A new announcement in Sony’s latest press release reveals that the upcoming racer Gran Turismo 5 that was scheduled for a March release in Japan has been postponed till the following month. The press release continues to state that a new Japanese release date will be decided and announced, whilst apologizing to gamers looking forward to Sony’s next installment in the series.
Sony Europe has confirmed that the Gran Turismo 5’s Time Trial demo has been downloaded over 1 million times since it was released last month. The demo was release on December 17th 2009 in order to find contestants for this years GT Academy and as a preview of the highly anticipated game. According to the press release, reaching the one million download milestone hails “early success of virtual-to-real-racer experiment.”
A partnership between Sony and Panasonic spawns a new technology that increases the capacity of a Blu-ray disc layer from 25GB to 33.4GB using existing Blu-ray laser diodes. The good news is that the new technology will be supported by existing Blu-ray players, including the PS3, via a simple firmware update.
A few weeks ago, a Sony filed a trademark for a new service dubbed Qriocity. We now know that Qriocity is Sony’s first attempt at bringing PlayStation Network ID services to other Sony products including network enabled Bravia HDTVs, VAIO PCs, and Sony’s upcoming line of Blu-Ray players. Sony announced at this years CES that it would be bringing the PSN ID service to other Sony devices.
Super Stardust 3D was show off at this years CES, along with several other PlayStation 3 titles in 3D. As we reported last week, the PlayStation 3 will be getting 3D support for games and movies later in 2010 via a firmware update. To accompany the 3D support, Sony has a lineup of existing games that will support 3D, including Super Stardust 3D. Details about the game were revealed by engine lead Seppo Halonen and creative director Harri Tikkanen in an interview with Digital Foundary.
The US Box Art for Heavy Rain has officially been revealed. Sony was also able to confirm Heavy Rain’s final ESRB rating, which is a strong M for Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language and Use of Drugs. And for those of you who have asked, the content is exactly the same as what’s being released in all territories, so you’ll get to enjoy it exactly as Quantic Dream intended.
As we reported earlier, Sony has confirmed that the God of War: Ultimate Trilogy Edition will be available to the UK. This edition will include high definition remakes of God of War 1 and God of War 2, the much anticipated God of War 3, an artbook, soundtrack, and a bunch of new gameplay modes such as Combat Arena all bundled in a cool, specially crafted Pandora’s Box.
While we may think Sony is on the push for digital distribution with the release of a UMD-less PSPgo, a recent interview by Play3 with Shuhei Yoshida, Sony’s Senior VP of Product Development reveals Sony’s plans to “use optical storage discs like Blu-Ray” for the PlayStation 4. Could this mean the creation of an entirely new storage format similar to how the PSP and PS3 have used new storage formats?
Jens Uwe Intat, senior VP at EA Europe recently had an interview with MCV where he outlined his belief that Sony’s Motion Controller and Microsoft’s Natal will outperform Nintendo’s Wii in reaching out to those still classed as non-gamers, whilst offering new, interesting experiences to current gamers.
Soon, Europeans will have their chance to take part in the ModNations Racers Beta. The US has been enjoying the beta since December 15th 2009. On January 22nd 2010, 100,000 people from Europe will get access to the beta. To get access to the beta, simply be one of the first to log on to the PSN store on Thursday 21st and download the Beta. Once downloaded, the fun will start when the lights turn green on Friday 22nd of January.
