playstation

Why Amazon's Kindle Fire is like a razor

commentary While the Kindle Fire's dramatically low price may seem revolutionary, Amazon is actually taking its cues from a well-worn playbook.

Industry analysts, blogs, and even our own site cooed at the $199 price point of Amazon's freshly unveiled tablet. The company is using price as the hook, even if it loses money on each unit.

But before you sing Amazon's praises for breaking new ground, you should realize that undercutting the competition to drive adoption is far from a new strategy. In reality, Amazon and the Kindle Fire is only the latest example of a company … Read more

Sony's data loss didn't breach Privacy Act

Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) Australia wasn't on the wrong side of the law when it experienced a massive data breach due to a cyber attack earlier this year, according to Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim.

The commissioner had decided to investigate April's Sony PlayStation Network (PSN) breach, which saw hackers gain access to over 70 million customer records. SCE Australia told the Commissioner that each individual's name, address (city, state, postal code), country, email address, date of birth, online ID, PSN/Qriocity password and possibly credit card data could have been accessed during the attack.

Principles set … Read more

$1.6M Battlefield 3 tournament coming in 2012

Ever wished you could win money--big money--for playing video games?

While that dream may never come true for most of us, there is a chance for anyone with an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 to become a gaming god. Virgin Gaming, EA, and DICE are teaming up to host a Battlefield 3 Worldwide Conquest tournament with $1.6 million in cash and prizes on the line.

Potential fraggers must be 18 years or older to register for the online tourney, which begins in 2012 and which Virgin is calling the "largest online console game tournament ever." Unfortunately, the contest is not available for PC gamers, who make up a huge portion of the fan base for the series. In some aspects, I can see why Virgin Gaming may want to avoid integrating PC gamers, as cheating has soured FPS games for many years on the platform.

Nonetheless, Virgin's official response to PC gamers being excluded was rather disappointing. "Our technology is only set up to integrate with console games at this phase in our life. We're still new and trying to create a unique service that resolves a lot of the challenges in the competitive gaming space today," a Virgin rep said. "We have much love for gamers on all platforms, and as we grow we'll try to bring everyone under the tent." … Read more

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus make triumphant debuts on PlayStation 3

Ask any self-respecting PlayStation 2 owner about must-have titles for the console and just by default, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus will eventually come up. Not only were both brilliantly unique in their gameplay and style, but they were also pivotal steps in changing the way we think about and play games. Developed by the same team, the games aren't necessarily specifically related, but there is an undeniable spiritual connection between the two.

Fortunately for gamers, Sony has bundled the two critically acclaimed titles onto one Blu-ray disc as The Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection. It features HD remasters of the original games, trophy support, as well as the option to play the titles in stereoscopic 3D. There are even special video features that dive into the making of the games. It's available now for $40.

Jeff: For me it's easy to recall my favorite game on PlayStation 2. When Shadow of the Colossus debuted in October 2005, I was blown away at the game's ability to suck me into a larger-than-life tale. While the storyline was a bit ambiguous, I felt an undying need to wander the world in search of the 16 enormous bosses.

With its 2011 refresh, Shadow of the Colossus looks better than ever, beautifully rendered in high definition. It still holds up compared with current-generation efforts, but it's interesting to see where the generational divide has left us. While linear at its core, Shadow feels wide open in its design. The game is a relentless teacher, refusing to give any hints aside from a beam of light that points the way forward. The real genius of Shadow is that it expertly disguises "levels" as each colossus and the environments that surround each beast.… Read more

NFL Sunday Ticket on PS3: Second take

On opening weekend of the NFL season, I gave NFL Sunday Ticket To Go, DirecTV's NFL game-streaming service, a spin on the PlayStation 3. Or, at least, I tried to: service outages for Sunday Ticket To Go plagued everyone and killed the excitement of NFL game-watching on a console.

Two weeks later (I was tailgating at the Jets-Jaguars game last week), I returned to my first-gen PS3 to give the service a second go. Thankfully, this time it worked as well as advertised.

Related stories • NFL Sunday Ticket on PS3 first take: fumble • NFL streaming comes to the PlayStation 3 • NFL fan plea: make games internet-friendly

Sunday Ticket on the PS3 acts and works nearly identically to how it functions on devices like the iPad. After entering login information and waiting several seconds, a dashboard of all the available Sunday games appears for browsing, optimized for use with the PS3 controller (stats and standings can be browsed with the left/right shoulder buttons, but if you use a PS3 Bluetooth remote you'll need to fumble for the equivalent "L2/R2" button). Sunday Ticket starts you off on the Red Zone Channel, which cuts to the most interesting action among all games. From there, clicking on the others will load the appropriate game, after a delay of 10 seconds or so. … Read more

Sony Playstation Move Navigation drops to $14.99

The Playstation Move Navigation is Sony's companion controller for its Move motion controller (think of as sort of Sony's version of the Wii Nunchuk controller except that it's wireless).

Because you can just use a standard PS3 controller for navigation, it's not exactly a must-have accessory, especially when you consider its list price of $39.99. However, Amazon is now offering the Sony Playstation Move Navigation Controller for $14.99, which we think is a pretty good bargain, especially if you're a Prime member and can pick up the free two-day shipping.

What do you … Read more

PlayStation Network down, Sony says should return soon

Sony's PlayStation Network is currently experiencing an outage affecting users of the service around the world.

An error message appears when attempting to log in to PSN: "An error has occurred. You have been signed out of PlayStation Network. (8002A548)." According to an official PlayStation support site, the error code 8002A543 may also appear.

"We're aware that some of you are having issues trying to log into PSN. We're working to resolve the issue, and we'll update you here," read a tweet on the PlayStation Twitter account several hours ago.

PlayStation Blog Europe also chimed in on Twitter with an acknowledgement that the PSN is down in that region. "PlayStation Network engineers are working hard on restoring the service."

Just a few moments ago, the same account offered a timetable and some hope for confused users of the service who can't get online: "Current indications are that we'll be restoring PlayStation Network services in approx. two hours. We appreciate your patience." (Update: As of 1:30 p.m. PT, tweets were beginning to indicate that the service was gradually returning online.) … Read more

Questioning Sony's new class-action waiver

The Sony Network Entertainment has added a controversial change to its Terms of Service and User Agreement (PDF) for users of the PlayStation Network and the Sony Entertainment Network (Music Unlimited, Video Unlimited). In the revised terms, consumers must waive the right to participate in any class-action lawsuit filed after August 20 against the gaming and content delivery portion of Sony.

If you don't agree, then your PS3 can't get online or purchase media content from Sony. Future disputes between consumers and SNE must occur individually in court or through an arbitration procedure.

Licensing agreements with restrictions like this are actually more common than you might think. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of class-action waivers last April in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion. In that case, the court held that federal law pre-empted state rules against class-action waivers. Sony will have difficulty enforcing this policy outside of the U.S., as some other countries make agreements like this impossible.… Read more

Sony: Sign new PSN terms or you're banned

Use of Sony's online services, including the PlayStation Network (PSN)--which was hacked to pieces a few months ago when digital thieves made off with millions of users' personal information--is now subject to terms and conditions that see you waiving your rights to collectively sue the company for any reason, including future security breaches.

Anyone taking issue with Sony in the future will be unable to take part in a class action lawsuit, and instead will have to work with an arbitrator of Sony's choosing "on an individual basis" to resolve the problem, the BBC reports.

Read more of "Sony: Sign new PSN terms or you're banned" at Crave UK. … Read more

Facebook's subscribe button

YouTube adds a built-in video editor to the site, Dyson releases a room heater called simply Hot, and Facebook's new subscribe button makes the social network more like Twitter and Google+.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Facebook becomes like Twitter with subscribe button Netflix takes subscriber hit Sony PlayStation Vita's battery life YouTube adds built-in video editor Dyson's Hot AM04 Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3)iTunes (320x180)iTunes (HD)RSS (MP3)RSS (320x180)RSS HD