E3 2012. Forever Alone.

Most people don’t bother to look at me. Some don’t even seem to notice my existence. Gamers have done this ritual thousands of times before. I’m old news to them. Years of playing video games has served them well with the muscle-memory equivalent to a trained athlete. To most I’m just an extension of their bodies. A conduit that delivers them full control and immersion into the video game world in front of them.

This is my life as a Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale demo unit Dualshock controller. Forever alone.

Heads up comic book and Batman Arkham fans, Derek Fridolfs episode incoming.

::EDIT:: WE AREN'T ALLOWED TO PUBLISH THESE BATMAN EPISODES, SORRY EVERYONE

 As the title of this post suggests I just want to inform you people who pay attention to the blog that our next podcast we'll have our good friend Derek Fridolfs coming on to talk about his new project. Here's a quote from his deviant art account:

"Back from another fun NY Comic Con. It was great getting a chance to see so many fans and your words of encouragement help fuel the creative battery for another year. Thanks to everyone that stopped by to say hi, buy a print, a page, or a commission. It was fantastic meeting all of you. And while DC wasn't ready to announce what Dustin and I have been working on, we're still hard at work on it and will have plenty to show for it once it comes out next year.

But I can announce one project I'm on…BATMAN: ARKHAM UNHINGED!

Today is the release of the Batman: Arkham City game everyone has been raving about in anticipation. And after the success of the Arkham City comics, both the mini-series and the online digital chapters, it was decided to make a regular series out of it. Yup…an ongoing comic that takes place in the Arkham City universe, and I've been lucky enough to be the one to write it!" - D

Click the link to go to his page and read the rest. It's all very exciting. Anyway Here are a few images he gave us to show you all :).

Is the PS3 Firmware 3.60 bricking consoles? It happened to me.

Now I'll never know how to get the worm!

All of you have probably heard the news that Sony has released a new firmware update today. Version 3.60 came out and with that comes some great things. Cloud storage and a new beefy security to fend off all those evil pesky Pirates. This all sounds fucking fantastic, except for one thing.

The firmware bricked my 40GB PS3. I'm dead serious. After installing the update and restarting my PS3 all I got was a red blinking power light.

I went ahead and tried the normal routine of turning it on and off a few times with no luck. So the next option was to try and start it up in safemode and that was a failure as well. The best I could do is get it to turn for for a second then it would power back down.

Has anyone else had an issue with Sony's latest and greatest firmware 3.60 update? Let us know.

After every firmware release it seems, I hear the tales of systems bricking across the land and sea. But I never thought it could happen to me. Sony has burned my toast. FUCK.

UPDATE: 3/12/11 So I called Sony Support. My PS3 is dead and of course its identified as a hardware failure. But I still have my suspicions. It was awfully convenient for it to die directly after the update. Yes I know the software isn't the issue but something happened during that process. Here is the video of the current state of my PS3. According to the light sequence you see that means, death.

Sony's legal battles explained by Groklaw.net

Judge Judy will settle this shit.

If your like me, you may be wondering why in the hell the PS3 seems to be a hot bed for hackers and why its big daddy Sony is in the headlines almost daily. To say the least there is a struggle between Sony and a percentage of its users that has gotten to the point where legal action is being taken by both sides. 

Until GeoHot came into my life and released the news that he was jailbreaking the PS3 and handing out all the keys to the castle, I wasn't paying attention much to the PS3 hacking scene. Once that happened Sony has taken action on him and the debate between hacking, freedom, piracy, software licenses and corporate power have been all the rage.

The basic gist of what happened is this. Sony realized that having the ability to install Linux (or other OS) on the PS3 was becoming a security risk by way of piracy and hacking (i.e. losing cash). So Sony decides to release a firmware update that when installed removes that function and if you chose not to install it you would lose access to PSN and the ability to play any new game. This of course pisses off all the Linux users out there and they file a class action lawsuit. Then in order to get Linux back onto the PS3, hackers have taken arms and spent the last year trying to jailbreak the system so people can have freedom to do what they want on the hardware. Now Sony is mad/crazy taking names. The innocent gamers suffer.

Sony's 'S1' PlayStation tablet is coming to join the party.

My photoshop skillz are supreme

Sony is proving to be a very busy company indeed over the last few months. With the announcement of the NGP(PSP2), the new Sony Ericcson phone, and Sony Playstation Suite. It looks like the companies future is bright. Engaget reports that Sony is now poised to release a new tablet device codenamed the "S1" and it has some very interesting features. For more detailed specs on the device hop on over to the article. What I want to focus on is two key features for the device after the jump.

PS3 sleeps with the fishes... or does it?

You’ve probably already heard the PS3’s been hacked. Hacked how? Well I’ll spare you all the technical details (also because I don’t really know it all myself), but basically whenever a piece of software is approved for the PS3 it’s given a certain code. This code tells the PS3 that it has been approved by Sony itself, and should consider this software ‘legit’. This code has been deciphered and is in the hands of everyone now.

What does this mean?

Mainly a few big things; Lets go into them.

Is THIS the Droid you're looking for? (Playstation Phone)

It might be called the Xperia, and it's likely the Droid I've been looking for. Digital pad, dual analogs in the form of a touch pad, large display, online connection, Playstation app. These are a few of my favorite things.

N-Gage couldn't do it. Sony maybe can? Imagine if they'd done this instead of the PSP originally. Boom! Would have been exactly like Nintendo's console dominance with the Wii. iPhone wouldn't have taken such a big bite out of the apple, as it has.