Last week Sony decided to to pull the 2.40 firmware update for the Playstation 3 when some users experienced problems that bricked their consoles. Today they released a newer 2.41 update with an explanation.

The PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) system software version 2.41 is now available for update from July 8, 2008. With this update, we have fixed the problem that prevented a limited number of PS3s from activating properly after updating to version 2.40, when certain system administrative data were contained on the HDD…

…We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you and appreciate your understanding and continued support.

Not a detailed explanation, but it will do. I will be updating later today.

Neil Young (no not that one), Electronics Arts game developer who has worked on The Lord of the Rings, Sims 2 and Majestic is launching a new company called Ngcomo, which will focus on gaming on the iPhone.

Neil Young is a veteran with over 11 years with Electronic Arts and sees an opportunity to bring ‘entrepreneurial focus’ to mobile game development starting with the iPhone.

The iPhone and iPod Touch has the potential to give Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP a great run for its gaming popularity.

Video showing the addition of Trophies on the Playstation 3 with the July 2 release of the 2.40 firmware.

In-game XMB demonstrated on a firmware 2.40 PS3 (expected on July 2) with a quick hit of the PlayStation button. Sony also reveals that the 2.40 firmware update will deliver the Google search bar like the PSP update and the ability to play and control your own music stored on the hard drive in-game. See more in the video.

Sony has confirmed today that it will be bringing video downloads to the Playstation Network starting in the US market later this summer. PSP and video-capable Walkman owners will also have access to this service spurring competition to Apple and Microsoft.

Details for the new service is expected to be unveiled at the E3 gaming expo that opens on July 15th.

Sony also says it plans to offer video streaming to all of its BRAVIA LCD TVs with the Internet Link.

Forget console Hockey games, forget having friends, just get one of these! See video above. The robotic arm was developed by NuVation who recently won a People’s Choice Award at the Freescale Technology Forum 2008 Americas conference.

There will probably be more then one long line waiting with people wanting the opportunity to spend their hard earned money on a gadget next week. Apple and AT&T employees are surely bracing for the crowds the new iPhone may generate.

Sony will also be bringing some excitement next week with the Playstation 3/Metal Gear Solid 4 going on sale in “limited quantities” on Thursday June 12. Gamestop will be opening many of their stores at midnight [PDF] and Amazon will be selling limited qualities.

Continue reading Long Lines For Techies Expected Next Week…

Running multi-touch, multi-screen iPod touch Pong seems pretty cool. The iPhone and iPod touch may well end up being one the best handheld gaming systems yet! Three-player networked Pong for the iPod touch, claimed to be written in about an hour.

As a new owner of a Nintendo Wii, we are on the look out for the latest games and accessories. Lucky for us Nintendo has just launched the Wii Fit. If you thought it was just a digital scale, think again. No problem with the Wii Fit is it will not work for the people who need exercise the most and will not leave the from of the TV as it ONLY supports weights of up to 330 pounds!

There is an old saying “Lies, Damn Lies, and then there are statistics.” Microsoft however goes waaaay past this in the latest reported numbers and their own predictions.

I think they must be handing out some of Albert Hofmann’s meds in Redmond these days. Fuzzy math and crazy predictions rule the day at Microsoft. In the space of about a week the drum beating coming from Microsoft is a bit ridiculous.

Continue reading Microsoft’s Fuzzy Math and Hallucinations?…

Apple may not a strategy to compete in the console gaming market, but the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP may soon have a huge competitor. With the iPhone/iPod touch SDK and the probable 3G iPhone coming in a few months, plenty of game developers are hard at work with much more serious games.

Game developers have access to iPhone/iPod touch’s great screen and user interface, graphics hardware acceleration, 8 to 32GB of storage and especially the 3 axis accelerometers. iPods and iPhones will have Wii-like experiences with these built-in accelerometers. Add location awareness (location data that is built into the SDK) and we will see some pretty amazing stuff going forward. So much for those that have claimed in the past that Apple had no gaming strategy. The video appears to be a port of Quake 3 being played over a network on two iPod touches, very cool!

Microsoft is denying the rumors of plans to integrate Blu-ray high-definition DVD drives into the Xbox 360 game console. Since the demise of HD DVD and the now-discontinued external HD DVD drive Microsoft may be finding themselves at a disadvantage in the marketplace against Sony’s PS3 that includes an excellent Blu-ray player.

The Sony PS3’s included Blu-ray drive also allows game developers 50GB of space as compared to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 that only has a standard DVD drive offering 9GB of space. Since it is attractive for game developers to have more space in order to develop high-definition games, the Xbox may not be the most attractive to develop for. Especially if the PS3 starts selling well and is in more homes due to its Blu-ray movie playback as a feature.

Last week, the Financial Times, citing an unnamed senior executive, reported that Sony and Microsoft were in talks to integrate Blu-ray into the game system.

Continue reading Microsoft says NO Blu-ray for Xbox 360…

Apple has laid out the roadmap today for iPhone 2.0. Along with Exchange mail and remote wipe for the enterprise they are releasing a beta of the SDK (Software Developers Kit) for third parties to create iPhone and iPod touch applications that will be sold through what they called the App Store.

The App Store will be the sole home for third-party applications making them accessible either wirelessly from the device itself or through iTunes, which will synchronize apps when connected. Apple will share revenues for any apps sold via the App Store with 70 percent going to the developer. The App Store will have only minor restrictions on what can be posted. Illegal material, pornography, malicious, or apps the have privacy issues will be blocked.

Continue reading iPhone 2.0, SDK, App Store, Games…

Microsoft has announced that they will stop making external HD DVD add-on drives for its Xbox 360 game console, but won’t say whether it will offer a Blu-ray Disc drive instead.

Xbox 360 comes with a standard DVD drive built-in that has only 9GB of storage as compared to Sony’s Playstation 3 console, with Blu-ray Disc drive that has 50GB of storage for game developers to access as well as playing back HD disk content. This leaves Microsoft at a disadvantage in the marketplace. Especially if Sony can get some popular game titles out in the next year.

Makes me wonder if Microsoft will eventually adopt Blu-ray allowing Sony to gain a license fee for every Xbox sold. Digital downloads will certainly give Sony’s Blu-ray some competition.

Unfortunately, this video is not really funny to many Xbox owners. We have had Microsoft send us the “cardboard coffin” twice so far without seeing one second of use from this dreadful product since Xmas! I really hope Sony kicks their ass in this coming year as I am actually thinking of buying a PS3.