Archive for the ‘Playstation 3’ tag

40 Million Online PS3 Gamers? Probably not.

40 Million users? Maybe not.

SCEA President, Jack Tretton, announced last week that “We’ve successfully established that we’re not just a disc-based powerhouse, but we’re also a digital powerhouse.”  While there aren’t many people who would discount that he followed this with an assertion that the Playstation 3 user base has inflated to “more than 40 million”.

This statement has been met with a big pinch of salt by Sony gamers who themselves openly admit to having many user names on their PlayStation’s.  Several gamers were openly discussing the virtues of having European, Japanese and US gamer accounts while some younger gamers even claimed they were using several accounts to accommodate adult content online and to by pass parental controls. Read the rest of this entry »

The Arc of the Convenient – Is this Really the New Name for the Sony Motion Controller?

The new Sony Playstation Arc

Regular readers will be aware that here at Sony Insights we have been keeping a close eye on the Sony Motion Controller for the Playstation 3. A previous post reported that the release date of spring this year had been held back until the autumn, ensuring that the system will be ready and that the launch of the device will coincide with Microsoft’s launching of Project Natal.

At that time, the name of this new controller interface was still a mystery, rumours had been circulating that the device was to be labelled the “Sony Wand” although this seemed more like chatter in the blogosphere rather than a fact based upon any official information. Read the rest of this entry »

PS3 Reaches the 3 Million Sales Mark in the UK

Sony Playstation 3

Sony has recently announced that the Playstation 3 console has now achieved three million unit sales in the UK alone. This three million is only a small part of the twenty seven million hardware sales worldwide but can certainly be considered an improvement on figures from the last few years.

Granted the PS3 sales numbers are small in respects to both the PS2 and PS One that apparently sold in excess of 250 million. It is still the case that the Playstation has the lowest number of hardware unit sales in the UK behind the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. In terms of worldwide sales the PS3 is around 12 million behind the Xbox and over 30 million behind the Wii. Read the rest of this entry »

The 5 Most Hotly Anticipated PS3 Games of 2010

We have been hearing for some time now that 2010 will be a massive year in the world of video gaming. This view has been espoused by those at Sony, industry commentators and game fans alike hence it is worth looking at five games that have the potential to be truly massive in terms of sales and more widely appeal.

So coming in at number 5 we have the Sony Playstation exclusive Final Fantasy XIII. The Final Fantasy game franchise is hugely popular all over the planet and the thirteenth instalment of this now legendary game promises to be one of the great RPGs of 2010. Expect flowing storylines, sublimely beautiful scenery and the now familiar turn based, menu style combat system. Sony Playstation owners will not have to wait long; the proposed release date for this title is March. Read the rest of this entry »

Sony Playstation Motion Controller due This Autumn

With motion controllers one of the hottest topics in the world of video gaming at the moment, news that Sony’s motion controller for the Playstation 3 has had its release date delayed by 6 months has understandably spread like wildfire. The yet to be named device was originally planned for a launch date somewhere in the spring of 2010, however the revised date now places release at some time in the autumn of this year.

Videos have been circulating for some time detailing a prototype model of the motion controller as a result of its unveiling at last year’s E3 conference. Physically it is a stick that has a glowing ball mounted to the top; it is tracked by the Playstation Eye camera to create a 3 dimensional, motion sensitive control mechanism.

This type of game control has proven popular since the launch of Nintendo’s Wii, some even consider the technology a revolutionary step in the world of video gaming. As a result of the immense popularity of the Wii, Sony and Microsoft have both had to develop motion control systems for their consoles; Microsoft’s Natal does away with a controller completely whilst Sony’s offering uses both a camera and wand. Both are now scheduled for a launch in the latter part of this year.

Many industry commentators are keen to express the view that this will not only be a big year in video gaming but also very important for Playstation 3 owners. With the development of motion control, the release of Gran Turismo and the introduction of 3D gaming this could be a massive twelve months for Playstation and console owners more generally.

PS3 iPlayer Use Surges in December

The iPlayer functionality on the PS3 could be considered one of the major benefits for owning the console. The ease of use and practical benefits of this feature are certainly popular, but just how popular the catch up television service has become is only just becoming evident.

The BBC has reported that one in eight programme requests on the iPlayer are now made using a games console. As both Nintendo’s Wii and the Playstation 3 have this functionality it is users of these consoles that are leading this surge in usage. The BBC also reported that the number of programme requests has recently hit the one hundred million mark. The popularity of the iPlayer over the last few months has also being reported, the BBC believing that there was a seventy four percent increase in program requests from consoles in the month of December compared to the previous month.

The increased availability of the iPlayer is believed to be one of the major reasons for this rise in popularity. Ultimately the fact that users can now access the iPlayer through their television set via the PS3 means that catching up on missed programmes is now easier than ever.

The BBC have had nothing but praise for the PS3, the first console to have iPlayer functionality added. The response of PS3 users was described as “amazing” and the console is the second most popular device for watching iPlayer programmes after PCs, it is now believed to account for ten percent of users.

Gran Turismo Delayed Once More

For many people the Gran Turismo series is the only driving game worth buying. Since its inception it has purported to be the “real driving simulator” offering gamers an experience that is impossible to find with any other game franchise. There is however mumblings from the GT fraternity with the news that the latest instalment of the series, Gran Turismo 5 is to be delayed yet again. So far GT5 has cost more than £37 million to develop with gamers waiting over four years for the title to be released. Up until yesterday the expected release date for Japan was set to be in March of this year, this however has been delayed, adding to the frustration of Gran Turismo fans.

Whether this delay really affects the European and US GT fans however is questionable. The release date for these countries had not even been mentioned in press statements, but it was expected to be some time in the summer of 2010. The rumour now is that the Japanese release date will now coincide with the rest of the world, still hovering around the summer although many of those who have been waiting for the game will take this news with a pinch of salt. But why has this game taken so long to develop? There is no doubt that the game is as complex as they come but the sheer perfectionism of the Polyphony Digital staff increasingly seems to be counterproductive.

The question remains whether this new game will really be the genre revolutionising title it was promised to be. The game has been in development for so long that there is a chance it will have lost a great deal of ground on titles that are on the market today. Various rumours have circulated that GT5 will have over 1000 cars and over 20 tracks. Car damage has also been added for the first time, although it is claimed that this is one of the main factors for the hold up the title.

Whenever the release does occur, it will doubtlessly be a major event, there are many Playstation 3 owners out there that bought their consoles purely for this title and despite the elongated wait will still be excited about the prospect of a new Gran Turismo game. It is almost certain that to be deemed a success this title will have to truly revolutionise the driving game genre, something that will be extremely difficult to accomplish with the plethora of great games already on the market. Stick with Sony-Insights for further developments on this story as and when they happen.

Facebook Comes to Sony Playstation 3

The dominance of Facebook as one of the world’s most popular social networking sites seems to have gone that little bit further today with rumours abound that Playstation users will be able to access the site from their console. PS3 users can already utilise some of what Facebook has to offer with the existing internet browser already on the console. However, the latest development, a result of an image leak on the official Sony PS3 website of a Facebook icon within the Playstation’s XMB has opened the floodgates to the belief that FB will be coming to the PS3.

If this is the case, it means that Sony have struck up yet another interesting partnership with a major internet service. Only a few months ago, PS3 owners were given BBC iPlayer icon on the XMB and now it seems that Facebook is going to be latest addition to the Playstation’s already impressive online repertoire. Facebook is already available to Xbox 360 users making it a must have for the Sony group as they hope to enhance the user experience. With on demand television already on the PS3 and apparently a HD movie download service available soon; it seems that the battle of the consoles is now less about gaming and more about which online services can be provided to the consumer.

Sony Blame a Lack of PSP Effort on the PS3

Many Sony PSP owners will be acutely aware that last year was somewhat of a drought for top quality games on this handheld console. The PSP is now over five years in existence and it has gone through a number of makeovers, the latest of which being a complete overhaul resulting in the PSP Go. However, whilst this little gaming device has not been blessed by great titles for some time now, Sony have promised to focus more of their attention on the PSP in the future.

Sony boss Shuhei Yoshida has recently admitted that the company were clearly guilty of focusing too much on the PS3 since its launch. This is understandable; often seen as the bigger, more powerful brother of the PSP the PS3 has regularly captured the imagination of game developers more than the handheld device. Apparently this is going to change, with a raft of console “must haves” coming to the PSP in the next six months.

The first of these is Little Big Planet, already a popular game on the PS3 this cutesy and adorable game has been embraced by both young and old gamers alike, its move to a portable version seemed only a matter of time whilst the connectivity between the PS3 and handheld should provide the gamer with a serious gaming experience whether at home or on the move. Additionally Sony has announced Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny and Tekken 6 for the handheld ensuring that fight fans are amply catered for. The final big release for the format is Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, an episode of the massive GTA franchise that should provide the mobile gamer with truly unique experience.

While Sony may have been guilty in neglecting its little console for some time, it is clear that in the coming year that games developers and Sony as an organisation are serious about providing PSP owners with a variety of well conceived and implemented titles for mobile gaming.

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