The release dates for several exclusive first-party PlayStation 3 titles have been revealed for Europe. The release dates for Lair, Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, Eye of Judgement, Folklore have all been confirmed by Sony. Warhawk will not be released on the same date as the US, but will instead launch on September 12th as reported earlier.See the list of release dates below.

• September 12th 2007 – Warhawk (Incl. Headset Bundle)
• September 19th 2007 – Heavenly Sword
• October 10th 2007 – Folklore
• October 24th 2007 – Lair
• October 24th 2007 – The Eye of Judgement
• October – SingStar

Dylan Jobe, Game Director for Warhawk, has confirmed that Warhawk is still on schedule for simultaneously release worldwide. A comment on the blog post for Warhawk FAQs states that SCEE is working hard to get Warhawk ready for release in the UK in sync with the US version.

"I want to let you all know that our SCEE team is working very, very hard on getting the game ready. And I want to assure all of our UK players that we *do* care very much about shipping Warhawk simultaneously with the US version and that is still our goal.

We just want to make sure that when we say “we’re gold” we really are done! These things have to bake for awhile before we can feel comfortable saying “it’s done”…

…I know you all can appreciate that."

Peter Edward, director of the Home platform for Sony, has told an audience at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival that users who consistently abuse the upcoming Home service face having their machines banned and disabled from being used online. Edward noted that a serious abuser would “have to move house and buy a new PS3 before they could get online again.” Does this seem a bit too far?

“Ultimately we know a user’s details, we know machine details and we know where they live,” said Edward

“If you really feel like you’ve been abused or that someone has just shown wholly inappropriate behaviour then you are able to complain about it. If you really, really misbehave you can have your console disconnected at a machine level, so you would actually have to move house and buy a new PS3 before you could get online again.

Edward admits that they do not want to ban lots of people from online gaming, but if it comes down to it then they have the power. Sony expects players to police themselves and other users, taking advantage of various methods for blocking communication with any users that are disruptive.

“It’s relatively simple to be confident that somebody is over 18. So it’s no problem to have areas that are only open to those aged 18 years’ and over. We are able to do that quite comprehensively, we have access to the log-in data that they use for the PlayStation Network,” offered Edward.

[Via: Games Industry]

Dylan Jobe, Game Director for Warhawk has posted a detailed FAQ set over at the PlayStation Blog. Be aware though, since the list of questions and answers is very long. Check it out below or visit the PlayStation Blog.

QUESTION: Is the headset a limited time kinda thing?

ANSWER: Not to my knowledge…it’s something that we feel adds a lot of value to the retail version of the game. But to be honest, this is a Marketing decision and at the end of the day it will depend on things like the contract with Jabra, Sales, etc. You know, Marketing stuff.

QUESTION: Who are the top 100 BETA testers?

ANSWER: Ok…you ready for this? Click, CastleKingSide, Catalytic, Gergination, Aeaas, Merovee, II6FUII-wHaM, Filth_Flannigan, PlayerBeyond, SolidC213, DBWsGreatOne, Taisch, Hakoom, ROYA, ph8al, WillKills_M, tonythetiger1, theONE73, Coryphaeus, XxGRAND-CHAMPxX, Riz09, Canez, Flankhim, ninerfanj343, Jags71, DVSone, IComeInPeace, DRAKE_CHAMBERS, BudLeeOne, Enebreated, csMadMan, RickTheRipper, NoVaPH1R3, G-Man420, Liquided, ArtemisBane, dude23, Kremar, ucigasu, switchitup813, Dangerman, GnuUzir, Laeq, Simi, Hand_Banana, Wunsock, Dubbinenglish, K-X, Yixian1, IRP-OBMAS, inxshambles, Fupa, Pazonal, ethan893, FrozoneUSMC, Pnoiflipnation, DarkArcani, Ace_Martian, Solidsnakejej, RockStarAe, Stiles2417, AbaraiRenji, FayroeFox, AfoBanjo, Slevin_Kelevra, Kman1086, Requiem911, EZCheez, Bulletproof92, Air-Reez, jhop22, Wyji, Cooter203, oneofthosedays, IIHoTsHoTII, Snoits, Laughed, KingZ777, kylegtheassman, TRUEWON415, Takiwara, musashi2036, boondock_saint88, Draicus, TicTak, Riffraff, gunhoo, FT-Cheddar, danthecrazyman, TheWolface, Dman2000000, PriViTePyLe, sonofa2

QUESTION: Does the game have Split-Screen Online?

ANSWER: Yes – 2, 3 and 4 way online and off-line. We also provide a server option that admins can set that controls whether or not players can be connected via split screen and yet another server admin option that controls whether or not split-screen players can be on opposing teams. If you are hosting a competitive game or clan match or something, you may want to make sure that your players aren’t “screen-hunting”. And yes, these options are available if you host your own player, dedicated or ranked dedicated server.

QUESTION: Can multiple PSN accounts be logged-in at the same time during split-screen gameplay?

ANSWER: No…When you engage split-screen, the Warhawk real-time creates a temporary guest account and adds a little circle with a number inside it for which player you are. For example, if you jumped in on my PS3 for split screen action, I’d be “TheGoatAss” and you would be “(2)TheGoatAss.”

QUESTION: Will there be future downloadable content in the future?

ANSWER: The technology behind Warhawk was designed from the ground up with expandability in mind – very “data-drive” for those uber-tech enthusiasts. We have nothing to announce right now but rest assured that if the player-community wants new content, we’ll be develop it!

QUESTION: Does Warhawk support Keyboard or Mouse?

ANSWER: Nope…not for game control anyway, just the keyboard for text input and stuff like that.

QUESTION: If I run a Warhawk server on my PS3 is it independent of the SONY servers?

ANSWER: Yes…the only connection that is maintained is for your PSN buddies, incoming messages, stuff like that. As an interesting bit of trivia, the first few days of the public BETA we didn’t have a single SONY server running – but it didn’t matter because there were soooo many players hosting their own servers!

QUESTION: Can you play on your PS3 while you host a game server on the same PS3?

ANSWER: Yes…we call this a “player server” and this mode supports 24-players *and* up to 4-way split.

QUESTION: If I host my own server, how many players can I support?

ANSWER: Short answer is it depends on your connection speed/bandwidth. When you choose to host a game or set of games, Warhawk first “pings” out to what we call bandwidth servers around the globe (which one you test to depends on which country you live in). Anyhoo, it is at that point we then do a really quick series of bandwidth tests to determine how many players you will be able to handle. We spent quite a bit of time looking at the bandwidth requirements to make sure that the games that you host are not out of your league with regard to the bandwidth needed. We got a lot of comments during the BETA about players that were hosting 24 or 32 player games when they didn’t have the bandwidth to do so … this resulted in a pretty crappy game experiences sometimes. Our updated bandwidth requirements should resolve a lot of this and we’ll be monitoring it and changing them if we need to.

QUESTION: Thanks Dylan, but that didn’t really answer the questions…how many players??

ANSWER: Ok, that was a bit of a ramble but it at least lets you know what’s going on behind the scenes. For me at home, I have a standard cable modem with Comcast and I was hosting 24 player games. If you’re at school (college dorm or something) on a network you’ll probably be hosting up to 32 players … but the net is what the net is and you all know how it can change like the weather. If you have a really bad connection, then you will be hosting 8 or 16 players. Sorry … we have to protect the player community from people hosting slow servers that just piss players off. That said, if you connection is bad, you’ll still be able to *play* in a 24 or 32 player game, just not host one of that capacity.

QUESTION: How many of the maps support 32 players?

ANSWER: All maps…we worked really hard to make sure that the game would support the MAX player count in all levels – not just a subset.

QUESTION: I work for an ISP…can we host a Warhawk Server?

ANSWER: Sure…when you setup the server, you can give it your vendor name and tag it with a server message … in case you want to gratuitously promote that “Penetrode’s ISP now features 43% more awesomeness” There is of course a max character length on the server message so please no manifestos.

QUESTION: Does Warhawk support the XMB buddy list?

ANSWER: OMG…Yes, thank you for asking but you didn’t really have to. Of course any “buddy” that you have in the XMB, will show up in your “Warhawk Buddy Page”. From there, you will see if they are online, and what game they are in. We also added a quick join from the buddy list so you can instantly hop into any game your buddy is in. Or, you have the option of linking directly to the stats server from your buddy list. This way you can always keep tabs on which weapons your friends are using, which maps they play the most, etc.

QUESTION: Does Warhawk Support Clans?

ANSWER: Yes…you can form a clan, give your clan a prefix tag [4 characters], your clan can have a motto, leader…and yes the leader must make invites into the clan, you have access to a separate clan mail/message that can be used to coordinate practices or matches, and lastly you can use your clan list just like the XMB buddy list to jump right into their game or retrieve their statistics.

QUESTION: Does the game support more than 1 head set connected to the same console?

ANSWER: No… you can only bind 1 headset in the XMB and Warhawk uses whichever headset you have active.

QUESTION: If I buy the retail version, do I have to have the Blu-ray in my PS3 to run Warhawk?

ANSWER: Yes…”Reluctant Hero” asked about this Wednesday but sorry man…but hey, one of the many advantages of the BD is that when you power-up your PS3, you can boot directly into the game.

QUESTION: Can you turn the HUD off?

ANSWER: No … sorry “MrCamo”.

QUESTION: How is Chaff deployed?

ANSWER: “TTP” asked about a conversation that we had at E3 regarding chaff. Right now, you must select Chaff from the WeaponCross and then press L1 to deploy…just like in the BETA. We have toyed around with changes to this, one of which you and I discussed at the show. Nothing has been decided though. I will say this, and this came up during some of our review sessions with the long-lead media, and that is that we have greatly enhanced the way missile scrubbing and the aerobatics system works so that Chaff is not primarily used for defending yourself when in hover mode. When you are in the air, you can now perform your aerobatics more easily than you could in the beta. So … this ends up being the preferred method of defense. Think of chaff as a get out of jail free card, especially when you are hovering in a Warhawk.

QUESTION: Does Warhawk support VOIP channels?

ANSWER: Not exactly…I will say the ‘subscription’ method in Resistance is pretty damn slick though. What you do get is a per player control as to whether or not the voice is transmitted from that player – think of it as a kind of patch board. If you are the leader of a squad with Bob, Jimmy and Bruce, then you can just patch them in and turn everyone else off. Additionally, lets say that your buddy Evan is the leader of another squad and you want to be able to talk to him but not the troops in his squad. Then simply patch him in and you’re all set. Hopefully that answers your question “9158.”

QUESTION: Game-wise, what is different between the Blu-ray version and the PSN version?

ANSWER: Gameplay-wise they are identical.

QUESTION: When is Warhawk being released in Europe, Japan, Australia, China, Korea etc?

ANSWER: All I can say is that we have incredibly talented teams in all those territories and they are working very diligently to get Warhawk ready and ultimately, announce a release date. But I do *really* hope that you guys can understand that announcing the release date in those territories is kind of *their* thing and not mine.

QUESTION: Will a weapon from Resistance:FoM appear in Warhawk?

ANSWER: No…not sure where that rumor started “Lothar”. But while we’re on the topic … the Laark would be a wicked great indirect-fire weapon. The Insomniac guys always have top-shelf weapon design…among other things.

QUESTION: Can you play split-screen on a Ranked game?

ANSWER: No…and I know this will be a point of contention so please hear me out on this. When we first started developing and testing the ranked servers, we *didn’t* block split screen. What we observed is players using a second controller as a remote observer…not really playing but rather just kind of cheating the system. This allowed them to know where more of the enemies were without actually being part of a squad and communicating … they were just cheating. As a result, they were growing up the ranks faster than other players that weren’t cheating – and that isn’t fair for those of you playing legitimately to rank-up. I hope you guys can understand out decision.

QUESTION: What do I need to turn my PS3 into a server?

ANSWER: Nothing…buy Warhawk and that’s it. You will need a good connection though if you want to host a lot of players.

QUESTION: During the BETA, there were times when the game would crash – Is that fixed?

ANSWER: LOL….yes! We wouldn’t have shipped if it was still “crashy.”

QUESTION: Will there be an option to join local servers, just in your country?

ANSWER: Yes…while we wanted to make sure that players got to choose the exact server they jumped into, we *totally* realized that if the game takes off, which we hope it does, that players might be simply overloaded by the server list. So, more to your point “Shadow_Dancer,” you can filter by region, language, game type, ping, max rank, etc.

QUESTION: Does Warhawk support a “Party System” like Resistance:FoM?

ANSWER: Thanks for clarifying “Holy_Diver” … unfortunately no, we do not in the same way. When you are playing split-screen we drop the whole group in to the game but I’m pretty sure that’s not what you were looking for.

QUESTION: Can you use any headset with Warhawk?

ANSWER: Yes…the Jabra that’s included is a good headset but you might already have one, or maybe still have the USB SOCOM headset. They all work.

QUESTION: Are the Warhawk Servers “Worldwide”?

ANSWER: Yes, All territories can play together on the PSN.

Last month, MediEvil and Spyro 2 were pulled from the PlayStation Network Store for having serious bugs. Both games were reported to crash on certain levels crucial to the completion of the games. Since Sony is having difficulty in fixing the bugs, they will be refunding anoyone who purchased the games. The company has sent out emails to its customers that the refunds will be added to the PlayStation Store wallet within the next seven days.

Both games will be dropped from the PSN list until the bugs can be fixed. Hopefully Sony is able to correct the techical issues at a later date and have the games available to purchase from the PlayStation Store again. The official statement reads:

"You will be aware from the description of the product on PlayStation Store that some variation in functionality from the original PSone version is to be anticipated. However there appear to be more significant technical issues."

Although Incognito has not officially announced a UK release date for Warhawk, many UK retailers are listing a provisional release date of September 14th 2007. It is likely that the game will not launch globally on August 28th 2007 as promised by Incognito, although this is also unconfirmed. The game has gone "gold" and will definitely launch in North America later this month. Warhawk will be available as a download from the PlayStation Network Store and from local retailers.

Until the release date for UK is confirmed by SCEE, this article falls under the rumor category. Look out for more information soon.

Some information about the upcoming PlayStation firmware update has emerged on the Internet. However, since the information is unconfirmed by Sony, this article falls under the rumors category. A blog entry over at The Video Game Report reveals a number of features the PS3 Firmware 2.00 is likely to have. The information on firmware 2.00 has been collected from a number of message boards and not from an official Sony source.

1. Firmware 2.00 will have updated version of the built-in internet browser, including updated flash player functionality
2. Firmware 2.00 will be available in 2 different packages – one containing Home, and one without it. This results in the Home software having it’s own section in the XMB. Current Beta version are downloaded from the store and are booted from the game section of the XMB.
3. No in-game XMB access will be included yet.
4. Icons for movies/games can now move while other media types are currently being accessed.
5. Security is being worked on. You can password protect individual files on your HDD including movies, photos and pictures by pressing triangle to access the options menu.

The above list does seem a little strange, especially point (2) regarding separate packages. Until the list is confirmed by Sony, it is likely that the list is just a prediction. We will post more information on Firmware 2.00 when we get it.

Edios Interactive has announced that the first set of downloadable content for Ninja Gaiden Sigma will be available via the PlayStation Store from September 13th 2007. The downloadable content pack, known collectively as “Survival Mode” comprise of three different add-on packs, all with the basic premise of engaging an endless stream of enemies until you can no longer fight. The three downloads will provide different sorts of themed battles, with a World Ranking available for each theme.

The first of the three batches of downloadable content, “Weapon Master” is scheduled for release on September 13th 2007. This content includes five survival modes where you can use only a limited array of weaponry. The player’s objective is to master the feature of each weapon and wipe out as many enemies as you can.

“Speed Master” is the second download and the aim of this is to beat your enemies as accurately and quickly as possible. This features another five survival modes in which the time and power gauge are limited. In order to become the ultimate speed master you must master both your skills and acrobatics to survive.

In the third and final download, “Rachel Master”, you play as the new female character Rachel, in five survival modes in the quest to become the “World’s No. 1 Fiend Hunter”.

Its that time of the week when the PlayStation Store gets updated. Unfortunately, there are no new playable demos this time, instead, this week’s update focuses mainly on trailers and videos. There are two new Heavenly Sword videos: "making of" and "Legend of the Sword", as well as new Gran Turismo trailers and Blu-Ray movie trailers. Check out the list below.

• Game Trailers/Videos
  • Gran Turismo PlayStation Premiere Trailer
  • Heavenly Sword "Making Of" Video
  • Heavenly Sword "Legend of the Sword" Video
• Blu-Ray Movie Trailers
  • Ghost Rider
  • The Covenant

Sony currently incurs an estimated $200 loss on every PlayStation 3 sold, but an exec from the firm said that loss could be eliminated this fiscal year.
During a conference call, Sony executive VP Nobuyuki Oneda said the firm may be able to break even on PS3 hardware this fiscal year, which ends in March 2008. Though Oneda still couldn’t specify exactly when this break-even point may happen.

“The removal of the negative margin will be when all of these factors have come out. Maybe, marginally, we could achieve this during this year,” Oneda told a Citigroup Securities analyst during a Q&A session.

“For the negative margin to go away, the big trigger would be the cost-down in the Cell and RSX semiconductors. They are the key, and also optical pick-up is another factor, significantly,” he said.

Oneda confirmed that Sony is working on transitioning the PS3’s chips from 90nm to 65nm, which would reduce costs significantly. He said the Cell would be the first PS3 chip to make the migration, followed by the RSX chip.
Game console makers typically sell hardware at a loss, and make up for this through software sales. Nintendo, however, has made it a point to sell its hardware at a profit.

[Via: CVG]