombat $39.99, Portal 2 $34.99

With high schools and colleges starting to finish off their semester, I couldn’t think of a better time for Amazon to offer some great deals on PlayStation 3 games. Grab a title and enjoy or stock up for the normal Summer game drought.

SOCOM 4 – $47.99

Mortal Kombat – $39.99

Portal 2 – $34.99

New Information About the PSN and Qriocity Outage

Now that we know what took place during the last week to have Sony shut down their PSN and Qriocity services, gamers have began to ask focus on specific questions like what would happen to their Trophies and Download lists. Sony has a released a new set of answers that should help shed a lot of light.

Q: Will our download history/friends list/settings be affected by the PSN downtime?
A: No, they will not.
Q: Will trophies that were earned in single-player offline games during the outage be intact when the service resumes?
A: These trophies are intact and will be re-synched when the network is once again operational.
Q: Will my PS+ cloud saves be retrievable?
A: Yes, once PSN is restored.
Q: What if we have a subscription to PS3 MMOs DC Universe Online or Free Realms? Will we get compensation for that?
A: From Sony Online Entertainment: “We apologize for any inconvenience players may have experienced as a result of the recent service interruption. As a global leader in online gaming, SOE is committed to delivering stable and entertaining games for players of all ages. To thank players for their patience, we will be hosting special events across our game portfolio. We are also working on a “make good” plan for players of the PS3 versions of DC Universe Online and Free Realms. Details will be available soon on the individual game websites and forums.”
Q: Will there be a goodwill gesture for the time we haven’t been able to utilize PSN/Qriocity?
A: We are currently evaluating ways to show appreciation for your extraordinary patience as we work to get these services back online.

[Via PlayStation Blog]

Sony Drops Price of PS3 + Move Bundle to $349. Saves You $77 (expired)

If you’ve been eyeing yourself a PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Move, the following will be welcome news to you. Sony has dropped $50 off of the PS3 + Move bundle to bring it to $349. The bundle gets you the following:

• 320GB PS3 system
• Dualshock 3 wireless controller
• PlayStation Move motion controller
• PlayStation Eye camera
• Sports Champions game

Have to say, this is not a bad deal at all. Especially if you consider that the PS3 is ($299), Move Motion controller ($49), PlayStation Eye ($39) and Sports Champion ($39) which totals $426.

[Via Sony]

Editorial: What PSN Outage?

If you are a PlayStation 3 user, you might noted that we have now entered the 3rd day of the PSN outage. For those not aware PSN (PlayStation Network) is Sony’s free service which allows users access to the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Home and to play online games. The official reasoning from Sony is:

An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services on the evening of Wednesday, April 20th. Providing quality entertainment services to our customers and partners is our utmost priority. We are doing all we can to resolve this situation quickly, and we once again thank you for your patience. We will continue to update you promptly as we have additional information to share.

Now many of you fellow internets people have slowly begun freaking out, pointing out that you cant play games now. Although I get what you’re saying, I actually don’t. You see, the last two weeks, I’ve been working on beating the single player campaign of RUSE and once I’m done with that, I still have Gran Turismo 5, Killzone 3 and LittleBigPlanet 2 to name a few of the games I’ve yet to beat. Outside of those, plenty of games are not only worth repeating like Uncharted 2, but there is still many trophies to be collected as well (which yes, they will sync once PSN is backup). So I don’t know about you but all my single player games have been playing just fine, I was able to last night watch TRON: Legacy on Blu-ray via my PS3 just fine and yea, those music files on my PS3 still play as well. I know, I know, you can’t play your Call of Duty online but come on people, there is still plenty to experience and do on your PS3. It’s not like I’m asking you to go outside. So how about you guys and gals? What are you doing with the lack of PSN?

[Via PlayStation Blog]

PSPgo Productions Not Ending for United States

We’ve been meaning to report on the PSPgo for several days now and what better time then now, when we have the full report and picture. Introduced over a year ago, the PSPgo was a new handheld from Sony and the PlayStation which packed the same features as the current PSP-3000 but with one twist, there was no UMD drive to feed it media. Instead, much like the iPod Touch, the device was solely fed from PSN (PlayStation Network) which allowed the device to download games, movies, TV shows and comics. Now, as Sony slowly begins to prepare for their next handheld released, a true second generation handheld, news began to flow that production for the PSPgo had ended. As it turns out, this was partially true.

Sony has said several times that much like how the PS2 continues to have life, long after the PS3 was introduced as a successor, the PSP and NGP relationship will the same. That is that the PSP-3000 will continue to be made and supported, past the NGP launch. However, the PSPgo will not enjoy that same benifit, or atleast now in Europe and Asia. In those regions, Sony has ended the production for the PSPgo. Still, I wonder if this also in part has to do with a huge inventory that might be on their hands as the unit never reached the sales Sony would have liked. However, for North America, the story is different:

“We are continuing production of PSP Go for North America.”

Simple, sweet and to the point. The PSPgo will live on for now.

[Via Joystiq]

Coachella 2011 PlayStation Loft Trailer

Coachella is the Woodstock festival of the 21st century. This three day out door concert which began in 1999 is a festival where music fans can find oldies like Duran Duran, get their rap on with Kanye, explore a tranced feeling with Paul Van Dyk and rock out with Arcade Fire. With 75,000 attendees last year and an expected 100,000 this year, it’s no surprise to see a company like Sony be attracted to a venue where the exact demograph they hope to capture will be there in abundance. During our three day visit, we had a chance to visit the Sony and PlayStation loft and experience why Sony was there and what they had to offer to the crowds, besides a tent with air. The following which was all filmed on a Sony Bloggie Touch, is a small sample trailer for you to see what the PlayStation loft experience was. Over the next several days, we will be putting together a more comprehensive video of both the PlayStation and Sony loft, which were at different locations with different offerings.

Editorial: Please Back Up Your PlayStation 3. It’s Really Easy

Anybody who has had their computer crash, wether it be caused by a virus or a bad hard drive can attest to the heart break that usually follows when you realize that you haven’t had a backup of your files and now your entire  music library, photos, videos and documents is gone. Sure some services allow you to re-download an application or song but in general, most of your content is forever loved. The PlayStation 3 is really no different, especially with it’s easily upgradable hard drive which allows anybody to install upwards of a 500GB hard drive in minutes. And unlike other consoles on the market, many PlayStation3  not only have downloaded games from PSN (and remember, you can always log back into your account an re-download any old purchases), but also store photos, videos, music and interactive elements like Dynamic Backgrounds and Sony’s monthly Qore. As easy as it is to download content into your PS3, it’s just as easy to lose them. A failed hard drive, a spike in the power or heck, your PS3 just deciding to freak out on itself. Once any of these events happen and lets assume that your hard drive is still working, you cannot simply take out your hard drive, place it in another PS3 and continue from where you left off. But there is a cure for this and that is to simply backup your content. Sony  has made the idea of backing up extremely simply on the PlayStation 3 as our following video will show. Remember, there is no need to do one weekly, because depending on your hard drive size, they can take a while but a two month backup sure beats nothing.

Will the PlayStation 3 Receive Google Chrome for its Future Web Browser?

PlayStation 3 users have been a lucky bunch from the beginning, being the only console on the market with a web browser. As it is, the browser is a functional one with full flash support , giving users access to sites like YouTube, Facebook,  IGN, and our very own (can’t help but plug ourselves in as well). From its inception, much like the PlayStation 3, Sony has done much to beef up the browser and make it a smoother and more powerful experience. Still, there is no denying that compared to your computer or even iPhone, the browsing experience is subpar. Especially if you have a laptop or iPad sitting around, there is no question that you will reach for that, over the PS3 web browser.

Now, it looks like things could change for the better for those of you need access to a better web browsing experience from their PS3. It’s really been a well document experience that the folks over at Sony and Google have become cosy over the last year. Sony has thrown its full support behind the Google TV initiative and offers an entire TV lineup based around the idea, and a separate Blu-ray Internet unit as well. Then, there is Sony Ericssons lineup of Android phone with Sony even hoping to reach the status as a top Android handset maker. It only makes sense for Google to give some love back to Sony and help beef up their product offerings and we’re sure that won’t mind the increased market share. Still, these are only hopes and wants and we don’t tend to report on those alone. Instead, the guys over at PS3 Life have discovered that within the recently updated webkit for the PlayStation 3 browser, lies the code from Google Chrome browser.

I’m going through ps3-webkit-support.diff because I’m bored. Looks like we’re getting Chrome Actually, since Geoff’s added a couple of files for ChromeClientPOSIX.

Naturally the full source of His changes are in that. Diff file also. From what I can tell, the only posix platform refers to the PS3 in webkit, It does not show up at all in the mainline source code (Unix versions are under Their Typically widget library like Qt or gtk). There’s a lot of Functions That Are not Implemented, but they’re Mainly Ones That involvement windowing That You Would not expect to be supported on the PS3.

Might this not mean much since I do not see the cool stuff from Chrome theses sources, like bookmark syncing, but it’s a freaking huge project., And only covers what the diff Needed to be changed so it works on the PS3. Might it not just get Chrome branding visible to the user, but I think if he’s calling it chrome client, we can expect good things for the future.

Those looking to see just what’s inside of this webkit can click here and dig a little deeper for themselves. Many times, companies place codes within their SDK that never come to fruition, due to cost or other initiatives taking precedent. However, the idea of a new web browser is too big of a feature for Sony to simply be testing the idea in just a closed environment and with previous rumors on this subject matter, we cant help but think that it’s only a matter time before the PlayStation 3 receives the Chrome web browser.

Do you currently use the PS3’s web browser and if not. how come? Also, what do you think about a beefed up web browsing experience on the PS3? Would you go back to using it if Chrome did indeed come to the PS3?

[Via PS3 Life]

PlayStation Move Goes Linux Multi Gestured, Controls Facebook and More

Though we failed to report on it, in early March, Sony announced a new initiative called Move.me which is an server application that promises to let researchers, hobbyists and others use the Move as a controller for a PC. Currently in closed beta and set to be released into the wild by Summer, Move.me hopes to capture the enthusiast crowd’s imagination by giving them access to PlayStation Move’s source code with little guidance. Instead Sony and PlayStation want users to hack away at the motion based controller till their hearts desire. Now Jacob Pennock is one of the first to report back in with his findings. Using the PlayStation Move, he is able to navigate around in his desktop, navigate through Facebook and create gesture based shortcuts to launch movies, Pandora and more. What’s more impressive is that Jacob only received access to the currently closed SDK last Thursday. It should be noted that Jacob will share is findings with the rest of the closed beta community of Move.me till the program goes out of private beta, in which case he and the rest of the community will be able to publish their codes for the web, and anybody wishing to give it a go will be able to have access to the SDK  from Sony.

“We want to see what innovative applications programmers can create using the PS Move controller, the PS3™ system, the PlayStation®Eye camera, and a PC,” Sony said in its Move.Me site.

For all those interested, some of the key areas that Sony would like you to focus on is:

• Games and tools that support kids’ physical fitness and nutrition
• Kid-friendly programming interfaces for computer/technology classes or individual learning
• Physical therapy and rehabilitation
• Sports physiology or fitness training
• Music and the creative arts

Hit the jump for one more video.

[Via JacobPennock]

Our Site Editor, Allegra, Unboxes LittleBigPlanet 2: Collectors Edition (Video)

I know we were late to the party when it came to getting our hands on LittleBigPlanet 2, but we really wanted the Collector’s Edition and I was under strict orders that I wasn’t allowed to play the new game till our site editor, Allegra, had arrived back in Los Angeles. Because she was able to spend a week here, we finally got the opportunity to not only play LBP2 but also do an unboxing.

Crackle to Offer Free Movie Streaming to Sony’s Bravia TV’s, Blu-ray Players and PS3

First, a shameless promotion for a pitch we sent over to Crackle last year can be read here. Now, for those who are unfamiliar with Crackle, the site is owned by Sony, and allows for free movies and TV shows to be streamed to you, via the web browser on your Mac or PC. Now, Sony is looking to expand the reach of Crackle by giving their 2011 Bravia TVs, Blu-ray players, and even PlayStation 3 access to Crackle’s library of free movies like The Da Vinci Code, Ghostbusters, Big Daddy and Bad Boys via their web browser. Sony is also letting Crackle expand into non-Sony product territory with the Roku gaining streaming access as well. There’s no word yet on if there will be an official app for PlayStation 3 users, but from what we have heard, there is one in the works although no specific timeline was mentioned. Hit the jump for the full press release.