NEWS: Playstation Phone Leaked

A few months back tech blog Engadget reported that Sony were working on a PSP Phone and now it seems that they have proof of its existence. The site today posted pictures of what they allege is the PlayStation phone.

The pictures show a slide up smart phone with a striking PSP go style control panel which includes shoulder buttons, movement buttons aswell as all other controls currently found on the PSP. The only thing missing are the analogue sticks which it seems have been replaced by a touch sensitive pad.

In the article Engadget states that the device will include a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 mobile processor, 512MBs of RAM, 1GBs of ROM, a 3.7 to 4.1-inch touchscreen display, a built-in camera with LED flash, aswell as the touch pad.

Not much else is known about the device at this time and while this could all be an elaborate hoax early word is that it is the real deal. If so we can expect an offical announcement in the coming months.

NEWS: Gran Turismo 5 Delayed

Gran Turismo 5 is to miss it;s intended November release date after being hit by another delay.  The news was announced today on the official US Playstation Blog when the following statement was released, “We sincerely apologize to GT fans for the delay, however, creator Kazunori Yamauchi and the team at Polyphony Digital want to make certain they are creating the perfect racing experience, and we are confident that this ambitious game will exceed expectations when it launches.”

This is the second major PS3 title to be delayed after it was announced earlier this month that Little Big Planet 2 would not be released this side of Christmas.

Gran Turismo 5 has been delayed once more as Sony announces it is to miss its November release date.  Sony has confirmed that this delay will affect all markets with a European spokesman stating that it hopes to reveal the new release date before the end of the month and that the game will eb on chelves in time for Christmas.

REVIEW: Resistance 2

Developer: Insomniac | Publisher: Sony | Format: PS3

REVIEWER: Brendan Tinnelly || Resistance 2 is the sequel to PS3 launch title Resistance: The Fall of Man. The original, exclusive to Sony’s console, was a refreshing, inventive shooter that combined impressive visuals, art-direction, and game design. However, in an environment dominated by Halo and Gears of War, Resistance’s quirky weapon set and sleepy English setting didn’t quite find the audience or critical acclaim it deserved.

Resistance 2 then, in true sequel form, aims to address the short-comings of its predecessor, and to do so in a bigger! louder! more! way. No longer under pressure to meet a launch deadline, Insomniac have had the time and resources to fully realise their vision.

Have they succeeded? Resistance 2 is certainly bigger and louder. The story has metamorphosed into a sprawling B-movie homage complete with Russian mad-scientists, genetic experiments, zombies and crack commando squads. Street battles in quaint British market towns have given way to gloriously realised full-scale invasions of 1950s San Francisco, to the backdrop of a ruined Golden Gate bridge. The campaign whisks you from American suburbia to dense forests and beyond in an offering of impressive variety.

The enemy too has received an upgrade, both in variety and size. Taking obvious cues from Gears of War, the player is confronted with giant, lumbering adversaries that require nerves of steel and a steady hand.
Sadly, bigger doesn’t necessarily translate as better. Indeed, too many of the new enemy types are a pale shadow of those of the first instalment. Some are inexplicably designed – who thought a stampeding, invisible monster who kills with a single hit was a good idea? – while others simply lack any ounce of style or charm.

The story too, falters. While the plot itself is enjoyable enough hokum, its presentation leaves one wanting. In-game, things are heavy-handily scripted, and the cut scenes that book-end each chapter offer little in the way of exposition. The story may bring you to myriad locations, but there has been no real impetus to explain why you’re there.

So, colour me disappointed. When Resistance launched alongside the PS3, it showed a lot of personality and a lot of invention. Sadly, the intervening time has seen the humdrum banality of other prominent shooters invade Insomniac, and a lot of that personality and invention has fell by the wayside.

Intel buys Dublin games firm Havok

Dublin games middleware company Havok is to be taken over by chip manufacturer Intel.

The deal will see the company that grew out of Trinity College become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intel.

Havok’s software tools have been used on games such as BioShock,
Harry Potter, Half Life 2, MotorStorm, and Second Life, and upcoming
titles such as Halo 3, Alan Wake, and Indiana Jones (pictured above).

FULL STORY: Dublin gaming firm snapped up by Intel

INTERVIEW: PlayStation nation

The
launch of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) was a success, the boss of Sony’s
Irish PlayStation division told this publication in a wide-ranging
interview (This article was first published last month in Slant magizine, which was distributed in Dublin city center).

Niall O’Hanrahan the managing director at Sony Computer
Entertainment Ireland told us that the launch was “Very good”, even
thought he admitted — unlike another cheaper console — the PS3 was
not a sellout. The cheaper Nintendo Wii launched here before Christmas
was a sellout.

“We’ve shipped 20,000 and of that 17,500 are sold”, O’Hanrahan said.
He put the left over stock down to planned over supply “It was planned,
that was enough stock”.

He also robustly defended the high price of the

PS3 to Dublin – Is this living?

Since the Irish PlayStation 3 launch, a huge amount of advertisements with the slogan “This is living” have occupied advertisement spaces across Dublin, backed by TV spots — pictured above is a bit of a twist.

On Grafton Street, one of the main shopping areas in Dublin, Sony
asks shoppers and commuters who have just departed the near by Luas
tram, “is this living?”. The advertisement also points to the thisisliving.ie website.

Meanwhile, we never expected an answer to
“what’s the strangest way to make sure journalists will try your
game and enjoy them selves?”

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 publisher Ubisoft answered by
rounding up some journalists and bring them to a paintball arena in the
Wicklow Mountains (pictured below, and more beyond the fold) — there’ll be no escape.

Add to the mix were a few competition winners, Sarin and Jam from the publisher’s ‘Fragdolls‘, and eight Xbox 360s and flat-screen TVs from the Xbox Live Gaming Centre. 

Playing with Xbox 360s in an open shed in the Wicklow Mountains just after paintball, Games Toaster
was thinking it must rank as one of the strangest PR events. Surprising
the staff at centre weren’t that shocked, another publisher had held
a similar event a few years ago.

 

- Last four photographs Ubisoft press images, all others Games Toaster.

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