Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. has given its official endorsement to two upcoming 500 gigabyte external USB hard drives for PS3 -- in Japan. The Buffalo HD-AV500U2 (pictured) and HD-CL500U2 are the first add-on storage solutions to receive Sony's blessings, and are being released overseas in March to coincide with the launch of the PS3's "torne" DVR hardware / software combo.
Apart from the fact that they're officially licensed, neither drive boasts any special features that make them usable only with PS3; in fact, the tower design HD-CL500U2 (¥11,800 / $130) is essentially one of Buffalo's external HDDs already available in the US, with a model number change. The HD-AV500U2 is designed to fit into existing entertainment center setups and features a blue LED display on its front that shows remaining disk space. It's selling for ¥14,800 ($164).
[Via Andriasang]
The $99 special edition for Bioshock 2 is a stylish little bundle, replete with art deco flyers and a record containing the game's atmospheric soundtrack. The video after the jump features an all-inclusive unboxing of the package, courtesy of 2K -- however, it also includes the world-exclusive reveal of the game's "Uber Edition," which costs $14,999, and only includes a copy of the undersea action title, and a real life Big Daddy.
We're still trying to make sense of this whole thing. Why would 2K expect anyone to pay 15 grand for a single game? Is it even legal to sell an actual sentient being in this manner? What are the ramifica ... what's that? It's a joke? Oh, yeah, that makes a lot more sense. Thank goodness.
Direct link here
Awhile back, I posted up this game as an idea that should definitely head to the DS. Believe it or not, that’s actually coming true! Looks like Ivy the Kiwi is going to hit both the Wii and DS. It may actually be WiiWare and DSiWare, which I’m sure we’ll [...]
[TMZ]
Who is the real Caressa Cameron? Winner of this past weekend's 2010 Miss America pageant, this 22-year-old Virginia native was, at one point, one of us (Exhibit A: high school yearbook photo circa 2002; pictured left). But, somehow, through some unfortunate series of events, she changed -- she became an outsider (Exhibit B: Miss America; pictured right).
Newly crowned, Cameron took to the pulpit spewing her outdoorsy blasphemy onto an unsuspecting audience, disturbed from their relaxed seated positions within a temperature-controlled climate. She shouted, "take away the video games, set some standards for our children!" and construed a preposterous account of the mid-90s when kids were "playing imaginary games with sticks in the street like I did when I was little."
Lies! Admit it, Cameron. You were playing PlayStation. And when you weren't doing that, you were playing Nintendo 64! And when you weren't doing that, you were probably begging daddy to get you a Sega Saturn (perhaps his heartless "No!" signaled the beginning of your innocent forays out of the den?).
Poor child, what ill-gotten desire led you from the indoors? Alas, Cameron may be lost to us, but she has unwittingly strengthened our numbers by providing us with an addictive new game concept sure to keep kids inside for years to come:
Joystiq Publishing is pleased to announce the multiplatform game on the year, Stick to the Streetz, for Nintendo Wii, Sony Playstation 3 PlayStation Motion Controller, and Microsoft Xbox 360 Project Natal. Grab your "stick" and wave it in 1:1 real-time, motion-capture accuracy as you imagine a brilliant game perfectly recreated in your living room television display. Take that Miss America!
Well that’s certainly a good sign! That announcement from Rising Star should be hitting for Europe pretty soon as well. Now those in the rest of the world don’t have to worry about the game not making a showing!
Gear up and get ready to roll out, soldiers. We've got a SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3 black-ops mission that needs the expertise of veteran men and women -- those who have played through not one SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo game, but folks who have also survived its sequel, SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2. This isn't some kind of joke or theme in some blog post; you better be ready to put some foot-mobiles down.
Intel comes courtesy of PlayStation.Blog, which reports enemy units are on the move and should enter the DMZ any minute now. By Thursday, February 11, PSN will be crawling with hostiles, so safeties off, PSPs plugged in to charge and have your screen wipes at the ready. We're going to need maximum visibility for all our troops in the field.
Activision's Guitar Hero business unit has a new boss, who's not the same as the old boss -- former COO Dan Haddad is taking over the post after CEO Dan Rosensweig left the company. Haddad was the head of Vivendi's Sierra Online division back in the day, but started working with the Guitar Hero group after Activision merged with Viviendi back in 2007.
Rosensweig is off to join Chegg.com, a company that specializes in online textbook rentals and has recently put together more than $160 million in investor funding. There's a rumor going around that Rosensweig got fired (presumably for the recent decline in the genre's sales), but Activision's Dan Amrich says that's simply not true, and that the move was completely voluntary. Either way, there's a new sheriff in plastic guitar town, and we'll see how he deals with any bandits that come a-ridin' through.
Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia says that Sony is in for a good 2010 -- he expects the PlayStation 3 to experience its largest year-over-year growth from last month's sales among all consoles, and for Sony to beat its own record from the month before for the console's best sales ever. The PS3 appears to be on a roll, and January sales are expected to continue the trend.
Bhatia also says that the Wii's sales are being hurt by "meaningful shortages," and points out that just 28% of the stores NPD checked in January had Nintendo's console in stock. Bhatia also suggests that Xbox 360 sales would be up slightly, due to a big GameStop promotion, and that software sales would be down in general. Not unexpected, given that January almost never matches up to the frenzy of the holiday season, but 2010 has already started off with a bang in terms of quality releases. NPD's official info, released soon, will let us know if there were sales to match.
Kevin Butler, you need not worry: Your job as Sony's VP of First Person Shooter Relations is in no threat of ending. Neither is your job as Chief Weaponologist, VP of Epic Footage, VP of Big Action Moments and -- our favorite -- Family Activities Director. In an interview with IGN, SCEA senior vice president Peter Dille talked about the company's new "It Only Does Everything" slogan and marketing campaign. "It's been tremendously successful. Consumers love it. It's great to hear people like you guys love it. And the results are really in the sales because it's really been flying since this coincided in September with the launch of the new PS3."
The tremendous success of the ad campaign has guaranteed its continuation through 2010. "You can expect to see Kevin Butler inject a lot of life into the PlayStation brand between now and the rest of the year," Dille commented, and promised we'd see the tagline quite a bit "when motion control comes onto the scene." We personally cannot wait to see the ad Butler will star in for the PlayStation Motion Controller.
It's probably not worth *crag*ing around with now seeing as games that go on as long as this usually end with elitist tourney faggotry as the main userbase.
As the Administrator mentioned last week, we've sorted through the 11,000 submissions to the Propaganda contest and picked some of our favorites from the frankly jaw-dropping number of first-rate entries. Scroll and enjoy!
In the run-up to the expansion's March 16 date with store shelves, BioWare has begun to make formal introductions of the new characters who'll be joining your Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening quest. First up: Anders, a Chantry mage and ... "born troublemaker." In fact, BioWare makes him sound more like Han Solo than a robed magic user, what with his lust for "freedom, a good meal and a pretty girl on his arm."
We'd like to point out that there is not a single screenshot in the gallery below in which Anders doesn't have his arms raised to some degree.
Gallery: Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening (02-02-10)
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