Just a few days before Sony’s upcoming E3 press conference, the company’s next generation handheld gaming device, the PSP Go, has been given some unofficial specifications, starred in a hands-on preview video courtesy of Qore and previewed in some leaked press photos. The upcoming PSP Go will be a UMD-less slider that features the following specs:
As expected, Sony announced a record Â¥98.9 billion ($1 billion) loss for the fiscal year ending in March 2009. This is Sony’s first reported yearly loss in 14 years and a significant change from the Â¥369.4 billion profit Sony reported for the fiscal year ending in March 2008. Overall sales dropped 12.9 percent to Â¥7.73 trillion during 2008 with US sales plummeting 20 percent, European sales slumping 17 percent and Japanese sales falling 14 percent. A small ray of hope in an otherwise bleak report were sales of the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation portable, which both showed slight improvements. PS3 sales were up 10 percent YoY and PSP sales increased from 13.8 million the previous year to 14.1 million in the recently ending fiscal year. Though improving, sales of Sony gaming products still lag far behind those of Nintendo and Microsoft.
Tired of your bush league Wii-owning friends making fun of the lame Sixaxis motion-sensing technology in your PS3 controller? Hang in there as you may not have to endure their ridicule for much longer. The Cut Scene is reporting that Sony is planning to unveil a new and improved motion-sensing controller that will supposedly wipe the floor with the Wii remote. According to several sources, the new controller, as described in Sony patent applications, will utilize LEDs and a small camera to track the user’s movements. The remote will be able to read different color lights and detect the shape and angle of each light — making it much more accurate than the Wii remote. The new PS3 remote will also be able to track movement along the Z-axis (forward and backward) and measure velocity. A new remote is useless without supporting game titles of course, and Sony is reportedly reaching out to developers to enable motion control in future games. If this rumor pans out, the new PS3 remote system will make its debut as early as E3 2009 which runs from June 2-4.
We’ve heard some rumors about an upcoming PSP refresh in the past — ok, a whole lot of rumors — but new information is casting doubt upon the details of previous information. 1UP is reporting that the new PSP will be christened the PSP Go! and will finally do away with that awful UMD system while taking on a slider form. In place of UMDs, it is said the PSP Go! will come in 8GB and 16GB models meaning a green light for game downloads. As for games, Sony is reportedly planning to have around 100 old and new games ready for launch time. Sadly those of you who were looking for a bit of dual-joystick action will be disappointed to note that according to this new rumor, a second analog stick will not be added to the right-hand side. Such is life, we suppose. Word is Sony will make the PSP Go! official at E3 next month and have it hit the streets in Japan in September with a US launch in either late October or early November — ensuring its inclusion in plenty of letters to Santa. And yes, the image above is a mock up.
Just what exactly is the best thing to know about a playstation 3 in the market today? I believe everyone will raise their hands with eagerness if it’s all about the best deals of PS3s available in the market, specifically the price.
It was in 2005 when the Playstation 3, released by Sony, became a wide hit among gaming fanatics. Not only that, even those that are tech gadget fans had their heads turned to this game console given the fact that most of them have already geared themselves up with the Xbox. Comparing these two consoles, both have a common denominator of giving that hard core game action right in the comforts of their own home. That’s what good entertainment is all about lately. What makes it much better is the fact that Sony is having a clearance sale for PS 3 units.
Sony’s highly anticipated OLED MP3 player, the X1000 series Walkman, is slated for launch on April 25th in Japan. The 3-inch touchscreen-sporting device will debut with 16GB and 32GB models that feature integrated noise cancellation, Walkman-specific Netfront web browser, YouTube support, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, wireless Podcast delivery, FM tuner and support for MP3, AAC, WMA, WAV audio / AVC, H.264, MPEG4, WMV video. The Walkman will be available in Black or Red with suggested retail prices of 40,000 yen ($400 USD) for the 16GB X1050 and 50,000 yen ($500 USD) for the 32GB X1060.
It’s not exactly the major coup Sony needs to become a gaming leader once again, but surpassing Nintendo Wii console sales in a market like Japan — even for one month — is a pretty big deal. Fueled by new game titles such as Resident Evil 5 and the PS3 exclusive Yakuza 3, Sony managed to outsell the dominant Wii box by nearly 50 percent in March. No, seriously! According to Enterbrain, a Japanese game magazine publisher, Sony sold 146,948 PS3 consoles in March while Nintendo managed to hawk a mere 99,335 Wii units. For comparison sake, Microsoft shuffled out 43,172 Xbox 360 consoles. No, the Earth isn’t exactly reversing on its axis just yet. While we applaud Sony for a solid month and for topping Wii sales in Japan for the first time in nearly a year and a half, big exclusives aren’t going to be coming around every month to help push units out the door. In order to right this ship, at least where gaming is concerned, the company still needs to find a way to bolster sustained sales growth — surges aren’t going to help in the long run.
With the E3 expo coming up in June, rumors of a refreshed PSP are surging once again. Now billed as yet another “iPhone killer”, chatter surrounding the possibility of a new PSP is reportedly firming up a bit with inside sources seemingly becoming more lose lipped lately. Current status of rumors: slider form factor, touchscreen, two analog thumbsticks in addition to standard controls, “far more similar to the iPhone than the current device” (whatever that means) and a release scheduled before Christmas 2009. No, it certainly won’t look like the sweet mock up above but the more rumors that get pumped into the mill lately, the more they’ve been lining up on common ground. Sony can definitely use the buzz a device like this would create, that’s for sure.
Sony confirmed on Tuesday that its PlayStation 2 console will finally hit the sub-$100 price point. Starting April 1st, the gaming console — now almost ten years old — will retail for a mere $99.99. That low price point will certainly appeal to entry-level gamers shopping for their first console or casual gamers looking to delve into the PS2’s extensive catalog of games. Is this the “big announcement” that has been rumored from Sony or does it have something bigger and better in store for us? Either way it’s not the PS3 price drop the console sorely needs and it won’t do anything for more serious gamers deciding between the thriving Xbox 360 or the troubled PS3, which continues to lose developer interest.
This one definitely falls into the unconfirmed rumors category for the time being, but a German magazine is reporting Ericsson has had enough of the consumer cell phone game. According to the report, Ericsson is looking to dump its stake in the company’s joint venture with Sony, Sony Ericsson, and stick to what it does best — infrastructure, back end network components and the like. The magazine also states that Sony may be toying with the idea of picking up Ericsson’s share of the JV and controlling 100 percent of the company. We’re not sure how the struggling Japanese manufacturer plans to scrape up enough cash for a deal like this but where there’s a will (and an electronics empire) there’s a way. It will definitely be interesting to see how this one plays out as it would certainly be the end of an era. An Ericsson rep declined to comment on the story.
