Whether hardcore or casual, Sony hopes you’ll find a PS3 bundle that meets your gaming needs as the electronics giant today announced two new models for your purchasing convenience – a 320GB PS3 system, which will be included in the PS3 Sports Champions Move bundle; as well as a 160GB PS3 system, which will be available as a standalone.

Here’s a description via the PlayStation Blog:

The 160GB PS3 system brings you more storage for the same price as the previous model – $299.99 (MSRP) – and is shipping to retailers nationwide now. The 320GB PS3 system will hit store shelves on September 19, in conjunction with the launch of PlayStation Move. It will be part of the PS3 Sports Champions Move bundle, which includes one PlayStation Move motion controller, PlayStation Eye camera, a copy of Sports Champions on Blu-ray disc, and bonus Blu-ray game demo disc– all in one complete package for $399.99 (MSRP).

So, will either of the new models encourage you to pick up a new PS3? Any fence sitters ready to take the plunge? Bundle your thoughts within the comments section below.

According to the PlayStation Blog, today at 2pm Pacific Time ModNation Racers will go live with a pretty significant update. Some of the features of the update include shorter load times, a new “casual” difficulty, and the ability to get into Online matches quicker. Along with the patch, United Front Games has also made some enhancements to Community.ModNation.com, the game’s community website, including the ability to see your racing stats and your favorite creators.

And if that wasn’t enough for you, UFG has made the racer and kart Nukular and Kart available as DLC, previously only available as a pre-order bonuses. Seems like quite a humpday for ModNation fans, but is it enough to justify the 60 bucks?

Hit the jump below to see the full list of enhancements included in the update, and let us know in the comments section if this will be enough to keep you behind the wheel and building tracks.

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According to MediaMemo.com, the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings, announced that the PlayStation 3 will no longer need a disc in order to stream content from Netflix by October. Hastings said, “Before our next call in October, we expect to be launching a major new version of our Sony PS3 user interface which doesn’t require a disc and is dynamically updated continuously with the latest Netflix UI improvements.” No comment was made about the Wii getting the same treatment.

As an interesting side note, in the same statement Hastings also commented on the company’s intent to move forward full-steam-ahead with regard to streaming more TV shows. Speaking to the subject Hastings said, “In terms of streaming content, we are rapidly expanding our TV shows available for streaming and since our last call we have added thousands of TV episodes from new deals with Fox, MTV Networks and Warner Television. These shows include all seasons of “24,” “Futurama,” “Lie To Me,” “The Chapelle Show,” “Nip/Tuck” and “Veronica Mars,” and in a few weeks all seasons of “The Family Guy” will be available to stream as well. We see TV shows as equally important to our franchise as movies.”

Good news for PS3 owners and good news for everyone who uses Netflix, don’t ‘ya think?

via ShackNews

We’re back Axeheads, we are back!!!  After an E3 induced hiatus, EpicBattleAxe.com’s The Rumor KILL is back with a sharpened axe and a cleaned chopping block ready for a new batch of rumors to dissect and potentially destroy. Now, I know most of us (hell, all of us) are still on that E3 high trying to absorb all of the epicness that we witnessed.  I know that at times it felt like the show was bogged down with casual game shenanigans that appeal to an audience that isn’t even watching/attending the show but when you put that aside and look at the core games like Portal 2, Rage, Mortal Kombat and so so so many others it’s easy to say that this E3 was among the best of all time.  However, just because E3 is over and most of the questions from previous editions have been answered doesn’t mean the rumor fun is over.  We still have TGS and Gamescom on the horizon so the rumors won’t stop and by the look of this week’s crop, they show no sign of slowing down. So then, let’s get started.
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Brent wrote a great article about playing Killzone 3 in 3D just a couple of days ago, but I wanted to tackle the other 3D offerings that were being shown at E3 this year, and 3D in general. I had a chance to play MLB 10: The Show, Super Stardust HD, and MotorStorm: Apocalypse. I also got to watch WipEout HD in action as well as a 3D movie. All of this was, of course, on the PS3 and all of the content was demonstrated using active sync 3D glasses and TV’s.

Now, I am one of those people that is very excited about the advent of 3D television and gaming. I must say that, despite my child-like enthusiasm for 3D (or perhaps because of it) I was left with mixed feelings regarding the technology as a whole. It was impressive to see, to be sure, but it didn’t leave me as satisfied as I would have hoped. Some games seemed to show better than others. MLB 10: The Show, for example, was the best implementation of 3D at the whole show, in my opinion. It felt natural and it actually enhanced the gameplay, something that I felt no other 3D game accomplished. Having the pitches thrown at you in 3D made it not only more realistic, but it made it easier to read the pitches as they hurled toward you and the plate. It was a very cool effect.

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Well hello there to all you Axe-Heads! Forum Moderator Nich Longe here again for another blood-drunken week of inForum where I take you on a adventure through the EpicBattleAxe.com forums and show you the most chaotic and awesome topics that are going on at the moment. This week we’re helping Forum Moderator and brother in arms Shwick find a PS3 game, our first impressions of both the Dead Space 2 and Call Of Duty: Black Ops trailers, and lastly our movie views of Pixar’s How To Train Your Dragon. Saddle your steeds and follow close, LET’S RIDE!!!
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Holla me amigos and welcome to another week of back-fence news as brought to you by Epicbattleaxe.com’s The Rumor KILL.  Now I know all you Axeheads are full of gaming news and knowledge courtesy of GDC and to be honest I was a little nervous this week.  Gaming conventions such as GDC tend to solve rumors instead of creating them and even if some rumors are started most gaming journalists don’t report them because they have their hands full with the festivities.  For such an occasion I have a great rant planned out about the subliminal messages in Disney films and video games!!!  Just kidding……fortunately my fears did not become reality and we still have many rumors to dissect and discuss so take out the pruning shears it’s time to get whacking!
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Well, it’s been a crazy weekend for both Sony and fans of the PlayStation 3. As many of you may or may not know at this point, gamers around the globe have been experiencing issues with their PlayStation 3 consoles both online and off and while the problem remains to be fixed as of this posting, Sony responded yesterday with the following statement via the Official US PlayStation Blog:

“We’re aware that many of you are having difficulty connecting to the PlayStation Network this evening. Those of you with “slim” PS3s (the 120/250 GB models) appear to be unaffected.

Know that we have narrowed down the issue and have engineers working to restore service even as you read this. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you, and genuinely appreciate your patience while we work to resolve this.

In the meantime, you may want to follow our Twitter account for the latest updates.”

Well, the latest tweet, issued 11 hours ago as of this posting, reads:

PSN status update (part 2): Readers/followers are confirming that “slim” units (120/250 GB models) are connecting normally.

So, while it appears that “slim” owners might be in the clear, what about the older consoles? Who else out there is having issues? Are your single player, offline games still being affected? Let us (and Sony) know in the comments below. Hopefully this will get resolved soon and we’ll do our best to update this story once things are rectified.

via Kotaku

UPDATE: Ok, update time folks…The PlayStation Blog was the source (here) a few hours ago when Sony sent word that they have identified the problem as being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system. In other words, it’s like Y2K, but Y2PLAY instead…

The post lists the known errors and goes on to say that they hope to resolve the problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, Sony warns that “if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.”

Well…crap.

We’ll do our best to keep you posted on new details as they emerge.

UPDATE PART DEUX: According to the Official PlayStation Blog, service has been restored. According to the post, the problem was caused by the PlayStation 3 incorrectly identifying 2010 as a leap year and therefore clicking over to February 29th instead of March 1st. Its unclear if Sony did anything to fix the issue or simply waited twenty-four hours for the problem to correct itself.

Greetings ye Children of the Axe! EBA Forum Moderator Nich here taking a break from laying waste to the never-ending hordes of Geth (Yes, Mass Effect 2 is indeed taking over everyone’s lives!!!) to give you the low-down on the EBA community in this, the inaugural edition of EBA’s inForum, a new feature where we point you to the hottest topics being discussed at the moment inside the EpicBattleAxe.com Forums!

This week, the unholy members of the Axe are discussing and dissecting many current topics such as Epic Moments in Gaming, what PS3 exclusive games are worth buying, video games that you wish have never bought, immersion breaking experiences, and so much more!!!

It’s time to dive in and get you ready to Cry Havoc and Let Your Voice Be Heard! Let’s do it then, shall we…
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Zipper Interactive have been busy trying to add the finishing touches to its next game, MAG, but they recently took the time to reveal the game’s box art and some impressive stats from the beta.

First, the cover itself… become mesmerized with all the pretty explosions coming from every possible direction, that may or may not play in slow motion when you play the game, due to your faulty internet connection.

What do you think? Pretty explosive art, eh? Now, check out the sweet stats that came from the beta via the Official PlayStation blog.

• More than 42,000 matches were played over the course of the full public beta (August 17 – December 5).
• During October’s beta period alone nearly 534,000+ miles were traveled in-game by MAG players each week.
• During the final month of the Beta 4 and 4.5 periods (November 9 – December 5):
  • Of the more than 65,000 players that logged on, 17,000 of them qualified for Squad Leader, 3500 people qualified for Platoon Leader, 1100 folks made it all the way to OIC, and 206 dedicated warriors made it all the way to the level 60 experience cap.
  • Nearly 18 million kills were made and an excess of 700 million shots were fired.
• The Top 3 most played maps all belonged to the Sabotage mode. They were, in order, Syr Darya Uplink, Darien Network, and Copper Hills Relay.

Interesting.. There are no statistics on the amount of teabags or friendly fire kills.

MAG is slated to release in North America on January 26, 2010, exclusively on the PlayStation 3.

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