Hasta La Gadget!

A brand new PlayStation 3 updated hardware release has been advertised (after a reveal earlier this year) with just about as strange a 15-second commercial as you’re ever going to see. This ad spot has the gaming console rotating in space with a couple of specification updates, first of all – no big deal. Then there’s a freak-out session with a zombie that bursts forth from the device and grabs directly at your face in 3D.

The video was updated to an official Sony PlayStation Japan YouTube Channel and does indeed work in 3D via YouTube’s ability to show such content. Because of this, we’ve got the feeling that Sony will be pushing 3D abilities from the basic place they’re at in the current newest iteration of the PlayStation 3 to a new level by the time this device is out across the earth. That said, there’s really no accounting for the terrorizing of the audience.

On the other hand, it could very well be a teaser for the upcoming 3D release of Resident Evil 6, of course. This release will likely be so gigantic that Sony will be joining in on the fun with special edition controllers and perhaps even a console covered with infected blood – you never know! For now we’re guessing that this is just something we can rack up to Japanese television wackiness.

Take a peek at the timeline below to see other hints and tips on what the next PlayStation 3 console release will be like. We know it’ll be 25% lighter and 20% smaller than the PlayStation 3 Slim, but other than that we’ve got little to no information on the books. Don’t expect any sort of price decrease, either!

[via WebProNews]

New PlayStation 3 “Superslim” ad tips Zombie 3D hardware update is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

One of the biggest talking points about the original Black Ops was Zombies mode. When Activision and Treyarch announced Call of Duty: Black Ops II, footage from the game’s Zombies mode was surprisingly absent, but that all changed today. After teasing the mode last week, Activision has released a new trailer for Zombies, and a new write-up from Polygon gives us an idea of what we can expect to find when we delve into Zombies mode once more.

As it turns out, Zombies mode will be a little deeper than just “shoot all the zombies” this time around. The traditional game mode where players team up to take on wave after wave of zombies is still there, rest assured, but Zombies in Black Ops II will feature two additional modes: Tranzit and Grief. If you’re a Zombies fan, you might want to brace yourself before reading on, because both modes sound excellent.

In Tranzit, players will work cooperatively to make it through a zombie-based story mode. Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia says players will have a “massive world” to explore, and there will be items to collect and defenses to build as well. Did we mention that there’s a bus to use for transportation? There is, and though it provides some degree of shelter, it like like zombies can also board the bus, leading to a potentially sticky situation. Tranzit mode will apparently have ties to the story behind the Moon map that released for the original Black Ops, though Lamia didn’t get into specifics when talking about how the two are related.

Changing gears completely, we come to Grief mode. This is a competitive survival mode that pits two teams of varying sizes against groups of zombies. The teams will compete to be the last team standing, though here’s the twist: you can’t shoot players on the other team. You’ll have plenty of ways to screw them over though, hence the name. It should give us an interesting spin on the played out team deathmatch mode, and that is definitely something to look forward to.

All in all, these new modes sound great, especially Tranzit mode, which immediately reminds us of the Arma II mod DayZ. We’re told to expect more information on Black Ops II‘s multiplayer modes later on this week, so you can bet we’ll be keeping an eye out for those. In the meantime, let us know what you think of Tranzit and Grief modes – have they managed to pique your interest?

Black Ops II Zombies mode debuts in new video is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Sony is always looking for more ways to make the PS3 standout from the likes of the Xbox 360 and Wii (soon to be Wii U), and one new way its doing that is by putting games on PSN the same day they launch at retail. Unveiled today, Sony’s new “PSN Day 1 Digital” program will kick off in October with the release of Resident Evil 6, letting users purchase and download full, new games on launch day right from their couch. Even better is that PS Plus users will get to enjoy a 10% discount in some cases.

Out of all of this, the fact that PS Plus users get 10% off is probably the most surprising. Console manufacturers – Microsoft especially, Sony to a lesser extent – sometimes like to keep prices high on digital versions of retail games. The result is that occasionally you’d end up paying more for a digital copy of the game than you would for a physical copy from a brick and mortar store, but this time around, Sony is ready to pass on some discounts provided you’ve subscribed to PlayStation Plus. Of course, just being a PS Plus member doesn’t automatically mean you’re entitled to the discount, as you’ll have to pre-order the game in question before Sony and the publishers will shave 10% off the purchase price.

Here’s the full list of games that will be launching on PSN on launch day. Keep in mind that PS Plus prices only apply if you pre-order the title unless otherwise stated:

• Resident Evil 6 – October 2, $59.99
• NBA 2K12 – October 2, $59.99/$53.99 for PS Plus members
• Dishonored – October 9, $59.99/$53.99 for PS Plus members
• Doom 3: BFG Edition – October 16, $39.99/$35.99 for PS Plus members
• 007 Legends – October 16, $59.99/$53.99 for PS Plus members during first week of availability
• Medal of Honor Warfighter – October 23, $59.99
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted – October 30, $59.99/$53.99 for PS Plus members
• Assassin’s Creed III – October 30, $59.99

Unsurprisingly, three of October’s biggest games – Resident Evil 6, Medal of Honor Warfighter, and Assassin’s Creed III – don’t come with a discount for PS Plus members, though Assassin’s Creed III is still available for pre-order. There’s no word on if these games will be available to download at midnight on launch day, but Sony’s recent launch day release of Borderlands 2 wasn’t, so it isn’t looking good for the rest of the bunch. More details will almost certainly be coming shortly, so stay tuned.

[via The Verge]

Sony unveils PSN Day 1 Digital program is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve entered the last full week of September, which means that autumn, pumpkins, and little children asking for free candy are all in the near future (for some of us anyway). Today we found out that the iPhone 5 managed to sell 5 million units in its first weekend of availability, and that iOS 6 has been downloaded by 100 million users since it was released last week. Some enthusiastic analysts were left explaining their generous iPhone 5 sales predictions today, while others were saying that the iPhone 5 could top 50 million sales by the end of Q4.

Apple TV was upgraded to iOS 5.1 today, while the company reminded iCloud users that former MobileMe accounts will be downgraded to 5GB of free storage on September 30. Verizon says that its version of the iPhone 5 will remain unlocked, while iOS developers were sending out updates for their apps left and right. One of these developers was Google, which launched an iOS 6/iPhone 5 update for Google Chrome, with Sparrow promising that iPhone 5 support will be coming soon.

Samsung released a list of devices that will soon be updated to Jelly Bean, and T-Mobile was seen trying to pull attention to its 4G network, which is due for some upgrades soon. The Aakash Android 2 tablet was revealed today with a super low price tag, and Facebook did its best to dispel rumors that private messages are popping up on public timelines. Google’s stock hit an all-time high today, breaking company records set back in 2007, and Sony announced some new super-slim external batteries for mobile devices.

Toshiba had some skinny offerings of its own to show off, unveiling the new Canvio Slim 500GB hard drive, and camera samples for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus 2 leaked out today as well. Experts warned that BlackBerry growth has become stagnant and that BlackBerry 10 may not do much to help, while YouTube enhanced its caption translation tools for content creators. In one of the most surprising stories of the day, Myspace began showing off its incoming redesign, and it actually looks really good. Meanwhile, we heard about a particularly nasty Borderlands 2 bug, and Sony reiterated plans to support the PS3 through at least 2015.

Finally tonight, we have a new column by Chris Davies that examines why iPhone 5 users may eventually save the poorly-received Apple Maps app in iOS 6. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, so go out and enjoy the rest of your night!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: September 24, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A lot of people think that the next PlayStation and the next Xbox are right around the corner. You likely already know that if you keep up with video game news, but so far, two major players have been silent on the next generation: Microsoft and Sony. Despite the absurd number of rumors, both companies have maintained that they’re focused on their current generation consoles for now, and in a recent interview with GameSpot, Sony reiterated its intention of supporting the PS3 for the next few years.

“A lot of great content is coming,” said PlayStation VP of hardware and marketing John Kollar. “And over the next 2-3 years, the PS3 has got an incredible lineup.” When he was asked if that means Sony will continue to support the PS3 for the next three years, Kollar replied with “Absolutely.” He went on to say that Sony will continue to support the PS3 as long as there are developers that are interested in making games for the console.

Sony has done the exact same thing with the PlayStation 2, which was incredibly popular for the first few years of the PS3′s life cycle and isn’t quite dead yet. The PS2 still occasionally gets new games to this day, so it makes sense that Sony is hoping for a repeat with the PlayStation 3. It isn’t any surprise that Microsoft wants the Xbox 360 to be the next PS2 as well, offering consumers more than just a box to play games and making similar commitments to supporting the console.

When Sony and Microsoft reiterate these commitments, as both have done time and time again, consumers sometimes take those statements as indications that the next PlayStation and Xbox aren’t arriving until 2015 or later. That probably won’t be the case, as the ideal situation for Sony and Microsoft would be to offer their next generation consoles alongside current gen machines, instead of as replacements for current generation hardware. In other words, even though Sony is committed to supporting the PS3 through 2015, the PS4 might still be coming up soon. Stay tuned.

Sony reiterates commitment to PS3 through 2015 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.