PUBLIC MARKS from mrongos with tags sony & "PS3 Rumors"

Don’t ask why we were surfing the 360 forums. It’s a long, painful story. Even more painful is the sorry reason that Microsoft has decided to hop onto the legal train and sue Sony (besides the fear instilled upon Microsoft by the PS3… or so we’d like to believe). Now, many of us have probably seen the “controversial” list we’ve got at the top of the page. Is it misleading? If you’re ignorant. Here’s why.

We’ll transcribe the worthwhile questions and answers from the FiringSquad interview with a Sony spokesperson because we’re lazy — besides, not much else to say other than what was asked/answered.

Will digital distribution take over the disc format in a mere five years? Vice President of SCE Worldwide Studios Europe, Jamie MacDonald, believes so, just like Phil Harrison. Let’s clog this drain with a big quote: “In five years’ time, my belief is that

So we got a lot of comments asking what this “Remote Play” feature was on the PS3 as listed on its translated interface menu. Thanks to our fellow Sony-addicts over at PSPFanboy, we’ve got a little more to tell you. With “Remote Play”, you can stream data

We all know that it is highly likely that the PS3 will come bundled with some Blu-Ray movie love. Afterall, what better way to get all 6 people that own 1080p TVs hooked on the superiority of Sony’s latest format? When word broke at TGS that the XBox 360HD-DVD player would come bundled with King Kong, the guessing game for the PS3’s pack-in reached its peek.

The fine folks over at EvilAvatar and MagicBox are reporting that the low-end PS3 isn’t the only PS3 to gain an HDMI port. According to their TGS information, the 60GB version will now have not one, but two HDMI ports. Like me, you maybe asking yourself: “What the hell?” Here’s Sony’s alleged answer.

Sony can’t catch a break. This time the rumors and innuendo have cost them. Literally. Earlier this week, Macquarie Equities analyst, David Gibson, put the hurt on Sony by apparently stating that “he had heard” that several PS3s on the show floor at TGS “operated erratically and had to be repeatedly reset.” According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “The problem seems to stem from consoles running too hot and then shutting down. Sony has claimed that it was simply a case of not having the proper ventilation at the kiosks where the consoles were played. It’s possible, but Sony stock was down almost 3 percent by Wednesday from the revelations.” To put that into perspective, a 3% drop in Sony’s stock price on the NYSE represents a drop in Sony’s value by more than $1 billion dollars! Yes, I said “billion.” Of course, stocks rise and fall everyday… sometimes by less than 3% and sometimes by much, much more. What’s interesting is that with this drop attributed to PS3 overheating “news,” it appears that shareholders (specifically, institutional investors), are watching the PS3 launch very, very closely. Everyday, my appreciation for the PS3’s potential to make or break Sony grows. On the bright side of things, and based on the picture to the right, the PS3 can double as a mirror! That should drive Sony’s market cap up a few hundred million.

According to Michael Denny, VP of SCE Worldwide Studios Europe, the ability to personalize, customize, and download extra game content is an essential part of next-gen gaming success. To quote, “We face more than just a console generation transition. An 18-year-old today has never known a world without broadband, mobile phones, or MP3s.” That’s stretching it. This blogger is older than 18, but only by a few years and he can easily recall life without any of those devices. Heck, before 56k even. Life was nice and ignorant. Another interesting quote: “Today’s games are competing for time share even more than cash.” This is actually pretty true. When I, personally, plan on what games to buy, I limit myself to a certain number because of the time they’ll take to beat, not because of their cost. So much time passes that sometimes entire games will go unpurchased because of the length of time put into other games. If anyone watched South Park last night, you’d see that World of Warcraft is pretty much the lord of “time share”, game wise. Finally, “Today’s gamer wants to customise their games to fit their own personality and style and [wants] games to be more interactive than ever before. Today millions of ordinary people have the tools and the role models to become amateur producers… It is the desire to participate and create that becomes the enduring entertainment experience itself.” So there’s another hint at Sony’s home-brew campaign — if only we knew anything about the dang online service! Still, the thought of finally upping those RPG Maker 2003 games for others to enjoy… bliss. Also mentioned was the ability to alter actual games… the best way to think of that is probably The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. Making your own towns, dungeons, etc, and upping them for others to download and enjoy. Good stuff.

God of War’s David Jaffe had dropped hints on his blog a long time ago about not wanting to make just epic titles, expressing also his desire to make more casual games. What he meant, nobody knew. Initially, he had a game titled HL in work for the PSP, but it got shelved for now. Jaffe expertly drops a few hints on the new casual title he’s working on: “It’s totally NOT a game like HL was going to be, or God of War for that matter. It has stuff in common with Twisted Metal, Bomberman, and…well, a few other things that I ain’t gonna talk about yet!” So… it’s like a destructive party game? The game wasn’t at TGS, but it’s supposed to be floating around the “air waves” in the next couple of months. Let’s piece this together. It’s a smaller, casual title. It’s like Bomberman and Twisted Metal meets “other things”. It’ll be floating around the “air waves” this holiday season. Jaffe is a Sony employee. The game runs in 1080i. Can you say: launch title for Sony’s e-distribution? Let’s hope so, since we’ve seen very little on the online experience from Sony.