Gamernode: Latest PlayStation 3 News

Kaz wants more exclusive content, PS3 owners agree...

I remember days where exclusives were all the rage. It was almost a surprise when games came out for two consoles, instead of a surprise when they went exclusive. These were days before the Internet, if you can even fathom such a time. I believe we rode mules to get around the village in those days as well.

Sony has had a strict 'we won't pay for exclusive content/games' policy for some time. That policy came down from former exec and current bald man Phil Harrison. But now that he's gone, Sony may be rethinking their standpoint on exclusivity especially since their competition is doing what Sony won't.

When asked about the current standpoint on paying for exclusives, Kaz Hirai replied, "That's something that we can re-evaluate, but it's also something that the publishers need to make a ...

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Bioshock for PS3 will be "genetically enhanced"

Bioshock, the critically acclaimed horror/sci-fi adventure game will have its day on the PS3 as early as this October, but not only that, the PS3 version of Bioshock will be "genetically enhanced." Well, they do it to cows, plants, and chickens, so why not video games too?

What this means to PS3 gamers are that they'll either be treated to more powerful plasmids in the game or see new ones added.

According to Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K games:

"Since BioShock for Xbox 360 and Games for Windows won countless 2007 Game of the Year awards, we are excited to see the impact of this stellar title for the PLAYSTATION 3 system when it debuts this fall. Over the coming months we look forward to revealing the new features and content that will make this a must-have game for its new audience, a...

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MGS4 has 90 minute cutscenes

Have a comfy chair? Good. How about extra bags of popcorn and pop? Excellent. Because once June 12th hits, and MGS4 is spinning snuggly inside the drive of happy PS3's across the world, gamers are going to have to endure cut scenes which reach a mind boggling ninety minute mark; feature film length.

Yes, that is a plural. There is more than one cutscene of this duration.

PSW Magazine said of the scenes, "MGS4's story is massive. The videogame equivalent of all three Godfather movies on one disc. As you'd expect, you'll spend a lot of time watching cut-scenes, so if you found previous games' story exposition laborious, then you'd better find yourself a nice cushion and plenty of teabags in readiness for MGS4's." "They can be skipped, but you'll be missing out on some of the finely crafted e...

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BioShock Confirmed for PS3

Well PlayStation 3 owners, today is your day. After all the constantly denied rumors, rumblings on message boards, and jabs by the Xbox 360 crowd, BioShock is finally coming to the PlayStation 3. Rejoice, parades, confetti! Unfortunately, this is all we do know except that Jordan Thomas is spearheading project and it should release in time for the holidays.

Can we rule out exclusive content? Not entirely. Obviously, the PlayStation 3 version is going to have to give some incentive as to why we should fork over another sixty-plus dollars on a game from last year. Being bundled with the DLC from XBL would be a good start, but some unique levels, weapons, enemies; something is going to have to surface to appease the PS3 fan base. And there is also the issue of an install on the hard drive. Wil...

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Metal Gear franchise to continue

With Metal Gear Solid 4 soon to be released, some believed the Metal Gear franchise was coming to an end. They thankfully were wrong. Solid Snake's story will be concluded, but the Metal Gear titles are going to keep being produced. What Metal Gear Solid 4 signifies is the end of Solid Snake's story. June 12th will be the last day we all get to rush to our local game store and pick up Snake's latest adventure. Yes, this is sad but think of the possibilities the Metal Gear franchise can head now.

If Hideo Kojima is still involved with the future Metal Gear projects he has a clean slate to tell his new story. There are no questions he has to answer, or rules he has to follow. The world is open to him once again, and that is exciting.

Solid Snake was one of the most baddass characters to ever ...

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How Konami and Sony f*cked up the release of the L...

The most powerful form of marketing is word-of-mouth. Given this commonly known bit of advertising 101 splendor, who better to act as herald to one of the biggest games of the year sold only for a console in desperate need of any kind of content; let alone the highly marketable system-selling triple-A blockbuster kind; than the die-hard fans; the people who have had the next entry in the series at the top of their "most anticipated" list since they were forced to pull the trigger on their virtual mentor in a sea of white flowers over four years ago. These people, of which I'm a proud card-carrying member, are arguably any series greatest asset, and expanding their numbers must be made a top priority. Unfortunately, just the opposite has happened. Konami and Sony have just pissed them off.

C...

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Are MMOs Sony's trump card?

Consoles are known for the genre they do the best at. Currently, the Xbox 360 could be considered the shooter console, while it wouldn't be a stretch to call the Nintendo Wii the party platform. The PlayStation 3, like the PlayStation 2, has it the best since there is no definite genre the console excels at.

In reality it has or will have good games across all genres. This is something both Microsoft and Nintendo wish they had, and the only reason the PlayStation 3 is sitting in such a nice spot is thanks to the immense success of the PlayStation 2.

The president of Sony Online Entertainment, John Smedley, would like the PlayStation 3 to be known specifically for MMOs. Like anyone these days, thanks to World of Warcraft, the MMO market is opening up, and Mr. Smedley believes the PS3 sits in...

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Metal Gear Solid movie will have Kojima as produce...

Metal Gear Solid 4 is releasing later in June, but talks are already ongoing for the Metal Gear Solid movie. Everyone can take a sigh of relief since no one is interested in having Uwe Boll direct the film (except Ewe, of course).

What is interesting is Metal Gear Solid games play very much like movies themselves. Their cinematography, action scenes, and dialogue, at times, rival that of some action flicks. Some fans are ever considering the release of MGS4 to be the blockbuster of the summer regardless of the movies versions of Iron Man, Speed Racer, Indiana Jones, and even The Dark Knight. I'd have to agree with them. MGS4 is going to have some major payoffs.

So the question remains, how does one make a Metal Gear Solid movie without making it feel like we, the gamers, are just watching a ...

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Rockstar releases patch for GTA IV. Needs work.

Rockstar has released a patch for the PS3 version of Grand Theft Auto IV to address crash bugs found in the game. That's the good news. The bad news is that it only fixes the online multiplayer server problems and not the main issues with the game hanging up and freezing during the offline game.

Rockstar said the fix ""prevents Gamespy's servers from being overloaded and therefore reduces the impact on those servers that were causing the game to stutter and lock up."

That's great, but the awful issue of not even being able to play the SP game is still alive and well. Rockstar says it is "monitoring" the offline and online portions of the game.

"We continue to monitor the performance of the game both on and offline and will provide further updates as necessary. We want to assure everyone that,...

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PS3 is going "pro-choice" for HDD configurations

Since the PS3 has debuted, we've seen a plethora of different HDD configurations for the machine in multiples of 20. Sony has released the 20GB, the 40GB, the 60GB, and 80GB PS3 models. What's next? The 100GB?

David Reeves, boss at Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe says he would like to see the gamer take control of this decision and choose their hard drive capacity instead of facing all the different PS3 HDD models.

"We launched with 60GB and to reduce the price we went to 40GB. We're not sure we want to stay with that configuration of hard drive, and I think what you're going to see in the future is maybe consumers can choose.

"The PlayStation will stay the same, but consumers can choose whichever size of hard drive they want. They can now, or course, because it's not a proprietary hard...

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LittleBigPlanet slips, Home taking its time

Anyone who is eager to play with a bunch of dolls made out of burlap sacks and design environments out of paper cut-outs will have to wait just a little bit longer than previously expected. The flagship PlayStation 3 title LittleBigPlanet has been officially pushed back from September to October, inching ever closer to the holiday hot zone.

Sony Computer Entertainment president Kaz Hirai made the announced at Sony's PlayStation Day 2008 in London yesterday, where he asserted that the game will revolutionize the way gamers interact with videogames.

Additionally, Hirai told the gaming press on hand that Home, Sony's in-development community network, will be open to the public only when it is ready. Hopefully that means that the project will hit users' living rooms completely bug-free and fea...

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Sixty player online madness for Resistance 2

Insomniac Games just keep rolling out the good news. The latest comes from the next installment in Insominac's original FPS IP, Resistance. Having been the best launch title for the PlayStation 3, it is not surprising that the game has spawned a sequel.

Promising to be bigger and badder in everyway possible, Resistance 2 is going to sport 60 person multiplayer when it launches this Fall for the PlayStation 3.

The original Resistance also had a hefty player cap, and while the game ran smooth as butter some of the maps were too big or the battles too crazy for fun to set in. Let's hope that the experience Resistance provided makes Resistance 2's multiplayer the crowning achievement we know it can be. [Via Insomniac Games]

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Haze demo finally reaching release for PS3

Back when I attended the E3 convention in 2006, one of the games I saw on demo was Haze.

I have a small plastic box of "Haze" mints that were passed out as a promotional giveaway for my efforts of stepping into the Haze tent to see the game. Since that fateful day, I still have that box of Haze mints, shrink-wrapped and sitting on my desk, but not much more solid evidence that the game, indeed, exists.

But now, two years later, the Haze demo is coming out for the PS3, says SCEE.

"To mark the event, PLAYSTATION Store on PS3 will carry two updates instead of the usual one. Look out for great demos, including PS3 exclusive Haze, as well as a host of game trailers, expansion packs and videos of the press conference which will include a keynote speech by Kaz Hirai, President of Sony Computer Ente...

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GTA IV PS3 version resolution is sub-HD

It has recently been concluded that GTA IV on the PS3 runs at 640p, a resolution not considered to be hi-def. This is the same resolution that caused some console flaming by PlayStation fanboys when it was discovered that Halo 3 was not "hi-def."

The irony? GTA IV's home is the PS3--the console that has consistantly boasted of its superior graphics.

The man who found this out was Quaz51 from Beyon3d technical forums. Announcing his news prior to receiving a reliable screenshot, he stated that the PS3 ran at 640p with no anti-aliasing while the 360 ran at 720p with 2xAA.

Eurogamer, as usual, took the information from Quaz51 and ran with it, regardless of the absence of a reliable screenshot. When the game came out, IGN had a head to head, which revealed, surprisingly, that even though t...

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Valkyria Chronicles battle gameplay

For those of you who haven't heard of it, Valkyria Chronicles is an action-oriented RPG from the same people over at Sega who brought us Skies of Arcadia for the Dreamcast. This PS3 game looks like a 3D moving watercolor painting, and features a unique combat system that combines an overhead strategy view with real-time action.

Valkyria Chronicles has already been released in Japan, and will be hitting the US during Q3 of this year. It looks phenomenal. Check it out:

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Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer

There are a few certainties in life. One of those is the fact that whenever a Metal Gear Solid trailer is released, I will take the time out of my busy, busy schedule to increase my burning desire to play the final game. Occasionally, I'll share said video with you, the GN faithful - especially when it features an OCD-friendly, fast-paced montage of in-game action sequences for everyone else to get excited about along with me. Well, that's exactly what the following clip has to offer (minus the English language), so enjoy:

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BBFC says MGS4 will have "child rape"

The controversial and oft-deemed unnecessary British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has gotten their grubby paws on the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4, and what they have to say about the game is quite interesting, indeed.

According to the BBFC, MGS4 features the "generally undetailed" violence that gamers have come to expect from the series, befitting the '15' rating that the board has classified it under. What might be surprising is the following line, lifted from the BBFC website:

"The game also features one use of strong language and references to suicide and an implied child rape."

Child rape, huh? Somehow that phrase seems like a trolling device devised to get the general public's attention and generate some ill-will towards the title, rather than being an honest description of the ...

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You can't go "Home" yet. Public beta delayed again...

When Sony first announced the user interactive program "Home" for the PS3 there was an immediate buzz surrounding the new program.

It promised to offer users a virtual community where PS3 gamers could meet each other in a virtual world, interact with one another, have virtual apartments to live in, and live in a digital realm free of charge.

You can't go home just yet because the open beta for Home has been pushed back from Spring to the Fall of this year.

Kaz Hirai, president of SCEA said, "We understand that we are asking PS3 and prospective PS3 users to wait a bit longer, but we have come to the conclusion that we need more time to refine the service to ensure a more focused gaming entertainment experience than what it is today."

Hirai emphasized the point that Sony would rather delay the ...

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Metal Gear Online beta delayed till April 25th

Earlier today, eager Metal Gear Solid fans were all set to enjoy the launch of the Metal Gear Online beta that was supposed to take place but hopes were dashed when Konami announced a delay and suspended the beta. But in a subsequent update, Konami announced the beta will re-launch on April 25th and will run till May 11th.

So what attributed to the delay? According to the press release, there were simply too many people applying and hoping to get into the beta; in other words, they were hit with huge amounts of traffic. Konami will spend the extra days tweaking their servers and hardware to meet the demand around the world.

Here's the official word:

"We would like to thank all players for their keen interest in taking part in the beta test.

However, we regret to inform you that due to extraord...

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Beta theives get caught by Konami

People love the word beta. Just saying beta excites people. Getting to play something before it's finished (and for free) gets people to do crazy things... like buying Crackdown for example.While last summer the beta discussion was all about the Xbox, this summer we are talking about the PlayStation. More specifically the Metal Gear Online Beta. From what I understand there are three beta's going on, one for Europe, one for Japan and one for America. Apparently, Europeans and the Americans have been registering into the Japanese beta for MGO, denying real life, authentic Japanese people from registering.In an attempt to quell the masses Konami has started removing the people who live outside Japan from the Japanese Metal Gear beta. This statement was issued to all of the people who wer...

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