High profile analyst Michael Patcher has revealed that he expects a high definition Wii could be introduced by Nintendo in two to three years as the price of components such as processors will reach commodity price declines. Patcher also notes that the success of the Wii will slowly erode as a result of its far dated graphics technology.

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"Consumers may hope for improved graphics, and my guess is that Nintendo will comply," said analyst Michael Pachter in an email to GamePro.

"In two or three years, commodity prices for graphics processors and CPUs may decline to the point that a High Definition Wii could be introduced. If so, Nintendo will likely introduce one," he added.

The statement comes as several industry pundits suggest that Wii's success will gradually fade given the console's dated graphics technology. The long-standing argument is that both core and casual gamers will grow wary of Wii's novelty once Xbox 360 and PS3 graphics hit their full stride.

A fresh rumor is circulating that the Xbox 360 is set to experience a more significant price cut as the Holiday seasons draws in. The latest rumor notes that with the new 65nm processor falcon techniques, the core will drop to $249, the premium will go down to $299 and the Elite will go as low as $399. They will all have a redesigned motherboard as well as HDMI across all SKUs, quieter drives and also an extra heatsink.

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When the 65 nm processor falcons are introduced across all SKUs, the holiday season, a month or so after Halo 3 will see the core drop to $249, The Premium will drop to $299 and the Elite will drop to $399

The Core, Premium and Elite Falcons will have a redesigned motherboard which includes HDMI across all SKUs, a quieter DVD Drive and the falcons will STILL have an extra fan heatsink as Microsoft is not prepared to take anymore risks.

The Falcon will reduce the cost to manufacture the Xbox 360 CPU and GPU by ~40-50% but Microsoft will incure additional costs on the new fans and HDMI across all SKUs. Still at the 249,299 and 399 price, Microsoft will expect a profit from the console by early 2008 when the Q4 results are announced.

This Fall, Japan will be watching digital TV on PSPs. Retailing for ¥6,980 ($57), a 1seg add-on tuner will hit shelves along with the PSP Slim on September 20th along with a fistful of new cables. Currently, 1seg isn't quite yet perfect: there are signal dropouts, and it's hard to catch a broadcast while in cars or on trains. Still! Just think what you'll be doing with your PSP this Fall and what they'll be doing in Japan. Watching a cruddy digital reception, that's what!

Ben Heck has revealed that Microsoft is now putting in an additional heat sink on the Xbox 360 Elite, something of which they previously only used to do when repairing defective consoles.

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In an effort to boost stability, Microsoft has been putting in an additional heat sink on the graphics chip of refurbished Xbox 360’s as of late. Now, that added heat sink is in all new Xbox 360 Elite models being shipped. Ben Heck, modder extrordonaire, took apart his newly purchased Elite to find the change.

This is good news for people thinking about buying an Xbox 360 right now, as the stability problems have been widely publicized.

I’m going to take Ben’s word on this one. I’m not about to void the warranty on my Elite and see if I have the new heat sinks.

The CEO of games developer Eidos has commented that he beleives the Playstation 3 offers good value for money, indicating that it costs a great deal more to purchase either a HD or Blu-ray player. While he commented that additional people will pick up the machine due to its Blu-ray capabilities, he admitted that the price needs to be cut further in order to get closer to the mass market.

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According to Gardner, PlayStation 3 is good value considering it includes a Blu-ray player at a relatively competitive price point.

"Go buy an HD or a Blu-ray player. Go ahead. Tell me what it costs you. Then take a look at the PS3," he said.

"I don’t think PS3 is too expensive. I do think we’ll start to see additional people pick it up and use it, maybe not necessarily exclusively as a game player but as a Blu-ray player and a game player, and there is an advantage to that."

According to an insider who attend Konami's analyst meeting today, the exact release date of Metal Gear Solid 4 will be revealed at the Tokyo Game Show. Konami's president Fumiaki Tanaka commented that the release of the title is most likely within the latter quarter of March 2008. Further to this, Tanaka also stated 'we are open to taking this franchise across to other platforms.'

Speaking to investors, Microsoft's Robbie Bach has implied that the Xbox 360 Elite has a new hardware design that is not susceptible to the 'Red Ring of Death' hardware fault. Bach commented that the team had to create a 'new design', whether he directly means the Xbox 360 Elite or a general hardware revision across the Xbox 360 SKUs is unknown. However, he claims the much better design is in the market right now...

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“It's a design challenge that we've had to work around and create a new design to solve that problem, and for the interaction of a variety of different components. And so that's a Microsoft design question, not some component manufacturer's problem or our manufacturing partner's problems. It's something we've had to work on. We know we have a much better design in the market now. We verified that.”

Business Week has herladed Microsoft as the second best global brand in its listings. Microsoft has a brand value of $58.709 billion dollars and BusinessWeek noted that the launch of Windows Vista as well the Xbox has put technology directly in the hands of consumers. Coca-Cola topped the 2007 list with a brand value of $65.425 billion (USD).

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The list, which will be published in Business Week's August 6 issue, pegs Coca-Cola's 2007 brand value at about 65.324 billion U.S. dollars.

But the magazine also warned that consumers' shift from Soda in the West has hurt Coke and the success with Coke Zero has not made up for the company's continued loss of share.

Software giant Microsoft was pushed aside at No. 2 spot with brand value of 58.709 billion dollars. The magazines said the launch of the Windows Vista operating system, coupled with the Xbox game console, has kept Microsoft latest technology in front of consumers.

It has been revealed that Stranglehold for the PS3 has been delayed in its release by three weeks on the PS3, although the Xbox 360 and PC versions will experience no such delay and will be released on August 27th.

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The Xbox 360 and PC editions will still be released on August 27.

Although game delays have been a common occurence since the PS3's launch, this one may be a little more frustrating. Stranglehold on PS3 is arguably the superior version as it comes packaged with John Woo's Hard Boiled movie, remastered in high definition.

A demo of Stranglehold will be available on Xbox Live and PC in early August. When it will be available on PlayStation Store is still a mystery, but we expect late August or early September.

PRESS RELEASE: WWW.WIIPICROSS.COM BRINGS FREE PICROSS GAMES TO THE NINTENDO WII AND PC

Wii owners and web surfers around the world are invited to play, design and share picross-style logic puzzles for free at http://www.wiipicross.com/. These very accessible logic puzzles, pre-dating Sudoku but sharing its addictive mental challenge, are rewarding for people of all ages, in particular because of their unique picture solutions. In addition to supporting all major web browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer, Wiipicross.com is the only picross puzzle game specially optimized for the Nintendo Wii Opera Browser.

Wiipicross.com offers a daily Puzzle of the Day, a how-to-play guide, 16 exclusive feature puzzles designed to build your puzzling skills from scratch, as well as custom made Link Puzzles and a constantly growing library of user created puzzles. Anyone with a web browser can design, play and share their own puzzles for free at http://www.wiipicross.com/.

A fully featured online puzzle editor enables anyone to make their own personal doodle into a challenging logic puzzle. With either a Wii Remote or a computer mouse, designers can test and edit their puzzles until they're just right. After submitting their puzzle, they can challenge their friends to play it, or they may see it featured as the Puzzle of the Day. Wiipicross.com also provides friendly user forums for sharing puzzle designs and puzzle solving tips.

Epic's Mark Rein has commented that game consoles will 'pretty much define' what the next five years of PC gaming looks like. He believes that Directx 10 won't be fully taken advantage of until the next generation of consoles hit the market as its very difficult financially to produce top notch PC titles that can not run on either the PS3 or Xbox 360.

“Consoles will pretty much define what the next five years of games look like on the PC,” he said.

"To be honest, and I'm going to cast a small pall on the industry here, I don't think you're going to get much higher [than the likes of Crysis, pictured] until the next generation of consoles.

“… We're just barely coming into the sweet spot of the next-gen consoles... We're at the point where it's viable to ship games on these next-gen consoles and it's going to be a gold mine for a couple of years.

"Publishers are generally putting their money where the highest return is, and in the past that's been on consoles and I think that's still the case. So if you build the game that's a really super amazing high-end game, how do you make all the money you could make from that game, because it'll be too high-end eventually to be on PS3 or Xbox 360."

Nintendo supremo Shigeru Miyamoto has implied that the success of the Nintendo Wii has made people start taking games seriously again. Speaking to the Mercury News, he claimed the has the feeling that due to the Wii, people ALL over the world are taking notice of video games when they haven't done so previously. He also hinted that he's working hard to polish off Mario Galaxy and Wii Fit while also expressing optimism that some new original titles will be announced or perhaps be released as early as next year.

Q: Thank you for doing an interview again. Do you feel vindicated at how well the Wii has been received.

A: I think it is not necessarily vindication but I do get the distinct feeling that because of the Wii, people all over the world are finally taking notice of video games again, when they haven’t for a while.

Q: What are you spending most of your time working on?

A: We have a number of games that are approaching completion now. Typically I work on the games as they are approaching completion to help bring them together. I have been very busy recently on Super Mario Galaxy and Wii Fit.

A: We have a number of games that are approaching completion now. Typically I work on the games as they are approaching completion to help bring them together. I have been very busy recently on Super Mario Galaxy and Wii Fit.

A gaming website has put up a total of ten reasons as to why Nintendo's online plans for the Wii already show no promise. They refer to reasons such as the current lack of online supported games, the lack of expected future online titles, the friend code system, no rich Live-like environment and Nintendo hyping up WiiConnect24 despite it being nothing more than an 'auto-updater'.

Why Nintendo Has Failed the Online “Revolution” (Again) with the Wii

1. Nintendo hyped to no end their WiiConnect24 feature as if it were something truly unique or interesting. In fact what we get is an auto-updater akin to automatically downloading firmware updates for the gimmicky “channels”.

2. The “channels”. These channels allow you to peruse the news, weather, your Miis, voting, etc. Nothing special at all. Where is the rich connectivity to other users? Not here. Might as well turn on my computer or pick up a newspaper for all these channels are worth.

3. The only games that currently support any sort of multiplayer for the Wii are Pokemon Battle Revolution, Mario Strikers Charged, and several unknown Japanese titles. Pardon me Nintendo? Are you still living in the 80’s? Not even games you would expect to have multiplayer have it (such as FPS).

4. The list of future compatible multiplayer/online games for the Wii is nearly as dismal. There are approximately 20 titles to be released for the Wii which “MAY” be multiplayer compatible or have some online ability. Most of them are junk titles.

5. The “Friend Code”. What the hell were you thinking Nintendo?? Someone high up actually thought it would be a good idea to use a 12 digit code as your online id rather than allowing for customization or something that even resembles easy memorization.

6. No cohesive, rich online environment. This is a direct comparison to LIVE and the PSN. Both of these services allow for voice chat, video chat, text chat, rich online stores, access to demos, video on demand, and more. What does Nintendo have? The Virtual Console - only one thousandth of what LIVE and the PSN offer.

7. No plans to create such a rich online environment or community. Nintendo has stressed that they want their users to have privacy, preferring the “friend code”. Nintendo has made no moves nor attempts to create anything more than a backend system with little community development. While the PSN and LIVE have continually developed their features and are actively competing for a better online environment.

8. Nintendo mistakenly believes that their customers do not want this rich online environment. Time and time again we have seen the successes of online networks and the related features. People actively use them and ask for more.

9. Nintendo has blatantly ignored the online movement. Once again, Nintendo is stuck in the 80’s. Do the Nintendo bigwigs not actively use the internet or related functionalities? Do they not see its penetration into society, the benefits to their products, and overall demand? Apparently not.

10. Nintendo had dubbed the Wii with the codename Revolution, which is heavily misleading. Sure the controller is revolutionary and this with the combination of games. But an overall revolutionary console would require a drastic change from their prior gaming models, a huge step forward. With the Wii, Nintendo has edged its toe forward one inch. I definitely would not call that a revolution.

News Source: Gamingmirror.com

Towards the end of August, Paramount will ship its first ever high definition title that will feature an uncompressed soundtrack, Blades of Glory will include a PCM 5.1 soundtrack for the Blu-ray version but unfortunately there will not be a HD-DVD equivalent. A fortnight later, Paramount will also ship Face/Off with extra features only being available on Blu-ray due to its significantly higher capacity.

On August 28th, Paramount will ship its first high definition title to include a lossless or uncompressed soundtrack - 'Blades of Glory'. This title will feature a PCM 5.1 soundtrack for the Blu-ray release, but will feature no equivalent on the HD DVD, presumably because of the smaller disc capacity. Two weeks later, Paramount will ship 'Face/Off' with extras features available in high definition, but only on the Blu-ray version, again due to space constraints.

This is a drastic change from the Paramount we once knew. For the past year, Blu-ray owners have cringed as they saw release after release issued with low bit rate MPEG-2 video encodes and Dolby Digital soundtracks, while the HD DVD versions received VC-1 encodes and higher bit rate Dolby Digital Plus audio. It was disappointing to say the least.

A gaming blog has put together ten reasons as to why it believes that the Playstation Network will be just as good as Xbox Live or even better. Some of the reasons given include Playstation home, web browsing, frequent firmware updates and of course that it is FREE to use.

Top 10 Reasons PSN will be Xbox LIVE’s Equal or Superior

1. Playstation HOME. Home offers a rich avatar graphical interface for player interaction, activities, and trophies. Oh and can’t forget the posh apartments.

2. Downloadable retro Playstation content (i.e. PS1 games).

3. FREE, FREE, FREE! The PSN is completely free unlike Xbox LIVE.

3. Introduced downloadable multitasking/background downloading.

4. Integrated web browser with the PSN store set up similarly for a layout that most internet gamers are familiar with. PSN thereby branches out from its own system to the world wide web (gosh, that’s so 1995).

5. Future integration of Video On Demand, Music on Demand, Singstar.

6. Easier and cheaper access to the network for Wi-fiers. All PS3s come standard with wireless capability, whereas it costs $99 for a 360 (yes I shelled out the cash for my xbox)

7. Folding@Home. Using the power of the PS3 and the PSN users can contribute to the understanding and possible cure of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and MS. Come on, PSN should win hands down for this humanitarian effort.

8. Frequent firmware updates. Some might gawk at frequency and like only the large chunky and infrequent updates from MSoft. But the slow yet steady addition of new bits and bobs is fun.

9. PSN has already accomplished much of what LIVE has done/has in 9 months. LIVE has existed for nearly 5 years (circa 2002).

10. Free. Oh wait I already said that… oh well, it’s a biggy.

News Source: Gamingmirror.com

British Parliamentarian Keith Vaz has called for bigger labelling on games as its currently just too small for his liking. Vaz also declared he was delighted when Manhunt 2 was banned as a huge amount of money is made from 'such games' which disregard wider social responsibility.

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Speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday, British Parliamentarian Keith Vaz, a frequent critic of violent video games, called for larger ratings on video game packaging. Said Vaz:

A partnership between the retailers, the producers of the video games and the Government is therefore important to ensure, first, that labelling is clear. It is still about the size of a 10p piece, which is far too small.

As we all know the NPD has released its monthly console sales figures for the month of June. Now we can take a look at the state of play for the first half of 2007 as we've had six full months and as you'd expect the Wii is rocking while the PS3 has been drastically falling behind.

Which systems are they buying? We've put together the sales totals for the last four months, and while there is some variance, everyone seems to have settled into a nicely worn rut. The DS and Wii are obvious stunners when it comes to units shifted, with the PS2 still a strong seller. The PSP is also doing well and is the only system that has been moving upwards as times goes on. The newly redesigned system will likely increase sales. While Nintendo is clearly the king of portables, that shouldn't take away from the fact that Sony seems to have a nicely viable system that has cleared out its own corner of the portable market. The PlayStation 3 is showing some truly dismal numbers, but we'll hold off judgement of the system's fate until next month, when we see the fruits of Sony's supposed price drop.

A Sony executive has stated that the widespread piracy in the Philippines is forcing many companies to abandon any plans for manufacturing software in the region. He went on to say that this is the sole reason why Sony would not even consider importing PSP videogames into the Philippines. However, he did admit that it is difficult to quantify how much the industry loses in relation to the PSP and stated that it is very difficult to quantify.

"Piracy is the big concern and this is the reason why we cant do business here," said Hiroaki Kobayashi, president and managing director of Sony Philippines.

"I think its also the problem of other companies," he said, citing the widespread availability of pirated versions of movies, audio products, video-games and computer software.

He said this was why Sony would not even import copies of video-games for their popular Playstation Portable (PSP) into the Philippines.

Kobayashi said he could not say just how much the industry lost to piracy saying: "Its very difficult to quantify."

No details of what the franchise is but Rockstar have signed an exclusive deal to release the game(s) on PS3 only!

This is Michael Shorrock. I’m the Director of 3rd Party Relations at SCEA. As you may have seen this morning/last night on GameHead with Geoff Keighley, we are announcing that a new franchise from Rockstar Games will be exclusive to PS3. As part of our long standing relationship with Rockstar, and the incredible success for both companies with the cultural icon that is Grand Theft Auto, we’ve agreed to the PlayStation exclusive rights of the next great franchise from the Rockstar studios.

Everyone knows to have success in this business you need to look ahead, identifying the talent and titles that are going to give consumers new kinds of gaming experiences that help set the bar for the rest of the industry. Rockstar has a heritage for doing just that. We have had incredible success with the GTA franchise and are happy to continue to offer those titles on our platforms, and even more excited about what’s to come from the current and future relationship between our companies. Rockstar really wanted to make a game that you can truly only do on PS3, harnessing the power of CELL and Blu-ray disc and this deal lets them do just that.. This is really a win-win situation for both companies. As Jack mentioned in the interview with Geoff, this franchise is not LA Noire, but something all new. We agreed with Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive Software that we wouldn’t disclose anything more about the deal or title at this time, so stay tuned, we’ll share more info as soon as we can.

SCEA has announced that the PSP version of Syphon Filter willbe taking advantage of the recently excpanded CPU speed of 333Mhz to deliver an experience that wasn't possible on the previous limit. They claim that they can now introduce Havok physics and larger environments as a result of the increased speed.

Hey everyone, I’m the technical director for SCEA’s Bend studio in Oregon, the developer of the Syphon Filter franchise. We’re working hard on the next chapter in the series, Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow for PSP, but I wanted to take some time to give a glimpse into how the PSP’s recently expanded processor speed (333MHz) will help us deliver a look and feel that wasn’t possible under the previous 266MHz limit.

For Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror, our concentration was developing an engine that could produce stunning PSP visuals, allowing for significant detail in the environments. For Logan’s Shadow, we naturally wanted to push the detail even further with our focus turning towards interactivity within those environments.

Now we have the ability to introduce Havok physics, water rendering/gameplay (as seen in the screenshot above), larger environments with significantly more interactive elements, and faster AI response times. In short, tapping into the full processor speed of PSP offers increased gameplay opportunities, while still providing the high production qualities you would expect after playing Dark Mirror.

Earlier this week ther were rumors indicating that the price of the Xbox 360 is to be reduced by $50. Now it seems as if further weight is added to these claims with the following Wal-Mart ad placing a price tag of $349 on the Xbox 360 premium. It doesn't look as if this was an error as the box also has a 'rollback' logo above it, indicating an official price cut.

The Today Show has reportedly warned off viewers from purchasing an Xbox 360. They had a rare segement on videogames and in which their tech guru warned viewers to tur naway from the Xbox 360 due to its high failure rate. He also commented that the $1 billion warranty extension is the same as a recall but doesn't come with all the legal issues. The 'tech guru' then went on to recommend the more 'reliable' PS3 and Wii because they have less hardware failures.

The interesting part of the segment is that their “tech guru” told consumers to stay away from the Xbox 360 because of the massive hardware problems. He let everyone know that Microsoft issued a 3 year warranty extension amounting to $1 billion. The “tech guru” indicated that is is the same as a recall without the legal issues surrounding an actual recall. Microsoft would not confirm to him what is causing the hardware problems, but he advised all consumers to not buy an Xbox 360 until at least the end of the year.

Along with this, he strongly recommended the PS3 and Wii for their very high reliability and technological prowess. Letting everyone know the PS3 is a much stronger machine than the Xbox 360 and it’s recent $100 price drop, the “tech guru” encouraged users to grab one. He also talked up the Wii’s motion controls and innovative games, and also informed consumers of the high demand that’s still around.

Reggie Fils-Aime of Nintendo has commented that it's not Nintendo's fault that the Wii is still hard to find stock of. Reggie remarks its nothing to do with their capacity but consumer demand. Further to this, he bigged up the Wii's online network by claiming it will offer more than just online first person shooters and Nintendo's view is to get every household to go online every single day.

GP: What are the production challenges that are making it so hard to supply Wii's?

RF: I have to correct you. It's not a production issue. It's not like our competitors who are missing a component and couldn't scale up. We're making huge amounts of product every single month. It's not a capacity issue; it's a demand issue. We're not trying to temper demand, what we're now trying to do is to figure out how to add additional lines to meet a higher level of demand.

BJ's wholesale club has followed in the footsteps of Blockbuster and Target by declaring that it will exclusively stock Blu-ray by the fourth quarter. BJ's will carry Blu-ray only at all its 170 stores but HD-DVD will be available on their website only.

East Coast chain BJ’s Wholesale Club will drop HD DVD from its shelves and carry the Blu-ray Disc format exclusively by the fourth quarter, according to sources at the retailer and several Hollywood studios.

Sources said the chain will carry Blu-ray exclusively at all its 170 stores, although it continues to carry both formats on its Web site.

A spokesperson for the chain didn’t immediately return calls for comment.

Veteran games developer David Braben has warned that the Wii's popularity could come to a slow halt as people become bored with the novelty of it just like they did with Sony's Eyetoy PS2 acessory. According to Braben, it took around 18 months for people to become bored of the EyeToy, could the same happen with the Wii?

“We’re treating all three of the new consoles in the same way that we treated the PS2, so we’re putting PS2 games on the Wii and in some cases it’s just a token effort to use the controller. Ultimately it’s what you do with the gameplay that counts. And I think a lot of people are looking at the Wii, especially as it’s not a high definition machine, as a sort of party game machine. Certainly that’s how I’ve ended up using mine, playing Wii Sports and Wii Play, so a certain kind of game will do well on Wii and other kinds of games will do less well.

“What’s interesting is that people are talking about the novelty of the Wii as if it’s something completely revolutionary but actually we went through this same process with EyeToy, which allowed for gaming where you can stand up and do active physical things, but the EyeToy as a device lasted maybe eighteen months before people got bored with it, so that’s something that we should bare in mind with the Wii. We’ve got to keep doing new stuff to keep people interested.”

Sony's Jack Tretton has expressed concern about developers flocking to the Wii based on its initial success. He claims that in the future, consumer tastes may shift and those devs who placed all their eggs in one basket (the Wii) could find themselves 'all dressed up' with absolutely no place to go.

One of the big problems of software development given the costs is that companies are slaves to Wall Street and Wall Street wants results. If you have a long-term perspective on development, you have to be thinking two years out. To build a good game, you can’t bring it to market in less than two years. If you react to what is going on here and now, you may find yourself with a different marketplace by the time you get there with the code. We have seen it time and time again. Tomb Raider was a revolutionary product on the PlayStation. Everyone tried to do a rip off. By the time they got there, it was too late. When Grand Theft Auto came out, everybody gravitated to Grand Theft Auto. Now the Wii is having success. They are touting casual gaming. Supposedly everybody is going to race over to casual games. The unfortunate thing is the fruits of those labors will show up two years down the road, and if the consumer tastes shift, they will find themselves all dressed up with no place to go.

PRESS RELEASE: SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE AND SKY JOIN FORCES TO DELIVER VIDEO ON DEMAND SERVICE TO PSP OWNERS

SKY and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) today announced the formation of a Joint Venture company to deliver on-demand entertainment content to owners of the PSP™(PlayStation®Portable) in the UK and Ireland.

The Joint Venture company, with equal Board level representation from SKY and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe will draw on the unrivalled entertainment aggregation expertise and technical leadership of SKY, and the handheld entertainment knowledge and brand power of PlayStation®. The company will establish PSP and the new ground breaking video download service as the natural partners for those seeking the ultimate choice of portable entertainment content.

Focusing exclusively on delivering video content to the PSP, the Joint Venture will initially provide a wealth of video and film content to the more than 2.3 million PSP owners in the UK and Ireland. The two companies are already in discussions with entertainment content providers across Europe to facilitate future introduction of the service to European PSP owners.

More information on the service will be announced by SCEE at Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany on Wednesday 22nd August.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has stated that it was painful to announce the $1 billion Xbox 360 write off following Xbox 360 malfunctions, yet MS knew they had to take care of their customers. Ballmer also promised that MS will be world class when they do hardware. Incase you haven't had the pleasure of feasting your eyes on the new CEO, why not check him out in action in the video below.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer addressed the topic on stage: "We have to learn from our mistakes. It was painful to announce the write-off that we had to announce, and yet we knew we had to take care of our customers," he said. He promised that Microsoft will be "world-class when we do hardware."

The company is talking about a wide range of topics at the meeting, giving details on essentially every part of its business. Among other things, the company announced that it has reached 60 million in cumulative Windows Vista sales. That's up from 40 million as of May.

Leading games publisher Electronic Arts has admitted that it backed the wrong horse initially when it decided to focus all of its efforts on the Xbox 360 and PS3 during the console period. CEO John Riccitiello conceeded that a lot of others realized the Wii was going to be a success before EA themselves anticipated this.

He added, “The last transition was tough because we typically have two to three platforms and a five year period… One of the biggest challenges, of course, was that not a lot of people anticipated the success of Nintendo that they’ve shown with their wand controller and their Wii.

“That got ahead of us a little more than our expectations.”

Shares have been languishing around the $50 mark for the past few years.

“Our stock hasn’t moved as much as we’d like,” Riccitello told one investor during a Q&A. He admitted that EA was on the “wrong horse” by concentrating mainly on the PS3 and Xbox 360 while throwing less resources towards the Wii during the console transition.

Nintendo's market value now stands at $72.7 BILLION US DOLLARS which has made the gaming giant the fifth biggest company in Japan, outstripping the market value of the likes of Honda Motor Co which had placed higher in the rankings just a day before.

Offering innovative and easy-to-play games, the company's DS handheld player and Wii console have outsold rival Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. machines in recent months.

Its market value now stands at 8.76 trillion yen ($72.7 billion), outstripping Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T: Quote, Profile, Research), NTT or Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (9432.T: Quote, Profile, Research), and Honda Motor Co (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research) which had placed higher in the rankings only a day before.

Speaking in a recent interview, Sony's Peter Dille has revealed that Sony are working very hard on their online network for the PS3. He also couldn't resist taking a firing shot at MS by stating that their competition charges people to get online and essentially rips them off by charging for old content from previous generations.

"We're attacking online very, very aggressively," Dille told Gamasutra in a post E3 interview. "We offer online for free, and our competition charges people to get online."

Dille also criticized Microsoft for charging gamers for what he called "old content and catalogs from previous generations," whereas he claims his company focuses on making new, original downloadable games not limited by a lack of hard drive referring to the Xbox 360 core system.

"We've very confident in the PlayStation 3's long-term prospects of being the dominant console on the market," he added.

UK retail chain Woolworths are reportedly exclusively backing the Blu-ray format after testing the waters with both Blu-ray and HD-DVD but finding that consumer demand was SLIGHTLY in favor of Blu-ray since the launch of the PS3.

Anyway when I mentioned the new Blu-ray display and he told me that the company had been trialling both the high-def dvd formats in their flagships stores. They found that sales for both HD-DVD and Blu-ray had been virtually non-existent, however since the PlayStation 3 release, Blu-ray movie sales have seen a modest but steady increase, and they are now rolling out Blu-ray movies across all their medium to large stores. The company believe this market will increase as the proliferation of HDTV across the UK becomes more widespread over Christmas. However they will be dropping HD-DVD lines completely.

The following Playstation home screens reveal a few changes. Firstly the main lobby area has been changed and moves outside for a fresh looking environment. Elsewhere Sony has confirmed that Home Space has received an alteration and now there is a less boxy living area available for residents.

Firstly, Home's main lobby area has been remodelled from previous versions, no longer trapping users in the claustrophobic confines of earlier lobby builds. Home Square - which you might have spotted in the latest video below - moves the lobby area outside, sporting some '50s US Main Street stylings - although, clearly, someone needs to swap the 'R' and 'E' around on that 'THEATRE' marquee, for authenticity's sake.

Elsewhere, the team confirmed your personal Home Space has also received a makeover, with a more curvaceous, less boxy living space now up for grabs. Sadly, that's all we could glean from the presentation but, rest assured, we'll have more Home news shortly.

Sony has scooped the main award at the Develop Industry Excellence Awards which took place in the UK before a crowd of 500 game industry executives. SCEE was awarded the Grand Prix award due to them delivering a new hardware format (PS3) that has inspired developers around the world to make 'cutting edge' next generation games.

The European arm of software giant and PlayStation 3 maker Sony has picked up the main award at the Develop Industry Excellence Awards, which took place this evening at the Hilton Metropole hotel on the UK's south coast before a crowd of 500 games industry executives. SCEE picked up the Grand Prix award for "capping 12 months which have seen the firm deliver a new hardware format that has inspired developers around the world to make cutting-edge next generation games."

Other notable winners of the evening included Sega (crowned the industry's Publishing Hero), Ubisoft France (In-House Developer), and Traveller's Tales, which won the Independent Developer honor and Best Use of a License for Lego Star Wars II. Evolution Studios/SCEE title MotorStorm won New Console IP accolades, whereas recently rebranded Zoë Mode and its PlayStation Portable game Crush were recognized for New Handheld IP.

Microsoft's head of XNA has commented that the future of commercial game design could follow a path similar to the advances in website design. Satchell estimates that user generated content in web 2.0 will form into new web 3.0 user generated creations, a pattern which will be mirrored over time in the games market.

To illustrate his point, Satchell demonstrated a new piece of Microsoft software currently under development called PopFly. This uses the metadata embedded in content to enable the combination of content from existing Web 2.0 sites, such as Flickr, into new applications defined by a user's parameters.

While this sort of application doesn't currently exist in the game design arena, Satchell finished off the session as an opportunity to show off some of the entries in the recent Dream-Build-Play competition on the XNA platform.

Sony has made available the PaRappa the Rapper soundtrack for the PSP to download for FREE! The tracks available include - Chop Chop Master Onion's Rap - Instructor Mooselini's Rap - Prince Fleaswallows' Rap - Cheap Cheap the Cooking Chicken's Rap - Love You - All Masters' Rap - Live Rap with MC King Kong Mushi and Funny Love. The whole package weighs in at a hefty 20MB.

Download: here at pspfanboy

SEGA has confirmed that the Xbox 360 version of Virtua Fighter 5 is set to be released on October 30th. The figher was earlier released this year on the PS3 but fighting fans will surely be flocking to the Xbox 360 despite this as it features ONLINE PLAY!

Originally released earlier this year on the PlayStation 3, Virtua Fighter 5 featured 17 fighters--two of them new to the series--as well as the ability to customize characters with new items purchased with in-game prize money. The big change for the Xbox 360 version of the game will be online play. Other additions include leaderboards and the ability to download matches from the top contenders so as to study their fighting styles. Players will also be able to purchase downloadable Virtua Fighter 5 content through the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Michael Ephraim, head of Australian Playstation business has made a right old mess trying to explain the lack of a PS3 price cut in Australia. Ephraim pointed out that there is a difference in the cost of living between the US and Australia and that the PS3 had been released four months earlier in the U.S. and they have had experienced the joys of a Christmas period.

Why did you announce a bundle instead of a price cut?

Well, let's be clear. The US announced the discount on the 60 Gig SKU that will be a run-out model, and then they are introducing the 80 Gig SKU with MotorStorm back up to US$599. That's their strategy. The US launched four months ahead of us, they had a Christmas, we haven't had a Christmas yet.

But all that aside, when you look at the value, the US price cut was US$100, with exchange rates that's $120 Australian. We've crammed in $280 worth of value, and we're not doing it with smoke and mirrors, either. Resistance and MotorStorm are the number one and number two games in Australia, and million-selling games each globally. There's also a Sixaxis controller. So that's real value - $280 versus $100.

With about 61,000 PS3s sold through in Australia based on GfK, we think the next rung of purchasers are those gamers who have said: "I want a PS3 but I'll wait until there's an offer". I think this bundle will strike a chord with them.

We are also working with different outlets, for example Harvey Norman, doing Blu-ray movie bundles from Sony Pictures. And that offer is going extremely well, being sold to a different segment of the market. A segment that's going in and buying a four to eight thousand dollar high-def screen, which sales as you know are going through the roof, and they're looking for something that can generate 1080p content. If you talk to retailers, they are very excited about the offer and we think we have the right strategy and we're giving the best value to the consumer.

Can you understand that people are upset when they see that Americans can own a PlayStation 3 for just US$499 - something like $400 cheaper than here? They have the option of getting into the PS3 market for price that is a lot cheaper.

This comes back to the argument about what the cost of living is in Australia compared to the US. I don't think there's a brand or a mass-market product that you can compare the US to Australia and not see mass-market benefits in the US.

Unfortunately it looks as if the $60 price tag slapped on games by MS and Sony in the next generation is indeed sustainable and here to stay. A games website has conducted some research on the history of game pricing and consumer adoption and it looks as if things could get even worse over the next few years as consumers are increasingly warming to the high prices.

Our conclusions are as follows…

Prior to 2007, the average prices for the top 20 games was around $40-$43.
During the first half of 2007, prices for the top 20 games has been around $46-$49, without including Guitar Hero II. With Guitar Hero II, included prices are measurably above $50.
As the Xbox 360 library expands, it will claim more and more high-priced games in the top 20 list.
As Wii games replace PlayStation 2 games in the charts, it will keep the floor of console game prices right at $50.
The last two points will together force the average price of top selling games well above $50 in the near future.
The only downward pressure on average game prices is coming from the Nintendo DS.

So are consumers buying those $60 games? Yes, they are, and at an increasing pace. Here’s the detailed evidence…

Microsoft has confirmed that it will pump advertisements into a large amount of Electronic Arts sports titles including the top selling Madden franchise. The deal also covers NASCAR, Tiger Woods Golf, NHL hockey and Skate and is touted as a great coup for MS as they try and build a lead over the likes of Google who are working in the video games ads field. Whatever next? Virtual Commercials between quarters?

The deal comes as Massive faces increased competition from Google, which bought game ad service Adscape for a reported $23 million in March, and from privately held companies such as Double Fusion.

"We need to build an overall network and this is a major stepping point to have us do that," Van Arsdale said in an interview with Reuters.

Massive acts as a broker between companies that want to get their ads in front of gamers, and game publishers eager to tap new sources of revenue to offset higher development costs for flashy new titles that can cost $20 million or more to make.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. In-game advertising was worth just $50 million in 2005, but that is expected by many analysts and industry executives to balloon to $1 billion over the next few years.

The $30 billion global video game industry is also one of the fastest-growing entertainment sectors, thanks to new home and handheld gaming machines and a rush among publishers to win over nontraditional buyers like women and seniors.

Sony's Peter dille has confirmed that a video download service is definitely destined for the PSP. During the same interview, Dille looked to defend the lagging UMD format for the PSP. Dille believes that there was an initial lack of communication with movie content suppliers and they were all just shifting all their movies onto the format without thought for the demographic of the PSP. Hence an initial 'failure' was on the cards.

However, the UMD movie format has come in for criticism, with many retailers and movie studios cutting back majorly on the format, and Dille admitted: "The movie issue you're referring to is really a function of our not handling communication with Hollywood terribly well. When the PSP came out, it was a new format, and as with a lot of new formats, what Hollywood does is back up the catalog and say, "Come on guys, let's release all this stuff on the new video format." Unfortunately, we didn't do a good enough job communicating to Hollywood about who was going to be buying a PSP."

He added: "This is a fake example, but it doesn't make sense to do On Golden Pond on the PSP, because that's not the demographic that's buying this thing. When we launched, there was a proliferation of UMD content, and it wasn't the best strategic fit with the demographic. Now we've done a better job of going back and interfacing with Hollywood and saying, "Look, here's what we're doing, and here's what makes sense." I think sense then, they've been a lot more selective in terms of what makes sense and what doesn't. You've seen people like Target come back on with UMD offerings. There have been some hiccups, but I think reports of the UMD's demise have been greatly exaggerated."

Nintendo America head honcho Reggie Fils-Aime has hinted that big surprises are in store for Wii owners this September, despite the announcement of a Check Mii Out Channel at E3 Reggie commented that there are still plans. He boasts the surprise is coming by the end of September and claims you will all like this surprise.

SCEA's Peter Dille has roared that the July sales data as yet to be released by NPD will fully show the effect that the PS3 price cut has had on sales of the system. Dille promoted Sony as being very wise when it comes to pricing cutting, claiming unlike MS, they have a history of knowing how to cost reeduce products over time and miniaturize them.

“We’re confident. One of the things that Sony does very well is eek out consistent manufacturing efficiencies in its products,” Dille says. “At the end of the day we are a manufacturer of consumer electronics, unlike our competitor on the Microsoft side. So we know how to do this. We cost-reduce products over time. We miniaturize them.

“The whole world will be able to see the results when the July [NPD] charts come out."“Look at what the PlayStation 1 became and then look at how we reduced the PlayStation 2. Look at the PSP for that matter. This is something that Sony is very, very good at doing. With the ramp up of manufacturing, one of the things that’s happening is we’re able to cost reduce PlayStation 3 and as Blu-ray becomes more prevalent and appears in multiple devices, the cost of all these components start coming down.

“There’s not one contributing factor, but if we take a hit, at the same time we’re able to pass some of the savings on to consumers from the manufacturing side. It’s a business decision to say we need to grow the installed base as quickly as possible. That’s really the primary objective when you’re selling a platform. Price is one of the levers that you can pull and we felt that this was a good time in this territory to make a price move for PlayStation 3. I think a couple days into it we’re seeing the results that we’re hoping for.”

GD managed to score literally the final ever interview with Peter Moore when he was at Xbox. Moore slammed critics of the Xbox 360 and said that they need to take a look at failure rates of consoles of the past when talking badly on its failure rates. He also questioned the Sony's move to cut the price of the PS3 by noting that the strong price cut surely wouldn't have been part of their 10 year product life cycle after just 8 months.

BIZ: It's a bit ironic, because when MS first got into the console business, critics laughed because MS is a software company at its core. It's not in the business of creating hardware. Now the company has discovered some faulty design in its 360 hardware, seemingly proving the critics right. What do you say to those critics?

PM: Those critics need to do their homework and look at some of the hardware product failures that this industry has seen in the past 30 years that maybe have not got as much publicity...

BIZ: You're saying that this is not an unprecedented failure for a video game console?

PM: Probably the size of it may be unprecedented, and certainly the financial implications, but if people say that previous consoles have all been perfect and not had failure rates, then they need to go get a history lesson.

THE NPD group has unleashed its U.S. video game market software sales for June which indicates that game sales climbed by as much as 22% to $543 million and Mario Party 8 (462.2K sold) leading the all format sales. Total industry sales were up a remarkable 31 percent to $1.1 billion for the month of June and hardware sales were up 34 percent to $399 million with the DS leading the way with 562,000 handheld units sold. Console sales were as follows - Wii (381K), Xbox 360 (198.4K), PS3 (98.5K) and the PSP sold 230.1K. Nintendo dominated the software charts with six out of the top 10 titles being present on the Wii and the DS.

Top selling software for U.S. in June

1. Mario Party 8 - Wii (Nintendo) - 426,200 units
2. Wii Play - Wii (Nintendo) - 293,200 units
3. Pokemon Diamond - DS (Nintendo) - 288,400 units
4. Pokemon Pearl - DS (Nintendo) - 214,700 units
5. Forza Motorsport 2 - Xbox 360 (Microsoft) - 197,400 units
6. Guitar Hero II - PS2 (Activision) - 197,350 units
7. Guitar Hero II - Xbox 360 (Activision) - 177,600 units
8. Pokemon Battle Revolution - Wii (Nintendo) - 157,900 units
9. Resident Evil 4 - Wii (Capcom) N/A
10. The Darkness - Xbox 360 (Take Two) N/A

This beautiful custom God of War themed PSP is being auctioned off at eBay with some of the proceeds going to charity. Although if you want it, you're going to have to dig deep as it already has attracted bids in excess of $300 and there is almost a week left to go.

Leading security firm Symantec has confirmed that a vulnerability in Adobe Flash can work on the Wii via the systems opera browser. The exploit can cause the Wii to freeze and runs through a normal Youtube type .FLV format. According to Symantec its not a big threat with there being no public exploits for Linux or Mac systems, so while the code can freeze up a Wii it is unlikely that anything in terms of homebrew will come of it.

Gaming Target has once again updated its exclusive titles list for the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360. And for the first time ever, the Wii is taking the top spot. The current totals suggest the Wii has 113 exclusives (23 released / 80 unreleased), the Xbox 360 has 96 (47/49) and the PS3 a mere 47 (8/39).

Yes, the Xbox 360 is no longer the leader in exclusive titles for the first time since we began tracking them in October of 2006. Nintendo’s little white behemoth has pulled ahead after a stellar E3 where nearly every major (and minor) publisher pledged plenty of support for the system. So what does the current exclusive landscape look like? First, we will go over the rules for those that have yet to read an Exclusive Arms Race article and then we will dissect the list, which includes a whopping 37 new titles for the Wii.

George Harrison, the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Nintendo of America has failed to rule out the possibility of revised Wii hardware hitting the market in the future. Although Harrison did give a rather universal response by saying historically console hardware has always evolved itself within its life cycle period.

BIZ: I interviewed Perrin during D.I.C.E. and we talked a bit about how Nintendo likes to revise its handhelds. I asked her if this revision model was applicable to console hardware like the Wii as well, and she said, "Sure. You'll see the ways in which we do that." That seemed like a strong hint that Nintendo will revise the current Wii hardware. Is a new model planned?

GH: It's interesting, console hardware has always historically been on a sort of fixed, sequential pattern almost every five to six years and it takes you about five years to develop a new piece of console hardware. The handhelds and portables, like Game Boy and now DS, we've always been continuously innovating, and whenever we feel like it's time or have an upgrade, we'll do it, whether it's an improved screen for the handheld or slimmed down like the DS Lite – those types of things. So it's not out of the question on Wii, but we're not even to our second holiday yet, so it's kind of premature to talk about any revisions to the hardware itself.

Sony's Phil Harrison has revealed that Sony has 'parachuted' in some of its SWAT Team of super engineers to help Epic get the most out of Unreal Tournament 3 on the PS3. More specifically, they are there to optmise the SPUs and Harrison claims that the performance gains for developers using the Unreal Engine 3 will be exponential.

GI: But that was one of the things two years ago at E3 where you showed Unreal Tournament – with Epic and nVidia – why is this a reannouncement?

Harrison: If we’re honest, we didn’t do enough of a good job supporting them and getting them the tools and technology early enough. Also, Epic isn’t a huge company. They don’t have unlimited resource. We have parachuted in some of our SWAT team of super engineers to help them. Specifically, to optimize for SPUs, which are the point of difference that the Cell Processor has. That process is under way. The benefits that it yields to end developers whether they’re writing exclusive titles or multiplatform titles is that the performance on PS3 goes up exponentially, and it will make for a much better game experience.

GI: I’ve heard from a number of developers that one of the problems with porting a game that’s based on Unreal, or having a multiplatform game that’s based on Unreal, was because Epic didn’t have their tech up to speed and they were waiting for updates. Is this basically saying, “It’s going to get fixed, it’s going to get better?"

Harrison: Yes, I think that’s a fair summary. We know that there are a lot of developers who are using the technology, so this is a significant impact for the industry.

Keiji Inafune, the head of Research & Development and Online Business at Capcom has explained why the company made the move to make DMC 4 multi-platform. One of the key reasons is that Capcom has created a development engine that allows for easy exportation to the PS3 and Xbox 360. He explains that the Xbox 360 exclusive Dead Rising and Lost Planet helped to complete the engine which is now complete.

Until now it's been hard for us to develop multi-platform games, but recently we have developed this development engine that allows us to develop a game in the engine and then put it on to PS3 and 360.

Developing Dead Rising and Lost Planet helped flush out everything in the development tool system — which is now pretty much complete, aside from the usual upgrades — so we decided to use that engine, make it for the 360 and the PS3 with Devil May Cry 4.

So, now we can get the game out into the hands of more gamers — because 360 has such a huge installed base already, especially in the US, and as game makers we want as many people to have the chance to play our games as possible.

PS3 firmware v1.9 has just been released in Japan, but people in Europe should be able to get their hands on the latest build tomorrow. The updated firmware includes a range of new items including XMB backgrounds, ability to eject games via the XMB and a whole lot more.

PS3 Firmware v1.9 Features

• Ability to rearrange games on the XMB
• Option menu now includes “eject disk”
• Press triangle to eject games/CDs/movies in the XMB
• XMB backgrounds
• Change the folder classification
• Emoticons
• Change CD output to 44.1/88.2/176.4kHz
• Force 24Hz output for Blu-ray over HDMI
• Change PS3 video settings in-game
• “Bit Mapping” in the “Music Setting”
• Save AVCHD type animations from a Memory Stick
• Change settings like upscaling while playing PS and PS2 games
• Add bookmarks
• Web browser security function in the browser’s tool section
• Avatar moves during audio visual chat

The following 'order form' from a French hypermarket signals that Europeans are set to receive the new look PSP weeks earlier Japan on September 6th. It also looks as if the OFFICIAL name for the newly designed PSP will simply be 'PSP Slim & Lite' as shown by the product SKUs in the form below.


News Source: pspgen.com (en Francais)

Sony's Senior PR Manager Patrick Seybold has responded to comments on the official Playstation blog and states that a new PS3 firmware update is due to hit next week. It is rumored that more specifically the new firmware will be released on July 24th. While nobody knows for sure what new features the update will bring gamers-creed.com speculates a large amount including "XMB is now accessible during gameplay."

Trailers: Metal Gear Solid 4

Game Informer recently had the chance to speak to Sony's Phil Harrison regarding a variety of issues in relation to the Playstation brand. Of good interest is his comments in reference to the pricing of the PS3. Harrison believes that the new price cut should combine with upcoming games to provide some solid market penetration. Harrison was also reminded that $500 dollars is still quite a bit of money to pay out for a games console, but he smugly replied that you get 'quite a bit of machine' for your money and to put things into perspect, some people camp out in the street to buy a phone of the same monetary value!

GI: How much do you think the price drop on the 60 GB model will help with the penetration in the market?

Harrison: It can only help. If you read what consumers are saying, people say, “We love the system, it’s just a little bit out of reach from a price point of view.” Combined with the games we’ve announced and the games that we’ve shown coming out for this holiday season, those two play very well together.

GI: But $500 is still quite a bit of money.

Harrison: The PS3 is quite a bit of machine. There’s a lot you get for your money. People were camping out in the streets to buy a $500 phone.

GI: Very true, but it’s a lot of things as well.

Harrison: I think the point I’m trying to make, and I think I’m being slightly unfair to Apple, but the point I’m trying to make is $500 – yes, it’s an investment – but you get a lot of value for it.

GI: And the iPhone doesn’t play Blu-ray.

Harrison: Correct. (laughs) You can’t get MotorStorm on the iPhone.

SCEE head honcho David Reeves has commented that this Christmas isn't neccessarily make or break when it comes to the future success of the PS3. In an interview with 'Three Speech' Reeves commented that the most critical one will be Christmas 08 and imagines the whole cycle to be like a tsunami starting small and gathering speed over years. Reeves also defended SCEE's decision not to cut the price of the PS within Europe by stating that July is not a gamer's month and they thought they'd anger a lot of people if they cut the price of the PS3 right now.

SCEE president David Reeves says that this Christmas isn't necessarily the most critical one for Sony.

In an interview with semi-official Sony blog Three Speech, Reeves said: "I think each peak is crucial to maximise what you can do, but I don't think this Christmas is necessarily the most critical one - I think that's going to be Christmas 08."

"I see this more as kind of like a tsunami – it starts small and gathers speed, and eventually, after four or five years, it will start to take you over."

Responding to criticism of the lack of a European price cut to match the recent US drop, Reeves defended SCEE's actions. "July is not really a gamers' month unless you get a big, big title," he said. "So we thought if we reduced the price, we'd annoy a lot of people."

Speaking to Gamasutra, Peter Moore discussed the need for the Xbox 360 to reach a broader market and bring the fun back into the living room via the Xbox 360. While he was still at MS, he was asked what Microsoft could do better right now in relation to the Xbox 360 and emphasized a need to accelerate and broaden their reach. Games such as Halo 3 and GTA IV may quench the thirst of hardcore gamers but Moore wants to see the Xbox 360 also reach out to the bigger picture.

As part of an in-depth Gamasutra interview, Peter Moore has been discussing the need for broader Xbox 360 appeal, commenting "...as much as we love our hardcore guys... we've got to get fun back in the living room on our platform."

When asked: "What do you think Microsoft could be doing better right now?", Moore, who has since announced that he's leaving Microsoft to head up EA Sports, commented:

"The only thing after this week is that we've got to continue to accelerate and broaden our reach into the broader market. We've been making a lot of strides, and I know that we have some announcements between now and the holiday that we've kept for Tokyo Game Show."

He continued: "As much as we love our hardcore guys -- they're going to love Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV and all of the incredible games that we've got -- at the same time, we've got to get fun back in the living room on our platform."

He added: "We need to accelerate that reach. That's the only thing we're looking at, in terms of what our competitors are doing. I think Nintendo is doing a phenomenal job in providing that fun, unexpected experience, to their credit."

The Wii is gaining popularity in North America as a tool for rehabilitation methods. The first hospital to indulge in Wii therapy is the Glenrose Hospital in Alberta Canada, with therapists claiming the Wii has a further strength as therapy can be done at home with friends and family via the Wii.

" Go ahead, raise your arms,” Stephanie Mzcynski yells at the TV.

"Who haw, down and out,” she continues, getting more and more animated. “Eight, nine, ten, yea!”

Another challenger knocked out on the Nintendo Wii Sports boxing game.

These days, Mzcynski beats all challengers. She’s also beating multiple sclerosis, and she credits the game system. She could barely move one month ago.

"The Wii has helped me with balance, coordination, and also helps with endurance,” Mzcynski said, “it’s also good for self esteem because you can take this out on somebody else.”

More specific details have been revealed on the exact dismal situation which Microsoft has reported for the year ended June 30th. Losses for the Entertainment division increased by 47 percent due largely to a $1.06 billion charge as a result of the extension of the Xbox 360 warranty. Further to this MS shipped just 700k consoles during the quarter compared to 1.8 million for the same period last year.

Losses for the Entertainment and Devices Division (EDD) increased by 47 percent for the year ended June 30, due primarily to a $1.06 billion charge stemming from the extension of the Xbox 360 hardware warranty.

Microsoft said reduced console manufacturing costs partially offset the charges caused by the upgraded warranty.

Annual revenues for the EDD (which includes the media player Zune, TV platform products and mobile embedded devices) increased by 28 percent to $6.08 billion, driven by Xbox 360 hardware, accessories, software and Zune sales.

The fourth quarter in the EDD was down, with operating losses increasing 183 percent to $1.2 billion, again due to the billion-dollar-plus warranty charge. Revenues dropped 10 percent from a year ago to $1.16 billion due specifically to "decreased Xbox 360 console sales."

Microsoft shipped 700,000 consoles during the quarter compared to 1.8 million for the same period a year prior.

David Reeves has commented that Sony will be revealing not two but three exclusive European features and services for the PSP at the Leipzig Games convention and that there would something very special for the PS3 and not just more colors.

The new bundle will be available immediately in SCEE territories, and will be rolled out in all other territories by August 1. David Reeves commented: "Why are we doing this? We believe added value works in the PAL territories."

The Sony exec also hinted the company would be revealing three new features and services for the PlayStation Portable at the Leipzig Games Convention that would be exclusive for Europe, and that there would be "something really special" for the PS3, as well as more PSP colors.

Epic's Mark Rein has issued a statement which reveals that the company has found itself victim to a lawsuit from licensee Silicon Knights which is assumed to be over UE3 utilizing Xbox 360 title Too Human. Rein's statement states that this morning Epic were hit with a lwsuit and believe it is without merit and intend to fully defend against it.

Rein's statement, sent out to the media this afternoon, reads as follows: "This morning we were served with a lawsuit by Silicon Knights. We believe the claims against us are unfounded and without merit and we intend to fully defend against them."

The Epic VP continues: "We'd love to tell you more about it but unfortunately our lawyers want us to save our comments for the courthouse so we're going to do our best to comply with their wishes."

He concludes: "In that vein we'd appreciate if our friends in the industry and media would refrain from asking us about the suit because we're only going to say "no comment". We just wanted to share the news directly before the rumor mill starts churning."

The huge bill that MS face over Xbox 360 repair costs has over shadowed otherwise large gains made by new Windows and Office software according to their earnings report released earlier today. If the Xbox 360 didn't have such a high fault rate, the company would've posted a 26 percent year on year increase instead of falling 21 percent short of their estimates.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 repair costs eroded large gains made by new Windows and Office Software, according to their earnings report released today.

If not for the Xbox 360's extended warranty, Microsoft would have posted $0.39 in diluted earnings per share, a 26% increase over the same period last year. Instead, the console accounted for a $0.08 drop in diluted earnings per share, leaving Microsoft 21% short of their estimates.

Speaking to Kikizo, Sony's Kaz Hirai has implied that Sony are potentially going beyond more than just adding rumble in the next version of their SIXAXIS controller for PS3. He commented that Sony will come out with an announcement when the time is right and that that it has always been an evolving peripheral.

Kikizo: One thing that you and I spoke about last time, which led to maybe a bit of awkwardness afterwards, was about the Sixaxis, motion, and rumble. But you guys have now reached an agreement with Immersion I believe. When do you think that we may learn more about a product that reflects this agreement? (I.e. - an official rumble-enabled Sixaxis controller for PS3)

Hirai: Uh, well that's something that I know the consumers have told us they're looking to have in the PS3 controller, it's something that we're obviously looking at, now that we've reached an agreement with Immersion. We're also looking at a variety of other things that we can incorporate with the controller, and we'll come out with announcements when we think we have the right mix of features for the PS3 controller. I mean, as you know, that's also an evolving peripheral, if you will, in that we started out with the original PS1 controller with no analogue, and it's come all the way to this point, so obviously, as we go forward, it's not the final model for a PS3 controller, so we'll see what comes down the road.

A good number of angered Wii owners have been posting at internet forums claiming that their systems have been broken following being left on standby via WiiConnect24 for long periods of times. Despite Nintendo conceeding that only a very small amount of power us utilized by the mode, the console does get very hot when the feature is utilized and far hotter than when being played because the internal fans are DEACTIVATED. Owners are suggesting that the heat is causing the CPU to over-heat which in turn breaks the Wii.

One gamer seems particularly ticked off by the Wii and decided to make a song about it. While the song is very anti Wii it does raise some good points such as its lack of longevity and expensive VC titles.

Just a day after the shocking news that Peter Moore has left Xbox, here comes another shocker - there will be no European Showcase X07 event this year.

Speaking on Squad XP's podcast, Greenberg says: "There is not a real X07 this year but I think that we will figure out some way to talk about 2008 some time at a different event or a different type of programme."

The X0 events have been running since 2001 when Microsoft officially introduced the Xbox to European journalists and retailers. Since then, the large-scale event has been used to make key announcements (like last year's Halo/Peter Jackson deal), unveil upcoming AAA titles (Halo Wars) and also show off new hardware.

A number of video game journalists have given their views on what the departure of Moore from MS means for the future of the Xbox. One Game Informer editor remarked that Moore's loss will hinder the image of the Xbox as being 'hip with kids' which the Xbox team has worked on since the beginning. A Spike TV host commented that Peter Moore was a popular 'cheerleader' and that his departure will have some kind of negative effects on Xbox.

"Ultimately, I don't think who is running the company will help or hurt gamers, but I do believe losing Moore hinders the image of 'hip with the kids' that the Xbox team has pushed since its start," said Game Informer editor Andy McNamara in an interview with USA Today. "Mattrick [incoming president] is very skilled, but I don't think he portrays the same swagger that Moore brought to Microsoft."

Geoff Keighley, a Spike TV host, thinks Microsoft's image will take a hit from losing Moore. "This is a huge loss for Xbox... Gamers will no doubt wonder what this means for the future of the platform. Xbox 360 will be fine. Peter's not the visionary behind the platform, but he was the voice and the soul of that whole division of Microsoft and the public cheerleader. Xbox will continue on without Peter, but I have a feeling that his departure will knock some wind out of the platform," he said.

"It's shocking to see him leave right before Xbox heads into the biggest holiday season ever. He's spent years building up for this fall with a remarkable lineup of games and now he won't be around to 'finish the fight' as they say in Halo 3," added Keighley.

Chris Lewis, the regional video president of Xbox EMEA has commented that the three red light problem on the Xbox 360 is not just caused by a single fault, instead it is caused by a combination of factors that are not present in all machines. Lewis stated that it is only when the factors all join together that the red lights problem kicks in, although he failed to go into specifics.

Speaking exclusively to vnunet.com Chris Lewis, regional vice president of Xbox EMEA, said that the so-called 'three red light problem' is triggered, not by a single fault, but by a combination of factors that would not affect all machines.

"There are a number of issues that are related to this problem. It is not a single flaw," he explained.

"The three red lights come from not just one problem, but the manifestation of a number of issues. It is only when a number of issues collaborate that the fault occurs."

Lewis declined to detail the exact cause of the problem. However, it appears to be a hardware rather than software flaw, since any fix will not be retrofitted to existing machines.

According to the latest official Sony press materials, Final Fantasy Versus XIII is listed as just 1.3% complete. Looks like it has quite a long way to go unfortunately.

All hyped up for new Final Fantasy XIII details to accompany today's Tokyo PlayStation Premiere press conference? Well settle down, because we only have one tiny bit of info.

According to Sony's press materials, the highly anticipated RPG sequel is now 13% complete. Yes, a low, unlucky completion percentage. But thankfully it's not as low as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which is listed as 1.3%!

Sony's Jack Tretton was recently asked to justify the price of the PS3 hard drive when a stand alone drive can be found for much cheaper elsewhere. Tretton responded by saying that it is within the context of games consoles and the 20GB Hard Drive for Xbox 360 is infact $100.

1UP: With the new 80GB SKU, $59.99 comes from MotorStorm, the remaining to make up the $599 is only 20GB. How do you justify $40 for a 20GB hard drive when you can buy a 20GB hard drive for $10 on Newegg.com?

Tretton: I guess we have to talk about gaming consoles. Unless I am incorrect, I believe the 20GB add-on for the Xbox 360 is $100. I guess you have to look at in relative terms to gaming SKUs and we think $100 is a pretty good value with MotorStorm and the 20GB packed in, but they have a choice and if that isn't a good value for them and they prefer to buy the 60GB at $499, that certainly gives them that option.

Gamepro recently probed Sony's Jack Tretton to describe how he views each of video game console on the market in relation to a meal or food. He claimed the PS3 is the best thing on the menu and is like the lobster and steak, while the PS2 is like your favorite hamburger joint offering comfort food and good value. The Wii is like a lollipop for children and the Xbox 360 makes you sick every so often because the chef isn't too reliable.

How would you describe each current game console if you had to describe it as a meal or food?

I think the PS3 is the Surf 'n Turf. You want the lobster and steak and you're going to give yourself the treat of getting the best thing on the menu. The PS2 is your favorite burger restaurant -- you go there for comfort food and it's just always good and is a good value.

[As for the other two consoles], one [Wii] is a lollipop, and I'm too old for lollipops. The other one [Xbox 360] I get sick from once in a while because the cook isn't always reliable.

New details have emerged on just how well EA are going to pay their new recruit - former Xbox head Peter Moore. EA are paying him an annual salary of $550,000, in addition to help with re-location expenses of up to $330,000 and who could forget the $1.5 MILLION signing on bonus he is to receive!

And finally, EA also intends to assist Moore with relocation-related expenses, estimated at about $330,000. However, if Moore "voluntarily leaves his employment with EA or is terminated for any reason other than a reduction in force that eliminates his job position (a) prior to the one-year anniversary of his date of hire, he has agreed to pay EA an amount equal to all relocation and gross-up expenses incurred by EA through the date of his termination; or (b) on or after the one-year anniversary of his date of hire and prior to the second anniversary of his date of hire, he has agreed to pay EA an amount equal to a pro-rata portion (24 minus number of full months of employment / 24 months) of all relocation and gross-up expenses incurred by EA through his date of termination."

So all told, the upfront cost for EA to bring on Peter Moore will be nearly $2.4 million. We're not sure how much he was paid while at Microsoft, but EA certainly went above and beyond, New York Yankees style if you will.

PRESS RELEASE: Peter Moore Resigns From Microsoft to Return to Northern California

Microsoft Corp. today announced that Don Mattrick, a former president at Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), will lead the Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB), which includes overseeing the Xbox® and Games for Windows® businesses. Peter Moore, who currently serves as corporate vice president of IEB, has decided to move his family back to the Bay Area for personal reasons and has secured another opportunity in the video games industry.

Mattrick will take over as the senior vice president of IEB at Microsoft, effective July 30. Mattrick was the founder of Distinctive Software Inc., which operated as a private company from 1982 until its merger with EA in 1991. Mattrick held various senior positions within EA, most recently as president of Worldwide Studios, until his resignation in February 2006. In February 2007, Mattrick began working with the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft as an external advisor.

“Peter has contributed enormously to the games business since joining Microsoft in 2003 and we are sad to see him go,” said Robbie Bach, president of Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “Since that time, he presided over the global launch of the Xbox 360™, spearheaded a revitalized and rebranded Games for Windows business, and helped steer the console’s ascent.”

Moore has decided to return with his family to Northern California, where they lived until he took the position at Microsoft. Moore will remain at Microsoft to assist in the transition through August and will then return to the San Francisco Bay area.

“While Peter will certainly be missed, we are delighted to have one of the industry’s most talented and passionate veterans on board to lead the business,” Bach said. “Don is well-known and respected throughout the industry for his deep knowledge, technical expertise and management savvy. Under Don’s leadership, the games team is looking forward to embarking on our biggest holiday ever, with a wide-ranging roster of some of the most highly anticipated titles.”

Mattrick brings 23 years of games industry and development experience to the strong Microsoft management team, having helped bring to life such celebrated game franchises as the “Need for Speed,” “Harry Potter” and “The Sims” while at EA.

“Over the past two decades, and the past few months in particular, I’ve worked closely with many of Microsoft’s top leaders and I’ve always been impressed by their talent, passion and commitment,” said Mattrick. “I’m thrilled to join an already strong team that’s delivering truly amazing gaming experiences to customers around the world. I’ve never been more excited about the future of the industry, and firmly believe Microsoft will lead the next great innovations in gaming.”

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.