Sony has confirmed that the PlayStation Network will be suspended for regular scheduled maintenance tomorrow.

According to the Official PlayStation Blog the maintenance will begin 8 am Pacific Time on September 21 and will last until approximately 5 pm.

That's 4pm BST on Tuesday, September 21 until 2am on Wednesday, September 22 for European users.



During this period users may encounter problems signing into PSN and will be unable to access the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Home or manage their account.

Since the maintenance period overlaps with the normal release window of PlayStation Store content in the US, this weeks update will be released later tonight for North American users.

Why not spend your new found free time looking at PlayStation Move review round-up and see if the new controller takes your fancy.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

The focus of the PSP is to begin shifting towards a younger audience, Sony America's marketing mouthpiece Peter Dille has said. By doing so, the handheld will equip Sony with "a very big tent" of PlayStation entertainment that doesn't rely on one product "like our competitors".

"There will be [a focus on the younger audience], and that's part and parcel with the strategy as you go longer into the lifecycle," Dille told thealistdaily. "With quality game experiences for $9.99, we're talking in a way that none of our competitors can on all of our platforms.

"On the PS3, the PlayStation Move lets us talk to more casual gamers and at the same time we're introducing 3D games. On the PSP, we're pitching something that appeals to a younger audience, and we're also putting out something that appeals to core gamers with titles like Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.

"If you look at what Sony WWS does, we have titles ranging from Killzone to EyePet. PlayStation is a very big tent," he added, "and we've never been reliant on one product genre like one of our competitors and it's helped us sell 377 million PlayStation hardware products and two billion software products in 15 years."

Whether the supposed-to-be-secret PSP2 will seek a younger audience remains to be seen. So far we've heard that Sony's new handheld will perform "like iPhone on steroids" and feature touch-screen controls on the reverse of the device.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...w-towards-kids ...

The Daily Mail has published an article claiming professional gangs of traders are buying up vast quantaties of the UK's iPhone 4 stock and shipping it abroad.
The tabloid claims this is "depriving ordinary customers of getting their hands on them."
Apparently, these hoards of 'runners' are paid around £70 for each un-contracted device they get their hands on, which they pay between £499 and £599 for.
It's tough to see how anyone is making much money on such a scheme by the time the devices are shipped to Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia – but The Mail claims international shortages will mean customers will pay £400 over the retail price.
Directly asserting that this supposed practice has caused the iPhone 4 shortage, the Mail goes on to explain the chaos as 'genuine' customers become frustrated they cannot buy one.

"Fights have been known to break out and some stores open much earlier than their advertised time of 9am in an attempt to reduce any crowd trouble."

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/34630...oreign-traders ...

Apple is working on a 'digital newsstand' to sell electronic magazines and newspapers to iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users, according to a Bloomberg report.
It claims that iPad would be the focus for the new store, which would do for newspapers and magazines what iBooks has done for books.
What's more, the report suggests that the new store will tie into subscriptions for these publications - plans for which were rumoured last week.
While it could launch this year, Bloomberg thinks Apple may delay the launch of such a store until its second-generation iPad is announced early next year.
Publishers aren't spilling details of the new store or commenting on the speculation, for now.


Many newspapers and magazines are already available for iOS devices, either through standalone apps on Apple's App Store, or via third-party services like Zinio.
An Apple digital newsstand would certainly be bad news for the latter company.

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/38721...-newsstand-app ...

Sony's internal software developers will be getting much more input into the design of future PlayStation hardware, according to Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida.

Including games developers in the hardware design process is a significant change from the creation and launch of the PlayStation 3, when Sony Computer Entertainment was overseen by 'father of PlayStation' Ken Kuturagi, working with an enclosed team in Japan.

But since Kuturagi's retirement, Kaz Hirai - a more software-focused executive - has created a more inclusive business at SCE, pulling Japan and the full Worldwide Studios teams closer together.

"That has made a huge, huge day to day difference, and a month-to-month and year-to-year difference," said WWS president Shuhei Yoshida, in an exclusive interview published today.

"Actually, I'd say that Move was the first platform project that, from day one, from the very conceptual stage, had Worldwide Studios involved. WWS was involved before SCE's hardware guys were involved. It was between Richard Marks, the SCEA R&D group and Worldwide Studios teams - they started looking into next-gen motion gaming, and tried every different kind of technology, including 3D cameras and other motion capture technologies like magnetics or ultrasound," he detailed.

"That's a totally, totally different approach from the days when Ken was running the company. As soon as Kaz took over Ken's position, Kaz told the people in Japan that from now on, they had to talk to Worldwide Studios about anything about the platform, and get our feedback on any decisions. I thought, "wow"!"

Both the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation 3 were criticised for being difficult hardware to get to grips with, but Yoshida said that games developers will have much more input on the tools and operating system for the next PlayStation console.

"Not only do we give them input, but Worldwide Studios' tech teams are part of the platform OS and tools development. That's a completely new world as well.

"Our central tech groups, the WWS tech groups, have been making game engines or tools for the studios in the group - but now they are part of the tools of development and the low-level middleware library development. That means the future platform, the PlayStation platform tools and OS... At least part of those will actually be developed by game developers."

Yoshida himself has been instrumental in bringing the company together under Hirai's vision, enabling the teams to collaborate closely where before there was no structure to communicate.

"I had never been that kind of process. People understood Kaz' vision, but they didn't know what to do, or who to talk to," said Yoshida. "They had set milestones in terms of developing hardware. I felt like I could uniquely go into that group of engineers in Japan and suggest a new process - interject the right kind of software teams to the right kind of hardware issues that need solutions.

"I felt that, because they didn't have to talk to us when they were making hardware decisions previously, they might feel like the process took too long if they had to go through additional steps. I was afraid that they might not like it. But what's really exciting, for me, is that I have found that they really, really embraced the relationship. They always wanted to make hardware that great games could be made for - but they didn't know who to talk to. They were making decisions with very limited insight from the software side, regarding what kind of hardware features or tools would make game developers happy."

This new working culture is proving successful for Sony, with hardware and software teams able to give feedback to each other at the prototype stage and better understand each other's needs.

"Not only were we able to say, yes, this feature is good, or this other feature won't be necessary - we could show examples, the reasons why some features are more important than others," added Yoshida. "We could use our game concepts, our prototypes, and show them the reasons.

"Then it becomes really clear in their minds - they understood that they had to make Move's response time as good as Dual Shock, in order to make it adaptable to all kinds of games. That kind of technical decision can now be made with direct insight from gaming teams. The engineers say that they're so glad to hear these things - they can't think of any other way of making new hardware, now."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...loper-friendly ...

Sony's internal software developers will be getting much more input into the design of future PlayStation hardware, according to Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida.

Including games developers in the hardware design process is a significant change from the creation and launch of the PlayStation 3, when Sony Computer Entertainment was overseen by 'father of PlayStation' Ken Kuturagi, working with an enclosed team in Japan.

But since Kuturagi's retirement, Kaz Hirai - a more software-focused executive - has created a more inclusive business at SCE, pulling Japan and the full Worldwide Studios teams closer together.

"That has made a huge, huge day to day difference, and a month-to-month and year-to-year difference," said WWS president Shuhei Yoshida, in an exclusive interview published today.

"Actually, I'd say that Move was the first platform project that, from day one, from the very conceptual stage, had Worldwide Studios involved. WWS was involved before SCE's hardware guys were involved. It was between Richard Marks, the SCEA R&D group and Worldwide Studios teams - they started looking into next-gen motion gaming, and tried every different kind of technology, including 3D cameras and other motion capture technologies like magnetics or ultrasound," he detailed.

"That's a totally, totally different approach from the days when Ken was running the company. As soon as Kaz took over Ken's position, Kaz told the people in Japan that from now on, they had to talk to Worldwide Studios about anything about the platform, and get our feedback on any decisions. I thought, "wow"!"

Both the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation 3 were criticised for being difficult hardware to get to grips with, but Yoshida said that games developers will have much more input on the tools and operating system for the next PlayStation console.

"Not only do we give them input, but Worldwide Studios' tech teams are part of the platform OS and tools development. That's a completely new world as well.

"Our central tech groups, the WWS tech groups, have been making game engines or tools for the studios in the group - but now they are part of the tools of development and the low-level middleware library development. That means the future platform, the PlayStation platform tools and OS... At least part of those will actually be developed by game developers."

Yoshida himself has been instrumental in bringing the company together under Hirai's vision, enabling the teams to collaborate closely where before there was no structure to communicate.

"I had never been that kind of process. People understood Kaz' vision, but they didn't know what to do, or who to talk to," said Yoshida. "They had set milestones in terms of developing hardware. I felt like I could uniquely go into that group of engineers in Japan and suggest a new process - interject the right kind of software teams to the right kind of hardware issues that need solutions.

"I felt that, because they didn't have to talk to us when they were making hardware decisions previously, they might feel like the process took too long if they had to go through additional steps. I was afraid that they might not like it. But what's really exciting, for me, is that I have found that they really, really embraced the relationship. They always wanted to make hardware that great games could be made for - but they didn't know who to talk to. They were making decisions with very limited insight from the software side, regarding what kind of hardware features or tools would make game developers happy."

This new working culture is proving successful for Sony, with hardware and software teams able to give feedback to each other at the prototype stage and better understand each other's needs.

"Not only were we able to say, yes, this feature is good, or this other feature won't be necessary - we could show examples, the reasons why some features are more important than others," added Yoshida. "We could use our game concepts, our prototypes, and show them the reasons.

"Then it becomes really clear in their minds - they understood that they had to make Move's response time as good as Dual Shock, in order to make it adaptable to all kinds of games. That kind of technical decision can now be made with direct insight from gaming teams. The engineers say that they're so glad to hear these things - they can't think of any other way of making new hardware, now."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...loper-friendly ...

The attorneys representing Sony Computer Entertainment America have responded to a class action complaint filed against the company for removing the other 'Other OS' feature from the PlayStation 3.

Sony removed the feature in April due to potential security issues as part of PS3 firmware update v3.21. Seven total class action lawsuits were filed against the company soon after, and in July, a judge ruled to consolidate all the lawsuits into one complaint.

Last week, however, Sony's attorneys filed a motion for the court to strike the class allegations and to dismiss the case.

Sony contends the plaintiffs' claims that the company advertised the Other OS feature the later removed it - depriving PS3 users of software features - is contradicted by the explicit terms stated in SCEA's written express warranty, the System Software License Agreement and the PSN Terms of Service.

"These contracts specifically provide PS3 purchasers with a license, not an ownership interest, in the software and in the use of the PSN, and provide that SCEA has the right to disable or alter software features or terminate or limit access to the PSN, including by issuing firmware updates," the motion reads. "Plaintiffs therefore cannot succeed in any of their claims because SCEA's alleged alteration/disablement of PS3 features including the Other OS, was entirely proper and authorized."

Sony's motion also said the complaint fails to provide any mass media advertising campaign, statements by SCEA, or PS3 packaging that referenced the 'Other OS' feature.

"Instead, it includes a mix of quotes drawn from obscure articles and unrelated third party publications, and a smattering of out of context and incomplete references to a few pages of SCEA's website and user manual," Sony said.

Sony went on to list several reasons why the court should strike the class allegations from the complaint and pointed to the fact all plaintiffs did not use the Other OS feature in the same manner, if at all.

"One plaintiff never installed Linux during the more than two years he owned his PS3; two plaintiffs used the Other OS feature only to do things equally available through the PS3 native operating system; one plaintiff supposedly also played Linux-specific games; and the last plaintiff used Linux extensively, including for electronic mail, word processing, spreadsheet software, and other 'productivity applications.'"

Sony later referenced various message board postings from PS3 owners admitting they had "no idea that the PS3 even had an Other OS function or Linux functionality."

The company also cited numerous postings from owners who stated they "did not purchase the PS3 because of the Other OS feature and did not use it" and others saying they downloaded the update because "they did not care about the Other OS feature."

Both parties will be heard before a judge on November 4, 2010. The plaintiffs, meanwhile, have requested that Sony turn over internal documents regarding the decision to remove the 'Other OS' feature.

"We are in the process of reviewing Sony's Motions to Dismiss and to Strike," a representative from the interim co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs told IGN. "These types of motions are fairly common at this stage of the litigation and we believe we have strong arguments for why they should be denied."

"We plan on vigorously opposing these motions and we hope to have them decided in November. In the meantime, we have requested that Sony turn over its internal documents about why the 'Other OS' feature was removed and we look forward to reviewing those materials."

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/112/1121709p1.html ...

Newly released for Pandora

PicoDrive is Megadrive / Genesis / Sega CD / Mega CD / 32X / SMS emulator.

http://dl.openhandhelds.org/cgi-bin/...0,0,0,0,71,206 ...

Newly released for Pandora



Enhanced Doom engine
with the PickleLauncher frontend

http://dl.openhandhelds.org/cgi-bin/...?0,0,0,0,30,78 ...