Mom don't want to buy PS3 for you? And wanna buy stupied Wii? :(

Show her this movie, she'll remind for sure ;)

Japanese superhero Ultraman vanquishes an evil enemy during a live performance at a Tokyo games arcade. But Ultraman's real battle is proving much harder - enticing customers back to the nation's arcades.
  
Japan's $6.9 billion arcade industry has been whacked hard by new advances in gaming, particularly Nintendo Co Ltd's wildly popular Wii, the latest big craze to compete for the time and pocket money of Japanese kids.
  
Unlike many countries where the rise of Sony Corp's PlayStation during the 1990s wreaked havoc on the industry, Japan's arcades were more resilient, helped by a greater variety of machines and plentiful foot traffic in crowded cities.
  
But now some of the biggest chains are shutting many of their outlets.
  
"Arcades are expensive, noisy and filled with cigarette smoke," said 15-year-old Gene Sato, adding he'd rather save his money to go to a theme park. "Besides, I can stay home and play NBA Live on PlayStation 3."
  
The Wii, launched in late 2006, has introduced innovative games that have players jumping around as they simulate boxing, skiing and other sports.
  
That has robbed arcades of one important advantage they used to have over home devices -- being the best place to play active games such as Konami Corp's dancing hit Dance Dance Revolution, analysts say.
  
"A large element of the problem is innovation and in Japan, it's pretty clear that Nintendo has been the leader in innovation," said Jay Defibaugh, an analyst at Credit Suisse.
  
But it's not just the Wii. Industry officials and analysts tick off a long list of culprits.
  
With widescreen TVs in households across Japan and games with cutting edge graphics and audio standard fare, the traditional video arcade experience can easily be replicated in the home.
  
Analysts also estimate that the vast majority of Japanese kids own a handheld game player such as a Nintendo DS, or PlayStation Portable.
  
Even if they don't, games can be played on computers or cellphones.

Mobile phones are also blamed for diverting youths away from arcades because a large share of kids' pocket money often goes towards paying cellphone bills.
  
Others point their fingers at high petrol prices, increased police checks to ensure young teens are not hanging out at arcades too late, and a lack of must-have prizes in one of the arcades' biggest earners - crane machines.
  
Whatever the reason, Japan's arcade industry is hurting.
  
Sega Sammy Holdings Inc plans to close 110 arcades, around one quarter of its outlets, while rival Namco Bandai Holdings has announced that it will close between 50 and 60 stores, or roughly 20% of its arcades.

Google announced this week that Sony has adopted the Youtube APIs on the Sony PS3.
More and more devices like video cameras or mobile phones have now direct upload features for Youtube, so why not also a gaming console.

The Sony PS3 YouTube integration allows game developers to create games that enable direct upload of in-game video captures to YouTube.
This will allow you to share and show-off your gaming skills on the largest video platform out there.
This YouTube upload functionality can be incorporated not only into new PS3 game titles, but also existing PS3 titles that have the ability to receive network updates.
Sony has already added YouTube functionality to Mainichi Issho, a popular game with PS3 users in Japan.

Sony plans to update the PS3 Blu-ray technology with interactive movie features played in the high-definition format.
Sony plans to update the Blu-ray technology in the PS3 console with interactive movie features played in the high-definition format. BD-Live requires an Internet connection and at least 1 GB of local storage. The technology will enable movie studios to offer downloadable HD content.

Blu-ray DVD features in the system software upgrade will include "resume play," which enables PS3 systems to restart the DVD disc at the point it was stopped, even if the disc has been removed. However, the feature will only work with Blu-ray discs formatted for the capability.

Other features include a remote play setting that enables PlayStation Portable to serve as a remote control for music played through PS3. In addition, PS3's Web browser has been enhanced to enable streaming of video files directly linked from a Web page, and the console also will be able to play DivX and WMV format videos larger than 2 GB.
Sony plans to update the Blu-ray technology in the PS3 console with interactive movie features played in the high-definition format. BD-Live requires an Internet connection and at least 1 GB of local storage. The technology will enable movie studios to offer downloadable HD content.

All hard drives are not created equal, at least when it comes to adding one to your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.

The reason a 120GB hard drive for the 360 costs $180 compared to just $45 for one you could put in your PS3 is that the 360's drive has been tweaked to specifically suit the Microsoft console, reports MTV.

The drive comes pre-loaded with Xbox Arcade trials as well as "specific Gaming Instructions and some levels of the OS," says Krishna Chander of iSuppli. The 360 drives have also been color tuned and packaged for the addition to your console, as opposed to a generic hard drive that you could add to your PS3.

iSuppli guesses that the prepped 360 drives are then sent along to a Value Added Retailer, which applies casing and packaging before tacking it its own fee and sending the drives along to Microsoft. Estimating the markup, iSuppli figures that Microsoft might be paying as much as $100 for a 360 hard drive.

Microsoft then suggests a price for retail, which in this case is $180. Is that a fair price for the ability to simply plug it in and have it work?

Image courtesy Microsoft

Sony Computer Entertainment president and CEO Kaz Hirai skips the damage control, and concedes thatSony underwhelmed gamers with the PlayStation 3 in its first year.

Image"I think it's fair to say that the first year of PlayStation 3 was somewhat a difficult one," said Hirai at Sony's PlayStation Day in London. "There were some teething problems, success from our competitors, and our customers were a little underwhelmed by the range of titles that were available.

"This is something that we're very much aware of, and something we were always confident we could overcome."

Microsoft was able to capitalize on PS3's year-one shortcomings, at least in North America and the UK, where Xbox 360 titles like Halo 3, BioShock, Mass Effect and others tore up sales charts and made PS3's otherwise decent lineup look relatively paltry.

Hirai said that Christmas 2007 was strong for PS3, and "2008 has gotten off to a fantastic start."

He added, "What fills me with even greater pleasure is the knowledge that the year so far has only seen the launch of two of our key titles, Gran Turismo 5: Prologue and Grand Theft Auto IV, with the rest still to come."

PS3 will be seeing other important exclusive titles this year, including Metal Gear Solid 4, Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet, not to mention the release of the online gaming community PlayStation Home--all very important factors for the gaming giant.

Moving forward, Hirai reiterated Sony's plan to make PS3 a console with a decade-long lifespan.

"I've always talked about PS3 being a long-term play for us, and that's still the case," said Hirai. "We are very confident PS3 will have at least a 10-year lifespan, and that the power under its casing and the potential for improvement in all areas is simply astonishing."

He said that PS3's growth will rely on strengthening relationships with third parties. "Through an increase in dialogue, there's been a greater sharing of knowledge and of developer assets, which has resulted in the rise and number of developers adopting PS3 as their lead platform. We're seeing real steps in quality, sophistication and fun..."

He also claimed that PS3 is making core gamers happy, as well as attracting a "whole new consumer base."

Hirai noted criticisms by some companies who said Sony's message for the PS3 is confusing: is it for games, movies, media? "PS3 is a platform for digital interactive home entertainment, and we know that the nature of PS3 is multi-faceted," said Hirai. "But last year we positioned it first and foremost as a system for games, games and more games, so that it would be clear to users what they can expect from their PlayStation 3.

"Ultimately, it's the games that are defining PlayStation, and games that continue to excite all PlayStation and gaming fans alike. And I think this message resonated well with gamers and has really been taken onboard."

Sony's PlayStation 3 games console has outsold Microsoft's Xbox 360 in Europe, according to figures released by Sony.

More than five million PS3s have been sold across the continent, Sony's David Reeves confirmed.

Speaking at a European PlayStation event in London, he said: "The numbers are a testament to the strength of the PlayStation brand."

He said PlayStation 3 had been outselling the Xbox 360 since October last year.

"We have sold more PlayStation 3s throughout Europe than Xbox 360 even though they launched 16 months before us."

Mr Reeves, head of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, also said 12 million PSP handheld consoles and 48 million PlayStation 2s had been sold in Europe.

Despite Sony's overhauling of Microsoft in Europe, both firms' sales are a long way behind the Nintendo Wii.

Price tag

Sony has managed to overtake Xbox 360 sales despite a much higher price tag.

The cheapest PS3 is available for £299, versus £159 for the Xbox 360.

"We have been consistently outselling our closest competitor [Xbox 360] since October 2007, even with the latest price point," said Mr Reeves.

Microsoft cut the price of Xbox 360 in March.


The figures will cheer Sony after a painful launch period for the machine, which saw delays, stock problems and criticism from gamers that early titles for the machine were below par.

Kaz Hirai, Sony's global head of PlayStation, said the first year of PS3 had been difficult.

Speaking at the London event, he said: "There were teething problems... and customers were a little underwhelmed by early games."

'No surprise'

He said Sony was going to promote the PS3 as a "multi-faceted interactive entertainment system" in the year ahead.

Games consultant Nick Parker said it was "no surprise" that PlayStation had overtaken Xbox in Europe.

"The PlayStation has held out remarkably well over the last 18 months despite the press slating it because of the price. People got behind the brand.

"The PS3 is far more mass market than 360, which has gone for traditional adult males - and that does not go down well in continental Europe."

He said consumers in Europe had "never gotten over the design ethos of the original Xbox."

Microsoft had set out to broaden the appeal of its titles "but never did come up with the goods", he went on.

The Xbox 360 was performing well in the UK but has a "problem on the continent".

He said PlayStation 3 had "every chance" of overtaking the Xbox 360 in its heartland of North America in the next two to three years.

We’ve seen many developers struggle with multi-platform development this generation. Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are different technical beasts. Complications with the wildly popular Unreal Engine 3 middleware have made things even more difficult.

Terminal Reality, the studio behind the upcoming “Ghostbusters,” spent a lot of time evaluating each console before moving forward with their first next-generation game, Terminal Reality president Mark Randell told MTV Multiplayer at a Sierra media event last month.

In the end, contrary to most teams this generation, they decided to make PlayStation 3 their lead development platform for “Ghostbusters.” Here’s why.

Randell explains the technical reason behind their decision. “The multiprocessing model of the PS3 is not a general-purpose model,” said Randell. “It simultaneously uses one main processor and six specialized co-processors: the Synergetic Processing Units, or “SPU’s.”

That’s not the case with Xbox 360 and traditional modern PCs. “[Those platforms] share a general-purpose multiprocessor coding model,” he continued. “The 360 uses three general-purpose PowerPC processors, and most current PCs use between one and four Intel or AMD processors.”

GhostbustersThe end result: Terminal Reality believes that moving a “Ghostbusters” game developed on hardware with specialized processors (PS3) to general processors (Xbox 360, PC) is much easier than doing it the other way around. Many studios, however, have chosen the other way around, with the PS3 version lagging in performance up until the last few months of development. Or, as the case with a number of mulit-platform games released in 2007, never catching up.

Randell’s team might spend a more time on technology early on, but the ease in porting means they avoid having one platform perform better than the other, he argues.

“We’ve found that writing for the PS3 first and then porting to the 360 and PC is a much simpler and more efficient procedure,” he concluded.

Even though PS3 development is notoriously difficult, most projects still lead on Xbox 360. We talked to one developer doing exactly that earlier this week. Unlike Randell, he believed you just need the right team. You’ll hear his thoughts on Monday.

Sony Bravia LCD TV buyers have been waiting for up to four months for the company to make good on its promise to give them a free PlayStation 3 games console.

Word of the delays comes days after smh.com.au revealed that customers taking part in Samsung's two-for-one LCD TV promotion - whereby buyers of a big-screen Samsung TV set were offered an extra smaller LCD for free - had been waiting up to five months for their bonus TV sets.

Between December 21 last year and January 28, Sony promised that anyone who bought a Bravia high-definition LCD TV set would receive a bonus PS3, as long as they had their receipt and could cite the TV's serial number.

It promised the PS3 consoles would be delivered within 28 days, but four months after the offer began many customers are still waiting.

Readers responding to last week's story about the Samsung delays complained of poor communication by Sony and rejected the company's claims it had run out of stock of PS3s, saying there was plenty of stock in most stores.

"Marketing managers should take note as this type of failed scheme are turning people away in droves from their brand," one reader fumed.

Sony Australia announced in January that 28,000 people had taken up the Bravia promotion. Last week it said 238,000 PS3s had been sold in Australia in its first year.

Tony Barbour, head of strategy and brand development at Sony Australia, issued a terse statement in response to the customer complaints.

"This was an extremely successful promotion and the PlayStation 3 has been an extremely desirable product," he said.

"Sony has worked as quickly as possible to fulfil customer orders, which includes sourcing both Bravia LCD TVs and PlayStation 3 consoles from overseas, in order to satisfy the demand. We appreciate the patience of our customers during the delivery period."

A reader, who did not want to be named, said he was told by Sony his bonus PS3 would be delivered "from May 12".

The NSW Office of Fair Trading advises people affected by such delays to first try to work the issue through with the company, after which they could lodge a false and misleading representation complaint with the department.

The department can contact Sony on consumers' behalf and, if a satisfactory result is not reached, the customer could take the matter further to the Consumer Trade and Tenancy Tribunal, where an order could be obtained.

In response to widespread complaints from Samsung customers who still have not received their bonus TV sets, a product review site, Done Sold, is calling on people to come forward and join a class action lawsuit against the company.

Will the third time be the charm for Sony Corp.?

The entertainment and electronics giant is preparing to launch an online video service through its game console PlayStation 3 as early as this summer, studio executives familiar with the plan say.

The company has been in licensing talks with studios in recent weeks, according to these executives, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of continuing negotiations.

The initial version of the service would include movies and television shows flowing from the Internet to the PlayStation 3.

It would follow two other disappointing online ventures backed by Sony in recent years: Movielink, which attempted to become the online equivalent of the video store for mainstream Hollywood movies before being sold last year to Blockbuster Inc.; and Sony Connect, the company's response to Apple Inc.'s iTunes download service. It shut down in March.

The latest service, provided through the online PlayStation Network, is Sony's attempt to stage a comeback in digital entertainment distribution. The maker of the once-dominant Walkman portable music player is still smarting from its defeat by Apple in the online music revolution.

"They've got to get a win in the digital, and I'd say on the electronic delivery side of the business," said Kurt Scherf, an analyst with Parks Associates who studies technology in the home. "That's where the future is. They've got to establish a toehold in that space."

The latest initiative seeks to harness Sony's strengths as a maker of high-definition televisions and consumer products as well as a creator of films and TV shows.

Sony is trying to capitalize on its Trojan horse in the living room, the PlayStation 3. The console is already connected to the TV and the Internet, and has sold more than 4 million units in the U.S. and 9 million worldwide, according to Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles. The console gave Sony the decisive edge in the battle to establish its Blu-ray discs as the standard for high-definition video in the home, trumping the HD DVD format backed by Toshiba Corp., Microsoft Corp. and others.

The new service would position Sony to compete with the growing number of Internet-connected devices and services that deliver video to the TV, including AppleTV, Vudu and Microsoft's Xbox 360 console.

Its biggest competitor would be Microsoft's Xbox Live service, which boasts 10 million subscribers who can sample online more than 4,800 hours of video, a quarter of them in high-definition. That includes 350 movies and more than 5,000 episodes of TV shows such as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost," most of which go on sale on Xbox Live the day after their initial broadcast airing. Unlike closed networks such as Apple's, Sony plans to embrace open standards that would make its offering compatible with a range of computers and hand-held devices, including its PlayStation Portable.

Patrick Seybold, a spokesman for the PlayStation unit, declined to comment.

However, a PlayStation marketing chief acknowledged the initiative and promised more details soon in a post Tuesday on the Inside PlayStation Network blog.

"Many of you have been hearing rumblings about a video service that will allow you to download full-length TV shows and movies via PlayStation Network for North America," wrote Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. "While I don't have any new announcements . . . it's already been confirmed that we'll be offering a video service for PS3 in a way that separates the service from others you've seen or used."

One of the service's greatest obstacles may be Sony's own culture. Sony Chairman and Chief Executive Howard Stringer has been battling a corporate silo mentality in which divisions within his company work in isolation, undermining new initiatives. The PlayStation group in Foster City, Calif., has been notoriously aloof. Once, a former executive said, it scuttled plans for a movie subscription service for the PlayStation Portable even though Sony Pictures had supported the initiative.

What is more, the company, looking to safeguard its film, television and music holdings, has been an aggressive champion of copyright protection, often, critics suggest, at the cost of technological innovation.

"Sony has this blessing and curse of [having] some of the world's smartest intellectual property lawyers, who've never built or marketed a product in their life, who are good at saying, 'no,' " said Richard Doherty, senior analyst at consultancy Envisioneering Group in Seaford, N.Y. "The sun never sets on the Sony lawyers, they're around the world, in Tokyo, London, New York."

Sony insiders say attitudes are evolving under Tim Schaaff, a former Apple executive who is spearheading the company's latest plunge into online video. Schaaff joined Sony in December 2005 in the newly created position of senior vice president of software development and is helping the company, whose heritage dates to the transistor radio, appreciate the importance of deft software design in the digital era.

Online movie sales are still a tiny business and will remain small over the next year as DVDs continue to be the dominant home video format, according to Convergence Consulting Group. U.S. consumers spent $95 million for movies online last year, compared with $23.4 billion to rent and buy DVDs.

Nonetheless, market researcher Parks Associates projects that Internet video will grow more lucrative, reaping about $6.4 billion in revenue by 2010 from advertising, as well as paid downloads or rentals.

In the market, however, Microsoft has a head start.

"It isn't easy to do this," said Ross Honey, senior director of Microsoft's media and entertainment group.

"There is a lot of work to be done in just making this work and getting that movie up in high quality. We've had over a year's experience on how to do this, so we can focus on innovating as opposed to working out the kinks."