The new model of the PlayStation 3, that was announced last month before the E3 Business and Media Summit, launches today. The new 80GB model carries a bigger hard drive and comes bundled with MotorStorm. All other specifications of the console are the same as the 60GB model with the exception of the Emotion Engine Chip, which as now been removed. The new model will retail for $599.

The release of the new model effectively makes the 60GB model the “standard” option, while the 80GB version now becomes the “premium” version. There has been no announcements of a 80GB version coming to Europe.

cruzader over a the PS3Forums has used his imagination and photoshop skills to completely redesign the PlayStation Network Store. Of course, his work is only speculative but what a fine job he has done. The redesigned store works more along the lines of the XMB, with each section having its own icon set. Check out the screenshots below.

“The new PS store opens exactly as the old one. We click on the little blue bag icon. But this is where similarities end. As soon as the bag icon is clicked, the XMB icons fade into the background, as “new” XMB icons fade in to take their spot. It is a neat effect similar to that of Mac OS X’s Frontrow animation. A messege appears welcoming us as bells chime to signify we entered a store. A clever effect.”

“The PS is set to default on featured items. The feature list some what resembles Apple’s Coverflow from iTunes. Video icons begin to stream for a nice effect. Makes the store seem much more interactive. Certain icons change the XMB background (such as the God of War 3 icon).”

“We continue browsing around. The “new” store is a lot more organized, and easier to get from place to place. The best new feature in organization is the Search menu. Basically the Search menu does exactly what we thought it would do- search! Yet, it does a lot more than what it expected. We searched “Resident Evil” on the on-screen keyboard and a few items appeared on the sidebar (note there was a fullscreen keyboard for SDTV viewing).The sidebar made everything much easier with it’s on the fly sorting options and easily readable interface.

Left of the sidebar is a great preview system. It let us preview the any material before selecting it. If it were a video trailer, a short video clip would begin to play. If it were a game demo, a snazzy picture was the place holder. The preview system also allowed us to do the same old XMB options, such as pressing triangle to view more information, etc.
If the “new” PS store was ONLY, this Store Search menu, it would still be leaps and bounds better than the previous store.”

“We continued to the rest of the store.
The settings menus resembled standard XMB hoopla, which is well welcomed in the Store. A huge improvement over web-based menus. Also integrated into the Store was the “Account Management.” From here we could change billing information, credit card info., etc. All this, without leaving the store. It made a lot more sense.

Even the “shopping cart” was vastly improved recieving its own menu. It had a similar preview system we saw previously in the Search menu. It also sported the sidebar which seems to be the standard browsing interface. But, of course, this preview system was dumbed down a bit. It still had its charm though.”

“The last few menus were all similar in regards to design. These menus were the bulk of the Store: Themes, Downloadable Games, Trailers, Hardware, and Sony Music.

The “Sony Music Entertainment” icon brought us to an external music website. We were told that, that menu has not been completed yet, and were informed that it will be all linked to Singstore. That means, a giant Singstore/Music database will be accessible through the PS Store. We were simply stunned at this connectivity between the various media.

The “Themes” menu featured downloadable content for your PS3 XMB. At the moment, only wallpapers were available, but there are also menus for “full themes” and “sounds.” Very interesting- XMB customization maybe?

The “Downloadable Games” and “Trailers” were practically identical except for content of course. Each had drop down menus to pre-sorted material. One a menu is clicked, it opens up the Sidebar and that neat little Preview box. It already felt too similar, and we already knew exactly how to browse through the media.

These two menus did show us something new- a small desciption box located right under the Preview.

We were then told of a new feature. Clicking the R3 button opens a mouse cursor. A neat trick that also helped with the scrolling and navigation of all the video clips.”

[Via: PS3Forums]

Warhawk has gone gold, meaning development on the game has finished and will soon start to ship. The game will go on sale on August 28th 2007, and will be available to purchase via the PlayStation Network Store or from local retailers. The PlayStation Store version will cost $39.99, while the retail pack complete with Bluetooth headset will cost $59.99.

The retail pack will include extra content such as extended video content, manual, and of course the Jabra Bluetooth headset mentioned above. The top 100 players from the recent Beta will all receive a little something by post. Each of the top 100 players will get a print of the box art signed by the team and a limited edition Warhawk Wings pin.

[Via: PlayStation.Blog]

Grand Theft Auto IV for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 is being delayed until April 2008. According to Take Two, the delay is necessary in order to complete development for the title. The title is now planned for release in the Company’s second quarter of fiscal 2008. Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two, stated, “Certain elements of development proved to be more time-intensive than expected, especially given the commitment for a simultaneous release on two very different platforms”.

Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games, added, “The new consoles are allowing us to create the Grand Theft Auto game we always dreamed about. Every aspect of the game and its design has been completely transformed. The game is huge and is pushing the hardware platforms to their absolute limits. The top engineers from Sony and Microsoft are working closely with the team in Edinburgh right now, helping us to fully leverage the power of both platforms. As always, our goal is to surpass even the wildest expectations of the game’s fans, and to create the ultimate high definition video game experience.”

[Via: Take-Two Games]

The US PlayStation Store has been updated with new content, thought, a lot more content has been added compared to the UK PlayStation Store update. The US update includes the Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 demo seen in the UK Store update, but also includes a number of movie trailers and the Advanced Research expansion pack for Blast Factor. See below for a full list of new content.

• Games
  • Blast Factor: Advanced Research (Add-On)
  • Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Playable Demo)
  • The Darkness (Playable Demo)
• Movie Trailers
• Michael Clayton
• Get Smart
• The Game Plan

The UK PlayStation Store has been updated with a few new items, including a playable demo of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 and a few new game trailers. The full list of additions can be found below. This time around, there wasn’t much content added to the PSN Store, however, we should soon see the Home Public Beta appear on the PSN Store.

• Playable Demos
  • Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2
• Game Trailers
  • Lair Trailer 2
  • Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights Trailer

If you hate sweaty, greasy hands on your precious SIXAXIS controllers, then the SIXAXIS body glove is the ideal accessory for you. Officially endorsed by Sony, the body glove is heat sensitive and changes colour depending on body heat. The glove retail for just over $10 and are available in a range of colours. The SIXAXIS body glove is the ideal in preventing grease and dirt from getting into the gaps of the controller, plus, it also acts as a grip, keeping the controller firmly in your hands.

The body glove comes with at 10ft USB cable. The body glove retails for between $10 and $15. Everyone knows that grease and dirt accumulates over time in between the hard-to-clean places, so this is perfect for keeping the pad nice and clean. The skin can be a pain to get on but its worth it in the end. One problem to note is that pressing the “START” and “SELECT” are slightly harder to press, since the skin covers the sides of the buttons.

[Via: PS3 FanBoy]

Sony has developed a prototype computer board based on the Cell processor, the same high-power chip used in the PlayStation 3 (PS3), and will be revealed at a conference in the US next week. The ‘Cell Computing Board’ prototype, which is small enough to be mounted into a 1U-size server for a 19in rack mount, combines the Cell Broadband Engine microprocessor and RSX graphics processor. This pairing results in a high-power computing platform that goes beyond the power of the Cell chip alone, said Sony. The company did not disclose precise performance data for the board.

It will be unveiled at the SIGGRAPH show that will take place from August 7 to 9 at the San Diego Convention Center. The event is focused on the computer graphics industry and Sony will make a number of related demonstrations, it said. These will include real-time processing of ‘4K images’, which are digital cinema pictures with a resolution of four times that of HDTV, computer graphics rendering and a multi-threaded physics simulation.

[Via: PC Advisor]

Several new bits of information about the rumble enabled SIXAXIS controller have emerged, according to Inner Bits. Inner Bits states that prototypes of the new SIXAXIS controller with rumble have made their way into the hands of various Sony developers, however, there is still no official announcement from Sony. An official announcement is expected within the next two to three months.

“We can confirm that prototypes of the new rumble-enabled controllers have made their way to various Sony developers. Information on these controllers is still closely held by Sony and their partners, but an official announcement and unveiling is expected in the next two to three months.”

Also, new SIXAXIS controllers are quitely replacing the original controllers launched with the console. Hardware changes occur regularly, and so far, Sony has improved the fidelity of motion sensing in the controller.

UPDATE (4th August 2007 at 16:50):

Sony denied recent reports in speaking to GamePro that rumble-enabled PS3 controllers are on the way. Sony did, however, acknowledge motion-sensing enhancements for the SIXAXIS controller.

“We have not added rumble [to PS3], and have no announcements regarding this feature,” said Dave Karraker, Sony’s Cirector of Corporate Communications.

Karraker did confirm that developers are receiving better motion-sensing controllers, though he downplayed the news.

Sony is planning to release a digital tuner for the PlayStation 3 in 2008 turning it into a programmable TV recorder, according to Sony Computer Entertainment New Zealand boss Warwick Light. The device is scheduled for release in March 2008. The information was revealed at a interview with The Press. It is currently unclear exactly how the functionality will work and whether it will be available outside of New Zealand.

“We’re also hoping next year – about the same time that Freeview launches its terrestrial broadcasting service (expected to be in March) – to release a digital tuner for the PS3, turning it into a programmable TV recorder.”

Our guess is a USB device similar to the PSP TV Tuner will be use along with a firmware update. The hard drive will be used to allow digital recording. Freeview is already available in the UK, so it is likely to reach there.