news von PSU:
In-game XMB and achievement-like system confirmed
Added on 18/06/2007.
In a video interview with the Director of PlayStation Network (PSN) Operations, Eric Lempel, gametrailers.com (GT.com) was able to reveal some very interesting details regarding PSN and what the future has in store for PlayStation 3 owners.
When asked about Home and it’s importance, Lempel stated, “It’s a key piece of the bigger network. It’s part of the PlayStation Network, but it doesn’t define the PlayStation Network. It feeds into all the other features we’re working on and all the other services. […] And it’s free.”
GT.com also wondered if Sony will incorporate achievements or trophies into PSN. Lempel replied, “We’re working on an achievement system. Part of that was mentioned earlier this year at GDC as [a] part of Home; there’s a trophy room and that will feed into a bigger achievement system.”
Lempel also went on to mention that he likes the Xbox Live Gamerscore idea and that Sony is working on something like that for PS3 owners.
When asked if PSN will have more 3rd party support for PSN arcade titles, Lempel stated, “There’s a lot more coming. Again, we’ve only scratched the surface here. Third parties are getting up to speed now, we’re meeting with a lot of 3rd parties right now and they’re exciting about the network and they see the opportunities. They wanted to see what was there at launch and just feel comfortable with what was going on from the business side, but they’ll jump on board.”
Lempel was later asked if PS3 gamers would have XMB access in-game, to which he replied, “It’s definitely possible and it’s something we’re working on.”
Finally, as the interview starts to wrap up, GT.com talked about how Microsoft doesn’t have much support for user-generated content and asked if Sony will via PSN and Home. “We know the users want it, they want user-generated content,” said Lempel, “It’s big in the industry, it’s all over the internet, and it’s something we want to add to our offer [PSN]. It’s definitely going to happen.”
It would seem that Sony has a solid plan for PS3 owners as Lempel gave various insights into what the future holds in store for PSN. Here’s to hoping in-game XMB access and achievement scores won’t take too long to go public.
Sixaxis rumours rumbling
Added on 18/06/2007.
Fans who were disappointed by the fact that the Sixaxis controller on the PlayStation 3 did not have a rumble feature will no doubt be delighted to hear that rumours of a future Sixaxis which sports a rumble function have surfaced.
According to Innerbits.com, “two independent sources at Sony” have leaked that the Japanese giant has been working on a vibrating prototype for the past “several months”. The site, however, did not name the two sources and Sony has neither confirmed or denied the reports.
Regardless of Sony's silence on the rumours, the latest happenings do hint that the Sixaxis will not be staying rumbleless forever- Earlier this year, Sony signed a new contract with Immersion, the company which had previously sued them over the rumble technology used in the DualShock. SCE boss, Kaz Hirai was quite pleased with the deal and said that “we are very excited about our new partnership with Immersion and the potential for new and innovative products incorporating their technologies.” New and innovative products which include a rumbling Sixaxis perhaps?
Sony dicsonnects download service (CONNECT) to focus on PlayStation
Added on 18/06/2007.
Sony seems to be taking the PlayStation brand more seriously as time passes and latest news from paidcontent.org hints that the Japanese giant may be willing to shut down other divisions in order to focus on its gaming department. The site has revealed that Sony's Connect experiment will be shut down so that the PlayStation brand can get more attention.
“The Sony Connect experiment is about to get, well, disconnected: it will be winding down its music and video services in the next couple of months, and focus on servicing the Playstation group on the technical needs, paidContent.org has learned and confirmed”, writes the article.
The site also confirmed that Sony decided to cut 20 jobs from the Connect team after a meeting held last week, while the remaining personnel, which is estimated to be around 80 people, will be “be devoted support Playstation”.