Star Wars Next Gen Game Official

The Star Wars saga continues this November in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a videogame developed by LucasArts, which casts players as Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice" and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The expansive story, created under direction from George Lucas, is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi - and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.

Features

* During the period between Episodes III and IV, players hunt Jedi in the role of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice.
* Unleash and upgrade the Secret Apprentice's four core Force powers - Force push, grip, repulse and lightning - throughout the course of the game, and combine them for ultra-destructive, never-before-seen combos.
* Examples of unleashing the Force in ways never thought possible:
o The Secret Apprentice won't just Force push enemies into walls - he'll Force push enemies through walls.
o The Secret Apprentice won't just Force grip foes to throw them aside - he'll Force grip them in midair, zap them with lightning, then drop them to the ground to explode like a bomb.
* In addition to new adversaries created just for the game, such as fugitive Jedi and Force-sensitive Felucians, players will also confront and associate with familiar faces from the Star Wars films, including Darth Vader.
* Visit locations such as Episode III's Wookiee homeworld

Europe Gets PS3 Launch FINALLY!

Sony have announced the much delayed European PS3 launch as being the 23rd of March 2007, i believe they will sell well but not as well as they could have doone, i believe allot of people have spent their money on the excellent Wii and may decide to leave the PS3 for the time being.

The cost is what really offends me, £425 is a hefty cost for a console, bearing in mind the 360 cost £279.

Admittedly it does come with a 60gig hard drive which is better than the 360, but the 360 has a 100 gig on the way...

The ps3 does have free online access which is something i think Microsoft will need to address.

There will also be 30 titles available for launch, with the 20 gig cheaper version following later in the year.

Oblivion Gets Bigger!

British gaming mags PC Gamer and PC Zone have spilled the beans on a new Oblivion expansion titled The Shivering Isles. The new content will let players explore The Isles, which are divided into northern/southern areas titled (not too invitingly) Mania and Dementia, respectively. Players will be able to reach the Shivering Isles through a door on an island that appears in Niben Bay near Bravil.

The expansion will extend Oblivion's gameplay for another 30+ hours, and includes new quests, creatures, and dungeons. One new quest involves solving a mystery in a town on the Mania/Dementia border, where every citizen has a look-a-like. Among the new monsters are the Gatekeeper, a collection of bodyparts that have been stitched together, and the Knights of the Order, made up of tree roots.

Oblivion's first expansion, Knights of the Nine, was released November 22, 2006 for PC and Xbox 360. So far, The Shivering Isles has only been announced for PC, but with a little fairy magic the 360 and upcoming PlayStation 3 versions will get to vacation in the Isles, as well. The expansion is currently set for a Q2 2007 release.

Final Fantasy XIII Screens

RPGamer have posted a few Final Fantasy Screen shots, click here to view more

Is Sony's Spirit Crushed?

Not only are they notorious for stating the obvious, but game industry analysts also seem to have quite a flare for dramatics. Nomura Securities' Yuta Sakurai believes the PS3 will be Sony's last console, stating "I cannot imagine a PlayStation 4."

Yuta believes Sony will go the way of SEGA by switching entirely to the software market thus becoming a mere game publisher.

"The appointment of Hirai could be the start of a shift from hardware to software," said Sakurai. "I cannot now imagine a PlayStation 4." According to the Financial Times, Sakurai's reasoning is that "Hirai’s new global portfolio puts a predominantly software-focused manager in charge of the company."

In the end, Ken Kutaragi has essentially failed, even if Sony pulls through with the PS3 in the long run. He has botched up the Japanese and North American launch by betting on the wrong horse, the Blu-ray technology.

Read more over at ActionTrip

Man Buys Email Address for $890 instead of PS3

Another day another eBay PS3 scam. Look, we know the supply of PlayStation 3s are limited and demand is high before the big, 4-day break. But folks please, a little caveat emptor... this is eBay for crissake. Oh sure, Schnezy's listing is dubious as hell: titled, "Sony PlayStation 3 PS3 NO RESERVE, HOT HOT HOT" and even supported by a picture of the console itself. And seeing all the features and specs spat out on the page certainly clutters the one, very important bit of text at the very bottom: "note: you are not bidding on an actual ps3, you're only bidding on an e-mail address (Hot_PS3s@hotmail.com), winning bidder will recieve password." But hey, you've gotta read the text son. So enjoy your new Hotmail email address Mr. Notoriousgoat(se?) -- it may be an $890 markup from free, but it's still cheaper than an email address for millionaires in the long run. Tip: enable spam filter.

Brilliant from Engadget

EA Announce Next Harry Potter Game

Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today announced that the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix videogame is in development. The game is scheduled for a July 2007 release to coincide with the Warner Bros. Pictures film based on J.K. Rowling's fifth book of the same title.

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the first in the franchise that we have developed for the next generation consoles," said Harvey Elliott, Executive Producer at EA UK. "Together with current generation versions, we are creating an immersive and, above all, faithful Harry Potter experience that will both accurately reflect the world showcased in the film and also delight fans of all ages."

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is scheduled for release for the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation3, Xbox 360, PlayStation2, PSP, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance and Windows PC.

Read the full article here

SmashmyPS3.com's first victim

PS3 hits America

Patient American gamers are buying Sony's new PlayStation 3 console after queuing in some cases for many days.

Four hundred thousand machines have gone on sale, following its debut in Japan last week.

Many shops opened at midnight to sell the console, which costs $499 (£264) to $599 depending on the model.

Kaz Hirai, chief executive of Sony's American games division said: "We're going to try and get as many units into the North American market as possible."

Some gamers cued for the sole purpose of selling their console for profit. "I'm gonna sell mine," Mr Salterio said, estimating he would make anywhere between $1,500 (£794) and $4,000 (£2,119).

Ebay bans Imported PS3s

eBay.co.uk has banned listings in Europe of Japan or US model PlayStation 3s, declaring that only consoles bought within the European Union can be re-sold there.

Last month, Hong Kong-based import game seller Lik-Sang closed down after losing a law suit against Sony for selling Japanese PSPs to European consumers.

Sony announced shortly afterwards that it would be move to stop any other "grey importing" of its products into Europe, which led to another major online importer, Play-Asia.com, suspending all orders of Sony products to the EU.

Almost as soon as pre-orders of the PS3 became available in the US, ads from re-sellers started popping up on eBay, some asking for as much as $100,000 for the console. eBay removed the ads, telling GameSpot, "the seller must have legal ownership of the product. As such, pre-ordered items cannot be sold on the site."

Thanks to Gamespot

Console War Propaganda Video!

The console wars are getting bitchy 'we're better than you because we are!!!'

Wii have Locked down Wikipedia! and other Consoles!

Web encyclopedia Wikipedia--which allows anyone to write or edit its entries--has locked down its pages relating to Sony and Nintendo's next-generation consoles after continued vandalism.

A series of less-than-impartial edits over the last few weeks has led to the temporary lockdown to "protect" the entries, in the hope that the virtual vandals will lose interest by the time the pages are reopened to changes.

Users have been hijacking the site's entries to add what Wikipedia refers to as "funny" edits. Top of the list is the Nintendo Wii--a name that pranksters seem to find especially entertaining.

Last week the complete Nintendo company page was replaced with the phrase "Nintendo Sucks!!!!!!!!!" briefly before the Web site reloaded the original entry. Previous vandalism efforts include someone doodling on a Hitler moustache and horns on the photograph for the entry for Bill Gates, and the sentence "Microsoft is Zomg T3h Suck0r!!!!!!" briefly replacing the computer software company's page. via: Gamespot

PS3 can't handle your iPod

PS3 Grey Market Madness

Hurrah the madness has began again, the PS3 has started selling for almost 4 times their market value price on auction websites and in various shops in Japan, there are reports people paid the homeless to cue for them and now the owners are selling them on at sky high prices.

Theres lots on ebay right now, one PS3 console is going for £921 at the moment!!!

Don't you just love retail madness!!!!!!!

When Push comes to Shove, were Sold Out, Sorry!

I remember some ba**ard pushing me out of the way at the 360 launch, they didn't have any then either, what a fool he must of looked running towards the John Lewis games counter only to get rejected, i walked - naturally.

PS3 Sells out at Launch

Sony can be proud that their new console the PS3 has sold out at Launch in Japan, although they only made 100,000 machines leaving many people cold and frustrated.

Oblivion for PS3 in 2007

Bethesda Softworks have officially announced that the hit Xbox 360 game 'Oblivion' will not make it for PS3 release in the US but for an early 2007 release.

I'm sad that it is making it to the PS3 but I'm also happy that many more people will get to play this amazing game. Remember the game was delayed for the Xbox, so i don't think its anything personal. Must of taken a hell of allot of effort to convert from the 360 to the PS3 considering the game has been on the shelves for ages on the 360!

The Launch games now stands at 20 titles with more delayed rumoured to be announced soon.

Atari God & Founder Mocks PS3

The man responsible for founding Atari, Nolan Bushnell, has started the next round of console feuds. Claiming the PS1 and PS2 were only successful due to 'timing' and that is something the PS3 doesn't have.

He believes Sony faces an upwards struggle due to the price points and release strategy, and have 'shot themselves in the foot' but he also let on that he is quite impressed with what he has seen of the machine and wouldn't call it a failure just yet.

Well that's one good thing for Sony, they're not failures yet....

Until the next round...

PS3 needs Update out of the box

In another farcical announcement from Sony, it has been revealed that the launch PS3 units don't actually have the proper firmware to access the new PlayStation Network hub. Purchasers of the launch hardware will need to run a system update in order to get the necessary firmware, System Software Version 1.10, in order to access the PlayStation Network.

The System Software Version 1.10 update will be available for downloading when people open their PS3 units for the first time.

Sony didn't indicate why the latest firmware wasn't included right out of the box.

New PS3 Advert focuses on its wireless controller

I like this one, but I still think there a little too mental.