Sony have officially announced that the long-awaited wireless SingStar mics will be available next year. The announcement appeared a short time go on the SingStar MySpace page.

Sony posted a competition about a month ago offering 100 trial packs to their devoted SingStar following. The pack included two wireless microphones, a USB receiver, mini-B USB cable and four AA batteries.

The blog reads, "the official SingStar wireless microphones will work on both PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3"
Read more & comment »

Well I never...

It would appear that the digital, dismembered head of Dr. Kawashima might actually be on to something.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign rounded up forty adults in their 60s and 70s and tested them for cognitive improvements over a month.

Half of them played Rise of Nations for around 23 hours over the course of a month, while the other half played nothing.

Those who gamed over the course of the month showed significantly improved memory, reasoning and multi-tasking skills. The researchers caution against jumping to any conclusions before they carry out more tests.
Read more & comment »

Sony is taking down its online community again today to conduct some much needed DIY. Playstation Home will be offline for around six hours while Sony "ease the difficulty some people are having accessing PlayStation Home", which has been put down to "the high demand for the service."

"Sony Computer Entertainment will conduct system maintenance for PlayStation Home on Thursday, December 18, 2008. At this time PlayStation Home will be updated from ver. 1.03 to 1.04. The system maintenance is scheduled to start at 12 midnight (PST), and the service is expected to resume in approximately 6 hours but may change depending on the circumstances. PlayStation Home will be unavailable during the maintenance window.
Read more & comment »

The snowballing rumours over Sony's PSP2 have been flying left, right and centre. Recent reports suggested that the handheld's successor has been in development for some time. Other rumours had suggested that the use of UMD discs were to be canned for the next hardware generation.

Sony were quick to respond in an interview with Silicon Alley Insider: "Sony's director of hardware marketing, John Koller, said he's familiar with Internet reports PSP2 game development is already underway, but said the rumours are completely unfounded.

"What's going on, Koller told us, is Sony is pushing developers away from its 'Universal Media Discs' and towards digital distribution of games via the PSP store. Someone misinterpreted the new push as 'PSP2' development."
Read more & comment »

Microsoft's Major Nelson turned into a personal shopper this week and updated the NXE dash with some FREE threads and bling for your avatar's wardrobe. Your Mini Me can now dress to impress on Christmas day, with the new range of formal wear.

Mr. Avatar can slip into a snazzy powder-blue tuxedo straight out of the 50's, or adopt the sophisticated Bond look in a smart black number, complete with a pleated shirt, bowtie and cummerbund (did anyone else read that and  think 'cumberland'?). Top it off with a choice of two hats: trilby or bowler.

On the other hand, if your avatar is more Bill Oddie than James Bond there's a tweed suit for chasing badgers or whatever it is he does...
Read more & comment »