Sony announced recently that they are going to be releasing a new updated model of the PlayStation 3 console in Japan. The revision, called CECH-3000B, includes minor updates, like as decreasing the power consumption from 230W to 200W, cutting its weight by nearly a full pound, and the removal of LED lights. The new console revision also includes an added layer of security through the Blu-ray drive. The console still contains the 320G hard drive and is expected to cost the same price as the ones store shelves. Sony hasn’t disclosed when the console will be available outside of Japan. Follow @Shockya on Twitter for the latest gaming news and…

The online retailer Shopto.net has leaked the official release date of November 4, 2011 for Sony’s next-generation handheld, the PlayStation Vita. They also listed two different versions a WIFI verson and a 3G version for pre-order. The hand helds are set to be $370.00 and $451.00, there will also be games available for pre-order, they will be priced for £40. At E3 Sony announced that the PS Vita would be launched “in the global market starting the end of 2011.” they listed the international prices as: Wi-Fi Model: $311.00 (inc. tax), $249 3G/Wi-Fi Model: $374.00 (inc. tax), $299 Follow @Shockya on Twitter for the latest gaming news and trailers. By…

The Playstation Store came back online on June 1, 2011 after being down for a very long month. New content has been added to the store, but some users are still having issues. The Playstation Blog comments, “due to high traffic on PlayStation Store, you may encounter error messages or issues. We advise you to check back a little later and try again,” the Blog also give details on the welcome back program. Here’s how to access from the PSN Blog: In order to download two games at no cost, you must redeem them from the “Welcome Back” category. The individual titles are still available for purchase outside of the…

Sony announced today that the PSN network would be fully up by this Friday excluding Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. the updates for them will be followed shortly after. The full restoration for PSN includes: Full functionality on PlayStation Store In-game commerce Ability to redeem vouchers and codes Full functionality on Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3, PSP, VAIO and other PCs Full functionality on Media Go Here’s what Sony said on the issue: “We have been conducting additional testing and further security verification of our commerce functions in order to bring the PlayStation Network completely back online so that our fans can again enjoy the first class…

According to a report by GameInformer, the PSN store is to be up by the end of the month. A leaked memo that was sent to developers and publishers, said that Sony plans to do “pushes” of content every week in order to catch up on releases while PSN was down. Here’s more from GameInformer report: “The first push on the relaunch day will distribute content originally slated to be available on April 26. The next push, three days after launch, will publish content that had been scheduled for May 3, and so on. Sony has also said that the company might make adjustments “on a case by case basis,”…

The wait is finally over; the PlayStation Network is back. Nearly four weeks after a hacker attack forced Sony to take the PlayStation Network offline, Sony announced a “phased restoration by region of PlayStation Network and Qriocity Services” begins today. Here’s Sony’s official video on the PSN Return: Here’s its what is up as of right now: Sign-in for PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. Restoration of online game-play across PS3 and PSP. Playback rental video content, if within rental period, of PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service on PS3, PSP and MediaGo. Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, for current subscribers, on PS3 and PC. Access to 3rd party services such as…

This is probably the most ambitious movie project since Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of The Rings” Trilogy. Universal is looking to develop Stephen King’s widely popular book series “The Dark Tower” into a movie trilogy AND two seasons of TV, in-between each movie . This project will take a lot of commitment from production crews, actors, filmmakers and studios. Ron Howard is developing these projects and is looking to direct, at least, the first movie in the series. On the TV production side, it looks like most likely, the TV series will head to NBC (or its cable network) since it’s part of Universal. My guess would be NBC, I…

On Wednesday, April 20, 2011, the PlayStation Network was shut down. Sony said the move was for maintenance and that the outage would only last a day or two. Nearly one week later, the company announced that the closure was due to a hacker infiltrating the system and stealing PlayStation 3 and PSP players’ personal information. It’s still unknown if the information seized includes the credit card numbers of it’s 77 million PSN subscribers. Here’s what we know so far on the outage: 4/24/2011:

For more than two weeks, the PlayStation Network has been down. PlayStation 3 and PSP owners have been unable to connect to the Internet, play online or download new titles. Sony’s working on a fix, user data has been compromised, and everyone has something to say on the matter. Below is the timeline of the PSN outage from IGN.com Follow @shockya on Twitter for the latest on the PSN outage By Brent Butler

PlayStation Network will be returning soon and according to Sony the internal testing of its new system is in the final stages. They have not said exactly when PSN will be back on, but last month Sony confirmed that certain PSN services would go live during the first week of May. Here’s the latest corporate communications from Director Patrick Seybold published on the PlayStation Blog. “Today our global network and security teams at Sony Network Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment began the final stages of internal testing of the new system, an important step towards restoring PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, As previously mentioned, we’ve been working around the clock…