PlayStation.com has done a neat little round up of the major Sony announcements regarding their PS3 price drop, new PSP, some Vita details and a what’s new on the Move side of things. We’ve already covered the PS3 price drop and the new PSP, but this provides a useful one-stop list.
Sony has confirmed that the 24″ PlayStation-branded 3D TV originally announced at E3 earlier this year will be coming to Europe this Autumn. The display will have a price of £499 in the UK and a price of €499 for Europe. South Africans can start holding their collective breath… now.
Sony has made two relatively surprising announcements during their Gamescom 2011 keynote speech. And neither of them appeared to mention hacking. OK, they’re both much more interesting than that – the first is that effective immediately, the PS3 will have its price reduced. And the second is the announcement of a new, cheap PSP. Don’t expect either to mean much in South Africa for a while still.
The 160gb PS3 is dropping to $249.99 in the U.S., €249.99 in Europe and ¥24,980 in Japan. On top of that, there is a new inFamous 2 320gb bundle available that comes in at the ridiculously low price of $300. [Source]
**UPDATE**
Eurogamer is reporting that the UK price for the 160gb PS3 is £199.
If you are in Japan, congratulations, it appears you are the only country that will be getting the Vita this year. Other territories will need to wait until early next year to get their hands on Sony’s new portable gaming console.
Also, do not expect a lowered price to accompany the delay and the price will start at $249 and end at $299 for the 3G version.
While rumours of the next Xbox being revealed at E3 next year get under way, Sony still remain convinced that their current generation console will be around for a while still.
Sony has further got everyone’s attention by trademarking the names ‘PS Vita’ and ‘PlayStation Vita’, the rumoured final name for Sony’s new handheld which has been known as the NGP to date.
Rumours were doing the rounds after pictures were leaked on what looks like an NGP brochure with this new [possible] name – ‘Vita’.
Just last Thursday Sony was again attacked by hackers who breached Sony’s So-Net Internet service provider where stole ¥100,000 (around R 8000) worth of “virtual points” from account holders.
Now GamesIndustryBiz reports that a Sony website in Thailand has been hacked and virtual points stolen in Japan but at least the PlayStation Network itself was not breached this time.
So-Net advised customers to change their passwords and stopped the So-Net points exchanges after their system was attacked. “At this point in our investigations, we have not confirmed any data leakage. We have not found any sign of a possibility that a third party has obtained members’ names, address, birth dates and phone numbers,” the company said in a statement.
Sony has dropped a lot of new goodies for their upcoming third instalment in the Uncharted series. The trailer also indicates that a multiplayer beta kicks off on 28 June 2011.
Sony’s NGP [PSP successor], may only be launched in one region this year – either Japan, Europe or the US because of the continuing crisis in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami.
Sony Computer Entertainment America president, Jack Tretton told Bloomberg, “It may be the straw that says maybe we get to just one market by the end of the year.”
This should not come as a surprise as Japan is a primary manufacturer of electronics and components and the earthquake has forced several factories in Japan to close for repair. Supplies from third parties in Northern Japan have been badly effected.
Sony has announced that the free-to-play, family-friendly persistent virtual world game, Free Realms, is scheduled for release in North America on March 29 for the PlayStation 3.