Sony said that it doesn’t expect to announce a new console at this years Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Sony division head Kaz Hirai said that they’ve always expected the PlayStation 3 to have a decade long life cycle, and he doesn’t see any reason to rush and replace it with a new system.

During an investors roundtable at the trade show, a reporter questioned the possibility of new console announcement. The head of Sony’s video game division, Andrew House, said that there would be no announcement at the show.

“Andy [House] is absolutely right in that we are not making any announcements at E3,” Hirai added, reports The Wall Street Journal. “I’ve always said a 10-year life cycle for PS3, and there is no reason to go away from that.”

Following the PS3′s announcement, developers were quoted stating that development on the console was “too complicated” — one of the many reasons that Valve prevoiusly refused to develop on the platform. Though the complexity has since decreased, Sony’s seeking “input” from developers on the production of “future hardware”.

When speaking to Develop, Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida stated that one of the many directives of the company were for them to be directly involved with software developers in the creation of future hardware.

“When Ken Kutaragi moved on and Kaz Harai became the president of SCE, the first thing Kaz said was, ‘Get World Wide Studios in on hardware development,’” Yoshida said. “So he wanted developers in meetings at the very beginning of concepting new hardware, and he demanded SCE people talk to us [developers].”

Yoshida went on to state that this development strategy is being incorporated into the companies “future platforms”. “Yes, we are undergoing many activities that we haven’t yet been talking about in public,” Yoshida stated. “Some future platform related activities.”

One the most important selling points of the PlayStation 3 is its no additional charge for online play feature. However, reports have been surfacing about a two-layered subscription model for the PlayStation Network – much like the levels of Xbox Live, but fundamentally different.

During a presentation, emphasizing Sony’s plans to make its video game business profitable, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai confirmed the company’s plans for a “premium level” of subscription for PSN. “We will be building upon our current free [PSN] service offering with premium content and services to start the subscription model,” Hirai told the attendees.

As reassurance against PlayStation 3 owners pay-to-play fears, Hirai reassured owners that the current level of service will remain free of charge.

“SCE will further increase sales by offering users new entertainment through the combination of hardware, software, peripheral, and PlayStation Network,” Hirai said in a statement given to CVG. “Especially in the online area, we are studying the possibility of introducing a subscription model, offering premium content and services, in addition to the current free services.

Probably one of the most prominent features on the PSPgo is the ability to transfer UMD games onto the digital-only system. However, according a SCEA spokesperson, owners of PSPgo will NOT be able to transfer the UMD disc-based titles onto the system on its launch date – as previously thought.

“We were evaluating a UMD conversion program, but due to legal and technical reasons we will not be offering the program at this time,” the SCEA spokesman reported Kotaku. If you go back to this year’s E3 Expo, Sony did state that they were hoping to allow UMD games to be transferred over to the PSPgo by its launch. But, that didn’t turn out as we hoped.

In a plan to celebrate the upcoming launch of the PSP Go, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe today announced a special promotion to help existing PSP owners with UMDs, to start their digital games collection for PSP Go.

With PSP Go Rewards (yes, that’s what it’s called) you can download three much-loved, or totally new PSP titles for free, and put your new PSP Go to the test. These titles include; Killzone Liberation, Medievil, Wipeout Pure, Buzz Brain Bender, Buzz Master Quiz, SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, Everybody’s Golf, Resistance: Retribution, Syphon Filter Dark Mirror, Lemmings, LocoRoco, Patapon, Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow, Echochrome, Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice, and Daxter. There are seventeen titles to choose from in all, and the process is simple…

1. Unwrap your shiny new PSP Go and start it up; 2. Connect to PlayStation Network and activate your new or existing PlayStation Network account for PSP Go Rewards; 3. Start up your current PSP and connect to PlayStation Network; 4. Login using the same PlayStation Network account , and launch PlayStation Store; 5. Pop one of your UMDs into the drive of your current PSP and register on PSP Go Rewards when prompted; 6. Download a PSPgo theme; 7. Wait for your email voucher for your three free games; 8. Choose, download and enjoy!

Promotion starts on 1 October 2009 and runs until 31 March 2010. Promotion open to owners of a PSP-1000, 2000 or 3000 and at least one UMD, when they purchase a PSP Go. Titles may vary by territory and age restrictions apply. However, at this time, the Rewards program is unconfirmed for the North America.

Announced in Japan last month, Sony Computer Entertainment America announced their newest installment to the growing list of “Entertainment Pack” bundles for the PSP, the Limited Edition Gran Turismo Entertainment Pack for North America.

The limited edition entertainment pack includes a “Mystic Silver” PSP-3000 system, Gran Turismo PSP on UMD, PlayStation Network downloadable movie voucher (title to be announced), a 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo, and a music voucher good for 10 downloadable songs from Sony Music Pass. The Entertainment Pack will release on October 20 for $199.99 in North America.

“Gran Turismo is one of the most successful gaming franchises in history, so what better way to mark Gran Turismo’s premiere on the PSP system than by offering it with the only portable device that can deliver its rich, true-to-life graphics and unrivaled driving experience,” said John Koller, Director, Hardware Marketing, SCEA.

The rumors that popped on the internet stating that the next PSP would be called PSP Go! were true, but the name was a bit off. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have seen this as the prefect time to revealed the next PSP and it’s called the PSP Go! View – so yeah it’s not the next PlayStation Portable, but it is.

With Go! View, you can watch sports, movies, and TV shows on your PSP. From Football to hit comedies, dramas and a selection of Movies, everything is available to enjoy wherever you go. Offering a range of top TV including LOST and Ugly Betty, blockbuster Movies and Sports including Barclays Premier League and UEFA Champions League football action from Sky Sports, Go! View is simply an on-demand TV on a portable games console. And you’ll get all of this via a on-demand TV on a portable games console.

The Go! View retail packaging includes a 4GB Memory Stick, Mini USB Cable and a two months free subscription to the Go! View service, retailing with a Recommended Retail Price of £29.99. The PSP GO! View Bundle contains a Black PlayStation Portable 3000, 2GB Memory Stick, Mini USB Cable  two and month’s free subscription to the Go! View service, for the Recommended Retail Price of £ 149.99.  There’s no word on a US version of the system yet we’ll keep you keep you updated.

[PSP Go! View Bundle via ElectronicTheatre]

Many are wondering just how well Killzone 2 is faring since its release in late February. Well, after Guerilla Games’ title “exceeded our expectations” – which was logged by Sony when reports appeared that the game had sold 500,000 copies in the U.S. – something like this was going to occur.

When anticipating the NPD Group’s monthly sales estimates, Sony replied with hast that their PlayStation 3 exclusive shooter Killzone 2 has sold more than 1 million copies – but not in America alone, worldwide.

SCEA boasted that “approximately 1 in every 3 PS3 titles achieve Metacritic scores of 80 or higher, which affirms PlayStation’s proven track record in delivering rich and relevant entertainment content.”

[Killzone 2 Eclipses 1 Million Sold via GameDaily]

Sony Computer Entertainment America hardware marketing boss, John Koller, told the guys at VG247 that their upcoming online shooter, Massive Action Game (MAG),  is only possible on PlayStation 3 gaming system. 

“If you look at that competitively, it’s something that’s only possible on PS3. The,  the ability of PS3 to showcase 256 players at any given time, and their actions,” Koller said at GDC last week to VG247. “It’s basically like an iteration of SOCOM, where you’re maybe commanding the SEALs, and someone else has the Rangers, and the Green Berets, and so on.”

MAG was  revealed at last years E3 2008 and when released will be the first console title to include up to 256 players on screen – something that has never been done on any other gaming system before.

In response to the latest PlayStation Portable 2 rumors, which were started by IGN, a rep from Sony has replied to the, so-called, ‘non-sense’ rumors.

When speaking to TechRadar yesterday, a SCEE rep told them that in no uncertain terms that there were definitely no current plans for a PSP 2, despite IGN’s claims from its unnamed sources.

To quote original IGN article: IGN has learned from several credible sources that the PSP 2 is indeed on the horizon, and will be packing multi-touch technology. According to our sources, the PSP 2 will feature a widescreen multi-touch interface comparable to that of the iPhone for both in-game control and menu navigation.

In recent reports it was revealed that the 360 was “beating PS3 in Europe.” As simple as it may sound, Sony has moved to dispel Microsoft claims revealing internal figures that say its console has sold 300,000 more units than Xbox 360 in PAL territories.

And the company also doesn’t feel it has to follow Microsoft and further ignite consumer interest with a price cut of its own anytime soon. Sony will remain focused on the value offered by the PS3 and its extra functions and services.

“No we are not going to go down in price; neither are we going to go down in price on PS3 in spring time either. Absolutely not, whatever you might have heard to the contrary,” said SCEE president David Reeves.

“Our strategy is very much value added.” Reeves added. Sony’s business model for the console isn’t designed around dropping the RRP every time a manufacturing cost saving has been found. And he was keen to point out that, according to Sony figures, the PS3 is already ahead of Microsoft’s rival.

[Sony: We’re ahead of Xbox via MCV]

It was once mandatory that game developers check with Sony on there games content in Europe. Now, when speaking at the Casual Connect conference in Kiev, SCEE’s George Bain confirmed that PS2 would now be “effectively an open platform” in Europe. This is thought to be an attempt to encourage regional developers in countries such as India and Russia to make “low-development cost titles and release them in their market”.

George Bain also confirmed that Sony’s entire content approval system has been streamlined into a single global system. Which makes it easier for developers to submit their content online under one website not separated by regions. Therefore, it makes it easier for developers to get their further downloadable content out, after there first one passes through which makes it faster because they don’t have to go through the process again.

According to Gamekyo, when seeing the a small part of Sony Computer Entertainment conference rehearsal, their almost certain that a new trailer of Heavy Rain for the PlayStation 3 with ingame footage was will be broadcasted at the conference in Lepzig. They also confirm that a new trailer of LittleBigPlanet will be shown and that Pete Smith, producer of the game, will be giving new some details about his game on stage. They also said that the conference will focus on the new SingStar for the PlayStation 3.

M.A.G was first reveled at E3 2008 as of now the game is on fully on track coming from the people at Zipper Interactive and Sony Computer Entertainment. M.A.G will be playable with an amazing 256 players online. In case you did not know Zipper Interactive were the people behind the tactical third-person shooter SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALS so you can rest knowing that this very promising game is in good hands.

According to a article on  ButtonMasher, fans of Rockstar’s L.A. Noire should expect a new trailer for the upcoming game at E3.

“A little bird has told me that we should expect a new trailer for the game at E3 this week. As Rockstar do not attend E3 it is safe to assume that the trailer will be coming via the Sony press conference or made available during the show.”

Will a new L.A. Noire trailer be shown tomorrow? You will just have to wait and see….

[L.A. Noir info and trailer coming at E3 ]

First it was "Blu-ray is the wave of the future" now Sony seems to think that the "disc-based delivery system will fall". According to a report giving by the guys over at Destructoid, SCEE president David Reeves said, at a developer conference in London, that the future is the PlayStation Network. At the conference he also gave some internal figures that showed over 40 per cent of PS3 owners download games direct to their machines.

"We do believe that the disc-based delivery system will fall as the power of the network base rises. At the same time, the overall industry growth will continue to go upwards as we push out into emerging markets."

New Resistance 2 videos showcase some new gameplay, Resistance 2 is an upcoming science fiction first person shooter video game for the PlayStation 3. It is currently in development by Insomniac Games, and will continue to be published by Sony Computer Entertainment America. The game is scheduled for a European release in November 2008 and a North American release in Fall 2008.

[Text Source via Wiki]

With the fact that Grand Theft Auto IV has sold more on Xbox 360 than PlayStation 3, a press release was issued by Microsoft which proclaimed that the “Xbox 360 generates more dollars at retail for third party publishers.” or in layman’s terms, Microsoft is trying to get there hands on Metal Gear Solid 4 for the 360. But, get this….there are using sale figures to get Konami to bring Metal Gear Solid 4 onto there system.

If you didn’t know, we reported some time back that Grand Theft Auto IV did phenomenally well on Xbox 360, 2 out of 1 times better then the PlayStation 3.

[Nervous? Microsoft hypes Xbox 360 on Metal Gear Solid 4 launch via GamePro]

Today, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced that their European store will be the first to receive the Haze Demo on Tuesday (May/6/2008) the European store will also have two updates next week due to the PlayStation Day event that they will be holding. With Haze being a major part of Sony Huge Keynote this just proves that Sony is going to bring more to the table with games like Resistance 2 ,Secret Agent Clank [PSP] and SingStar Vol. 2. There is no word on the demo coming to the United States store.

Sony Computer Entertainment America announced today that it will be adjusting the prices of downloadable content on the PlayStation Store for Canada during tomorrow’s weekly update. Canadian residents have been getting angry at Sony due to being overprices, and Sony is finally addressing it.

"We are continually looking for ways to enhance the player experience on the PLAYSTATION®Network, and downloadable content through the PLAYSTATION Store is just one of our areas of focus," said Grace Chen, Senior Manager for the PLAYSTATION Store. “We anticipate that this price adjustment will meet the expectations of our Canadian consumers and provide them with a better PLAYSTATION Network experience."