Jack Tretton, CEO and president of Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), has conceded that the PlayStation 3 may experience hardware shortages at retail following increased sales momentum on the back of the new Slim model and price cut. Speaking with Reuters, Tretton described hardware shortages for the high-end gaming platform as ‘conceivable,’ though remained highly optimistic of the machine’s future success.
If you are looking for more video download options on your PlayStation 3, you will likely have an additional service via mass online rental company Netflix. In a recent interview with Reuters, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said he’d like the video service available on all systems, not just the Xbox 360. Microsoft has an exclusive deal with Netflix right now, but Hastings believes the video rental service will be available on all systems.
Toshiba has recently revealed that they are creating a hard drive that has a higher maximum areal density, allowing 160GB on a single side of a platter, rather than the usual 125GB, allowing 640GB of space to fit onto 2 data platters, up from the original 500GB. HDDs will be made available some time between October and December this year. The part number to watch out for will be M6465GSX.
You can stream videos, music, pictures, online videos, and more using Orb. You do not have to install anything on your PS3 to stream files.
At GamesCom, the PS3 wasn’t the only thing that got smaller. The entire PlayStation 3 branding was revamped to improve visibility. According to Kazuo Hirai, “when you have PlayStation 3 spelt out, the aspect ratio was such that if you wanted it on a billboard it became tiny. It didn’t work in terms of visibility.” The logo no longer uses the Spiderman font to sell out the entire system name; instead, it is now just “PS3” and uses a new font.
Despite what rumors are suggesting, backwards compatibility will not be returning to the PS3 suggests John Koller, Director of Hardware at SCEA. “It’s not coming back, so let me put that on the table,” said Koller when asked about backwards compatibility. He also added that despite what people may think, backwards compatibility isn’t really that big of a draw for the PS3. “It’s not as big as a purchase intent driver as you may be hearing,” he claimed. Currently, only the early PS3 models are able to play PS2 games. The 60GB launch models have hardware emulation to play PS2 games – this hardware was removed in newer models.
Over at Sony’s GamesCom press conference today, Sony announced that Firmware 3.0 will be arriving on September 1st 2009. It’ll be packing animated themes, a “What’s New” section and more, according to Director of PlayStation Network Operations Eric Lempel on the PlayStation Blog. The latest update incorporates changes that improve navigation on your PS3. According to Lempel, “you’ll notice some cosmetic changes to the design of the XMB. We’ve enhanced the look and feel of the XMB so that it’s easier and even more intuitive to use. We’ve also added network improvements and personalization options to help enhance your PS3 experience.”
Read MorePlayStation 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.
If you missed Sony’s press conference, we have a minute-by-minute summary for you below. Some great announcement were made including several new exclusive games including Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, ModNation Racers, Final Fantasy XIV and more. Sony also showed-off their own version of the Wiimote, only it’s way better and is expected in 2010. Sony has some great things planned for the PlayStation 3 and PSP this year and through out next. See what they have in store below.
Earlier last month we reported on the leaked photos of the PlayStation 3 slim model spotted on the Internet. Sony was quick to deny the rumors and the even went as far as stating that they “currently has no plans” for a redesign. With the news of the PSP Go! leaked over the weekend, many websites including the BBC have picked up on the story, but with one exception. The BBC has mentioned that the new slimmer PS3 “will not be launched at E3.” The BBC goes further and says “new PS3 model will be out later this year.”
