PlayStation Home Manager, TedTheDog, has announced that Home Beta will be updated to version 0.96.3 this week bring Home closer to the the open beta release later this year. TedTheDog revealed that the update will be available to download on Thursday, July 31st 2008. Existing beta testers will receive a new beta code via email which they will need to enter on the Account Management screen. This will allow them to download the new patch.

The update fixes a few bugs in the software and moves the Home icon from the Games menu to the Network menu. The beta will be extended once current beta testers have had time to play with the new version.

As announced at E3 earlier this month, some of the PlayStation 3’s top titles have been re-launched as "Greatest Hits". The line-up of games retail at a much lower price of $29.99 so now there is no excuse for not owning some of the best selling games on the PS3. The current list of titles include Warhawk, Resistance: Fall of Man and Assassins Creed, just to name a few (see full list below). The packaging has also changed from Blue to Red so the titles are even easier to notice.

Greatest Hits line-up:

• Warhawk
• MotorStorm
• Resistance: Fall of Man
• Call of Duty 3
• Fight Night Round 3
• Need for Speed: Carbon
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
• Assassins’ Creed
• The Elders Scroll IV: Oblivion
• Ninja Gaiden Sigma

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A big PlayStation Store update for both Europe and the US this week. Both stores now have Siren: Blood Curse available for purchase. Both stores have also received a variety of new game add-on content including Siren chapter add-ons, Guitar Hero tracks, and Rock Band tracks. Europe now has Gangs of London for the PSP available to purchase and both stores have a number of new wallpapers, and videos. Check out the complete list below.

European Additions:

• Playable demos
  • EchoChrome PSN Demo
• Downloadable Game
  • Siren Blood Curse Full Game (£19.99)
• Game add-on content
  • Guitar Hero III – Guitar Virtuoso Track (£3.99)
  • Siren Blood Curse Chapter One – The Siren’s Call (£6.99)
  • Siren Blood Curse Chapter Two – No refuge (£6.99)
  • Siren Blood Curse Chapter Three – Nest of Devils (£6.99)
  • Siren Blood Curse Chapter Four – The End is the Beginning (£6.99)
• Video
• PixelJunk Eden Trailer
• Linger in the Shadows Trailer
• Resistance 2 Announcement Trailer
• E3 2008 PSN Compilation Trail
• E3 2008 Compilation Trailer
• E3 family Compilation Trailer
• Wallpapers
• PixelJunk Eden wallpaper – red
• PixelJunk Eden wallpaper – black
• Siren Blood Curse Wallpaper – Characters
• Siren Blood Curse Wallpaper – Hanuda
• PSP Games
  • Gangs of London Platinum (£14.99)

US Additions:

• Game Demos
  • PixelJunk Eden Demo
• Downloadable Games
  • Siren: Blood Curse (3 bundles of 4 episodes @ $14.99/ea & full game SKU for $39.99)
  • 1942: Joint Strike ($9.99)
• Add-on Game Content
  • Guitar Hero III: Guitar Virtuoso Pack ($6.25)
  • Rock Band Add-ons
    • Devour – Shinedown ($1.99)
    • Junkies for Fame – Shinedown ($1.99)
    • Nine Inch Nails Track Pack 02 ($5.49 includes songs below or songs available individually)
      • Last – Nine Inch Nails ($1.99)
      • Burn – Nine Inch Nails ($1.99)
      • Capital G – Nine Inch Nails ($1.99
• Game Videos
  • PixelJunk Eden Trailer
  • Street Fighter IV: E3 2008 Gameplay Trailer
  • Street Fighter IV: PS3 Special Trailer
  • Bionic Commando Rearmed The Making of Part 1
• PS3 Themes
  • Street Fighter IV Summer 08 PS3 Theme
  • Siren: Blood Curse PS3 Theme
• PS3 Wallpaper
  • Killzone 2 Wallpapers (2 for PS3 & 2 for PSP)
  • PixelJunk Eden Wallpaper
  • Fracture Wallpapers (x4)
  • Siren Wallpapers (x5)

David Reeves, President of SCEE, has revealed some new information about PlayTV, the PVR for the PlayStation 3, including details of when it will launch and what the device can do. Speaking to Eurogamer, Reeves said that PlayTV will be released in Europe on Septermber 10th 2008, and will allow gamers to record television shows even while playing games.

New Zealand and Australia will get PlayTV early next year due to differences in the digital terrestrial standards. Compatibility for the device was added in Firmware 2.41. PlayTV will retail for £99.

According to SCEE boss David Reeves, the PlayStation Home will be launched simultaneously in the United States and Europe and it will have the same specification and same support. Reeves also mentioned that an SCEE announcement on when exactly this fall it will come "very shortly." In related news, PlayStation Home’s public areas will be region locked so if you want to catch up with friends from other countries, you will have to invite them back to your Home Space.

Please check back soon for the official announcement of Home. Currently, Home is expected to be release in October or November this year, almost a year after the original launch date. The press release will hopefully put gamers’ minds at ease knowing that Home will not be delayed again. We will being you more information as it becomes available.

With two other PlayStation Store updates this week, the actual weekly update is very small for Europe and normal for the US. Both the Euro and US stores have received the new PSN Title Elefunk as well as the NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja Storm demo that was an exclusive download in Qore Episode 2. Part 2 and 3 of the Sony E3 Press Conference are now available to download from the US Store as well as some more game trailers and videos. Check out the list below.

European Additions:

• Demo
  
  • Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm
• Downloadable Games
  
  • Elefunk (£4.99)
• Video
  
  • E3 – Ragdoll Kung Fu Trailer
  • Siren Blood Curse E3 2008 Trailer
  • Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Body E3 2008 Trailer

US Additions:

• Playable Demos
  • NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja Storm Playable Demo
  • Elefunk Demo
• Downloadable Games
  • Elefunk ($4.99)
• PS One Games:
  • Rayman ($5.99)
• Game Videos
  • Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution Behind the Scenes Trailer
• PS3 Themes
  • Elefunk Theme
• E3 Videos and Trailers
  • PlayStation E3 2008 Press Conference – Part 2
  • PlayStation E3 2008 Press Conference – Part 3
  • PURE Trailer
  • Project Origin Trailer
  • Rag Doll Kung Fu Fists of Plastic Trailer
  • Brother in Arms: Hell’s Highway Tank Mayhem Trailer
  • Prince of Persia Trailer
  • Mercenaries 2: World in Flames E3 Trailer
• Movie and Blu-ray Trailers
• Starship Troopers 3: Marauder Trailer

If you are looking to buy a PS3, you may want to hold off for a little longer. SCEE has confirmed that the 80GB PlayStation 3 model will be heading to Europe on August 27th 2008, with the same specification as the current 40GB model, but with more hard disk space. David Reeves, President of SCEE, has confirmed that the new model will cost £299/€399, and will come with the DualShock 3 controller.

Stocks of the current 40GB are expected to run out just and the new model arrives. In other news, Reeves confirmed that the PS3 Platinum Games range will roll out on August 1st and will retail for £19.99/€29.99 each. Confirmed titles currently include Assassins’ Creed, Warhawk, Resistance: FoM, MotorStorm, Heavenly Sword, Ratchet and Clank: ToD and Drake’s Fortune.

On August 1st Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will get a 233MB update in Japan with improvements to the game and other features. This update will mark the start of the Pay-per-View service for GT TV too. Improvements have been made to the GT TV service, distribution of expansion data, races, rankings, vehicle physics and more. Six new background music tracks have been added and you can now see the players you have met online from the [Friends] > [Players Met] menu on the XMB. Full details below.

Changelog:

Improvement in Download Speed – Improvements in download speeds for online updates and content.

• Gran Turismo TV
  • Start of PPV (Pay Per View) service
  • It is now possible to fast forward, rewind, or move between chapters when viewing video content.
  • It is possible now to have up to 8 simultaneous background downloads running at the same time.
  • Individual downloads can now be paused or resumed.
• Distribution of Expansion Data
  • Instant distribution feature of My Page backgrounds added
• Race
  • Improvements in penalty judgments
  • Improved physics during collisions between cars in Online races.
• Time Trial
  • The tire selection in Arcade time trials changed from S2 fixed, to N1-S2
• Ranking
  • It is now possible to display top lap times in all courses in a list.
  • Improvements in the user interface
• Common Vehicle Physics
  • Improved controllability when using S1-S3, and R1-R3 tires.
  • Changed calculation rules for performance points.
• Option
  • Added [Standard Definition (SD) Display Size] in [Display Settings]
  • Moved the [Temperature] unit setting from [Network] to [Units]
  • Added Expansion Data settings and Advanced Download Option settings in [Network]
• Sound
  • 6 BGM tracks added
• Online race network specifications changed
  • Added port 5658 to the ports used in Online races.
• Other
  • Players matched in Online races now added to the [Friends] ? [Players Met] menu within Playstation 3.
  • The time and score from replays of time trials, drift trials, and distributed demo replays are now displayed after their replay. For distributed demo s, the Online ID is also displayed here.
  • Manual updated

Another update to the PlayStation Store this week with more goodies from E3. The second update to the PlayStation Store this week includes part one (of three) of Sony’s press conference and well as a new downloadable game, a selection of game trailers and new themes and wallpaper. Check out the list below.

US Additions:

• Downloadable Games
  • Fantasy Football: Draft Day Application
• Videos
  • SONY E3 Press Conference (Part 1 of 3)
  • PS3 Compilation Video
  • PSN :30 Second Sizzle
  • PSN Sizzle Video
  • PlayStation Family Video
  • PS3 Sizzle Video
  • DC Universe Trailer
  • Mirror’s Edge E3 Trailer
  • Dead Spece E3 Network Trailer
  • Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa E3 Trailer
  • Valhalla Knights 2 E3 Trailer
• Themes and Wallpapers
  • Resistance 2 PS3 Theme
  • LittleBigPlanet PS3 Theme
  • PixelJunk Eden Wallpaper
  • MotorStorm Pacific Rift Wallpapers
  • Siren Wallpapers (x4)
  • Resistance: Retribution PSP Wallpapers

Back in June at Sony’s Strategic meeting in Tokyo, a new service for the PlayStation 3 was announced: Life with PlayStation; a service that brings you live news, live webcam feeds and weather among other things. At E3 2008, Jack Tretton, CEO of SCEA announced that the service will be available for the PS3 at the end of July – most likely through a firmware update.

Tretton also mentioned the ability to upload gameplay videos directly to YouTube is on the horizon, allowing gamers to view and vote for videos on a dedicated PlayStation 3 Channel. It is speculated that it is up to the developer to include this in games, and so only certain games will support video uploading.