As if Cory Barlog’s leaving was not enough, we heard the news of Phil Harrison’s leave taking last week. Sony seems to be losing a lot of its talents, doesn’t it? Phil Harrison used to be the head of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios and his leaving the company is a serious blow – there is no doubt about that. As of February 29, he no longer serves as the president. But wait – there’s more!

On the 3rd of this month (just a couple of days ago), the gaming world went gaga over another bit of news. Not only did Phil Harrison leave Sony but he has joined forces with another big name in the gaming industry! Read this excerpt from a press release:

Infogrames Entertainment announces today the appointment of Phil Harrison as President and Directeur Général Délégué of Infogrames Entertainment, reporting to David Gardner. Phil Harrison also joins the Board of Directors.

What is Infogrames? It’s just the group which owns Atari. Who can forget this brand which so big in the 80s? They could definitely use an infusion of talent and creativity as the brand has suffered immensely over the years. Who knows, maybe Phil Harrison is what they need at this point. As for Sony, it is definitely a great loss – and may insult has even been added to injury here as their president has left for a competitor. As the French say, c’est la vie! I am sure Sony will continue to give us what we want – or die trying.

Tags: Atari, Infogrames, Phil Harrison, sony

You probably know by now that I am a big fan of the GOW franchise. Well, here is the moment that many of us have been waiting for – the GOW for PSP is coming out! In gaming lingo, when developers announce a game has gone gold, it means that the development is complete and that it will be ready to launch pretty soon. For God of War: Chains of Olympus, the PSP version of the popular game franchise, we could expect it to hit the stores early next month – that is, at least in the United States.

So what is notable about Chains of Olympus? Here’s Wikipedia’s take on this:

At a God of War II launch event on March 13, 2007, God of War II director Cory Barlog indicated that the PSP God of War game would be a spin-off, side story, or prequel of the main God of War video game series: “It is its own story that connects to the overall story. God of War, God of War II, and then if all the stars align God of War III will be the telling of a trilogy. This PSP story will be a further fleshing out.”

The Island of Rhodes website revealed that God of War: Chains of Olympus is a prequel to the God of War series. It chronicles the various adventures of Kratos throughout the ten years he spent in servitude of the Gods (hence the game’s name which implies a bond between the series’ protagonist and the deities of Olympus) preceding the events of God of War.

The Official UK Playstation site reveals that, “Kratos will journey to lands that no mortal has ever walked upon. With the world plunged in eternal darkness and the gods rendered powerless, Kratos will face the most feared creatures of Greek mythology, and ultimately be forced to choose between his own personal redemption and saving the ancient world from certain destruction.”

No matter what, we are going to find out what is in store for GOW fans in the coming weeks.

Tags: games, God of War, PSP, sony

So Sony has launched another contraption for its avid gaming followers and it really does cost a lot! While the Playstation series has been obviously something that most people are getting attached to, the cost of purchasing one may need to be looked at again. The suggest retail price for owning a Playstation 3 at the moment stands between $500.00 to $600.00 in the market and for sure, only a few can afford to shell out some cash just to buy this new gaming console launched by Sony for its seventh generation era video game console last November 11, 2006.

The price may be outrageous but the need to analyze its feasibility may be studied. For one, the games available for use with this new Playstation are only a handful. Perhaps the only possible thing that potential buyers would aim for is the distinction of owning the new device ahead of others. But isn’t this the same belief when the Playstation 2 was also launched some years back? One thing that should also be taken into consideration is the fact that people would wait for the price to drop before finally getting their own Playstation 3 device. As it stands, its current price will not attract purchases, considering that most consumers today would rather invest their hard earned money on the more important necessities of life today!

[tags]playstation 3, ps3, sony, playstation[/tags]

Tags: PlayStation, Playstation 3, PS3, sony

If there is one next generation console that I am really anticipating with the utmost excitement it would have to be the Nintendo Wii. The Sony PlayStation 3 may be more advanced, more powerful, more beautiful, more versatile but I am a practical man and I know that at this point I am not willing to shell out 600 dollars for a game console.I am anticipating the Wii mainly for two reasons – the price point is so attractive that I am willing to buy a unit at launch. This is the first time that I am buying a game console on the same day that it is going to be released. The second reason why I am excited about the Wii is the game play! I just love to try the nifty Wii-mote and see for myself how it operates and if it would really revolutionize the way we play games.

And I am not the only one that has these same opinions about the Wii. Popular Science Magazine recently awarded the Nintendo Wii its Grand Award in its Home Entertainment section. The award is part of the magazine’s yearly technology innovation roundup.

Popular Science cited the Wii for allowing people to go back to “simpler era.”

The widely read and highly respected Popular Science magazine has given the Nintendo Wii the nod by awarding it the “Grand Award” in the Home Entertainment section of its annual technology innovation roundup.

The magazine chose the Wii because it took them back to a simpler era – a time when, as the magazine said, games were fun, controllers only had two buttons and controlling games was simple.

It really is turning out to be a great decision for Nintendo to not get into the graphics war and instead focus on the game play .

[tags]Nintendo, Wii, Sony, PlayStation 3, Popular Science, Home Entertainment [/tags]

Tags: Home-Entertainment, Nintendo, Playstation 3, Popular-Science, sony, Wii

Sony’s foray into the portable gaming world proved to be a success with the sleek black design of the PSP. Even if there was a limitation when it came to games and movies due to the UMD format used, there was no lack of hardcore Sony enthusiasts who couldn’t wait to get hold of the PSP. Indeed, the PSP has proven to be what I’d like to call the ultimate multimedia machine.

More than being a portable console for games, you could actually watch movies on the go – with awesome graphics I might add. Furthermore, you can listen to your favorite songs wherever you go. The PSP can also serve as an e-book reader and a picture viewer. You can even connect to the Internet through WiFi! So what more can you ask for?

Apparently, Sony saw a market for something totally different – appearance wise. Black is beautiful but for others, white is more appealing. Perhaps that is why they released the white PSP. I have to admit, it has a class of its own. Originally set up in Amsterdam, Sony’s billboard ad for the white PSP has irked a large number of people. It seems that the ad has some racist elements in it. It didn’t take long for the news to spread and as a result, organizations initiated a loud protest over the ad.

Sony has reiterated over and over again that the ad does not mean to degrade any race or color. As a spokesman said, the ad has “no other message or purpose” – aside from promoting the white PSP that is. Still, the ad has been pulled out to avoid anymore controversy.

So what do you think?

[tags]sony, sony PSP, sony white PSP, PS3, gameboy[/tags]

Tags: Gameboy, PS3, sony, sony-PSP, sony-white-PSP

When Sony revealed the details about its new Sixaxis PlayStation 3 controllers one of the first concerns that were raised by many people was its lifespan. This concern was brought about by Sony’s announcement that the controllers will have built in lithium ion batteries and these are inaccessible to users. In other words the batteries are not replaceable. Of course, the immediate question became – what would happen to the controllers when the batteries are already dead? The prospect of disposable controllers was not a good idea because of the high price of replacement or extra controllers.Consumers and gamers can now breathe a collective sigh of relief because Sony is planning on setting up a service where wireless PS3 controllers can be replaced if the lithium batteries have already degraded and could not carry a charge anymore. The company has not yet given the exact details on the service as well as the cost for changing the controllers.

[tags]PS3, Playstation 3, Sony, Sixaxis[/tags]

Tags: Playstation 3, PS3, Sixaxis, sony

During the 2006 Tokyo Game Show, Sony announced to the public that it was going to bring down the price of the lower end model of the PlayStation 3 in Japan. The price drop will make the 20gb version of the console cost around 49,980 yen (about $429) when it goes on sale in November 11 in Japan.

With the recent announcement, various analysts in North America, where the same model of the PS3 will cost $499, were initially skeptical of the move and many saw it as a sign of weakness on the part of the company as well as a questionable business decision.

But the likelihood is that the price drop is just a sign of things to come. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun cited a study made by Enterbrain, Inc. (the publisher of Famitsu) that it is expecting more price reductions as well as a more expanded software catalog for the PS3 by the end of the 2007 holiday season.

Because of this, Enterbrain predicts that the PS3 will outsell its biggest rival in the Japanese market, the Nintendo Wii by the end of next year.

[tags]Enterbrain, Sony, Nintendo, Wii, PS3, PlayStation[/tags]

Tags: Enterbrain, Nintendo, PlayStation, PS3, sony, Wii

With Grand Theft Auto: Vice City set to be released in just a few weeks there are more people now who are considering buying a PlayStation Portable. But for most of these prospective buyers the price of the PSP is what is stopping them cold from actually buying a unit. With the bare bones version costing $199 it is still $70 more than its rival Nintendo DS Lite. A $250 Entertainment pack is also available that is bundled with ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin’ Trails, a Lords of Dogtown movie UMD and a 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo.With reports that the DS is consistently outselling the PSP there are rumors that Sony might just offer a price cut. But the company has repeatedly denied that there is such a move forthcoming with a reiteration of this stance being echoed by Sony Computer Entertainment America.

So for those who are hoping to get PSPs at a lower price, well, tough luck.

[tags]PSPS, PlayStation Portable, UMD, Memory Stick, Entertainment, Sony[/tags]

Tags: Entertainment, Memory-Stick, PlayStation-Portable, PSPS, sony, UMD

As if Sony does not have enough problems what with the recall of batteries it has manufactured for some of the top laptop computer companies in the market, yesterday, Sony’s stocks fell by 2.75 per cent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. This downturn was a result of the release of analyst downgrades that have sent traders tripping over one another to unload their excess Sony stock. According to one of the reports, which was issued by Macquarie Equities, one of the concerns expressed by many who were able to play with one of the 200 or so PlayStation 3s on demo and the floor of the 2006 Tokyo Game Show is that the units allegedly operated erratically and that it had to be reset repeatedly.Macquarie Equities’ report said that the reason for the malfunction was unknown the general suspicion as that the PlayStation 3 was actually overheating as a result of it being in enclosed units as well as the high temperatures in the venue. The report stated that with the problem occurring at such a close date to the actual launch and thus, fulltime production, this is clearly bad news for Sony.

Sony though has issued its own statement regarding the matter saying, that “despite the report from Macquarie Securities implying that they had heard of reports of PS3s needing to be rebooted at TGS, SCEI are not aware of any instances of this occurring at TGS, nor have we received any reports from third parties to such effect.”

Sony is very adamant that its units are not prone to overheating. Is this a company trying to contain a potentially bad situation? Or is it really just defending a unit that for all intents and purposes is really working well? We now have technically a month to finally find out!

[tags]Macquarie Securities, PS3, Tokyo Game Show, Sony[/tags]

Tags: Macquarie-Securities, PS3, sony, Tokyo-Game-Show