Seriously, Sony needs to hire some new analysts...apparently they are having trouble meeting their already measly expected launch numbers, because a Japanese newspaper announced a couple of days ago that Sony would be reducing the number of units available in Japan at launch by 20%, bringing the number down from 100,000 to 80,000.
Does that mean those extra PS3s go to the United States? It's hard to say at this point. It could be that Sony is reallocating those 20,000 units to the United States due to high demand, but it could also be that they can only make 480,000 by their deadline. Given their track record, it's probably the latter.
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Looks like Sony's trying to squeeze that last bit of toothpaste out of the tube before throwing it away. With only a couple of weeks until the launch of Playstation 3, Sony has introduced a new Playstation 2 console in silver. According to Sony, they have sold 111 million PS2 units and ten times that many games since the launch of the PS2, and a new silver one will probably get them a few more sales.
The new console is exactly identical to the old one, with the exception of the silver bezel and a matching silver controller. The price is the same as the black version, $130.
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Apparently Microsoft isn't really excited about the idea of paying for their game console processors anymore. Microsoft is now looking into manufacturing their own chips to be used in new Xbox systems. I guess they need to get every cent of revenue they can when console sales already lose money as an investment into selling games.
Microsoft's new research group, called the "Computer Architecture Group," is focused on putting together the design of its next-generation Xbox console. They have big plans for this one, including voice recognition technology (just one more way we can look completely crazy while playing our video games, aside from leaning into the screen while furiously pushing buttons on a controller).
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Rumor has it that Sony is cooking up a new Playstation Portable. Spring of next year will probably see two new versions of the Sony PSP. Both should be significantly thinner than the current model, as that seems to be the trend these days. One of the models will feature a hard drive, while the other one will come with a significant amount of flash memory (most likely 8GB).
Strange, though, it looks like Sony will be sticking with the UMD disc format for games and movies. I guess they never give up, do they?
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Sony's SIXAXIS controller for the Playstation 3 (the standard controller, supporting wireless gameplay and motion detection) will not have a battery that the user can replace. And you can imagine that, for those of use who plan on using it a lot, the batteries will wear out after charging them over and over again through USB.
A spokesperson for Sony has said that the batteries will probably last for a year or two, depending on how heavily the controller is used, before the battery really has to be replaced. Sony is willing to exchange your controller when that happens, however, so you won't have to spend another $50 on a new one. Good news from Sony is hard to come by, so cherish this one.
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Sony is standing firm on its promise of 500,000 PS3 units available at launch, but their goal of 2 million units by the end of the year and 6 million by March is starting to look doubtful. Seriously, when was the last time we heard good news about the PS3?
When asked about these goals, SCEA co-chairman Jack Tretton responded that the numbers were "more of a target," not something they knew they were going to achieve. Sounds to me like it was a projected number, then it turned into a "target" once they started running into all the issues they're having now. The problem in this case seems to be, as expected, more difficulties in the production process.
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It's no 1080p, but Nintendo has confirmed that the Wii game console will indeed support 480p output through a component cable. And it's not just a feature no one's taking advantage of: almost all of the games available at Wii's launch will support both 480p and a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. Unfortunately, the cable itself will not be included.
The required component cable will be on sale at Wii's launch, only in retail stores, for a price of $29.99 (that's a lot of money for a component cable, if you ask me). The GameCube's component cable, if you own one, will not be compatible, so you'll still have to buy another one.
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Sony has now announced a complete list of games and accessories that will be available on the PS3's launch date. Check out the full article for a complete list.
As an added incentive, those who purchase a PS3 at launch will receive a free copy of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. (Did they really think they wouldn't sell without this?)
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Good news: the HD-DVD drive that Microsoft is releasing for use with the Xbox 360 can actually be plugged into a PC through a simple USB connection. What does this mean? A $200 HD-DVD drive for your PC, of course.
And the bad news: Microsoft is not providing a driver for it. This could be an issue, but I'm sure eventually someone can come up with one that will work, given the drive is manufactured by Toshiba. And then there's HDCP, which could also cause some problems when playing an HD-DVD movie. But there might be ways around that, too...eventually. We'll just have to wait and see for now.
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You'd think that with all the bad press Sony has been getting lately they'd be working as hard as possible to come up with some good news. Rumor has it that the Playstation 3 will be seeing another release delay in Europe, this time to May of 2007, which gives Japan and the US a good six months before Europe has the PS3 too.
Of course, this is just a rumor, and Sony hasn't said anything about it. But I wouldn't put it past them, seeing as there have been nothing but problems with the PS3 from the very beginning. This would just be one more reason why we all believe Sony got ahead of themselves with PS3. Let's hope for the best.
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Looks like Sony's as arrogant as ever. John Koller, product manager for Sony, has told consumers not to expect the PSP to have a price drop before the end of this year. Current pricing leaves the cheapest PSP package $70 more expensive than the Nintendo DS. Koller even went as far as to say that the PSP doesn't need a price break, and that the 110 new games coming out by the end of the year will do enough to attract new customers.
Sony's emphasis in the past has been on all the multimedia features of the PSP as a way to give it an advantage over the DS, but the majority of people buy a game console to play games. The extra features can only add to the price for so long, before people just go with a DS because they already have an iPod that can do everything else the PSP has.
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