Sony

PS4 Update 2.0 – Available Tomorrow

27 October 2014 12:44 AM

Sony has confirmed via Twitter that the PlayStation 4’s next significant firmware update – version 2.0, will be made available tomorrow on October 28.


The update, which Sony has codenamed ‘Masamune’, will contain a host of new features, including theme support, enhancements to live broadcasting (which includes dedicated app support for YouTube and the ability to upload your gameplay footage directly to it), improved voice commands, and a USB music player that will allow us to insert a USB stick loaded with music into our PS4 and play our own music in the background while playing a game.

Masamune will also bring with it the long-awaited Share Play feature. Share Play “will create an online local co-op experience by allowing you to invite a friend to join your game—even when they don’t own a copy of it.” You’ll be able to play alongside a friend, or even invite them to temporarily take over the controls of the game you’re currently playing, “as if you were together in the same room.”

Sony first outlined PS4’s 2.0 firmware at Gamescom in August but, until now, Sony had not confirmed when it would be made available.

“Timing will be confirmed when there’s no chance of it changing,” responded SCEA director of product planning & software innovation Scott McCarthy in a comment to a reader on the PlayStation Blog last week.

Are you looking forward to the v2.0 update? Let us know in the comments below.

Xbox One drops used games and online requirement policies

19 June 2013 10:16 PM

Xbox One has changed its policies for used games and online connectivity for disc-based games.

In a bid to win over Sony’s PlayStation 4 the Xbox One console will no longer require to be online once every 24 hours, instead only needing an internet connection when initially setting up the system.

The Xbox One

Discs will function as they did on Xbox 360, with no restrictions on borrowing or selling used games.

“There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360,” explained president of interactive entertainment Don Mattrick.

Full retail games bought from Xbox Live can also be played offline, and like today, can’t be resold or shared.

As with Xbox 360, any disc-based games on Xbox One must have the disc in the tray for them to run.

Region locking will also be lifted, meaning games from any region can be played on any console.

“Since unveiling our plans for Xbox One, my team and I have heard directly from many of you, read your comments and listened to your feedback,” said Mattrick.

“We have listened and we have heard loud and clear from your feedback that you want the best of both worlds. Thank you again for your candid feedback. Our team remains committed to listening, taking feedback and delivering a great product for you later this year.”

The used games and online requirement policies have been a big talking point since the console’s unveiling last month, with one research firm describing it as “deeply flawed”.

Microsoft previously hinted that games will be freely playable on Xbox One after the system’s demise.

Read Don Mattrick’s open letter in full http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/update

Sony PlayStation Network Coming Back Online

15 May 2011 1:30 AM

Sony has announced that it has just restored some PlayStation Network services after hackers forced Sony to take it down.

The announcement was made by Sony Corporation Executive Deputy President Kazuo Hirai. “The services are being restored in phases, and I am pleased to say that the first phase has been launched in most regions around the world” Hirai said in a video statement.

Sony rebuilt the entire PlayStation Network following a breach of its security that resulted in the compromise of 24.6 million user accounts. The changes are being delivered in a new system update that is restoring online gaming and Qriocity services.

“We have greatly updated our data security systems,” Hirai noted in the video statement. “These changes were the result of an intensive investigation aided by some of the most respected forensic and security experts in the computer industry.” Those changes include more advanced security technology, advanced levels of encryption, additional firewalls and better early-warning systems.

While PlayStation Network services may finally be returning, that doesn’t mean users will simply flock back. It has a lot of work to do to regain user trust.

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sourcemashable
It’s only been a month or so.

PSP2: Sony NGP hands-on (Sony NGP)

28 January 2011 12:15 AM

With Sony’s unveiling of the new NGP (Next Generation Portable) console, the battle for dominance in the handheld market is about to heat up. Tom Hoggins reports from Tokyo.

NPG meets NGP: With their Next Generation Portable Sony have redrawn the battlelines in the handheld console war.

Sony’s NGP will cost somewhere between “affordable” and $599, according to PlayStation execs. The latest SCE honcho to comment on the handheld’s potential price point is Shu Yoshida, president of worldwide studios.

“From the very beginning of the project – since 2008 – pricing was one of the considerations that we had,” he told Game Informer.”

“Hopefully when we announce the price, people will see the proper value,” he added. “It’s not going to be $599.”

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter told us earlier today that he believes PSP2 could sell for $250/£200, while Lazard Capital Markets’ Colin Sebastian is anticipating a $299 “or higher” price point.

* Price (approximately)
– $250/£250 or maybe around the £279 area.

* Release (approximately)
– 1-4 months before Christmas ’11 (a long way to go!)

* Battery life (approximately) – more below (bottom)
– 4-6 hrs

* CPU
– ARM CortexTM-A9 core (4 core)

* GPU
– SGX543MP4+

* External Dimensions
– Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)

* Screen
– 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED

* Touch screen
-Multi-touch screen (capacitive type)
-Rear touch pad
– Multi-touch pad (capacitive type)

* Cameras
– Front camera, Rear camera

* Sound
– Built-in stereo speakers
– Built-in microphone

* Sensors
– Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Three-axis electronic compass

* Location
– Built-in GPS
– Wi-Fi location service support

* Keys / Switches
– PS button
– Power button
– Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)

* Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)
– Shoulder buttons (Right/Left)
– Right stick, Left stick
– START button, SELECT button
– Volume buttons (+/-)

* Wireless communications
– Mobile network connectivity (3G)

** IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1×1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode)

* Bluetooth
– 2.1+EDR ?A2DP/AVRCP/HSP?

Sony officially announced the device first thing this morning, confirming that it has two touch-screens on the front and back of the device, two thumbsticks and a five inch OLED screen.

NGP (or PSP2) will have a battery life of between four and six hours, if Sony hits its target. SCE Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida told Kotaku that the new portable’s battery life target is the same as that of the existing PSP-3000 model. If achieved, it’ll also be comparable to the battery life of Nintendo’s upcoming 3DS, which has been pegged at three to five hours.

Sony officially announced NGP during a special PlayStation event in Tokyo this morning.

Photos;

Photos by ComputerAndVideoGames.

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