Sony has released another update to the PlayStation 3 firmware and quite oddly, it would appear the best feature of the patch has been left off of the update notes. According to many sites around the 'net, the latest firmware patch has corrected the backwards compatibility display issues with PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games. You would think that this would be something that Sony would be shouting from the rooftops as it would certainly be welcome news to PlayStation 3 owners and those considering making the purchase, but nope - it appears that Sony's marketing team is about as inept as ever.

Here's the full text of the patch note;

"The PLAYSTATION®3 system software version 1.50 update includes the following:

• Users
  • You can now select an image to use as the User icon from [Photo].
    
• Settings
  • [Key Tone] has been added as an option under [Sound Settings].
  • [Delete Backup Data] has been added as an option under [System Settings] > [Backup Utility].
  • WEP 128, WPA-PSK (TKIP) and WPA-PSK (AES) have been added as security methods that can be used with [AOSS™] under [Automatic].*
    * If you have already set up for AOSS using an earlier version of the system software, you must perform AOSS setup again to use the security methods listed above.
    * When [Automatic] is selected, the security method to be used is automatically set.
    * AOSS is a trademark of Buffalo, Inc.
    
• Friends
  • The method for saving your password / signing in automatically under PLAYSTATION®Network has been changed. There are now two separate options.

• Other
  • You can now enter text in Korean using the on-screen keyboard." - PlayStation 3 system update page

Truly, unless a lot of people are just seeing what they want to see as far as the graphic fixes, I have no idea why Sony wouldn't be pushing this bit of news as much as they could... unless they don't want to admit that the problem existed in the first place.

Posted by nylatenite at 2:18 AM EST

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Wow, first Sony moved Ken Kutaragi out of making the day to day operations of the PlayStation line, and now they've moved him out of the building. According to a report at Kotaku, Sony and Namco Bandai will be joining forces to create Cellius Incorporated, a company devoted to making games and applications for the Cell Processor in it's many forms. Based on the information available, there are two things in this deal that just strike me as plain strange...

"The two companies are investing about $821,000 to form Cellius, a company that will be headed up by Ken Kutaragi, the father of the Playstation. The company will be formed on March 6 and will 51 percent owned by Bandi Namco and 49 percent by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Bandai Namco's president and another exec, as well as a second senior Sony exec will also on the newly formed company's board." - Kotaku

First off, it would seem to me that $821,000 isn't really all that much money for a start-up firm. Unless the employees on both sides will still be drawing their paychecks from their respective parent companies, it would appear that this isn't going to be a large scale production house.

Secondly, I find it very odd that while Kutaragi will be heading the company, Namco Bandai will actually hold the majority share in the firm.

While Kotaku followed up with some valid reasons why this may not be as bad of a move for Kutaragi as it would appear, I've got to say that it would appear to me that Kutaragi is now paying the price for the PlayStation 3's dismal performance so far. Still, maybe all the man needs is a change of venue and some humble pie to get back on track... Hmm, better make that two orders of pie just to be on the safe side.

Check out the following links for more on this story;

• Kutaragi to Head New Sony/Namco Game Studio - Kotaku
• Gossip: What Kutaragi Wants - Kotaku
• Sony Japan press release (In Japanese) - Sony Corporation
• Sony, Namco Bandai Ally to Jointly Make Games for PlayStation 3 - Bloomberg.com
• Sony and Namco form Cell-centric Company - Gamespot

Posted by nylatenite at 2:17 AM EST

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Yesterday's Xbox Live Arcade update didn't bring Xbox 360 owners a new title, but rather brought three add-on packs for Lumines Live! - at a bargain price. Apparently, following the disastrous public reaction to the way Lumines Live! was initially handled, Microsoft has decided to release the next three Lumines Live! content packs at a discounted price - if only temporarily.

Here are the details as per Xbox Live Director of Programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb;

"Name: VS CPU Pack - LUMINES™ LIVE!
Price: 100 Points
NOT Available in: Japan
Dash Details: Promotional price: for a limited time only! Here's your chance to rage against the machine with 9 new opponents! Challenge the CPU and show that box who's boss with the VS CPU Pack for LUMINES LIVE! With each stage, you get some stylin'-themed skin and character designs. And if you can walk your talk, a special bonus skin awaits you at the very end of the challenge! VS CPU Pack requires the LUMINES™ LIVE! Standard Edition for play. Pack available for 100 MS Points (Regular Price: 300 MS Points) for a limited time only, starting January 24, 2007- February 21, 2007.

Name: Puzzle/Mission Pack - LUMINES™ LIVE!
Price: 100 Points
NOT Available in: Japan
Dash Details: Promotional price: for a limited time only! LUMINES™ LIVE! is not just about dropping blocks. In Puzzle mode, you have to use just the right blocks to create a certain shape. In the brand new Mission mode, you'll have to clear all blocks in a tightly limited number of moves. With 90 additional puzzles to solve 40 new missions to clear, you won't want to miss this Pack! LUMINES™ LIVE! Standard Edition must be downloaded in order to play Puzzle/Mission Pack. Pack available for 100 MS Points (Regular Price: 300 MS Points) for a limited time only, starting January 24, 2007- February 21, 2007.

Name: Heavenly Star Skin - LUMINES™ LIVE!
Price: Free until  Feburary 21, 2007 for Xbox Live Gold Members
NOT Available in: Japan
Dash Details: Promotional price: for a limited time only! Performed by a new group called Genki Rockets and produced by Q Entertainment's own Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the song's catchy and uplifting tune combined with equally striking video is sure to have gamers playing their way through the falling blocks. This special skin is available for Gold members, for a limited time only. LUMINES™ LIVE! Standard Edition must be downloaded in order to play "Heavenly Star." Limited Time Offer: Launching on January 24, 2007 and will be FREE to Gold members only until Feb 21, 2007. (Regular Price: 150 MS Points) " -Major Nelson

For those who haven't been keeping score, I've listed the breakdown of content packs for Lumines Live! below;

• Lumines Live! (Base game) - 1200 Microsoft Points ($15)
• Lumines Live! Advanced pack - 600 Microsoft Points ($7.50)
• Lumines Live! VS CPU Pack - 100 points ($1.25) through 2/21, 300 points ($3.75) thereafter
• Lumines Live! Puzzle/Mission Pack - 100 points ($1.25) through 2/21, 300 points ($3.75) thereafter
• Lumines Live! Heavenly Star Skin - Free for XBL Gold members through 2/21, 150 points ($1.87) for XBL Silver members or after 2/21

So right now if you want the full Lumines Live! experience, are a Xbox Live Gold member and act before 2/21/07, the price of admission $26.87. Once you get past 2/21, the game's price jumps to $31.87. Personally, I still think Microsoft would have just been better off pricing this one at $30 and avoiding the whole pay add-on issue entirely, but at least they're trying to make up for it with the temporarily discounted price.

I've been on the fence about picking up Lumines Live!, not just because of the pricing issue but because of the horrid 360 d-pad. Today's promotion finally pushed me over the edge into picking it up, but if Microsoft thinks that I, or probably anyone else who was aware of the pricing issues with Lumines, will forget the bad taste the whole thing left in gamer's mouths, they're sadly mistaken. Lumines Live! will most likely always have that stigma over it's head.

Posted by nylatenite at 2:17 AM EST

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When we often talk about which console has the largest install base, what games sell the most copies or the slow death pf PC gaming, we often forget that the Windows platform is truly the king of all gaming platforms. As if to serve as a reminder, Blizzard has announced that in it's first 24 hours of availability, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade sold over 2.4 million copies worldwide.

To put that number in perspective, let's look at the sales of Gears of War for the Xbox 360. As well as the game is selling, it took Microsoft 6 weeks to break the 2 million unit barrier. Beyond that, Blizzard claims World of Warcraft has 8 million active subscribers - many of whom I'm sure will be upgrading in the coming weeks. Think about that for a moment... if all of those players were to purchase the expansion, the number of units sold would be equal to approximately 80 percent of all Xbox 360 owners.

“The Burning Crusade has already exceeded even our most ambitious expectations. We’re pleased that so many players are eager to see all of the new content that the expansion has to offer, and we look forward to seeing everyone online as additional players continue to upgrade in the days ahead.” - Blizzard President Mike Morhaime

Certainly, World of Warcraft is by no means an example of the typical PC game and it's sales, but it is definitely a reminder of why so many companies continue to churn out MMOG's for the PC. Even a small portion of that install base would be considered a success by most of those companies, and no MMOG keeps it's user base forever.

For more information, check out the below links... and for the record, The Burning Crusade has indeed drawn me back to the world of Azeroth, though for how long, I can't yet say.

• World of Warcraft - Official Website
• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade - Official Website
• Blizzard Entertainment - Corporate Website
• World of Warcraft surpasses 8 million subscribers worldwide - Blizzard press release (1/11/07)
• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade shatters day-1 sales record - Blizzard press release (1/23/07)

Posted by nylatenite at 2:02 AM EST

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Those of you who signed up for a chance at participating in this spring's Halo 3 multiplayer beta test may want to check your e-mail. Microsoft is notifying people that the beta selection process has begun and that all entrants should know if they've been chosen sometime within the next two days.

Let's start with the text of the announcement e-mail;

"Greetings Halo® Nation and thanks for your interest in participating in the Halo 3 multiplayer public beta.

Phase one registration is now closed. If you have been selected to participate, you will receive an email notification within the next two days.

For those of you that didn't make it in - fret not as this phase one was just the first of three ways to secure entry into the Halo 3 multiplayer public beta. The next two paths of entry are:

• Qualifying over Xbox Live® via the "Rule of Three" program in early February
• Purchasing marked packages of the upcoming game CrackdownTM, which hits store shelves in North America on Feb. 20

To find out more about these opportunities visit halo3.com for detailed information.

We hope this provides additional clarity on this phase of entry into the Halo 3 multiplayer public beta. See you online!" - Microsoft Halo 3 beta test selection update

First off, keep in mind that if you received the above e-mail, it does not mean you've been selected. You still need to keep an eye on your e-mail for the next two days to see if you get the acceptance letter. Now that we have that out of the way, let's talk about your options;

• If you get accepted, great! Enjoy the beta.
• If you don't get selected, you're not completely out of luck yet. There are still two ways to get into the beta;
  1. Buy one of the specially marked boxes of Crackdown.
  2. Qualifying via a promotion Microsoft will be running in February. (The Rule of Three)

Thankfully, a demo of Crackdown is scheduled to hit the Marketplace early this morning, so you should be able to get a better idea of whether you're willing to spend $60 to get into the beta.

Good luck all, I'm rooting for you!

Posted by nylatenite at 1:42 AM EST

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Major Nelson is reporting that the somewhat delayed demo of Crackdown should be appearing in the Xbox Live Marketplace at approximately 5:00am EST this morning. For many people, this is a chance to take a first look at a title that many feel could go either way in terms of quality. I know that personally, from what I've seen of the game, I'm not really expecting much from it as it looks like a generic feeling third person shooter with a few tricks and some control issues. (Think Freedom Fighters or Brute Force if you want to get an idea of what I'm talking about)

More importantly, this demo could help Xbox 360 owners determine if it's worth shelling out $60 for both the game and it's "limited supply" of Halo 3 beta invites. While I'm sure many people will order the game just for that golden ticket, I'd have to assume a large number of gamers aren't going to shell out $60 just to play a few multiplayer Halo 3 maps... especially if they aren't guaranteed of getting one of those "specially marked" boxes.

Here are some links for you to look as you repeatedly stare at the clock in hopes 5am will somehow come quicker because of it;

• Crackdown official website
• Crackdown Demo hits next Tuesday - Major Nelson

Posted by nylatenite at 1:41 AM EST

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Gamespot has posted an article regarding the expexted $89.99 price tag for the upcoming Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II and while there's not much new to talk about on that end, they did pose a question we've all been wondering to their contacts at RedOctane... namely, whether standalone guitars will be available at launch for those wishing to play the split-screen multiplayer version of the game. The answer they received wasn't the one I was hoping for;

"At the moment, we aren’t able to confirm the pricing or date of availability on standalone guitars yet, though hopefully we’ll be able to make an official announcement closer to launch." - RedOctane

While I have no doubt that RedOctane will eventually put standalone guitars on the market, I'm guessing that they're trying to ensure that they can release as many copies of the game as they can - meaning that any X-Plorer that comes off the assembly line at present is going to be packaged with a game. I'll also assume that once the initial launch frenzy dies down, we'll start seeing the standalone guitars on store shelves. The big question heere is whether a third party manufacturer will try to capitalize on the market by rushing a standalone guitar of their own to retail.

For more information, check out the Gamespot article at this link;

Posted by nylatenite at 1:41 AM EST

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The drought of new releases continues, but at least there's one bright spot on this week's list. That bright spot is none other than Sid Meier's Pirates! for the PSP. Beyond that, there's really nothing much else worth talking about, so I'll just leave it at that.

I'd also like to take a moment to apologize for the lack of updates over the weekend. I've been working on the changes I was talking about in the last state of the site update. Unfortunately, it's not going as smoothly as I'd like right now, so it's taking far more hours to make changes than I'd expect. The only good news I have to report is that it would appear that we will be able to go with different color schemes when the new format starts sometime in the coming weeks.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand - Here's everything you can probably expect to see on store shelves this week;

• Close Quarters Conflict - PC - 1/23/2007
  
• Fossil League Dino Tournament - DS - 1/23/2007
  
• Hotel Dusk: Room 215 - DS - 1/23/2007
  
• Sid Meier's Pirates! - PSP - 1/23/2007
  
• The Shield - PC - 1/23/2007
  
• Underground Pool - DS - 1/23/2007
  
• Europa Universalis III - PC - 1/24/2007
  
• InuYasha Secret of the Divine Jewel - DS - 1/24/2007
  
• Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean - PSP - 1/24/2007
  
• The Poppit Show - PC - 1/24/2007
  
• Hexic Deluxe - PC - 1/25/2007

Please keep in mind these are only estimated release dates and could change at any time.

Posted by nylatenite at 1:05 AM EST

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Following in the footsteps of the command line version, MAME32 v.111.4, the Windows GUI port of MAME v.111 is also now available.

Check out the official MAME32 page here for more details and the download links.

Posted by nylatenite at 10:41 AM EST

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The latest "update" version of the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, version 1.11u4, is now available for download. Once again, the update is focusing on some serious background changes and the dev team has advised that unless you're looking to take some risks - or test the latest build - you should probably steer clear of the update for now. If you are interested in testing the build, head on over to MAME Testers to find out how to get started.

The updated emulator files can be found at the official MAME page at Mamedev.org. You can Click here to see the full list of what's new in this update.

Posted by nylatenite at 10:41 AM EST

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