- Japan is sold out of Xbox 360s and Microsoft have apologised: “We truly thank you for all your patronage in the past. Currently, the Xbox 360 is sold out, and retailers are unable to restock their supply. This is a result of our own sales targets being exceeded by the actual customer sales. We deeply apologize for this inconvenience to our customers, retailers and business partners. Here at Microsoft, we are moving forward quickly with console production, and plan to ship the standard Xbox 360 model out this September. Furthermore, we will sequentially be shipping out the Elite and the Arcade models. We ask that you please patiently wait until the console is shipped. We truly thank you for your patronage hereafter.” They achieved this simply by giving the customer what the customer wants and if this continues will soon be catching the PS3 up for sales in Japan.
- Sony has no chance of making money on the PS3 and lost more money on the PlayStation 3 than it made during the five year peak sales period of the PlayStation 2says Acclaim boss David Perry. Hardly surprising when Sony have had to sell off divisions and raise new equity finance to cover the hemorrhage. This really begs the question about whether they will bother with PS4. As it is probably just going to be a scale up of PS3 the answer may well be yes.
- PS4 and Xbox 720 to launch in 2011-2 (or maybe 2010)says Crytek president and CEO Cevat Yerli. Once again the fact that these will just be scale ups of the existing systems means that they can launch pretty much any time they want. Microsoft proved in the current generation that first mover advantage is massive. Which would mean them going sooner rather than later.
- Amazing realistic animation technique. If this can be done it will be a quantum jump for gaming. Not just in what they look like but also in what sort of content becomes possible. This is very well worth a look.
- Only a year after launching the PSP Slim and Light Sony are presumably forced by piracy into launching a new model, the PSP 3000.
- 160Gb PS3 confirmed for PAL territories in the peak season. No doubt that hard drives on home consoles will become far bigger so they can act as media centres. And Sony have announced the music and video services that will use them. But where does this leave Nintendo?
- Wireless keypad announced for PS3. It fits on the top of the controller. Presumably this will be needed for Home and it opens the door for PS3 MMOs. One of the defining features of this console generation is the diversity of input devices.
- Fox News screws up as it reports America’s Army. Just 5 years late. Fox News in America and the Daily Mail in the UK seem to be in some desperate competition as to who can be the most stupid when it comes to games. Don’t they realise that this is a massive entertainment industry for all that needs to be taken seriously?
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Whoa, what is your deal with Sony… I’ve recently been reading some of your posts and I do agree with you on various levels, but this was just uncalled for. You attacked Sony on every level of news including the PSP 3000 announcement.
It’s really rediculous that you would point out only the bad, when it has something to do with Sony. I would expect this mild “Fanboyism” from someone outside the Game industry, but not from you, Bruce.
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I think you’re a bit bullish on Sony. I have voiced my criticisms (check the comment on the previous post) but the PS3 is definitely a good system.
It’s actually a fantastic piece of hardware despite despite the obvious lacking features such as a unified online system on par with XBL and backwards compatibility but even the 360’s BC is pretty bad.
I think their biggest problem is they walked away from a winning strategy when they could have really beat up the Xbox 360.
Despite it’s recently strong sales, I’m still not sure about the 360 in Japan. They still have a long way to go.
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Bruce said several positive things about the PS3. Sony built a reputation with lies, and now they are paying for it! 8CPU’s! two simultaneous 1080p signals! More powerfull than the next super computer! way more powerful than the 360! the industry is not ready until we say it is ready! It is time someone started taking them to task it will make them play honest and respect their customers as something more than blind fanboys. When 27 out of 30 multiplatform games look better on the other system and your still saying your leaps and bounds better even when some are developed for your system as the lead. Your not being honest. When only a few few look better on your system and it is because they had a extra 1 or more to tweak it after the game was finished, then your not as powerful. Just imagine what a extra year+ to develop on the 360 would have done for oblivion.
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@Indy: Sony’s lies are over and done with… I admit that they did make mistakes and they didn’t know when to shut up. But lately, in fact for this entire year, Sony has learned to choose their words carefully and hasn’t promised anything they know they can’t offer. MS on the other hand, has had sooo many problems (RROD, XBL issues) and has been paying off various companies for DLC (Which I don’t consider honest or fair game for the most part). I have nothing against MS and I know that they have made some very wise business moves to boost their sales, but MS’ time is almost up. Come October/November Sony will have enough exclusive games as well as better looking Multiplatform games to dominate the market or at least MS.
And I don’t know where you get your figures, but 27 out of 30 multiplatform games look better on the 360 if you go to CASHWHORE.COM (Gamespot.com), but in reality the visual effects in these games are nearly identical and with a quick tweak in your options menu, you can make any game look better, on either system.