On Gear Live: Samsung S95C: The OLED TV You Can’t Afford (to Ignore!)

Battlefield 3 sells 5 million copies in a week

Battlefield 3

Electronic Arts said Monday that its Battlefield 3 game has sold five million units on a worldwide basis within its first week, the fastest-selling game in EA's history.

The company admitted to some server instability, however, but claimed it was minor: the average service uptime remained at 98.9 percent throughout the weekend, with only some "intermittent disruption of online services due to high volume," according to the developer.

Battlefield 3, the latest wartime first-person shooter title from DICE and Electronic Arts, arrived in stores on October 25th, launching the opening salvo in this fall's FPS conflict. Available for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, Battlefield 3 arrives days before Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which is slated for release on November 8th.

Click to continue reading Battlefield 3 sells 5 million copies in a week

Gallery: Battlefield 3 sells 5 million copies in a week


Advertisement

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 “Hardened Edition” details leak

Modern Warfare 3 hardened edition

Details are leaking out for the contents of the ultra-deluxe Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 "Hardened Edition," the fancy name for what amounts to the collector's version of the game, which you can pre-order now on Amazon. And the news doesn't come a moment too soon for rabid Call of Duty fans: According to new predictions from publisher Activision-Blizzard, the latest title in the series is expected to sell even more pre-sale copies than its previous versions.

It's not as if Activision-Blizzard has remained blind to the popularity of its first-person-shooter franchise, however. A brand-new subscription service is expected to be released alongside the November launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Dubbed, "Call of Duty: Elite," the service will give gamers the option for signing up for a free account or "premium" access to the service for the cost of $50 a year, or nearly the cash equivalent of one brand-new Call of Duty title.

So what's the point? According to Activision-Blizzard's official announcement for Elite, the online network will contain, "a wide range of state-of-the-art services, exclusive entertainment programming and all-inclusive game content for less than the cost of any comparable online entertainment service currently in the market."

Click to continue reading Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 “Hardened Edition” details leak

Gallery: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 “Hardened Edition” details leak


A look at Sony’s Playstation Network “Welcome Back” freebie package

sony PSN freebies

When Sony started restoring its PlayStation network this weekend, it promised a welcome-back consolation package for users who have been patiently waiting for its return since it went dark on April 20.

This afternoon, the company provided some details on what returning users will receive, including free games, movie rentals, and virtual items.

"We developed the program as an expression of our gratitude for your patience, support and continued loyalty during the service outage. From all of us at PlayStation, thank you and welcome back!" Patrick Seybold, senior director of corporate communications and social media, wrote in a blog post. "This package will be made available to all existing registered PlayStation Network and Qriocity users in North America (US and Canada), and will be made available shortly after we have fully restored the service."

What do you get? All PlayStation Network customers can choose two of five PS3 games: Dead Nation; inFAMOUS; LittleBigPlanet; Super Stardust HD; or Wipeout HD + Fury. PSP owners can select two of four games: LittleBigPlanet; ModNation Racers; Pursuit Force; or Killzone Liberation. All games will be available for 30 days after the store is restored and can be kept forever.

Click to continue reading A look at Sony’s Playstation Network “Welcome Back” freebie package

Gallery: A look at Sony’s Playstation Network “Welcome Back” freebie package


Sony Playstation Network back online in most areas

Sony Online Entertainment brought its PlayStation Network back online (after a major security breach took PSN down) in parts of Europe and the U.S. Saturday, but some 12 hours after the announcement many PSN customers were left wondering when it would be their turn.

At about 8:30 p.m. ET Saturday, Sony announced it would begin a "phased" return of PSN services to customers following a three-week outage caused by a hack of the network that forced the company to take it down. But a map of the U.S. that Sony is updating to reflect when its network goes live in individual states was left with numerous states without service in the Midwest, South and Northeast as of about 8 a.m. ET.

Several hours after the initial announcement, readers in Texas, Illinois and other states were complaining that PSN service had not been restored to their areas. Sony had warned that it would "take several hours to restore PSN throughout the entire country."

Meanwhile, PSN customers in Australia and the Caribbean wondered when their areas would go back online. Sony's Saturday announcement only referred to Europe and North America.

The company issued a further notice to PSN customers whose service had been turned on but who still weren't able to access the network:

Click to continue reading Sony Playstation Network back online in most areas

Gallery: Sony Playstation Network back online in most areas


Mass Effect 3 delayed until 2012

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Action, Adventure, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360,

mass effect 3 delay

Gamers hoping to find Mass Effect 3 under the Christmas tree this year are out of luck. The latest installment of BioWare's popular mature-themed sci-fi franchise has been delayed until the first quarter of 2012, the company said Wednesday.

"Mass Effect 3 will be released in the first three months of 2012. The development team is laser-focused on making sure Mass Effect 3 is the biggest, boldest and best game in the series, ensuring that it exceeds everyone's expectations," BioWare executive producer Casey Hudson posted on Facebook.

The follow-up to Mass Effect 2 was originally slated for release in time for the 2011 holiday season, according to various gaming websites, though some have already updated that information to reflect the delayed release of the RPG third-person shooter.

Click to continue reading Mass Effect 3 delayed until 2012

Gallery: Mass Effect 3 delayed until 2012


PlayStation Network down for a “day or two” after outside attack

Playstation network down

Sony said Thursday that its PlayStation Network, the online service that connects Sony's game consoles like the PlayStation 3, may be out for a "full day or two" due to an unexpected and unexplained outage.

Sony first confirmed the outage at 5:50 PM Wednesday night, when Patrick Seybold, the senior director of corporate communications and social media, reported that "We're aware certain functions of PlayStation Network are down," Seybold said. "We will report back here as soon as we can with more information."

At 9:34 AM on Thursday, Seybold added the latest information, which will be grim news for PlayStation players.

"While we are investigating the cause of the Network outage, we wanted to alert you that it may be a full day or two before we're able to get the service completely back up and running," Seybold added. "Thank you very much for your patience while we work to resolve this matter. Please stay tuned to this space for more details, and we'll update you again as soon as we can."

Click to continue reading PlayStation Network down for a “day or two” after outside attack

Gallery: PlayStation Network down for a “day or two” after outside attack


Two entries appear for MLB 2K11’s million-dollar “Perfect Game” challenge

Were only all console games so generous as to award a player $1 million for accomplishing a difficult feat of gaming.

Two entrants have surfaced on YouTube for Take-Two Interactive's million-dollar contest, a challenge that tasks players with throwing a perfect game in the recently released Major League Baseball 2K11 title for the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3—the only two consoles allowed to participate in the challenge, we should note.

So what does it take to win a million bucks? In last year's similarly themed contest, 24-year-old Wade McGilberry was able to take home the prize on his sixth attempt—the same day the game was released, mind you. It's taken a little while longer for gamers to accomplish the same feat in MLB 2K11: The game was released on March 8 of this year, but the contest itself didn't start until April 1, and the two YouTube videos in question were posted on April 7 and 8.

The timing is an important distinction, as Michael Manna—otherwise known as professional wrestler Stevie Richards—already uploaded a video to YouTube of the perfect game he threw on the game's release day. But don't assume that throwing a perfect game is just that easy. Not only did he not fall within the correct timeframe to win the prize, but he also allegedly didn't have the game on the correct settings (like All-Star difficulty) to even qualify for the million-dollar award.

Click to continue reading Two entries appear for MLB 2K11’s million-dollar “Perfect Game” challenge

Gallery: Two entries appear for MLB 2K11’s million-dollar “Perfect Game” challenge


Gran Turismo 5 looks almost like real life

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Driving, PlayStation 3,

gran turismo 5 cars

Video games have pushed the boundaries between fantasy and reality since their creation. Each year a game comes along that suceeds in blurring these lines even further - Grand Turismo 5 is one such game. The creators of GT5 even put together a side by side comparison of the actual Nürburgring track and the video game version, and the results are stunning. Check out the comparison video after the jump.

Click to continue reading Gran Turismo 5 looks almost like real life

Read More | YouTube

Gallery: Gran Turismo 5 looks almost like real life


Sony sues PlayStation 3 fail0verflow hackers

Posted by Drea Avellan Categories: Culture, PlayStation 3, Sony,

sony ps3 hackers fail0verflow

However popular  hacking or moding consoles has become, one thing remains true -- it's Illegal. A fact Sony is not willing to overlook. Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA ) is suing 21 year-old hacker George Hotz (AKA "geohot") and more than 100  members of fail0verflow, who contributed to the release of the PlayStation 3's root key. However, this is not new to Sony. Last year Hotz published an exploit for the PlayStation 3, but it wasn't until this year that the hackers released a complete "jailbreak" of the system. "SCEA charged Hotz and the others with violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, plus breaches of California copyright law, breach of contract, and other violations. SCEA also asked the court for a temporary restraining order preventing the plaintiffs from posting any code, including the so-called Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm keys, encryption keys, dePKG firmware decrypter, or other tools."  Restraining order? Ouch. 

This restraining order has been set in motion to prevent Hotz to post the jail break information on this website. But we all know this never works, right?

Read More | Games Industry

Gallery: Sony sues PlayStation 3 fail0verflow hackers


Angry Birds on the PS3 and PSP this week

Posted by Patrick Lambert Categories: Casual, PlayStation 3, PSP, Puzzle, Wii, Xbox 360,

angry birds ps3 psp

The PlayStation Blog tells us that one of the most popular iOS game is coming to the PS3 and PSP this week. Angry Birds will feature 63 levels and be playable on the console. Classified as a 'mini' game, this means that it will likely not be on the scale of a full console release, and instead most likely look a lot like its iOS counterpart. Still, while many developers port console or PC games to the iPhone, this is a rare case of the reverse, where after being so immensely popular on Apple's platform, they are now expanding to other systems. Rovio, the company behind Angry Birds, announced that we will see the game on Xbox 360 and Wii soon also.

Read More | PlayStation blog

Gallery: Angry Birds on the PS3 and PSP this week


Advertisement

{solspace:toolbar}