If you can deal with imperfect sound and, more importantly, don’t mind a bit of the old video game piracy, the Android Market has a way for you to enjoy original Playstation games on a smartphone. The app is PSX4Droid, and it’s a fully-functional Playstation emulator for high-end Android phones, available now for $6 in the Android Market.
Depending on your world view, looking at someone else’s screen in split-screen multiplayer gaming is either a time-honored tradition or the lowest form of treachery. Sony’s filed a patent that should appear to the later group, intended to stamp out screen-lookers with 3D technology.
There’s bad news afoot if you’re in the camp that loved Heavy Rain: Developer Quantic Dream has indefinitely shelved plans to release new downloadable episodes for the game. And it’s all Playstation Move’s fault. Speaking to NowGamer, Heavy Rain director and designer David Cage explained that the team had to stop working on DLC to retrofit the Playstation Move motion controller into the full game.
Playstation Plus, which arrives on the Playstation Network today via firmware update, is Sony’s answer to Xbox Live, but it’s a decidedly different service. Instead of charging players for online multiplayer — that remains free — Sony is fashioning Playstation Plus as a sort of VIP program. The gist is that you get free games, early previews and hour-long trials of full games for $50 per year or $18 for three months. Details below.
Something clicked with Sony’s latest marketing campaign, which stars a fictional vice president named Kevin Butler. I think it’s the way he’s identifiable in his geekiness, but still suave and commanding. Plus, he says some funny stuff, often at the expense of Sony’s competitors. So the crowd at Sony’s press conference Tuesday was delighted to see Butler — played by actor Jerry Lambert — take the stage for a rousing speech. Watch it on YouTube, and check out some of the Kevin Butler ads. After the jump, photos of the Sweet Tooth ice cream truck from Twisted Metal, which also made an appearance at the press conference.
It’s not often that video game trailers hit me with that schoolkid-like “must play now” stupor, which is why I don’t post many here, but the debut trailer for LittleBigPlanet 2 is the exception. Maybe it has something to do with the music — Passion Pit’s “Sleepyhead,” Shazam informs me — but it’s probably because of Sony’s grand promises of creating entire games within LittleBigPlanet 2’s level creator. The game will be out for Playstation 3 in Winter 2010.
Usually when you see a modern game console equipped with its own LCD screen, it’s the work of some clever modder whose creation you’ll never actually get to use. Not so with Hori’s portable PS3 Slim case. The monitor has 1366-by-768 resolution and folds over to become a convenient little package, plus there are built-in speakers, so all you need is a power source and a controller and you’re good to go.
On Sunday, Sony announced that it the next Playstation 3 firmware update will cut off “Other OS” support, which allowed users to install Linux distributions on the console. Effective April 1, PS3 Linux users will have to back up their data and wave goodbye to the feature or avoid the update and sacrifice online play and other features. Sony has only pinned the change on “security concerns,” but hacker George “Geohot” Hotz, who released the first-ever PS3 hack earlier this year (preceded by several high-profile iPhone jailbreaks), which could ultimately allow piracy or other nefarious uses of the consoles, believes he played a role:
First off, I want to apologize to all the people who use Linux on their PS3. Before releasing, I weighed the pros and cons, and considered the possibility of an impact on OtherOS support. My logic was this. OtherOS support had already been removed from the Slim … The builders had apparently no intention of including it in future products. So for the purposes of openness why not release?
Sony’s monster deal with the Michael Jackson estate hints at a video game starring the late King of Pop. According to the Independent, the $200 million deal gives Sony the right to release 10 Michael Jackson albums, plus DVDs and video games. Now, that doesn’t mean a Michael Jackson video game is in production or even planned, but it’s certainly possible. As GameSetWatch’s Eric Caolli suggests, a version of SingStar or some other music game starring Jackson seems like a no-brainer.