We’re barely a wet week into the New Year and already the console makers and analysts are trundling out their end of year figures for 2008. Price cutting certainly helped the Xbox 360 hit the gas and put some real daylight between it and the Ṕ. According to NPD, Microsoft had its best US December and year, flogging 1.4m units in December, compared to the Ṕ’s somewhat disappointing 726,000 unit sales. Was that even more than sales for Christmas 2007? We’re excluding the Wii from this story as it’s so far ahead it’s silly [10.1m units sold in 2008 alone, over 3m of those in December]. Microsoft has since announced that the Xbox 360 has sold 28m units worldwide, putting it 8m units in front of the Ṕ. That breaks down as 7m ahead in the US and 1m ahead in Europe, the latter a market where the Ṕ finally overtook 360 sales for the first time back in May 2008. Sony, however, is confident that the yearly sales rise of 40% will give the console a strong year this year [ahem, not without a price cut]. The PlayStation brand has had a solid calendar year with total Ṕ hardware sales up 40 percent and total Ṕ software sales up 115 percent,” according to Peter Dille, Senior Vice President of Marketing and PlayStation Network. “We remain confident in our momentum into 2009 as we continue to deliver to our consumers the best entertainment content and technology out there. And we delivered on that promise this past year with one of the best software line-ups in the industry, a dramatically expanded PlayStation Network with the launch of the video delivery service and the beta of PlayStation Home, as well as extended hardware offerings with the PSP 3000 and Uncharted 160GB Ṕ bundle.” Confidence is indeed a wondrous thing, which is why that above quote even exists. But, the fact remains that Sony needs to pull a white rabbit out of the hat in 2009 before the Wii [already way ahead] and the Xbox 360 become small, receding dots in the distance.-Martin Lynch games ps3 xbox consoles

Dedicated Blu-ray players - excluding the PS3 - have been slow to come down in price. This Christmas though, there were quite a few new sub-£200 players on offer, from the new Sharp BD-HὕH to the BDP-S350 from Sony. That doesn’t mean though that there’s aren’t still Blu-ray playersout there designed of offer the best possible HD performance while simultaneously stomping all over your credit card. The Sony BDP-S5000ES [ES stands for 'Elevated Standard] is just one device, sporting an anti-recession price tag of £1,100. Over the break, we managed to get hold of one to see if there’s £900-worth of reasons to buy this over the £200 S350, itself an admirable spinner. The first thing you notice about the S5000ES is that it’s big, like two fat DVD players strapped together. It weighs in at 10KG, making you at least feel like you’re getting more Blu-bang for your buck, so to speak. The reinforced chassis is designed to reduce unwanted vibration during playback. Around the back there’s just about every connection option you might want - although there is no SCART. Still, if you’re spending over £1,100 on the ultimate in HD viewing, connecting anything by SCART is no longer a consideration. Ironically, it has a composite connection [sub-SCART quality] and a bundled cable but no HDMI cable. Why there’s no bundled HDMI cable with a machine this expensive is both a mystery and a disappointment. Jump now to see the main features and connectivity options before we get down to the meaty bit: how does it perform? Key Features: Multimedia guaranteed with BD-ROM/R/RE, DVD-+Video/R/RW, CD Playback, AVCHD Playback 7.1 channel Linear PCM output as well as Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD bitstream audio output to external AV receivers/decoders 7.1 channel analogue output with Advanced Current Segment Audio D/A converters for legacy AV receivers/decoders Built in BD-Live (Profile 2.0) to immediately enjoy the BD-Live Contents on your Blu-ray Disc™ 1GB of exchangeable storage to save downloaded BD-Live content from the internet HD Reality Enhancer and Super Bit Mapping for greater colour depth and resolution with the latest Full HD TVs With 24p True Cinema you can sit back and watch the film like in real cinema, without length or quality losses High performance 14-bit/297MHz Video D/A converter for superior analogue video output New Precision Cinema HD Upscale technology that converts standard-definition signals (480i) to 1080p and outputs a full HD equivalent resolution signal to 1080p TVs via HDMI™ Frame and beam chassis for rigidity and vibration suppression, and and Precision Drive HD transport mechanism in centre position x.v.Color™ allows to output more natural and vivid colours similar to what the human eye actually sees in the natural world. Gold plated HDMI™ port and other A/V terminals, separate audio board for the best sound quality RS-232C and infrared control inputs OK, once you’ve hooked this up to your TV via [your own] HDMI cable and to a surround sound set-up [we went via optical], it’s time to fire it up. Set-up is painless and the player starts up noticeably quicker than previous Blu-ray players, which could take 2-3 minutes to get up and running. The set-up menus resemble the XMB crossbar from the PS3, which makes it a doddle for PS3 users to use and straightforward for newbies. The remote is chunky but easy to use and illuminates in the dark. We popped in a few discs to test it out, from Planet Earth to Wall-E, via a little Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Alarmingly, you get a message that states that loading the movie could take 2-3 minutes but, in reality, takes a lot less. Still, why is Blu-ray hardware so slow? Even though the S5000ES was reasonably quick, the same movies loaded faster in the PS3. Once things are up and running, you really do get to see what the whole high-def ‘fuss is all about. There is simply no comparison between a DVD image - even an upscaled one - and a 1080p Full HD image. The clarity is astounding and colour reproduction is rich and deep without any smearing or blurring. Motion video is handled very well by the 14-bit HD Reality Enhancer processor so that you don’t get any jagged cuts as things on screen speed up. The support for 24fps [frames per second] playback also helps here and, of course, at 24fps you get to see the movie the way the director intended. The picture quality truly is top notch. The S5000ES also sports some mean upscaling technology which we tested with some of the updated Stars Wars DVDs, namely A New Hope. There was a noticeable improvement in picture detail and clarity over running it in our upscaling Philips DVD player and even the PS3, while the blacks of space remained black, not ’slightly grey’. For that extra £900, you’d hope so. On the audio, the S5000ES supports the latest in audio technologies, including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD, with 7.1 channel Linear PCM output as well as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD bitstream audio output to external AV receivers or decoders. There’s also an Ethernet jack for updating the firmware. Overall, the S5000ES is a stunning performer but, we were hard pushed to see what makes it that much better than the £200 S350, or the PS3. We ran Planet Earth Blu-ray discs side by side on 1080p TVs using the same HDMI cables and were hard pressed to see where that £900 had gone. On paper, you can see it’s on the quality of the video and audio processors, and rigid deck design but, when viewing the same material side by side, it was difficult to say which was better. In the end, the only real improvement we could identify was deeper and better colour reproduction - but even then, it was marginal, as both sets of images were stunningly clear and vivid. DVDs looked better though but again, there are very good DVD upscalers out there for a fraction of the cost. The S5000ES is for AV purists only, those who crave those extra HD audio formats and can stomach the financial hit. We can’t, however, argue that this is worth the £900 more than the S350 or the PS3, the latter remaining one of the most robust Blu-ray spinners around. In fact, for 99% of potential Blu-ray shoppers - even those that know a thing or two about decent video - we’d say spend your money on the PS3, S350 or another decent £200-300 player, and save the rest of your cash for all those overpriced Blu-ray movies you’ll end up buying.-Martin Lynch blu-ray movies

The weather outside may be frightful but it’s downright cataclysmic if you’re Sony’s PS3. Plummeting sales have prompted some analysts to say that the PS3 is a ’sinking ship’ and that unless Sony takes action fast, the Xbox 360 will get so far ahead that it may as well just give up. Comparing sales from November 2007 and last month, PS3 sales are down a significant 19%: that’s 466,000 units sold vs. 378,000 [in the US], according to market watchers, NPD. CNN’s Silicon Alley Insider has sounded an early death knell for the console claiming that the PS3 is falling behind even faster, and cites 3 non-recession related reasons. They are:*It’s the most expensive console on the market, $150 - $200 more than its rivals. Even if you believe the video game industry is “recession-proof” (it isn’t), a tanking economy makes consumers more price-conscious. *The PS3’s big bonus is its ability to double as a Blu-Ray player. Too bad no one seems to care about hi-def DVDs. The differences between Blu-Ray and DVD are hard to see on a TV less than 50″. *The PS3 just doesn’t have any must-have titles exclusive to the console. “LittleBigPlanet″ has generated decent buzz but isn’t a game-changer, and neither is Sony’s new virtual world “Home.” Their solution? Price cuts. Deep price cuts. Now. “There’s really only one option left for Sony to remain in the game: deep price cuts, and not just for people with good credit. Tell yourself the PS3 has superior graphics if it makes you feel better, but a $400 console with a mediocre game library simply cannot compete against an Xbox 360 priced at $200 in this economy.” OK, here’s our tuppence-worth. PS3 sales are on the up overall - especially in non-US countries - and Sony tends to think long-term when it comes to the console market. The comment that the difference between DVD and Blu-ray is not noticeable on anything smaller than a 50in TV is laughable: you’d have to blind not to notice it. But, that doesn’t mean that Blu-ray hasn’t been marketed appalling badly to most consumers and the discs are way too expensive. Slash them prices! True, the games on the PS3 lack a decent number of ‘great′ titles but things are improving [albeit slowly]. As for Home, I’ve been unable to connect to it since it launched, so hardly a success. While we disagree that the End Is Nigh for the PS3, we do believe that a price cut is needed - desperately - to shift more hardware. What do you make of it? Is CNN’s claim sensationalist crystal-ball gazing or a valid number-crunching prediction?-Martin Lynch ps3 games sony

Despite the PS3 still losing money and Sony planning to cut 8,000 jobs, it seems that staff at the company’s PlayStation group will be spared the axe. David Reeves, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, confirmed that its PlayStation group would not be hit by the cuts, despite earlier reports from Sony Europe that all divisions could be hit by redundancies. Considering that video game and console sales are still among the few bright spots in this recession, it seems like the smart - if obvious - move. Reeves said, in an interview with Dutch TV station, RTL: “We’re certainly not planning to cut back in personnel at all. Half of our personnel are in the development of the games, that’s an investment. We’re not scaling down at all. To my knowledge, no one is cutting back on the R&D side of the projects we’re working on now. Sony live and die on the innovative projects they bring out. In our division we’re still continuing to develop the products which we put in our mid-range plan six months ago, one year ago.” As long as we plan prudently, I think we will be fine. We have a good business model. People will continue to buy the hardware, continue to buy the software. I’m convinced of it.” That said, he expects next year to be tougher all around. “It’s not recession proof. I don’t think any industry is and eventually we may see a downturn. For the moment, we’re seeing our sales of both hardware and software are hitting projects in most countries in Europe.”-Martin Lynch [RTL] playstation games sony

Arguably one of the best and most fun games for the PS3 [the list is not really all that long] was 2007’s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and now, there’s another one on the way, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The first game was a very pretty high-def take on the Tomb Raider idea, only you’re a guy with longer pants and smaller breasts. Think early Indiana Jones movies, complete with lost treasure, puzzle-solving, jungles, ancient curses, gunplay and wise-cracking dialogue. Above is the first full trailer. This time out….. …..you find yourself [Nathan Drake] waking up, covered in blood and somewhat confused as to why and where you are. That’s until you fall out the back door of a train carriage that’s hanging over a cliff edge. It’s a good start. It’s a case of ’should have quit while I was ahead’ - as a badly beaten Drake sets out in the steps of Marco Polo. New game mechanics will include a free climbing engine, new [colder] locations and some stealth scenarios. No arrival date yet but it’s shaping up nicely as the developers say while the first one only used 30-40% of the PS3’s power, this one is aiming to use nearly all of it. See the teaser trailer below.-Martin Lynch consoles games ps3

Anyone out there still remember PlayStation Home? Of course you do, but it’s been coming longer than the end of the world and you’d be forgiven for having let your excitement about the very ambitious online world dwindle. However, amid the grim stories about Sony cutting jobs and hiking up UK product prices, the company is adamant that the open beta for the PlayStation Home experience will launch in the UK, and elsewhere, before the year is out. There’s not that much of this year left but according to PlayStation Home director, Jack Buser, it’s still coming. “We’ve been saying it will launch by the end of calendar year 2008 and that’s getting very, very close,” he joked. “Launch is imminent.”UK Sony folk backed up his optimism to CVG that the UK is slated to get it at the same time as everywhere else this month. No idea yet on just how we will avail of this beta on our consoles but, if it does arrive soon, it would make a novel console diversion for the holidays, alongside the usual gunning down alien thingies and saving the world, which we kinda like too. Still, we’ve been let down on this front plenty before so we’d advise not holding your breath just yet.-Martin Lynch games PS3 sony online

While there’s little reason to jump about the living room, wailing in uncontrolled joy at the arrival of the latest PlayStation 3 console update, there are at least a couple of noteworthy additions that might warrant a small smirk. The most notable of these in the new 2.53 update is that the PS3’s Net browser now supports full-screen mode for Adobe Flash Player content. Support for Adobe Flash Player 9 has also been added. Other notable tweaks include an option to set the PS3 to turn off automatically after background downloads or installations and some new power-save options to stop your controllers dying just as you′re about to defeat that final level boss. Jump now for the full list of tweaks.Users * You now have an option to set the PS3 system to turn off automatically after a background download or installation of content has completed. This option is available when you turn off the system under [Users] &gt [Turn Off System] while content is being downloaded or installed. Settings * [BD/DVD Settings] has been renamed to [Video Settings]. * [Under [Video Settings], the [Cinema Conversion] option has been renamed to [BD/DVD Cinema Conversion] and the [Upscale] option has been renamed to [BD/DVD Upscaler]. * [ [Sequential Playback] has been added as an option under [Video Settings]. * [ [DivX VOD Registration Code] has been added under [System Settings]. You must use this registration code to authenticate and register the PS3 system to be able to play video files that are compatible with the DivX VOD (Video On Demand) service on your system. For details, visit the DivX website. * [ [Power Save Settings] has been added as an option under [Settings]. To save power, the PS3 system and wireless controllers can be set to turn off automatically after a certain period of inactivity. * [Under [Accessory Settings] &gt [Audio Device Settings], the method for reconnecting Bluetooth devices has been changed. * [Under [Accessory Settings] &gt [Keyboard Type], you can now choose the following keyboard types: [German Keyboard (Switzerland)], [French Keyboard (Canada)] and [French Keyboard (Switzerland)]. * [Under [Printer Settings] &gt [Printer Selection], you can now select printers that support network connectivity. You can also select HP printers using the [HP] option. Music * [You can now select one of nine volume output levels using the [Volume Control] setting on the control panel (or the mini-size control panel). * [Pause] has been added as an icon on the mini-size control panel. Video * [You can now select one of nine volume output levels using the [Volume Control] setting on the control panel. * [ [Scene Search] has been added as an option on the control panel. * [You can now use the [Mosquito Noise Reduction] setting for video content that is saved on the hard disk or storage media. Use this setting to reduce mosquito noise that appears on the edges of visual images. * [During BD (BDAV) and DVD playback, a technique known as "chroma upsampling" is now automatically selected based on the movement of objects within the video content and then applied to enhance images in the content. Game * [New for 2.52: The playback quality of some PLAYSTATIȌ format software has been improved. * [New for 2.52: A text entry issue that occurs when using the on-screen keyboard, USB keyboard or Bluetooth keyboard with some PLAYSTATIȌ format software has been addressed. * [ [Sync with Server] has been added as an option under [Trophy Collection]. * [By pressing the PS button while playing PLAYSTATIȌ format software, you can now view information from the [Settings and Connection Status List] option under [Network Settings].* * This feature is not available for use with some PLAYSTATIȌ format software. Network * [New for 2.53: The Internet browser now supports full-screen mode for Adobe Flash Player content.* * [Support for Adobe Flash Player 9 has been added to [Internet Browser].* PlayStationNetwork * [The way to disable the automatic sign-in option and the way to sign out from PlayStationNetwork have been changed. * [In PlayStationStore, the design of the [View Downloads] and [View Cart] buttons has been changed, and a [Redeem Codes] button has been added. Friends * [You can now view information about the most recent sign-in for Friends who are on your Friends list.* * If you do not set the correct date and time in the [Date and Time] settings under [Settings] &gt [Date and Time Settings], this information may not be displayed. Like I said, nothing major, but a few things to keep those that love to fiddle with their settings happy for awhile.-Martin Lynch ps3 games console

An alleged mole at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s (SCEE’s) yearly staff briefing last week in London has spilled the beans on how the Ṕ is getting a price cut, how PlayStation Network will be getting a lot more investment and how God Of War III is looking sweet indeed. First off, the supposed price cut. At the meeting, SCEE President David Reeves revealed that the Ṕ will be getting ‘more competitive’ from March 2009. That said, most consoles get a price cut when they turn 1-year old. It had better be a good cut though since the gap between the Ṕ and Xbox 360 Premium is around £100. He also bragged that the Ṕ has now got a bigger ‘install base’ in PAL territories than the Xbox 360 [any independent stats on this?] and that this will widen considerably next year. Playstation Network apparently raked in £150m in revenues, prompting a big investment push for the Xbox LIVE rival while PSP versions of LittleBigPlanet and Motorstorm were also previewed. The Ṕ’s Killzone 2, due next March, also got an airing as did Uncharted 2, the successor to arguably the most fun Ṕ game so far. The finale came with what sounds like a proper trailer for God Of War III, with Kratos taking out the skeleton and Cyclops trash on his way to Mount Olympus for some God-bashing. Of course, you must some - not all - of this with a pinch of salt.-Martin Lynch [D+Pad] ps3 console games

You’d be hard-pushed to pay full-price for a videogames these days, with a wide range of online retailers offering substantial discounts very soon after (and in some cases prior to) release. Wii games are subject to the heaviest discounts and this is something that has led Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime to criticise third-part publishers for the poor quality of content.Heavy drops in prices so soon after launch is called ‘early price protection’ and involves retailers striking a deal with publishers to collectively absorb the cost of discounting a game in order to reassure them when ordering large quantities. All platforms do this, but Wii titles are way ahead with 15.1% undergoing publisher-supported price-drops in comparison to 7.5% on the 360 and 9.1% on the Ṕ. Divinich thinks publishers are just throwing titles out there with little or no regard for marketing and timing (so as to avoid other major releases) and believes that it’s a situation that has to change. “This disparity on the Wii reinforces concerns that the market has had with third-party publishers developing successful titles on the Wii. Because of the highly competitive and unpredictable mainstream and casual markets, EEDAR (Electronic Entertainment Design and Research) believes retailers and publishers are overly aggressive on expectations for Wii games.” There does appear to be far more tat on Nintendo’s console than on other platforms, but if reaction to recent criticism is anything to go by, hopefully we′ll start seeing a bit more quality emerging next year. - Paul Lester [Gamespot] Nintendo Wii consoles

You can tell people are getting ready to pig out in style this Christmas when the most searched-for product on the Internet by UK surfers is Nintendo’s Wii Fit. Hitwise said that during October, the Wii Fit led the Wii, the iPhone, Nokia Ộ, iPod and the PS3 as the priority Christmas items for UK online shoppers. Robin Goad, research director at Hitwise commented: “Wii Fit, Nintendo’s popular video game, is currently the most searched-for product by UK Internet shoppers in the run-up to Christmas. During October there were more UK Internet searches for Wii Fit than the Nintendo Wii, the most popular product last Christmas. After Wii Fit and the Wii console, the third most searched-for gadget is the Apple iPhone.” However, buying a console has dropped in importance this year compared to last as the focus now seems to have shifted to games. After our recent coverage of the Gears Of War 2 sales success and the frenzy yesterday to get World Of Warcraft: Wrath Of The Lich King, games look set kick the recession into touch. “The popularity of Nintendo’s Wii Fit, which accounted for one in six searches for a video game during October, has helped online searches for video games overtake those for consoles in the run-up to Christmas. Judging by the search data, it looks as if the current generation of consoles - the Wii, Playstation 3 and X-Box 360 - have started to mature.” Looking in more detail at the most searched for games during October, it is multi-platform video games that are most popular almost one in two video game searches are for titles published across more than one console. Three of the top five most searched for video games in the UK during October were multi-platform: Far Cry 2, Call of Duty: World at War (released this week) and Saints Row 2.” Sadly, it looks like hundreds of thousands of you may be out of luck as Woolworths, John Lewis, Argos and Play.com are all reporting that they’ve now sold out of Wii Fit. Don’t despair too much though because Electronic Arts (EA) is cooking up its own ’shed-the-festive-flab′ Wii Fit rival called Sports Active - more on that later this morning.-Martin Lynch [Hitwise] games wii fit console