PlayStation 3 turns two years old

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November 17th 2008 marks the second birthday for the PlayStation 3 in North America. Japan celebrated the PS3’s birthday last week and Europe will have to wait until March 2009 to celebrate the PS3’s second birthday. Since the launch of the PS3, there has been several changes to the system and its software, not to mention the number of great games available on the platform. Of course, it doesn’t end here. Sony will support the PlayStation 3 for another 8 years, so there is still plenty to look forward to.

So far, 17 million units have been sold worldwide, and in the last year sales in the US have gone up by nearly 100%. Over the next few months, look out for exciting new content and games like the PlayStation Home Open Beta, Killzone 2 and other high-profile games. Please join us in wishing the PlayStation 3 further success over the next 12 months!

PlayStation Store update for Nov 13th 2008

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A huge update to the PlayStation Store this week. Both the US and European Stores have received a ton of new game add-on content. The stores have new content for PAIN, LittleBigPlanet, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Star Wars Unleashed and Sid Meier?s Civilization Revolution. There are no new demos to either store this week, which is a shame, but the update also includes new game videos and trailers, movie trailers and some new wallpapers and themes. Check out the list below.

European Additions:

Game Add-on Content
- PAIN
  - David Hasselhoff add-on pack (£1.19/?1.49)
  - Movie Studio add-on pack (£3.99/?4.99)
- Dead Space
  - Astronaut Pack (£2.39)
  - Big Gun Pack (£0.79)
  - Heavy Damage Pack (£2.39)
  - Hot Rod Pack (£0.79)
  - Military Pack (£3.19)
  - Pedestrian Pack (£1.19)
  - Scorpion Pack (£3.19)
  - Scorpion Weapon Pack (£1.59)
  - Speed Kills Pack (£1.59)
  - Tank Pack (£3.19)
  - Obsidian Weapon Skin Pack (£1.19)
  - Obsidian Pack (£2.39)
- LittleBigPlanet
  - Sack-Eating Plant costume
  - Animal Costumes pack (£2.39/?2.99)
  - Lily Pad costume (£0.79/?0.99)
  - Hugo costume (£0.79/?0.99)
  - Great Blue costume (£0.79/?0.99)
  - Frost-E costume (£0.79/?0.99)
- Guitar Hero World Tour
  - "Another Way To Day" – Jack White and Alicia Keys (£1.49/?1.99)
  - "Bag It Up" – Oasis (£1.49/?1.99)
  - Hendrix track pack (£3.99/?5.99)
  - "Horse To Water" – REM (£1.49/?1.99)
  - "Man Sized Wreath" – REM (£1.49/?1.99)
  - Oasis track pack (£3.99/?5.99)
  - REM track pack (£3.99/?5.99)
  - "Supernatural Superserious" – REM (£1.49/?1.99)
  - "The Shock Of Lightning" – Oasis (£1.49/?1.99)
  - "Waiting For The Rapture" – Oasis (£1.49/?1.99)
- Rock Band
  - Foo Fighters’ The Colour and the Shape album (£9.99/?14.99)
  - "Doll" (£0.99/?1.49)
  - "Monkey Wrench" (£0.99/?1.49)
  - "Hey, Johnny Park!" (£0.99/?1.49)
  - "My Poor Brain" (£0.99/?1.49)
  - "Wind Up" (£0.99/?1.49)
  - "Up in Arms" (£0.99/?1.49)
  - "My Hero" (£0.99/?1.49)
  - "See You" (£0.99/?1.49)
  - "Enough Space" (£0.99/?1.49)
  - "February Stars" (£0.99/?1.49)
  - "Walking After You" (£0.99/?1.49)
  - "New Way Home" (£0.99/?1.49)
- Soul Calibur IV Equipment
  Customization Packs (£0.79 – £1.59/?0.99 – ?1.99)
- Star Wars The Force Unleashed Character Pack 1 (£6.29/?7.99)
- Everybody’s Golf 5 character pack (£3.19/?3.99)
- Sid Meier?s Civilization Revolution
  - "The Terrestrial" Multiplayer Map Pack (£0.79/?0.99)
  - "Elemental" Multiplayer Map Pack
Game Videos
- 6x Shoot videos
- Bioshock 2 teaser trailer
- Shaun White’s Snowboarding trailer
- 2x Soul Calibur IV trailers
- Tomb Raider Underworld trailer
- Tom Clancy’s EndWar video
- MotorStorm Pacific Rift "Air Zone" trailer
Themes and Wallpaper
- Gran Turismo 5 Prologue theme
- 4x Far Cry 2 wallpapers

US Additions:

Downloadable Games
- Age of Booty ($9.99)
Game Add-on Content
- LittleBigPlanet
  - MotorStorm Stormers Costume ($1.99)
  - Sack-Eating Plant Costume (SCEE contest winner)
  - Lilly Pad Costume ($0.99)
  - Hugo Costume ($0.99)
  - Great Blue Costume ($0.99)
  - Frost E Costume ($0.99)
  - Animal Costume Bundle ($2.99)
- Hot Shots Golf Out Bounds Costume Pack 2 ($2.99)
- PAIN
  - Movie Studio Lot ($5.99)
  - The Hoff Character ($1.99)
- FIFA ’09
  - Brazilian Commentary Pack
  - Czech Commentary Pack
  - Dutch Commentary Pack
  - English Commentary Pack
  - English #2 Commentary Pack ($4.99)
  - French Commentary Pack
  - German Commentary Pack
  - Hungarian Commentary Pack
  - Italian Commentary Pack
  - Mexico Commentary Pack
  - Polish Commentary Pack
  - Portuguese Commentary Pack
  - Russian Commentary Pack
  - Spanish Commentary Pack
  - Swedish Commentary Pack
- Need for Speed: Undercover
  - Aftermarket Body Kit Package ($2.00)
  - Aftermarket Hood, Spoilders and Exhaust Package ($2.00)
  - Aftermarket Wheels Package ($2.00)
  - Collector?s Edition Upgrade ($10.00)
  - Exotic Car Bundle ($7.50)
  - Muscle Car Bundle ($5.00)
  - Paint and Vinyls Package ($2.00)
  - Pro Handling Bundle ($2.75)
  - Pro Power Bundle ($3.75)
  - Race Handling Bundle ($2.25)
  - Race Power Bundle ($3.00)
  - Street Handling Bundle ($1.75)
  - Street Power Bundle ($2.25)
  - Tuner Car Bundle ($5.00)
  - Ultimate Performance Bundle ($10.00)
  - Ultimate Visual Bundle ($5.00)
- Sid Meier?s Civilization Revolution
  - Multiplayer Map Pack 1: Elemental
  - Multiplayer Map Pack 2: Terrestrial ($1.25)
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Costume Pack 1 ($4.99)
- Guitar Hero World Tour
  - Hendrix Track Pack ($5.49)
  - "Horse to Water" – R.E.M. ($1.99)
  - "Man-Sized Wreath" – R.E.M. ($1.99)
  - "Supernatural Superserious" – R.E.M. ($1.99)
  - R.E.M. Track Pack ($5.49)
- Rock Band
Game Videos
- Alpha Protocol Trailer
- Guitar Hero World Tour Zakk Wylde Vignette Network Trailer
- Soul Calibur IV Gameplay Preview Network Trailer
- WWE Smackdown vs RAW 2009 Network Trailer
- AST Play The Pros Cleveland
- AST Orlando Pro Moment
Movie and Blu-Ray Trailers
- Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian Blu-ray Disc Trailer
- Wall-E Blu-ray Disc
- BD-Live Educational Demo Blu-ray Disc Trailer

PlayStation Home v1.0 details

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Version 1.0 of PlayStation Home is close to release according to PlayStation Home Manager "TedTheDog" over at the Official SCEE forum. According to the forum post, notes of what version 1.0 will include will be made available to existing beta testers within Home. The new version is expected within the next few days, and then comes the open beta. The release date for the open beta will be announced in advance, but until then, SCEE will be inviting loads more users to part in the closed beta.

Main points from forum post:

The version 1.0 Patch Notes will be published in the closed beta forum so they know what to expect and to help plan testing.
A couple of days later Version 1.0 will be released into the Closed beta. That will not happen this week.
SCEE will be inviting a large number of extra testers into the closed beta to load test and that process will start within a day or so of v1.0 going live. We wont invite them all straight away, we’ll ramp it up over a a period of time. We will be inviting non-English speaking testers for the first time. Languages covered will be English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. Please remember these are languages, not countries, so more than the immediately obvious countries will be included to a degree. The lists have been chosen already, dont try changing your language to get included!
Once we start inviting people in to the Closed Beta the public SCEE Home forums will become the Home beta test forums.
The date of Open Beta start will be announced in advance
Open Beta starts and that will be just as it implies, Open to all

[Via: SCEE Forum]

Play Mirror’s Edge in 2D

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Mirror’s Edge hits retail shops in Europe today, available for both the PlayStation 3 and XBox 360. If you haven’t got yourself a copy yet, or are still deciding – a demo of the game is up on the PlayStation Store. EA and Borne Games have also released a 2D version of the game (currently in beta), which can be played for free. The beta contains one 2D level but the full release of the game will contain more levels.

[Play Mirror’s Edge in 2D]

PlayStation Video Store update for Nov 8th 2008

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Last week’s US PlayStation Video Store update adds 10 new television programs and 80 new movies for download or rental. New television includes Smallville (S8), The First 48 (S7) and The Unit (S4). As for new movies, Blood Brothers, Deja Vu, Shanghai Knights and We Were Soldiers are only a few from the list of 80 available for purchase or rental from the store. The top 20 downloads from last week include The Love Guru in first place, followed by The Forbidden Kingdom in second and Mongol in third place. Check out the list of content below.

TV:

Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Season 1
Intervention, Season 4
It?s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Season 4
Pushing Daisies, Season 2
Smallville, Season 8
Solty Rei, Season 1
Squidbillies, Season 3
The First 48, Season 7
The Secret Saturdays, Season 1
The Unit, Season 4

Movies:

Action Jackson
American Gigolo
An American Rhapsody
Bad News Bears (2005)
Best Defense
Blood Brothers
Bonnie and Clyde
Bringing Down The House
Cannonball Run II
Charlie Bartlett
Chicago
Dance with Me
Dead Calm
Déjà Vu
Enemy of the State
Falling Down
Falling In Love
Fame
Fear Dot Com
For Your Consideration
Forced Vengeance
Funny About Love
Goin? South
Hardball
Hercules
Hero
Hustle & Flow
I Confess
Krush Groove
Lady In The Water
Let?s Do It Again
Lilo & Stitch
Mars Attacks!
No Way To Treat A Lady
Presumed Innocent
Private Parts (1997)
Pure Country
Rumor Has It
Semi-Pro
Shanghai Knights
Spy Kids 3: Game Over
Star Trek I: The Motion Picture – The Director?s Edition
Star Trek IX: Insurrection
Star Trek VII: Generations
Sweet Home Alabama
Swing Shift
Swordfish
Tarzan and the Lost City
Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo
The Accused
The Alamo
The Aristocats
The Big Bus
The Brotherhood
The Browning Version
The Cowboys
The Dead Zone
The Delicate Delinquent
The Emperor?s New Groove
The Glimmer Man
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunted
The Man with Two Brains
The Matchmaker
The Molly Maguires
The Mummy Lives
The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter
The Power of One
The Prestige
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Running Man
The Shawshank Redemption
The Two Jakes
The Virgin Suicides
The Wild
Timeline
Top Secret!
We Were Soldiers
What A Girl Wants
Yours, Mine & Ours

PlayStation Store Update for Nov 6th 2008

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The first PlayStation Store update for November is a good one containing lots of game add-on content and new playable demos. The Metal Gear Solid 4 demo is now available to download in Europe and North America. Also, the first set of add-on content for LittleBigPlanet is now available to download – two new costumes are available for free from both stores, and Europe as also got two premium costumes available for purchase. Check out the complete list of new stuff below.

European Additions:

Playable Demos
- Alone in the Dark
- Metal Gear Solid 4
Downloadable Games
- Theme Park (£3.99/?4.99)
- Spin Jam (£3.99/?4.99)
Game Add-on Content
- Rock Band
  - The Presidents Of USA Pack 01 (£2.49/?3.99)
  - Dune Buggy (£0.99/?1.49)
  - Feather Pluckin (0.99/?1.49)
  - Ladybug (£0.99/?1.49)
  - I Don’t Care (£0.59/?0.79)
  - Use Me (£0.59/?0.79)
- Guitar Hero World Tour
  - Classic Rock Track Pack (£4.79/?5.99)
  - Hot Blooded By Foreigner (£1.59/?1.99)
  - Jessie’s Girl By Rick Springfield (£1.59/?1.99)
  - No Rain By Blind Melon (£1.59/?1.99)
  - Rock and Roll Band By Boston (£1.59/?1.99)
  - Neversoft Track Pack
  - Guitar Duel Track Pack
- Dead space Obsidian suit
- Dead Space Scorpion Suit (£1.99/?2.99)
- Firstwar Enlistment Pack
- LittleBigPlanet
  - Rare T-shirt (£3.99/?4.99)
    - MotorStorm Costume (£1.59/?1.99)
    - Spaceman Costume
    - Halloween Mask
- Naruto: Ultimate Ninja – Storm Pack 1
Game Videos
- PSP 3000 Trailer
- BioShock Launch Trailer
- Tomb Raider – Beneath the Surface 2
- Tom Clancy Mission Objectives Video Briefing
- Need for Speed Undercover Gameplay Trailer
- Need for Speed Undercover Teaser
- Pure Inspiration Trailer
- Resistance 2 E3 2008 Trailer
- Resistance 2 Twisted History
- Bayonetta TGS 2008 Trailer
Wallpapers
- Soulcalibur Wallpaper x2
Premium Themes
- BioShock – Special BioShock Theme (£0.79/?0.99)

US Additions:

Qore Episode 06: November, 2008
- $2.99 for episode / $24.99 for Annual Subscription
Playable Demos
- Metal Gear Solid 4
- NCAA Basketball 09
Game Add-on Content
- LittleBigPlanet
  - Halloween Mask Costume (free) – Limited time offer
  - Spaceman Costume (free) – Limited time offer
- Tom Clancy s EndWar FirstWar Enlistment Pack (free)
- NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja Storm Pack 3 (free)
- Guitar Hero World Tour
  - Waiting for the Rapture – Oasis ($1.99)
  - The Shock of the Lightning – Oasis ($1.99)
  - Bag It Up – Oasis ($1.99)
  - Oasis Track Pack ($5.49) – this track pack includes all of the above singles.
  - Another Way To Die – Jack White & Alicia Keys ($1.99)
- Rock Band
  - Ladybug – The Presidents of the United States of America ($1.99)
  - Feather Pluckn – The Presidents of the United States of America ($1.99)
  - Dune Buggy – The Presidents of the United States of America ($1.99)
  - The Presidents of the United States of America Pack 01 ($5.49) – this track pack includes all of the above singles.
  - I Don t Care – Fallout Boy ($0.99 – limited time offer)
  - Use Me – Hinder ($0.99 – limited time offer)
Game Videos
- Killzone 2 Helghan Trailer
- MotorStorm Pacific Rift Courses & Environments
- Resistance 2 TV Spot
- Bayonetta TGS trailer
- FIFA 09 "Inside The Game" Part 3 – Gameplay
- FIFA 09 "Inside The Game" Part 4 – Be A Pro
- Guitar Hero World Tour Ted Nugent Vignette
- MotoGP 08 Trailer
- MotoGP 08 Trailer 2
- NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja Storm TGS Trailer
- NBA 2K9 OBF Soldiers
- Tom Clancy’s EndWar Infantry Strategy Video Briefing
- Tom Clancy’s EndWar Mission Types Video Briefing
- Tomb Raider: Underworld Beneath The Surface: "What Could Lara Do"
Movie and Blu-Ray Trailers
- Standard Operating Procedure Trailer
- Tinker Bell Trailer
- Sleeping Beauty: 50 Anniversary Platinum Edition Trailer
Premium Themes
- University of Alabama Theme ($1.99)
- University of Wisconsin Theme ($1.99)
- Bikini Fashion Show Theme ($1.49)
- Sexy Ninja Girls Theme ($1.49)
- Spider Webs Theme ($1.49)
PS3 Themes
- Tomb Raider: Underworld Theme x2
- High Velocity Bowling New Characters Theme
- PixelJunk Monsters D Theme

LittleBigPlanet Servers down for maintenance

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The LittleBigPlanet servers are down today between the hours of 8:00AM to 5:00PM GMT (12:00AM to 9:00AM PST). During the downtime, the online areas of LittleBigPlanet will be unavailable – this includes playing community levels, your LittleBigPlanet profile and the ability to publish new levels.

PS3 Firmware 2.52

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Over at the PlayStation.Blog, Eric Lempel has announced that PlayStation 3 firmware v2.52 is now available to download. The update is a minor one improving playback quality of some PlayStation 3 titles and fixing a text entry issue when using the on-screen keyboard, USB keyboard or bluetooth keyboard on some games. The update can be downloaded using the System Update feature from the [Settings] menu on the XMB.

Changelog:

The playback quality of some PS3 format software has been improved.
A text entry issue that occurs when using the on-screen keyboard, USB keyboard or Bluetooth keyboard with some PS3 format software has been addressed.

Official PS3 Bluetooth Headset now available

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The official Bluetooth headset for the PlayStation 3 was first announced during SOCOM Media Day. The headset is already available, but not as a standalone accessory – until today. The headset was originally bundled with SOCOM: Confrontation but from today you can purchase it as a standalone accessory for use with compatible games, including Resistance, LittleBigPlanet and Warhawk. The headset is available for $49.99 (approx £27).

PlayStation Video Store update for Oct 31st 2008

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The Halloween update for the US PlayStation Video Store is a massive one. There are 20 new TV series additions to the store as well as over 100 new movies. New TV content includes American Dad, Bones, Chuck and How I Met Your Mother. As for new movies: Beerfest, Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and The Lord of the Rings are just some of the new movies available to rent or purchase. This week’s top 20 downloads include The Happening on top, followed by The Love Guru in second place and Iron Man in third. Check out the list of new content below.

TV:

American Dad, Season 4
Bones, Season 4
Chuck, Season 2
Elite Forces, Season 1
Family Guy, Season 7
Friends, Season 5
Fringe, Season 1
How I Met Your Mother, Season 1 &4
It?s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Season 4
Miami Ink, Season 4
My Name Is Earl, Season 4
Mythbusters, Season 4
Prison Break, Season 4
Pushing Daisies, Season 2
Sons of Anarchy, Season 1
Speed Grapher, Season 1
Squidbillies, Season 2
Top Tens, Season 1
Watchmen Motion Comic, Season 1
Weaponology, Season 1

Movies:

30 Days of Night
88 Minutes
A Mighty Heart
Absolute Power
Akira Kurosawa?s Dreams
An Arctic Tale
Anaconda 3: Offspring
Arctic Tale
Arthur
Assassins
Barnyard
Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker
Beerfest
Blood Work
Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again
Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One for the Road
Body Heat
Catacombs
Child?s Play (1972)
City of Angels
City of Men
Clash of the Titans
Collateral Damage
Con Air
Cookie
Creepshow
Crossroads
Daisy Miller
Deliverance
Dial M for Murder
Dirty Harry
Down With Love
Enter the Dragon
Forces of Nature
G.I. Blues
Gallipoli
Ghost Ship
Glory Road
Green Mile
How The Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer
How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
Infamous
Invincible
It Started In Naples
John Carpenter?s Ghosts of Mars
John Carpenter?s Vampires
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Ladyhawke
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Last Holiday
Last Of The Red Hot Lovers
Les Formidables
Li?l Abner
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Logan?s Run
Margot At The Wedding
Mars Attacks!
Monster House
Murder at 1600
My Blue Heaven
Nacho Libre
Nate And Hayes
Night of the Living Dead
Nothing But Trouble
Oliver?s Story
Once Upon a Time in America
Once Upon A Time In The West
Orca: The Killer Whale
Over Her Dead Body
Pale Rider
Phone Booth
Plaza Suite
Primal Fear
Pushing Tin
Quest for Camelot
Reprise
Romeo and Juliet
Roving Mars [IMAX]
Rustlers? Rhapsody
Saturday Night Fever
Save The Last Dance
Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King
Signs
Smart People
Snow Angels
Spies Like Us
Stand and Deliver
Strange Wilderness
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation
The Business Of Being Born
The Champ (1979)
The Departed
The Hunter
The Italian Job (1969)
The Little Mermaid: Ariel?s Beginning
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
The Queen
The Recruit
The Rock
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Sons of Katie Elder
The Sum of All Fears
The Time Machine
The Train Robbers
The Trumpet of the Swan
This Property Is Condemned
THX 1138
Tin Cup
Tobe Hooper?s Night Terrors
Tortured
Twilight Zone: The Movie
Wiggles: Sing A Song of Wiggles