Sonic Resurrected After 16 Years

After 16 years, Sega has finally designed a sequel to one of its most beloved game characters. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 will be available for Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It will have 2D graphics with 3D visuals. In an interview with GameSpot, Sega brand manager Ken Balough said that the game will be available this summer by download.

Via GameSpot

Netflix to Comes to PS3

Netflix will soon be accessible to PlayStation 3 owners. Xbox 360 users, Roku owners and some Internet connected TVs already have the capability. The streaming service will be free to PS3 users who have a subscription starting at $8.99, as opposed to Xbox 360 owners, who must pay $50.00 a year and join the Xbox Live "Gold" club.

Recent word hits us that Wii will also have the capability. Users need a Netflix Instant Streaming Disc at a price of $9.99. In both cases, a broadband connection is needed.

Via USA Today

Sony 3D Display Prototype

Look Ma, no glasses. Sony has jumped on the 3D bandwagon with their prototype 360º Display. Debuted at this week's Tokyo's Digital Contents Expo, it stands about 10.6" with a diameter of 5.1". With support for 24-bit 96x128 resolution color, this may just be the next generation of digital frames. The company also plans to launch an LCD TV with 3D capability, and will build in support into the PS3, VAIO laptops and Blu-ray players.

Via PC World

Sony to Offer Blu-ray Streaming on PSP and PS3

Beginning in November, some Sony Picture films will include an extra disc that allows an additional download via USB. The PSP copy is accessible on the PS3 and in some cases a separate DVD is included. Both "Godzilla" and "The Ugly Truth" will be part of the collection. We call that a clever advertising move on Sony's part as cross marketing has a tendency to inspire holiday shopping.

Via Blu-ray

Loop Pointer Now Available to Public

Hillcrest Labs has been working on its wireless Loop Mouse/Pointer for a couple of years and is finally selling it to the masses. With patented Freespace technology, you get precise in-air pointing. The circular device can be used with a media-center PC, a Sony Playstation 3 or an Apple TV, if a TV Flash from Fire Care is installed. In fact, any place you can use a wireless mouse, you can use the Loop.

Via Hillcrest Labs

Logitech Harmony Adapter for PS3

Logitech recently launched its Harmony Adapter for Playstation 3 that
supports all 51 commands. The accessory converts Harmony IR commands to Bluetooth signals with a simple guided set up. Play a game, turn your PS3 on or off, watch a DVD or Blu-ray movie with one button press. The adapter is AC powered, a good thing if you want instant use, a bad thing if you thought it would work when the PS3 is powered down.

Via Logitech Harmony

Loot Aims For Virtual Rooms at a Price

Sony has teamed with a developers group to form Loot. They plan to offer "interactive entertainment products" for PlayStation Home gamers. They already have one for us all called "Living Room Stage Set." It's basically an empty media soundstage that can be filled with cameras, props and furniture. Each "set" will undoubtedly cost $4.99 at Sony's Home Mall. We are not so sure about this idea, which they hope will spur on your friends to compete with their own Stage Set. If we had that kind of extra money, we would probably spend it on another bean bag chair.

Via I4U News

Schmartz IR to Bluetooth Playstation 3 Convertor

Schmartz claims that they have the ultimate IR to Bluetooth converter for the Playstation 3. The PS3IR-1000 works the same as the BD remote and can also accept IR commands that are converted to Bluetooth packets and sent to the game system. Compatible with Windows 2000 and later, it will also make your game system compatible with univeral remotes, ingegrate with your home theater and, when attached to a PC via USB, allows PS3 control from your desktop. Best of all, it only takes a $79.95 investment.

Via Schmartz PS3IR-1000

Schmartz Reduces PS3 Adapter Price

Schmartz recently reduced the price on their
PS3IR-X1 IR to USB Adapter for Sony Playstation 3. The device handles 31 commands, is compatible with most universal remotes and utilizes PS2 infrared codes. Best of all, it is this wicked shape that almost seems invisible when connected.

Via Schmartz PS3IR-X1 IR to USB Adapter

Sony to Deliver Free Streaming Music Videos to the PS3

It seems almost everyday there's something new coming out that turns the PS3 into a full-fledged media server. Sony has announced free music videos for the PS3. According to the press release:

Leipzig Games Convention, 20th August 2008: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) announced today that VidZone™, the online destination for music videos, will deliver their free streaming music video service to PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™). The trial service is scheduled for launch in early 2009 for Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and is sure to be a hit with music lovers everywhere. VidZones service allows PS3 owners to watch the best new music videos for free on their PS3 or streamed to their PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) via Remote Play.

VidZone is one of Europes leading online music video services, streaming a full playlist of videos from hip-hop to punk and heavy metal to classics. Music lovers can build their own playlists and personalise their VidZone experience to be whatever they choose. All these features and more will be included in the PS3 service, including the option to download songs, music videos and ringtones to a mobile phone for a small charge.

SCEE will be launching a comprehensive film, TV and music download service at a later date.

Hmmm..Play games or watch music videos? Decisions suck!

At Playstation.com

Sony Announces Video-On-Demand for PS3 and PSP Owners

Our sister site TVSnob has some great news for PS3 and PSP owners, a new video service from Sony is on the way:

Just days after Microsoft announced Netflix would be coming to the Xbox 360, Sony has announced a new video service for the Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable that has already kicked off with 300 full-length movie titles and 1200 TV shows. That's just a start-Sony claims that they have signed seven movie studios to the service including Disney, Fox, MGM, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, and Lions Gate.

Both HD and SD movie rentals will be available priced between $2.99 and $5.99 and TV shows will set you back $1.99 per episode, and you'll be able to purchase standard-def movies with the exception of those from Disney.

While that's some great news, we'd still like to see some free content coming from Sony.

At TVsnob.com (Picture Credit: PS3 Fanboy)

Nullriver Shows Love for the Mac, Creates Connect 360 like App for the PS3

Some cool news out of CES for all you PS3 owners is that it looks like Nullriver, the company behind the hugely successful product Connect 360 is setting its aim on the PS3. Connect 360 allowed Mac users to seamlessly stream their content to their Xbox 360 with a simple and intuitive interface. Well now it looks like they are giving the PS3 some love. Called MediaLink, they aim to make the same simple app transform streaming media to your PS3 a simple affair. If you poke around the forums you will find that a lot of people are having difficulty streaming media to their PS3. For whatever the reason, it just doesn't seem to be an easy process for some. Nullriver brings their vast experience at making console streaming a trivial matter. We will try this out as soon as we can and report back how it seems to work for us. We just got a PS3 in the office( purely for research of course ) so you can bet we will be taking this new software for a whirl. Check out after the jump all the formats it supports.
Continue reading: "Nullriver Shows Love for the Mac, Creates Connect 360 like App for the PS3"

PS3 Media Streaming Guide

We came across a pretty simple setup guide to get your PS3 streaming all of your media to your TV. There have been a lot of updates to the PS3 over the past couple of months and it has turned into a pretty full functioning media streamer. If you already own a PS3 then you might not need to go out and buy a pure media streamer at all. From the looks of it the PS3 can handle all of the streaming duties you throw at it.

It is nice to see the PS3 really catch up with the Xbox 360 in this area. It seems that all of the companies producing the next generation consoles realized the extra benefit of adding media streaming capability to their device. We know a lot of people that aren't geeky gadget owners and who aren't into the whole streaming thing, but once they found they could stream movies via their console they loved it and were converts. It seems that console streaming could be the gateway application to get a wider audience to realize the beauty of having all of your movies, music and pictures at your fingertips. Anyway, check out the simple guide to get the server and the PS3 working together here.

How-to: PS3 Media Streaming From Your Mac

So for those Mac users out there that don't mind getting their hands dirty here is some information on streaming your media to your PS3. This is not a straight forward procedure so if you are squeamish around Terminal and don't know what XCode is then you might want to stop reading now.

We came across an interesting article showing how to use a program called MediaTomb to turn your PS3 into a media streaming game system.

Reading over the article the author goes through a lot of trouble to get his PS3 to see his media share. To us it seems like a lot of work to do and hoops to jump through to get something to work that should have just worked when they launched the damn thing in the first place. We had reported on Sony releasing the new firmware that allowed streaming in the first place and we were shocked it took them that long.

We are amazing at the amount of mistakes that Sony made in getting this beast out to market. If anyone has one and has been looking for a way to get it to stream content from their Mac this article might be for you. Otherwise just move along, nothing to see here.

Oh and if anyone out there has an easier way to stream from their Mac to their PS3 please let us know. We would love to hear what you guys have setup at your place.

At Sony PS3 and Mac Mini