Hasta La Gadget!

In September of last year, Sony threw in an interesting nugget when it shipped the third-generation PS3: there’d be a unique, more affordable 12GB flash-based unit exclusively for Europe and Hong Kong. Sure, it doesn’t do much good for those who boast huge game libraries or prefer to store odds and ends locally, but Sony clearly determined that there’d be a real market for such a product. Sony Computer Entertainment America VP of marketing, handhelds and home consoles John Koller sat down with us following the launches, and made a point to tell us the following:

“The smaller Flash drive isn’t coming to North America, and a lot of that reason is the digital consumer. We really want to make sure, out of the box, that there is an option for them to be able to download that content. That is really critical for us, very very important.”

180s happen quite frequently in the technology world, and it seems that we’re peering at another here. Canada’s own Future Shop has the 12GB PS3 listed right now as “In Stock” for $199.99, and a number of stock trackers are confirming that units are trickling into brick and mortar locations across various provinces. This all jibes nicely with a recent PlayStation Lifestyle rumor that suggests the system is coming to both Canada and the United States on August 18th, leaving us to assume that this particular store simply managed to get a jump on the competition. All that said, you can get a new 500GB PS3 with Grand Theft Auto V for just $70 more (or another, more sizable unit for even less on the secondhand market) — but hey, options!

Update: We’ve received an image (shown after the break) of the 12GB PlayStation 3 in a Kmart stockroom here in the United States. The “do not sell until” date is predictably labeled as August 18th, which means that Yanks should be able to get their hands on one of these without an impromptu road trip up north in just a few days.

[Thanks, Jean-Philippe]

Filed under: Gaming, Sony

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Source: Future Shop

Music Unlimited has long been Sony’s preferred musical portal on the PlayStation 3, but for those who enjoy video to accompany their music, there’s a new option available to folks in the US: Vidzone. It’s an ad-supported music video streaming service — not unlike the Vevo app Xbox 360 users enjoy — that’s been available to PS3 owners in Europe for years. Now, their US counterparts can enjoy the 55,000 videos in its library and can view them via genre-based channels or build their own custom playlists. Should you prefer content that’s a little less produced, the service also delivers artist interviews and plenty of live events, too. And, whenever you find a new favorite video, you can share it on Facebook. Sound good? You can grab the app yourself from the PlayStation Store or install it directly from the XMB’s TV/Video Services option.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: PlayStation blog

Sure, the PlayStation 3 is going to be making way for the new generation soon, but something tells us folks won’t complain about having access to more entertainment on Sony’s aging console. To wit, Now TV’s just announced that its video services have reached yet another audience, allowing those in the United Kingdom to watch Sky Movies and Sky Sports via the PS3. While subscribers can currently stream a good amount of live sporting events and some relatively new movies, Now TV has promised that additional content from Sky is “due to be added this year” — such as programs from Sky 1, Sky Arts, Sky Living and US shows.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony

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Source: Now TV

Are you one of the “small number” of folks with a PlayStation 3 that was bricked in this week’s 4.45 firmware update? Though Sony’s been aware of the issue since the update launched, apparently a fix isn’t coming until June 27th — that’s nine days after 4.45 launched to an unsuspecting populace. The PlayStation Europe Twitter account announced as much this morning in a tweet. “We have identified the issue related to PS3 software update (4.45) that impacted a small number of PS3 systems earlier this week,” the feed reads.

“A new system software update is planned to be released on June 27 that resolves that issue,” it adds. There’s also a bit of an apology, but that won’t do much for the folks who are without their PlayStation 3 for the next six days. PlayStation’s US arm also confirmed that the update will arrive in North America on the same date.

Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Sony

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Via: The Verge

Source: Sony, @PlayStationEU

Planned to turn on your PS3 for some The Last of Us action tonight? According to a thread on the PlayStation Support forums, if you’re prompted to install the latest firmware update version 4.45 then you may want to hold off for the moment. A number of owners are reporting their systems will no longer fully boot up after the update, although the problem may only affect users with hard drives installed that are 500GBs or larger. According to the changelog, it was supposed to allow users to select whether or not they want an in-game notification when a trophy is earned. If it is tied to user-replaced hard drives, then it wouldn’t be the first time — v3.41 resulted in a few corrupted PlayStation 3 drives a few years ago. Check the thread for more details, if we hear anything from Sony then we’ll let you know when it’s safe to press OK.

Update: It appears the update has been pulled and users are no longer being prompted to download it, but we still haven’t received any official response from Sony on the situation.

Update 2: According to the PlayStation Europe Twitter account, Sony is aware of the problem, and has taken 4.45 offline to investigate the issue.

Filed under: Gaming, HD, Sony

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Via: @Wario64 (Twitter)

Source: PlayStation 3 Support Forum, PlayStation Europe (Twitter)