The PlayStation Network will be going offline later today for scheduled maintenance, between 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM PST (that’s 5:00PM – 7:00PM BST). Note that this is around the same time as Sony’s Press Conference at GamesCom. Could Sony be prepping the PlayStation Network for something major? Could it be that Sony is prepping the European Video Store we reported last week? During the downtime, you will not be able to access the PSN or the PlayStation Store.
The first phase of MAG Beta codes are now being sent out. We got an email earlier this morning with our beta code attached (see screenshot below). The MAG beta only runs during certain hours, and funny enough, you can’t play on the weekends. Currently, the playable hours are Mon-Fri, 10:00AM – 1:00PM PDT and 5:00PM – 8:00PM PDT (thats 6:00PM – 9:00PM BST and 1:00AM to 4:00AM BST).
According to a unofficial looking document we received today, Sony has an unannounced PS3 product that is to be revealed during the Sony GamesCom Press Conference tomorrow. The conference which is to be presented by Kaz Hirai and Andrew House, lists 2 PlayStation 3 TOOL consoles and one unannounced PS3 product. The authenticity of the document is questionable since the it mentions the incorrect date of 18/09/2009.
VidZone has managed to score their 3rd exclusive music video. Placebo fans are in for a double treat on Wednesday August 19th, 2009 when two brand new music videos from their #1 album “Battle For The Sun” will be exclusively available in VidZone (even before TV or elsewhere online).
As promised by Square Enix, a new character for Final Fantasy XIII has been named. The information, howeverm comes through Japanese gaming mag V-Jump, and not directly from Square Enix. The new character, Yaag Rosch, is somewhat reminiscent of Loz from Advent Children, with the short Sephiroth-like silver hair. If you don’t already know, he won’t be in your party – instead will be busy trying to beat you all.
Around a month ago, the ESRB broke word of Command & Conquer Red Alert 3: Commander’s Challenge for PS3 and Xbox 360. While it did raise some hopes that the Uprising expansion would be made available to console gamers, an official announcement from Electronic Arts has confirmed that only the Commander’s Challenge mode will be making the jump. Those who bought Red Alert 3’s PC version will recognize Commander’s Challenge as a mode included in the PC exclusive Uprising expansion where players fight through 50 unique and successively tougher scenarios.
PlayStation 3 stocks in the UK have become pretty scarce over the past few weeks. According to Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, there is mounting evidence of a price cut. Speaking in a recent VG247 podcast, Pachter said that Japanese retailers are in a situation similar to the one retailers in the UK are experiencing. The PS3 price cut is widely believed to be made public at GamesCom in Cologne on Tomorrow.
Get ready for some high-end mutliplayer toy car racing action! TikGames and Creat Studios have announced that Smash Cars, a PS3 follow-up to the original PS2 game will finally be heading to PlayStation Network on August 20th. Smash Cars is a tricked-out single and multiplayer online RC toy car racing game featuring real-time physics simulation and vehicle customization.
It was previously mentioned that Sony would be holding a 3 hour press conference at GamesCom next week, but a SCEE representation has cleared some thing up for us. Although three hours are booked for the conference, most of the time will be used for people to sit down. The press conference will actually be “just over a hour.” SCEE also sent out a press release saying that the conference on August 18, 2009, Tuesday, will last from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM CEST (5:30 PM to 7:30PM BST) instead of the 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM time slot they mentioned a while back.
Interested in the PSP Go!? Check out this short video walkthrough of the upcoming PSP model courtesy of SCEA Director of Hardware Marketing John Koller. The main change if obviously the size and lack of UMD drive. The USB cable connection has also been replaced with a all-purpose connector which will be used for everything from backing up content to TV output. The PSP Go! also comes with 16GB of built-in flash memory as well as a Memory Stick Micro slot for further expansion.
