| Exclusive Deal | While supplies last, save 40% off over 40 iPhone 5 and iPhone 4/4S cases and chargers as well as Samsung S III cases at Kensington.com. Use coupon code 'SAVE40%' at checkout to receive this exclusive discount. |
Sony's PlayStation Vita will reportedly ship without Flash support and force most users to purchase an external memory card. The company has confirmed that some games may be programmed to store data on an external card, preventing users from playing the titles unless an external card is plugged into the handheld console.
When gamers pick up a Sony PS Vita when it ships in Japan in December or the US in February, new owners will probably have to pick up some extra memory as well, according to tips. Although the gaming console comes with built-in memory, Jin115 understood it probably won't have the enough capacity to save data from many games. The needed external memory is proprietary and is expected to be expensive.
Apple and Google have had a mixed effect on the PlayStation business, Sony Executive Deputy President Kaz Hirai said in an interview at AsiaD. He wouldn't say how much damage had been done but conceded that iOS and Android devices had cut into the overall industry. Sony has both introduced a very cheap PSP and encouraged small downloadable PSP Mini games in an attempt to curb Apple with little success, something which he indirectly touched on in the scope of his response.
Sony gave good news to gamers and said it would ship the PlayStation Vita outside of Japan on February 22. The US, Canada, Europe, and Latin America will all get the quad-core gaming system on the same day. Prices in the US, and likely Canada, will start at $250 for a Wi-Fi version and bump up to $299 for a model with 3G.
Sony, which recently disclosed that it will miss the holiday selling season in the US for its new PlayStation Vita, has also released some new product information that some of its potential users might find a disappointment. Sony has revealed that those gaming on the Vita may only be able to play for up to five hours before the battery runs down. The company also disclosed that the handheld console's proprietary memory card will sell for a substantial premium over conventional memory such as a generic SDHC card or a Memory Stick.
Sony has finally confirmed a launch date for its Vita handheld, which will not arrive until December 17 for customers in Japan. Despite Sony's recent move to slash the PS3 price down to $249 ahead of 2011 holiday sales, the company has maintained its original promise to offer the Vita Wi-Fi variant for 24,890 yen (~$324 USD) and the 3G model for 29,980 yen (~$390 USD).
Nintendo might end up paying Sony patent rights for some of the technology behind the Wii U. A 2009 patent from Sony describes a combination of a console and a "portable electronic device" with a back camera and display that could interact with the image on a main TV screen. When a player would point the handheld at the TV, it would use the camera to create an augmented reality effect where gamers would use the portable device to see things that were 'invisible' on the TV screen, such as ghosts.
Sony's Gamescom keynote on Tuesday saw it give future PSVita buyers a slew of social apps for when the console is ready. The handheld will have apps available on or near launch for Facebook, Foursquare, Skype, and Twitter. All will be free in the PlayStation Store.
(Update: E-1000 name and official shots) Sony at its Gamescom keynote unveiled an unusual new PSP model as a going-away version. The new E-1000 will ship without Wi-Fi, but with UMD, and is intended to catch budget users. In Europe, it should cost about 99 euros ($143), or a third less than the 127 euros ($183) of the current edition. Timing wasn't narrowed down.
Sony's PlayStation Vita has finally landed at the FCC for wireless testing and approval. Although the Commission's test documents do not shed light on any surprise features, the approval suggests the company is on track to fulfill its promise to launch the device in time for the holiday shopping season.
An ad for Blockbuster UK claims that the Playstation Vita will be available in that country on October 28. A reader sent the ad to IGN and has not been authenticated. A spokesman for Sony fell short of confirming the October 28 launch date, stating that the Vita would have a "phased global release" this holiday season.
Sony may have turned outwards to get a processor for the PlayStation Vita. A claim made by Semiconductor Industry News, caught by Hachimaki, claims that the quad-core, ARM Cortex-A9 chip in the Vita will be made by Samsung. The exact model wasn't given, but it would be on a present-day 45 nanometer chip design rather than something smaller, like 28 nanometers.
Sony has provided several new details surrounding features for company's upcoming handheld, the PlayStation Vita. Users will be able to take advantage of text and voice chat functionality that can simultaneously connect across different games, rather than limiting communication to other users playing the same title. The feature, which is referred to as Party, will also provide options to create separate groups for different games or genres.
Microsoft kept up a year-long string of leads with new NPD data giving it the lead in June. About 507,000 Xbox 360s shipped last month, making it not only the top selling game console but giving it a wide lead. The NPD's decision against providing open data made comparisons difficult, but Microsoft in a comment said it sold "nearly twice as many" systems as rivals, with Nintendo's DS or Wii the most likely runner up.
id Software's co-founder John Carmack in an interview posted Friday saw mobile devices overpowering the PS3 and Xbox 360. The Quake and Rage architect was careful to stress that the iPad 2 and other modern tablets or smartphones were a "factor of a couple" slower than an Xbox 360, but the much faster iteration of the devices was guaranteeing they would be faster. He guessed for Industry Gamers that it would take two years and might lead to a shift in TV gaming where the phone handles everything a big console does today.
Sony is currently demonstrating the facial recognition capabilities of the company's PlayStation Vita gaming handheld. A technology preview at the Game Tools & Middleware Forum 2011 in Tokyo, the gaming company showed how the Vita can track facial movements and use the information to guide avatar movements during a video chat session.
SCEA chief Jack Tretton in an interview posted Friday downplayed the possible risks of the iPhone to the PlayStation Vita. The primarily casual gaming on Apple's platform wasn't expected to undermine dedicated gaming. Even though games on the PSP and Vita cost much more than iOS titles, the differences in depth and quality would still have some going to Sony, the executive told Gamasutra.
Former SCEA head Phil Harrison predicted in a recent interview that Apple could dictate gaming within a decade. Asked where he saw Apple in ten years, the PlayStation pioneer told Edge there was a "pretty good chance" iOS could "be the games industry." Its sales rates were very rapid, and Apple wasn't tied down by a need to please game retailers that have threatened retaliation should companies like Nintendo and Sony drop physical game sales.
Sony's SCEA president Jack Tretton in a conversation Friday hoped that the PlayStation Vita would be as essential for many people as an Android or iOS device. When asked about competing with Apple and Google, he saw it as a matter of making the Vita an essential device. The system had to be so closely linked to entertainment that it became as important as taking a cellphone or a wallet, and he told Forbes that he saw it often filling the role.
Sony has quietly rolled out an FAQ for the PSVita that has answered some of the deeper questions surrounding its new handheld. The system will play PSP games but, without a UMD drive or an add-on reader, will have to rely on downloadable games. The console maker was considering "every possibility" to accommodate gamers with an existing library but wouldn't say more.
We received a precious chance to try the PlayStation Vita for ourselves at E3 on Wednesday. While Sony wasn't allowing photos or videos inside the booth, we can relate our experiences and give an early verdict on how it'll fare. Read on for the full details, but suffice it to say we came out impressed -- and feeling that Apple may have some much stiffer competition in mobile gaming.
Legendary first-person shooter developer id Software was at the Bethesda booth for E3 2011 as part of its tie in with ZeniMax, and we got a chance to talk to the company's Rafael Brown, who handles much of the company's mobile work. He discussed the company's current hesitation on Android and gave us brief hints about iPad 2 and iPhone 5 plans, the Sony PSVita, and even hints of a Mac port of Rage.
