Articles about PlayStation

The game-console area on the Endpoint spectrum is a place I rarely visit, but Sony's huge PlayStation Network outage misstep has finally caught my attention. What is this company thinking?

Letting the PlayStation Network go down for five days with no resolution in sight, or even indication when there might be one, is sorely trying the nerves of the 70 million PSN users.

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The devastating PlayStation Network outage continues unabated today, with Sony issuing a long-overdue new statement. Patrick Seybold, Sony senior director of Corporate Communications & Social Media, posted the update to the PlayStation Blog, as the network outage entered its fourth full day.

"We sincerely regret that PlayStation Network and Qriocity services have been suspended, and we are working around the clock to bring them both back online," Seybold writes. "Our efforts to resolve this matter involve re-building our system to further strengthen our network infrastructure. Though this task is time consuming, we decided it was worth the time necessary to provide the system with additional security."

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Nearly three days after Sony's Playstation Network online gaming service went offline, Sony has finally admitted that the service was compromised by hackers. As a result, the company disabled the service Wednesday evening to investigate the matter, an official statement indicated.

"An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services," spokesperson Patrick Seybold said. The service outage was done "to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward," he continued.

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As the outage of Sony's PlayStation Network entered into a third day without any end in sight -- and some reports indicate a cyberattack may be at fault -- at least one group is making sure that it is not blamed for the problem: Anonymous.

The group said that the mishap was due to internal issues with Sony's own servers, and those fingering Anonymous were "taking advantage of Anonymous' previous ill-will towards the company." A message to the company's PlayStation blog in Europe had said that Sony was investigating "the possibility of targeted behavior by an outside party," but since had been removed.

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At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today, Sony Ericsson officially unveiled Xperia PLAY, the first "PlayStation Phone."

Xperia PLAY is a 4" touchscreen slider, but instead of sliding to reveal a keyboard like most slider phones, it reveals PlayStation-style controls and buttons like Sony Computer Entertainment's PSP Go. It's powered by Qualcomm's 1 GHz Snapdragon processor with the embedded Adreno GPU capable of 60fps playback 3D gaming. It also features 400MB RAM, support for up to 32GB MicroSD storage, a 5.1 megapixel flash camera, aGPS, Bluetooth 2.0, and 802.11 Wi-Fi with hotspot functionality.

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At a press conference in Japan on Thursday, Sony Computer Entertainment announced it will be launching PlayStation Suite, which will make PlayStation content available on Android handsets and tablets.

"The world of portable [gaming] has undergone a huge change since the release of the PSP," said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment. "When we released PSP, cell phone providers were unable to deliver PlayStation-quality content. After six years, these multi-function handheld devices are ready for the PlayStation-like experience."

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Sony PlayStation 3 users can now download and stream high definition movies from Wal-Mart's video on demand service Vudu, with an application released in the PlayStation Store today.

Unlike Netflix and Hulu Plus, two streaming content services previously available on the video game console, Vudu is not subscription-based. It is instead a pay-per-view or download-to-own service like the "Movies" section in Sony's own PlayStation Store.

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Popular TV-over-the-Web service Hulu announced its subscription service Hulu Plus will be extended to Sony's 2010 line of Bravia HDTVs, and all PlayStation 3 owners next week. Previously, Hulu Plus on the PlayStation 3 required a PlayStation Plus membership.

With the PlayStation Plus requirement dropped, the price of Hulu Plus has effectively been cut by more than 29%, but the question remains: is it a worthwhile investment for those people looking to finally quit cable?

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Tech blog Engadget got its hands on some photographs of a device purported to be a prototype "PlayStation Phone" from Sony Ericsson. The phone is a landscape slider that bears a strong resemblance to the PSP Go when opened, and instead of Sony's XMB interface, it will supposedly run Android 3.0.

As expected, Sony Ericsson would not comment to us on the photographs this morning, but Engadget apparently has a decent source of information, and they have been getting exclusives on the device since August.

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Netflix and Dolby Laboratories today announced that Netflix Instant streaming will be enabled with 5.1 channel surround beginning on October 18.

The first consumer device to support the higher quality audio will be the Sony PlayStation 3, but Netflix says the feature will eventually come to more hardware, like the many connected HDTVs, Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, video game consoles, and mobile handsets supporting Netflix streaming today.

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At Gamescom, the annual video game tradeshow in Cologne, Germany, Sony Computer Entertainment unveiled a new PlayStation 3 bundle that includes not only the new PlayStation Move motion controller, but also the Playstation 3 with the largest hard drive ever.

In conjunction with the launch of Sony's PlayStation Move motion controller, the new 320GB PlayStation 3 slim will launch on September 19 for $399.99, and will include the PlayStation Move motion controller, PlayStation Eye camera, and a motion-based game entitled Sports Champions.

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Technology blog Engadget said Thursday that sources have confirmed mobile device manufacturer Sony Ericsson is working on an Android-based phone that would serve as the platform's first gaming-centric device.

Described as a cross between the PSP Go and the Samsung Captivate, the phone runs Android 3.0, otherwise known as "Gingerbread." It looks much like a slider phone, however instead of a keyboard the slider would pull out to reveal the gaming controls, the blog reported.

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Today, a select group of PlayStation Plus subscribers got access to the first preview version of Hulu Plus on the PlayStation 3.

Hulu Plus is the new subscription tier for the popular streaming TV website which lets U.S. subscribers watch their favorite programs on connected TVs, Set-top boxes, mobile devices, and now video game consoles for $9.99 per month.

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With the 3.40 software update to the Sony PlayStation 3 on Tuesday, Sony's new subscription-based gaming service called PlayStation Plus has gone live in several international markets.

Through the PlayStation Store, users can pay $49.99 for a year subscription to PlayStation Plus, or $17.99 for a three-month trial. Once a user's account is activated, content exclusive to subscribers is made available, such as one hour full game trial versions, discounted titles, and exclusive themes and avatars. Content exclusive to PlayStation Plus is marked by a yellow D-pad icon.

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While it is no secret that Sony will launch PlayStation Plus next Tuesday --a for-pay tier for the formerly 100% free PlayStation Network online service-- a Bloomerg report yesterday revealed a heretofore unknown partnership between Sony and Hulu may result in a new Hulu video service after the launch of the PlayStation Plus tier.

According to an unnamed source, the PlayStation Network's free tier will include subscription-based access to a Hulu streaming service that makes primetime NBC, Fox, and ABC content available on demand.

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