Today, Sony announced cloud computing on the PS3 exclusively for PlayStation Plus subscribers. The cloud will allow gamers to upload all their game save data to the network, with up to 150 MB of storage. The online storage will be available March 10 and more PS3 titles will release with the capability to take advantage of the feature. → Read More
This is a rather disturbing turn of events. Federal Magistrate Joseph Spero has approved a request by Sony to subpoena the hacker GeoHot’s web host, as well as YouTube, Google, and Twitter, for identifying information on anyone who has accessed, commented, or viewed information relating to the hack. At best this is lazy on Sony’s part and irresponsible on Magistrate Spero’s, and at worst it is a deliberate and malicious wholesale violation of privacy.
The pretense for this wildly overreaching action is that Sony needs this information to prove the case should be tried in San Francisco, in federal court and close to Sony’s headquarters. And why do they feel it should be? Because that’s in Sony’s terms of service. This after another judge noted that by Sony’s standards, “the entire universe would be subject to [her] jurisdiction.” → Read More
The feud between Korea’s LG and Japan’s Sony has just hotted up. LG has won a preliminary injunction against Sony in Europe, the result of which is the temporary banning of the importation of PS3s into the continent. LG says Sony infringed on a number of its patents, specifically with regard to Blu-ray playback. Hence, the preliminary injunction. → Read More
Portal 2 may be coming to the PS3 and bringing cross-platform play and some Steam elements with it, but the Steam interface is really designed for mouse navigation, not analog sticks. Valve is looking to fix that with a special “big picture mode” designed for use with big TVs and console controllers. → Read More
Oh dear. Sony has now sued graf_chokolo for one million euros. What’s the point? What is this going to accomplish, outside of paying for a bunch of lawyers’ holidays? → Read More
Sony is said to be working on a “hack-proof” PS3. So saysa rumor attributed to an anonymous source—the best kind of rumor, of course. The new PS3 would replace all currently existing PS3 SKUs. Whether or not the new SKU sees the light of day depends on how Sony’s lawsuit against George “Geohot” Hotz fares. → Read More
This isn’t big news to anyone but PS3 hackers, but I wanted to include it just as a “ahhh yeah” shout-out to all the people fighting to use their hardware however they like. The PS3 is limited to FAT32 formatting, but with the release of this library, you can now hot-swap NTFS-formatted drives, making home development and backup easier — as well as perhaps allowing for easier playback of large video files. [via PS3Crunch - wait, PS3Crunch?!] → Read More
It looks like the police, at the behest of Sony, have raided the house of graf_chokolo, one of the preeminent members of the PS3 hacking scene. How about that for a chilling turn of events? → Read More
George Hotz, the “hacker” known to the world at Geohot, had recently asked for donations for a legal defense fund. You’ll recall that Sony flipped out after Geohot made the tools available for everyday people to jailbreak their PS3, which in Sony’s mind is tantamount to piracy. Anyhow, Hotz has called off the donation request, saying that he’s collected enough money to hire “a few more lawyers” for his defense. → Read More
It’s looking more and more like the PS3 version of Portal 2 will be the better of the two console versions. Valve told the German PlayStation Blog that Portal 2 PS3 will ship with “complete” Move support. Apparently they’re still working on working out all the kinks, but it’s part of Valve’s effort to make up for the so-so PS3 version of The Orange Box, which was developed by an external team. → Read More
Sony has just rolled out a new application for the PS3 called Filmy that “allows easy organization and viewing of AVCHD video recorded with Sony cameras on [the system].” Well, as long as it’s easy, I suppose. → Read More
What exciting times we live in, what with word that Sony has plans to subpoena a boatload of Web sites and individuals in an attempt to track down the members of fail0verflow and other PS3 hackers. Good luck with that. But wait, what’s this? Now LG wants to ban the sale of PS3s here in the US of A because of a patent dispute? In the words of Scott Hall, two sweet! → Read More
Sony is apparently going after more hackers than just George Hotz and fail0verflow. Sony is looking to get DMCA suits against all PS3 jailbreakers who share Sony’s source code on Github. Well-known PS3 hackers Waninkoko, KaKaRoTo, Hermes, Kmeaw and Graf_Chokolo have been named in documents to Github requesting all docs and posts from the users, as well as all contact information. → Read More
Lo! It would seem that “Other OS” will return to the PS3, albeit in an unofficial capacity. (Do you honestly think Sony will ever sanction the return of “Other OS”?) Well-known tinker graf_chokolo says he’s brought back the option to install other operating systems, and that it’s “coming soon.” → Read More
My kingdom for a mouse and keyboard! Sony’s Killzone 3, which I’ve secretly been playing (less multi-player) for the past few weeks, ranks right up there with Halo: Reach as the best example of a console shooter you’re likely to find. People with no time for “console shooters”—rails, scripted sequences, etc.—may as well click away now. And while it’s so very, very painful to play a game in 2011 at lowly 720p—my PC’s vertical resolution is nearly bigger than its horizontal resolution!—and doubly painful to play a shooter without a mouse and keyboard, the fact that I soldiered on speaks for itself. If I, by all accounts an elitist jerk with nothing to do all day but kvetch about everything under the suns, can enjoy the game, then who among us won’t be able to do the same? → Read More
This is really too bad; I was looking forward to this game, despite the unpardonable offense of getting jumping in my Bionic Commando. It turns out that Rearmed 2 has DRM that, like a few other games we’ve seen, prevents you from playing when you’re offline. Like, for instance, if there was a blizzard and your internet was down. Or you have metered internet and turn it off. Or you just don’t like the idea of having to always be logged into some service to play a game you bought. Well, they just lost one sale, anyway. → Read More
Although the latest firmware for the PS3 (with reports of a possible secret rootkit) is just hitting today, it looks like it’s only going to be a matter of days before an easy crack is made available for it, if early indications pan out. Not that we support piracy here at CrunchGear, but the constant battle between hacker and hacked is always interesting. Sony just tries so hard! Too hard, I think. → Read More
For Sony’s sake there had better be nothing to this next story. A particularly nasty rumor currently spreading around the place where rumors tend to spread around quite easily, the Internet, suggests that the latest PS3 firmware, version 3.56, has a rootkit that can remotely execute code without your knowledge or approval. It’s 2005 all over again! → Read More
Marvel vs. Capcom 3 comes out in two weeks—woo!—and that means it’s time to throw your standard-issue controller in the trash and pony up for a proper arcade stick. Mad Catz has one that may interest you called the Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Arcade FightStick: Tournament Edition. The name is quite the mouthful, yes. → Read More
Japan gets the PS3 Slim in a new color, following white and blue last year: Sony announced [JP] two new models that will be available in “Satin Silver” today (that’s the same color Sony introduced for the fat PS3 back in 2008). → Read More
