Gaming

The launch reflects the company’s strategy of making the PlayStation 3 more than just a console for gamers. Sony on Thursday launched “Life with PlayStation,” an online service that leverages the videogame console in delivering a variety of visual and interactive news and information from around the globe.

The initial content of Life, which Sony describes as a “lifestyle service,” is Live Channel, a collection of news and information centered on two themes, “place” and “time,” on a world map interface. Live content includes cloud imagery, weather information, news headlines, and camera images from nearly 60 cities across the globe. Content providers include Google , The Weather Channel, The Earth Television Network, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center.

To connect to the online services, PlayStation users click on the Folding@Home icon on the network column of the console’s XrossMediaBar. The service is available at no additional charge, and Sony plans to add content in the future.

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Far from turning teenagers into anti-social loners, video games help them engage with friends and community, says a report.

The Pew Internet study of US teenagers found that few play alone and most join up with friends when gaming.

It found that many used educational games to learn about world issues and to begin to engage with politics.

The report also found that gaming had become an almost universal pastime among young Americans.

Community chance

The survey of 1,102 teenagers aged 12-17 revealed that 99% of boys and 94% of girls across the socio-economic spectrum play some kind of computer or video game.

The most popular title was Guitar Hero, followed by Halo 3, Madden NFL, Solitaire, and Dance Dance Revolution.

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Consumer electronics giant Sony announced a new version of its Playstation Portable handheld games console that can be used as a telephone, to go on sale in Europe and the United States in mid-October.

The Playstation Portable 3000, which has been the subject of speculation on technology websites, will have a built-in microphone and a new screen which has more colors and is better suited for use outdoors, Sony said at a video games convention in Leipzig, Germany on Wednesday.

The PSP already supports the software program Skype, which enables users to make free telephone calls over the internet, but the new PSP, with built-in microphone, will make the process easier, Sony says.

“We believe that this will establish the PSP as a viable communication device,” said David Reeves, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

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You know that absence of any news whatsoever sound (kind of like a tree falling in the woods) that’s dogged Microsoft’s $50 Games for Windows Live online multiplayer service for PCs? The service much-ballyhooed by Microsoft back in May 2007 with the PC debut of Halo 2, but which pretty much fell off the radar after perquisites like “You mean I have to pay for multiplayer services that used to cost nada?”

Well now it’s free. As in no more $50 Gold-tier subscription fee if you’re not already an Xbox 360 Gold member. As in no more quibbling about pay-for multiplayer matchmaking, achievements, and cross-platform gameplay. continue

The week after Capcom confirmed its Japanese release, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop is given a North American and European release window.

Buried in the information overload that was last week’s E3 Media & Business Summit was the announcement that Dead Rising is coming to the Wii. Leaked scans from Japanese game magazine Famitsu revealed that the popular Xbox 360 game was being ported to Nintendo’s console. Capcom reps confirmed to GameSpot that Dead Rising: Zombie no Ikenie was indeed in the works, but wouldn’t comment on any release plans outside Japan.

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The current $400 price for a Sony PS3 is a good one and it also means that Sony are losing money on every Playstation 3 sold. What’s confusing at first is the report on FT today that chief executive of Sony’s PlayStation 3 (Kaz Hirai) wants to exceed the PS2 units sold.

When you look at the figures, this is a major claim considering the PS3 has only sold 12.85m compared to the PS2’s 140m.

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A Grand Theft Auto game on a Nintendo console? It’s finally happening, following the announcement during this morning’s Nintendo press conference that Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will arrive on the portable console this winter in both North America and Europe.

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Microsoft dropped the price of its 20 GB Xbox 360 Pro (Premium) game console by $50 to $299.99. However, the price drop isn’t permanent as it is designed to quickly clear the inventory of these models to make room for a new 60 GB version. As soon as the 20 GB consoles are gone, you will be paying just as much as you would have before.

Weekend flyers of all major consumer electronics resellers confirmed what had been widely reported last week: Microsoft’s hard drive-equipped Xbox 360 will get cheaper: A $50 price reduction means that the device now costs $299instead of $349, which means that the console is now $100 cheaper than Sony’s 40 GB PS3 and just $50 more expensive than Nintendo’s Wii ($249). But on a closer look, it isn’t a simple price reduction of the Xbox 360, it is a marketing move.

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San Francisco - Yahoo will offer users a slew of advertising-supported games and allow companies to piggyback on its search technology, the company announced Thursday. The moves came as Yahoo seeks to assure investors of its potential as an independent company in the face a shareholder revolt that may force the internet firm to sell all or parts of itself to software giant Microsoft.

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As Facebook has blossomed into a hot Internet hangout, its users have passed countless hours playing Scrabble with friends — or at least, an unauthorized version of the word game that Scrabble’s owners have tried to shut down. Now a video game maker will try to legitimize the activity.

Electronic Arts Inc. said Monday that this month it will release a Scrabble application, a Web program that Facebook members can plug into their profile pages.

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TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Nintendo Co. and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. are separately taking steps to expand in the game market in Asia outside Japan, where games played on personal computers are the mainstream, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Monday without citing sources.

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Sony announced Monday details of firmware update 2.40 for the PlayStation 3. The biggest update is the addition of XMB (XrossMediaBar) access in-game to the PS3. XMB access in-game enables gamers to instant message friends via their gaming consoles. Depending on the format of the game, XMB will either run simultaneously with gameplay, or will automatically pause gameplay.

Also, the PS3 firmware 2.40 update includes Google-powered search functions with the XMB. Users can input search terms and receive search results without having to open the PS3 Internet browser.

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