Sony Not Looking For 3D In PSP

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The 3DS has been unveiled and it’s already made a huge splash within the industry. However, SCE president Kaz Hirai has said that portable 3D technology does not have high precision.

Not surprisingly, when Sony Worldwide Studios VP Scott Rohde was asked if 3D would be put in any future Sony portable, he responded, “No, no plans for that.”

When asked about any information on the PSP2, he responded, “It s just not something we re announcing right now. It s just as simple as that. It’s all I can tell you.”

Source: IndustryGamers  {link no longer active}

Activision, Square Enix Lukewarm To Motion Controls, 3D

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While there was a lot of talk about the PlayStation Move, Microsoft Kinect, and stereoscopic 3D at E3, not every publisher thinks these elements will define the future of gaming. Activision COO Thomas Tippl, for instance, wants to see greater install bases for Move and Kinect, and even then, he says it won’t be the right choice for all games.

“A lot of that will depend on the price point they choose,” Tippl said to Gamasutra. “We have a few franchises where we think this could be an interesting value to improve the experience for the player. Tony Hawk is an example. We have our Rapala Fishing franchise. But it’s not going to be something that will be in every game, because I don’t think it’s one size fits all. It’s not going to enhance the experience for every game.”

Meanwhile, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada labels stereoscopic 3D as “not bad, but only so-so” and Kinect as “just a small extension to what is already available” thinking, instead, that network services are the future.

“The innovations that we hear about during this E3 are only minimal additions to the existing technologies,” offered Wada to GI.biz. “What is not visible today is the quiet change that’s taking place at the network level. What the motion controls and other new technology will do is extend the lives of the consoles, but they themselves are not the true battlefield. The true battlefield is the respective network services that support consoles, whether or not they can truly establish these network services will have the definitive effect on the future of games consoles.”

iPhone 4 Launch Sees Niggling Issues

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There was joy for many tech heads as they unboxed their iPhone 4 on launch day. That happiness turned to frustration when problems popped up, including problems with reception when the metal side was held on to during a call.

“In some places where the signal was relatively weak, the iPhone 4 showed no bars, or fewer bars than its predecessor,” writes Walter S. Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal. “Apple says that this is a bug it plans to fix, and that it has to do with the way the [wireless reception] bars are presented, not the actual ability to make a call. And, in fact, in nearly all of these cases, the iPhone 4 was able to place calls despite the lack of bars.”

“It grips well in your hand. The reception has improved, although it’s slightly weaker than the [iPhone 3GS] when your hand’s wrapped around the phone,” writes Keith Taylor of Sarasota, Florida. “It also affects the Wi-Fi, but only by one bar, so hopefully not a noticeable difference.”

Others have noted the iPhone 4 is easily scratched and some have reported that the “retina display,” has a yellow tint. Still, despite complaints, the newest iPhone is reportedly sold out at numerous locations.

Source: CNN {link no longer active}

RealNetworks’ Game Division Sees Layoffs

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According to reports, RealNetworks has all but closed its internal game division. All that is left is the Facebook team and a much reduced casual PC design staff. Real is looking to eliminate 85 jobs just three months after cutting 60 positions.

“Real has completely disbanded its first party studio, [following] a batch of layoffs once every quarter since last August,” said a recently laid off insider.

The source indicates that the company’s game portal GameHouse no longer has internal developers for traditional PC casual games, letting go makers of the Super Collapse and Little Shop franchises. The portal will continue to run, and games will be published on Facebook and with second-parties, possibly leading to a sale of the RealGames name and IP.

Source: Gamasutra

Microsoft Claim Xbox 360 Issues Fixed Prior To New Model

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The Xbox 360 has been much maligned over the years for hardware errors that have led to the dreaded Red Ring of Death. While the red light indicator has been removed from the new Xbox 360 units, Microsoft claims that the design issues that led to the errors have been ironed out for a while now.

“Believe me, it’s my least favorite thing to talk about, part of our history. I think most people agree it s become a little bit of an Internet meme now, just a thing to say,” said Albert Penello, senior director of global marketing for Xbox 360. “I feel bad for the customers that have had to go through the experiences that they’ve had, but, fundamentally, almost everybody will tell you that consoles purchased in the last two or three years, that problem doesn’t occur. It’s really people that had launch consoles and some of the early hiccups in getting those repaired and back out to people. But really, our focus over the last few years has been continuous improvement and getting the existing boxes rock steady.”

“For the most part, the overall quality problem has been fixed for a couple of years now,” continued Penello. “This [new hardware model] is an evolution of that work. The decision not to put the three red rings in it was just because it s something I want to put behind us.”

Penello indicates that a lot of time was put into making the new Xbox 360 what it is. “We launched a console in 2005, which means we’d been working on it since 2003,” said Penello. “It takes time to go through, and it s not as simple sometimes as the industry thinks it is to just add WiFi, or make it quieter. You design a box and then that design is sort of what exists. So, we went through [a lot of tests] and the teams spent a lot of time on the acoustics with the DVD drive, and the acoustics with the fan, and thinking through airflow and how to make the fan quieter, and that was really the point was, ‘Let’s just build the box that everyone just wants us to build.’

Source: IndustryGamers {link no longer active}

YouTube Vanquishes Viacom Lawsuit

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In a legal conflict that has taken over three years, Google has emerged victorious over Viacom. The corporate entity was suing over copyright infringement on YouTube.

“Today, the court granted our motion for summary judgment in Viacom’s lawsuit with YouTube. This means that the court has decided that YouTube is protected by the safe harbor of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) against claims of copyright infringement. The decision follows established judicial consensus that online services like YouTube are protected when they work cooperatively with copyright holders to help them manage their rights online,” said a statement on the YouTube Blog. “This is an important victory not just for us, but also for the billions of people around the world who use the web to communicate and share experiences with each other. We re excited about this decision and look forward to renewing our focus on supporting the incredible variety of ideas and expression that billions of people post and watch on YouTube every day around the world.”

Viacom, not surprisingly, did not agree with the ruling. “We believe that this ruling by the lower court is fundamentally flawed and contrary to the language of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the intent of Congress, and the views of the Supreme Court as expressed in its most recent decisions,” said Viacom in a statement. “We intend to seek to have these issues before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as soon as possible. After years of delay, this decision gives us the opportunity to have the Appellate Court address these critical issues on an accelerated basis. We look forward to the next stage of the process.”

Source: Forbes

White iPhone 4 Not Available Until July

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Apple has revealed that the white version of the iPhone 4 would not be available at launch. Due to unspecified manufacturing difficulties, the white iPhone 4 will not be available for at least a month.

“White models of Apple’s new iPhone 4 have proven more challenging to manufacture than expected, and as a result they will not be available until the second half of July,” said Apple in a statement. “The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.”

Demand has been so high for the iPhone 4 that AT&T has canceled some pre-orders.

Source: AFP {link no longer active}

Miley Cyrus A Fan Of Rock Band

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Miley Cyrus is seeing the release of her first songs for download on Rock Band. Interestingly, the singer who played Hannah Montana is no stranger to Rock Band herself.

“I sat in front of the TV 90 percent of the tour, just playing Rock Band,” Cyrus confessed to MTV News. “It’s pretty cool that now I can warm up playing my own songs on Rock Band and then go do it in real life. So it’s pretty rad. It’s a better warm-up.

Rock Band‘s “Miley Cyrus Pack 01” will have five songs from Cyrus. Songs include Start All Over and See You Again from her debut, “Meet Miley Cyrus”, 7 Things and Fly on the Wall from 2008’s “Breakout” and Can’t Be Tamed from the similarly titled album which released this week.

“I can’t wait for my fans to be able to download and play five of my songs in ‘Rock Band,’ ” said Cyrus back with the original announcement. “I love that people can rock out with me and play my new song, Can’t Be Tamed!”

Source: MTV