Posts tagged Playstation at Switched

Posts with tag playstation

Gamer Overcomes Disability with Custom PlayStation 3 Controller

by Engadget Staff, posted Nov 11th 2008 at 3:14PM

Yeah, we may be hardened cynics -- our cold, black hearts have closed off to all but the most extraordinary tech-related stories, and we don't talk about the triumph of the human spirit a lot, but PlayStation 3 forum user KitsuneYume has us stepping outside our usual box today. With the help of an engineer, he made an "adaptive controller" that allows him to game with the pros despite serious disabilities. 20 out of 25 functions are accounted for by the system, and he uses his fingers, toes, and even his tongue to play -- your regular, everyday controller mod it ain't.

The creator said he uploaded the pictures to make sure folks who might need it are aware the technology exists, as he contacted Sony a while back and they weren't able to tell him where to look. We hope this helps gets the word out, because we think everyone should have and chance to lie, cheat, and steal their way through 'Fallout 3.'

[Thanks, Jason]

Truck of PlayStation 3 Games Stolen, Recovered, Stolen Again

by Tim Stevens, posted Sep 29th 2008 at 4:34PM

Truck of PS3 Games Stolen, Recovered, Stolen Again

If you think that headline sounds as though it should have come out of a 'Police Academy' movie, then check this out: According to Britain's Daily Telegraph, thousands of Playstation 3 games -- cumulatively worth over a million dollars -- were stolen over the weekend from the back of a truck in Northhampton, England. The truck and its contents were recovered, but amazingly the games were stolen again, right out of a police impound area before anyone had managed to dust it for fingerprints.

The truck contained 17,000 copies of 'Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway' and an undisclosed number of copies of the game everyone loves to hate, 'Grand Theft Auto.' Details of exactly how the crooks managed to get away with it all a second time weren't disclosed, but the truck at least was found -- minus the valuable contents, naturally. Police are now on the lookout for a conspicuous number of the games showing up on eBay and other online auction sites, but after this bungle, we aren't expecting much. [From: The Telegraph]

'Life with PlayStation' Begins Today

by Thomas Ricker, posted Sep 18th 2008 at 1:15PM

After making a false start earlier today, Sony Computer Entertainment just announced the official, global launch of its free, Life with PlayStation PlayStation 3 (PS3) service. Initially, Live Channel will deliver worldwide news and information such as weather and live camera images from 60 cities around the globe -- more interactive content will be delivered in time. Check the video demonstration after the break for setup instructions and quickie overview.

[Via Playstation.Blog]

Continue reading 'Life with PlayStation' Begins Today

Sony Shows Off PlayStation Updates at German Gaming Convention

by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 21st 2008 at 2:14PM

The Leipzig Games Convention (a.k.a. the GC) is going fast and furious through the end of the week in Germany, and Sony has started things off with a slew of updates and revelations about their PlayStation line of gaming devices. First, the company finally made the PSP-3000 official, another tweak to their aged but ultimately respectable PSP. It'll be more or less the same as the PSP-2000 (last year's slimmer model), but will feature an included microphone for Skype calling and a screen that is said to be better for outdoor gaming.

The rest of the news surrounds the PlayStation 3, which is getting a clip-on keypad for its controllers, very similar to the Xbox 360 keypad Microsoft released last year. No word on pricing or availability yet, but we have both of those stats for yet another PS3 bundle. This one features a console with a 160-gigabyte hard drive, a copy of 'Uncharted: Drake's Fortune,' and a slew of downloads from Sony's PSN store. That'll be $499 this November, but if you can't wait that long or don't need the extra disk space, the new $399 80-gigabyte model system is now hitting stores near you right this very moment -- unless you live in Europe, in which case you'll have to wait until tomorrow.

While it's not expected that Nintendo will be dropping any bombshells at the show, everyone's sure that a price drop for the Xbox 360 is in the cards in the very near future. Will Microsoft take this opportunity to let loose with the news? We shall see.

PlayStation Video Download Service is Live

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 16th 2008 at 12:26PM

The long delay until Sony launched its video download service (actually more like a few hours), is over. High Definition and standard definition (SD) rentals, and SD purchases from an assortment of movie studios is now available in the Playstation Store by selecting the video button at the top left. Need to know what's available in your region but aren't near your PS3? Check out the website for a list of what awaits. [Via PS3 Fanboy]

Sexual Predators Using Xbox, PlayStation to Find Kids

by Tim Stevens, posted Jul 2nd 2008 at 11:41AM

Gaming Chats Serving as Gateway to Kids for Sexual Predators

Online worlds are already plenty dangerous enough for impressionable kids. Now, according to USA Today, online gaming is being pegged as the next possible source of harm for young kids, with sexual predators using voice and text chat in online gaming services like Microsoft's Xbox Live and Sony's PlayStation Network as venues to meet kids.

Several predators have been arrested after taking advantage of kids through these services. They tend to get to know the kids as they play games together, and as they become more familiar, exchange contact information.

For its part, Microsoft is helping law enforcement agencies figure out how to track the histories of such predators online and extract their messages and activity from Xbox consoles. However, as usual, the best prevention is for parents to keep an eye on what their children are up to. Yeah, we know you folks out there probably don't need another thing to worry about when it comes to your kids being online, but worrying is better than being ignorant, right? [Source: USA Today]

The PlayStation 3 Laptop - For Real

by Ryan Block, posted Apr 11th 2008 at 3:23PM

Rewind back to late 2006. The PlayStation 3 was launching alongside the Wii and geeky editors like ourselves were having a field day. We'd already managed to convince our good pal Ben Heck to build another Xbox 360 laptop and the Wii Laptop, so it was only a matter of time before we started brainstorming on how the hell we could possibly fit a PS3 into a "portable" enclosure. That's the part where Ben stepped up his game and worked his magic -- on and off for almost a year and a half -- to build... the PS3 Laptop!

The essential specs:

Original backwards compatible 60GB model
17-inch LCD HDTV screen: 720p
HDMI-DVI connection (same as last Xbox 360 laptop)
Built-in keyboard, USB ports, stereo speakers, headphone jack
Size: 17 x 13.75 x 3-inches
Weight: 16 pounds!

You want this one of a kind piece of kit for your very own, PlayStation fanboys? You got it. We're auctioning this thing for charity real soon, so watch out for details (we'll also have some video of the PS3 Laptop in action on the site tomorrow). And, naturally, big ups to our pal Ben Heck for the long hours and love he put into this thing. The man is truly a hero of ours, so be sure to hit up his site to check out his other projects, as well as the other instructional stuff he's done here on Engadget.

For more images, check out Engadget's gallery

Video Game Sales Up Despite Struggling Economy

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 14th 2008 at 1:42PM

Video Game Sales Still Strong, Despite Struggling Economy

While the rest of the economy struggles through what is almost certainly a recession, the video game industry is not only surviving, but thriving. Sales of games and consoles are up 34 percent from last February, and even the eight-year-old PlayStation 2 is selling almost 20 percent more units than last year.

February's sales reports are particularly good for Sony whose PlayStation 3, though still trailing the Wii in sales, beat out the Xbox 360 for the second month in a row.

With several big name titles still to come this year, such as the highly anticipated 'Grand Theft Auto 4,' sales are only expected to increase. 2008 is shaping up to be yet another record breaking year for the video game industry.

From Reuters

Related links:

U.S. Air Force Wants 300 PlayStation 3's

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 5th 2008 at 12:06PM

What do you do when you're the U.S. government and you need heaps of computing power, quick and on the cheap? You snatch up 300 Sony PlayStation 3's of course. We've seen researchers use the gaming consoles before to crunch numbers and study gravity, and now the Air Force wants in on the Cell processor-powered action.

What exactly the Air Force plans to use the 300 PlayStations for is unclear, but the branch of the armed forces is getting price quotes from resellers.

Knowing that the PS3 is less a gaming machine and more a super computer in disguise, all we can say is we're glad it's the Air Force and not the NSA.

From Newsvine

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New Sony Playstation Portable Comes With Skype

by Ian Rowan, posted Jan 8th 2008 at 8:32AM

The new generation of the Sony Playstation Portable (PSP-2000) is now being bundled with Skype. For those of you not included in the 246 million users of Skype it is a Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol (VoiP) service that allows users to call one another free of charge or call to land lines worldwide for a nominal fee using your computer (or in this case PSP) and its internet or Wi-Fi connection. This means that not only can users of the PSP play games, watch movies, listen to music, surf the Internet, and view photos, but also receive and place calls free of charge to other Skype users and stay connected to other friends as well via the SkypeOut option.

And for those of you whom have grown fond of your original PSP the Skype service will be able via a firmware update in late January. (Thanks, Sony, for taking care of these folks.)

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