PlayStation Network gets rebranded

Hopefully you’re not sentimentally attached to the “PlayStation Network” because from tomorrow (07 February) it’ll be gone. In its place will be the exact same thing (yes!) except it’ll now be called the Sony Entertainment Network. It also gets a shiny new logo.

So why the change? Well, Sony is going through a bit of a shuffle up what with new CEOs and whatnot, so why not rebrand its online service as well? According to a press release, the rebranding is meant to aid Sony in reaching its goal of “establishing a global comprehensive network platform of services across games, movies, music and more, all accessible from one convenient account”. You won’t need to create a new account or change your password, things will just click over.

In related news: a recent maintenance session accidentally broke some people’s ability to access content they’d purchased off the PlayStation Network (sorry) the Sony Entertainment Network. Fortunately Sony is aware of “error 80023102” and the company has its top men working on fixing it. Top. Men.

Source: Eurogamer & Kotaku

Posted by Miklós Szecsei Feb 06, 2012

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No online play for ModNation Racers: Road Trip for PS Vita

ModNation Racers for PlayStation 3 was a decent-enough Mario Kart clone. While it lacked the svelte design sensibilities of the M-Kart series, it more than made up for it with fantastic track creation and kart customization tools.

With its original developer United Front Games busy working on the True Crime: Hong Kong reboot set for release this year, development of the PlayStation Vita version of the game has fallen to SCE San Diego Studio.

ModNation Racers: Road Trip is billed as being a new campaign and sequel to the original game, but there is trouble in the henhouse.

Posted by Miktar Jan 23, 2012

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PlayStation Vita sales continue to decline

For the third week in a row, Sony’s new portable handheld has shown decreasing sales figures, failing to beat its own predecessor (the PSP) in the hardware sales charts. According to Japanese chart company Media Create, the PSV sold a paltry 42 648 units in its third week of sales; last week Sony sold 72 479 PSV units.

By contrast, Nintendo’s 3DS handheld (the PSV’s chief competition) sold 197 952 units beating the PSV numbers by nearly five-to-one. Adding to perspective, the 3DS sold 96 463 units during its third week of sales back in March 2011.

Certain Japanese hardware stores have begun reducing the price of the 3G version of the PSV. This price reduction is NOT a Sony sanctioned price cut. On top of this, only two PSV titles managed to crack the top 30 list so far: Hot Shots Golf and Uncharted: Golden Abyss. It’s probably safe to say that the PSV is experiencing a sluggish start in Japan! It’ll be interesting to see how it’s received in the USA as well as Europe and South Africa in February. Are you planning on picking one up?

Sources: Eurogamer and Joystiq

Posted by Miklós Szecsei Jan 06, 2012

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No, wait… Anonymous wants to attack Sony execs

A few days ago the online activist (or hacktivisit) group Anonymous issued another one of their slightly creepy yet slightly cheesy video messages to Sony. That message announced various operations that the group had initiated and at the time the intention was to “destroy” Sony’s online presence as a response to the Japanese company’s support of the pending SOPA bill.

Naturally that kind of talk bummed out a lot of PlayStation users as the implication was that the PSN was about to be hacked once again. Fortunately it seems as if there was some dissension in the ranks of Anonymous, because that plan has now changed.

According to website PlayStationLifestyle.net, Anonymous has since switched focus from a general attack on Sony’s online infrastructure, to a more focused attack on aspects of it which excludes the PSN. Oh and they’re also going to “dox” (locate personal information on) Sony executives.

Posted by Miklós Szecsei Jan 04, 2012

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Game rumour time: God of War IV; Lords of Shadow 2

It seemed like a waste to split two perfectly juicy game rumours into two posts; think of this as a double cheese burger then.

The producer of the original Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, David Cox, often tweets links to articles on the first game. He recently sent out a tweet that contained a link to a website featuring an article about wanting a sequel to Lords of Shadow. He prefixed the tweeted link with “Tweeted without comment ”. Read into that what you will, but after the total mind-screw that was the ending of Lords of Shadow, it seems a sequel is pretty much a given. If you haven’t played Castlevania: Lords of Shadow then punch yourself in the nose as punishment and play the game now!

As for God of War IV this rumour seems a little more solid. Composer Timothy Williams recently updated his online CV to include videogames he’s composed the music for. Included on the list is “God of War IV (upcoming)” alongside titles that are already out like Rise of the Argonauts and DOTA. It’s kind of obvious that Sony wouldn’t want one of the biggest franchises to end after only a single outing on the PlayStation 3.

Source: Game Informer 1 and 2

Posted by Miklós Szecsei Jan 04, 2012

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Anonymous announces second planned attack on Sony

SOPA – the Stop Online Piracy Act is pissing off a lot of people. In short, if this new bill is passed in the USA, then media corporations will be given enough power to censor certain websites. Websites like YouTube and Reddit are examples of sites that could suffer if SOPA passes. There are many, many online websites that are vehemently opposed to the act, and gaming websites are no different – just check out Destructoid’s official stance on the matter.

Internet activist group Anonymous has voiced their intention to “destroy your [Sony’s] network” yet again. This comes as a response to Sony pledging their support for SOPA. Anonymous won’t stop at Sony however, as they’ve indicated that they’ll be targeting anybody who supports SOPA, and that includes individuals like Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber. Yeah, you read that correctly: Anonymous plans to take out Justin Bieber and other celebrities who have expressed their support for SOPA.

You can read Anonymous’ full address to Sony after the jump. Oh and, uhh, you might want to ensure your PlayStation Network password is not used for any other of your online accounts; at least Anonymous has had the courtesy to warn us before they distribute our information all over the internet. This is getting so tiresome now.

Posted by Miklós Szecsei Dec 30, 2011

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3DS outsells PSV during launch week

News from Japan’s hardware sales chart indicates that despite the hype around the launch of Sony’s new handheld, the PSV didn’t manage to outsell Nintendo’s 3DS. Sony’s new handheld launched on Saturday 17 December and by the end of the week (ie the next day) it had sold 324 859 out of the initial 500 000 units shipped.

Media Create, the Japanese hardware sales monitor, is reporting that the 3DS sold 367 691 units during the week of 12-18 December – the PSV’s launch week. This puts the 3DS at the top of the hardware sales chart in Japan, a position it’s earned largely thanks to new titles like Monster Hunter Tri-G and Mario Kart 7. The PSV is sitting at second place on the sales charts for the week.

Many are pointing to this as an early indication as to how the PSV will perform against the 3DS. Not sure why considering that it only had two days to rack up that 324 859 figure, whereas the 3DS had an entire week to sell 367 691. Incidentally, the top selling PSV game so far in Japan is Hot Shots Golf, with Uncharted: Golden Abyss trailing just behind.

Source: Gamasutra

Posted by Miklós Szecsei Dec 23, 2011

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Dolphins destroy man’s new PS Vita

Sony’s new handheld, the PlayStation Vita, hit Japanese retail stores a few days ago. As is the norm when new hardware launches, there’s been a bit of a teething period as new users have reported freezes, crashes and glitches with dolphins. Wait, what?

One unlucky PSV owner has uploaded a video of the most bizarre crash/bug/OMGit’sbroken example we’ve seen so far. Ordinarily systems freeze or the touch screen stops responding, but in this case this poor bloke is stuck looking at four dolphins and a clam – forever.

It’s not clear what’s caused this, whether it’s legit and what exactly it is. Most people reckon it’s some debug mode that the unit has inadvertently accessed. Whatever it is, the guy’s PSV is now useless because judging from the video, he cannot get out of this mode at all. So just like the Xbox 360 had the Red Ring of Death, I hereby christen the PSV’s equivalent as the Four Dolphins of Doom. Fear them, for they will devour your new toy’s soul and squeak maniacally while doing so. Hit the jump for the video.

Posted by Miklós Szecsei Dec 22, 2011

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Viacom issues take down notices for Spike TV VGA trailers

Media conglomerate Viacom (Video & Audio Communications) has issued YouTube with copyright infringement notifications on many of the videos associated with the Spike TV Video Game Awards show. Some of the debut trailers have been removed citing “a copyright claim by Viacom International Inc.”

In case the amount of stupid wasn’t clear enough, the official website for The Last of Us proudly displays the copyright claim where the trailer for THEIR OWN GAME used to be. On top of this, Kotaku, which was present at the Spike TV VGAs, was hit with take-down notices for footage that they captured of the show.

This is obviously an issue for Sony’s publicity for the newly announced Naught Dog game, not to mention general publicity for the actual awards show.

Posted by Miklós Szecsei Dec 14, 2011

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Hey PS3 users, you get a new exclusive

There’s this little game awards show called the VGAs – we might have mentioned once or twice. Developers and publishers like to show off new intellectual properties and upcoming games during the show. It’s obvious: the VGAs are broadcast on cable in the USA, and normally within hours of the show finishing, the entire shebang is available to download via your torrent portal of choice.

In order to maximise the exposure for your new game, you need to make sure as many people as possible tune in to watch the show. That’s why publishers like Electronic Arts and Microsoft have dropped subtle and not-so-subtle hints as to what to expect. Now it’s Sony’s turn.

There’s a new PlayStation 3 exclusive coming up called The Last of Us. The game will be (surprise!) revealed during the Spike TV Video Game Awards. There’s a teaser trailer after the jump; it doesn’t show actual gameplay but rather sets the tone for the title. You can check out the game’s homepage here.

Posted by Miklós Szecsei Dec 05, 2011

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