Next Xbox to be Announced at E3?

I seriously hope that the rumours are not correct ... I mean, I really, really hope they're wrong ... otherwise I'll be seriously upset; having just bought a new slim Xbox 360 250GB console a couple of months ago, to replace my old Xbox 360 Pro 60GB console.  The rumours that I am referring to say that Microsoft is poised to announce the next Xbox console, which will succeed from the Xbox 360.  Xbox 720, Xbox 3 ... whatever you'd like to call it.

According to rumours, with the Nintendo set to reveal the next Wii, the Wii 2, at E3 ... Microsoft is pressured to anounce their next Xbox console.  Apparently, rumours go so far to say that the next Xbox console are on the desks at EA. While this might off the bat seem to make sense, I don't think it really does.  The updated Xbox 360 Slim has only been on the market for a while now ... and reveal a new Xbox console might have a negative impact on sales performance.  Furthermore, various sites like EuroGamer indicate that based on their sources say that this is highly unlikely.  Only time will time ... the earliest that rumours say that the next Xbox console will be released is late 2012 ... so if the Mayans were correct, and the world is going to end in 2012, it means the next Xbox console will never get released.

Playstation Network Down Indefinitely

Ok, just a quick update on yesterday's post.  If you were expecting PSN to be up again so time soon, think again ... it now sounds like it might still be quite a while before the PSN service is up and running.  In a phone conversation with Bloomberg, a Sony representative said "The company is in the process of adopting an improved security system and its plan to restart the services fully by May 31 is unchanged".  Sounds to me rather distinctly like he said that PSN is only coming back up by the end of the month.  If this is the case, it will mean that PSN will be down for almost one and a half by the time it comes back up.

I can fully understand that they are doing their best to improve the security of PSN, but serious hope that this is not the case ... because if PSN only comes back up at the end of the month, it means that we're not even half way through the wait yet.  Maybe I'm completely missing the point ... but, is it at all possible that all that positive feedback and defense of the downtime by PSN users has taken the pressure off Sony?  I could be wrong ... I hope so.  Comments?

Playstation Network Still Down

If you’re at all into gaming, you must be aware by now of the fact that Playstation Network (PSN) has been down since 19 April.  It was taken down by Sony after PSN’s security was compromised and breached by unknown, unscrupulous hacker(s) who stole the personal details of 77-million PSN users, including credit card details of millions of users.  Sony has been rebuilding the network since it was taken down, including moving the physical structure.   Sunday, last week, Sony said it was planning to bring PSN up again by the end of the week, at least in part.  The week has passed and PSN is still down.  It appears as though the reason why PSN is still down is that Sony had an unrelated attack on Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), the company’s MMO gaming service. A Sony spokesman wrote on the official Playstation Blog "We were unaware of the extent of the attack on Sony Online Entertainment servers, and we are taking this opportunity to conduct further testing of the incredibly complex system".

Is PC Gaming Destined to Die?

I have a keen interest in games … the fact that my blog is named after my gamertag should attest to this. It started with Chess and Pac-man on the Vic 20, my first computer, about 25 years ago.  In case you’re wondering, the “20” refers to the total memory, 20KB, which the Vic 20 had. This was followed by a whole plethora of games that I played on my Commodore 64 … yes, you guessed right; it had 64KB of memory. It was quite ground-breaking at the time.  Commodore 64 was followed by various early PCs, like the 286, 486 and so on … but I suppose I’m deviating from the topic.  My point is that I’ve been gaming for about 25 years now … so while my views might appear to be somewhat opinionated, I’d like to think that my experience counts for something.