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A few new screens from the upcoming PSP shooter Resistance Retribution.

Sony has released a bit of news on the next installment in the "MLB: The Show" franchise for 2009. The game is set to release "in time for spring training." Hit the jump for a giant fact sheet full of new information about the game which will launch on Playstation 3, Playstation 2, and Playstation Portable. One of the cool feature was outlined by Playstation Blog. It allows users to upload and cut snippets of their favorite songs to use as walk-up music for players. There is a load of new information following the jump! FEATURES • Road to the Show 3.0 (All platforms) – Once again MLB 09 The Show is the only game where fans can play offense and defense from a custom-created player’s perspective. This year, Road to the Show includes interactive training, a new steal/ lead-off system, updated presentations, and coach interactions. Interactive training will consist of a set of mini-games designed to improve a player’s ability and performance in various areas of baseb...

Have you always wanted to show your Playstation pride while racking up copious amounts of unneeded debt? Well now you can! Playstation Blog has the details on Sony's new Playstation branded Visa credit card. The card is decent by itself, but the deal you get if you sign up before December 31st 2009 is even better. Sign up before New Year's and get $150 off of a Playstation 3 console. "There are a couple ways to do this. You can go to to www.sony.com/newpscard to get instant approval for your card, and an immediate $150 credit when you purchase a PS3 directly through the website. Or you can go www.sony.com/getpscard to apply for the card and upon receipt of the card, use it at any authorized PlayStation retailer to purchase a PS3. The $150 credit will show up on your billing statement." Looks like a good deal for those of you who are old enough and are in need of a PS3.

GameDaily is reporting today that Sony has announced, via the Casual Connect conference, that the PS2 will open in for easier development in Europe. By opening the console Sony is allowing developers to bypass having a licensed publisher, as well as allowing them to bypass submitting a game for content approval. "Without the need of a licensed publisher, it's a direct relationship between a developer and Sony." No word on if the same is true for the rest of the world, but it is good to see Sony rejuvenating the console that is currently beating their own Playstation 3 in sales.

SCEA's Bend Studio has just announced (via the Playstation Blog ) that Resistance 2 coming to PS3 this year, and Resistance Retiribution, coming to PSP this year, will be able to connect via a USB cable to add features to R2. When you connect your PSP to your PS3 with both Resistance games in you will be able to play the "Infected" mode which adds a part of the story. "Infected mode provides an alternate story within our alternate history. While in prison for desertion, Grayson is recruited by Specter Lieutenant David LaSalle (from the R2 storyline) and is infected with a mutated version of the Chimeran virus … a different version of the virus that infects Nathan Hale. While playing in “infected” mode, Grayson wears a Specter uniform and has glowing Chimeran eyes. He gets to use one of the new weapons from R2: the HE .44 Magnum, which fires explosive rounds that can be triggered remotely. He has regenerative health and no longer needs to look for health packs. He c...

Sony fans will have the chance to get a demo of Final Fantasy XIII. How you ask. The demo will be bonus content on the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete Blu-ray disc which is scheduled to release in Japan in March of 2009. There has been no U.S. date announced at this time. In other Sony news, Sony announced their new service, Life with Playstation, is not ready to release. Do not worry though, Sony says it will be released later this month. It looks like the storage of the Xbox 360 disc may be becoming a problem. John Carmack of id Software is working on a game called Rage, which will be released on PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and Mac. Carmack says the Xbox 360 version will look the worse due to limitations on storage. Apparently the royalty fees to include three discs are too high. He does go on the say the problem is only the storage space, not the hardware. By now everyone knows the Xbox 360 will be getting Avatars. What is on everyone's mind now, will they cost? Well, initia...

Tired of all this new media yet? Didn't think so. Check out the newest trailer and a few screens for the upcoming Killzone 2!

Alas, the last of the big three. The Sony press conference has concluded, check this story for the complete wrap-up of all the events and announcements! Resistance 2 Shown After a bit of information about Sony and it's future, Resistance 2 takes the stage and looks epic. Much bigger scale than the first. New trailer also shown, stay tuned to GPU later for videos! Little Big Planet Up Next Now from Resistance to Little Big Planet, the games keep rolling. A special level was created for the conference to help illustrate a few key points. Sack Boy is customized with a Celtics jersey and they are running through a special level that is basically an amazing powerpoint presentation. PS3 Greatest Hits Announced Retailing for $29.99, Resistance: Fall of Man, Motorstorm, Warhawk, Call of Duty 3, Fight Night, Need for Speed Carbon, Rainbow 6 Vegas, Ninja Gaiden, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and more are coming to the program later this year. PS2 Getting Lego Batman B...

Kaz Hirai, President and Group CEO at Sony, revealed today that movie downloads will be coming to the Playstation 3 sometime this summer. The video service is set up like the Playstation Store and will hit the US this summer with Europe and Japan following at a later date. Check out the images of the new download service and the official release after the jump, or browse through the entire Sony presentation by Hirai in PDF form . Tokyo, Japan – Sony today presented a series of new initiatives designed to build on its previous three-year revitalization plan and to position the company as the leading global provider of networked consumer electronics and entertainment. In particular, the company will focus on strengthening core businesses, enhancing network initiatives and leveraging international growth opportunities to build for the future and drive further growth and profits. In addition, Sony announced the following key mid-term goals: - Expand our PC, Blu-ray DiscTM-related products ...

The Playstation Blog has the latest on the upcoming firmware update with some interesting additions. Coming in the update is in-game access to the XMB and trophies, with more details coming soon on the latter. The integration of XMB and trophies seems to be Sony emulating the success of Microsoft's achievement system and in-game guide. Hit the jump for the official statement. Here is the official word from the Playstation Blog article : "A new PLAYSTATION 3 firmware update (v2.36) will be launching soon, improving system stability when playing select PlayStation format software titles. We’re also happy to officially report that the 2.40 system software update for PS3 will include “XMB” access in-game. The update will also include “trophies,” an exciting new feature that we’ll be providing more details on soon, as well as some other new enhancements. We’ve talked about some of this on the blog previously and know that many of you can’t wait to get your hands on these features....

I have two Playstation-related stories for your Wednesday morning. First, Sony has stopped production on the games "Eight Days" and "The Getaway 3." The official statement is as follows: "It has been agreed that production of both Eight Days and The Getaway will cease immediately due to the redistribution of resources and budget. This decision was made following an internal review of all games and it was deemed that with the incredibly strong list of exclusive first party titles coming up both this year and in the near future, resource should be reallocated to enhance those projects closer to completion." There is no word of whether the projects may be re-started at a later date. Secondly, Sony has partnered with IGA for in-game advertisements on the Playstation 3. This comes a few months after Sony opened their own advertising platform for the system which allows companies like IGA and Google to sell ads in games. As for the state of in-game advertising, ...

UPDATE : Seattlepi.com covered the Mix08 event in which Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer spoke reguarding Microsoft's position on many issues. One which included the future of the company and BluRay. "We've already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like, and I think the world moves on. Toshiba has moved on. We've moved on, and we'll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense." So what does this mean for the Xbox 360 and it's future? Well I think it is safe to say that some kind of BluRay will make it to the console. It what form is the biggest question. Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics US president, has stated that Sony is in talks with Microsoft to bring a BluRay player to the Xbox 360. This comes after the fall of HD-DVD, the format Microsoft previously backed. According to the Financial Times, letting Microsoft take advantage of the technology would not only make Microsoft more competitive with...

After much speculation and many rumors Infogrames announced that Phil Harrison is joining the company. His new appointed jobs will be pushing the company's software business into the online space and helping to re-invigorate the Atari brand. GameIndustry.biz talked with Harrison whom had the following to say: "This is the perfect time to join Infogrames and help shape the future of Atari - one of the industry's legendary brands. As the game business moves rapidly online I believe we have an outstanding opportunity to create amazing network game and community experiences for players the world over. I am especially excited to be working on this challenge together with David, one of the most respected leaders and successful executives in our industry, said Harrison" With Harrison now at Atari, and new CEO David Garner on board, Atari may have the tools it needs to finally crawl out of financial trouble.

Phil Harrison, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS), will resign from Sony on February 29. Kazuo Hirai, currently President and Group CEO of SCEI, will take over Harrison's responsibilities immediately. Here is the fill press release: " Tokyo, February 25, 2008 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today announced that Phil Harrison, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS), will resign from Sony Computer Entertainment Group as of February 29, 2008. Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of SCEI, will immediately assume responsibilities as president of SCE WWS, in addition to his current duties. Prior to the launch of the original PlayStation®, Phil Harrison joined Sony Electronics Publishing, Ltd. in 1992, which later evolved into Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, and since then, he has made a tremendous contribution to the company playing a strategic role in the launch of four PlayStation platforms, as well a...