A decade and a half ago, home consoles still relied on old school cartridge based games to deliver digital fun to the masses. However that all changed on the 9th of September 1995 when Sony unveiled the original PlayStation.

 

The original PlayStation stunned gamers the world over with its high quality audio and graphics, much superior to its chief competitor at the time, the Nintendo 64. Over the years Sony has sold more than 377 million PlayStation branded consoles, accounting for 40% of the game market in the United States.

 

The device ushered in a new era of gaming and went on to become one the most successful gaming consoles in history, spawning two counterparts in the form of the PlayStation 2 in the year 2000 and the PlayStation 3, released in 2006. Sony also extended the PlayStation brand to handheld consoles with the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in 2005 and the PSP Go in 2009.

 

Happy birthday, PlayStation! Check out this link for some amusing PlayStation infographics. 

 

 

 

 

Firefall is an upcoming first and third person shooter from Red 5 game studios. Last week at the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle, gamers got to see what all the fuss is about. 

 

A breathtaking cinematic trailer along with actual gameplay footage impressed show-goers, but it was the announcement that the game would be available for download absolutely free, that really took the cake. The implications for this may be staggering, will gamers go back to paying R300+ (for PC games) when they can play equally good games for free?

 

Red 5 said they made the decision to distribute the game free of charge because they wanted as many people as possible to play it. This is a major announcement seeing that this is not a rushed flash game, but rather an important title from a serious development studio. 

 

The game is scheduled for a late 2011 release and will be available for free download on the PC.

 

Check out this gameplay video for some free Firefall fun.

 

 

 

 

Despite being part of the PlayStation line-up, the PSP Go, the upgrade to the PSP handheld launched last year, still isn't bringing in the kind of revenue Sony expected from the device.

 

Recently, Sony CEO, Kazuo Hirai spoke out on the matter saying, “I think we need to make sure we have as many titles available to download as possible, to make the experience as easy as possible. But also pricing is perhaps an issue. Because of the cost reductions we’ve been able to do over the years, the traditional PSP has benefited. But the PSP Go is a completely different design, so the cost trend is different."

 

Let's hope Sony sees it fit to reduce the price of the Go soon, the handheld still retails north of the R3000 mark at most outlets, and if you factor in the price of games on top of that it can become quite the pricey affair.

 

 

 

Sega's upcoming game, Yakuza 5, found itself in the media spotlight this week with a few interesting announcements. First off, the game finally received an official title, being named Yakuza: To The End. If you aren't familiar with the game, the Yakuza series can be roughly described as a Japanese version of Grand Theft Auto where the player finds themselves embroiled in the underground Japanese mob scene.

 

In addition to being named, it was also revealed that Chiaki Kuriyama, famous for her portrayal of Gogo Yubari in Quintin Tarantino's Kill Bill, will join the voice acting cast. Kuriyama will take on the roll of Misuzu Asagi, a character that was recently revealed on the game's official blog. 

 

No official release dates have been announced for Yakuza: To The End as of yet, but the PlayStation 3 title is expected to ship sometime next year.