It is with a true sadness that I tell you that Phil Harrison will officially resign as of February 29, 2008 (that’s this Friday!). I believed that he was one of the best guys working over at Sony. He was the head of Sony’s Worldwide Studios and he delivered a memorable speech about “Game 3.0″ at last year’s GDC, revealing two hotly-anticipated titles such as LittleBigPlanet and Home. He’s been helping Sony make strides with it’s Playstation brand ever since 1992, so that’s 15 years of commitment and it’s truly sad to not be able to see him for another 15 years. No word as of yet as to wether Sony is searching for someone to replace him at the moment but untile a replacement surfaces, Kaz Hirai will assume his position. It really does suck to see the “gentle giant” (as he’s commonly referred as) part ways with Sony, especially at a time like this (c’mon, it’s supposed to be Sony’s year!). I truly wish him the best and to let him know he will be missed. Best of luck, Phil!

 Surprised? Yeah, me neither but that doesn’t matter because it’s nice to know that it’s coming. But wait,i it gets better. How about it coming out this year on November, huh? The first Gears was a monstrous success, selling over 4 million copies and the second will most likely do the same. I liked the first game (especially the graphics…duh) but I was completely disappointed by the campaign. How ’bout extending it ol’ Cliffy boy? As you should know, Gears 2 is a 360 exclusive (confirmed by Cliffy B.) and is set to take on Sony’s two heavyweights, Killzone 2 and Resistance 2. I don’t know about you but I’m damn excited to see this Locust-Chimera-Helghast threesome!

Source:IGN

 Could it be? Sony is getting it’s own Achievement system dubbed Accomplishments? Heck, I know I dig it. Hopefully, this will flesh out into reality but maybe it’ll be bad because if you are anything like me, then you’ll be addicted to these Accomplishments, having a crave to unlock every single one…every single one…oh, crap. 

Source:PSNatHome.com

  A recent speculation made by GamePro is that Microsoft will supposedly buy ouy Epic by the end of the summer. Now, if this were to happen, then Microsoft could fill in that void that was Bungie. Anywho, here is Mark Rein’s opinion on the rumor:

“I have not seen the actual GamePro article but if they’re going to make predictions about us selling Epic we would prefer if they started at $2 billion because we don’t want anyone thinking that we’re cheap.”

 So, did he deny the rumor? Not really. Do I think this deal will become reality. No. Want to know why(I’m going to pretend you’re nodding your head)? Well, Microsoft and Epic, in my eyes, never had the best relationship. Just look at the whole situation of Epic trying to find a way to get those Unreal Tournament 3 mods onto the 360. They’ve also said in the past they don’t completely like the way Xbox Live is run. So, no, I just can’t see this deal fall through but if it somehow does, then yes, it would be a gigantic merge.

 This is my first post in a long while and I feel a sense of responsibility to try and get the site back to 100%, which it hasn’t been since the hack. I want to say that it’ll be there soon but I can’t promise anything. Whenever I get enough free time(hopefully this week), I’m gonna start posting more often. By the way, your ideas are welcome, just leave them in a comment.

Ladies and gentleman, you now no long have to second guess if the high def format you supported will be the winner. If you supported Sony and it’s risky(c’mon, we al knew it was a ballsy move that  stirred a lot of debate) Blu Ray format, then you can breathe a much-deserved sigh. On the other hand, if you’ve bought products from its competitor, Toshiba’s HD DVD, then you are going to be disappointed by the fact that Toshiba dropped the format, taking quite a financial blow (I’m talking hundreds of millions).If you can’t tell by now, HD DVD has finally died. It was really a matter of time. Their products were getting cheaper and cheaper (they were seriously ridicolously good prices!) yet they were still being outsold by a wide margin. Let’s not forget about all the big names out there that went Blu in the past month so it truly was a matter of time.

As for Sony, their balls must have finnally dropped down from their throats (I know mine have) because Blu Ray was a very risky move on their part, especially them integrating it into the PS3 , which many people dogged on.  So…could it be? Has the time finally come where the gamin community can give props to Sony for the inclusion of Blu Ray in it’s flagship Playstation 3? I know I was a believer from the beginning but I felt…alone as a believer, so I am damn well relieved to hear this news. Speaking of giving props, I’d give a firm handshake to Toshiba if I could for putting up a great fight. So will we finally get up to speed to this high def era? Will Blu Ray sales boost? Well, Sony’s triumph certainly couldn’t hurt any of the two situations.

Source:PS3 Fanboy/Picture:Ps3 Fanboy

 April 17. That day have any significance for you? No? Well you sure have a reason to mark that day on your calendar now! The hotly anticipated car racing simulator’s demo (a huge demo), Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, will be released on April 17th for $39.99. For me, I think it’s 10 dollars too pricey, but since it is the world’s number one moset respected driving game, 40 bucks is no problem. Wether it be the Blu Ray version or as a Playstation Store download, you quite simplr do not want to miss the latest iteration of Gran Turismo.

Source:Playstation Blog

 The infamous Square-Enix has come out and announced a 2008 release date for FF13, which is a pretty big shock due to the ambition of the title. According to Joystiq, Mr. Testuya Nomura, character designer for FFXIII (he drew up the cast for FF VII) says that the long wait for the Fabula Nova Crystallis collection will be over soon enough. So he swears that the game’s 2008 release date is solid, and he teases at a playable demo for FFXIII on the PlayStation Network a while before the game is released. Oh, you bet your ass I will hod him up to his words!

 Souce:Gamernode

 You ever wondered what happened to Haze?Why it di seemed to have just kind of disappear? Well, this explains it. Haze got delayed aagin. What a procrastination whore. Originally planned for a November release for ‘07, it has slipped back into an unfortunate ‘08-’09 schedule. Possible  2009! Geez, what happened Free Radical. I could have sworn things were moving along well. This news has got to make PS3 owners feel like the man above. It’s probably how Free Radical feels as well, with Resistance 2 just being announced and all. I swear, if they release around the same time as Insomniac’s megaton bomb (not to mention the other nuke, Killzone2). C’mon, Free Radical, get up to speed!

  Yay! PSW has reported that a Metal Gear Solid 4 demo is about to come out next month. But of course the internet was not satisfied with a sentence or two in a magazine so, the editor was e-mailed asking for conformation and BAM! He confirms that the demo that PSW previewed is in fact the very demo that will be released. But wait!

 Maxconsole contacted Konami about a possible MGS 4 demo  due for the PSN in February. A Konami PR rep. simply replied with a  “we do not comment on speculation, I am afraid.”

 …Damn it.

UPDATE! Um. Konami knocked this whole demo thing on it’s butt. Guess there’s no demo coming. You can always hope but don’t get your hopes too high on up.