Hardware News, Hardware Features - Page 11 of 21

Sony's updated its sell-through numbers for both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable

The platform holder has confirmed that the PlayStation 3 now has an install base of 51.8 million units worldwide, while the PSP has an impressive 71.4 million. Sony revealed the numbers during its Tokyo Game Show press event this morning, which saw PlayStation Vita receive a December 17th domestic release..

Sony's announced a couple of new PlayStation 3 colour variations for the Japanese audience

Both the Scarlet Red and Splash Blue systems are due to release on November 17th for ¥29,800, with 320GB hard-drives included.

Battery life was always going to be a concern for a device as powerful as the PlayStation Vita, and it looks like Sony's just about managed to deliver on its promise of a similar running time to the PSP

In an updated technical fact-sheet, the company has confirmed that Vita will give you 3-5 hours of gameplay at full pelt. That will extend to five hours of video playback, and nine hours of music..

We've never understood why Sony doesn't release more iterations of its hardware around the globe

Japan has hosted a variety of different themed PS3 and PSP SKUs, but Europe and North America is still stuck in the stone-ages comparatively. Thankfully SCEE has decided to bring the white PlayStation 3 hardware to Europe and Australia, according to a couple of retail listings. The 320GB system looks..

While much of the Internet sat bemused at the announcement of a new PSP for Europe during this year's GamesCom, we were fairly calm about it

While the announcement of the device certainly took us by surprise, we also felt like it made a lot of sense. Sony's PSP strategy has shifted in recent years, with the platform holder targeting younger users. SCEE's new gaffer Jim Ryan confirmed the philosophy..

Rest of world in March

According to an anonymous source confiding in French site GamAlive, PlayStation Vita will be available to buy in Japan from 12th November this year. We're expecting to hear official confirmation of the system's Japanese release date at next week's Tokyo Games Show, and as Sony has pledged the machine will make it to the Land...

We think it's great that Sony's regularly shipping unique PS3 hardware in Japan, but after some fantastic bundles, we're not too hot on Ni No Kuni's supposed 'magical' edition

It just looks garish to us. Does anybody actually like it? It's out November 17th.

While Sony focused heavily on the PlayStation Vita's variety of communication options at GamesCom, new SCEE boss Jim Ryan has reiterated that the company is putting games first with its new handheld system

“The core principle is to provide the best portable gaming experience possible. It’s as simple as that,” SCEE’s Jim Ryan told EDGE magazine. Ryan added that he believes the PlayStation Vita..

With Level-5 and Studio Ghibli's Ni No Kuni just weeks away from its Japanese release on PlayStation 3, Famitsu has revealed a new PlayStation 3 hardware bundle to celebrate the release of the game

Entitled the 'Magical Edition' the special hardware package comes in white and gold. ¥33,780. [Thanks Andriasang]

Last week Sony reduced the price of the PlayStation 3 to $249

The entry-model PlayStation Vita will also cost $249. This has driven some speculation that the two devices might cannibalize each other's sales, but industry analysts disagree. “I don’t believe the PlayStation 3 price drop will impact the perceived value of the $249 Vita,” EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich told IndustryGamers. “With the..

Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida believes that motion controls will grow out of their "many limitations" as time progresses

Yoshida likened the current crop of motion controls — including PlayStation Move and Micrsoft's Kinect — to the very first generation of video game consoles. “As far as I’m concerned, the motion control of today is like the 8-bit phase of video games,”..

The effects of last week's PlayStation 3 price-cut have already had an impact on UK retail according to a report by MCV

The website notes that sales of Sony's premier home system jumped by as much as 65 percent week-on-week following the decision to reposition the system's base model at an RRP of £199.99. It's promising news, especially seeing as Sony only kicked off its new marketing campaign in..

With the PlayStation 3 now down to $249 in North America, US retailer GameStop has started to detect an upswing in demand for the platform

"We have seen a significant acceleration in the sale of PlayStation 3," GameStop president Tony Bartel told GamesIndustry.biz. GameStop wasn't the only US retailer to notice an increase in sales for the PS3 either. Target echoed a similar sentiment in..

We're not the most sociable of gamers in the world

So it continues to baffle us how much PlayStation 3 owners yearn for cross-game chat  — the supposed XBOX 360 (and now PlayStation Vita) super-feature that allows players to communicate regardless of what game they're playing. Don't get us wrong, we definitely come from the "more is better" thought-set, but is cross-game chat really..

More RAM than PS3!

Shooting down previous rumours that the PS Vita RAM was reduced to 256MB to accommodate a lower launch price, Sony has confirmed that the system will indeed sport 512MB of RAM. These were the original numbers thought to be packed into the system back when it was called the NGP, and places the handheld above PlayStation 3's 256MB...

It's at this stage of a platform launch build-up that everybody gets a bit crazy, desperately looking for screenshots and video footage of said system in action

With the PlayStation Vita launch still some way away, anticipation is transforming into desperation. The crazy (and super smart) people at NeoGAF have collected together a massive library of screenshots, showcasing the PlayStation Vita's..

Sony's done its research, and concluded that there is a market for rich portable gaming, despite the opinion of numerous online armchair analysts stating the opposite

“When you look at the type of consumer that’s playing cell phone games currently, it’s someone that enjoys smaller ‘kill time’ gaming and has not gravitated to the larger, richer, deeper experiences that true handheld gaming..

Just a few months ago the Internet was reeling over the "revelation" that Sony had cut the on-board RAM in the PlayStation Vita

The speculation at the time suggested that the system's capabilities had been slashed in order to meet a mass-market price. Of course, those rumours weren't true, and Sony has said that it laughed off such claims when they emerged. Speaking to Eurogamer, Worldwide Studios..

Alert to all independent developers

Gamescom 2011 has been crucial for Vita, with new game announcements and info on some of the games we already knew about. While most of this news has been aimed at the consumers, a segment of news we’ve come across is just as great for independent developers as it is for consumers. SCEE’s George Bain spoke...