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For those of you wondering (and not already discussing the news in the Kotaku comments section!), yes the PlayStation 3 included in the Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle announced earlier today will play select PlayStation 2 games via hardware and software emulation. SCEA PR manager Al De Leon confirmed that the hardware is similar to what was included in the 80GB Motorstorm bundle and will feature partial backward compatibility. While the original Metal Gear Solid for PlayStation should play without a hitch and Metal Gear Solid 2 is listed as having "no major problems", you may experience a hiccup or two playing the third MGS game.

According to the official PlayStation 3 backwards compatibility database, Metal Gear Solid 3 has the following issues: "At various points throughout gameplay, the title performs at a significantly slower than normal performance speed" and "During various FMA sequences throughout the title, the FMA does not play as 'smooth' as normal." Not bad. Not bad at all.

http://kotaku.com/361081/playstation...ard-compatible ...

Sony is opening up its in-game advertising platform -- likely providing a boost to the already-burgeoning $400 million in-game-ad market and sparking a battle among the three key players who sell these ads.

The maker of the PlayStation3 system will offer an open platform, meaning in-game-ad-serving companies Double Fusion, IGA and Google-owned AdScape all will be able to sell ads in games that run on PS3, according to people familiar with Sony's plans. The three companies will strike deals with the major game publishers creating PS3 games, such as Electronic Arts, Activision and Ubisoft. Increasingly, those who score the plum publisher deals will turn out to be the winners in the competitive and fast-growing space.

"It'll come down to games and who has the largest catalog of games," said one person familiar with Sony's plans, but who did not have authorization to speak about it publicly.

In-house sales team
Sony is just starting to sell in-game ads and has its own PlayStation Network sales force to sell dynamic ads in Sony-produced games, such as the forthcoming "Pain" title. A Sony spokesman said the company doesn't comment on unannounced initiatives or products.

The decision will ramp up the competition for prime publisher inventory in a battle not unlike that in the greater internet space. There is no internet-ad-serving company that has a lock on web ads; however, ad networks (and their portal owners) duke it out for the right to sell those ads on publisher websites. During the past couple of months, Yahoo has expanded the network of newspaper sites on which it sells ads, Microsoft has inked deals with Viacom and Dow Jones sites, and Google has re-signed The New York Times' website as an ad-network partner.

While the ad-serving companies might have hoped for an exclusive contract to sell ads in PS3 games, analysts said that a more competitive model could benefit marketers and the in-game market in general. "Making things open only makes things better for marketers or people who want to place ads because they aren't the mercy of a given network," said James Belcher, a longtime video-game writer and senior writer at eMarketer. He said the market is already hypercompetitive. "Everyone's playing around with the best model -- how to charge, what gamers will and will not put up with."

According to eMarketer data, video-game advertising is a $400 million category this year and is expected to grow during the next five years at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 23%.

'Baked in'
Dynamic in-game advertising refers to ads that are changed in and out of games post-development, from interactive placements to signage to sponsorships. Video-game advertising also includes ads that are "baked in" to games -- meaning they are integral part of the game's development and cannot be switched out once they're created -- and ads that run on the console communities, such as XBox Live and the Sony Home network, which is in private beta.

Dynamic ads are considered less risky than baked-in integrations because they don't require a marketer to speculate whether a game will be a hit. Marketers can wait, see how a game performs and then buy ads in it -- much like buying "scatter" TV inventory.

Sony's open platform is a clear departure from how things are done on Microsoft's Xbox, whose exclusive model means all dynamic in-game ads must be brokered through Massive, a company the software giant acquired in May 2006. That acquisition essentially closed off the opportunity for other in-game ad brokers to sell inventory in games that run on its Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles -- and it elevated the bet they are placing on Sony.

Of course, one potential complication of an open philosophy is that, at least initially, Sony's decision will make in-game advertising harder to buy, as an advertiser could have to buy through as many as three different parties to place ads in a single game -- Massive for the title's Xbox version, another for dynamic ads in the version that runs on Sony's PS3 and a third for baked-in product placement in the game.

Sony signed a deal with Nielsen over the summer to measure in-game advertising. In October, it hired Darlene Kindler, a veteran of the video-game business who was most recently at AdScape, to oversee its in-game advertising efforts.

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=125318 ...

A couple of University of Glasgow students have built a prototype of a program that brings haptic touchscreen technology to the iPhone. It's a buggy program, but even if the kinks get worked out a question remains: does anybody need it?

Haptic touchscreens, as you probably know, provide tactical feedback when a button is pressed. In this case, the phone vibrates when you hit a button. As it stands, the program is extremely buggy, crashing out and leaving the vibrations going even after you've hit the button. But even if it was running perfectly, with a short vibration coming every time you hit a button, would you want it?

First of all, having your phone vibrate almost continuously while you type a text message would be annoying. Secondly, it would suck up loads of battery life. Thirdly, it seems like it wouldn't really help at all. At this point, most iPhone users seem pretty used to the keyboard; it's not a major griping point. And while haptic feedback might come in handy for, say, selecting icons from the home screen, it's not going to allow you to select buttons or type without looking like you can with physical buttons. It seems more a gimmick than an upgrade.

What do you think? If you had the option to download a program that added haptic functionality to your iPhone, would you do it?

http://gizmodo.com/360927/iphone-hap...es-anyone-care ...

From the publisher: Shin Sangoku Musou DS: Fighter's Battle (aka. Dynasty Warriors: Fighter's Battle) challenges you to team up with the greatest fighters in the Dynasty Warriors series. Use your tactics and commander cards to fight through 12 stages and conquer territory. With your awesome Musou attack you have the power to stop the hordes of enemy soldiers ready to strike. Unite all of China and victory will be yours! Wireless Vs. mode for up to 3 players Game controls and visual design created expressly for Nintendo DS

Koei's region free Japanese version of Shin Sangoku Musou DS: Fighter's Battle for Nintendo DS™ is now available at a bargain price of US$ 9.90 only.

http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...9-en-84-n.html ...

As Sony über-executive Phil Harrison prepares to leave the company this Friday after 15 years, GameDaily wondered what this would mean for PlayStation's Home. Harrison is credited as a leading proponent of the Home experience going back to its beginnings on the PS2. An SCEA spokesperson said that it's "business as usual for Home."

At GDC '08 some new screens and tools were shown for Home, but there is still no announcement about release. The last major progress report from late '07 showed the program is coming along, but still faces some challenges.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/ha...ct-sonys-home/ ...

Do you have really, really, really long arms? Good. Because the Nyko Wireless Nunchuck is perfect for you. It's one of the many peripherals we tested with Nyko in San Francisco. Surprises were few and far between. But perhaps that's a good thing -- we found that everything they offered worked as one would expect. The Wireless Nunchuck works just like the official corded variety, It may work a bit too well, in fact. We left the Wii Remote in one room, and ran across the office to find the Nunchuck still operated. Unnecessary? Yes. But a great display of how well this peripheral is designed.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/ha...8-peripherals/ ...

The worldwide interest in the Whole Wii Homebrew community over the last day in particular has been astounding and reminds me of the day when PSP Homebrew became a reality, yes its not easy via the Twilight Hack but you dont have to mod your console so thats a major bonus

The release of the Snes Emulator, the Wii MP3 Player, the Gamecube Dol to Elf Converter, Tetris and Wii Linux have topped off a very exciting time for homebrew fans from any scene.

If you need to know what you need for Wii Homebrew check out this tutorial



i cant wait to see whats coming next

Personally some type of region free hack is one thing i would like to see and full Wiimote control on games

Whats your Wii Homebrew Wishlist ? ...

Nintendo couldn't have been more obtuse in its announcement last week at GDC, but from the looks of it you won't be enjoying that totally free Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection play forever. Nintendo is busting out a new Pay & Play service for certain games, which seems to refer to both downloadable content for some titles, and online multiplayer for others. It's really hard to tell, but it doesn't sound like Nintendo has any intention of going the Xbox Live route. There will be red stickers on games with Pay & Play features so you can spot them in the store, and if you do end up paying for online multiplayer, it looks like it'll be on a per-title basis. Other than that Nintendo isn't spilling much -- we have no idea what titles will cost money to play, and how much it'll be -- but given the fact that Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart are just about to make online play on the Wii actually interesting, this isn't exactly an encouraging sign.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/26/n...d-play-gaming/ ...