The Big Lair Update

Lair

This would be the look on our faces if we didn't have lock-on.

As for other whiz-bang technology goodness, Factor 5 confirms that the game will run at a rock-solid 30fps at both 720p and 1080p. The game indeed ran quite well when we played it, with nary a hitch in framerate to be found. This is rather impressive as levels can be as large as 32x32km in size, which is allowed by Factor 5's use of streaming mesh technology, an offshoot of level of detail models.Lair also makes use of a fluid dynamics system for its impressive water technology, which looks fantastic even up close.

This means that boats and objects are actually buoyant and float as they naturally would. Explosions cause waves in the water, which in turn rocks anything that the waves come across. The fluid dynamics do look to be surface based, meaning that water can't spill over the sides of boats and cause them to sink, but it is rather impressive nonetheless.

Good news folks, a PlayStation Store demo is in the works.

Not only will you be able to buy the game in July, but Factor 5 also confirmed that there will be a downloadable PlayStation Network demo at some point. It's unclear as to whether the demo will hit before the final release or after, but isn't supposed to be too far off either way.

Lair is one of the first games that will officially make use of trophies for PlayStation Home. Details behind what you will earn them for are scarce, but they will be included even if Home isn't scheduled to launch until after Lair is released.

Getaway: Tech Demo vs Real Life Comparison

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKX1A5sJ4sw- VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOx2jeiFhls TECH-VIDEO

IGN Big LAIR Update Today?

Jeremy DunhamEditor in Chief, IGN PlayStation TeamEver wonder what the else is going on besides that blasted bridge?We'll tell you (and show you) later today http://boards.ign.com/Message.aspx?b...0134424&page=1

Developers Praise PS3

It's official:

Bashing Sony's PlayStation 3
is no longer hip

The new hotness is praising the formerly next-gen game console.

Media Molecule, the creators of upcoming PS3 "cooperative platformer" LittleBigPlanet, are positively effusive with the kudos:

MM's co-founder and technical director Alex Evans told Develop: "The PS3 has this insane quantity of power, which seems to take a cloth simulator, and then lots more you want to throw at it. It’s just a really enjoyable machine to code for...We had soft body physics and things like that running early on because we got lots of other smaller things sorted out or decided before hand – and even with all that in place there’s still loads more headroom."

Sony Resurgent In Weakened Japanese Chart

TW LW Title Publisher Format Weekly Sales

1 NE Naruto Shippuuden: Narutimate Accel Bandai Namco PS2 75,453

2 NE Kidou Senshi Gundam Seed: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. Portable Bandai Namco PSP 58,751

3 5 Yoshi's Island DS Nintendo DS 47,566

4 7 Pro Yakyuu Spirits 4 Konami PS2 40,891

5 2 Musou Orochi Koei PS2 36,168

6 3 Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Motto Eigo Duke Nintendo DS 34,933

7 9 Wii Sports Nintendo Wii 30,807

8 NE Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Portable 2 Konami PSP 29,944

9 1 Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix + Square Enix PS2 29,638

10 12 Layton Kyouju no Fushigi na Machi Level-5 DS 27,833

(Green For Ps2 Blue For Psp)




http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13496

EU Game Charts..Ps3 Champ

Italy (for week ending on April 1)* Resistance: Fall of Man
* Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
* MotorStorm
* Formula One Championship Edition
* Final Fantasy XII
* Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
* Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
* Virtua Tennis 3
* Ridge Racer 7
* Pro Evolution Soccer 6

Spain (for week ending on April 1)
* Resistance: Fall of Man
* Dr Kawashima's Brain Training
* Formula One Championship Edition
* Virtua Tennis 3
* MotorStorm
* Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
* Spectrobes
* Animal Crossing: Wild World
* Call of Duty 3
* Final Fantasy XII

Germany (for week ending on March 25)
* S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl
* Resistance: Fall of Man
* MotorStorm
* S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl Limited Edition
* The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
* Formula One Championship Edition
* Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific
* Final Fantasy XII
* The Sims 2: Seasons
* Virtua Tennis 3



LINK http://ps3.qj.net/PS3-titles-going-strong-in-European-charts/pg/49/aid/89261

20GB PS3 officially discontinued in North America UPDATE SONY

After the $499 edition of the next-gen console is removed from the Sony Style Web site, Sony confirms the console is being phased out. By Tor Thorsen, Emma Boyes, GameSpot Posted Apr 11, 2007 12:17 pm GMT

This week, speculation spiked that the 20GB version of the PlayStation 3 was on its way out. It came after the official Sony Style online store removed the "basic" model of the PlayStation 3 from its Web site. Today, the US online stores of Amazon.com, Best Buy, GameStop, EB Games, and Circuit City were also longer listing the 20GB model, which retails for $499.

[UPDATE] As it turns out, there was a good reason for the 20GB PS3 vanishing--it's being officially phased out. "Initial retail demand in North America was upwards of 90 percent in favor of the 60GB [PS3], so we manufactured and shipped-in accordingly," said Dave Karraker, Sony Computer Entertainment America's senior director of PR. "Due to the overwhelming demand for the 60GB model from both retailers and consumers, we have ceased offering the 20GB model here in North America." The 60GB model retails for $599 in the US.

The 20GB model of the console has a number of differences from the 60GB version aside from the size of the internal hard drive and lower price. These include the lack of Wi-Fi connectivity, multiple flash memory card readers, and chrome trim. "Based on retailer and consumer feedback, we have decided to focus our current efforts on the more popular 60GB model," Karraker told GameSpot.

The discontinuation of the 20GB PS3 in North America also throws doubt over the model's launch in Europe, Australia, and other territories, where currently only the 60GB version is available. The budget version was originally expected to arrive sometime in the "summer," although no hard date was ever set. "We'll continue to monitor demand for the 20GB model, from a consumer and retailer perspective...which will be factored into any future Euro launch plans," a Sony Computer Entertainment Europe spokesperson told GameSpot UK. Both versions of the PS3 will continue to be available in Japan.

LETS GO OTTAWA

SCORE 6-3

Ace Combat 6 a timed exclusive

The latest Official Xbox Magazine has a full preview of Ace Combat 6 which reveals some interesting and important news. The game will be exclusive to the Xbox 360 for a short period of time but released on PlayStation 3 at a later date.

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation takes air combat warfare to new heights as it boasts the new “Dynamic Operation System” where massive battles unfold on a “living battlefield,” as up to six independent land, sea or air conflicts can break out at any time at multiple locations as allies and enemies clash in real-time. Players can experience the realism of war when battlefields come alive with engagingly authentic audio and visual effects: thundering explosions, dense vapor trails of air to air missiles, piercing machine gun fire, booming anti-aircraft artillery fire, mid-air explosions, gigantic columns of black smoke and more.

When a release date is given for the PlayStation 3 version of Ace Combat 6, we'll let you know.

http://www.psu.com/node/9665

PlayStation breaks sales records

Not all of the countries have had their sales figures reported on yet, here's the ones I could find.

Australia: 27,083

Reveal Info:
Quote:
Sony Computer Entertainment Australia (SCE Aust.) today confirmed GfK results, affirming the successful launch of the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) which officially went on sale in Australia on Friday 23 March. Since launch, the PS3 has generated over $33 million in hardware and software retail sales, according to analyst group GfK.Commenting on the results, Daniel Morse from GfK stated, “Our data revealed that in a matter of just ten days the PLAYSTATION 3 created a ***** in retail spending not previously witnessed at the launch of any other console in Australia. This spending continued into the second week of trading, resulting in sales of 27,083

PLAYSTATION 3 consoles in just ten days.” Link
Austria: 8,000

Reveal Info:
Quote:
8000 Sony PlayStation 3 in two daysThat is the sales impact in the first hours, where the PS3 was sold in Austria. In completely Europe could be distributed in the time 600,000 pieces to the waiting buyers.The trade was sufficiently supplied - for Europe a contingent was intended of one million play consoles. After Microsoft sold 4000 XBox 360 and Nintendo in the first two days “only” with the Wii “only” 6000 pieces, one was surprised with Sony of success.The numbers surprise whether the high price of the large variant of the PS3. The small 20GB-Version comes only later, the competitor consoles is substantially more favorable in the trade.

Link Belgium: 21,600

Reveal Info:
Quote:
With the Benelux countries for example, Sony announces to have delivered 54.000 specimens of its console of living room. Tandis, that on their side the Belgian retailers, who diposaient of approximately 27.000 consoles affirm to have run out 80% of their stock.

Link

Quote:
These sales are even more remarkable because it took three months for the PS2 and a year in PSOne to reach these same quantities.”

Link France: 78,000

Reveal Info:
Quote:
78.000 PS3 in FranceFinally, the bide resounding of Parisien launching will have had only little impact on the success of Playstation 3 on our premises, the proof, Sony has just announced that they ran out since the 23 nearly 78.000 consoles in the 5.000 retailers of the animal which is worth half of a SMIC. If this figure proves to be true, the PS3 would then have beaten the score of Wii and the 360 over the same period.

Link

Germany: 60,000
Reveal Info:
Quote:
“France did very well,” he told MCV. “Sales were around half of the UK, with Spain and Portugal slightly behind that. Germany, too, saw strong sales of around the 50-60,000 mark."

Link New Zealnad: 4835
Reveal Info:
Quote:
Sony Computer Entertainment New Zealand today confirmed results affirming the successful launch of the PlayStation 3 which officially went on sale in New Zealand on 23 March.Since launch, the PS3 has generated over NZ$6.8 million in hardware and software retail sales, according to analyst group GfK.Commenting on the results, Daniel Morse from GfK stated, "Our data revealed that in a matter of just ten days the PlayStation 3 created a ***** in retail spending not previously witnessed at the launch of any other console in New Zealand. This spending continued in to the second week of trading resulting in sales of 4,835 PlayStation 3 consoles in just ten days."

Link

Norway: 10,000

Reveal Info:
Link

South Africa: 10,000

Reveal Info:
Quote:
A source from Ster Kinekor said about 10 000 units were shipped in for the launch last Friday."There are about one or two retailers still with 40 to 50 left, which are expected to sell by end of this week, as each store is selling over 40 consoles a day," the source said.

Link
Spain: 100,000

Reveal Info:
Quote:
PlayStation 3 surpasses 100,000 consoles sold in SpainThe sold game more of PS3 is Resistance Fall of ManUntil now official numbers did not exist to value the welcome of PlayStation 3 in our country. We knew already that after France, Spain was the past between the countries with greater sales of PS3 after its launching 23, but can ofreceros a real and cuantificable value provided by same the Sony: today the 100,000 units have been surpassed.The three sold games more for PlayStation 3 also have been confirmed by Sony, with Resistance Fall of Man at the top, followed of It formulates 1 Championship Edition and Motorstorm.

Link
Sweden: 13,000

Reveal Info:
Quote:
Sweden sold more than 13,000 units according to Jens Alex, vd for Nordisk Film Interactive, as distribution manager of Sony's new console.

Link

Switzerland: 14,000
Reveal Info:
Quote:
In Switzerland moved after data from Sony during the first two sales days 14´000 Playstation3

United Kingdom: 212,000
Reveal Info:

PlayStation 3 went on sale in the UK last weekThe PlayStation 3 console has broken UK sales records with more than 165,000 machines sold in the first two days of release, say analysts Chart Track

MKII beats down PS3s this week

Midway's infamous bloody brawler dated for download on PlayStation Network on April 12 for $4.99.

The PlayStation Network may still be in its younger days, but it's about to grow up very quickly. Sony Online Entertainment previously announced that it would be prepping half a dozen of Midway's arcade classics for download on the PlayStation 3 online store, one of them being the ultraviolent Mortal Kombat II.
"You made me bleed my own blood!"
Last month, the game was spotted on Station.com, SOE's Web site, with a March release date. The month went by without a single spine-yanking or decapitation on the PS3, but April will be different. SOE today confirmed that MKII will be available for download on the PlayStation Network for $4.99 on April 12.
MKII features 12 playable characters and 10 levels, such as The Dead Pool and The Pit. In addition to the series' famed fatalities, MKII adds the reverse-aging babalities and the cutesy friendships. Gamers can bust each others' skulls online, and a dedicated leaderboard will track wins.