A week after the last wave of PlayStation 3 news, Sony has spoonfed its waiting fanbase more details of the console’s planned features.

Speaking from the Games Development Conference in San Jose, USA, Sony said their new console will support the downloading of full games and other content, eliminating the need to leave the comfort of your living room. This service turns the heat up on the PS3 versus Xbox360 battle, as both consoles see the internet as an indespensible next-generation tool.

Not only will the console be online-savvy, but every unit will be region free. This means games purchased in any of the world’s regions will run on any of Sony’s consoles. This eliminates the need for die-hard console gamers to modify their units in order to play import games.

What is unknown however is how the console will deal with the problems of cross-platforming games from different regions, for example a PAL game bought in Europe may not display correctly on an American NTSC television.

Despite this the news is still exciting, as Sony appears to close-in on the Xbox360 with every new announcement. However Microsoft has already proved it can deliver, as the whole world waits for Sony and Nintendo to do the same.

Source: IGN’s PS3 Portal

At Tokyo’s 2006 PlayStation Business Briefing Sony Computer Entertainment have announced that they are delaying the release of their long-awaited PlayStation 3 console till November due to technical difficulties.

Despite not providing a more detailed release date, the company have said they will ship one million units per month after the launch and plan to have produced six million PS3s before the end of 2006. Not only will the unit be completely backwards compatible, but will rely on a 60GB Linux-based hard drive unit which Sony is now reporting may or may not be included in the box.

Ken Kuturagi, Sony’s PlayStation guru, said: “The hardware was developed with the hard disk in mind.”

Sony also let slip their plans for the online element of their new console, which will be free to play via the “basic” package and include community tools such as a lobby matching, voice chat and commerce features incorporating software bootable directly from the PS3’s hard drive.

Games will come in the form of Blu-ray in the hope to minimise piracy, though the machine will of course play movie DVDs and PS2 DVDs. SCE also said that developers will get their hands on the console’s software development kit (SDK) not in June as first announced, but July.

The news marks the first time Sony plan a global release for their PlayStation hardware.

Source: IGN PS3

Tom Clancy’s Firehawk (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) – March 2007
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 5 (PS3, Xbox 360, Rev, PC, PSP) – November 2006
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 4 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Xbox, PS2) – March 2007
Assassin (PS3, Xbox 360, Rev, PC, PSP) – March 2007
Lumines 2 (PS2, PSP)
Game 5 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) – Spring 2007
Alive (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) – Spring 2007
Naruto (Xbox 360)
Rayman 4 (PS3, Xbox 360, Rev, PC, PS2, handheld) – November 2006
Dark Messiah of Might & Magic (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Brothers in Arms 3 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Nintendo Revolution, DS ) – February 2007
Ninja Turtles (PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Revolution, PC, handheld) – Spring 2007
Highway Battles (Xbox 360)
Enchant Arms (Xbox 360) – July 2006
Blazing Angel 1.5 (PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox) – November 2006

Sony Corp.’s (SNE) launch of its next-generation PlayStation 3 video game console could be delayed if industry specifications for some of its technology are not finalized soon, although it is still aiming for a spring rollout, it said on Monday.

The launch of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) has been the subject of heavy speculation in the industry as expectations are high for the powerful machine, which will feature cutting-edge technology in its DVD player, processors and graphics.

PS3 will be competing with Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) Xbox 360, which went on sale last November, and Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s Revolution, which is expected later this year.

“We’re aiming for spring, but we haven’t announced specific regions,” a spokeswoman for Sony Computer Entertainment said, adding that it was waiting for the final specifications on some of the technology it is using in the PS3, such as that related to the Blu-ray DVD drive and to input and output video and sound.

The specifications are decided by industry consortiums.

“We’re waiting for them until the last possible minute, but the launch could be pushed back if they’re not decided soon,” the spokeswoman said. If the PS3 is not ready in time, the company will choose the next best timing for the launch, she said.

Read more at the source

Source: FOXNews

For those Xbox 360 owners looking to play music and view photos off your Xbox 360 from your Mac. Wait no longer, Connect360 is here.

Connect360 automatically indexes your iTunes and iPhoto libraries and shares them to your Xbox 360. You can then use the Xbox 360 Dashboard to browse and play your media, organized in the exact same way that it is on your Mac.

Be advised that this is still in BETA, but you can grab your copy for free and if you want a real bargain, you can pay for the license now (only $10) and you’ll be good to go for version 1.0 without any price hike.

Requirements are:
Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later
An Xbox 360 with a network connection
iTunes for iTunes sharing (free download from Apple’s site)
iPhoto for iPhoto sharing (part of Apple’s iLife)

You can read more details on Connect360 at Nullriver’s Site

I bought myself a copy and will be testing it out shortly.

Want to browse the internet through your Xbox 360? Then read this step by step article located here to do just that: GamersReports.com. I also posted this in my Guides section, full credit given to Anthony Park, as he created all of this.

Microsoft has revised the allocation of Xbox 360 launch units to 400,000 for the North American region, an EB Games employee said on Saturday. The number of units is far below the 1 million units expected at the launch window and much dire than recent estimates.

You can read the entire article here: PunchJump.
If you are interested in a free xbox 360, you can sign up here: FREE xbox 360

Gamers looking to be among the first to get their hands on an X-box 360 controller at Wal-Mart demo kiosks can still do it, but they won’t actually be controlling anything.

Xbox 360 kiosks placed in Wal-Mart stores across the country have been shut off, said a Microsoft spokesperson contacted this afternoon. The reason, according to Microsoft, is due to the console causing interference with Wal-Mart’s wireless “hand scanner” inventory system. Microsoft has acknowledged the problem as being “minor” and says a software solution is in the works to correct it.