Sony has announced a bevy of freebies for PlayStation Home users as part of its Welcome Back programme following the recent PSN downtime.

Between 30th June and 28th July, it's offering free access to a new content pack that's apparently worth €85/£65. Here's what's included:

Anime Style Apartment
Anime themed clothing and furniture sets
Paris Modern Office furniture set
nDreams Big Bash party bundle
nDreams Fantasy Fashion and Funkster costumes
Aurora OrbRunner Booster Bundle
A cuddly Stitchkins Bunny Toy from Lockwood
A Midway Green ticket (50 plays)
Cardboard Cartel Furniture from Codeglue
Fortune Cookie active item
A selection of Tops, Shirts, Skirts, High-top trainers and glasses
Go Fish – a new, free-to-play fishing game based in the Shopping Centre
With the exception of Go Fish, all of the above will be available in Home Square, and you'll need to be 16 or older to download them.

The pack will then launch as paid content from the 28th July.

Head on over to the PlayStation Blog for more details on the individual items and a few pics.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...xtras-detailed ...

Sony's brand perception is "clearly" recovering following the PSN security breach PR cataclysm last month, so says CEO Howard Stringer.

Speaking at Sony's annual meeting in a Tokyo hotel, as reported by the BBC, Stringer apologised for the hack and praised PlayStation gamers for returning to the system.

"Our brand perception, you'll be happy to know, is clearly improving again," he insisted.

"My foremost responsibility to the board and all of you is to further advance the transformation process, firmly establish Sony's position as a global product, content and service leader in the networked digital era and ensure our continued development and growth."

Stringer also took the opportunity to announce that he'd taken a pay-cut. His salary and bonuses have fallen 16 per cent to a meagre ¥345m yen (around £2.7m) a year.

Even so, some shareholders in attendance didn't seem to have a great deal of faith in the chief executive, with one calling for him to resign. The company's stock has dropped 30 per cent over the last 12 months and it has recorded three consecutive years of losses.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...st-psn-upswing ...

Former Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) president Andrew House has been made president of Sony Computer Entertainment International (SCEI), with SCEE co-COO Jim Ryan taking House's place.

Current SCEI chairman Akira Sato will retire from the role in August 31, leaving the way for Sony Corp. deputy executive president Kazuo Hirai to take his place and for House to become president of SCEI.

At the same time as the announcement PlayStation creator Ken Kutaragi stepped down as honorary chairman of SCEI, although he still maintains his senior technology advisory role at Sony.

"Since returning to SCE two years ago, I have focused on further expanding our business in the European/PAL territories and regaining our market leadership there," said House.

"I believe there is huge potential for further growth of our business globally, and I’m looking forward to working with everyone in the SCE group and with other groups in Sony to help achieve this potential by pursuing the creation of brand new user experiences."

"I’m confident that the skills and expertise Andy has gained over two decades working for Sony and SCE Group will contribute enormously in leading the PlayStation business and to bring new initiatives in managing the business in the networked era," said Hirari.

"I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the great support from third party game developers and publishers and particularly to the wonderful creators all over the world," said Sato on his retirement.

"Without the great content from a wide spectrum of genres made by third party game developers and publishers, as well as SCE Worldwide Studios, PlayStation would not be where it is now," he added.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...scei-president ...

Not content with attempting to usher in the advent of 3D console gaming, it seems Sony now has its sights set on the next quantum leap – virtual reality.

Speaking in a video interview to promote next month's b.tween 3D event in London, SCE Studios exec Mike Hocking explained that Sony's recently announced HMD device could represent the future of 3D gaming by allowing users access to a full 'virtual' world.

"Another thing that's coming back which I'm very excited is the notion of virtual reality," he explained.

"So we have our new HMD – or head-mounted display - which was announced at CES earlier this year, and you can see that we can now get back to where we really wanted to get with virtual reality in the '80s.

"We've now got the power to do it, we've got the screen resolution to do it, we've got the processing power to update fast enough so we can have very immersive experiences on head-mounted displays in gaming in the not too distant future.

"Being in a virtual world where I can see my virtual hands or a virtual gun with all the things we can do in the gaming world is going to be absolutely amazing," he added.

There's no release date set yet for Sony's HMD or even a firm set of tech specs. Have a look at the clip below from Sony's CES show to see what the gizmo looks like.

Staring even deeper into his crystal ball, Hocking also explained that he'd love to see AR-enabled contact lenses that would super-impose information about anything in your line of sight, Terminator-style.

"Most of the really exciting stuff is out there in the R&D area at the moment – like having contact lenses with cameras and sensors built-in so that everything you see can be augmented with useful data," he said.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...irtual-reality ...

The NPD Group has released a set of charts highlighting sales in various video game categories over the last few years. Of particular interest is a graph representing online-capable sales between 2006 and 2010. The Xbox 360 leads in the category, with online-capable game sales consistently doubling that of PlayStation 3 since 2008. The Wii reached roughly half of the PS3's online-capable sales in 2008, though that number declined through 2010.

When it comes to points cards used to purchase games and downloadable content online, the Xbox 360 trounces the competition with sales growing steadily every year. Sales of Sony's PSN cards seem to be on the rise, however, while Wii Point card sales have remained relatively flat.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/28/np...-games-as-ps3/ ...

Sony has released this week's list of new content on its PlayStation Store in US.

The highlight of the list is of course the Uncharted: Drake's Deception multiplayer beta, which is only available to PS Plus subscribers this week (more details here). Streets of Rage 2 is also up for grabs.

Beyond Good & Evil is a must download for anyone who missed Ubisoft's epic quest when it released on last-gen consoles and there's a Duke Nukem Forever demo those who fancy seeing if all those critical reviews are true.

Here's the full list:


PlayStation Plus

Featured Games & DLC
UNCHARTED 3 Drake's Deception Multiplayer Beta (Free and exclusive to Plus)
Streets of Rage 2 (Free with Plus - a $4.99 value)

Discounted Games
Dead Space Ignition (PlayStation Plus price $2.50; a 50% discount)
Deathspank (PlayStation Plus price $7.50; a 50% discount)
Deathspank Thongs of Virtue (PlayStation Plus price $7.50; a 50% discount)
Funky Lab Rat (Full Game) (PlayStation Plus price $3.00; a 70% discount)
Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom (PlayStation Plus price $3.99; 20% additional discount on two week sale price)
MicroBot (PlayStation Plus price $5.00; a 50% discount)
Shank (PlayStation Plus price $5.00; a 50% discount)
Spare Parts (PlayStation Plus price $5.00; a 50% discount)
Tetris (PlayStation Plus price $5.00; a 50% discount)
The Fancy Pants Adventures (PlayStation Plus price $5.00, a 50% discount)

Featured Themes & Avatars
Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition - 4 Avatar Bundle (Exclusive to Plus for $0.49)

Updates

MAG Interdiction Mission Pack - Price Drop (PS3) (now FREE, original price $4.99)
MAG Escalation Mission Pack - Price Drop (PS3) (now $4.99, original price $9.99)

Downloadable Games

Beyond Good And Evil HD ($9.99)
Beyond Good & Evil, the award-winning action-adventure game from Ubisoft, is back on PlayStation Network, now with high-definition graphics. Play as Jade, a young investigative reporter, and expose a terrible government conspiracy; save your planet and its inhabitants. Special offer: get two avatars with purchase, now through July 12, 2011.
ESRB Rated T
File size: 1.5GB

Gatling Gears ($9.99)
When the Empire begins its reign of destruction in a thirst for natural resources, it's up to Max Brawley, a retired Gatling Gear pilot to fight his way to the heart of the Empire and eliminate the destruction at its source.
ESRB Rated E10+
File size: 1.41 GB

Puzzle Dimension ($8.99)
Easy to learn hard to master. Within minutes you will move in 3D structures and solve puzzles never seen before. 100 unique twisted puzzles. Classic fun puzzle elements: Blocks of ice and fire. Teleporters, buttons, spikes and more. Adaptive audiovisuals. Your movement and progression affects the graphics and music as you play.
ESRB Rated E
File size: 218 MB

Streets Of Rage 2 ($4.99)
To commemorate their defeat of the Syndicate exactly one year before, Blaze, Adam and Axel went out to celebrate. The next morning, however, Axel received a frantic phone call from Adam's younger brother, Eddie 'Skate' Hunter; Adam's been kidnaped! Axel and Blaze team up with Skate and Max Thunder to free the city and rescue Adam from the Syndicate. It is up to you to take down Mr. X once and for all!
ESRB Rated E
File size: 36 MB

Game Demos (free)

MotorStorm Apocalypse Multiplayer Demo
Take a test drive at the end of the world with the explosive online multiplayer demo for MotorStorm Apocalypse to get a taste of some of the deep community and online racing features available in the full game! Download the multiplayer demo today before it's too late! Available through July 5 only. Supports both 2D and stereoscopic 3D gameplay.
ESRB Rated T
File size: 1.78 GB

PlayStation Move Ape Escape Demo
Check out the demo and sample the next chapter in the Ape Escape saga; an original new adventure full of monkeys and mayhem designed exclusively for the PlayStation Move!
ESRB Rated E10+
File size: 461 MB

Beyond Good & Evil HD Demo
Beyond Good & Evil, the award-winning action-adventure game from Ubisoft, is back on PlayStation Network, now with high-definition graphics. Play as Jade, a young investigative reporter, and expose a terrible government conspiracy; save your planet and its inhabitants. Try it now!
ESRB Rated T
File size: 1.47 GB

Duke Nukem Forever Demo
Babes, bullets, bombs, and more babes- Duke Nukem Forever is the game you've been waiting 12 long years to play, and now it's finally here. Blow up the alien bastards, interact with Duke's world, woo the ladies, drive Duke's monster truck, boost up your ego, and much much more. Download now, and Come Get Some!
ESRB Rated M
File size: 1.37 GB

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance Demo
Dungeon Hunter: Alliance is the first action RPG game for the PlayStation 3 system that immerses you in the heart of a unique multiplayer experience, local and online. Face the world of Gothicus and its hordes of creatures alone or in teams of up to 4 heroes. The main quest, side quests, and the innumerable items to collect offer hours of play in a superbly modeled gothic universe.
ESRB Rated T
File size: 942 MB

Gatling Gears Demo
When the Empire begins its reign of destruction in a thirst for natural resources, it's up to Max Brawley, a retired Gatling Gear pilot to fight his way to the heart of the Empire and eliminate the destruction at its source.
ESRB Rated E10+
File size: 1.41 GB

Homefront Multiplayer Demo
This all new Homefront multiplayer demo features intense infantry and vehicle combat on dedicated servers, revolutionary Battle Points and Battle Commander systems, and 10 levels of weapon and ability unlocks. Download it today!
ESRB Rated M
File size: 1.07 GB

NCAA Football 12 Demo
Experience the pride and pageantry of gameday like never before with the NCAA Football 12 demo. With an enhanced in-game presentation, new traditions, and an all-new tackling system, make an impact by leading your team to victory. Play in two exciting match-ups as ...

modrobert writes: "The Gitbrew team has posted a bunch of tweets about working on a homebrew exploit for PS3OS v3.56 and newer versions. Regarding loading backups from GameOS this was mentioned: 'We are not morally against DRM hacking. We are just legally not able to. However the documentation to do it might be released. '"

http://www.eurasia.nu/modules.php?na...ticle&sid=2810 ...

release from DoRaeMoN :

Hi guys, i wrote this little tool primairly for analysis of ps1 emulator (it has 2 embedded spu files, with symbols!) but it can also be used for other elfs that contains elfs.

https://ideone.com/AFOPB

PS: Sorry for my english and for my code, i'm not so skilled in both lol
PPS: Feel free to edit and do whatever you want with it! ...

Howard Stringer, Sony Corp CEO, spoke to shareholders about recent hacker attacks on the company in a meeting in Tokyo.

"We believe that we first became the subject of attack because we tried to protect our IP (intellectual property), our content, in this case video games," the CEO explained.

"These are our corporate assets, and there are those that don't want us to protect them, they want everything to be free."

According to Reuters, during the meeting there was a call from a shareholder for the CEO to step down, but Stringer made no direct comment on the suggestion.

Sony is currently facing a lawsuit over the attacks on PlayStation Network and the Sony Online Entertainment Network.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ng-its-content ...