Sony Computer Entertainment boss Ken Kutaragi has bigged up PlayStation 3 as a full-on computer today, noting that PC-style upgrades and build to order systems could be on the way.

"Speaking about the PS3, we never said we will release a game console," Kutaragi said, In an Interview with Japan's PC Watch. "It is radically different from the previous PlayStation. It is clearly a computer. Indeed, with a game console, you need to take out any unnecessary elements inside the console in order to decrease its cost. ... This will of course apply to the PS3 as well."

The PlayStation boss continued, saying that the PS3's highly configurable hardware overrides any issue of cost, and even suggested that the next-gen PlayStation could keep up with PC technology. "The PS3 is a computer," said Kutaragi. "Lowering costs is important but more important is its capacity to evolve.

I think the HDD will gain in capacity. If a new technology gets into mainstream PCs, the PS3 will have to adopt it as well. Maybe the Blu-ray drive will become writable. Well, maybe not at this point.

Kutaragi then continued his 'PS3 as a computer' campaign, saying that the HDD is not the only element that gives the console a computer nature. "Everything has been planned and designed so it will become a computer. The previous PlayStation had a memory slot as its unique interface. In contrast, the PS3 features PC standard interfaces. Because they are standard, they are open.

Kutaragi continued: "We put up no restrictions. Because it is a computer, it can interact with anything, freely. If someone is familiar with PC building, he or she can easily upgrade PS3's HDD."

Console traditionalists might be put off by all the talk of yearly tweaks and upgrades, but by the looks of it this is exactly the kind of route Kutaragi would like to take with the PS3.

"I think a year from the launch we could indeed extend the configuration of the PS3. Why not!" conceded Kutaragi. "Okay, this is may be joke or a personal opinion. I mean we have no such plan at this very moment. However, companies like Dell or Apple have such programs. In the PC world, specifications rarely last more than two years. You need to update them. I believe the PC is always evolving. I think that the time may come that the 60GB HDD would become too small or the RAM to low. Such issues are numerous."

It looks like the days of tamper-free, technically inferior consoles could be over. But can the PS3 really compete with PC technology? Do gamers really want to upgrade their consoles every few years? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Via CVG ...

PlayStation 3 is part of a "new digital strategy to try and create a new software mentality" at Sony, according to the firm's CEO Sir Howard Stringer, who admits that the transition to digital has been tough for the firm.

Speaking to Walt Mossberg in an on-stage interview at the Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital conference, Stringer - the first westerner to become the head of Sony - gave some insight into the firm's broader strategy surrounding the console.

"The reason it's expensive [is that] instead of concentrating on just the games player, which would have been done in the past, PlayStation 3 is designed to go somewhere else, where it's the centre of the living room," he explained.

"It's part of the new digital strategy to try and create a new software mentality in Tokyo, because it's quite clear that we've been an analog company migrating to digital with some difficulty," concluded the Welsh-born executive.

Stringer also revealed that the PlayStation 3 is one of the devices which Sony has chosen to focus its efforts on, after significant cutbacks in terms of the number of projects which the firm has in development.

"It's exhausting trying to win on every front," he commented. "Every engineer loves his own product, so if you have an electronic toothbrush with a camera, we would give the same amount of marketing to that as everything else. After a while the company sinks, exhausted, to its knees. Well, we've changed that."

Elsewhere in the interview, Stringer paid tribute to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, commenting that his rival's "salesmanship" is "so brilliant" that "most of us think, oh my God, he must be right."

"He talked about Vista [being] delayed as if the delay was normal, and then he started mocking me for delaying PS3," Stringer joked. Earlier, the Sony CEO had accidentally referred to recent movie X-Men 3 as Xbox 3 - telling the audience jokingly that the slip-up was a sign of his "obsession."

Via Gamesindustry ...

The Lousiana Senate has passed HB1381, a bill designed to restrict the sale of games with violent content which was co-authored by notorious anti-videogames campaigner Jack Thompson.

HB1381, which Thompson wrote together with Representative Roy Burrell, would make it illegal to sell or rent out a game to a minor if it met three conditions. Namely, if an "average person" would consider that it "appeals to the minor's morbid interest in violence"; if the game "depicts violence in a manner patently offensive to prevailing standards"; and if it "lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors." Anyone violating the law could face a fine of up to USD 2000 and a maximum 12 month prison sentence.

The bill was approved by a key committee last week and has now been unanimously passed by the Louisiana State Senate. It's now up to Governor Kathleen Blanco to sign the bill into law - which seems highly likely.

It's also likely that the Entertainment Software Association will respond with the threat of legal action, as in the case of the bill passed in Minnesota recently.

Meanwhile, New York Senator Hillary Clinton has called for the US Government to support further research into the effects of electronic media on children - including TV and the Internet as well as videogames.

"We don't know the effects," Clinton told the audience at an event organised by the New America Foundation.

"Never have children been raised in such a media-saturated environment. How do we get more research, better facts and evidence?"

Clinton is hoping Congress will approve a bill she has co-authored which, if it became law, would impose fines on anyone selling or renting Mature or Adults Only-rated games to minors.

Earlier this week, her office released a downloadable "media guide" designed to help parents understand the ratings systems used for TV and games, and how to make use of the parental control option featured in many electronic entertainment devices. "Obviously parents are on the front line, but a lot of them need help," Clinton commented.

Via Gamesindustry ...

Bungie Studios has announced that its award-winning and phenomenally successful Xbox title, Halo 2, has surpassed an astonishing milestone with more than half a billion online games played on Xbox Live.

The game has been breaking records from the outset, racking up more than 1.5 million pre-orders leading up to its November 2004 release, selling in excess of 6.4 million units worldwide in just a few months following launch and clocking more than 90 million cumulative gameplay hours on Xbox Live.

A statement on developer Bungie Studios' website reads: "To clarify - that's actual games, not player-sessions. That also doesn't include games we lost because the website was down, or through other technical issues."

Halo 2 has regularly topped the list of most popular Xbox Live games, surpassing several new titles with multiplayer elements for Microsoft's next-generation Xbox 360 console. The game is not only fully compatible with the new console, but has also been given a graphical overhaul to take advantage of High Definition display.

The recent E3 expo saw the debut of a trailer for the forthcoming Halo 3, which was made available for download via Xbox Live and swiftly became one of the most popular content downloads on the service.

Via Gamesindustry ...

The new C4 - 2006 SEGA Saturn Coding Contest has begun!

The objective is to create a visually impressive game or demo, that runs on a real SEGA Saturn videogame system.

None of the previous Saturn Contests has had so much great prizes like the C4 - 2006! Thanks to a lot of private persons and our sponsors: www.nippotopia.com, Videospiel-Express, www.konsolenkost.de and www.racketboy.com

You can win money, webshop coupons, new and used videogames and accessories for classic and modern consoles. Prizes go to the three best entries as well as to the best newcomer entry. Have a look by yourself: C4 - 2006: prizes

Everyone with some coding experience is invited to claim for a prize. Don't worry about your skill, you got enough time to become good enough to win a prize: the deadline for submitting an entry is 30th november 2006.

For further details, check out the official website:
www.rockin-b.de/c4/2006/ ...

News from PSPDemon:

Hi again,

releaseing a PSPool pack for all you Final Fantasy 7 fanboys out there ( maybe fangirls? )....

Thanks to vettacossx for giving me a good ground to stand on and morph it into what we have now ...

Hope you Enjoy!!

Thanks for Everything,
PSPdemon

PS- if you have any trouble....ask here and i will help you out

More info and Download at his site here --> http://pspdemon.dcemu.co.uk/ ...

--Duplicated in Emu/Homebrew forum--

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Release: VSCycles v1.0 Lua Game
File: VSCycles_v100.zip (363 kb)
Screenshot: Main Menu
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I'd like to release my recently completed 2D Tron game in Lua, 'VSCycles'.

From the Readme:
VSCycles is a 2D Tron clone for the Sony PSP written in Lua.

For those not familiar with the Tron concept, players control 'lightcycles', moving objects which constantly travel in a straight line over a playfield and turn in 90 degree intervals. However, there is a catch. Lightcycles leave a wall trailing behind them in the same color as the lightcycle.

The goal of the game is simple: Don't Crash. If you crash into one of your own walls, or leave the play area, you lose a point. If your opponent crashes into one of your walls, you gain a point. First player to the winning score wins the match.

To play, move your lightcycle in the play area, taking advantage of your trailing wall (and the opponent's wall, if you can) to force the other player into crashing into it.

VSCycles is fully functional, released in Lowser compatable format. It contains options to adjust gameplay speed and win scores.

Feedback welcome!

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I Have finally finished 4 Cool Skins for eLoader Bock V0.97 YIPPI

eLoader Bock V0.97 Skins -_

-You Reqiure-
A 2.5 or a 2.6 firmware
eLoader Bock V0.97

-How to instal-

Chose one of the skins and place the loadmenu.tga in --> F:\PSP\eloader Make shure that you have a copy of the old loadmenu.tga before you overwrite it.

-About-

This dosent change your eLoader at all except for the background of it.

This skins Were Done by Limier


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Tiboric has updated his Taque game now adding a Single Player mode, the previous version would let 2 play on one PSP, the game itself is very simple but worth a looky.

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via Tiboric ...