Killzone 3 Open Beta Coming To PSN

Even though Killzone 3 is due for launch in 30 days (see live countdown timer in right sidebar), they have announced that a live Open Beta will be coming to PSN on February 2nd!

Everybody will be able to download, for FREE, a one level version of the multiplayer behemoth in the next week. This is something worth looking forward to. The game was one of Sony's premier titles in 2010 and looks to be taking the torch once again with the Killzone 3 release.

If you know what is good for you, you will go to PSN and download the beta. Usually these are closed betas and only a select few get access to the game. This time everyone is allowed to download and try the game out.

Amazon Sells Playstation 3's for $39.99?

Sure! I first heard about it on the channel 5 news in Chicago. They ran a story on it and right after the segment I rushed to Amazon.com to see if it was still on the site. Sure enough, it was! So of course I picked one up. At first I was just curious to see if it would go through the whole buying process and remain $39.99 and it did. I was surprised. Naturally.

Now the question becomes how far will this continue? Will I actually be able to secure this purchase at the price they sold it to me at? Apparently the systems are being sold on Amazon from target. Or at least that is what it says on the bottom of the items page. So I did some searching. Their policy on such things states that should an item's corrected price be higher than the stated price at time of sale then the order will be canceled. Thus saving them from losing the money on the mistake and saving the customer the hassle of fighting a "corrected" price adjustment on their credit cards.

And that right there is the issue at hand. I purchased the PS3 which after tax and shipping came out to about $55. A great deal to be sure. So what happens now? If for instance a week from now they turn around and charge my credit card the correct price I would have grounds for a couple different arguments.

First, that they have no right to charge my card a second time as I only gave them authorization for the original charge. And I know for a fact that the credit card company (any one for that matter) would stand behind me on this one if I had to bring it that far. Secondly, I would then tell Amazon.. "This is how you do business? You charge a customer one price, and then after the purchase has been made you come back and charge the customer another price which is 300% HIGHER than what the customer was originally charged!?!?" Because if that is the case, then what stops them from charging a customer anything they want for any product they sell? Absolutely nothing.

And I am absolutely positive that if they were to engage in such a business practice, there are more than one news outlet that would be very interested in running the story. Imagine all the negative press.

It is almost in their best interest, this has got me thinking, that they would be better off just honoring the in-correct price they had on their site. Sure they will lose money, but they would stand to lose alot more in the potential customer loss from the negative story getting out.

So what is to become of this? We will have to wait and see. At the moment the item is out of stock. But I have multiple receipts and documentation to show what I paid for the PS3. So I have my backup, interested to see what they will have when this comes to a head.

I will keep everyone posted. As things progress I will post updates on my blog here for everyone to follow along with. The prices have since been changed to reflect a more realistic number. Stay tuned for updates.

Killzone 3 Set for release. Can it live up to the hype?

Killzone 3 was Playstation's exclusive FPS dynamo last year and it looks like the follow up to Killzone 2 is shaping up to be exactly what everyone has hoped for. When Killzone 2 first started to aire the trailers a couple years ago, everyone was in awe of the graphics, the 3 dimension perspective and the way that the game designers handled the sheer size dimensions and how they all related to the gameplay. The industry was sent reeling when it was finally released and it lived up to every promise. Nobody was disappointed.

Now here we are, two years later and we are awaiting the release of Killzone 3. Set to hit stores on February 22, 2011 and everybody is wondering the same thing. Can the game live up to the hype and this time, will it at least equal the dynamics of the last offering or will Killzone 2 be unbeatable? We will all just have to wait and see, but Guerrilla is not holding back and has said that they will surprise everyone with what they will experience in this upcoming release.

In Killzone 2 the main antagonist was Visari. A ruthless leader of the Helghast army bent on destroying the ISA and it's defense of Vektra. What floored everyone about this game was the utter dominance of the voice acting by Brian Cox who did the voice overs for Visari. The speech scenes and the way that Guerrilla presented these scenes was just beautiful. The graphical drama that was portrayed on the screen was better than almost anything we have been presented with except for maybe Metal Gear and it's cut scenes. How can they expect to best what they gave us in Killzone 2 with this next game?

Well, no promises but Guerrilla is hoping that the hiring of actors Ray Winstone and Malcolm McDowell will be just what they need to bring the necessary drama and realistic feel to the cut scenes that we had in the last game. I think if you view the trailer below, you will agree because the voice overs in this game so far seem very well done and well placed. The whole game should shape up very well. And from what we are seeing of the Beta Test reports it appears the multiplayer aspect of the game has shaped up quite well also.




We have a lot to look forward to with Killzone 3 and it will deliver on it's promises. If there is one thing we should have learned from Guerrilla Games it's that they put 110% into every game they make and they leave nothing behind. They are an innovative group and have the ability to shock us all with every release. Killzone 3 will be no different. Expect to be blown away by the gameplay and awestruck by the story. This one will aim to please. And it is also a Playstation 3 exclusive! Sorry Crap-Box, but you will get none of this action.

We have also added a countdown timer on the right sidebar of the site so that you can always check back and see how long we all have until we can put this game in our library!

PS3 Hacked again! This time for good?

Sony's Playstation 3 console has remained the unhackable console. From the 3 major game system developers offerings, the PS3 is the only one that could not be hacked to allow installation and play of homebrew software and/or pirated games. Until now. That's right, the system has once again been hacked, and unlike the last time almost a year ago, it looks like this one will stick.

Last year a hack was released that was said to "jailbreak" the console to allow installation of Linux which would then allow the user to install any homebrew application they chose or at that point run pirated games, namely Playstation 2 titles. Although the system was widely known to be unhackable amongst the hacker circles around the net, Sony's decision to remove Playstation 2 playability, which was a hallmark of the early versions of the system, angered many amongst the systems followers. This alone drove many to try and find a way to make it possible if only to install and play Playstation 2 games. And it appeared that was accomplished when the PSJailbreak was released last year. However, Sony was on the ball and almost as soon as it was released Sony also released a firmware update that made the hack useless.

Unlike the Xbox 360, Sony's Playstation 3 has a reputation for releasing firmware updates on a regular basis to update and improve it's system. These firmware updates include everything from system fixes to additions of new features that make the console very enticing to buyers and users alike. However, that same dedication to the console that so many of its user love is also the same trait that kills the efforts of hackers. And although in general some hackers are looked upon as the scourge of industry, there are many who do the computer world a great service.

Since the release of firmware version 3.21 has dashed the hopes of many by making the last hack useless, there is news of a stronger hack being released. The same person who was behind the first hack and since stopped his efforts and then jumped back into the race has claimed to have hacked the system yet again. And this time, without giving Sony a chance to repair what he has done. Not that anything is broken mind you. George Hotz, the infamous "IPhone Hacker", the 17 year old kid who was the first to unlock the Iphone for use with any service carrier is the mind behind this latest PS3 hack. This time, unlike the first hack, the PSJailbreak, this one would require a hardware change in order to remove the hack.

This hack works on the basis of a simple mechanism. A lock code. Sony uses what they consider a number key to tell the PS3 that firmware someone is installing onto the console is legitimate and un-modified. If the lock key matches what the system has in it's internal memory all is considered good in the world and the system allows the installation to proceed. If the key is incorrect, then the installation is not allowed to continue. Simple really. But the key itself, is not. Because of the complexity of today's encryption systems keys such as this one can be almost unbreakable. And it is said that the one Sony uses would take all the computing power in the world to even make a dent. And even if you were able to do so, it would take hundreds of years to even come close to doing that. But apparently someone at Sony took for granted some of its other software may be utilized to help get at the Playstation 3's key.

It seems there is a constant number that is used in some of its other software that should by all rights be a random digit. This use of a non-random number in that software allowed another team of hackers to use simple algebra to get at those keys. This knowledge was made public (well public amongst the hacker community that is) and Hotz grabbed the method and used it in his now renewed work on the PS3 system. Using this method he was able to gain access to the Playstation 3's key and as such is able to write to the systems memory which will allow him to install any homebrew software he wants. A Hack is born.

So what now? Sony has yet to comment on the news and Hotz says he has no plans to use the key for piracy. His intentions are purely academic he claims. And that is all fine and good. And as noble as that all sounds it does not stop anyone else. It is kind of like what you tell a teenager who is just starting to drive. "You have to watch out for the other guy". That is what Sony needs to worry about here. The "other guy". The community of users who own PS3's will not lose anything. In actuality they will most likely gain from this. Those who are a bit computer savvy and can make their way around DOS a bit should have the knowledge to install such a hack once it is made public. Then they can play homebrew and possibly Playstation 2 games. Which remember, was allowed on older versions of the console and has since been removed to save production costs. I myself have a launch PS3 console, so I have no need for such a hack except for maybe the homebrew applications. But take my word for it, most homebrew is not worth the trouble. And if Sony takes a similar stance to Microsoft people may be in trouble. When the Xbox 360 was hacked Microsoft banned all those who had installed the hack on their system from Xbox

Now this is what a Gun Controller should look like!

Remember Duck Hunt for Nintendo? Sure you do. Many years and games later a company called CTA has developed a gun controller for the Playstation Move. As you can see by the crappy video below, the Assault Rifle Controller takes the place of the PS3 controller and appears to have a control stick on the back of the rifle for movement while aiming is handled by moving the rifle around. It looks like it works rather well, and the big question is which games will this be compatible with?

It looks like this will be available on Amazon January 1st but sources are a bit sketchy on the actual release window. From what I hear, this will be available for the Killzone 3 Move Bundle upon it's release. Stay tuned, as I hear anything else about this I will post it here.

Playstation 3 Jailbreak? Mod chip hack-able PS3?

To say it has been a long time coming is surely an understatement. But regardless, it has been a long time coming! Sony has done a masterful job at securing their console against hackers. We all know that absolutely nothing is "hacker-proof". But in the case of the Playstation 3, "Hacker-proof" may have been a great way to describe their system as it has taken nearly 3 years for anyone to even make any headway in the area.

So as of late August a company who creates modchips for consoles has developed a modchip to circumvent the security of the Playstaion 3 and load a game from a hard drive. As of this writing, the PS3 is on firmware 3.5 and this modchip hack has been proven to work on the previous firmware only which was version 3.41. We are still awaiting word if this can be done after the upgrade to 3.5. Because apparently 3.5 was mostly pushed to the systems because of this modchip hack and a rumor of yet one more hack that was supposedly out there.

The modchip runs at a hefty price of about $147 dollars US. You can find the modchip as well as more information on their site at the url: www.ozmodchips.com

But stay tuned to AU because I will be following the developments of this story closely because I have a deep interest in this area, So if anything pops up about this or other working hacks you will hear it here first!