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.

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]

PSP Firmware 6.38 with Qriocity Install Overview (Video)

As we mentioned in our prior post, we’ve been working on a video overview of PSP firmware 6.38 which finally brings Sony’s music streaming service, Qriocity, to PSP and PSPgo units. Our video below will show you how to install the service, give you some tips to make sure you experience a smooth setup and an overview of how well the streaming service actually works.

PSP Firmware 6.38 Now Available with Qriocity Music Unlimited Support for the PSP and PSPgo

I apologize for calling the service Qriocity Music Unlimited in the headline but it’s what I sometimes must do for the Googler Interwebs search engines to dig us up. Sticking to what should just be called Qriocity, today Sony has released a new firmware up date for the PSP and PSP go system. Firmware 6.38 is a small download that builds upon the previous update and gives PSP and PSPgo users access to the Qriocity, Sony’s cloud based music streaming service. Those who download will note that they need to do 3 additional things before being able to use the service.

• On their PSP, go to settings > Date & Time Settings > Date and Time > Set via Internet
• Have over 200MB of free space available on their system
• Via their PS3 or web browser, link a PSN account to a Qriocity subscription

After following these steps, you will be on your way towards streaming music. As I write this, I’m also importing and editing a video that will hopefully be up by tonight, if not tomorrow which goes over the installation via a PSP and PSPgo. Also, I go over how the service works and some of the tips I just gave. So look for that soon! Have you guys download Qriocity for the PSP or PS3 system yet? If so, what do you think and if not, what’s holding you back?

Sony Cuts European Price for PSP to €129.99

Following the trend set last month in the United States, Sony of Europe is also cutting the price of the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in all European territories, down by 24% to €129.99.

“The price cut is aimed at increasing adoption of the player in Europe,” said Satoshi Fukuoka, a Tokyo-based spokesman at Sony’s video-games unit. The previous suggested retail price was 169.99 euros.

With the NGP looming around the corner, it’s no surprise to see the price of the PSP fall all over though Sony has said that much like the PS2 and PS3, the PSP will live on beyond the NGP launch. Still, we can’t help but wonder how much more penetration Sony could have done had the PSP price cut happened a year or two prior. Still, we have to also take into account that due the PlayStation 3’s high costs, Sony was losing over $300 per console for the first few years the product was on the market and that the PSP was the only product bringing in a profit into the PlayStation division. Taking that into consideration, you might see why the price was not cut prior.

Sony PSP Outsells Nintendo 3DS in Japan

For some reason, as I began to write this post, all I could think about was Riddick saying “skittish Tombs, very skittish“. Those unfamiliar with the quote, I highly recommend seeing the two Riddick movies. Now, onwards to the news. Nintendo’s new handheld console, the 3DS was launched in Japan on February 26th and has been met with great sales. Still, it seems like software is king and with a lack of 3rd party support as often is the case with Nintendo (and let’s be honest, Nintendo hasn’t really hurt from this as each year, all they need to do is put Mario on something and make Mario Party 23 and Mario Tennis 37 and it will sell millions) Sony’s 7 year old PSP was able to outsell the 3DS with 58,075 units in the week of March 28th to April 3rd while Nintendo pulled in 42,979. As mentioned though, software is indeed king and the PSP had the help of the popular sim game, Amagami. I of course am not taking this as some impending doom and gloom situation for the 3DS nor a trend that will continue on every week.

[Via GI](subscription required)

PSP and PSPgo to Receive Qriocity: Music Unlimited on April 14th

Though the PSP firmware 3.65 added Qriocity support which is Sony’s unlimited cloud streaming music service many months ago, the handheld consoles still required an additional download in order for the service to work which has not yet been available. Now Sony has issued a press release, indicating that the PSP and PSPgo will be getting Sony’s cloud based music streaming service on April 14th via an additional download. Earlier this year, Sony began a roll out of Qriocity in Europe and quickly followed to North America. The $3.99 or $9.99 a month service allows your music to be synchronized and accessible via any web browser and is also available on all PlayStation 3 units, as well as Sony Bravia televisions, and Blu-ray players. Sony is looking to bring the service which gives you access to over 7 million songs to Android and iOS devices though no specific timeframe has been given.

As always, hit the jump for an official press release.

The PSP Turns 6! Happy Birthday!

6 years ago today, Sony took the first steps at transforming the PlayStation division and being Nintendo’s first true competitor in the mobile gaming segment with by releasing PSP-1000 in North America. Offering at the time unmatched graphics which frankly, the just released Nintendo 3DS still cant compete with, Wifi, Bluetooth, online gaming and movies, music and photo viewing capabilities, the PlayStation Portable has come to sell over 67 million unit’s during these last 6 years. During that time, the PSP has seen a fair share of tweaks, with the PSP-2000 and PSP-3000 getting slimmer and yet offering a better screen and battery lifetime. Sony has also tweaked the PSP via firmware updates, giving the handheld access to the PlayStation Network which gives allows users to downloadable movies, games, themes, comics and more, directly over the air. Over a year ago, Sony would also release the PSPgo which was based on the PSP platform with one noticeable difference, a lack of UMD drive which had powered all the previous PSP models and current PSP-3000 in favor of downloadable content only. Though the PSPgo has not been the success that Sony had hopped for, Sony has always stated that the PSPgo was more of a test and an advent to the upcoming NGP. Recently, Sony dropped the price of the PSP-3000 to $129 and with exclusive games like God of War, Metal Gear Solid, SOCOM, Final Fantasy, Killzone and LittleBigPlanet, the PSP continues to be the corner stone of what a next generation portable should be.

PSP Launch, March 24th, 2005

 

Sony NGP to Release on November 11th in Europe?

The NGP is a hot tech topic. Announced a little over two months ago, the PSP successor, previously dubbed as the PSP2 and currently codenamed the NGP which is an internal codename and not the products actual name was met with great reactions from all over. The latest handheld from Sony packs some of the most state of the art technology in any device with many components of it not yet released into the market, like a quad core CPU and graphics card. Originally Sony’s Kaz Hirai had indicated that the NGP would launch during the 2011 Holiday season. We now know, thanks to clarification from SCEA Jack Tetton that Sony is looking to launch the NGP in at least one territory in 2011 with others to follow through. Part of this is the limitation in resources which make building large quantities of a unit like this extremely hard.

it’s very difficult to have the quantities to be able to launch on a worldwide basis on the same date” and that “our goal is get at least one territory out by the end of holiday 2011”.

When it comes to product launches, Sony users are no doubt accustomed to Japan, Sony’s home territory to receive a product with Europe and US to follow a few months after. This is especially true in the PlayStation division where all unites, including the PSone, PS2, PS3 and PSP launched in Japan and were eventually followed with a US release date. With such a track record, many assumed that the NGP would fall in line and Japan would receive the product sometime during the 2011 Holiday with Europe and US receiving shipments in the Spring. Now an online leak is pointing towards Europe receiving the honors and being the first territory to receive the NGP. This should partially come to as no surprise as Europe is one of Sony’s strong holds where the company sold over 9 million Sony Ericsson Android devices and the PlayStation 3 has continued to stay ahead of the Xbox 360. Still, this early on, it’s hard to take any leaks seriously as I’m sure final configuration and logistics of the NGP are still being sorted out.

[Via MCVUK]

Podcast: SRN Episode 3 Now Live!

Our third podcast is now live on iTunes and ready for your downloading and listening pleasure. Those who do subscribe to our feed via iTunes will note that ours is an enhanced podcast, meaning that there are pictures and live links that go along with the segments we are talking about. However, I’ve also been asked if we could offer an MP3 version of the podcast so that users can download it to their device of choice or stream it from their web browser of choice. I’m happy to announce that I’ve tweaked our servers to publish both to iTunes now and an MP3 feed for you guys. As always, we love hearing back from you so write us here, call us at (661) 750-BLOG or hit us up on Twitter or Facebook.

Podcast Recap:
PlayStation news ruled supreme with price drops, accessories and shipment woes for Sony. Still, the camera frontier looks stronger then ever for Sony with Apple on their horizon as a partner, as well as a new megapixel sensor record. Of course we have a little product overview to finish things up with that will hopefully help you reduce some of your bills and go a little green.

Via iTunes

Via MP3

ncmogo CEO Thinks ‘NGP Will Be Dead on Arrival’

Coming into the spotlight a little over three years ago, ngmogo is the game developer behind such popular iPhone games like Dropship, Star Defense, We Farm and We Rule. Since then, the small developer has grown to provide games for the full range of iOS devices (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) and Android. With their bread and butter invested into mobile games for cellphones, it’s no surprise to hear ngmogo CEO Neil Young bash the upcoming handheld from Sony, the NGP. The CEO thinks that the NGP which previously was called the PSP2 will be “dead on arrival” because the system wont be able to keep up with the advances in the iOS and Android ecosystem. Of course, every time I hear random CEO’s taking a shot at their competitors, it’s because they need some attention or they actually know there is real competition coming.

“I think they are hurt; I think they’re clearly hurt,” Young said of the traditional portables from Sony and Nintendo. “I think PSP is done and the new [NGP] is dead on arrival. It’s really difficult to compete with an app store that has hundreds of thousands of applications and a wide range of options where the average price paid is around $1.20 and there are tens, if not hundreds of thousands of free applications that are really high quality. So I just don’t think Sony’s going to be able to compete with that.”

Breaking: PSPgo Price Drops to $150 (Updated)

On the heels of Sony dropping the price of the PSP-3000 to $129, Sony has now dropped the MSRP of the PSPgo to $150, down from the current $199. The PSPgo debuted over a year ago in October to a $249 price point and eventually dropped to $199 a year later. The PSPgo debuted as a sidekick to the original PSP with one major difference, outside of its form factor, the loss of the UMD drive, instead paving the way for only downloadable content from PSN. The PSP-3000 and PSPgo will be succeeded later this year by the NGP.

Updated:

It seems like the price drop has disappeared from Sony’s website with no mention left. Considering that I saw the price drop on Sony’s own site and not a random retailers, I cannot imagine it being long before this makes a full comeback. This also does play into my curiosity as to why Sony never made an announcement  of the price drop. The simple answer seams to be that somebody pulled the trigger before the company was ready for it and expect to see the official MSRP down to $150 in the near future again.

[Via Sony]

The PSP Drops to $129

Well ahead of the NGP, Sony has dropped the price of the PSP-3000 down to $129.99 MSRP in hopes of spurring up sales and cleaning out inventory slowly. Now you can find older games at $9.99, greatest hits at $19.99 and brand new titles at $29.99.  This is great for those who want to experience some amazing AAA games like Killzone: Liberation, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7, God of War: Ghost of Sparta and Gran Turismo to name a few. Fans can also expect the PSP to live beyond the release of the NGP (PSP2), much like the PS2 currently still lives on with new releases. Despite the stigma, with nearly 67 million units sold, the PSP has been an extremely successful handheld, despite its lack of 3rd party publisher support, something that Sony is looking to change with the NGP.

No PS4 in the Immediate Future

Many would agree that there isn’t a need for a PlayStation 4 yet. The PS3, year after year continues to expand on its offerings. The little console that started out with games and Blu-ray playback can now deliver a new and much improved PSN store, Netflix, Hulu and Vudu movies services. Sony also via software has added 3D gaming and 3D Blu-ray capability to every PS3 and has taken motion control gaming to the next level with the release of the PlayStation Move a little over 6 months ago. With Sony’s  Qriocity Music and Movie streaming service expanding to countries, and games continuing to improve upon their last year counterparts like Killzone 3, Uncharted 3 and LittleBigPlanet 2, there seems to be little getting in the way of the PS3 staying fresh, up to date and cutting edge, 5 years after its release.

Because of that, there seems to be little point for Sony to start working on the PS4. If work began on the machine now, we could see a 2013 or 2014 release date and I don’t think the consumer is ready for another machine yet and frankly with Sony focusing on the NGP, their Tablets and Sony Ericsson lineup, I think the company has enough going for them. Luckily, Sony seems to be on the same page.

 

Sony Makes $887 Million Net Profit in Q3, Sees Rise in Sales in Most Divisions

Sony has just announced their Q3 Holiday results with ¥137.5 billion (approximately US $1.68b) operating income and a total of $887 million in net profit. Compared to 2009, this is actually down by nearly 6% though this is mostly due to a 5% stronger yen and not an actual reflection of the companies performance. Sony’s Consumer, Professional and Devices  division dropped 47 percent to ¥26.8b ($327.3m) as margins have shrunk, thanks to the global recession, factored with already fierce competition between rivals like Samsung and LG. On the other hand, Sony’s Networked Products and Services (which includes the PlayStation brand) saw a dramatic 134% jump to ¥45.7b ($559.78), helping offset the decline of the consumer products.

The good  news for Sony is that in midsts of all the woes mentioned above, the electronic giant was able to raise unit sales in almost all divisions compared to 2009. Bravia sales were up 2.5 million, totaling 7.9 million. Video cameras was able to sell only .1 million more, an expected decline with most portable devices now having some form of video capturing method built in while Compact Digital Cameras saw a 1 million unit sales increase. The now profitable PlayStation division saw the PS3 lose .2 million units compared to the 2009 Q3 but is ahead of 2009 sales. The PlayStation 3 saw a total of 13 million unit sales in 2009 while the company now sits at a healthy 15 million units sold and still has another quarter to go. The same cannot be said for the PlayStation Portable which saw sales slip .6 million units, down to 3.6 million units. Now in its 11th year, the PlayStation 2 still managed to sell 2.1 million units, on par with the year prior.

Software sales on the other hand were a completely different story with sales raising both on the PS3 and the PSP. PlayStation 3 software sales were up an amazing 10 million units, with 57.6 million pieces of software sold. The PSP, though down in hardware sales also saw an increase in software consumption with a 1.5 million unit increase to sit at 16.5 million units of software sold. The PS2 on the other hand took a big hit, seeing a 5.9 million unit drop, down to 5.3 million.

[Via Sony]

Sony’s Music Unlimited aka Qriocity Expands to France, Germany, Italy and Spain

For the past few months, Sony Electronics with help from Sony/BMG, the music label division of Sony have been rolling their Qriocity service across Europe. The service dubbed as Music Unlimited gives the user access to over 6 million song that they can stream to Qriocity enabled devices like Sony Blu-ray Players, Bravia Televisions, as well as their PlayStation 3 and PSP systems. The service first debuted in the UK and Ireland in December but has sense expanded to France, Germany, Italy and Spain with €3.99 a month giving you access to listen to it as a stream; while €9.99 upgrades to a premium plan that lets you select and sort your music with playlist functionality via Artist, Genre, Decade and more. On top of that. users can synchronize their own music to the Qriocity data base and have access to it from anywhere as well. Think of it like Pandora but with much more functionality. This service is expected to come to mobile devices, as well as North America in the future. Having had a chance to use the service at CES 2011, I will be writing about my own personal time with it shortly.

Hit the jump for a official press release.

Our NGP Video Overview Including HD Pictures, Specs and Game/Device Footage

For those of you who’ve been waiting for any spec of detail you can get about the upcoming handheld device from Sony, the NGP aka PSP2, we’ve finally got our video uploaded to YouTube after some technical difficulties and you are in for a treat. We not only go over some of the announcement, but we have all HD Pictures of the NGP and the current spec list. We also have some great game footage and some videos showing the devices different functionalities used in different game scenarios. Expect more videos from us as we cover the device in more depth and detail.

The NGP aka PSP2. Full Game List, So Far (updated)

One thing should be apparent about the NGP, that it’s crazy powerful. It has Quad Core ARM Cortex-A9 core with a SGX543MP4+ graphics card. All that should really mean nothing to the average person but what should mean something to you is Uncharted and Killzone which are synonymous with crazy graphics and thats exactly what the NGP is going to deliver. As shown with Hideo Kojima onstage, he was able to port over MGS4 from the PlayStation 3 and have it run on the NGP with no problem. What kind of game franchises are already being developed for the NGP and by who? Besides the obvious being Sony and it’s first party studios who have brought you games like God of War, Killzone and Uncharted, some third party studios include:

• Capcom
• Sega
• Tecmo Koei
• Konami
• Epic
• Activision
• Square-Enix

All of these companies have  announced games in development for the system. Hit the jump to see a full list of the currently announced titles that are in development, as well as a full publisher breakdown.

The NGP aka PSP2. We Have Full HD Pictures

Want to look at some pictures of the NGP aka PSP2? We got all of them in full HD galore for your viewing pleasure.

Checkout the full gallery  below and if you’re looking for NGP specs, we have those too!

The NGP aka PSP2. We Have Full Specs

The PSP2 which is actually called the NGP (Next Generation Portable) although we are not sure if this will be the official name when it launches this Holiday season or not was finally shown off last night in Tokyo and we have both specs and official pictures to show you. First, the device is crazy powerful and packs a lot of up to date technology, something that the PSP and PSPgo both lack. In comparison to the Nintendo 3DS, there really isn’t one. The NGP is for people who take gaming, media and the connected life serious. But more on that later. Lets get some specs out first like the fact that this thing has a Quad Core processor inside.

CPU: ARM Cortex -9 core (4 core)

GPU: SGX543MP4+

Multi-touch 5-inch organic light emitting display (OLED) as the front display ( Resolution 960 x 544)

Read touch pad

Two cameras (front and rear)

Sound: Built in stereo speakers

Dual analog sticks

Built in Microphone

Sensors: Six-Axis motion sensor with accelerometer. Same internals of the PlayStation Move

PlayStation Network access, including ““LiveArea™”, “Near” and “Activity” log features Trophy Support

NGP will be able to play PSP titles, minis, PS one classics, video and comics from the PlayStation Store.

3G

Wifi (802.11 b/g/n)

Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR

Now how a full spec breakdown.

Live Blogging the PlayStation Teams “Live From Japan: PlayStation Meeting 2011” (Pictures and Specs)

Well, I can’t say that our site was magically able to afford a ticket to Tokyo and attend the PlayStation meet so instead, I’ll be going through all the news provided by Sony and other media sites and will be reporting them here. So check back now and especially in the following day and we gather all the bits of information that is likely to be the PlayStation Portable 2 (PSP2) or the PlayStation Phone.

10:10: Video montage of the PlayStation vision that was shown at the 2005 E3 is being shown. This is to show what their vision was then and where they are now, almost 6 years later.

“Let me start off by showing you video footage. It is the same clip we showed at E3 5 1/2 years ago, because we want to revisit the image of the future we revealed in 2005”

10:12 Kaz Hirai: “I believe a lot of what we envisioned back then has materialized for our users.”

10:13 Kaz is setting the audience up for the new device they are looking to introduce.

“Today, I’d like to speak about a whole new world that PlayStation is about to bring to reality”

Kaz believes that the PlayStation 3 “has won its place as the center of the living room” and that the next challenge for Sony will be to win what device is in peoples hand.

10:15 A whopping 80% of PS3’s are connected to the internet.

10:16 As of January 25th, there is over 69 million PSN accounts. This includes PS3, PSP and accounts created to access PlayStation content online like the PlayStation Blog.

“When we released PSP, cell phone providers were unable to deliver PlayStation quality content. After 6 years, these multi-function handheld devices are ready for PlayStation-like experiences”

10:20 Sony wants to deliver the PlayStation experience to a wider audiences, something that was not possible in 2005, especially with phone technology.

10:21 Sony has announced the PlayStation Suit. It is a cross endeavor platform.

“PS Suite will make PS content available on Android smartphones and tablets”

Hit the jump for our continuing live coverage and additional photos.

NGP: With Front/Rear Camera and Front/Back Touchscreen