Having dated Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the PSP earlier this week, Rockstar now shows us how the game handled the trip from the Nintendo DS to Sony's handheld.

It looks like they've done a fine job of maintaining the top-down perspective of the DS version, while cleaning up the graphics and sprucing up the lighting effects to better take advantage of the PSP's power. I actually think that the Chinatown Wars look might work better than trying to mimic the look of the console games like Rockstar did with the PSP Stories series.

Of course looks aren't everything, so we have to wonder how it plays. Luckily we won't be wondering long; we'll have a full hands-on report on Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the PSP next week.

http://kotaku.com/5346933/what-gta-c...e-psp/gallery/ ...

A post on the N4G forums has rumors swirling that PlayStation 3 cross-game voice chat was held back due to threats made by EA. Kotaku spoke to EA and Sony about the situation.

The post, written by N4G forum-goer Super_Secret who claims to be a Sony employee, explains that Cross-Game voice chat ran into a snag because certain games from "A rather large company" wouldn't support the feature. He refers back to trouble including custom soundtracks to work in earlier PlayStation 3 firmware revisions. According to Super_Secret, PS3 titles have to be developed with custom soundtrack support, and one of this big company's more popular titles wouldn't support it.

When they found out that a new firmware update was going to suddenly make one of their games look inferior to just about every other game released, they protested. A lot. They threatened everything, from legal action to dropping support for the PS3 all together.

The post goes on to suggest that a similar situation occurred with cross-game chat, causing our tips line to fill up with angry emails, one of which even referred to the situation as a "Potential WATERGATE of the videogame industry."

While the poster doesn't mention EA by name, a coded message later in the thread makes the company he or she is implicating perfectly clear once translated:

" It's not Activision. It's not Ubisoft. It's not Capcom. It's not Insomniac. It's not Konami. It's not Take 2. It's not Midway. It's not Squaresoft. are wE All getting the picture yet? One point I want to reiterate - there's a difference between the games that didn't work with in-game XMB and the games that DID work with in-game XMB but DIDN'T work well with custom soundtracks, so stop picking out the ones that simply didn't do in-game XMB. Also, it wasn't just ONE game that caused this, either. Although one title does come to mind and it wasn't even what you or I would call a "Big" game. I'll give you a hint: HPatOofP. "

Rather than jump to conclusions, we decided to contact the two parties involved for comment on the situation. First to respond was Jeff Brown, EA's vice president of corporate communication. "Not no-how, not no-way did that ever happen. This is a total fabrication – total nonsense. We think voice chat is an extremely cool feature and added it to Madden/ PS3." Brown then added, "We support cross-game voice on other systems and would be happy to do that on any console."

Soon after Brown responded to our inquiry, Sony's senior director of corporate communications Patrick Seybold also responded, keeping things short and sweet. "This is rumor and frankly not true. "

I suppose it's up to the reader to determine what they believe, but I'm leaning towards the rumor being utter nonsense. Two responses from EA and Sony both were far from the no comments and not responding to rumors and speculation I've come to expect in situations like these.

http://kotaku.com/5347123/is-ea-hold...ame-voice-chat ...

Even before Sony's big unveil earlier this month at Cologne GamesCom, it felt like we already knew the PlayStation 3 Slim quite intimately. A leak from back in May gave us a glimpse of every angle of the hardware's exterior, and even the final retail box. At that point, we didn't know what to make of it, and the change in logo font definitely threw us off. Three months, thirty seconds of video, and a dash of legal paperwork later, and we're looking at that very same leaked device, now taking up space adjacent to our hefty 60GB "Classic" model from launch day. Unquestionably, it's smaller and lighter, but how else has Sony's Blu-ray-playing console evolved -- or regressed -- over these past few years? Read on to find out!

http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/p...3-slim-review/ ...

Unlike the Chocolate Keyboard, the USB Chocolate Mouse is an actual mouse. How stupid is that? Very.

http://gizmodo.com/5346748/chocolate...e-mousse-sadly ...

Sony claims that their new PS3 Slim uses 34% less power than previous generations. But when Crave compared the original 60GB PS3 to the Slim, they found power savings to be greater than 50%.

Whether it's Blu-ray playback, gaming or just idling the system, the PS3 Slim uses less than half the power of the original.

So is that impressive? Yes and no.

Yes, because the PS3 Slim now uses about half the power of the Xbox 360 while gaming (96 watts vs 187 watts). No, because the PS3 Slim still uses about 4x more power during Blu-ray playback than you see in a Samsung standalone player (81 watts vs 22 watts).

In other words, the PS3 Slim is efficient for an HD game console, wasteful for a Blu-ray player.

http://gizmodo.com/5346894/ps3-slim-...of-the-ps3-fat ...

Kotaku made a handy chart comparing the two $300 game consoles from Microsoft and Sony, and it sure looks like the PS3 comes out on top. Unfortunately, none of this stuff actually sells consoles.

PS3 Slim Xbox 360 Elite
Price $299 $299
Color Black Black
Hard Disk Size 120GB 120GB
USB Ports 2 3
WiFi Built-In $99 Add On
Disc Drive Blu-ray/DVD/CD DVD/CD
HDMI Yes, no cable included Yes, no cable included
Bluetooth Yes No
Controllers Included One One
Last Generation Backwards Compatibility No Partial
Online Play Free $50 a year
Dimensions 290 × 65 × 290 mm 310 x 80 x 260 mm
Weight 3.2 kg 3.5 kg


Yes, Blu-ray is a big aspect of what makes the PS3 appealing. But for gamers, is that a huge selling point? As for Wi-Fi, well, that depends on your setup. Most gamers who are serious about playing online probably would rather plug their console right into their router. And Bluetooth? Who gives a shit about Bluetooth?

To be fair, there are definite advantages to PS3 that make it appear to be a better value. Really want a Blu-ray player? Home theater setup too far away from your router to plug the console right in? Turned off by an annual charge for online services? The PS3 is right up your alley.

But for many people who are interested in serious gaming consoles, what matters most is software, not hardware. And the Xbox 360 arguably has the best games library and the best online service. And for me at least, that makes up for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi about 50 times over, which is why I would personally recommend the Xbox 360 to a friend over the PS3. But despite that fact, the decision as to what console to buy has never been harder.

Aw, what the hell. Just buy both

http://gizmodo.com/5346969/ps3-slim-...ty-cut-and-dry ...

Microsoft Europe bigwig Chris Lewis has shrugged off suggestions that this morning's Xbox 360 Elite price-drop was done deliberately to undermine the imminent launch of PS3 Slim.

"As we've said before, we have our own rhythm that we march to and that's not going to change," Chris Lewis, VP of MS Europe, told GamesIndustry.biz.

"The timing was very deliberate: these things take considerable time to plan, and for that reason I'm sure you'll appreciate this is very much part of the strategy that was planned some time ago.

"We think it's very appropriate anyway," he added. "We've always said we'd offer great value and be competitive, we're still €50 or better in price than our nearest competition, and we'll focus on creating great value as well as fabulous services and content for consumers."

Lewis said a move like this will be "part and parcel of the plan" for Xbox 360 over its lifetime, however long that may be. "Our appetite to continue to win, and to hold our lead and grow our lead over the competition is very central to what we have planned in and budgeted in for the year," he explained.

As of tomorrow, the Xbox 360 Elite costs £199.99, while the Xbox 360 Arcade rises to £159.99. This, as Lewis reiterated, is to offset exchange rate "fluctuations" in the UK.

He is confident Microsoft still offers "the most affordable console on the market", though, and expects people to continue "flocking" to shops to buy it.

Incidentally, the removal of the HDMI lead from the Xbox 360 Elite box gives "flexibility" to buyers to decide what sort of set-up configuration they want, said Lewis. Shortly before, he rather more credibly suggested the lead was taken out so the price could be lowered.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ms...ed-to-ps3-slim ...

Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg believes that Xbox 360's notorious hardware problems are "well behind us" thanks to manufacturing improvements.

"I think we've made it clear we stand by the quality of our product and we will make it right by fixing the problem at no extra cost to you," Greenberg told GameSpot.

"But at the same time, we've been working hard to make improvements in the products we're currently making, so I really feel like most of this is well behind us." The platform holder's product management kingpin put that down to things like "lower-heat chips and better cooling".

Although Xbox 360 comes with a one-year warranty, Microsoft will replace consoles that fail with three red rings or E74 errors for a period of three years after the purchase date.

Xbox 360 has been plagued by reliability issues ever since its November 2005 launch, and at one stage author Dean Takahashi claimed the original factory defect rate was 68 per cent.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/gr...s-reliable-now ...

Tomodachi Collection reached the top of the Japanese software chart this week, selling 82,000 units to beat last week's number one - Dragon Quest IX: Defenders of the Starry Sky (79,000) - into second position.

With Monster Hunter 3 gaining one place to reach number three, it puts Nintendo platform titles in all of the top three positions.

PlayStation software was also prominent in the latest chart however, with all three newcomers to the top ten - Melty Blood: Actress Again (PS2) at number four, Okami Kakushu (PSP) at number seven and Kin-iro no Corda 2 f Encore (PSP) at number ten - appearing on Sony formats.

Wii Sports Resort dropped two places to number five, with a 70 per cent week-on-week sales drop to 32,000 units, and Namco's SD Gundam G Generation Wars dropped one place to number six.

Capcom's eternally popular Monster Hunter Portable 2 G remained at number eight in the chart, with a sales drop of 33 per cent to 18,000 copies, and Puyo Puyo 7 dropped two places to number nine.

Dropping out of the top ten from last week, to positions 11, 12 and 13 respectively, were Tales of Versus, Penguin no Mondai X: Tenkuu no 7 Senshi and Color Changing Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love.

The full Media Create Japanese software chart for the week August 17-23 is as follows:

01 Tomodachi Collection (Friend Collection) (DS)
02 Dragon Quest IX: Defenders of the Starry Sky (DS)
03 Monster Hunter 3 (Wii)
04 Melty Blood: Actress Again (PS2)
05 Wii Sports Resort (Wii)
06 SD Gundam G Generation Wars (PS2)
07 Okami Kakushi (Sly Wolf) (PSP)
08 Monster Hunter Portable 2 G (BEST) (PSP)
09 Puyo Puyo 7 (DS)
10 Kin-iro no Corda 2 f Encore (PSP)

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...se-sales-chart ...