Facing an onslaught from the Xbox 360 and Wii, and stiff portable competition from the Nintendo DS and Iphone, Sony fired off a barrage of surprise announcements at this week's Leipzig Games Convention in Germany. Top of the list was a redesign of its PSP portable platform, but a new PlayStation 3 model and a keyboard controller are also in the works.
The PSP-3000, which is the second redesign since the PSP launched in 2005, sports a new integrated microphone, while a new PS button replaces the old Home key, matching the branding of its bigger brother the PlayStation 3. The microphone will be used for the machine's Skype voice-over-IP telephony application, and should allow for voice chat in online multiplayer games.
Leipzig also brought news of yet another entry in Sony's long, long list of PlayStation 3 hardware configurations: it'll hit US stores in November, sporting with a gargantuan 160 GB hard drive, by far the largest in the range so far. It'll retail for $499.99, bundled with a copy of the excellent Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, a voucher to download PAIN from the PlayStation Network, and the ubiquitous DualShock 3 rumble-enabled controller. No official word yet on whether this new top-of-the-line configuration will be backwards-compatible with earlier PlayStation models, but if the scuttlebutt is to be believed, probably not.
Lastly, if you're fed up with struggling with the PlayStation 3's clumsy on-screen keyboard, there's light at the end of the tunnel. Sony also unveiled a keyboard attachment for the regular DualShock controller, which will give text-happy gamers a full QWERTY-style selection of keys with which to enter passwords, browse the web, and send rude messages to defeated opponents. It also supports a touchpad mode for mouse-like functionality.
1 comment:
Even without backwards compatibility, the new PS3 bundle is certainly a great deal. I'm sure it will be difficult to find one during the holiday season too.
If you're looking for a PS3 (or a 360, for that matter), I suggest you take a look at this Stacker 2 contest going on. All you need to do is design a 6 Hour Power t-shirt, and if you win you get the system of your choice, a copy of Rise of the Argonauts, a year's supply of 6 Hour Power energy shots, and more. There are less than 180 entrants as of now, so you have to like the odds too. Check out the contest details here: http://www.brickfish.com/Entertainment/Stacker2?tab=overview
You've got nothing to lose. Let me know if you enter and I'd be happy to vote for your designs. I work with them, so send me any questions you may have too. Good luck.
Franklin Keane
www.6hrpower.com
Franklin6hrpower@gmail.com
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