Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | 2 Comments
Many have questioned Sony’s refusal to bring its UMD Passport Program for the Playstation Vita – which would allow PSP game owners to pay a small fee for a digital copy of their games – to the West. According to Sony, the reasoning behind the move was a lack of demand for such a service in the region, as conjectured by the overall lack of PSP software sales. The cheaper prices games sell for on the US and EU PSN also played a factor in the decision.
Thursday, February 16th, 2012 | Posted by Robin Meijer | Comments Off
Adriasang reports that Sony will be shutting the service that allows users to download digital comic books via their PSP by the end of the year. Hit the jump for more details.
Thursday, February 9th, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | Comments Off
While never officially promised by Sony, the UMD Passport Program for the Playstation Vita (where gamers can upgrade their old PSP games to digital Vita copies for a small cost) had made the headlines multiple times during its early months in Japan, leading many to assume its eventual migration to the West. However, Kotaku has received an official statement from Sony that the conversion program will not be made available in the United States.
Monday, November 7th, 2011 | Posted by Gavin Greene | Comments Off
In a recent Playstation Blog announcement, Sony revealed its plan to begin restricting content bought from the Playstation Store to two PSP or PS3 systems. Going into effect on content purchased after November 18th (content brought prior that date remain under the 5 system regulation), users that wish to bring their games/movies/etc. to a third system must deactivate one of their existing platforms from their PSN account. Sony has given no word on the reason behind this change in User Policy.
Friday, November 4th, 2011 | Posted by Gavin Greene | Comments Off
Sony is partnering up with Square Enix to offer another seasonal promotional campaign for the Playstation Network, this time focusing on some of the most beloved games from Squeenix’s back catalog. The “Winter of RPGs” will bring Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy V, and Final Fantasy VI to the PSN, all in time to absorb those dozens of empty hours when you have to pretend to be interested in the stories of visiting relatives.
Friday, October 14th, 2011 | Posted by Gavin Greene | 1 Comment
There must be something seductive about Sony’s Playstation Network servers that keeps hackers coming back. Philip Reitinger, Sony’s recently installed Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer, posted a message on the European Playstation Blog responding to the shutdown of around 93,000 accounts. The threat being that Retinger and staff had “detected attempts on Sony Entertainment Network, PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment (“Networks”) services to test a massive set of sign-in IDs and passwords against our network database.”
Thursday, October 13th, 2011 | Posted by Gavin Greene | 2 Comments
Once again, the PSP’s lukewarm reception in the West blocks a promising game from its shores. Hiroshi Seno, Sega’s Team Manager of Console Sales, recently gave an interview in Singapore were he stated that poor sales of Valkyria Chronicles II were the reason behind the decision to not localize Valkyria Chronicles III: Unrecorded Chronicles. When asked whether the title could be localized for sale over the Playstation Network, Seno said the topic is planned to be brought up the next time the Sega team meets with Sony.
An advertisement for an advertisement, we’re pretty sure this is a first for Sony. Despite rumors varying from a Vita US release date to a new major game series (or even a crossover), the mysterious teaser from Playstation was merely the first part of a larger commercial.
Sony’s going cryptic for its latest trailer tease. It looks like, come October 5th, Sony is set to debut something special. And unlike the resignation of Vice President of Everything Kevin Butler over Twitter, this looks to be something more than the debut of a new ad campaign. A live action promotional clip uploaded yesterday provides a lot of Playstation cameos (the car of Twisted Metal‘s Sweet Tooth, Metal Gear Solid 4‘s Mk. II, the prize bubbles from LittleBigPlanet) and absolutely no information on what to expect.
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 | Posted by Gavin Greene | 5 Comments
Looks like Vita owners won’t have to suffer too much for being first adopters. Siliconera discovered a publication on the Japanese Playstation website announcing local multiplayer functionality between the Playstation Vita and Portable. Ad-Hoc multiplayer, will not a big hit in the West, is a defining feature in Japan, where Monster Hunter regularly rules the sales charts.
Friday, September 9th, 2011 | Posted by Gavin Greene | 1 Comment
Philip Reitinger, formerly the Director of the U.S. National Cyber Security Center, has been brought on board to Sony as the corporation’s new Chief Information Security Officer. According to Sony, who previously collaborated with the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of this past April’s Playstation Network hack, Reitinger’s job mainly consists of “assuring the security of Sony’s information assets and services.”
Tuesday, September 6th, 2011 | Posted by Robin Meijer | 2 Comments
Eurogamer reports that Sony has indicated the new budget-priced PSP model will be specifically aimed at teens and younger children. The new PSP model, which was revealed at Gamescom in Cologne last month and is only slated for a release in Europe, does not feature Wi-fi capabilities or support for stereo sound. Without these features, Sony is able to offer the handheld at around €99 in Europe, which is close to $140. The PSP-3000, which does feature Wi-fi and stereo support, is available in North America for approximately $130.
SCEE President Jim Ryan has said that he expects the audience of the PSP to skew younger, and hopes that many parents will consider the handheld as a Christmas gift at the new price level. He added that “if we are going to take PSP very young – teens and much younger – they are happy to just play the game. If taking wi-fi out is the price to pay, we’re happy to.”
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011 | Posted by Gavin Greene | 3 Comments
Like E3 earlier this year, Sony streamed its Gamescom press conference live in Playstation Home.
UPDATE: Ubisoft also confirms Michael Jackson: The Experience, and new games in the Rayman and Lumines franchises for PS Vita.
The Playstation brand was out in full force at Gamescom today, doling out a ton of information, most of it expected in some form. To help you wade through all the announcements, we’ve compiled all the good stuff into a single news story. Convenience ho!
Friday, July 8th, 2011 | Posted by Gavin Greene | Comments Off
More changes are coming to Sony’s Playstation properties. Similar to EA’s Online Pass, Sony will be implementing a “PSN Pass” on exclusive releases, a one-time code that will offer access to online features. The upcoming feature was discovered yesterday by Konsolentreff, which published pictures of a Resistance 3 bundle that advertised the “PSN Pass”.
