Isaiah's Tech

At E3 2009, Sony Computer Entertainment America told the world that Zipper Interactive's massive action game, MAG, would be shipping "Fall 2009." BioShock 2 and Heavy Rain have already been delayed until 2010 and here's another one for ya. MAG - best-known for its awesome 256-player online mode - is now scheduled to be released in January 2010. If it misses its January release date, Sony said that it will be available by the end of the fiscal year 2009 aka March 2010.

I just hope that God of War III doesn't end up being delayed too because that would be a huge let down for the PlayStation 3. This was supposed to be their year, but I guess that's also been delayed to 2010.

[Kotaku]

This is a game to get excited for. At E3, it was announced that God of War III will be released for the Play Station 3 in March 2010. I can't wait to get this game. I promise I will get a PS3 before then, hopefully the rumoured Slim! It's only 9 months away, so just wait patiently.

[Joystiq]

Due to the Nintendo Wii's success with their motion-sensing controller, Microsoft announced their full-body motion sensing unit yesterday. Now Sony is also stepping into the same battlefield with their announcement of their own motion-sensing controller. "The prototype looks like a wand with a color-changing ball on top. It's designed to work in conjunction with the PlayStation Eye, with the wand overlaid on-screen with a weapon or tool." Sony also announced that this controller is targeted for a Spring 2010 launch, but they revealed no pricing on the controller.

This is a dislike for me. Huge, huge dislike. Motion-sensing controllers are just not my thing, too kiddish.

[Engadget]

Final Fantasy XIII is not even available yet and Sony has just announced that Final Fantasy XIV will be available in 2010 as well. The sad part is that it is an online MMO, similar to Final Fantasy XI. I'm sure it will be a significant upgrade to XI because I quit playing FFXI about 2 months after buying the game. The good news is that it could also be released for the PC because Sony announced that the PS3 will be the "only console" to have the game.

I was hoping that Square Enix wouldn't go back to do the whole online MMO thing, but it looks like they will be. So, 2010, we'll see if the date stands.

[Joystiq]

At E3, Sony also announced that the PSOne classic, Final Fantasy VII, will be hitting PSN today! Talk about incredible news!! It makes me want to go out and get a Play Station 3 right now, but I think I'll wait for the PS3 Slim.

[Joystiq]

At E3, Sony finally announced the availability of the new PSP. The PSP Go will be launching in North America and Europe on October 1st for $249 USD and 249 Euros, respectively. It will also be launching in Japan on November 1st for ¥26,800. The PSP Go has: no UMD anymore, a 3.8-inch display, a Memory Stick Pro slot, Bluetooth, 16GB of internal storage, and is 50% smaller and 40% lighter than the original PSP-1000. Check out Engadget's hands-on here!

Update: It will be available in black and white at launch.

[Engadget, Joystiq]

Square Enix announced this afternoon that Final Fantasy XIII will be out for the Xbox 360 in Spring 2010. I don't know how accurate the release date is, but that is a fair target date. But wait, they never announced the Play Station 3 release date, why? Looks like we'll have to wait for that then, but I hope it's around the same time.

[Kotaku]

According to Blizzard's Mike Morhaime, Starcraft II will be out by the end of this year. The beta is starting this Summer and the actual game will be released by the end of this year, as long as it meets their "standards and the expectations of our [Blizzard's] players." I simply cannot wait for this to get released, I'll definitely be camping out in front of Best Buy for this game. I can't wait to get my hands-on this, I think I'll live tweet that event. By the way, this was mentioned at E3 so this is definitely a good great start.

[Starfeeder, Kotaku]

The PSP Go has been "confirmed" to be announced at this year's E3 (in 2 or so days), but here's the first leaks. I really hope that this is not official because I was hoping that the next PSP would have 2 thumb sticks instead of one. It looks like it is official though, since it's dated as a June 2009 Qore video, which would be perfect for E3. The PSP Go! looks like it will have 16GB of internal memory, Bluetooth, and an undisclosed memory slot, but it could be the rumoured HG-Micro. Just in case you're still interested in the PSP-3000, no worries because they will both be on the shelves at the same time - at least for a little while. Look out for the official announcement in just a couple of days.

[Engadget]

Looks like that magazine scan from 2 nights ago proved to be real. Last night, Capcom confirmed that Tatsunoko vs Capcom will be available in North America and it will be released for the Nintendo Wii. I don't know if it will be exclusive to the Wii, but so far, it looks like it is. This game will be playable at E3, so we'll get some hands-on footage of that in a couple of weeks!! I'm so excited for this year's E3, mainly for Sony's announcements though.

[Kotaku]

Someone from the Xbox 360 team, ChenelleB, made a recent tweet that has been stirring up some controversy, but what could it mean? The tweet said:

getting an earful cause Xbox 360 broke… What can I say, I still prefer it as a console. Just wait. Even better stuff is coming soon!

Could this be the confirmation of the Zune HD gaming device? Or a new Xbox in the making? Or was she just trying to screw with all of our heads? We'll see at this year's E3.

[Crunch Gear]

According to this magazine scan, this seems to be the case. If it's true, it will probably be announced at E3, since this is pretty big news. People may hate me, but I don't even know who Tatsunoko is. Maybe I'm just not hardcore enough to know the company. Maybe I'll know in the future. This game seems to be great news though, so it must be pretty big. So, Tatsunoko vs Capcom is going to hit North America, but no one knows when.

[Kotaku]

Yesterday, we heard a rumour about a PS3 Slim that could be announced at E3. Well, the rumours continue after a couple of pictures have been spotted floating around on the Internet. I guess one of the workers on an assembly - or something - snapped these photos of the supposed PS3 Slim that looks to be already in development. Above is the supposed box for the PS3 Slim and if you go to the link below you will find pictures of the PS3 Slim at a manufacturer's plant. I think these images are fake, but there has been no confirmation yet.

[Kotaku]

E3 looks like it will be a massive event for Sony. The unveiling of the PSP Go! and apparently they could also unveil a slim PS3 model. Sony, of course, denied any hardware redesign related announcements, so just take it with a grain of salt. If you remember, a couple of days ago, the white DualShock 3 controller spotting was called a fake because of the UPC code. So, Sony is really being talked about everywhere right now. They're behind in the console war, so they must do something drastic and this could be it.

Could they unveil a slim PS3 at E3? Possibly. But, no one knows for sure. I'd be extremely excited if Sony revealed a slim PS3 because I still haven't gotten my hands on one yet. Hopefully, a slim PS3 will be cheaper and will come in 3 colours (black, silver, and white), but that's just my wishful thinking. I also hope they officially announce the white DualShock 3 at E3. Come on Sony! Do something.

[Engadget]

Just over a week ago, we heard that the Xbox 360 will be getting a 3D motion-sensing unit.Well, apparently the Wall Street Journal also thinks so because they are claiming that "a new 3D video camera for the Xbox 360 that will allow you to control games, Wii-style." The rumour also has it that it may debut at E3, but it won't be available until 2010.

[Gizmodo]

I think this is stupid. Well, a couple of days ago we heard about the possibility of Sony releasing its own set of motion-sensing controllers. Well, it looks like the Xbox 360 looks to up the ante, with their own full-body motion-sensing. Yes, you can read that over if you like. This was talked about last year and it looks like we could see it soon - most probably E3, if it's true. Here's Engadget's breakdown of the capabilities of this motion-sensing device:

• Full body and hand gesture control of games / characters.
• In fighting games you kick, punch, duck, dive, jump and so forth with your body.
• It also picks up small hand gestures like pinching, grabbing and scrolling.
• There will also be video conferencing and games with video.
• Trivia game over the internet with live images of each person playing. When a question pops up, they can clap to buzz in.
• You can "move objects on your screen" and the other party can see what you're doing in real time.
• Sensor detects only the person playing, not folks observing on the couch.

This reminds me of the Tekken game at Playdium. I hated it and I also hate this idea, but I'm sure kids will love it. We'll see what happens.

[Engadget]

Yes, this is the latest rumour on the street. The new PSP will be called the PSP Go! The Go! will have a touchscreen and will be UMD-free. It will also reportedly have 8 / 16GB of flash memory built-in, and 2 thumbsticks for your gaming. The PSP Go! is said to be announced by Sony at this year's E3, so it would be a disappointment if this doesn't happen. The Go! is said to be available before this year ends (perhaps Fall). Pricing is, of course, still unknown. Don't forget that the image above is still just a mock-up. The screen could be sporting an 800 x 480 resolution and I hope that it has multitouch. We'll have to see if these rumours are true, come E3. This looks exciting!!

[Tech Radar, Electronista]

Yes, the PSP 2 is "real," and that's according to Insider Source. Apparently, Sony reps have already shown off the so-called PSP 2 and someone has mentioned some of the physical features. This includes: rounded edges, dual analog sticks, a small sliding screen, similar size and thickness as the current PSP and no UMD drive. No, this reoccurring picture is still not a real picture of the rumoured PSP 2, so don't get your hopes up. Patapon 2 looks like it is the test dummy for the PSP 2 and if it fails, they could scrap the PSP 2 as a whole and bring back the UMD. We'll see happens at E3

This is yet another so-called "confirmed" news. Remember that PS3 price cut? Well, it looks like that $100 USD price cut will be announced at E3 this year by Sony. Like the PSP 2, we'll see what happens at E3. I'm excited and I really hope it's a big event for Sony.

[PS3 QJ]

That's the latest rumour on the streets. It all originated from a certain GameStop employee who said that they will be receiving a shipment of PS3 DualShock controllers this June. Since the silver controller is coming this June, could it also mean that a silver PlayStation 3 could be on the way soon after that? It's a possibility. The silver PlayStation 3 is said to make a debut this year at E3, but we'll just have to see if that really happens.

[PS3 QJ]

The new PSP 2 has apparently been confirmed according to the latest rumours. This is definitely the juiciest rumour of the day! The PSP 2 will be UMD-less, have dual thumbsticks [finally!!!!], and will be shown off and handled at this year's E3. The sliding screen will have touchscreen capabilities (hopefully multi-touch). In addition to all of these rumours, the last and possibly most important rumour of them all is the release date. The PSP 2 is said to be available before this Christmas!! Kids, make sure to have this on your letter to Santa! I don't like the whole going UMD-less because I'm not a fan of buying stuff online, but if it has to be done then let it be. Although I'm wondering if this is too little too late for Sony and the gang. What do you think?

[Crunch Gear, Kotaku]