Review Horizon

Unfortunately only for Japanese market at this point, CECH-3000B is a new PS3 hardware version that Sony plans to release on June 30th, only 10 days away. The new PS3 model comes with a number of improvements, notably a lower power consumption (around 200W compared with 230W for the current model, CECH-2500B). The hard-drive capacity will remain the same with two versions (160GB and 320GB) while the weight will decrease from 3kg (6.6lb) to 2.6kg (approx 5.7lb). The price for the newer model is 34980 yen or  around $435 ah the current exchange rates and will be available standalone or as part of a PVR Recorder Pack which will include torne, an USB – ISDB-T TV tuner. A new game, Tales of Xillia will be part of the upcoming 160GB model.

The lowered power consumption is very important, especially if you have more than one PS3 in your home. Considering that PS3 is the only game console able to play Netflix / VUDU / Hulu Plus without a monthly fee and includes a Blu-ray drive, it has become the multimedia device of choice for many cable cutters and I can imagine many of us are eagerly awaiting the availability of the new model in the US. Check after the break for a photo gallery and a link to the Sony Playstation Japan web page describing the new model. Read More…

I don’t know what is going one lately in SoCal but I don’t remember any year with a worse weather than 2011. Today it rained and overall, the average temperature is at least 10 degrees under the historical average for this period. But we DO have E3 and Microsoft announced today a bunch of goodies, from Live TV streaming, UFC, Kinect / Bing voice search and YouTube to cloud storage for your game saves and Live Profile. That’s it, no more carrying around that idiotic XBOX only compatible memory stick.

How it will work? Every achievement, points, profile data and game saves will travel with you wherever you go so Read More…

Presumably preparing for the new NGP (their next generation console) and in an effort to squeeze more life from the platform, Sony announced that it is cutting the prices of their PSP-3000 model from $169.99 to the low $129.99. The price cut will be in effect starting this Sunday, February 27th.
The price cut will also affect some of popular PSP games which will make it into the PSP Greatest Hits collection. Among them, you can find titles like Metal gear Solid: Peace Walker, Little Big Planet (my son’s favorite). Assasin’s Creeed: Bloodlines, Dissidia: Final Fantasy and Toy Story 3: The Videogame.
In the category of bargain $9.99 prices, we can find new titles like: Crisis Core, Final Fantasy VII, Daxter, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Killzone: Liberation, Tomb Raider, etc.

Check after the break for the video ad.

via Sony PSP Blog Read More…

I am not much of a chatter, but I hate to input text in my various electronic devices via a remote control. The navigation is awkward in many cases and just slow, especially if you do it frequently. With PS3 getting one of the best Netflix clients around, I started to use it more frequently as my main Netflix streaming device (PS3 Netflix review here) and soon I realized I really need something to type more efficiently when I search for a certain movie. There are several different devices that serve the same purpose but in my experience many 3rd party attachments are badly designed and don’t fit the original product very well. While more expensive, I decided to buy the PS3 Wireless Keypad made by Sony and hope for a pleasant experience. I now have the keypad for more than a month already so I feel I can offer a good look at its qualities and shortcomings.

Read More…

Microsoft’s Major Nelson just announced the XBOX 360 Holiday Bundle for 2010, scheduled to ship in the next couple of weeks to various retailers.

The bundle will include a XBOX 360 250GB Console, Forza 3 game and a token for the full Alan Wake game to be downloaded from XBOX Live.

This bundle will sell for $299 along the other two XBOX 360 Kinect bundles, the 4GB bundle for $299 and the 250GB bundle for $399, both Kinect bundles to include a Kinect sensor and the Kinect Adventures game.

If you plan to buy a Kinect at some point, it is probably a good ideea to get one of the Kinect bundles as you’ll get the Kinect sensor for only $100 and the Kinect Adventure game.

As you might know, Sony’s PS3 got its disk-less Netflix client two days ago, as soon as Microsoft exclusivity for XBOX 360 expired. Because Sony had some time to spend for their implementation, they had the chance to do it right, but did they? Let’s take a look and let the screenshots speak for themselves.

One of the pre-requisites of the new Netflix client for PS3 is the firmware 3.50 which also enables support for 3D Blu-ray content. After you upgrade to the latest firmware, you will see a red Netflix icon in the Xross media bar. Selecting it will prompt to download the Netflix applications and a minute later you are in business. The activation is a tad different that other Netflix media streamers and it doesn’t prompt you to go to a PC to input a code. Instead, you’ll have to input your Netflix user name and password. Upon sign in, the new Netflix client is waiting for you. Read More…

A new source code destined to let you run homebrew on your beloved PS3 was released into the open and this time there is nothing Sony can do to stop it, other than a new firmware, of course. But let’s start with an explanation: All the modern consoles, media players, smartphones, etc. contain some kind of DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology that allow only the signed applications to be run on them. This have a double edge: On one hand, it prevent the device to run unsigned code thus eliminating any applications not approved by the hardware vendor (see the iPhone Apple’s App Store) and on the other side preventing cracked games (with DRM removed) to play. If there is a successful breach in the above mentioned DRM system in the device, the device become jailbroken (which was recently declared legal by the government) and it can be used to run any kind of software, regardless of who wrote it. Since the game consoles are usually sold under their cost and the profit is expected to come from selling games/media, it is obvious that the manufacturer will stop at nothing to prevent a successful jailbreaking.

The new open source code PSGroove also called  ”open source PSjailbreak” and it can be used with the well known USB development modules that are sold at various electronic stores. One of them is the ATMEL AT90USBKEY which is somewhere around $35 depending of the vendor, the other possible one is the Teensy++ USB which goes for around $25 (see pictures below). It looks like for the moment the software does not contain the technology to run pirated games (presumably because of the liability)  but since the code is released as open source it obviously won’t take too long.

The rumor that was floating on the web during the last several days regarding a new and improved XBOX 360 controller proved to be true. Microsoft will start selling the new controller on December 9, and beside an improved D-pad it will also feature black and white action buttons and a Play and Charge kit bundled in the box. The whole package will sell for no less than $64.99. There is no reports to detail if Microsoft will start selling the new Kinect XBOX 360 systems with the new controller, or it will just be sold as a luxury item. Check the YouTube video after the break. Read More…

In a move that will put them in direct competition with Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo (although in China only at the beginning), Lenovo announces their entrance on the game console market with a new console called eBox (xBox knockout anybody?) we find in an article in The Wall Street Journal. Not only that, but it look like the new game console will feature a technology similar with XBOX 360 Kinect to provide a controller free experience.

The development will be performed by a Lenovo spin off company called Beijing eedoo Technology Ltd.

No other details are available though we would like to know how many horse power (or Gigahertz) the beast will have under its cover. Also interesting to know if what kind of developer support will Lenovo able to secure and what type of DRM protection will the box contain. Chinese made devices (and the Chinese market as a whole where piracy is rampant) aren’t famous for their security and this particular aspect would make the big gaming houses reticent to release their games for the new platform.