Hasta La Gadget!

Sony’s PlayStation Motion Controller has gone through a few different names during its development, but “Arc” has cropped up far more than any other over the past few months, and it’s now looking increasingly like a sure thing. While any official announcement will likely have to wait until GDC next week, the folks at Siliconera have discovered that Sony recently filed to trademark the name “PlayStation Arc” in Japan, which is just the latest form of confirmation of the name following a domain registration, and some noticeable name-dropping from gaming CEOs seemingly in-the-know. Of course, Sony could always pull a surprise out of its hat, and we’ll be there live at GDC to report on whatever happens.

Sony files for ‘PlayStation Arc’ trademark in Japan — all but a done deal? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq  |  Siliconera  | Email this | Comments

Is the N900 the most hacker-friendly phone ever created? All sources are pointing to “yes.” Just two short months ago, we saw one determined code monkey turn his N900 into a PS3 controller; today, we’re looking at someone who did the exact opposite. If you’ve memorized the Debian source code and aren’t afraid to dabble in the wild and murky world of N900 modding, you too can one day use a spare SIXAXIS controller in order to dictate gameplay on your Nokia handset. All the instructions you need are there in the source link, and for everyone else just looking to have a watch from the sidelines, hop on past the break and mash play.

Continue reading PlayStation 3 controller used for N900 gaming (video)

PlayStation 3 controller used for N900 gaming (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 10:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink eHomeUpgrade  |  Aberration  | Email this | Comments

Though Sony’s overall bottom line is back in black, what held it back from an even bigger celebration cake was its core electronics brand, and no stranger to that sector is the PlayStation group. Both Joystiq and The Wall Street Journal took a more careful look at the numbers, and there’s a few points worth noting. PS2 sales took a year-over-year dip, down from 2.5 million to 2.1 million. PSP took a larger hit, down to 4.2 million from 5.1 million. The PS3, however, is a mix of good and bad news. The good news: 6.5 million in unit sales, up from the 4.5 million prior. That said, it turns out Sony has yet to pull its home console away from “loss leader” status — WSJ reports the company is still losing “about six cents for every dollar of PS3 hardware sales,” i.e. if Sony were to sell the consoles to retailers for $300, it’d technically be taking a hit of $18 each time. That’s nowhere near the estimates when the PS3 first launch, and additionally Sony’s CFO Nobuyuki Oneda is promising a 15 percent reduction cost by March 2011, which should go a long way. Lets’ not forget the company still makes money on Blu-rays and software sales, but in the meantime, hang tight little buddy, you’re this close to being profitable all by your lonesome.

Update: An error in fiscal sales figures that has been subsequently remedied.

PlayStation 3 still a loss leader, ‘six cents for every dollar’ of hardware sold originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  WSJ  | Email this | Comments

Even after all this time Sony’s hand-held wand bent on bringing some of that interactive Wii game play to the PS3 still doesn’t have a name. Announced at E3, Sony as recently as January 20th was still calling its PS3 Motion Controller, well, “Motion Controller” in its official communications with a footnote that the name was still tentative. Of course, we’ve heard whispers that it’ll be called Arc — and we’re not alone. THQ boss Brian Farrell has either been reading the same sites as us or (more likely) is privy to some inside information. During an investor call, Farrell referred to the “PlayStation Arc motion controller” multiple times in both his prepared statements and in the Q&A round that followed. Remember, this is the same man who loose-lipped the Natal launch date well before Ballmer confirmed it for late 2010. Yeah, so PlayStation Arc it is.

THQ CEO calls PS3 Motion Controller ‘Arc’ throughout investor call originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Joystiq  | Email this | Comments

In case you ever doubted his feat, or you simply wanted to recreate for sport, iPhone hacker extraordinaire George “Geohot” Hotz has released the exploit code he devised for properly hacking the PS3. This should give any aspiring minglers full memory access, and while he’s only tested it with firmware version 2.4.2, he “imagine[s] it works on all current versions.” A guide might follow sometime in the future, he says, but if you’re really antsy to get your coding kicks, we wouldn’t wait up.

Update: EuroGamer’s got a pretty thorough piece on what Geohot is claiming to have accomplished and what it means to the community — and as Joystiq points out, until we see some “Hello World” proof of concept program, we don’t quite know the extent of his claims. The guy’s got a helluva track record, at least with iPhone, so we presume that’s next on his and the community’s list of to-do’s.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

PlayStation 3 exploit released, hackers rejoice originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq  |  On the PlayStation 3  | Email this | Comments