Old SOCOM Game Servers Going Offline

For those dedicated and loyal SOCOM fans, today will be a sad day for you as Sony has announced today that they will be shutting down the servers for all PlayStation 2 and PSP SOCOM games.

The announcement of the shut down came from the PlayStation forums yesterday and states that:

On August 31, 2012 Sony Computer Entertainment America will be terminating the on-line service for the following PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable ("PSP") software titles:

PlayStation 2 system: SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs, SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs, SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs, SOCOM Combined Assault.

PSP system:  SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo, SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2, SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike.

[Discuss this on the forums.]

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Sony Releasing A New PSP Color For Europe

Sony will be releasing a new color for the PSP this July, but it will only be available in Europe.

The Ice White PSP is expected to be out this July for £89.99 and is a perfect budget PSP for those who don't have the hand held console. The only downside is that this model, the PSP-E1000, does not have wi-fi and only has a mono speaker.

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Sony Puts PSN Offline For The Day

If you plan on using PSN tomorrow between 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. Pacific Time, then you're out of luck for Sony is taking the PlayStation Network offline for schedules maintenance.

Players will not be able to access the PlayStation Store on PS3 and PSP, the PlayStation Network Account Management and the PlayStation Network Account Registration. If you're worried about your trophies not being collected during the down time, Sony says that they will be updated to your profile when the PlayStation Network is back up.

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Sony Offers The UMD Passport For PlayStation Vita

We all know that the PlayStation Vita won't support UMD discs, but that doesn't mean that it won't support your old UMD games since Sony has now addressed that problem.

The solution to the PlayStation Vita is titled - UMD Passport. What the UMD Passport will do it allow players to transfer your UMD titles to your PlayStation Vita via registering it to your account; the steps for this is quite easy:

• First you download a UMD Registration Application from PlayStation Store to your PSP.
• Boot up the UMD Registration App from your PSP and insert the UMD games you want to register.
• Follo the instructions to register your UMD disc with your PSN account
• You can then download the downloadable version of your game at discount price.

This system won't come out until December 6th in Japan, but it will most likely also come out in U.S. as well. As of now, only 40 game companies are offering 200 UMD titles that will take part in the UMD Passport. 

For the full list of games and their new prices, check it out here.

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PSP and PS3 get colorful

Today at Sony's pre-TGS coverage they announced a new color swap for both Playstation 3 and Playsation Portable. The color swap will come after the price drops of both systems.

So far the red/black color swap has been shown for the PSP but more will be announced while the PS3 is announced to come in red and blue swaps. As of right now these colored systems will be exclusive to Japan but that's not certain as of right now.

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The Budget PSP Has A Matte Finish But No Wi-Fi

The other day at Gamescom, Sony announced the PSP was going to be cut in price, but I didn't know they built a different PSP model for the price cut. The new PSP E-1000 has a matte finish, very minute physical changes and doesn't have built in Wi-Fi. The new PSP was showcased at Gamecom as well, and I found some pictures of what the new handheld model looks like.

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Sony Cuts Price On PS3 And PSP

Great news has come out of Gamescom today during Sony's press conference. For those gamers who are on a budget and don't own a Playstation 3 or a PSP, well today is your day since Sony announced a price drop for both devices.

The Playstation 3 was originally priced at $299, but with the price cut, it is now $249. And the PSP's price will be down to 99 Euros, which is about $143 and the current price for the PSP-3000 is $129.99; so they haven't announced the price for U.S. residents.

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Amazon 4th of July Sale

All the way till July 9th, Amazon will be holding a Buy One, Get One Free sale for video games and video game accessories. Along with buying one and getting one for free, most games seem to be on sale also. Do not miss out on this sale, it has been awhile since I've seen Amazon do this. 297 different types of games and accessories are currently on sale.

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Sony Gives Us Many Goodies

Sony has finally announced what goodies we will be receiving once the PSN is fully back up and running. Current subscribers will be able to choose 2 free PS3 games, 2 free PSP games, free movie rentals, 30 day free subscription to Playstation Plus for current non Plus users, current Plus subscribers get an extra 60 days, and 100 free virtual items for Playstation Home.

We are able to choose any two of these PS3 games:

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

Then we are able to choose any two of these PSP games:

• LittleBigPlanet
• ModNation Racers
• Pursuit Force
• Killzone Liberation

I will most likely be getting Dead Nation, Infamous, ModNation Racers and Killzone Liberation. I believe that this is enough of an apology for me, but I'm not too sure about those who got their information stolen. But kudos for Sony trying to buy back our love with free gifts.

Along with PSN coming back, there are no plans to bring it back in Japan until the Japanese Government says so. Yes, the Japanese will not let Sony bring back up the PSN there until they release more information about the attack and explain how they will regain PSN user's trust.

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PSN Back In Action

Everyone can finally join in hands and sing a merry tune, for Sony has been able to bring up the PSN and their services. We got an announcement (besides parts of Asia and Japan) saying:

"The first phase of restored services for these countries and regions will include:

• Sign-in for PlayStation®Network and Qriocity services, including the resetting of passwords
• 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 Netflix, Hulu, Vudu and MLB.tv
•  'Friends' category on PS3, including Friends List, Chat Functionality, Trophy Comparison, etc
• PlayStation Home"

Along with another announcement about their new security:

"The company has made considerable enhancements to the data security, including updating and adding advanced security technologies, additional software monitoring and penetration and vulnerability testing, and increased levels of encryption and additional firewalls.  The company also added a variety of other measures to the network infrastructure including an early-warning system for unusual activity patterns that could signal an attempt to compromise the network."

After a near month of PSN being down, it is finally back up. Now let's hope this new security doesn't get attacked.

In other PSN related news though, it is rumored that the attack on Sony was through a rented Amazon server. Not much is said about it, but there is an investigation going on at the moment.

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PSP2 Is The NPG

Sony has announced today, at a Sony press conference in Japan, the next generation in the PSP family. The Next Generation Portable is a nice sleek looking device that features dual analog sticks, 3G, GPS and a 5 inch screen with other new designs. Supposedly the games are flash memory based (what is this, the PSPGo2?) and you can download them using wi-fi.

This thing looks nice, but will it do better than the PSPGo? We'll see how it goes with it's release date suppose to be this holiday season.

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