Sony maintain that PS3 price-cuts aren’t on the agenda, but according to the latest leaks coming out from unnamed industry sources, the console will get a $100 reduction come mid-August. The news comes courtesy of Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia, who tips Sony as reducing the PS3 just prior to the launch of Madden on August 18th.
Anybody who has physically brought a live monkey into their home will know that it can be one of the more fraught experiences. Happily Sony’s EyePet game is still on track to make that monkey virtual; the company may not have made much mention of it in their E3 keynote, but a new video demo and screenshots confirm that it’s still on course to be one of the PS3’s most unusual titles.
Sony EyePet video demo after the cut
It’s not just the PSP Go!; Sony have also got something new for PlayStation 3 owners, too, in the shape of their own take on a motion controller. A mere day after Microsoft announced their “Project Natal” system for Xbox 360, Sony’s PlayStation Motion Controller offers 1-to-1 recognition by tracking a glowing purple ball on the end of a controller stick, using a PS Eye camera.
Video demo after the cut
As well as the Satio, Sony Ericsson announced another touchscreen handset today: the Aino. A slender slider with a 3-inch touchscreen and numeric keypad, the Aino has an 8.1-megapixel camera, Sony Remote Play support for streaming media from a PS3, GPS, HSPA and a nifty docking station that will also charge the wireless remote.
Video demo after the cut
Sony are preparing to announce the latest version of their handheld gaming system at E3 in a few days time, claims a trusted source, but will wait until August or September to launch their slimline PS3. According to the tipster – whom Ars Technica describe as having a 100-percent success rate for previous leaks – Sony’s UMD-free PSP Go will take the headlines at E3, but the company wants to shift more existing PlayStation 3 stock before announcing the new model.
Numark have released details on their SCRATCH DECK controller for Scratch: The Ultimate DJ on Xbox 360 and PS3. The controller – which can be flipped around to suit left- and right-handed gamers – comprises of a free-spinning, touch-sensitive turntable and five drum pads, used for triggering either in-game samples or those recorded using a USB microphone.
Tony Hawk: RIDE has finally been priced, and that clever skateboard controller isn’t doing gamers on a budget any favors. The game plus the controller comes in at a not-inconsiderable $119.99, according to Gamestop.
Opinion on what were claimed to be leaked chassis images and box-art for the upcoming Sony PS3 Slim tended toward the dubious, but they’ve just received a shot in the arm courtesy of of a cease & desist letter. Sent to Engadget (who bizarrely weren’t even the first site to feature them), the letter is not from Sony but from another, so-far unnamed Chinese firm, potentially the owners of the factory in which the leaked shots were taken.
C&D notice after the cut
Is this the Sony PS3 Slim, narrowed-down follow up to the PlayStation 3? That’s what workers in a Chinese manufacturing plant would like us to believe, but the jury as to the images’ authenticity is still out. On offer is the PS3 Slim box art and several shots of the supposed casing.
Well isn’t this interesting? It seems a Walmart down in Florida has sold a Dual Shock 3 controller before they were supposed to, seemingly confirming Sony’s plans to announce this PlayStation 3 remote in white for U.S. release at this year’s E3.
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