Blu-Ray is leading the High Definition DVD war thanks to the PlayStation 3. To further boost Blu-Ray, recently, Blockbuster announced that Blu-ray disc will be the exclusive HD movie format for 1,450 of their 1,700 stores in North America. This is a big win for the Blu-ray format, as Blockbuster noted they based their decision on consumer feedback.

“The consumers are sending us a message. I can’t ignore what I’m seeing,” said Matthew Smith, senior vice president of merchandising at Blockbuster, to The Associated Press.

By mid-July , they will have over 170 Blu-ray movies in stock. You can read the official Blockbuster announcement here.

According to InnerBits, Sony has been working on a SIXAXIS controller with rumble support for a few months now, but are having difficulties with battery life. Between the rumble and the wireless support, the batteries are draining too fast to be acceptable for consumers. Officially, the company has kept a tight lid on things until the issues are resolved. Incidentally, there was no mention of the rumble having an adverse affect on the motion sensitivity.

As usual, there was no mention of a release date for the controller and it is still unclear whether Sony will make the new SIXAXIS controller the default option for new PlayStation 3s. A financially expensive, but positive PR move would be to offer all current consumers the opportunity to “upgrade” their controllers for free.

[Via: InnerBits]

Firmware 1.80 hasn’t even been around for a month yet and now Firmware 1.81 is now available to download. The update was released earlier today to fix a bug with the RGB Full Range settings under Display Settings, so hopefully this is good news to some people. The update can be downloaded using the Network Update feature of the PlayStation 3 or you can download onto a removal media via the appropriate regional website. Read more for the full change log.

Changes in Firmware 1.81:

Settings

• The method of setting [RGB Full Range (HDMI)] under [Display Settings] has been improved.

Other

• The stability of the network connection used during gameplay has been improved for some PlayStation 2 format software titles that support online gaming.

Motorstorm is one of the PS3’s top selling games allowing players to indulge in off-road racing where there are no rules. You can bump and crash your way to the finish line if you have to. One let down of the game is that there are only a limited number of tracks available to race on, but this is about to change soon. Evolution Studios and Sony Computer Entertainment will be rolling out new downloadable content for MotorStorm in the next few months. The PlayStation Store will be updated with brand new game features, modes and vehicles for MotorStorm.

The release date for the updates is currently unknown, but we will keep you updated on this story.

Tekken 6 was first revealed at E3 in 2005 with a trailer featuring Jin Kazama, and now we have screenshots of what it will actually look like on the PlayStation 3. Although the screenshots do not have the detail level of the final version, at least they give us some idea of what Tekken will look like.

[Via: Games Radar]

Tekken 5: Dark Ressurrection has been available to download from the PlayStation Network for some time now, but according to Famitsu Magazine, Namco Bandai are planning to release a new version with online versus play. The release date for the new version as well as a retail price has not been announced but for those of you who have already purchased the existing version will be given a discount.

The new version is expecting to sell for around JPY 2800 (approx USD 23), but online play is expected to be free. We will being you more details as soon as they are available. See below for a list of new additions to the game:

• Online VS Mode Play Added
• Online Rankings Added
• Practice Mode Added
• Survival Mode Added

The European PlayStation Network has been updated to include a new game as well as a few new trailers. Those who are looking for a new beat-em-up for the PS3 will be pleased that Mortal Kombat 2 is now available to download from the PlayStation Store for only £1.99.

XTREME PSP has been running for almost two years, and has grown stedily since it first launched in June 2005. We are now proud to announce the launch of the XTREME PS3 website, dedicated to the PlayStation 3. Although the launch is much later than we had hoped, most of the website is fully operational. If you are new to using a PS3, be sure to check out our FAQ section.

If you have any comments or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us using the Contact Form.We are planning to launch a PS3 magazine soon so be sure to look out for that.