Sony PSP E-1000 Announced, More Affordable Than Ever

Sony has announced some wonderful news today at the Gamescon keynote, and this is one of them. A brand new PSP E-1000 debuted today with an all new stealthy design with a PS3 Slim-like, charcoal matte finished exterior. The PSP E-1000 is a more affordable portable gaming console from Sony at a staggering price of €99. There is a catch however, the PSP E-1000 isn't WiFi enabled and will be a good option for those who just want to use UMD games and movies on the go. It also has a mono speaker instead of stereo speakers. Sony has yet to announce a US price and release date.

Sony Slashes PS3 Slim Price

Great news for those of you who just got pwned by the infamous RROD, Sony has announced at their Gamescon keynote today that it's dropping the price of the 160GB PlayStation 3 Blu-ray packed model from $299, down to just $249 in the US and €249 over in Europe effective immediately.

Sony Delays PS Vita Launch In The US & Europe

Some disappointing news for American and European consumers today, Sony's Kazuo Hirai has confirmed the delay in the release of the PS Vita portable gaming console that was said to be released later this year, will be pushed back for an early 2012 release in the US and Europe. Japan on the other hand, will enjoy the PS Vita before Christmas pulls in this year. Seems only fair. The PS Vita will be available at aggressive price points starting with a WiFi-only model for $249, and a WiFi + 3G model for $299.

Sony's New Official PS3 Wireless Stereo Headset Headphones

Oh yes it's about time Sony releases a pair of over-ear wireless headphones. These are not any normal wireless headphones though, the Sony Wireless Stereo Headset is built for gamers and features a 7.1 virtual surround sound promising that you will hear every little detail in the game. Other add-ons such as on board volume control, retractable boom mic with a mute button and on-screen battery headset and sound control status updates will let you game all day long with no interruption. Button controls will be accessible by simply tapping or sliding your finger on the headset's surface. Sony has confirmed that these do not use Bluetooth connectivity, but instead they use a small USB Wireless Adapter. The Sony Wireless Stereo Headset is slated to be released in September for $99.99. 

PlayStation Customer Appreciation Package Details

Details are now emerging about Sony's welcome back package to its customers affected by the recent PlayStation Network hack attack. The official PlayStation blog has confirmed the details of the "Customer Appreciation Package" for North America. Sony is welcoming you back with a welcome package that includes:

All PlayStation Network customers can select two PS3 games from the following list. The games will be available for 30 days shortly after PlayStation Store is restored and can be kept forever.

• Dead Nation
• inFAMOUS
• LittleBigPlanet
• Super Stardust HD
• Wipeout HD + Fury

For PSP owners, you will be eligible to download two PSP games from the following list. The games will be available for 30 days shortly after PlayStation Store is restored and can be kept forever.

• LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
• ModNation Racers
• Pursuit Force
• Killzone Liberation

• A selection of “On Us” rental movie titles will be available to PlayStation Network customers over one weekend, where Video Service is available. Those titles will be announced soon.
• 30 days free PlayStation Plus membership for non PlayStation Plus subscribers.
• Existing PlayStation Plus subscribers will receive an additional 60 days of free subscription.
• Existing Music Unlimited Premium Trial subscription members will receive an additional 30 days of free premium subscription.
• Additional 30 days + time lost for existing members of Music Unlimited Premium/Basic subscription free of charge for existing Premium/Basic members.

To welcome users Home, PlayStation Home will be offering 100 free virtual items. Additional free content will be released soon, including the next addition to the Home Mansion personal space, and Ooblag’s Alien Casino, an exclusive game.

Currently the PlayStation Network Store is offline and will be back online shortly so customers can access all the above. A similar welcome back package is offered to European customers. Get the details here.

Amazon Server's Apart of PSN Attack?

According to Bloomberg, Amazon Web Cloud Services ere used by hackers last month to attack Sony's online entertainment systems. Hacker's supposable signed up with a fake name and rented Amazon's EC2 service and launced the attack from there. The account that was registered has been shut down. Funny thing is they legitimately signed up for the service to send out the attack but not break into any of Amazon servers. This does raise a concern for cloud secuirty with many more services using the cloud for many tools. Let's hope another cloud attack won't happen in the future.

PS3 3.6 Update Brings Cloud Storage & Controller Battery Saving Feature

A new 3.6 firmware update is now available to download for PS3 consoles. The new update brings cloud storage to PlayStation Plus subscribers only and will allow you to back up your game saves data up to 150MB. In addition, you will now have the option to set a sleep timer for your wireless controller/s in order to save battery life.