As i reported here over a week ago, Anthony Ventura filed a class action lawsuit against Sony, for the removal of the Other OS feature in the 3.21 firmware update, it emerges thanks to IGN that Sony has had two more lawsuits filed against them.

Here are the important bits:
The first case filed on the 30th of April 2010

Jason Baker, Sean Bosquett, Frank Bachman, Paul Graham and Paul Vannatta, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated.
V

Sony Computer Entertainment America, LLC successor to Sony Computer Entertainment America, INC.

Nature Of Action
1. Sony Computer Entertainment America, LLC successor to Sony Computer Entertainment America, INC (“Sony”) marketed and sold its Playstation3 video games console (“PS3″) as including valuable functions, such as the “Other OS feature, unified online gaming service, Playstation Network, multimedia capabilities and Blu-Ray technology. The PS3 could run a Linux operating system that transforms the PS3 into a home computer. Because of such exception features, the PS3 was the most expensive gaming console on the market when launched in 2006.
2. Sony has now intentionally disabled valuable functions of the PS3 for which consumers paid a premium price over other gaming consoles. This retroactive cripplingPS3 functionality breaches the contract between Sony and its PS3 customers, breaches the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and violates the California Consumers legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law.
3. Plaintiffs seek to represent a class of all persons in the United States who purchased a PS3 during the period beginning November 17, 2006 through March 27, 2010, and still owned their PS3 as of March 27 2010 (“Class”). Plaintiffs seek to recover for themselves and each Class member compensatory damages, restitution, injunctive relief, attorneys fees and the costs of this suit.

To read the rest of the case, download this PDF

The second case filed on the 5th of May 2010.

Todd Densmore and Antal Herz
V
Sony Computer Entertainment America, INC, a Delaware corporation

Nature Of Action
1. Since Sony introduced the Playstation 3 (“PS3″) in 2006, one of its advertised features included the “Install Other OS” function that allowed users to install and run other operating systems such as Linux.
2. On April 1, 2010 Sony released a PS3 firmware update version 3.21 (“Firmware 3.21″) for the specific purpose of disabling the “install Other OS” function, PS3 users who do not install Firmware 3.21 lose the ability to sign on to the Playstation network (“PSN”), play online games, access other online features, and play PS3 games or Blu-Ray discs that require Firmware 3.21 or higher
3. Defendant intentionally accessed PS3 systems and intentionally transmitted Firmware 3.21 with the knowledge and intent of disabling its advertised “Install Other OS” function.
4. Plaintiffs paid for PS3 features and functions that defendant has rendered inoperable as a result of Firmware 3.21.
5. Defendants actions have resulted in injury in fact and lost money or property plaintiffs. Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and the proposed Class (as defined in paragraph 33 below), hereby seek damages and other relief the court deems just.

To read what paragraph 33 says and the rest of the case says, download this PDF

If you would like to read where i got the source that helped me write this story, Visit

GamesAid, which is a new UK video games based charity, has recently teamed together, with great gaming companies, Codemasters, Square Enix and Sega, to produce a triple pack of some of their greatest games.

The games include, Tomb Raider: Underworld, Sega Superstars Tennis and Fuel, the bundles will be released for the PS3 only, on the 25th of June, priced at £29.99.

If you don’t have those games, but were considering getting them,then now is the best time, as the 25th of June see’s 30,000 units being released and with all proceeds going to charity, that’s a great fund of £500,000.

Source: MCV Via pla.tm

E3 has to be the most anticipated gaming event, which is held every year, its where the big guys behind the consoles show their new tech and where the game developers demo their upcoming games.

Well it seems you have a chance to win a place at this years E3 event, here are the details:

For the “Win a Trip to E3 2010” contest, we want you to create an “open letter” video to Kevin Butler—everyone’s favorite PlayStation® VP in the “Dear PlayStation” commercials. Make sure it’s funny, creative and original. A couple of things you want to include:

* Each video should begin with the phrase “Dear PlayStation”
* Include your take on Kevin Butler’s ever-changing title
* Make sure you include your own name and title (e.g., John Smith, Desperate Fan)
* Keep your submissions brief and to the point (30 seconds or less)
* Videos can be about anything PlayStation related
* All content must be original—no copyrighted music, video, pictures, etc.
* Don’t film Kevin’s response
* Need some inspiration? Check out the television commercials here

Three lucky winners will receive airfare to Los Angeles, entry to E3 (June 15, 16, 17), three nights hotel accomodations and per diem.

Submission Guidelines:

When you’re through with your masterpiece, here’s how you submit it:

* Don’t send us your video file
* Do submit your video file to your favorite social media site
* Email us that link and your current contact information (including phone number) to: [email protected]

Winners will be chosen on the basis of originality, creativity and enthusiasm. So don’t hold back—let yourself go.

Rules :

* No purchase necessary
* Promotion ends 5/16/10
* Open to legal U.S. residents 18 years or older who are currently registered PlayStation®Network members
* Void where prohibited
* See official rules for details

Also for those of you that cant attend, or those that dont win the competiotion, you can keep an eye on the events of E3 here on their official site

Due to Psychokillaz thread, i decide to make this thread, in an attempt to help and make people aware of The Zerogame Project.

Ok so those of you that own a fat PS3 and upgraded to 3.21, you need read no further as this wont benefit you, The Zerogame Project will only work on Linux capable PS3.

What Is The Zerogame Project:

The Zerogame Project is an easy-to-use emulator environment running on your Playstation 3 under Yellow Dog Linux allowing you to relive some of your favorite classic videogames using your HDTV and DualShock3.

After installation, users have a nice user-friendly game menu from which to choose the console and game they want to play. Games will automatically be scaled to the maximum size of your screen without messing with the game’s native aspect ratio. Quitting the game you’re playing and returning to the game menu is as simple as a press of the PlayStation button on your controller.

Players don’t need to worry about configurations, command line prompts or dealing with anything else once the installation is up and running.

Screenshots and video previews are supported so you can get a preview of the games on your list before starting them up.

Requirements:

A PlayStation 3 running v3.15 or lower firmware
Yellow Dog Linux 6.2 freshly installed on your PS3
A working internet connection
An HDTV that supports 1080p or 720p (480p/i and 576p/i support in the future)
A wired USB keyboard
One or more Sony Sixaxis/Dualshock3 controllers

Installation:

1) Format your PS3 hard drive and allot at least 10GB of hard drive space to OtherOS
Create a backup, format and restore the backup afterwards if you don’t want to lose any PS3 data.
You will need an external USB drive for your backup, if you need to do one.
2) Download and burn the Yellow Dog Linux v6.2 ISO to a DVD
3) Install the Yellow Dog Linux bootloader to the PS3
4) Install Yellow Dog Linux v6.2 to your PS3 with the default options
You can disable Office & Productivity software set for faster installation of YDL.
5) Boot into Yellow Dog Linux.
There is no need to create a user. Firewall can be enabled or disabled, makes no difference.
6) Once post-installation setup is complete and you are at a graphical login screen, swap to a terminal (Ctrl-Alt-F1) and login as root and type in your root password.
7) Run the following command to update YDL to fix the Bluetooth bugs:
yum update && reboot
Run the following command to download the zerogame script
wget http://thezerogameproject.com/releases/zerogame-0.51.tar.gz
9) Decompress the tarball using the following command:
tar zxvf ./zerogame-0.51.tar.gz
10) Make the installation script executable with the following command:
chmod 755 ./install-zerogame.sh
11) Run the script with the following command:
./install-zerogame.sh
12) Follow on-screen prompts
13) Reboot before use

How To Use After Installation:

After the installation and once the PS3 has rebooted, you’ll need to put your ROMs in the
correct places for Wahcade to find them. At this time, the directories are preset and aren’t
changable without directly editing the .ini files for each system. (See
bug list for more info.)

At this point, here is where zerogame expects the ROMs to be:

Atari Lynx: /home/zerogame/gamefiles/roms/lynx/
Gameboy: /home/zerogame/gamefiles/roms/gb/
Gameboy Advance: /home/zerogame/gamefiles/roms/gba/
Gameboy Color: /home/zerogame/gamefiles/roms/gbc
Sega Genesis/MegaDrive: /home/zerogame/gamefiles/roms/gen/
Game Gear: /home/zerogame/gamefiles/roms/gg/
Master System: /home/zerogame/gamefiles/roms/sms/
MAME: /home/zerogame/gamefiles/roms/mame/
NES: /home/zerogame/gamefiles/roms/nes/
FDS: /home/zerogame/gamefiles/roms/fds/
TG16: /home/zerogame/gamefiles/roms/tg16/
SNES: /home/zerogame/gamefiles/roms/snes/
Wonderswan: /home/zerogame/gamefiles/roms/ws/
Wonderswan Color: /home/zerogame/gamefiles/roms/wsc/

You’ll have to move or copy your ROMs there manually. Make sure that the ROMs are readable
by the zerogame user as well.

Previews can also be installed and placed in the following directories:

/home/zerogame/gamefiles/previews/videos/[console]
/home/zerogame/gamefiles/previews/artwork1/[console]
/home/zerogame/gamefiles/previews/artwork2/[console]

In the current theme, artwork1 is shown in the box at the top left and artwork2 is shown in the box at the middle left.
Video previews replace artwork1 in the top box after a few seconds, if they can be found.

Once the games are installed and you’re ready to start using zerogame, unplug everything from your PS3′s USB ports except for your USB keyboard.
Fluxbox will startup with an all-black background (to be changed in the future) and then launch Wahcade. Once Wahcade is running, you can
turn on your PS3 controllers at any time by pressing the PS button on the controller. Wahcade will immediately index the
games for the currently open system and then present a list of games for that console for you to select from. As you scroll from console to
console using the L1 and R1 buttons, Wahcade will index the games in each system’s associated ROM directories and bring up a list. This indexing only happens once.

(Note: The indexing for MAME can take a VERY long time depending on how many ROMs you have in the set. As it indexes the games, it will appear
to have frozen or crashed, but this is not the case. Indexing a full MAME ROM set takes me between 20 and 25 minutes and again, will only happen
once.)

You should then be able to select any game from the list and be able to play it. Zerogame will attempt to scale the game to fit your screen
while maintaining the same aspect ratio. It most likely won’t completely fill up your screen but Zerogame will do its best.

To quit back to Wahcade from the emulator, press the PS button on the first controller.

To return to the PS3 GameOS, press the PS button on the first controller while in Wahcade.

Download:
v0.51 from haxnetwork
v0.51 from Official site

As Psychokillaz stated, some of the roms he is acquiring come in the 7z format, here is a simple fix.
Download Winrar
During installation, it should ask you which files, you would like to associate with, select all apart from ISO.
Once installed, double click on the 7z file and the Winrar program will open, on the menu bar, click on “File”,
then select “Save archive copy as…”, you should then save as name.zip, you then will have two files, the 7z and the .zip.
The games at this stage must remain zipped, so do not unpack.

For any other help visit the official site here

A small note:
THIS WILL NOT WORK ON ANY FAT PS3 ON FIRMWARE 3.21 OR ABOVE, NOR WILL IT WORK ON ANY SLIM PS3.

As i reported here last week, a PS3 owner decided to take Sony to court over the removal of the Other OS feature, today, the PS3 owners attorney spoke to IGN about the case, this is what she had to say.

Many IGN readers wanted to know what this all means for them, so we spoke to Rebecca Coll, the attorney from the firm Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz P.C. who filed the suit against Sony. She helped break down the court process behind this class action lawsuit and what PS3 owners should be aware of going forward.

Coll said it’s entirely too early in the case to predict when this might go to trial. But she said everyone who purchased a PS3 can be included.

We are going to ask the court to let us proceed as a nationwide class action. If the court agrees, the court will ‘define the class,’” she told IGN. “Right now, our proposed ‘class definition’ includes everybody in the country who bought the PS3 from the time of launch until March 27, 2010.”

“This class definition reflects, in part, that Sony commanded a much higher price for the gaming console based on the functionality of the ‘Other OS’ feature at the time of its launch and trumpeted the ‘Other OS’ feature in its subsequent marketing,” she explained. “As a result, consumers paid much more for a product than they should otherwise have been charged now that Sony has disabled the ‘Other OS’ feature.”

“If the court adopts this definition, then everyone fitting within that definition would automatically be included in the class action, unless they choose to ‘opt out,’” she added.

Coll explained that notifications of the class action will then be sent to PS3 owners through various ways.

“Once the court defines the class, the court will order that the ‘class’ receive notice of the action,” she said. “Notice methods vary. Sometimes notice is by publication in newspapers, by mail, by email, through internet postings, or any combination of those” she said. “The notice will advise class members how long they have to ‘opt out’ of the class. Sometimes, if there is a settlement at or before the time the class is certified, this ‘class notice’ also lets people know how they can file a claim, and tells people the deadline to file their claims.”

“In other words, people technically do not need to do anything to ‘sign on’ to the lawsuit—if they fit within the class definition then they are automatically part of it unless they affirmatively ask to be let out of it after the class is certified,” she explained.

Coll said PS3 users are encouraged to contact the firm to share their experiences. The group is compiling a database of dissatisfied Sony consumers, and will provide status updates as the litigation unfolds. Head over to their website to learn more.

As for what PS3 owners interested in this case should do in the meantime, Coll said to hang onto your console, packages, and receipts (if you have them) until this litigation is over.

Source:
What the PS3 Class Action Lawsuit Means For You

Also for those of you wishing to get involved:
If you bought a PS3 and would like to receive additional information, please send an e-mail message to [email protected]
or visit here

Everyone’s favourite Spartan hero, Kratos is making a return to the PSP, this was reported earlier by SCEA PR Manager Eric Levine, via the Playstation Blog.
A quote from the blog:

this new adventure will serve as a prequel of sorts, picking up where God of War left off. Ghost of Sparta tells the story of Kratos’ ascension to power as the God of War. In his quest to rid the nightmares that haunt him, Kratos must face his dark past to prove his worthiness to the Gods — a journey that will reveal the origins of lost worlds and finally answer long-awaited questions about Kratos’ tattoo, scar, and family.

Images:

Full Story

An amusing story from news.com.au

A LIBERALl MP has become embroiled in a controversy after using Parliamentary privilege to ask the Victoria Government to buy a vexatious litigant a Nintendo Wii console.

Assistant Opposition treasurer Gordon Rich-Phillips made an Upper House plea for a Coburg resident to be given “a certain rehabilitation aid” by Victoria’s WorkCover Authority.

But a WorkSafe Victoria investigation found the “aid” was the popular Wii fit game and console and rejected it as a reasonable medical tool to aid the resident’s rehabilitation from a work-related injury.

WorkCover Minister Tim Holding said Victorian workers and employers who funded the scheme would be appalled by Mr Rich-Phillips’ “behaviour”.

“Gordon Rich-Phillips is saying we should spend WorkCover money on video games when the claim has already been assessed and knocked back,” Mr Holding said.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

“This just shows how out of touch Ted Baillieu and his Liberal Party MPs are.”

The resident said he has not worked in four years despite last week being listed as a funeral celebrant.

He denied trying to rort the system and accused WorkCover of manipulating his file to avoid paying for the computer system.

“I can’t articulate the effect it has had on me,” the resident said.

“I’ve tried to go to work but every time I do I have a panic attack.”

Mr Rich-Phillips admitted the case was “complicated”.

“WorkCover has not taken the matter seriously,” he said.

Game industry legend Jack Friedman, passed away, yesterday the third of May aged 70, he had been hospitalized for several weeks.

Mr Friedman founded LJN, THQ and Jakks Pacific.

During his fifty years of history in the toy and video industry, Friedman launched a number of successful toys, including the first movie toys for E.T. He was also a philanthropist and supporter of his company’s Jakks Care program, which has donated more than $40 million worth of toys and school supplies, and benefited organizations like The Special Olympics, Feed the Children, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and more.

Original Source: Gamasutra Via Kotaku

Our prayers and heart felt wishes go to his family at this sad time.

Sony Computer Entertainment America has today revealed a new protection scheme, for both the PS3 and PSP.

Features:
Your new PS3®, PSP® or PSP®go system comes with a 1-year limited manufacturer’s warranty. Adding a PlayStation® Protection Plan extends your coverage on a single system by 12 or 24 months. This simple and cost-effective protection plan helps ensure you’ll experience years of enjoyment from your PlayStation® product.

Plans include:
• Direct access to PlayStation Support specialists
• No out-of-pocket expenses for qualified claims
• Pre-paid shipping box
• PlayStation® quality, PlayStation® parts, PlayStation® Service Centers
• Backed by the team that brought you the PlayStation experience

Pricing:
PS3 – 1-year ($44.99) or 2-year ($59.99)
PSP – 1-year ($29.99) or 2-year ($39.99)
PSP Accidental Damage – 1-year ($39.99) or 2-year ($49.99)

More Information:
Here and Here

Some of this years most highly anticipated PS3 games are due to be released during May and April, i have added videos and cast member links, here are the games.

Red Dead Redemption:

Cast

3D Dot Game Heroes:

Lost Planet 2:

Cast

Skate 3:

Batman Arkham Asylum Game of The Year Edition (3D):

Cast

Iron Man 2:

Cast

Split Second:

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands:

Alpha Protocol:

Cast

Idea from here