Toshiba Schedules Press Conference, HD DVD Announcement Expected

Toshiba has scheduled a press conference for later today, at which it is widely expected to announce that it is officially ceasing support of the HD DVD format.

Japanese news site Nikkei.net broke the news that Toshiba has scheduled a press conference for 5pm Tokyo time Tuesday (that's 12 midnight PST), at which the company is expected to announce that it will immediately stop manufacturing all HD DVD hardware and that it will cease selling them at retail by the end of March.

The news comes on the heels of a rapid succession of high-profile setbacks for the format over the past last week. First, three major retailers -- Netflix, Best Buy and Wal-Mart -- each announced plans to endorse the rival Blu-ray format, followed by intense speculation that Toshiba was mulling over its exit strategy for the nearly two-year old next-gen format (a claim that the company later confirmed, though it stopped short of declaring whether any decision had been made).

Needless to say, we'll keep you posted on any news out of Toshiba's press conference tonight, as well as any other developments as they unfold.

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PS3 Hits 10.5 Million Sold

An Associated Press business article, dedicated mostly to the impending conclusion of that stupid, distracting "format war", has buried in its conclusion some PS3 sales figures. According to the piece, Sony have now sold 10.5 million PS3 consoles since launch. Which is good news for them, as it puts them squarely on track to meet their goal of selling 11 million by the end of March, a target they set themselves last December. Oh, before you go, those who like to dabble in the odd bit of conjecture and speculation should note that it's been Sony policy for a while now to count "sold" as sold, not shipped.

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Why Scientists Love Games Consoles

Leading scientists are turning to the extraordinary power of games consoles to do their sums and simulate everything from colliding black holes to the effects of drugs.

Supercomputer 'virtual human' to help fight disease Doctors use Nintendo Wii in therapy treatment PlayStation3 Gravity Grid Reprogram a PlayStation and it will perform feats that would be unthinkable on an ordinary PC because the kinds of calculations required to produce the realistic graphics now seen in sophisticated video games are similar to those used by chemists and physicists as they simulate the interactions between particles ranging from the molecular to the astronomical. PS3 console: 'You can build your own supercomputer using PS3s' Such simulations are usually carried out on a supercomputer, but time on these machines is expensive and in short supply. By comparison, games consoles are cheap and easily available, says New Scientist. "There is no doubt that the entertainment industry is helping to drive the direction of high performance computational science - exploiting the power available to the masses will lead to many research breakthroughs in the future," comments Prof Peter Coveney of University College London, who uses supercomputing in chemistry. Prof Gaurav Khanna at the University of Massachusetts has used an array of 16 PS3s to calculate what will happen when two black holes merge. According to Prof Khanna, the PS3 has unique features that make it suitable for scientific computations, namely, the Cell processor dubbed a "supercomputer-on-a-chip." And it runs on Linux, "so it does not limit what you can do." "A single high-precision simulation can sometimes cost more than 5,000 hours on the TeraGrid supercomputers. For the same cost, you can build your own supercomputer using PS3s. It works just as well, has no long wait times and can be used over and over again, indefinitely," Prof Khanna says. And Todd Martínez has persuaded the supercomputing centre at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, to buy eight computers each driven by two of the specialised chips that are at the heart of Sony's PlayStation 3 console. Together with his student Benjamin Levine he is using them to simulate the interactions between the electrons in atoms, as part of work to see how proteins in the body dovetail with drug molecules. He was inspired while browsing through his son's games console's technical specification "I noticed that the architecture looked a lot like high performance supercomputers I had seen before," he says. "That's when I thought about getting one for myself." An effort to interconnect tends of thousands of PS3s is under way with Folding@Home, an effort based at Stanford University to study the way proteins fold, which plays a key role in Alzheimer's, Huntington's Disease and Parkinson's disease. With about 50,000 such machines, the organisers of this huge distributed computing effort hope to achieve performance on the petaflop scale. The Wii, made by Nintendo, has a motion tracking remote control unit that is cheaper than a comparable device built from scratch. The device recently emerged as a tool to help surgeons to improve their technique. Meanwhile, neurologist Thomas Davis at the Vanderbilt Medical Centre in Nashville, Tennessee, is using it to measure movement deficiencies in Parkinson's patients to assess how well a patient can move when they take part in drug trials. Source

Woolworths Dumps HD-DVD

Becomes first High Street retailer to solely back Blu-Ray

Woolworths has announced that it is to drop HD-DVD from its product mix in March – leaving Blu-Ray as the sole ‘next-gen’ DVD format in its stores.

The decision was made by Woolworths execs after Blu-Ray discs outsold HD-DVD by ten-to-one at the chain over Christmas.

Woolworths will continue to sell HD-DVD online, but a new Blu-Ray-only chart will now appear in 820 stores online.

The retailer started selling both HD-DVD formats in October.

“Sales figures clearly show that the market is moving towards one format of high definition DVD,” says Woolworths DVD buyer Steven McGunigel. “

The main reason is the success of Sony’s PlayStation 3 machine.

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Sony Shrinks Blu-ray Lasers, Drives Cost Down

New module promises thinner Blu-ray drives that are cheaper

After the inevitable clamour to declare Blu-ray the 'one true' high-definition optical disk format, comes the drive to make the technology more compact and - crucially - cheaper.

Foremost in the hardware race is Sony, which has developed the world's smallest Blu-ray reader/writer module that also happens to be less costly than existing models.

Slimmer drive bays

Developed jointly with Nichia of Japan, the new laser unit is just 3mm thick and should help manufacturers miniaturise the hardware in their Blu-ray drives. Sony says it imagines the device ending up in 9.5mm laptop drives sometime this year.

Cost savings come from a simpler manufacturing process that will yield dividends in mass production, while other features include the ability to handle dual-layer BDs and disks with organic dye in the recording layers. Organic disks can be churned out from existing DVD production lines, so it's a win-win situation here.

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LittleBigPlanet Will Not Intimidate Users, Says Sony

There's a fairly lengthy interview over at GameTap where Sony's senior producer, Pete Smith, speaks up about the hugely ambitious LittleBigPlanet. While we'd love to cover the whole Q&A session, we're just going to give you a glimpse of what's discussed. For example, the concept of the game was brought to Sony when Media Molecule had a total of three members on the development team. Of course, the game has changed drastically since then, but tapping into user-generated content has always been their vision.

The game keeps it's 2D structure primarily to deter users from feeling intimidated. It's much easier to work with a 2D world, anyway. The intense physics engine helps keep things fresh and prevents the game from becoming just a 2D platformer. Keeping things approachable and keeping the single-player experience fun and satisfying are also keys to success. While some levels can be designed with teamwork in mind, if it's not fun alone, it probably won't work online. There's plenty more to read up on, so check out the whole interview. We're just excited to hear anything about this glorious sounding game.

PlayTV: Watch, Record And Replay Digital TV On Your PS3!

Sony have released a video of PlayTV in action. Watch, record and replay digital tv on your Playstation 3!

Rumour :- Crysis Might Be Coming To The PS3

Even before the PC version released, rumours of a PS3 conversion of the stunning Crysis (developed by Far Cry creators Crytek) were rife, and not far off the mark if insiders at the studio are to be believed. The game looks to be a port of the PC original plus some extra modes and features, a kind of Crysis 1.5. Like the PC game you can expect a visual powerhouse; an open-world shooter that begins on a beautiful tropical island before things take a turn for the worse and aliens from a parallel world stake a claim on Earth. Only the mighty Killzone 2 could possibly hold a candle to this shooter. For technical reasons we hear an Xbox 360 version of Crysis isn’t in development.

Bet you’re glad you bought a PS3 now, eh?

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EU & US PlayStation Store Update 17th Jan 2008

European Playstation Store Update:

Games/Demos:
Actua Tennis (France only)
FIFA Street 3
NBA ‘08

Downloadable Content:
Folklore- Visions of the tower
Guitar Heros III:
Antisocial
Die Fantastichen vier
Extremoduro
So Payaso
Warner pack

Trailers:
Brothers In Arms Hell’s Highway
Borderlands
GT5 Prologue

Other:
Call of Duty 4 theme (France only)

US Playstation Store Update:

Games/Demos:
Mesmerize: Trace (PSEye Game)
Tori Emaki (PSEye Game)
Turok
FIFA Street 3

Downloadable Content:
MotorStorm Double Track Pack
Rock Band Songs
Blast Factor Bundle

Trailers:
PixelJunk Monsters
Lost Planet
Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway
Dynasty Warrior’s 6
Syphon Filter Combat Ops
Borderlands

EU & US PlayStation Store Update 29th Nov 2007

EU PlayStation Store Update:

Game Demo's:
TimeShift Multiplayer demo (free)

PSone Classics:
Destruction Derby (£3.49)
Kula World (£3.49)

Add-ons:
MotorStorm Crazy Samurai & Quick Foot Liveries (£1.49)
Resistance: Fall of Man Map Pack 2 (£2.99)
Sonic - Very Hard Sonic Mission (£1.49)
Sonic - Very Hard Shadow Mission (£1.49)
Sonic - Very Hard Silver Mission (£1.49)
Sonic - Boss Attack Shadow (£1.49)
Sonic - Boss Attack Silver (£1.49)
Sonic -Team Attack Amigo (£1.49)

Game Video's:
Assassins's Creed "Altair Was Here" trailer (free)
Blazing Angels 2 "Racing Trailer" (free)
PAIN Video (free)
Smackdown vs RAW 2008 Video (free)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune "Making the Game" video (free)
This Is Living: Blu-ray (free)
This Is Living: Gaming (free)
This Is Living: Evolving Entertainment (free)
This Is Living: Faster Processing (free)
This Is Living: TheMaking Of (free)

US PlayStation Store Update:

Full Games:
PAIN ($9.99)

Game Demo's:
TimeShift Multiplayer Demo (free)

Add-ons:
Resistance: Fall of Man Map Pack #2 ($4.99)
Motorstorm Vehicle & Skin Pack ($1.99)
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Boss Battles Track Pack ($)
Rock Band David Bowie Pack 1 ($)

Game Trailers:
Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction BTS - Weapons (free)
TimeShift FPS Video 2 (free)

Theatrical Trailers:
Stop Loss trailer (free)

Blu-Ray Disc Trailers:
Memoirs of a Geisha trailer (free)
Resident Evil: Extinction trailer (free)

Blu-ray Format Dominating In Europe

300, Casino Royale top titles

The Blu-ray format is outselling rival HD DVD in Europe, accounting for 73 per cent of all HD movies sold.

According to the Blu-ray Disc Association European Promotions Committee, sales recently broke the 1 million barrier. That's not counting PlayStation 3 game, which adds another 20 million units to Blu-ray disc production for sale in Europe.

HD DVD was developed by Toshiba, while Sony backs the Blu-ray standard. Microsoft's Xbox 360 offers an add-on HD DVD movie player; Blu-ray disc playback is standard in every model of Sony's PS3.

Of the high definition movie discs bought by consumers so far this year in Europe, 73 per cent were in the Blu-ray Disc format and 27 per cent were HD DVD, according to sales data provided by Media Control Gfk International.

The Blu-ray Disc Association said the best-selling titles in the Blu-ray format were 300, Casino Royale, Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

In the US, Blu-ray disc movies had outsold HD DVD movies by almost two-to-one during the first nine months of 2007 according to Home Media Research.

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Uk Broadband Provider Offering A Free PS3 - Deal Or No Deal?

The carphonewarehouse is offering a free 40GB PS3 and the Ratchet & Clank game if you join AOL broadband. Its subject to the area you live in though and you must sign up to a 24 month contract for £19.99 a month and pay for delivery of the console of £14.99.

So for about £500 you get 2 years broadband connection and a PS3 guaranteed for Christmas if you order before the 17th December. Deal or no deal? You could also opt for a Dell laptop instead.

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Diamond Encrusted Playstation Controller

Rich gamers want bling too, you know, and they only want to play with the very best of gaming equipment. So both of those statements might be true (I admit I don't really know) but I doubt either of them refers to bling or equipment like this diamond encrusted Sony Playstation controller.

Made up of solid 18k white gold and over 68ct in black diamonds it's actually a pendant meant to be worn on a chain.

Yes, because that makes it all better.

No word on how much this little beauty is worth -- the owner claims it was a gift.

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PS3 Sales Boost Sony Share Prices

Expensive PS3 production, among other things, has made Sony the topic of some not-so-ideal financial reports of late, but things are finally looking up as the Tokyo-based company sees a sharp rise in share prices on Tuesday.

Sony's stock prices shot up 4.54 percent (250 yen) to close at 5,750 yen - said to be thanks to the recent boost in PS3 sales and a deal that saw the Dubai state fund invest up to $500 million in the company.

Koya Tabata, an analyst at Credit Suisse, spotted the obvious: "The news of brisk PS3 sales in North America apparently had an effect on Sony shares".

Conversely, Nintendo shares dropped by 800 Yen (1.28 percent) to 61,700, while Wii remains widely sold out in the major territories worldwide.

For those that don't understand, Sony's doing 'aight'.

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Nintendo, Microsoft Shamed By Greenpeace Survey

Console manufacturers "completely fail to show environmental credentials"

Greenpeace has publicly shamed Nintendo and Microsoft for lacking any environmental credentials when it comes to electronic waste.

The latest Greener Electronics Guide sees Nintendo become the first company to score 0/10 for its policies and practices on toxic chemicals and takeback.

"The Greener Electronics Guide is our way of getting the electronics industry to face up to the problem of e-waste," detailed Greenpeace.

"Nintendo completely fails to show any environmental credentials and Microsoft and Philips do little better," said the organisation, which for the first time is including home consoles and TVs in the report, alongside PCs and mobile phones.

"Companies shouldn't be under any illusions that we won't check up on their claims of green greatness," commented Iza Kruszewska, campaigner for Greenpeace International.

Greenpeace ranks companies on two criteria – the clean up of products by eliminating hazardous substances and the takeback and recycling of products once they become obsolete.

With no voluntary takeback of products, no information on banned products, no information on how the company communicates with its supply chain and no policy on use of vinyl plastics, Greenpeace notes that Nintendo scores so badly there is "infinite room for improvement".

Microsoft scored 2.7/10, with points for chemical management and for setting a timeline to phase out PVCs by 2011.

Sony scores much better than its rivals, with 7.3/10, although this covers the whole of the electronics company's products. With no mention of the PS3, it's noted that Sony produces many products that are free from PVC including the VAIO notebook, Walkman, camcorders and digital cameras.

Other companies featured in the Greener Electronics Guide include Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Dell, Panasonic and Apple.

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PS3's RSX Shrinks Next Month

According to a report from Nikkei late last week, Toshiba is planning on switching manufacturing of the PlayStation 3's RSX graphics processor to a 65nm process next month. Currently, the chip is manufacturing using a 90nm process, the same as it's been since the system's launch.

A smaller die size for the chip can mean cheaper production costs and less heat, contributing to lower prices for the consumer, and a quieter, more reliable PS3 system.

The latest versions of the system's Cell CPU are being manufactured using a 65nm process. It is widely believed that the switch to 65nm for the Cell is one of the main reasons Sony was able to drop the PS3's price down to $399 in time for the holidays.

Nikkei also reports that Toshiba is planning on beginning manufacturing at 45nm in the latter half of the next fiscal year, and speculates that the RSX and other PlayStation 3 chips are prime candidates for the new line.

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Warhawk Expansion Pack Coming Soon!

Three Speech just got a press release from Sony announcing the forthcoming expansion pack for Warhawk which is going by the name ‘Operation: Omega Dawn’. Genius. There’s a brand new map and a new aircraft, the KT-424 Combat Dropship, with the operation being set at night to add to the tension.

With Operation: Omega Dawn, the war between the Eucadians and the Chernovans forces continues as the two countries fight to control the high-tech facilities of a critical new battlefield – the Omega Factory. The battle takes place in an entirely new world - an industrial night-time setting where players will fight through five new layouts of advanced building complexes and huge industrial towers. The new map supports all existing game modes – including Team Deathmatch, Zone Mode and Capture the Flag – and is the largest combat zone to date for Warhawk!

All this in one single download from PlayStation Network this December.

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Gamer TV Special - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune For PS3

Fresh from UK TV screens here is the GamerTV special on Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, showing new footage and gameplay info.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

New Third Party PS3 Controller Revealed

If the introduction of the DualShock 3 was not enough, there is now more to the PlayStation 3 controller saga. Thrustmaster, a company known for their 3rd Party video game peripherals have released what seems to be the ultimate PS3 controller.
The features for the controller are as followed:

• 2.4 GHz Wireless Controller
• 7 Progressive Axes, which is exclusive on all platforms
• Optical Wheel with self-centring feature.
• Dual Triggers which are progressive and programmable
• Playable on the PS3, PS2, and PC platforms
• 'Home' Button for the PS3
• Fully Programmable as the mini-sticks, directional buttons, optical wheel and triggers can be fully swapped.
• Internal Memory that stores all programmed button layouts, even when the controller is disconnected
• Vibration feature on the PS2 with two vibration motors.

The controller seems like a nice addition to the DualShock 3, but it is doubted that this will be anything worthy of a purchase. There is no official price set for the controller or release date. However, it is unique and should be considered as a purchase later on down the road.

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EU & US PlayStation Store Update 1st Oct 2007

EU PlayStation Store Update:

Full Games:
Tori Emaki - £1.99
Feel Ski - £4.99
Mesmerize - £1.99

Game Demos:
Juiced 2: HIN
PES 2008

Game Video's:
Motorstorm Revenge Weekend Trailer
PS Eye Trailer Lair Trailer
Uncharted Behind The Scenes
Eye Of Judgement Trailers

Movie & Blu-ray Trailers:
Alien vs Predator requiem
Hitman Movie Trailer

Wallpapers:
Uncharted Wallpaper

US PlayStation Store Update:

PS3/PSP Games:
Twisted Metal 2

Game Demos:
TimeShift
NFS: ProStreet

Add On:
The Godfather

Game Video's:
Uncharted "Massive" trailer
GT5 Prologue TGS video
NFS ProStreet TV spot
Burnout "Annihilator" trailer
Burnout "Hawker" trailer
Burnout "Roadster" trailer
Beowulf the game trailer
Playstation Eye video

Movie & Blu-ray Trailers:
The Bucket List trailer
Close Encounters BD trailer