PLAYSTATION VITA MISSING CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY IN US AND UK

Sony's next-generation portable video game console will not launch in the U.S. until early 2012, Sony Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai told The Associated Press on Thursday. Sony’s PlayStation Vita will become available later this year in Japan, but it will miss the all-important holiday shopping season here in the U.S. and in Europe as well. Some, such as Daiwa Securities Capital Markets analyst Koki Shiraishi, believe Sony’s sales will take a huge hit as a result. “That’s when you do half your year’s sales,” Shiraishi told the AP. “This is going to prove painful for Sony.” When it finally does launch next year, the PlayStation Vita will start at $249 for a Wi-Fi-only model and a 3G-equipped version will be available for $299.

ANGRY BIRDS COMING TO NINTENDO DS, PSP AND PS3

In an interview with The Sun, Chillingo's Joe Wee announced the company's intentions to bring the feathery dive-bombers to the Nintendo DS, as well as Sony's PSP and PS3. Wee was otherwise tight-lipped about the development, leaving us to wonder when we can expect the winged swine slaughterers to make their dedicated gaming debut. And here we thought it was just a passing fad.

SONY LAUNCHING NEW PS3 MODEL WITH PS2 COMPATIBILITY

Microsoft is set to introduce a new model Xbox 360 Slim. The benefits of the hardware update include the CPU, GPU, memory, and logic all being on one piece of silicon. That in turn means less power consumption, less heat, and a smaller power brick.

Sony in turn has announced a hardware update for the PlayStation 3, but this one could potentially be a lot more popular than Microsoft’s update. The reason why? PlayStation 2 compatibility is mentioned, although remains far from being a definite feature.

The new PS3 carries the model name CECH-3000B. It will come in both 320GB and 160GB models with the former weighing 2.6kg (down from 3.0kg). Externally it looks exactly the same except for the power and eject buttons getting a slight design tweak.

Specifics as to what Sony has changed internally are not available, but we suspect a similar silicon shrink to the Xbox 360 as Sony has managed to cut power consumption from 230 to 200 watts.

vMost intriguingly, the translated official Sony information page for the updated machine mentions PlayStation 2 compatibility. Specifically it says in the notes at the bottom of the page that:

“This product, “PlayStation 2″ are having a compatibility with proprietary software.”

It could be a mistranslation, or it may be Sony bringing back backwards compatibility now that they’ve figured out how to do it in software.

PS2 compatibility came as standard on the original PS3 due to the inclusion of the Emotion Engine chip. But with the slim redesign that chip was dropped and with it went PS2 game compatibility.

SONY ANNOUNCES NEW HANDHELD SYSTEM...PLAYSTATION VITA

Details about Sony's new handheld, formerly known as the NGP or Next Generation Portable, have been trickling out for months in the form of spec sheets and fantastic footage of its quad core capabilities. All that, and we still didn't know how much she'd cost or when we could get our grubby paws around one. Thankfully for those tuned in at E3, said mystery is a mystery no more -- the Vita will be listed at $249 for the WiFi-only model, or $299 for the 3G version. Sony's Kaz Hirai confirmed will be available exclusively through AT&T, with both models shipping worldwide toward the end of 2011. For those of you camped out overseas, prices are set for ¥24,980 (WiFi) and ¥29,980 (3G) in Japan, while those closer to that other pond will see tags of €249 and €299.

The device, also known as the PS Vita, offers up six-axis motion sensors, dual analog controls (proper ones, with thumbsticks), front- and rear-facing cameras, an OLED touchscreen, and a touchpad on the back, too. The company showed off a number of top-tier titles, including Uncharted: Golden Abyss, a hack-and-slash RPG called Ruin, a new ModNation Racers, LittleBigPlanet, and Street Fighter x Tekken, each showing off plenty of motion and touch interactivity... things that we couldn't be more elated to try for ourselves in due time. They're all looking quite good, and honestly a bit more advanced than what the 3DS has delivered so far -- for the same money.

PLAYSTATION STORE BACK ONLINE AFTER BEING DARK FOR ALMOST A MONTH

According to the Playstation blog the Playstation store is finally back online. The blog states "You will notice a huge lineup of new downloadable games, demos, add-on content, themes, avatars and videos. Also, PlayStation Plus has been updated with new full game trials, free games and DLC, free avatars and even more discounts."

Also, the free Welcome Back Offer content that was promised by the CEO is not available yet. The blog states it is in the final phase of testing and will be available shortly.

SONY BEGINS PHASED RESTORATION OF PLAYSTATION NETWORK

After three weeks of waiting, and to many PSN users’ delight, Sony’s PlayStation Network is finally coming back. Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kazuo Hirai announced on Saturday via video that Sony will begin a phased restoration process of its PSN services. Hirai said the company has been working “around the clock” to bring he services back online.

A mandatory firmware update on PS3 consoles is required to restore PSN service. This update, v3.6.1, will require that users change their passwords, which is understandable seeing as Sony confirmed earlier this month that over 23,000 credit card numbers and bank information had been stolen. Your new password can only be changed on the same PS3 in which your account was activated, or through a validated e-mail confirmation.

Patrick Seybold, Sony’s Senior Director of Corporate Communications and Social Media, said in a blog post that the restoration process has started and some states already have access. He asked users to be patient as the restoration reaches more cities and states. You can visit Sony’s blog to see an updated map with locations in which service has been restored. It will take “several hours” to get the service back online throughout the entire U.S.

RUMOR: EA HAS NEXT XBOX HARDWARE; MICROSOFT REVEALING IT AT E3

When Nintendo confirmed E3 would be the event where the Wii 2 is being unveiled, we thought it was a clever move that would see the company have a clear run for a couple of years. Added to that the rumor it is a very powerful machine and it could leave the PS3 and Xbox 360 in the dust. But that may no longer be the case, and Microsoft could be about to cause a major upset come this June.

Develop has been told that EA is already in possession of the successor to the Xbox 360 and is doing some early development tests with it. As with all early hardware builds, the next Xbox currently takes the form of a PC desktop case, but what’s inside is the hardware that will be inside Microsoft’s next console.

The same source also believes that Microsoft is aiming for an end of 2012 launch date, which would put it in direct competition with the Wii 2. Worse news for Nintendo comes in the form of a potential surprise reveal during E3 next month.

For gamers this is great news. Two new consoles being revealed at E3 will certainly generate some excitement, especially if one clearly out performs, or out innovates, the other. Whether Microsoft planned this all along and Nintendo suprised them with a Wii 2 announcement, or the Xbox Next plans have been rethought due to the Wii 2 we don’t know. We are just really looking forward to E3 now.

As is usually the case, Microsoft and EA are saying nothing.

THREE DAY PLAYSTATION NETWORK OUTAGE CAUSED BY "EXTERNAL INTRUSION"

It started on a quiet Wednesday night, with PlayStation gamers finding their Network unresponsive to their login attempts, and now continues well into its third day. Sony has now finally shed some light on the problems it's been having with PSN and, to nobody's surprise, the culprit for its troubles has been identified as "an external intrusion." The current downtime for PSN is the second of its kind this month, with the Anonymous group of online crusaders claiming responsibility for the first. Sony now intends to keep both PSN and its Qriocity music streaming service offline until it can pinpoint the vulnerability that has been exploited and put a stop to it.

XPERIA PLAY COMING TO VERIZON

According to Wirefly Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play, aka Playstation Phone, is coming to Verizon exclusively. On a page comparing the iPhone 4 to the Play, it states Verizon will be the carrier for the Play.

We expect to get the official lowdown on Sunday February 13th when Sony Ericsson has a press event at Mobile World Congress.

SONY INCREASES PRESSURE ON GEORGE HOTZ, AKA GEOHOT, DRAGS YOUTUBE INTO THE FRAY

Now that Sony has started gathering the evidence it needs via discovery in the lawsuit over Hotz and friends' PS3 jailbreak, the company has dropped a hammer by moving to reduce the amount of time the hackers have to get Sony the information it wants. Sony filed the motion -- which will be heard by the court tomorrow -- to better arm itself with information to oppose Geohot's motion to dismiss, scheduled to be heard in early March. Casting its evidence-gathering net far and wide, SCEA has demanded that YouTube surrender not only information for Hotz's account where his jailbreak video was posted, but also how many users accessed the video, the usernames of those with access to the video, and all usernames and IP addresses of everyone who posted or published comments to the vid. In addition to hitting up YouTube for dirt, Wired reports that Sony has demanded Twitter hand over the personal info of fail0verflow's members -- we're waiting for Sony's lawyers to don TSA gear as the next step in their search. Geohot's attorney thinks the requests seem a bit much, but we think they make sense given Sony's strategy of going after the entire fail0verflow team. While these goings-on make for fairly standard legal tactics, they won't do much for Sony's public image.

XPERIA PLAY COMING FEBRUARY 13TH

Sony Ericsson has officially acknowledged the Xperia Play, aka Playstation Phone, in a Super Bowl ad. According to the ad, the highly anticipated phone will be announced at an event on February 13th.

The Play has a 4-inch multi-touch 854 x 480 LCD display, single core 1Ghz processor coupled with an Adreno 205 GPU. It has 512MB of RAM and runs Android Gingerbread. The Xperia Play will have the usual Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11n and an FM transmitter. The Xperia Play is also a gaming machine and when the screen is slid up a PlayStation dual-shock style control is revealed. PSP Go games will be available.

SONY EVENT ROUNDUP; NEXT-GEN PSP, PLAYSTATION SUITE

Sony held an event today to launch their new PSP (codenamed NGP) and the Playstation Suite.

The NGP is the successor to the popular PSP handheld gaming device. It has a quad-core Cortex-A9 and a quad-core Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX543MP4+ GPU doing the grunt work within. Front and rear cameras and a multi-touch capacitive screen are also included. Bluetooth, 3G and wireless b/g/n are baked in as well. Games will come on "new media," not UMD anymore, but we're unclear on what sort of flash memory is being used. Sony's rather proud of the fact it's offering the world's first dual analog stick combo on a portable device, though we're more geeked about the quadrupling of pixel count from the original PSP.

Playstation Suite is a cross-platform software framework. What this means is Sony will have a whole Playstation Store filled with Sony games available for the Android tablets and phones. According to Sony the Playstation Suite will be "hardware neutral" and make games portable for "all kinds of handsets".

PLAYSTATION PHONE - CLEAR PICTURE

Why the Playstation Phone was not announced at CES, the world may never know. But, thanks to a Chinese site, IT168, we have the clearest picture, above, of what it looks like.

IT168 says that the PSPhone has a 854 x 480 resolution screen sprawled across its 4-inch LCD display and comes equipped with specs similar to what we've heard from before: 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a Qualcomm Adreno 205 GPU, 512MB of RAM, 512MB of ROM and running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. When IT168 ran Neocore the PSPhone posted a 59.1fps, which is impressive!

LEAKED: PLAYSTATION PHONE OUTED AGAIN - VIDEO

Once again the Playstation Phone (Zeus 1) has been spotted and this time it is in clear video. The phone will be manufactured by Sony Ericsson. Not much else is known about the phone at this time. [Engadget]

RUMOR: PLAYSTATION PHONE SET FOR 2011 MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS DEBUT

According to Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Bordberg, Sony Ericsson will be showing off a new gamer’s phone at MWC 2011.

If that wasn’t enough to make you suspect the phone he’s talking about was the PlayStation Phone, though, Nordberg then went on to say the following:

“I’m very glad that we work with a company like Sony, who actually knows how to [negotiate games rights]… Sony has an extremely strong offering in the gaming market, and that’s very interesting… Sony is of course a very strong brand, and why shouldn’t we use that? Gaming, including content, is a very interesting proposition."

Nordberg’s comments sure seem like he’s just itching to reveal the PlayStation Phone right then and there, but it’s still unknown what the actual capabilities of the PlayStation Phone will be. [Geek]

ANGRY BIRDS SEQUEL TO BE ANGRY PIGS; ADDITIONAL PLANS CITED

Speaking at London’s Virtual Goods Summit, Rovio CEO Peter Vesterbacka spilled the future of the Angry Birds franchise, and while the first game might have seen the player catapulting the eponymous angry birds into pigs who had stolen their eggs, the second game won’t just be more of the same: it’ll be Angry Pigs instead,

Says Vesterbacka: “We want to surprise people [with the sequel]. No one has told the story from the pigs point of view.”

In addition Rovio’s CEO also confirmed that Angry Birds will also be coming to consoles including the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.

Multiplayer Angry Birds is also on the cards, being described as playing like an “old school Worms game.” Rounding things out is word of a Facebook game set in the Angry Birds universe and even a movie or television show.

AMAZON SELLING PLAYSTATION MOVE EARLY

The Sony Playstation Move was not suppose to be on sale until September 19th, however it has cropped up in some brick and mortar stores.  Now, Amazon has gotten into the act.  You can order the Move for your PS3 for just $99.99 with FREE shipping.

PLAYSTATION3 GETTING 3D PLAYBACK SEPT. 21

After being delayed, Sony, announced at the Tokyo Game Show, will be releasing an update for the Playstation3 on September 21st.   This update will give the PS3 3D playback capabilities, provided you have a 3D capable television.  [Playstation Blog]

PS3 UPDATE TO LOCK OUT JAILBREAKING

The newest mandatory Sony PS3 update doesn't have any new features.  It is designed to remove the ability to jailbreak the device as has been widely reported everywhere recently.

"Hi everyone! A minor update to your PS3 system is now available via system software update v3.42 that includes additional security features," Sony's Director of Hardware Marketing wrote on the official blog. "For more details and instructions on how to update the system software for the PS3 system, please visit the PS3 System Updates page." [Playstation Blog; Ars Technica]

PLAYSTATION MOVE REVIEW

Sony Playstation 3's motion controller will be arriving in stores soon.  The Move may look a little silly with the round ball on a stick design, however it does seem to work well.  Depending on what you need the Move can be purchased for as little as $50

Like:
Precision
Launch Library
Design
Ball
Augmented Reality
Price
Charging

Dislike:
Constant Calibration
Button Placement
Touchy XMB

To read the full review, head on over to Kotaku.