Accessories

Console

Games

Handheld

Industry

Online

PC

Firmware Pulled After PS3 Crash Sony’s firmware 2.40 has been recalled after it caused PS3’s to stop working properly when users installed the new update, according to a report out of informationweek.com.

Xbox Prices Slashed Microsoft today announced it has lowered the recommended retail price of the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system in Australia to AU$349. This comes on the back of Sony's July giveaway of 35,000 PS3 consoles with any purchase of a Sony flat-panel TV.

Free PS3 Promo Begins Today As of 9:00am today, users who purchase a Bravia TV will be able to get one of 35,000 PS3 units by visiting the real-time running countdown at www.sony.com.au/PS3countdown.

Sony PS3 A Big Loser $3.9 Billion In Losses Reported Hours after announcing that they are giving away 35,000 PS3 consoles in an effort to boost sales Sony has filed a loss of $3.9 billion for the Playstation 3.

PS3 A Juice Gobbler Energy Label Called For The consumer magazine Choice has called for the Energy Star rating system used for whitegoods in Australia to be extended to personal computers and computer products. This would include games consoles such as the Sony Playstation 3 after Choice discovered a PS3 can burn up to five times more energy than a medium-sized refrigerator.

New Nintendo Channel Set To Be Hot Nintendo has rolled out a brand new channel that will allow gamers to access new games not available in stores as well as a host of new services.

New Nintendo Channel For Wii Wii users will soon be able to download game demos, watch videos, and search for games online as Nintendo is set to launch its Nintendo Channel on May 30.

Greenpeace Upset Over Gaming Consoles Game console executives from Sony Microsoft and Nintendo are ducking for cover today after being slammed by Greenpeace who say that the gaming Companies are not doing enough to eliminate potentially harmful chemicals and metals from their games consoles.

New Jasper Xbox 360 Due In 2nd Half 2008 A brand new Xbox 360 which on the outside will look the same as the current model but on the inside will have a brand new engine is set to be rolled out in Australia in the last quarter of 2008. This will be followed by an all new Xbox 360 code named 'Valhalla', which will be released in Q3 2009.

Sony Transforms PS3 Into An Entertainment Box According to Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, the PlayStation3 is evolving from a gaming console into a multimedia box that can bring entertainment straight into any living room.

Sony To Release PS3 Grand Theft Auto Bundle Sony gives another reason for users to purchase a PlayStation 3 as it launches the Grand Theft Auto IV bundle exclusively for the PS3.

Foxtel Betting Storm Expected In a country where betting is a national obsession and gambling has become one of our top social issues, a local digital media company has launched an interactive betting service allowing punters to bet using their Foxtel set top box.

Microsoft Finally Gets The Message On The Xbox 360 Its seems someone at Microsoft has been listening , for if reports from the US are true, Microsoft is reportedly looking developing its own version of the Nintendo Wii controller for its beleaguered Xbox 360.

Wii To Outsell Xbox 360 In more bad news for the Xbox 360, US firm Hudson Square Research predicts that globally by 2009, the Wii will outsell the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 combined.

Security Companies Attacked By Hackers Leading security Company Trend Micro has said that "not even security companies" are safe from attack. The comments follow revelations that the web sites of several leading security Companies have been hacked with up to 10,000 pages infected during the pa few days.

New Sony PS3 Package With Motion Controllers Sony Computer Entertainment has officially announced a new Sony PlayStation 3 80GB product bundle in the USA. What is not known is when and if this new bundle will be launched in Australia. Key to the Sony offering is a new game controller. However qustions have been raised as to whether the new PS3 80GB is backward compatible with Sony PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games.

Microsoft Does Not Deny Blu-ray Xbox Microsoft has not denied that it is set to roll out a Blu-ray Xbox 360 player to replace its current HD DVD player, however it has said that it does not expect sales of its Xbox 360 game console to suffer if Toshiba discontinues HD DVD technology.

Blu-ray Xbox 360 Planned By Microsoft Rumours were circulating today that Microsoft is set to dump HD DVD and bring out a Blu ray Xbox 360 by as early as May 2008. The move will allow the Company to go head to head with the Sony PS3 gaming console which has been credited with being one of the main reasons that retailers have preferred Blu-ray over Toshiba’s HD DVD.

Sony PS3 Set To Trounce Xbox 360 The Sony PS3 is set to trounce the Microsoft XBox 360 this year and within 2 years be the #1 gaming console in the world according to a recent research study.

Nintendo Wii, DS Clean Up GfK Australia has confirmed that Nintendo was the console winner in 2007, selling more than one million Nintendo DS units and over 300,000 Nintendo Wii units since launch, making the two consoles the fastest-selling to reach these goals in history.

Philippoussis, Kruger & McKenny Compete In Wii Battle Tennis stars Sonia Kruger and Todd McKenny will play Nintendo Wii Sports tennis against a team comprised of Mark Philippoussis and a competition winner as part of a Nintendo marketing campaign amongst the Australian Open.

Website Slammed For 40% PS3 Failure Claims Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has publicly refuted figures published on a Dutch gaming website claiming that the new 40GB PlayStation 3 has a massive 40 per cent failure rate.

Microsoft Is Going To Need More Than A Food Salesman To Fix Xbox Problems Microsoft is going to need more than a new salesman if it is to stay competitive in the gaming console market. Late last week Microsoft who this year have had to face up to claims that 30% of their Xbox 360 consoles were duds, appointed a Nestle former food executive Sean Davies as their new Entertainment Devices sales director in an effort to bolster retail sales for their fledgling console and gaming software.

Wii Shop Updates And Add-ons The Nintendo Wii Shop Channel today announces three new applications available for download -- a new Photo Channel update, a Gift Feature and Pokemon Snap.

Xbox 360 Update Launches Tomorrow Users may be able to download Microsoft’s Dashboard Update for its Xbox 360 starting tomorrow (9:00 pm EST). The company says that this update will come with enhanced Xbox Originals game download service, Family Timer feature, and expanded networking experiences.

Playstation Records Massive Growth More To Come Sony Computer Entertainment has claimed that since the launch of its new low cost PlayStation, sales have increased dramatically and that during last week's US Thanksgiving holiday, brand unit sales during the week increased by 178 percent and sales dollars increased by 154 percent.

Wii Breaks Record And Announces New Games Nintendo’s Wii has sold 200,000 units in Australia in record time – just 50 weeks after launch, which makes it the fastest-selling console to sell this many units, according to statistics from GfK.

Sony Slashes PS3 Costs Again In an effort to boost game development on the PlayStation platform, Sony has slashed the fees it charges developers. The move comes as manufacturers rely more on software to drive sales.

DivX On A PS3 Coming Soon In an effort to tuern the Sony PS3 into more of an entertainment device Sony is set to support DivX video technology.

Microsoft Chase Women For A Game Microsoft is using gaming software to chase sales of their Xbox 360 to women. The move comes as sales of the Nintendo Wii soar.

Xbox Live Turns Five, Launches New Download Service As Microsoft’s Xbox Live service turns five, the company will be offering its eight million members the opportunity to download a complimentary Xbox Live Arcade game between 7:01 p.m. EST on November 15 and 6:59 p.m. EST on November 17.

New Mii Contest Channel For Nintendo Wii Nintendo has launched the Mii Contest Channel on Wii that will allow players from all over the world to share their Mii creations and vote on other Miis created by other players.

New PlayStation 2 Coming In 2008 Sony Computer Entertainment has unveiled details of a newly designed PlayStation 2 console, which will be launching early next year in Australia.

Microsoft Service "Sucks" Xbox 360 Boss Told The head of the Microsoft Xbox operation in Australia, David Mclean, who is becoming famous for what he doesn’t say rather than what he does, is set to hear from yet another very “angry” Xbox 360 customer who is so angry with Mclean and his operation that he has packed up his second broken Xbox and shipped it directly to him with a letter that says: “Microsoft sucks you can keep your busted Xbox". He also said that he will never deal with Microsoft again.

Bargain White PS2, But Not In Australia Sony will introduce a new white version of the popular PlayStation 2 (PS2) games console to take advantage of the continued popularity of the classic black PS2, simultaneously offering a Christmas bargain at under US$150, however the local market isn’t large enough to justify the console’s launch here.

Nintendo Wii Set To Hurt PS3 & Xbox Games Key The MD Of Nintendo Australia has said that the company's return to Harvey Norman, new games and a new controller will lead to big growth for Nintendo in Australia.

New sub-$400 Xbox 360 Console Microsoft has unveiled its new Xbox 360 Arcade Console which offers gamers a budget entry into the 360 gaming experience at $399.95. The company also announced that its regular Xbox 360 Pro Bundle will now include two free games: Forza Motorsport 2 and Viva Piñata.

Microsoft Tries To Gag SmartHouse Over Xbox Claims Xbox Australia director David McLean is attempting to gag SmartHouse which earlier this exposed a 30% failure rate of the Xbox 360. Only weeks after we exposed this story Microsoft made a $1.3 billion dollar allowance for defective Xbox 360s.

Toshiba Working With Microsoft On New Entertainment Xbox Microsoft, according to insiders at Toshiba owner of the HD DVD patents, claim that Microsoft is working on a brand new Xbox that will incorporate not only a new HD DVD drive but a large hard drive and new entertainment software that is a spin off from its struggling media centre offering.

Get Fit Playing Nintendo Wii No more is the games console in the realm of the couch potato – Nintendo is launching a game for its Wii console called ‘Wii Fit’ which is essentially a home fitness program in a game format that encourages users to exercise regularly and test their results.

New $700 PS3 To Launch This Week Sony Computer Entertainment Australia (SCEA) will launch a 40GB version of the PlayStation 3 console, at an RRP of $699.95 this Thursday, 11 October. The price of the 60GB version of the console will remain unchanged.

Microsoft Releases Halo 3 Today Microsoft Game Studios has announced that Halo 3, one of the most awaited games for the Xbox 360, is now on store shelves across Australia today.

Sony Plans PS3, PS2 Cost Cuts Speaking at the Tokyo Game Show, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Kazuo Hirai said that the company is planning production cost reductions of both the PS3 and the PSP consoles.

Nintendo Wii Goes On Tour People of all ages will have an opportunity to play the Nintendo Wii as Nintendo Australia host a nationwide tour highlighting key, new and future releases.

PS3 PVR To Be Launched In Oz In 2008 Australia will get the new dual HD PVR capable PS3 next year, according to Sony Computer Entertainment boss Michael Ephraim. “This is convergence really happening," he said. "We are really looking forward to getting this off the ground in Australia."

OZ Misses Out On New PS3 PVR Sony has again snubbed its Australian customers by this time isolating them from a host of new PS3 and PSP services including a new digital TV tuner that instantly turns the PS3 into a personal video recorder (PVR).

New PS3 With TV Tuner Coming This Week Sony is tipped to launch a TV recording tuner for its popular PS3 games console. The tuner will allow the recording and playback of digital TV. The announcement due at the Leipzig games show, in Germany will also see the company announce a major expansion of the PS3 consoles' hard drive to accomodate the recording of content.

Xbox 360 Elite Launches August 30 Those who have been waiting for Xbox's Elite system will be happy to know that this HDMI-enabled box is going to be on sale starting August 30.

Is Halo3 The Saviour For Xbox 360? Researchers at GfK is forecasting that the Xbox360 will get a lift from the announcement earlier today that the price of the Xbox 360 will be slashed in Australia by up to 11%. But the biggest lift, it says, will come from the launch in a few weeks time of the new Microsoft game Halo 3.

Xbox 360 Price Cut Confirmed While we didn't have the price cut that we wanted following Microsoft Xbox 360's price drop in the US a few weeks back, Australians will be happy to know that the company is finally dropping its Xbox 360 prices by up to $70.