Category: Sony

Playstation 3 Selling Pretty Darn Well

The Playstation 3 seems to be doing pretty good right now. Last month Sony sold nearly as many Playstation 3s as Nintendo sold Wiis. Here’s the rundown:

Wii – 274,000
Playstation 3 – 269,000
Playstation 2 – 264,000
Nintendo DS – 251,000
Playstation Portable – 230,000
Xbox 360 – 230,000

It’s uncertain as to whether these are customers purchasing the PS3 just for the Blu-Ray disc support or if it’s just because they like Sony but it does say something for both Blu-ray and the next gen console race.

HD-DVD has taken quite a few hits lately, with Warner Bros. leaving the format and Netflix deciding to go Blu-ray exclusive HD-DVD has been left in the dust of this next generation format war. These numbers showing that the PS3 is selling pretty well isn’t good for HD-DVD. Currently the best Blu-ray player is the PS3 so for many wanting to get into the format this is their best option.

This also shows that this race isn’t over yet, although Nintendo has a huge lead over Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 that doesn’t mean that Nintendo will end up winning. Sony owns three of those top six slots and their newest console is in second place, Sony could still pull a rabbit out of their hat with one killer title exclusive on the PS3 or maybe even Playstation Home.

Video Of The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

Yesterday I posted about the new Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and now there have been some cool videos showing off some of the phones features.

This is one of the better videos coming to you from phonescoop.com.

Sony Announces Xperia X1

Sony announced the new Xperia X1 yesterday, a cell phone with a touchscreen (we’ll be seeing a lot of those this year, not that I’m complaining). This is Sony Ericsson’s first device to use Windows Mobile for its operating system.

The device will not use Windows Mobile’s standard interface though, instead it will use “Xperia panels.” The phone has a 3″ 800×480 touchscreen and also includes a slide out QWERTY keyboard.

3G with HSUPA (High Speed Upload Packet Access)
Wifi
GPS
3.2 Megapixel camera with autofocus
microSD slot
Quad-band GSM
Five-band HSPA/UMTS

The phone is expected to ship in the second half of 2008.

The phone looks pretty darn cool, but if you are wondering to yourself how Sony was able to pull off such a cool phone, it’s because HTC makes it.

Sony to Introduce 120GB or 160GB Playstation 3

There have been many rumors lately that Sony would be dropping the 80GB version of the Playstation 3 and come out with either a 120GB or 160GB version.

The new 120/160GB version would also come with the new Dualshock 3 controller.

There have already been signs of the 80GB version disappearing, Best Buy hasn’t been receiving stock of the 80GB PS3 for several weeks and employees of Best Buy have been asked to pull advertising for the 80GB model.

I’m not really sure why Sony would be coming out with a 120/160GB  since I’m not exactly sure why anyone would use that much space however it seems like it is incredibly likely since so many websites have been reporting the rumor.

This new rumor comes right on the heels of the Playstation 3 price drop rumor, but this new rumor leaves me wondering one thing, if the 80GB Playstation 3 is discontinued what will that mean for backwards compatibility of PS3’s?

Kotaku
Arstechnica

Rumors of a PS3 Price Drop

There have been rumors of a PS3 price drop ever since news came that the cost of manufacturing a PS3 was down to about $400.

Yesterday came news via kotaku that a Best Buy in Sterling, VA was having a managers special of 40GB Playstation 3’s for $299.

Not only that but the last time there were rumors of a Playstation 3 price drop Sony denied it, and shortly after denying it they went ahead and dropped the price. Out of the Register we learn that Sony is denying the price drop which isn’t exactly confirmation either way.

I really think that it would be smart for Sony to drop the price another $100, I don’t exactly doubt that they could financially and it wouldn’t hurt the Blu-ray format one bit, especially since the cheapest stand-alone Blu-ray players are going for around $330 on Amazon right now. Undercutting the price of other players while giving the customer a gaming machine for that price would be viewed as one heck of a value to consumers.

Let’s hope this dream will come true, I wouldn’t mind having a PS3 in my home theater.

Turn Your PS3 Into a DVR With PlayTV

The PlayTV add on for the PS3 turns your PS3 into basically a DVR. You can watch live television as well as record shows to your PS3’s hard drive to watch later on your television or on your PSP.

I think this device looks awesome, I love the idea of having on set top box to basically do everything I want to do in my home theater. Unfortunately PlayTV isn’t coming to the US any time soon but if it did show up in the US it would sway me away from the Xbox 360 pretty darn quick.

PlayTV coverage

Sony’s Playsation 3 Now Costs ~$400 to Produce

When the Playstation 3 first hit market it cost Sony about $800 to produce each console but recently Sony told Business Week that the PS3 now costs about $400 to produce which means they are about breaking even when selling their 40GB version and actually making a little bit of profit from their 80GB version.

Even though this news doesn’t scream PS3 price drop it does mean that a price drop could be in the near future, especially if sales continue as they have been, a nice $50-100 price drop would get more customer buying. Not to mention the fact that Blu-Ray is doing so well and the PS3 is basically the only Blu-ray player I would suggest anyone should buy (you get a heck of a lot more for your money than if you purchased a stand-alone player).

Business Week

Ubuntu Feisty Fawn On Playstation 3 Installation Guide

One of the cooler things about the Playstation 3 is that you can install Linux on it, fairly easily I might add.

Recently Softpedia posted an installation guide for Ubuntu Feisty Fawn (7.04) on the Playstation 3. So if you want to maybe play some old school games with emulators or you want to do some other type of cool guy linux stuff, well… you can.

The install process isn’t really that long and the great news is that you can keep the standard PS3 OS installed so you can still do all the great things that the PS3 can do.

One more thing I’d like to mention about it, Ubuntu CAN read the Blu-ray disks however you cannot play Blu-ray movies through Ubuntu (darn DRM).

Ubuntu 7.04 on PS3 [Softpedia]

Playstation 3 Outsells Wii in Japan for November

The Playstation 3 has been doing better and better in this race for the next generation console war. Recently we found out that the console saw a 298% increase in sales after the release of the 40GB version, but now we hear that the Playstation 3 outsold the Nintendo Wii in Japan for the month of November.

This is the first time that the Playstation 3 has ever outsold the Nintendo Wii in Japan. In the 4 weeks in November up to the 25th Sony sold 183,217 units and Nintendo only sold 159,193.

This has been building up for a while, during the summer the NIntendo Wii outsold the Playstation 3 by 6 to 1 but during the fall the gap had narrowed to about 3 to 1.

Many analysts believe that this trend will most likely not continue but I’m not too sure about this. I almost feel like the joys of the Wii have passed, many people that I talk to think of the Wii as some type of fad, don’t get me wrong, the Wii is really fun but the problem is that I don’t see how people could enjoy shaking the controller around for too much longer, it gets tiring.

DailyTech

40GB Playstation 3 Caused 298% Sales Increase

The week of November 18-24 the Playstation 3 saw a 245% increase in sales compared to the week prior. Sony says that the sudden increase in sales is mostly due to the sales cuts that have happened recently.

The 80GB version dropped from $599 to $499 and on November 2 Sony launched the 40GB version of the console which is priced at $399. According to Sony the 40GB model caused an increase of 298% between November 2nd and November 24th.

This goes to show you that the Playstation 3 is still in it for the long haul. The recent price cuts of the consoles could have been the smartest thing Sony has done for the PS3 since they decided to get rid of the boomerang controller.

(Don’t forget that this will help put more Blu-Ray players in homes, just thought I’d mention that).

40GB Playstation 3, Ratchet and Clank, Spiderman 3, and HDMI Cable Bundle for $399

Dell.com is selling a 40GB Playstation 3 with HDMI cable, Spiderman 3, and Ratchet and Clank for $399.

This is a great deal and hopefully will help the PS3 compete a little bit better with the Xbox 360.

I really like the idea that you can pay $399 and get high-def movies and high-def games right out of the box.

Don’t forget that the 40GB version of the PS3 doesn’t have any backward compatibility.

If you want to pick the bundle up for yourself you can buy it here.

Sony Makes a Good PS3 Ad and Ratchet & Clank is a Good Exclusive

Sony has finally made a good PS3 ad. The new ad showcases the exclusive titles for the PS3 and what really sets it apart from the rest (Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii). I have to say Sony did this one right.

One other thing I want to mention about the ad is that one of the game clips that they show in the beginning of the ad is of Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction. Guardian Unlimited said recently that Ratchet and Clank is “the finest PS3 game to date.” This is exciting because it means that Sony may actually start to compete with Microsoft on the gaming front. Ratchet and Clank really is one of very few titles that are exclusive for the PS3 that are actually good. I’m glad to see this because it means that Microsoft will have to step up their game and subsequently Sony will have to step it up again themselves, which, all around, is good for all.