Watch Sony Virtual-Reality in Two New Videos

By Jacob Siegal at Yahoo Tech:

If you didn’t attend the Game Developers Conference this year, you missed out on the unveiling of Sony’s latest foray into virtual reality with Project Morpheus. But if you’d still like to see the momentous occasion, the whole presentation is now online for your viewing pleasure. Sony President Shu Yoshida introduced Project Morpheus on stage last week over the course of an hourlong presentation in which he explained the technology that powers the prototype device and gave developers a first look at what will be possible with the headset. Along with the main event, Sony has also uploaded an official hands-on video showing the device in action. Check out both videos below.







Via Yahoo Tech 

6 Things to Know About Sony’s PS4 Project Morpheus

By Eric Schaal at Wall st. CheatSheet:

Sony’s Computer Entertainment division made a splash at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on March 18 with the introduction of a virtual reality headset for PlayStation 4. Dubbed “Project Morpheus,” the headgear will bring VR to gaming but only will only work with PS4 devices, at least for the time being. Here are six things to know about Project Morpheus, which was three years in the making.


1. Sony is officially in virtual reality gaming

Project Morpheus is a virtual reality headset for use with PS4 games. According to Sony Computer Entertainment, the head-mounted display packs 1080p resolution along with a 90-degree range of vision and 3D audio. The PlayStation camera will follow head movements and rotate to accomodate the shift with limited blurring of the user’s vision.


2. Reports of realistic effects are impressive

In describing the impact of Project Morpheus on the game “The Deep,” Kotaku noted how realistic the effect is on the user. This game simulates the experience of diving into a shark tank, which the reviewer felt may be a little too intense for the comfort of anyone who’s frightened of sharks. Of course, this same surge of terror is what gaming enthusiasts will like to hear. Life-like impacts are the stuff any virtual reality game is made on — even if they give you nightmares.


3. Morpheus is making Oculus Rift makers nervous

Anyone into video gaming will recognize the similarity to another 1080p virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift slated for mid-2014 release to developers. According to Extreme Tech, the timing of the Oculus Rift annoucement of its delivery schedule — the day after the Project Morpheus event — suggests the smaller company fears the impact a powerhouse like Sony could have on the virtual reality front, especially when it comes to lining up developers for the project.

4. Reviewers love Morpheus

A quick scan of tech and gaming sites reveals an enthusiastic thumbs up from reviewers who tried Project Morpheus at the GDC in San Francisco. IGN Entertainment reviewers remarked on the terror sharks provoked during a demo of “The Deep” while saying Project Morpheus already bested Oculus Rift on some counts. No wonder that company is wary of Sony’s entry into virtual reality gaming.


5. All VR gaming should benefit from Project Morpheus

Sony’s Shu Yoshida told GDC attendees how much he respected the achievements of Oculus Rift, leading many in the industry to believe Sony’s Project Morpheus should help the progress of virtual reality — and thus gaming — in its entirety. Though Morpheus will not be available for PC developers to try anytime soon, the options are far from settled.


6. There is no pricing info or release date

Enthusiasts who want a piece of the action will have to wait some time before Project Morpheus makes it into the consumer’s hands. No pricing info was even suggested by Sony officials, while the only date available was “not in 2014.” Oculus Rift will make it out before then. It ships to developers in July 2014 and is expected to land in stores in early 2015.





Via Wall St. CheatSheet.

PlayStation 4 Dominates Xbox One With Nearly Double The Sales

The PlayStation 4 outsold the Xbox One in the US last month, according to retail sales data tracked by NPD. Sony says that the PS4 was the top-selling console for January and remains in first place worldwide, but hasn't released the actual number of moved units.

Journalist Geoff Keighley, who spoke to PlayStation SVP Guy Longworth, earlier reported that Sony sold nearly twice as many PS4 consoles as its "nearest next-gen competitor" — assumed to be the Xbox One — and PlayStation marketing VP John Koller confirmed the reports to the official PlayStation blog. "Since we launched on November 15th, we’ve sold every PS4 available in the US," he said.



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With 'PlayStation Now' You Won’t Need A New Hardware

Sony’s PlayStation Now game streaming service unveiled at CES 2014 will work on a variety of smart gadgets in addition to regular PlayStation consoles, such as TVs, tablets and smartphones. But the PS3 games that will be available to users won’t be usable on any devices without the company’s DualShock controller, The Verge has learned. While there already are ways to control those games using a touchscreen interface, Sony will not make the DualShock controller purchase optional, at least not for the time being.

“You need to have the DualShock to be able to play,” PlayStation marketing vice president John Koller said, further explaining that the game controller requirement is related to how those old games were created. “It’s a lot of how these games were developed. We want to continue the experiences as they were meant to be played on the controller.”



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PlayStation 4 Users Can Now Stream Music Videos for Free

In addition to being available on the PlayStation 3, VidZone can now be downloaded on the PlayStation 4 as well, Sony announced on its PlayStation blog. The application lets users stream music videos for free on the console and has been “fully optimized” for the PS4 to offer “faster start up times and quick navigation,” as well as “enhanced social integration features” including grabbing screenshots and sharing them with friends over Twitter and Facebook directly from the PS4 controller, and having VidZone activity displayed in friends’ “What’s New” feed. The VidZone application offers access to thousands of HD music videos and support for creating unlimited playlists and watching hundreds of VidZone TV channels. The app can be downloaded free of charge from the “TV & Video section” of the PS4’s home screen, or from the “App” section of the PlayStation Store.




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Top 10 Revelations That Rocked E3 2011

LOS ANGELES — Nintendo's Wii U and Sony's PlayStation Vita made headlines at this year's E3 Expo. But aside from those big hardware reveals, surprisingly few unexpected videogames were unveiled.

Sony Announces PlayStation Vita, The New Mobile Gaming Device

Sony introduced its successor to the PSP mobile gaming device today at E3, naming it the Playstation Vita.
The device features a 5″ touch screen, and from what we saw at the E3 demo, games running on the device look amazingly crisp.

First Look on Sony S1 and S2 PlayStation Tablets based on Android

Today I had my first look at the 2 new Sony Tablets!

Sony confirms PlayStation network attack

Unfortunately for PlayStation Network and Qriocity services users, it looks like the widespread network outages will continue.

Since Sony’s PlayStation and music networks went down two days ago, there has been a fair amount of public speculation over the cause of the outage. (Largely due to Sony’s tight-lipped handling of public relations.) Many blamed vengeful gremlins loose in Sony’s server clusters and datacenters, while others immediately pointed the finger at Anonymous, the merry band of hackers that metastasized out of 4chan.

Thankfully, after 24+ hours of communication silence, Sony has updated its blog and ended the speculation. According to the electronics colossus, “an external intrusion” is responsible for the ongoing outages of the PlayStation Network and Qriocity. (It probably sounded like this at Sony headquarters. Or this.)

As to who these nefarious “intruders” are: It seems that Sony does not yet know who is responsible for the breach, or if it does,