In fact, prices are one reason that many people have placed aside their PSP and chosen other gaming consoles. However, with a new focus on PSP downloads and the PSP 3000 bundle Sony aims to change this perception.

Despite its reputation for being a bit expensive, one of the reasons that the PSP has continued to endure is because of Sony’s strong brand rep and their ability to offer top high quality products that hold their own in the market place, which can be exhibited by the PSP downloads and the PSP games available for retail sale.

Now more people are able to see this fact due to the new set of PSP 3000 bundle packages that are going to come with all their new console packages allowing buyers to get a new console and a load of PSP games all for one low price.

In fact, for just a little under £200, gamers can now get a PSP 3000, a 2GB memory card, and the PSP games Cars 2 and FIFA 12.  While both of these titles are a bit outdated, they do offer gamers a free perk and the ability to play their PSP games straight from the box instead of waiting until they have more funds to purchase a game to go with the console.

The one catch is that while FIFA 12 comes in the actual physical box as part of the PSP 3000 bundle, Cars 2 is only available on the Sony store website alongside other PSP downloads and must be downloaded using a code.

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Orlando Pro Circuit Video Game Competition gains 181,000 Unique Concurrent Online Viewers

Fourth Consecutive Record Breaking Online Broadcast of the 2011 Pro Circuit Season More than 3.2 Million Hours of Video Consumed by Viewers Over the Weekend

The largest video game league on the globe, Major League Gaming (or MLG) continues to break records with its latest 2011 Pro Circuit season racking up 181,000 online viewers taking time out to watch the LIVE Pro Circuit competition in Orlando last week.  This is the fourth time in a row that MLG has broken an online viewer record with Orlando passig the number of people who watched the August Raleigh Pro Circuit.

The Orlando race took place over the course of three days October 14-16^th and resulted in over 3.2 million hours of video being watched via the online platform and an additional 15,000 fans that actually attended the event personally.  MLG broadcast the game with aid from the global streaming giant Streamworks to offer a 720p HD high quality video stream.  In addition, rebroadcasts of the action can also be seen by simply heading to MLG.tv.

CEO for MLG Sundance DiGiovanni stated that the record breaking views of each of their LIVE broadcasts helps prove that there is a place for e-sports in today’s world making MLG viewing just as preferred as television broadcasts.  He added that fans can look forward to more intense HD online streaming and that the 2012 season line-up will be announced November 18^th-20^th during the Providence Pro Circuit Championship.

The six-city 2011 MLG Pro Circuit places the most talented video game players alongside their toughest opponents as they battle for more than $1 million in prizes. The season culminates with the 2011 National Championship next month where the world’s best players will compete for more than $600,000 in prizes and stipends. Spectator and competitor passes can be purchased online.

To receive ad-free streams, discounts on passes and other added benefits, fans can become MLG League Members.  Gold MLG League members ($29.99-12 months) receive $10 off competitor passes and $5 off spectator passes, early entry into the event, high definition ad-free LIVE video streams for home viewing, discounts on MLG apparel and partner products and more. Silver MLG League members ($9.99-3 months) receive access to high definition, ad-free streams of Pro Circuit competitions,  premium VoD, access to member only forums and more.

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Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few years ,you can’t have failed to have heard about the Call of Duty series of video games. If you are one of the millions of gamers across the world who likes nothing better than to sit down and play these exciting, strategic and bloody games, you will be salivating at the upcoming release of the latest in the series, Modern Warfare 3.

The trailer that has been released is really edge of seat stuff, and the graphics are so improved you forget that it is a game. MW3 starts with bombs being synchronised to go off across Europe at the same moment, wreaking havoc and reducing famous landmarks to rubble.

You are taken around Europe to see the damage that has been done, with a suitably menacing voice over at the beginning from whoever it was who has brought Europe to its knees. This seems to be an old adversary, as the commentary changes and says that if he is back in the grid, then so are we.

The action from here on in is fast and furious, with the expected high body count and plenty of blood and gore. The setting is very much modern day, and this looks to be the best game so far in the Call of Duty franchise. It’s available to pre order now, which is highly advised as, if this trailer is anything to go by, this game is going to fly off the shelves.

Die hard Call of Duty fans will be gagging to get their hands on it, and the modern setting and all that brings with it will undoubtedly bring a while new wave of gamers into the global Call of Duty global fraternity, that’s how powerful and emotive this trailer is.

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Software to Enhance Gaming Performance with Game Booster 3

Since its launch in 2009, the IObit Game Booster has improved the overall gameplay of millions of users by boosting the performance of their PC’s to give them the optimum results and much improved results. The Game Booster works by temporarily shutting down any background processes, improving the processors output and cleaning the RAM. It doesn’t interfere with any system settings or hardware or overclock the system either.

Another big plus is that the Game Booster is available free as a downloadable software which effectively acts like a switch, and puts the PC into a performance mode designed for gaming. Once the user has finished their gaming session, a simple click of the mouse returns the PC to its normal mode.

Game Booster also effortlessly performs a series of performance tweaks that were previously only undertaken by those gamers who had high-spec technical abilities and knowledge. The newest version, Game Booster 3, sees further improvements and more added features, along with a much sleeker interface for users and is also now in 13 different languages.

New features in Game Booster 3 include:

- New “Diagnose” function to identify and report on key system and game parameters, highlighting any weaknesses that can affect the gaming experience.
- Redesign of the “GameBox” functionality to automatically show the games on the computer. Additional games can be added with one click.
- A new, easier to use UI.
- Added “Game Desktop”; if games are run via “GameBox”, the desktop and taskbar are hidden.
- Enhanced detection feature. Game Booster 3 is now able to detect the games on Steam.
- Optimized “Boost” module, with added “user vote” features
- New “Boost” features. The user is able to edit their own blacklist and whitelist.
- Enhanced set of tools to tweak and defrag the PC, as well as identifying and updating out-of-date drivers
- Access to forums via the UI.
- 13 language options (Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Danish, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Turkish).

Penny Duan, IObit’s Director of Business Development said, “Game Booster 3 has cool new features, some of which were suggested by users, and these will make the overall gaming experience better than ever. The software will concentrate most of the PC’s resources on the game you’re playing, making play faster and much more efficient. Once the game’s over, it’s simple to revert the PC back to normal. With availability in 13 languages, more gamers can take advantage of this tool”.

Game Booster 3 is compatible with PunkBuster, Cheating-Death, VAC and other anti-cheat software.

For more information and to download Game Booster 3 visit http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html

System Requirements: Microsoft® Windows XP/2003/2008/Vista/Windows7, both 32 and 64-bit.
File size: 3.88 MB
Free software.

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• World’s first official AR game triggered by, and played off product packaging
• Free iPhone and Android image-recognition app spells the end for QR codes

blippar is the new and ingenious app for smart phones that can convert real world products, adverts and images into an instantaneous virtual experience, and has been officially launched in partnership with the top confectionary brand Cadbury UK and Ireland.

For the first time ever, the technology in blippar allows Cadbury to create a reality game using its product that anyone can play on a smartphone. It is also incredibly simple to activate the game once you have installed blippar onto your handset. All you do is point your phone at any Cadbury product, be it a Twirl, a Dairy Milk or any other in their vast range, and the ‘Qwak Smack’ instruction screen will blip from the wrapper to your screen.

The actual game lasts for 30 seconds, and is an intensive half minute of quirky and childish fun. The challenge for the player is to tap as many of the quacking cartoon ducks as they emerge from the bar onto the augmented overlay on the screen of their handset. They then have the opportunity to submit their score and go into a draw where they can win a vast array of prizes.

The head of digital at Kraft Foods, Sonia Carter, has spoken enthusiastically about the app, saying that the company loved blippar from the moment they saw it. She said that they were totally blown away by the new technology and were confident that consumers would be too. She added that seeing as 1/3 adults in the UK owned a smartphone, the potential for such marketing initiatives was massive and they were proud to be involved.

She continued: “It doesn’t seem all that long ago we were all marveling at what QR codes could do but blippar’s ‘markerless image recognition’ technology takes the experience to a whole new level.”

The partnership between blippar and Cadbury has allowed the augmented reality app company to launch its platform by placing engaging demonstrations of their technology on every street corner in Britain – wherever confectionary is sold.

blippar CEO and co-founder, Ambarish Mitra, commented:

“We are thrilled to work with Cadbury as launch partner to demonstrate a gaming experience using its product packaging. The implications are enormous and we look forward to being at the forefront of delivering compelling AR experiences for users with other exciting brands.”

He continued:
“Image-recognition enabled augmented reality is far from a ‘gimmick’ and will fundamentally change how consumers interact with their favourite real-world brands. blippar has been built to bridge the gap from physical to digital and enable real-time interaction in mobile situations.”

The blippar platform will also offer  ‘blipps’ on everyday objects – from your oyster card through to your newspaper – and is set to grow to 1000s of listings via multiple brand partnerships in the pipeline.

Android Market Download:
http://bit.ly/blipparAndroid

iPhone App Store Download:
http://bit.ly/blipparAppStore

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Japanese users will once again be able to access all the functions of both the Qriocity services and also the PlayStation Store from July 6. These services were suspended across the world in April when Sony detected that a highly sophisticated intrusion has hit its San Diego data center.

An internal investigation then established that these hackers had bypassed 3 firewalls and had stolen data from every one of the 77m accounts that were registered. The original fears were that millions of customer’s credit card details had been compromised, but these fears were allayed when Sony confirmed that there was no evidence of this database being accessed from the outside.

Sony did ask users to change their passwords, and so far the company reports that there has been no unauthorized usage of credit cards that can be linked to the hacking incident. The whole business left Sony in a very bad light and many customers lost faith in the electronics giant and their security systems. Their services were offline for weeks and they completely revamped their security measures.

Sony gradually reintroduced their services in stages and the online gaming was first reactivated in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East back in May. In June Asia regained their gaming services and the PlayStation Store Services were restored in all regions except for Japan.

The store remained offline in Japan whilst Sony was discussing the breach of data with the authorities and was keeping them informed of the new security systems that they were implementing. The progress that has been made in this area means that Sony are now in a position to fully resume the service in Japan. When this is switched on Wednesday the service will be at full strength again globally.

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Xbox Live at the same time on the Xbox 360 will get a look like Vole’s Live tile a design on the Windows Phone 7 handsets which is central to the new look of Windows 8.  It means that Xbox Live will be able to work across a number of devices similar to Apple’s iTunes. Customers want to navigate through multiple devices easily. The assets of Vole also will be unified under the Xbox Live Label.

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What is the PSP2 price for amazing screen and great controls

With the announcement of their new handheld gaming device, Sony have thrown down the gauntlet to their competition. The new device has been codenamed NGP, or Next Generation Portable. The release of Nintendo’s 3DS is imminent, tablet and smartphone gaming is on the rise, and there is also the dark cloud of the yet unofficially iPhone 5 looming in the distance, so to combat all this Sony’s attitude is to tell us to wait.

With a lucky few getting the chance to get their hands on the prototype of the NGP, or PSP2 or Playstation Vista, or whatever else it’s called this week, their comments are eagerly awaited. The general public won’t get a chance to play on this until the end of the year, so our interest and curiosity is on a high.

Sony NGP: Build

The NGP – we know it won’t be called this, but let’s persist for the sake of consistency – is undoubtedly an impressive piece of kit. Looking rather more like an old PSP than you’d perhaps hope (we actually always had a soft spot for its design aesthetic), it’s surprisingly 1cm taller to accommodate its really rather lovely 5-inch OLED screen (double the resolution of the PSP, in case you wondered), making it a fair old size for a portable. This won’t be squeezing in anyone’s pocket any time soon and is made to dominate part of your man bag. However, it was noticeably very light despite its size, although the dev kit we had time with was running off the mains without a battery pack, so we reserve judgement on its luggage-denting abilities.

What is clear is that the structural bulk allows Sony to make a hand-held that is truly comfortable to hold. No smartphone control compromises, no utilitarian square edges – this is an ergonomic star. Sony’s taken stock of the PSP’s many flaws and fixed them – the horrible bevelled analogue disc has been replaced by quite incredible dual analogue sticks that are responsive and a joy to use, the harsh lines of the unit rounded to fit nicely in your hand, the PS buttons smaller and less clunky. Uncharted: Golden Abyss plays as close to the PS3 original as you could wish to hope for, long-distance gunning against multiple enemies from behind cover very effectively translated due to the combination of the impressive screen resolution and the tactile joysticks. Call of Duty and FIFA are going to play like a dream.

Sony NGP: Controls

There are also control inputs aplenty – the familiar Sixaxis button and motion controls supplemented by a touch screen, a rear touch panel and cameras front and back. Initial implementation of these seems quite gimmicky on the whole, and not at all intuitive – naturally tilting the NGP instead of pushing the rear touch panel to control a rolling Marble Madness-esque character in Little Deviants springs to mind, or trailing a finger on the touch screen to climb vines in Uncharted when the usual buttons are more instinctive – but then there is always teething problems adapting to new functions, and Sony is also clearly aiming at new audiences. It’s amazing, in a way, that we already take accelerometer control for granted.

The most impressive showing was Reality Fighters, a fairly hum-drum sub-Street Fighter beat-em-up on paper that is elevated to must-play due to its technological armoury. Taking its lead from augmented reality and reminiscent of Face Raiders on the 3DS, you are able to create your own character (cue scarily accurate face scanning) and have it battle in whatever location you choose to shoot on the NGP’s camera in real time thanks to AR cards. But one producer told us that they’re trying to make it so you can do a 360-degree pre-shoot of your own locations (bedroom, office, Coco de Mer outlet) and then send them to other players for personalised fisticuffs. Coupled with geocaching prize battles via Sony’s Near online network, it’s the template for what a modern portable game can be. Potential oozes out of the system.

Sony NGP: Games

The NGP has also clearly been optimised to pair with the much-maligned PlayStation Network. The PSP’s UMD software has been thankfully scrapped for Flash-based storage cards, but as well as physical products, the NGP will also be download driven. HD movies on the move will look great on that screen, and it’s no surprise that several of the launch titles are PSN games given the touch-screen treatment. With Sony telling us that Wipeout 2048, the latest in the futuristic racing series, will support PS3 vs NGP play, there will clearly be much crossover on these arcade games that don’t demand the full big-brother console grunt and 3D bells and whistles. Although, tellingly, while the dev units supported HDMI out to show the games on larger screens (resolution surprisingly impressive, since you asked), the finished units will not, presumably to prevent it from being used as a standalone console and eating into PS3 sales. Yes, we’re getting that close.

Sony NGP: Price

We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the NGP and are very keen to play with it some more, but our head kept turning to the potential price. Make no mistake, the graphical fidelity and the tightened controls are aimed squarely at the hardcore gamer, but Sony needs this to be a mainstream hit, which makes pricing more key than usual. Nintendo’s 3DS sales have been relatively lacklustre despite heavy discounting (£160 and counting, down from £199, at certain websites), due to a number of factors, but predominantly because ever-more powerful smart phones are doing quick-hit games so well, and so cheaply. The NGP will browse the internet, take photos and play all sorts of media, but its size and control inputs will undoubtedly limit its portability and, in turn, its function, so regardless of its intentions, it will still be referred to primarily as a games machine. Is this the reason standalone portable gaming systems are a dying breed?

With price rumours currently ranging from £200 to £400, there’s a whole lot of leeway for interpretation there, and Sony won’t be drawn on the subject. For our part, £250 is something of a key figure – and it goes without saying that we think the NGP needs to be limboing under that bar. For context, the PSP debuted at £179, you can currently buy a PS3 for £199 and the iPod Touch 32GB, our current go-to PMP from the usually fairly pricey Apple which you can slide in a suit jacket pocket, is £254. The NGP is a hugely powerful, very impressive system but it needs to recognise what it sacrifices as well as what it offers. The portable gaming world has never been more competitive, and the needs of gamers on the move and the audience it caters for, has changed unrecognisably. Exciting times indeed.

Watch this video for a peek view…..

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It was once hailed as the greatest game series in history, but is now on its glorious way out. The game was created in 2005 by RedOctane, an indie programming company, along with Harmonix, the creators of Karaoke Revolution, and its successors.

Karaoke Revolution was a concept proof that many gamers were also interested in playing with their own music. Players were scored through their mics in the consoles, where their singing precision was measured. Guitar Hero went on to show they were similarly intrigued with tearing up notes on a plastic instrument, namely the guitar.

In 2006 Activision bought the entire works at $100 million. Winning about $2b return on investment through the 25 million copies shipped, the franchise is somewhat of a hero itself. $1 billion were earned only by Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

The follow-up to this success was Rock Band by Harmonix. In it, mics, keys, drums, and the plastic guitar were thrown together into a garage band mixture and was an instant hit.

Viacom bought Harmonix for pennies and MTV Games’ doors were closed due to the failure of the season sales for music games. Rock Band was the joint venture between MTV Games and Harmonix. The sixth release of the Guitar Heroes series, Warriors of Rock, failed to capture anyone’s imagination, much less their money.

This was the fourth quarter in a row that Activision suffered a net loss, at a whopping $233 million. They cut the chords of the Guitar Hero division, which had grown to 500 on its staff.

The market was simply too saturated in this particular genre and they just would not bring down the cost of the controllers. Trying to get the controller for one game to function with another was impossible, so incompatibility, has killed once again.

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Killzone 3 and Crysis 2 have been competing to gain the world’s gaze at their cutting-edge presentation. However, those who want to steal the thunder of legitimate workers will be playing these games with their friends before the companies have made their official releases.

Crytek and EA made statements on the Crysis 2 forum regarding the thieves, “There has been a warning sent to Crytek that a pre-completed version of their Crysis 2 was posted on torrent sites. Ea and Crytek have had their faith in gamers undermined by these few thieves. Please restore our confidence in the wide gaming community by showing your support of the companies. Wait until the games are officially release in their final form on March 22 and buy them legitimately. After all, the developers who spent all of their time creating the products have families and are gamers just like you. They deserve your support.”

The version posted illegally is an incomplete game and does not reflect the amazing advances we have built into the experience of the game. Crysis 2 is not yet complete. It will break the barriers of gaming by allowing you to become the weapon that defends NTC against alien invaders.

We all know that the stealing of software slows progress, as the money that would go into development never shows up. We could be twice as far in our progress in gaming if it weren’t for piracy.

These kinds of events can destroy a development team and crush a publisher.

The Killzone 3 torrents represent two versions. One lacks 3D functions. Neither will run on PS3′s unless the units themselves are hacked.

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