playstation

PlayStation Mobile and PlayStation Vita: Too many screens for Sony?

LOS ANGELES--If E3 2012 is The Year of the Second Screen, then what does that make Sony, a company that seems to have one too many solutions to a single problem? The PlayStation Vita and the PlayStation 3 form a perfect hardware tandem, theoretically: with as many inputs as a Wii U tablet and a screen just an inch smaller, the Vita could the PS3's best friend. … Read more

Sony pumps up PlayStation Plus

Later this week, PlayStation Plus members can download 12 games free, including major titles such as Infamous 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, and Saints Row 2. The company expects to start bringing more free games to the table each month, suggested PlayStation President and CEO Jack Tretton at Sony's E3 press conference. … Read more

Microsoft has a new gaming handheld...and it's the iPad

LOS ANGELES--You can forget about your dreams of an Xbox 360 Portable. That's so 2006. No, at this year's E3, Microsoft did something much more surprising: instead of getting proprietary, it hopped on everyone else's platform instead.

Xbox SmartGlass was the touted application, service, technology -- whatever you want to call it -- that stood for a new product at Microsoft's E3 press conference this morning in Los Angeles. It needed some jolt of new produce excitement, arguably, and SmartGlass can stand in as this year's "what is that?" buzzword, a second-screen concept for turning seemingly any smartphone or tablet into an additional display when watching movies, playing games, or browsing online. … Read more

Live blog: Sony's E3 2012 press conference

More details of God of War: Ascension? A cloud gaming acquisition? A reason to care about PlayStation Move?

We've already outlined what we expect Sony will announce at this year's E3 press conference. To see the news as it happens, heat up some dinner and check back here on Monday, June 4, at 5:45 p.m. PT/8:45 p.m. ET.

While you're waiting, feel free to peruse our ongoing coverage of E3 2012.

Three little-known ways to use a USB flash drive with your PS3

There's a good chance that the USB ports in your PlayStation 3 mostly, if not exclusively, get used to power and connect your gaming accessories. What's not obvious, however, is that those USB ports can also be used to read and write data to a standard thumbdrive.

What kind of data, you ask? Dust off your thumbdrive and check out these three useful ways to pair it with your PS3.

Load up music, movies, and photos There are a few ways to get music, video, and photos from your computer to your PS3: wirelessly stream it; burn a … Read more

Sony nixes idea of online-only console, WSJ says

Gamers would have experienced an online-only PlayStation console from Sony if the company hadn't pulled the plug on the development, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Sony decided against a download-only plan for its next gaming console and opted to include the traditional optical disk drive, according to the WSJ, which cited unnamed sources.

Online services that allow console users to download games, television shows and music without the need for disks or cartridges are gaining popularity with consumers. The Xbox 360 has evolved beyond a gaming machine and into a media hub.

But the console industry is slow to … Read more

E3 needs a new product

As we head toward E3 2012 in Los Angeles, I've noticed something curious in the air:

No one really cares.

By "no one" I mean no one who's not a gamer, of course. The general public, even the casual technology fan. Compared with years past when friends would try to pump me for information on when the next PlayStation would come out, whether there would be anything new for the Wii...well, this year, it feels like radio silence. The video game fan at my local Starbucks who kept asking me about the Nintendo 3DS a year ago barely has any questions to ask. My friend who bought a Wii two years ago doesn't seem interested. I couldn't use E3 to start a conversation if I tried.

It's seemed that way on the appointment-making end of things, too: other than Nintendo's inevitable reveal of more details on the Wii U, we're entering this year's E3 with a stunning lack of new hardware...or even of new hardware rumors. The oft-wondered-about "When will we get a new Xbox or PlayStation?" chatter has already been shot down by Sony and Microsoft, which claim there won't be a PlayStation 4 or Xbox 720 at this year's E3.

I do know one thing, though: E3 needs a new product.… Read more

Will we see Xbox 720 in 2013, PlayStation 4 in 2014?

There's no official word yet on the release date for the next-generation successors to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but a recent Los Angeles Times article suggests the launch timeframe for the next-generation gaming consoles could happen over the next several years.

The latest rumor originates from a recent lawsuit involving Activision that brought to light details of the company's publishing agreement with game developer Bungie.

The contract, a 10-year deal made between the two companies in 2010, indicates that Activision expects Bungie to launch a sci-fantasy, action shooter game code-named "Destiny" in November 2013 for the Xbox 360 as well as a specifically referenced Xbox 720. A game for the PlayStation 4 would arrive in 2014, as noted in the official agreement between Activision and Bungie.

So did that contract just inadvertently announce when we should expect the next Xbox and PlayStation consoles?… Read more

Sony moves 1.8 million Vitas

A total of 1.8 million PlayStation Vitas have shipped to date in the U.S., Japan, Asia, and Europe since launch, according to Sony.

CEO Kaz Hirai revealed that figure during a follow-up to an earnings call today in which the company posted a record loss.

The latest Vita figures --which Harai called a "good start" -- indicate a surge of nearly 600,000 units shipped between late February and March 31 (back on February 28, the Japanese company said it sold 1.2 million Vitas worldwide). While the new numbers seem like a silver lining in Sony's dark financial cloud, however, Vita sales still stall in comparison to the competition. To put things in perspective, it only took a month for Nintendo to ship 3.61 million 3DS gaming devices worldwide after its debut. … Read more