Barry Hodgson
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Posts by Barry Hodgson
Y2K10: PS3 *UPDATED*
Mar 1st
By now many of you will have encountered today's problem with the PS3 and how the hardware clock seems to think it's the 29th Feb and the OS clock is saying it's January 2000.
Here is Sony's explanation and advice:
As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today. This problem affects the models other than the new slim PS3.
We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.
Errors include:
* The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.
* When the user tries to sign-in to the PlayStation Network, the following message appears on the screen; "An error has occurred. You have been signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)".
* When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install trophies. Please exit your game.”
* When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)”
* Users are not able to playback certain rental video downloaded from the PlayStation Store before the expiration date.We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, 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.
As mentioned above, Please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error. We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologise for any inconvenience caused.
*UPDATE*
Sony 'apparently' now consider the situation resolved, although any 'fix' seems to revolved around letting the console think that the 29th of February 2010 has passed (which is sort-of has) and letting the console re-sync to PSN & correct its time.
We are aware that the internal clock functionality in the PS3 units other than the slim model, recognized the year 2010 as a leap year. Having the internal clock date change from February 29 to March 1 (both GMT), we have verified that the symptoms are now resolved and that users are able to use their PS3 normally.
If the time displayed on the XMB is still incorrect, users are able to adjust time settings manually or via the internet.
...
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
More info when known.
Final Fantasy XIII – March 9th
Nov 13th
Square Enix have announced that Final Fantasy XIII will hit European and American PS3's and XBOX 360's on March 9th 2010.
Leona Lewis will also provide the theme song for the game (unless you live in Japan of course) called "My Hands" which is off her forthcoming album.
We'll have more on Final Fantasy XIII over the coming months.
Announcement Video after the Jump.
GTA: The Ballad of Gay Tony Announced, Retail Bundle
May 26th
Later this year, Rockstar will release the second of the 360 Exclusive GTA DLC "The Ballad of Gay Tony".
The game casts you as Luis Lopez who is described as a "part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to legendary nightclub impresario Tony Prince (aka "Gay Tony")". You will apparently "struggle with the competing loyalties of family and friends, and with the uncertainty about who is real and who is fake in a world in which everyone has a price". Sounds just like real life.
"Liberty City is the most vibrant game world we've created yet. The episodic structure has allowed us to interweave stories, gameplay and atmosphere in a whole new way," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "The team at Rockstar North have yet again surpassed themselves, and made something that is both epic and very innovative. This episode's focus on high-end night life contrasts with the biker gangs portrayed in The Lost and Damned, whilst giving us a lot of new gameplay possibilities."
Also later this year a disc based version of both DLC will hit, and will not require GTA 4 or Live in order to play it. It'll retail for about $30 in america, so expect a £25 -30 price tag here.
We'll have more on The Ballad of Gay Tony as soon as i've stopped doing the YMCA.
Lego Rock Band Announced – First Screens
Apr 21st
Warner Bros have announced Lego Rock Band for 360, PS3, Wii and DS.
The game aims to be a "family friendly" take on Rock Band and of course, is full of little lego characters and oozing with charm. The game will feature lots of customisation as you would expect from Lego and promises humour too.
Legend of Zelda: Spirt Tracks Trailer
Mar 25th
Today at GDC Nintendo announced a new Zelda Game for DS tentatively title "Spirit Tracks".
The game sees Link travelling across the world on a Train solving puzzles and trying to win the heart of the princess or whatever it is he does in these politically correct times.
Find the Trailer, after the jump.
Left 4 Dead Survival Pack, SDK coming this Spring
Feb 5th
Valve have sent word that the Left 4 Dead Survival Pack will be hitting PC and 360 this Spring (there's no concrete date yet - this is Valve Time we're talking about).
The survival pack includes a new multiplayer mode funnily enough called Survival (no details yet on what that entails, we're waiting to hear back from Valve on this one) and two more campaigns for Versus mode (the two that were missing from launch). There will also be a new retail bundle including all this content.
Also in the spring Valve will release the Software Development Kit for L4D allowing you to dream up custom scenarios (someone please please make Shaun of the Dead, Cricket Bat and all).
Full PR after the jump.
Prince of Persia “Epilogue” DLC to hit Feb 26th
Jan 29th
Ubisoft sent word today that they'll be releasing a piece of DLC for the console versions of Prince of Persia (sorry PC owners).
The DLC will feature a new area for the Prince and Elika to trawl through titled "The Underground Palace", and to help you along the way there is a new move and a new power as well as new Costumes based on the Prototype Prince and Elika from earlier screens.
There's no word on Price, but I wouldn't be surprised if it cost 800 points on XBL.
Full Features after the Jump.
Resi 5 Demo to Finally Hit the West
Jan 14th
Capcom sent word that the highly anticipated demo of Resident Evil 5 (which has been out on the Japanese Marketplace for god knows how long now) will finally hit XBL worldwide on January 26th.
It will be exclusive to the 360 for one Week at which point PS3 owners will be able to get in on the action too.
The demo contains two levels and is a fairly good representation of what to expect (Resi 4 in HD basically).
We'll have more on Resident Evil 5 as we move closer to it's March 13th (Friday the 13th) release date.
F.E.A.R 2 Demo to hit 22nd Jan, PC System Requirements Released
Jan 12th
Warner Bros have released the PC System Requirements for F.E.A.R 2:
Minimal specification:
- CPU: P4 2.8GHz (3.2GHz Vista)/Athlon 64 3000+ (3200+ Vista)
- GPU: Fully DX9-compliant graphics card with 256MB (SM 2.0b). NVidia 6800 or ATI X700.
- Memory: 1GB (1.5GB Vista)
- HDD: 12GB
- OS: Windows XP SP2/Vista SP1
- DirectX: 9.0c
- Sound: DX9.0c compliant
- Optical drive: DVD (boxed only)
- Internet: Broadband
Recommended specification:
- CPU: Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz processor family/Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (required for MP host)
- GPU: Fully DX9-compliant graphics card with 512MB (SM 3.0). NVidia 8600 GTS or ATI HD 2900 XT.
- Memory: 1.5GB
- HDD: 12GB
- OS: Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1
- DirectX: 9.0c
- Sound: DX9.0c compliant
- Optical drive: DVD (boxed only)
- Internet: Broadband (768kbit/sec upstream required to host 16 players)
So all in all, not too bad, most gaming PC's will be able to run this.
The XBOX 360 and PS3 demos are currently scheduled to hit on the 22nd of January with a PC demo following a couple of days later.
We'll have more on F.E.A.R 2 over the coming weeks.
*UPDATE*
The PC demo has been cofirmed as arriving on the 22nd, the same day as the console releases.
Merry Christmas to you all
Dec 22nd
Merry Christmas to all readers of Computers N Stuff.
I'd like to personally thank you all for coming here and checking us out all year, and making this our most successful year in terms of hits.
I'd also like to personally thank Andrew for his much much appreciated help in the past couple of months, as without it, i'd have had to shut the site down.
I'd also like to thank all the PR peeps who've helped me along, by sending code or just answering my questions.
I Hope you all have a great Christmas, and a brilliant New Year. We'll be back properly in the New Year, but i may not be for a while - due to the birth of my First Child....and i'll be sure to let everyone know when it happens!
Thanks for all the support,
Barry Hodgson, Owner Computers N Stuff.
