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PS3 sales have picked up the pace in the UK and, for the last four weeks, has outsold the Xbox 360. Sony has also confirmed to Market for Home Computing and Video Games (MCV), a leading British industry journal, that PS3 has gone past the 1 million-sales milestone in the UK and at a rate faster than its antecedent console, the PS2…

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After all the hubbub over Sony bragging about their Emmy - the online bitching followed by Sony’s retraction - and the Academy’s eventual clarification of the award(s), Nintendo took its good ol’ time to brag about its Emmy. Sending out a press release just after CES on Jan. 12, 2007, the somewhat slower response allowed enough time for all the facts to come in for a brief, cool-headed and accurate PR response. Bureaucracy might have had something to do with it, but the delay paid off as Sony’s efforts pretty much backfired with online fans.

The Emmy for Nintendo was for its development of the D-pad. If you’ve ever seen the guts of an Atari 2600 joystick, it’s easy to see how that technology could be turned into a stickless, button-based controller. It took the Nintendo tech to work out better specs and put it into the flatter - and far more sturdy - NES/Famicom controllers which reached the US in 1985.

Not to leave the other game-related Emmy winners out of the picture, John Carmack and id Software respectively won for contributions to rendering technology as the lead programmer on Doom and technological leadership in rendering breakthroughs with Quake’s technology. Also, Microsoft won one for DirectX, and Sony grabbed a second Emmy for the Xross Media Bar GUI - originally used on the PSX (media center) and now part of the PSP and PS3.

Read [Nintendo] Site [National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences] Via [Kotaku]

Sony announced at CES 2007 that they shipped 1 million PlayStation 3 game consoles to North America by the end of 2006. They further explained that the PS3 reached the 1 million mark faster than either the original PlayStation or PS2, though some reports indicated only 800,000 units sold. Also, 1 million is only half of Sony’s original, promised goal of 2 million shipped by last year’s end.

The announcement was not a big consolation to gamers who still don’t have the pricey system or who paid a small fortune to get one close to the initial release. The Xbox site naturally claims PS3s are just sitting on shelves while the Wii is consistently selling out. The good news is that Sony is committed to each of their products for 10 years, so you’re likely to get a semi-affordable PS3 before then. Oh, and the European launch is still on track for March 2007. (Whoopie for that.)

See Gadgetell’s Sony Press Conference recap for more PS3 and PSP details.

Read [Home Media] Read [Blogging Stocks] Read [TeamXbox] Read [TechSpot] Read [PSU] Review [PS3]

Blaze Games, makers of multimedia management software for various MP3 players and game systems, have a few game-related products they plan to showcase at the upcoming CES (Jan. 8-11, 2006, in Vegas). The first is the Xploder Parental GameLock for PS2, a software/hardware combo that prevents games with certain ESRB ratings from playing on the PS2. With the parental control software loaded to a memory card (not included) the X-Lock physically holds the card in place so pesky tykes cannot remove it. Unless, of course, they have a hacksaw. Updates can be performed with a USB memory device and management is done through an on-screen GUI. It’s available now and listed on their site for $39.99.

The other items they’ll demonstrate at CES include new Xploder Media Management software for the Wii and MP3 players (availability and price not indicated) and the Xploder HDTV Player for PS2 which allows gamers to play HD games and watch HD movies on an HDTV or PC monitor (available now for $39.99).

Read [Xploder Press Release]

When released they eyetoy introduced a whole new way to interact with the gaming system, just as the Wii-mote will. Since the release of the PS2 version there has been little is any details around a updated eyetoy version for the one-week-away PlayStation 3. But now, new videos of PS3’s EyeToy have restored our faith and added buzz to Sony’s next-gen “uber console.”

Showing the PS3 flinging items around screen in response to actions, resizing videos ‘held’ in users’ hands and even recognizing faces to load pre-set preferences, it’s left us drooling for the killer console/camera combo. Stunningly zippy, and super crisp, the new promo flick shows the all new EyeToy can make sense of environments to add costumes and backgrounds, as well as overlaying interactive items into scenes. Most interesting is a desktop-esque interface, where gamers can pluck items from around the screen, and flick them into areas where for example, in the case of an audio CD, they’ll start to play.

I don’t know, there may be haters out there but the Sony PS3 seem to be getting better and better. Click on for two videos.

This is the new video… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PzvcsLIQg0

This is back from E3…

Read [T3]

Sony is trying to make the PS3 a little lighter on folks by announcing the release of a new, limited edition silver Playstation 2. The console will sell for $130 and include a silver PS2 controller, yes the rumble controller which will soon extinct. To date Sony has sold more than 111 million of the consoles and 1.12 billion games for it.

“Six years after its initial launch, the PlayStation 2 continues to enjoy nonstop success, outselling all other consoles,” said Jack Tretton, executive vice president, co-COO, Sony Computer Entertainment America. “The introduction of this limited edition model is sure to be a hit this holiday season with die-hard PlayStation fans and new gamers alike.”

Read [Kotaku]

If you’re worried that all the new games systems will make your current consoles obsolete, it seems it’ll be quite a while before Sony retires either the Playstation 2 (PS2) or PSP. Sony will continue to release new games for both system and allow the PSP to interconnect with the PS3.

For example, the original Playstation (that’s PS1 to gamers) games that are/ will be available for download will be transferable between the PSP and PS3. The PS2 has already been around for 6 years and, according to Sony Marketing SVP Peter Dille, Sony expects the PS2 to survive a “solid 10-year life cycle.” Here’s to four more years!

Read [Home Media Retailing]

Blaze Games is previewing Xploder HDTV Player in the US this week at DigitalLife in New York, NY (Oct. 12-15, 2006). Xploder HDTV Player allows gamers to play PS2 Games in High Definition on HDTV sets with improved improvements clarity, character definition and color quality. It will be compatible with approximately 95% of all PS2 games and provide 480p, 576p, 720p and 1080i HD modes.

To use the player, gamers will need to load the Xploder disc in the PS2, select settings and then load their game. Releasing later this month (October 2006), the Xploder HDTV Player will retail for $49.99 and ship with a high-quality RGB component cable. Finally I can watch the Hot Coffee mod in steamy HD.

Read [XPloder]

Hasbro, makers of the foamy NERF brand products, have joined up with Performance Designed Products, makers of Pelican brand video gaming accessories, to develop a new line of virtually indestructible game accessories. The first product will be a wireless controller for the PS2 featuring Pelican guts and Nerfy outsides. They are expected to be available in stores this Fall for $29.99 and tough enough to “withstand squeezing, throwing, twisting and spiking.” If they are shaped like a Nerf football, however, there might be many breakable household objects that will need to be coated in Nerf.

Although the PlayStation 3 is Sony’s primary focus these days, that doesn’t mean they don’t have some interesting in the PSP realm.  The company announced last month plans to go pink with the PS2 and PSP in October, but now they’ve decided to hit some other colors - in prototypes anyways.  At the Tokyo Game Show this past weekend, Sony showed the PSP in silver, blue, yellow, red, and even camouflage.  So far, only the pink and silver ones have been confirmed for Japan, and pink for UK and eventually Europe.  The rest of the colors were simply shown as prototypes and currently have no release date scheduled.  I’m not sure how I feel about a camouflage one, but hey, it’s your decision to make.

Read [GameSpot]