As well as unveiling the launch line-up for PlayStation 3, Sony also used its US Gamer's Day event this week to confirm peripheral pricing.

Extra Sixaxis controllers, the company said, would go for US$ 49.99. The Bluetooth-based Sixaxis will have a 20-metre wireless range, and charges its batteries using a supplied mini-USB cable.

Blu-ray remote controls are due to go on sale in December for US$ 24.99, while those of you looking to transfer across your PlayStation 2 save-games will be able to grab the adapter required to do that for US$ 14.99.

Sony also said that its official HDMI cable, which isn't bundled with the console itself, even though both the 20GB and 60GB releases now include it, would go for US$ 49.99. That's obviously a lot, but since you can use any old HDMI cable you should be able to save some money by shopping around.

See elsewhere for news on the games you'll be able to buy. ...

Production stalls as filmmakers fail to "significantly reduce their deals". Microsoft already in talks with other distribution partners

According to a report in Variety, Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox have backed out of co-financing the Halo movie. Peter Jackson is still on board as exec producer though.

Apparently the filmmakers pulled out after Universal and Fox unsuccessfully tried to get the filmmakers and Microsoft to reduce their cut of the profits.

Universal and Fox made the pay cut demand with a deadline of October 15, which was also the same day MS stood to bag almost $5 million upfront as well as nabbing 10 percent of the gross for rights to the game and a script by Alex Garland.

"The only budget the filmmakers ever spoke about was $145 million, less the 12.5 percent rebate that you get from shooting in New Zealand, which would put it at about $128 million," said Ken Kamins, spokesman for the movie's executive producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.

He continued, "What happened was this: Universal, on behalf of both studios, asked for a meeting with the filmmakers just prior to the due date of a significant payment. Basically, they said that in order to move forward with the film, the filmmakers had to significantly reduce their deals. They waited until the last minute to have this conversation. Peter and Fran, after speaking with their producing partners and with Microsoft and Bungie, respectfully declined."

Microsoft isn't hanging around though. It's already in talks with other distribution partners as early work on the film continues. ...

Sony has unveiled the line-up for the PlayStation 3's North American "launch window", which includes the console's November 17 release date and the immediate weeks thereafter.

Announced yesterday at SCEA's gamers day event, the 21 launch game list includes Insomniac's flagship shooter, Resistance: Fall of Man, Sony's Genji: Days of the Blade and third-party offerings Call of Duty 3, Ridge Racer 7 and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Sony also revealed details of games set for release on its e-distribution service, which is similar to Xbox Live Arcade. Online-enabled shooter Blast Factor is on the launch list, while other games confirmed to be heading for the service include Go! Sudoku, Go! Swizzleblock 2, Cash Carnage Chaos, Lemmings 2 and God of War creator David Jaffe's Criminal Crackdown.

Further more, Sony says that a demo of next-gen racer Motorstorm will be available for download at launch, and the first 500,000 units sold in the US will come with a pack in Blu-ray movie, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (we've not heard of it either).

The full launch line-up is as follows:

Resistance: Fall of Man (Insomniac/Sony)

NBA 07 (Sony)

Genji: Days of the Blade (Game Republic/Sony)

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII (Ubisoft)

Call of Duty 3 (Treyarch/Activision)

EA Sports Fight Night Round 3 (EA Chicago/Electronic Arts)

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks)

F.E.A.R. (Day 1 Studios/Vivendi-Universal Games)

Full Auto 2: Battlelines (Pseudo Interactive/SEGA)

Madden NFL 07 (Electronic Arts)

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Raven Software/Activision)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire (Namco Bandai)

NBA 2K7 (2K Sports)

Need For Speed Carbon (Electronic Arts)

NHL 2K7 (2K Sports)

Ridge Racer 7 (Namco Bandai)

Sonic the Hedgehog (SEGA)

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (Electronic Arts)

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft)

Tony Hawk's Project 8 (Neversoft/Activision)

Untold Legends Dark Kingdom (Sony Online Entertainment) ...

For the US launch on November 17 EA will have the likes of Madden NFL 07, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 07 and Need for Speed Carbon ready to roll. The firm will then have a further eight to ten ready for the European launch next March including Fight Night Round 3 and the recently announced Def Jam: ICON, of which you can see the first shots right here.

President of EA Studios Paul Lee said "Each game has been custom designed to leverage the hardware power of the PlayStation 3 and serve as a launch pad for EA's next generation of HD gaming. This is only the beginning. In the months and years to come, developers will take greater advantage of the PlayStation 3's cell processors and blu-ray storage capacity to create games of stunning depth and texture."

Frank Gibeau, EA executive VP of North America publishing added, "Over the course of the next 18 months, EA will roll out groundbreaking new original properties and spectacular new versions of perennial hits that will further maximize the power of the PlayStation 3's unique cell processor and outstanding blu-ray disk capacity."

The complete list of EA's already-announced PS3 roster is:

Army Of Two

Burnout 5

Battlefield: Bad Company

Def Jam: ICON

Fight Night Round 3

Madden NFL 07

Medal of Honor Airborne

NBA Street

Need for Speed Carbon

SKATE

Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 07


And that leaves another 19 PS3 games to be announced... ...

Microsoft has partnered with Konami for the Pro Evolution Soccer 6 Xbox 360 premium hardware bundle, which will be in shops from October 27 priced at 299 GBP.

Inside the box you'll find an Xbox 360 premium console, consisting of a wireless controller, 20GB hard drive, 30-day Xbox Live trial, Ethernet and component HD AV cables and a headset. Along with that, you'll also get a copy of Konami's latest footy effort, which hits the shops alongside the bundle next week. ...

A few new nuggets of Tony Hawk's Project 8 info powerslided their way to us this morning regarding the PS3 version.

Using the Sixaxis wireless controller, players will be able to 'balance and steer skaters through every rail grind, manual, revert, ollie and combo, as well as control slow motion nail the trick moves' says Activision.

By tilting and twisting the wireless controller, you'll be able to control each skater's actions. Activision would also like to point out that all skaters were captured for the game using three-dimensional body and face scanning technology, as well as motion capture data. ...

Via pspfanboy

Sony's Gamer's Day has just wrapped up, and we're learning new details from around the web. Unfortunately, details of new firmware didn't seem to be revealed. Highlights from the event include:

Demonstration of Remote Play at work: the PS3 started playing the trailer to the upcoming Bond flick Casino Royale. Then, the video was interrupted and then resumed on the PSP. It sounds exactly how it should've worked.

John Smedley from Sony Online Entertainment demonstrated PSone download functionality .The games, as expected, can be transferred to your PSP. Mr. Smedley hinted at future PSone emulation on the PLAYSTATION 3 console.
Downloadable games will $14.99 or less. To compare, N64 Virtual Console games on the Wii will cost about $10, so we're hoping Sony prices the games a little bit lower to be a little bit more competitive. ...

Via YourPSP we have information that a special Halloween Demo of the Popular Locoroco game will be released, more than likely the firmware needed will be 2.81 or higher. ...

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