This year’s GDC (Game Developer’s Conference) is fully underway, and Sony has finally announced an official name for their upcoming PS3 Motion Controller, previously rumored to be codenamed “Arc.”

The official name is now “PlayStation Move,” and Sony managed to show off some software during its presentation such as a sports pack tentatively titled “Sports Champions,” which included table tennis and archery among other activities.  Another game pack, entitled “Move Party,” was shown off and evidently superimposes images such as swords and shields into the game based upon the movement of the PS Move controller.  The software sounds very similar to some Virtual Reality technology I experienced back during E3 2009, which superimposed a sword and shield onto my hands with VR goggles.

Sony showed off two different motion controllers during the GDC presentation: the previously disclosed Move with the orb at the end, and an orb-less “sub-controller” which evidently can act like the Wii’s Nunchuck accessory.  Some demonstrations included players using two orb-topped Moves – one in each hand.

The release date is still scheduled for sometime in the fall, but a price point was announced: $100 for a starter kit that includes a Move controller, the PlayStation Eye and a game.  There will also be three separate bundles: the controller itself, a controller and a PlayStation Eye, and a PS3 system bundle.

Several games have been announced for Move support including Socom 4.

More details were not announced, and Sony did not unveil a specific release date.

Source: Kotaku.

Despite the ridiculously over-covered scandal involving Tiger Woods’ personal life, EA Sports has stayed true to its words by continuing its relationship with the golfer, announcing that Tiger’s latest golfing title, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, will release June 8 on the Wii, PS3, Xbox 360 and and iPhone.

The game will feature “one of the most prestigious tournaments in golf,” The Ryder Cup, which is said to be one of the last great sporting events to be founded in prestige rather than prize money.  The Ryder Cup is a competition hosted by Ryder Cup Europe LLP and the PGA of America that brings together the best American and European golfers in a team competition format.  Accordingly, Tiger Woods will represent the U.S. team and Rory McIlroy will represent Europeans.  McIlroy is a pro golfer hailing from Northern Ireland and currently ranked 9th according to the Official World Golf Rankings.

Players will be able to choose from the U.S. or European squad and participate in the various competition formats – foursomes where players hit alternate shots, fourballs, and singles, which traditionally bring the biennial event to a close with players going head to head. When playing The Ryder Cup mode offline, you will have the option to swap matches.  Team play will not only be available offline, but online with the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions.

The Wii version will support Motion Plus much like last year’s PGA Tour title, and will feature an Advanced Plus swing difficulty that reads rotation and swing angle while the Tour Pro swing mechanic assesses rotation, swing plane and point of contact.

The game is also going to support Sony’s upcoming Motion Controller for the PS3, but as the title is scheduled to launch on June 8 and the Motion Controller isn’t scheduled to launch until this fall, we’re not sure if the game will already have Motion Controller support built in or if it will arrive in another retail version or DLC.

If you own an original, fat model PS3, then Sony is suggesting you stop using it for a period of 24 hours while the company institutes a fix for a problem plaguing PS3s worldwide.

If you haven’t experienced the problem yourself, here is what is reported to occur: When you try to go online or boot up certain games, the system displays “Error: 8001050F,” and it endlessly reboots, rendering the games/online functionality unplayable.  Complaints about the error have apparently begun pouring in since Sunday, and Sony has indicated that the flaw is related to clock functionality in the fat-model PS3.  Sony does not believe that the error is affecting PS3 Slim models.

Oddly enough, the flaw has reportedly affected retail display models and titles currently in production for the PS3.

So in the mean time, Sony is suggesting that you stay off your PS3 until a fix is instituted.  From Sony:

“As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today. This problem affects the models other than the new slim PS3.

We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.

Errors include:
* The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.
* When the user tries to sign-in to the PlayStation Network, the following message appears on the screen; “An error has occurred. You have been signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)”.
* When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install trophies. Please exit your game.”
* When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)”
* Users are not able to playback certain rental video downloaded from the PlayStation Store before the expiration date.

We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.

As mentioned above, Please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error. We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologize for any inconvenience caused.

For the latest status on this situation please check either the PlayStation blog (blog.us.playstation.com) or PlayStation.com.”

Source: Kotaku.

The PSPgo was a completely misguided project from Sony to revive their all-but-dead handheld. It failed to address key issues, like adding a second analog pad, and just didn’t have any compelling reason to exist. Seeing their handheld lose a ton of market share to Apple’s iPhone had to hurt and the PSPgo offered nothing in the way of competition. Hell, even the paltry amount of games available for the PSPgo suck.

While most of us have been very aware of Sony’s portable shortcoming, it appears their upper-management has finally removed their rose-colored glasses and are viewing reality for the first time:

“We wanted to find a way to give the consumers what they want, so if they didn’t want to go to a retailer they could stay at home and download [games and content]. And we were hoping really to eliminate the piracy issue. Did the PSPgo confuse [consumers]? Yeah, I think the higher price point didn’t help matters any either,” he admitted. “So we’re going back and re-communicating, and I’m sitting here looking at multiple decks on what we’re going to do this year. You’ll see a lot of things coming out from us to better educate and inform the consumer. All I can say is watch this space, because we’ll have answers to those questions.”

One thing hasn’t changed and that’s Sony’s ability to blame piracy as the cause of all of their problems instead of an inventory of compelling games on a well-designed portable, priced at a competitive level. Want my advice? Can the PSP altogether and create a device that blows the iPhone away…or will Sony sit around and let Microsoft do that instead?

Source

In the market for a new Audio/Visual receiver and want to make sure it will be future proof for at least a few years? Then look no further than the just announced Sony STR-DN1010, the company’s first 3D offering:

Featuring HDMI 1.4 3D pass-through technology, ample high-definition connectivity and compatibility with all of the latest Blu-ray Disc audio formats, the new STR-DN1010 AV receiver is designed to create a simple solution for controlling any high-definition or 3D capable home theater.

The 7.1 channel STR-DN1010 AV receiver (110 watts power per channel @8-Ohms, 1kHz, 1% THD) features full high-definition 1080/24p support and seven HD inputs in total (four HDMI and three component) allowing for connection to a wide variety of HD devices. The receiver’s HDMI 3D pass through technology supports 3D video from connected devices and passes them through to a 3D compatible high-definition television, while decoding high-resolution audio codecs.

The receiver also features an icon-driven menu system for simple device and content navigation and has the ability to upscale analog video sources to 1080p resolution via HDMI. The model also boasts a sleek piano black gloss design that matches Sony’s line of Blu-ray Disc players and televisions.

The STR-DN1010 is compatible with all advanced audio codecs, including Dolby TrueHD, dts-HD Master Audio and features wireless 2nd zone capabilities through Sony’s S-AIR wireless technology. With the addition of an S-AIR transmitter (model EZW-T100) and separate S-AIR speakers (sold separately), the receiver can also drive wireless audio in up to 10 additional rooms.

The STR-DN1010 receiver also features a Digital Media Port (DMP) input for simple connection to external sources including an iPod and iPhone (compatible DMP accessories required and sold separately) and is compatible with both Deep Color and x.v.Color.

The STR-DN1010 AV receiver will be available this June for about $500.

Remember Pixeljunk Racers, one of the first downloadable games on Sony’s Playstation Network? Yeah, the game that looked cool in screenshots but played like utter garbage? Yeah, the game that just about every critic hated? Thanks to the ESRB once again rating and outing an unannounced game, we’ve learned that PixelJunk Racers 2nd Lap will be filling that gaping hole in your soul. No word on when the sequel will be released to an unenthusiastic public.