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Just when you though Sony could do no wrong, they throw another curveball at you. David Reeves, President of the SCEE, has told GamesIndustry.biz that they will no longer sell the 60GB Playstation 3 once it runs out of stock, which is expected to be the end of this month.

After dropping the price of the 60GB model by 100 dollars, and introducing a 600 dollar 80GB version, things seemed to be looking up for Sony. With this brash move, Sony has essentially forfeited any advantage they previously had. In fact, though it has 20 more gigabytes, the $600 model actually takes a step back when it comes to emulating PS1 and PS2 games.

It almost seems as if Sony’s being sabotaged from the inside.

Read [GamesIndustry.biz]

Update: New reports say this is not true for the “foreseeable future”.

Those quotes from David Reeves are not accurate. He said that if they had lowered the price in Europe, that territory would have run out of their current inventory by the end of July… As announced this week, SCEA’s product offering in North America consists of a 80GB PS3 available in August at $599 and a 60GB PS3 available now for $499. We have will have ample supplies of both models to meet the needs of our consumers for the foreseeable future.

First came Brain Age, a portable way to toughen your mental muscle. Now comes Wii Fit, a physical fitness game/program for the Nintendo Wii.

Pictured above is the Wii Balance Board, a wireless aerobic-step device that detects you doing push-ups and the like. It does so with dual sensors that detect the shifting of your weight from side to side.  Since it’s wireless, it may be used in conjunction with the Wiimote for full body games. As a clever side feature, the Balance Board can calculate your BMI when you’re not using it for any exercises.

Read [Gamertell]

At Sony’s E3 press conference today, details of the latest update to the PSP were released. The PSP upgrade includes a slimming down of the handheld by 19%, a battery life upgrade of 33%, and the addition of a new Ice Silver color as well as a white Star Wars Battlefront special edition. The only real new update was the addition of video out, allowing you to play your games or watch movies on your TV at home.

The update wasn’t quite the ”PSP 2” everyone had hoped for with a 60gb hard drive and other additions, but it is a welcomed upgrade by Sony fanboys all around the world.

Live Blog [Gamertell] Pictures [Engadget]

Yeah right, you don’t really have anything better to do right now. Head on over the Gamertell to check out the live blog of the Sony Computer Entertainment E3 presentation.

[Sony Live Blog]
[Gamertell E3 coverage]

In today’s E3 conference, Nintendo announced a much anticipated accessory for their Wii console. Reminiscent of the Duck Hunt gun of yesteryear, the Wii Zapper is designed for modern day FPS games.

In the plastic housing, the Wiimote will act as the pointer, or barrel of the gun. All the while, the Nunchuck is readily accessible, sitting at an angle facing you. This means that you may use the analog stick on the Nunchuck to move your character around.

It will ship later this year, with a retail price of $20.

Mysteriously, Nintendo said it will ship free with a “far-off” FPS game, without giving any insight as to what it might be.

Read [Engadget]

Our buds over at Gamertell are live-blogging Nintendo’s E3 press conference today, which starts at 12:00AM Eastern, 11:00AM Central, 10:00AM Mountain, and of course 9:00AM Pacific - for you west-coasters..  The post will be updated every few minutes.  Tune into the feed by clicking the link below.  Go on, get over there for some exciting announcements from Nintendo… and leave a comment for them so they know you’re there!

Gamertell Live Blog: Nintendo’s E3 2007 press conference [Gamertell]

At tomorrow’s shell-of-itself E3 conference, Microsoft will announce price drops for the Core, Premium, and Elite SKUs of the Xbox 360.

Somewhere, a Sony exec cringes.

A few hours after Sony formally announced a 80GB PS3 and price drops for all their units, Microsoft deftly strikes back. The Elite bundle, introduced by Microsoft a few months ago, takes a plunge from $479 to a nice, round $399. Meanwhile, the Premium package goes from $399 to $349, making the most consumer friendly unit even more, well, friendly. The tiny Core package drops 50 dollars to a meager $249, tying the Nintendo Wii for least wallet damaging next-gen console.

Given these recent price cuts of the powerhouse consoles shows a lot. For starters, while technology grows in homes worldwide, wallets remain fairly constant. Also, newer technology doesn’t always win customers over.

Last, but not least, the Wii is beating everybody.

Read [Next Generation]

I received this reminder in the mail last week about registering for E3 2007. The event has been moved from LA to Santa Monica, from May to July, renamed from E3 to E3 Media & Business Summit (to sounds more professional) and downscaled from big, boomin’ booths to more intimate (and informational) press and PR reps tet a tets.

Note the excessive Santa Monica propaganda. I’ve left out the dull back page and, of course the insert that included my personal ID code and registration instructions. I wouldn’t want anyone registering in my place.

We’ll soon be launching Gamertell where we will keep you up on video game and E3 news and updates.

Site [E3 2007]

The field of competitors to take advantage of the revamped E3 grows. The latest addition is E for All, short for Entertainment for All, put together by IDG World Expo. Corp. The Expo, which will include video game, game tech and other interactive products, will take place October 18-21, 2007, at the LA Convention Center. Anyone will be allowed to attend E for All - thus the “All” part of the name - although those under 13 should have some type of legal supervision.

So far they’ve not said many specifics about tournaments, except there will be some, but it will have a gamer’s lounge, the Into the Pixel video game art exhibit and the Video Games Live concert.

Advance tickets cost $45 for a Thursday/Friday pass, $65 for Saturday/Sunday and $90 for all four days. Admission at the door will be $50, $75 and $110, respectively.

The exhibitors list is apparently still growing since they haven’t really released one, but the biggest name so far is Nintendo. Let’s hope it grows soon so gamers get to preview more than just Wii and DS games. We’ll certainly post updates about this potentially fun-for-everyone event as we get ‘em.

Site [E For All]

You heard what Bill had to say, now get our perspective (if you so dare). This is also a great option if you didn’t get to listen to his podcast and want the quick rundown…

More to come from CES over the next few days.

This podcast was once again sponsored by GoDaddy.com and comes with a 10% off coupon. It was also made possible by the Samson Zoom H4 and PodServe.

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Hosts: Doug Berger, Adam Berger, and a guest appearance by Greg Cherniet
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Dvir Tzadok
File size: 38.6MB
Length: 00:56:17

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