Final Fantasy XIII pushed the console sales of Sony PS3 in Japan

Final Fantasy XIII, the latest installation in the popular game series, boosted the console sales of Sony’s PlayStation3 in Japan. This success breathed fresh life into Sony’s console business that has been doing poorly althrough 2009. According to Media Create, a Japanese digital entertainment market research firm, the special edition of the PS3 console game was an instant hit among Japanese gamers. In the second week of December, a total of 2,37,086 units of PS3 were sold of which, 92,000 units were special Final Fantasy XIII edition offered by Sony. The game was launched in Japan on December 17, 2009. PC World.com reports:

The weekly sales easily outpace those of recent weeks and are higher than those of early September when Sony relaunched the PlayStation 3 in a slimmer case and with a lower price tag. The PS3 sold 152,000 units during its relaunch week, according to Media­­. Square Enix, producer of the Final Fantasy XIII, also observed a major success with a sales over 1.5 million copies in the first four days.

Now, in order to make the console more appealing, Sony will incorporate new services that would enable PS3 users to enjoy TV shows and other contents. Sony will also offer software updates that would enable the device to play 3D content on Blu-ray disc.

Sony introduces new service with its Play Station 3

If you own a Plays Station 3 and if you are a resident of the USA, then there is great news waiting for you. From now on, you can download movies and episodes of your favorite television series from the internet with your Play Station3 console. On June 26 2008, Sony Corporation (TYO:6758) said that they are going to introduce this new system in the USA within weeks. Sony has been working on this service since 2006. Sony Computer Entertianment CEO, Kazuo Hirai, said that the service is going to be launched in the USA and then it will be introduced in Europe and Asia. Guardian reports:

Hirai did not go into specifics about the facility and observers expect further pronouncements about the initial library of titles at next month's E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles.

What will be of interest is where the content will come from. Sony's film studio has naturally pledged allegiance to the cause but so far supply deals from other studios have not been completed.

From this autumn, Sony Corporation will also launch a new video service that will allow owners of its Bravia television to access the Internet and stream content.

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Guardian

Sony revealed Home's event venue but not sure about its release date

Sony unveiled the event venue of 'Home', its interactive virtual world,last week to the selected members of its Home beta test. The company recreated Play Station Day 2008 in Home’s Media and Events Space. The space created will be given to the companies for displaying their advertisements and event. Wired.com reports:

"As well as looking great, the Media and Events Space is flexible and user-friendly - it’s a real focal point for our virtual community," said Home producer Martijn Van Der Meulen. "This was a very exciting first event and we’ve already received plenty of great feedback."

I appreciate Sony showing off new features as much as the next guy, but I've been waiting since Home originally debuted (Game Developers Conference 2007, almost 15 months ago) to actually get to play around with the thing.

Home is a virtual world created by Sony where its gamers could meet and chat; just like Second life. Sony unveiled the program in March 2007 at the Game Developers Conference. The main problem is Sony has not been able to launch it on time. According to David Reeves, president Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Sony’s original vision for home to include non-gaming applications and sponsors diverted its attention away from the gamers. Reeves also said that if Home’s Fall release had been postponed it will be definitely launched in autumn. On the contrary, Sony President Kazuo Hirai said that Home will not be released until he is happy with the final product.

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Wired.com

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