Here's why people are eager to compare Haze to other upcoming shooters. For one thing there's word, and even a petition to turn Ubisoft and Free Radical's Haze into a PS3 exclusive. Second, it's being compared to other sci-fi heavy shooters in other consoles you guessed it, a Halo 3 comparison is hard to avoid.

Okay, we move from Haze to Crysis, and why the comparisons between the two are inevitable. Here's why: add the existence of Haze on the PlayStation 3; the persistent rumors that the PC console Crysis will be made for next-gen consoles; and Crytek's bold declaration that Crysis, as it is on the PC (without any porting or adjustments) is too robust for current next-generation consoles - even for the Cell powered PS3; and direct comparison of Crysis to other shooters on the PS3 becomes slightly unavoidable. Too many fans' toes are going to get stepped on.

   
Fortunately the intrepid folks at PlayStation Universe have done something like that...

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

Just released in Japan, Sony's 3.50 firmware for the PSP should making the global rounds soon enough. That, coupled with the latest PS3 firmware update, means you've just scored "Remote Play" functionality -- access to videos, music, and pictures on your home PS3 running 1.80 -- over the Internet. The update also includes an RSS channel guide but we know it's the remote play you want. We'll update this post once the firmware is available Stateside.

[Via Impress]

Read -- Japan release
Read -- US release (not yet available, still pegged to 3.40) 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

The TVersity Media Server has been updated to version 0.9.10.3, adding full support for Sony's PS3's firmware 1.8 and Microsoft's Spring Update for the Xbox 360. This should make the task of streaming media content to and from your consoles occur with fewer conflicts this time round.
Because of the length of the changelog, we've opted to give you some of the important points here, with the full changes visible at the read link below:
Internet radio now works on the PS3. First playback attempt is likely to fail with an "Access to the media server has been denied" message (or "unsupported data" message), this is because the PS3 does not wait long enough for the data to be fetched over the Internet. After this failure, wait a few seconds and try playing this same station again. Assuming a connection to that station was possible, there won't be an error message, however the actual playback may take up to two minutes and more to start since the PS3 requires about 1 MB of data befor...

Courtesy of some kinds souls on the net (aka IGN), we've managed to pick up two videos featuring an early preview of how RedOctane's Guitar Hero III is coming together. These clips will feature the game's new interface and two upcoming tracks: Slow Ride and My Name is Jonas.

And while we won't say anything about the playing skills demonstrated on the video (it is just a test), we imagine there's more than one guitar-wielding fan out there who'll take this opportunity to sit back, and check out what to expect come Guitar Hero III's launch for the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii. Enjoy the videos, and wait around in case more preview clips are made available for viewing. The first song up ahead is Slow Ride:


The next video is for My Name is Jonas:

 
Or that's what The Wall's Vladimir Mamontov has mentioned in an interview with PlayStation Universe. In fact, the first-person shooter by Burut Software and Play Ten Interactive is no longer just coming to the PlayStation 3 and the PC. When it's coming out, however, wasn't mentioned. Not even a little clue.

But since our last coverage on The Wall, there seems to be little that has been developed through the months up to today. Aside from the usual game concepts that the game will be touting - you know, 20 vehicles and 15 weapons currently in design to date - Mamontov couldn't reveal much about the game because it seems to still be in the early stages of development.

Or that's what we believe he means. Non-disclosure agreements and SIXAXIS aside, there are no specifics on technical aspects of the game, such as frame rates and resolutions. But previous preview screenshots of the game's sceneries were telling that the game may probably be more polished now tha...

 
France-based publishing giant Ubisoft has just announced that Surf's Up (for the Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, NDS, PSP, PS2, GameCube, GBA and PC) has been shipped to stores today. The game, based on Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations' upcoming animated film of the same title, will allow gamers to become surf legends just like Cody Maverick.

Surf's Up has been rated E10 by the ESRB and should be available at a US 49.99 price tag for copies on the next-gen consoles, a US 39.99 price tag on the Sony PS2, PSP and GameCube, a US 29.99 for the DS and the Game Boy Advance, and a lowly US 19.99 for the PC.

Surf's Up will introduce gamers to the competitive sport of extreme surfing, packed with arcade goodness as only this game can. The game will also bring the player to various surf locales in the island of Pen Gu, where our penguin hero begins his adventure toward being a world-class surfer.

The game will be officially available on June...

While the 3D portrait recently released by Infinity Ward for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3, 360, PC) was interesting enough, we know you are getting more curious and excited about developments for the video game itself. The latest issue of PC Gamer Magazine just happens to have exactly what you want.

In a recent interview with PC Gamer, Infinity Ward President Grant Collier dished out the difference between the multiplayer and single player modes of Modern Warfare. Collier noted that there's one mission in the latter that will require players to be a gunner in a Cobra assault helicopter and inflict some serious damage on the enemy below them, but vehicles will not appear in multiplayer mode.

Collier mentioned that it was Infinity Ward's intention to focus on infantry combat during multiplayer battles so no vehicles will be available for that mode. He explained, "We want to keep the maps small, so there will be always intense action. If we made maps bigger...

The architecture that Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is based upon allows peer-to-peer networking of PC units, networked appliances, and even some wireless devices. Sony's PlayStation 3 clearly fits into that list but it's kind of curious why people haven't tried it yet on the console.

Online site PS3mods has compiled a list of UPnP media servers for Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, and Python. They mentioned that among the ones listed below, they were only able to test Nero MediaHome. It was working alright but it wasn't a perfect fit.

Feel free to try the media servers below yourselves. If the PS3 is compatible with any of these, the media servers will appear on the XMB right away, doing away with accessing the web browser first.
Allegro Media Server (Mac OSX, Windows - commercial)Cidero Internet Radio Server (Java - open source)Cyberlink Digital Home Enabler Kit (Windows - commercial)CyberMediaGate - (C - open source)EyeConnect - (Mac OSX - commercial)Fuppes (Windows...

On-the-fly character switching action and sick team attack dynamics coming your way in these two new gameplay videos of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer for the PS3, PC and Xbox 360. It's not often we see how an almost random mishmash of super powers actually work well, so these are definitely worth a look.

The first video, Co-op, shows how you can easily switch between Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny (that's Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, Thing and the Human Torch) at any time to solve puzzles or take advantage of their abilities in order to progress through the game. This also holds true in battles, as we see the player constantly switching between the four characters to lay the most painful smackdown possible on those unfortunate enough to be in the way. Clobberin' time, baby!

The second video, Team Up, shows some of the stunning "team-up" moves you can perform with multiple members of the Fantastic Four. For example, Reed can use his powers of ...

Filed under: Features, Portable Audio

It's been a long time coming. So how could we resist giving the new higher quality, DRM free iTunes Plus music service a whirl? After all, we're geeks, and loaded with all kinds of audio devices (not just iPods or Macs and PCs running iTunes) which we'd like to make use of with our purchased media. Certainly you've heard of the Zune, Xbox 360, PS3, Vista Media Center, Walkman W880, Slingbox, or even the VLC media player right? Ok, then you understand our angst. So off we go, into the land of Fair Use lollipops and DRM-free candy canes. Click-on to see how it all goes down as we upgrade our iTunes music library.Continue reading iTunes Plus and EMI's DRM-free music hands-on
 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!