80 GB PS3 price drop active now

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Business

You have to hand it to Sony: Once they've made their minds up, they like to act fast. For example, you might have thought that they would wait to cut the 80 GB PlayStation 3's price until the 40 GBs were in the wild, but not so. In fact, you can scoop up the only PS3 that can play PS2 games for $500 at your favorite game retailer, even though its little 40 GB brother won't be on the scene until Nov. 2.

Just do us a favor. If you're going to buy a PS3, make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. Make sure you're buying it for Warhawk or Everyday Shooter or high-def movies or any of the many perfectly valid reasons to buy one. But don't buy it out of fear. Don't buy it because you're afraid that when you do want one the system will be even worse, or missing some other key feature that you care about. You're too good for that, and you work too hard for your money to be bullied into spending it. You already know that Sony dropped backwards compatibility to make you buy more PS3 games, you don't need to let your hand be forced. Remember, you're the one with the power. They have to make it compelling for you.

[Thanks, Mike]

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[via] Joystiq

Joystiq at E For All 2007

Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, Features, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, First Person Shooters, Online, Competitive Gaming, Peripherals, MMO, Rhythm, Casual, Galleries

So, we came, we saw, and we'll be back for more throughout Friday and the weekend, but the big question you all wanna know is ... will there be an E For All 2008? Signs point to "not very likely." Judging by some of the empty rows of gaming stations we saw, and the fact that it doesn't fill the South Hall at the Los Angeles Convention Center, it's hard to imagine this show being a giant success.

In fact, since it's held in the exact same place that E3 used to be, it's impossible not to compare it to the other shows. In fact it sort of feels like E3 reborn, except that they forgot to send out invites and let people know about it. There were a few busy areas, like the Konami booth which had a line of people all day long waiting to play the MGS4 demo (which was sweet, more on that later), and the Nintendo booth had bleachers set up where people patiently waited to get their hand on Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which was also sweet. If by sweet you mean button-mashy, which we do.

Also popular was Link's Crossbow Training, which we'll be playing tomorrow, and of course, Guitar Hero 3. We also witnessed several people pulling Peter Moore's at the Rock Band trailer, which was an extremely cool setup ... but sort of sparsely attended. Probably due to the fact that no one really wants to hear perfect strangers butchering The Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go."

While there's not a ton of material out there that hasn't already hit the shelves, we did have fun playing around at the EA booth (we still love you, The Orange Box), and Civiization: Revolution is a lot of fun, which we'll be telling you more about soon. For now, the obligatory Guitar Hero III stations, the elaborate Rock Band stages, the ubiquitous cosplay shots and an overdose of Fatal1ty await you in the gallery.

Gallery: E for All 2007

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[via] Joystiq

Big Brother Microsoft is watching ... with portals

Filed under: Culture, Microsoft Xbox 360

You may think that the guys handing consumer relations for Microsoft have it easy (discounting, of course, the occasional bout of scarlet unpleasantness). But we're not sure we could handle the kind of scrutiny they put their new employees under. Take this poor sap who was allowed to work from his home ... as long as he'd agree to a portal in his living room.

Selfish as we are, we're less concerned about Nelson Rodriguez's plight than we are about the implications. Think about it for just a moment: Microsoft in bed with Aperture Science? Can that really be good news for anyone?

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[via] Joystiq

PlayStation Store gets new demos, trailers

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3

If you took advantage of the new price drop on the 80 GB PS3, you'll be happy to hear that you can start putting those luxurious gigs to good use with tons of new content on the PlayStation Store. First off, you've got some new demos for Folklore and Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights and videos for Uncharted, Turok and Devil May Cry 4. In addition to some movie trailers, there's also a new Eye of Judgement-based theme.

As if that weren't enough, the new update also come equipped with value, as the price of David Jaffe's super fun Calling All Cars has been reduced for one week to $4.99. ... Hey, does this mean it actually is in the garage sale bin now?

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[via] Joystiq

Ready at Dawn raises sun on Okami for Wii

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Action, Adventure

The rumors were true and Capcom is porting PS2 gem Okami to the Wii, now it's time for some details. 1UP reports that Ready at Dawn, developers of the depressingly pseudo-delayed God of War: Chains of Olympus, will handle the porting. Capcom was looking for a developer to port Okami to the Wii last year as "the PS2 release suffered from shipping amidst the flurry of next-generation consoles." At GDC '07 execs from Ready at Dawn expressed their admiration for the game to Capcom's senior director of research and strategic planning -- they got the offer within a week.

There's no word if additional content will be created for the Wii version; Capcom says that all depends if Ready at Dawn gets the primary game finished in time (they can use extra time to add stuff). Okami is expected in the first half of '08.

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[via] Joystiq

Future comes one week early for Ratchet & Clank

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Adventure

Like the comically violent effects of the series's trademark weapons, some fantastic news comes flying in from the Official PlayStation Blog regarding Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Due to manufacturer's expediency, the game started arriving in stores early and instead of getting angry and Hulk smashing everything, Sony's given retailers the green light to start selling the game next week. However, it's not yet known what stores will be selling it before the "official" October 30th release date.

This situation currently remains YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) given there's no list of stores, public anyway, who've received a slice of the Future early. However, expect fellow gamers to post tales of receipt on every forum they post on, which while annoying should aid you in your quest. Good morning, and good luck.

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[via] Joystiq

E For All: the view from the floor

Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Video

Since we were running from appointment to appointment, we didn't have much time to shoot video, although be sure and check out our 200+ image (and growing) E For All gallery for your edutainment.

What video we did manage to shoot and cram into iMovie and then upload hastily to Viddler is here, also for your edutainment. As you can see, Rock Band and Guitar Hero III were popular stops, and Namco's Pac-Man heads were a hot commodity. There's a bit of Super Smash Bros. Brawl tossed in, although a Nintendo-bot came over and told us that we couldn't film the gameplay footage since, "The game isn't out yet." Strange, but we sort of thought that was the idea behind showing it off at E For All. Anyhow, she let us keep what we filmed, and then went off after another amateur cameraman.

We'll be bringing you more from the floor today and through the weekend, including more impressions of MGS4, some interviews, and more hands-on than you can shake a Wiimote at. If there's something you've heard about at the show that you want captured on video or with some photos, let us know ... just please don't make us document the selection in the food court. We beg of you.

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[via] Joystiq