Sony Computer Entertainment America’s VP of product marketing, Scott Steinberg, in an interview over at Gameindustry.biz, has stated that he thinks more and more developers will be switching to the PS3 as their foremost development console, and that will be making multiplatform games better as a result.

We see the development just now starting to get going.  We’re now in our third and fourth generations with first party, and that will start to create some distance with the competition – from our standpoint – but as the third parties begin to move their development to native PS3 and port down to other platforms, they’ll start to see their games’ fidelity getting better and better – and in fact I think even Xbox 360 games will start to look better as a result.

There’s a historical fact of having the [Xbox 360] dev kits first, so there’s the thought of porting down to the late arrivals, but I think that Burnout [Paradise] is a great example of a game that shipped fairly recently that showed what you can do if you start originally on PS3, and we’ve seen and heard more of that from our third party publisher relations group.

As they realise that if you start on the PS3 other platforms look better, it starts to become a no-brainer.

It makes sense if you think about it. Considering it’s more difficult to develop games for the PS3, it can only help multiplatform games if they go for the more difficult path first.

Source: Gamesindustry.biz

Sony unveiled MAG (Massive Action Game) today from Zipper Interactive. It’s an online squad-based action game that can support up to 256 players.

Our very own Andrew Podolsky was there in person and vies us our rundown of the trailer:

Has that same yellowy-brown, washed out look of Call of Duty 4, and Resistance 2.  Plus lots of Tom Clancy style overlays. We see a commander’s view of hundreds of soldiers on the field, plus lots of graet closeups of firefights and tank battles.

This game looks sweet, if this is in fact in-game footage. The camera is whipping around as soldiers target eachother. Since there are so many, there’s a lot of pray and spray. After the battles, the dead litter the ground. Airstrikes are called in, with paratroopers. And that’s the end of MAG.

No release date as of yet, but the game certainly looks promising.  256 players?  That’s going to be a massive workout for the PSN and PS3.

It seems that while the Ubisoft team was out hunting for Easter eggs, their servers went out with them.

Multiple PS3 users are complaining about serious connection and lag issues while playing Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 online over the weekend.

I think it’s safe to say that the Ubisoft team is probably aware of the issue and it’s more than likely being resolved as I type this.

As of now, no other games are reportedly having issues.

Source: PSX Extreme

Back in February when news first hit about a Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 bundle, we speculated that it would include a limited edition console. It looks like that speculation was correct.

A google translation of a Japanese news tidbit says that it’s a special “steel” colored model that also comes with a 3-dual shock controller. The Japanese release date is June 12th, 2008.

Source: NeoGaf

The NPD numbers are in for February and both Microsoft and Sony give their little twists on things. Hit the jump  to check out the results.

February was a good month for video games, as both hardware and software sales were above expectations. 1.1799 million hardware units were sold, beating out the expected 1.602 units. This strong growth came from Nintendo DS sales; 427,300 units were expected to sell but the total end number was 587,600.

The Playstation 3 sold 280,800 units, outselling the Xbox 360 yet again, which sold 254,600 units. The PS3 outdid expectations by 411%, while the 360 underperformed by 2.33%.

This is where the PR battle starts. Microsoft claims that the 360 still had some supply issues, accounting for the loss. Aaron Greenberg, Xbox 360 group product manager, actually told Next-Gen:

“Our expectation is that because of our shortages at retail during February, we will sell less than PS3.”

He goes on to call Sony’s win a “hollow victory.” Sony obviously didn’t see it that way, boasting that “PS3 Sales Eclipse Xbox 360 for Second Straight Month,” without acknowledging Microsoft’s supposed supply issues.

Sony also reminds us that GTA IV, Gran Turismo 5, MGS 4: Guns of the Patriots, as well as many other large titles are on the way, so they’re only getting started.

And then way ahead of the pack is the Nintendo Wii, which sold 432,000 units, 31,300 more units than expected.

Finally, the Sony Playstation Portable underperformed by 4.71%, selling 243,100 units.

Software sales fared even better than hardware, beating out the expected sales by $76.7 million, coming in at $668.7 million. Software sales have also increased 47% from February of last year.

Call of Duty 4 took the top spot once again with the Xbox 360 version selling 296, 200 units. Devil May Cry 4 under whelmed on both consoles, selling 295,200 units on 360 and 233,500 on the PS3. The predicted numbers were 438,400 and 272,600.

Sales of newer titles such as Lost Odyssey, Turok, and Frontlines: Fuel of War more or less met expectations.

Sources: Simexchange, the bitbag, next-gen

According to both gaming magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly and gaming website PSU, we may see Resident Evil 5 before this holiday season – maybe even as early as October.

The latest issue of EGM contained rumors the Capcom plans to release Resident Evil 5 either before or during the upcoming holiday season. Now PSU has come out to say that they’ve heard that we could see the game as soon as October of this year.

Resident Evil 5 is due out on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The game puts you back in the shoes of former S.T.A.R.S member Chris Redfield, who many fans will remember as one of the main protagonists of the original Resident Evil.

Resident Evil 5 will feature much of the same camera and control scheme from its predecessor. The game takes place in the African Desert.

Source: PSU

Based on a few news stories that came rolling in today, it looks like we may be seeing a Limited Edition Metal Gear Solid 4 Playstation 3 pretty soon. Say that ten times fast.

The picture above is from Dengeki Playstation magazine. The picture shows the upcoming PS3 bundle. The PS3 unit is blacked out with a question mark over it.

That, coupled with the information reported today that stated we’ll be seeing the “look” of the bundled PS3 on March 21st, I think there’s a good chance that a Limited Edition console is on the way.

Building off of what Geoff Haugan reported on earlier, it looks like June 12th, 2008, is in fact the official worldwide release date for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. And that’s straight from Kojima’s mouth.

Aside from the game hitting shelves in less than 4 months, we also got a few more juicy tidbits.

Pricing for the different versions of the game and the look of the bundled PS3 will be released on March 21st. The TGS ’07 trailer will hit the Japanese PSN store on February 29th.

Also, the special edition disc contains trailers and making-of videos.

The Metal Gear Online starter pack will contain 5 maps, but it doesn’t look like all of them (or any) will be new. Also, MGO expansions will come with new character packs and maps.

Finally, the official site for the game will be seeing a relaunch on February 29th. That’s tomorrow!

The idea of a Bourne videogame completely free of Matt Damon worried me. As far as I’m concerned, Damon is Bourne. That said, the trailer looks pretty awesome and the voice actor – while no Damon – sounds cool in his own right.

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Three new screenshots of Grand Theft Auto IV have surfaced thanks to Best Buy.

These are only low resolutions shots, but hopefully higher res ones will pop-up soon. The lighting in the second screenshot just screams “crime drama” to me and I couldn’t be more excited. Or could I?

Via GTA4.net

Things are looking good for the Playstation Portable. Hot on the heels of the announcement that PSP users will be able to use Skype, we learn that the PSP will be able to download and play Blu-Ray movies.

Certain Blu-Ray discs will include special versions of the film made specifically for the PSP. Gamers can insert the disc into their Playstation 3, connect to the handheld, and copy a special lower-resolution version of the movie onto the PSP’s memory stick.

Sony hasn’t said which films – or how many – will include the specially optimized versions. They also haven’t clarified whether or not this ability is limited to only those with a Playstation 3. Let’s hope that isn’t the case.

Via Wired

MTV has struck a deal with Mad Catz, a popular manufacturer of videogame accessories, to allow the company to start producing Rock Band peripherals.

Mad Catz expects to start releasing products in the first half of 2008. The products will include a wired microphone, a drum kit, and wired and wireless bass guitars.

Mad Catz CEO Darren Richardson comments:

“This agreement with MTV Games represents a natural opportunity for Mad Catz to combine our core competencies of producing and distributing high-quality accessories with the entertaining experience of Rock Band’s interactive controllers. Mad Catz will produce premium instruments, allowing gamers and music fans to experience music in an entirely new light while taking on the personality of their favorite music idols.”

I’m excited to see what Mad Catz whips up, but for folks who have already purchased the bundle, I can’t see them buying anything other than an additional guitar. That being said, the original Rock Band equipment did have its fair share of problems, so it’ll be good to have a cheaper, third-party option if you find yourself needing to replace some hardware.

Via The Escapist

Official Playstation Magazine UK features Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII in their Big 10 Stories in their latest issue. It doesn’t offer much in terms of new info, but it provides a good summary of everything that’s been released so far, as well as some nice screenshots. Hit the jump to see the scans.

I’ll admit, I’ve never been a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series, but I’m really digging the science fiction elements that XIII seems to offer, so consider me interested.

Via Final Fantasy-XIII.net

For the week ending December 9th, the Sony PSP sold 91,481 units in Japan. The next week, ending on the 16th, it managed to more than double that number with 184, 610 units sold. Surely it’s catching to the Nintendo DS in sales, right?

While it’s closer than it was, the Nintendo DS still outsold the PSP by almost 40,000 units, with a total of 222,144 sales for the week ending December 16th. To top it off, 28 DS titles placed in the top 50 best-sellers.

As for the other video game systems, the Nintendo Wii took the lead of the home consoles with 170,558, the PS3 came in second with 63,720 units moved, 18,025 Playstation 2 units were sold, and the Xbox Box 360 trailed behind everyone with only 8,561 systems sold.

Poor Billy Gates just can’t catch a break, can he?

Via The Escapist