This week, we had very little actual news, so a lot of the submissions are based on rumors, reviews and the Mockers clan. Sorry my post is a little late today, as it’s been a pretty hectic weekend. Went up to Payson Friday evening and my mom was admitted into the hospital yesterday (her diabetes is out of control). In any case, always try to look on the bright side of things. Here’s what we had going on for the week:

Lets Revive The Mockers Clan.
Thepreppymonk – July 26th

Marvel Costumes Coming to LittleBigPlanet
JimmyMagnum – July 27th

Dead Space Trilogy and Film Adaptation Planned
JimmyMagnum – July 27th

Dante’s Inferno Boss Battle.
Trev – July 27th

Wipeout HD Fury Impressions
Darrin – July 27th

Compare Trophy Cards.
Trev – July 27th

Games to miss the holiday season?
Trev – July 27th

Fat Princess This Thursday
JimmyMagnum – July 27th

Modern Warfare 2 first ever multiplayer footage.
Trev – July 27th

PS3Blogs weekly game.
Thepreppymonk – July 27th

Sony doubling PS3 Manufacture Orders
Darrin – July 27th

Comic-Con ‘09: White Knight Chronicles Preview
fleakitten – July 28th

Trion Hiring PS3 Programmers for SyFy Network MMO
Eddie – July 28th

Square Enix Eidos Confirms GAMESCom 2009 Line-Up
Eddie – July 28th

Uncharted 2 Will NOT Have a Mandatory Install
JimmyMagnum – July 28th

Want an EyePet? Live in the US? You’re in luck.
Trev – July 28th

White Knight Chronicles Sequel Announced
Eddie – July 29th

Infamous Movie In the Works
Eddie – July 29th

Rerun of this killzone game
Thepreppymonk – July 29th

Wipeout HD Fury Expansion Review
Thepreppymonk – July 29th

PS3 Slim Rumors Popping Up Everywhere
Eddie – July 29th

Aliens vs. Predator trailer shows why it sucks to be human
Tosh – July 29th

StarOcean 4 for the PS3 unofficially revealed by GameFly
fleakitten – July 29th

No Western Yakuza 3. Sega = Clueless
Darrin – July 29th

PlayStation Home gets 2 new spaces and a upgraded movie theater
Tosh – July 30th

Sony Financial Results for April-June 2009 (Fiscal Q1 2009)
Darrin – July 30th

PS3 Manufacturing Costs Reduced by 70%?
Eddie – July 31st

Braid to PS3 Says USK
Eddie – July 31st

PSP Go’s First App “SensMe”
Eddie – July 31st

Alrighty, that’s 29 entries this week. As far as the ‘Contributor of the Week’ goes, that goes to, once again, Eddie with 8 submissions. Get a life . Also of note, besides the QuickNews posted by Tosh on the PS3 Slim model showing up on the German Amazon, nothing was submitted for Saturday, August 1st.

Anyways, here’s hoping we get some juicy info this week, but don’t be surprised if we don’t. A lot of developers and publishers probably won’t release anything newsworthy until TGS next month. Thank you all for checking this out and all that. Remember, if you would like to see what you missed from weeks past, check out the Weekly Recap Archive.

On Amazon’s German store they have this listed “PlayStation 3 Konsole slim“.

Here is our first look at PSP Go’s First App called “SenseMe” Not much is known but we know that it helps you create a play list depending on your mood.

Doesn’t look bad at all.

The German Rating Board (USK) has recently listed and rated “Braid” as coming to the PS3.

For those of you who have been drooling over this highly praised Xbox Live exclusive, keep your fingers crossed!

As you all know…Sony posted a loss in their gaming division for the previous quarter and we all know that manufacturing cost is a big element.

Hopefully with this, one of two things happen. Either Sony can start posting profits and/or we will see a substantial cost reduction the price of the PS3.

If this is to be believed, a $299 PS3 will still be posting a $50 profit with each system sold!

During a conference call for overseas investors following Sony’s Q1 09 financials, Nobuyuki Oneda Sony Corp’s CEO and Executive Vice President has revealed that manufacturing costs of the PlayStation3 have dropped by 70%.

“The cost reduction since we introduced the PS3 is very substantial and this is on schedule,” Oneda-san replied when asked about manufacturing costs. “We don’t disclose how much of the PS3, specifically the cost deduction was achieved during the past two years. But that is on schedule.”

“About 70%, roughly speaking,” Oneda-san added when pressed further on the matter.

Although a precise manufacturing cost isn’t known, it’s widely believed that the PlayStation3 originally cost Sony approximately $800 (£485) per unit. In January 2008 reports surfaced that the manufacturing costs had been reduced by 50% to approximately $400 (£243). Although Sony wouldn’t elaborate on exact figures, the 70% decrease suggests that costs have come down to around $240 (£146) per unit.

The 80GB PlayStation 3 currently retails for £299.99, $399.99 (£243), and 39,980 yen (£254) in the UK, US, and Japan respectively, which suggests Sony has room to make the widely rumoured $100 price cut.

Story Here

Sorry the post is late, hectic day yesterday. Anyway who picked up Fat Princess? Worth it? Other than that, it’s a meh update. Anything for you?

United States

DEMOS

► Madden NFL 10
○ 932 MB

► Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part 2
○ 807 MB

GAMES

► Fat Princess
○ $14.99

► Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part 2
○ $14.99

► PSOne
○ Spec Ops: Airborne Commando ($5.99)

► PSP
○ Brave Story: New Traveler ($14.99)
○ Pocket Pool ($9.99)
○ Strikers 1945 Plus ($11.99)

ADD-ONS

► Cross Edge
○ Enigma Synth Pack
○ Hero Pack ($0.99)
○ It’ll Come in Handy Pack ($0.99)
○ This is Equipment Pack ($0.99)

► Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires
○ Eclectic Armor Set (men)
○ Norse Armor Set (men)
○ Priestess Armor Set (women)
○ Valkyrie Armor Set (women)

► Guitar Hero World Tour
○ Knuckle Sandwich Track Pack ($5.49 | $1.49 each)
♪ “I’m Shipping up to Boston” – Dropkick Murphys
♪ “New Wave” – Against Me!
♪ “Bloodmeat” – Protest the Hero

► Rag Doll Kung Fu
○ Time Saver DLC ($1.99)

► Rock Band
○ Blink-182 Pack 01 ($5.49 | $1.99)
♪ “Down”
♪ “Feeling This”
♪ “The Rock Show”

○ KISS Pack 01 ($5.49 | $1.99)
♪ “100,000 Years (Live)”
♪ “Deuce (Live)”
♪ “Parasite (Live)”

○ Weezer Pack 02 ($5.49 | $1.99)
♪ “My Name is Jonas”
♪ “Pork and Beans”
♪ “Undone – The Sweater Song”

♪ Damone – “Out Here All Night” ($1.99)

► Rock Band Unplugged (PSP)
♪ James Gang – “Funk #49” ($1.99)
♪ Alien Ant Farm – “Smooth Criminal” ($1.99)

VIDEOS

► Dark Void
○ Composer Interview

► Killzone 2
○ DLC Bundle Trailer

► MAG
○ Dev Diary 3
○ Dev Diary 4

► Pulse
○ 7/30 Edition

► Unbound Saga
○ Between the Panels Issue 1

THEMES & WALLPAPERS

► College Football
○ Themes (x5 | $1.99 each)

► G.I. Joe Rise Of The Cobra
○ Cobra Theme ($0.99)
○ G.I. Joe Theme ($0.99)

► God of War III
○ Wallpapers (x3)

► Harry Potter
○ XMB Theme Pack ($1.99)

► Katamari Forever and Noby Noby Boy
○ Theme

► Strikers 1945 Plus
○ PSP Wallpapers (x4)

► Tomb Raider: Anniversary
○ PSP Theme ($1.49)

► Tomb Raider: Legend
○ PSP Theme ($1.49)

Europe

DEMOS

► Numblast
○ 392 MB

► Numblast PSP
○ 31

► Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part 2
○ 807 MB

GAMES

► Fat Princess
○ €14.99 | £11.99

► Samurai Warriors: State of War (PSP)
○ €17.99 | £13.99

► Unbound Saga (PSP)
○ €14.99 | £11.99

► Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part 2
○ €12.99 | £9.99

ADD-ONS

► Buzz! Quiz TV
○ AFL Quiz Pack (€7.99 | £6.29)

► Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires
○ Eclectic Armour Set (Men)
○ Norse Armour Set (Men)
○ Priestess Armour Set (Women)
○ Valkyrie Armour Set (Women)

► Guitar Hero World Tour
○ Knuckle Sandwich Track Pack (€5.99 | €1.99) (£4.39 | £1.59)
♪ “I’m Shipping up to Boston” – Dropkick Murphys
♪ “New Wave” – Against Me!
♪ “Bloodmeat” – Protest the Hero

► Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic
○ Time Savers Pack (€1.99 | £1.19)

► Rock Band
○ Blink-182 Pack 01 (€3.99 | €1.49) (£2.49 | £0.99)
♪ “Down”
♪ “Feeling This”
♪ “The Rock Show”

○ KISS Pack 01 (€3.99 | €1.49) (£2.49 | £0.99)
♪ “100,000 Years (Live)”
♪ “Deuce (Live)”
♪ “Parasite (Live)”

○ Weezer Pack 02 (€3.99 | €1.49) (£2.49 | £0.99)
♪ “My Name is Jonas”
♪ “Pork and Beans”
♪ “Undone – The Sweater Song”

♪ Damone – “Out Here All Night” (€1.49 | £0.99)

► Rock Band Unplugged (PSP)
♪ James Gang – “Funk #49” (€1.49 | £0.99)
♪ Alien Ant Farm – “Smooth Criminal” (€1.49 | £0.99)

VIDEOS

► DC Universe Online
○ Behind the Scenes Trailer
○ Sizzle Trailer

► Killzone 2
○ Flash & Thunder Trailer

Japan

DEMOS

► Minna de Sukkiri Demo 2 (PSP)
○ 22 MB

► Ragdoll Kungfu
○ 673 MB

► Yamamura Misa Suspense Kyouto Kuramayama Manor Murder Case (PSP)
○ 36 MB

GAMES

► Simple 500 Series – Vol 1 The Mahjong
○ ¥500

► PSP
○ Coded Arms PSP the Best (¥2300)
○ Shin Sangoku Musou PSP the Best (¥1200)
○ Salamander Portable (¥2300)
○ Gitaroo Man Live! (¥1200)
○ Koei Standard Series Nobunga’s Ambition (¥1200)
○ Koei Standard Series Mahjong Tournament (¥1200)
○ Koei Standard Series Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 2 (¥1200)

ADD-ONS

► Project Witch (PSP)
○ Group Clothing Collection

► Record of the Agarest War Zero
○ Additional Items (x3)
○ Additional Costumes (x1)

► Shin Sangoku Musou MULTI RAID (PSP)
○ Add-on Content ver. 23

VIDEOS

► Janline R
○ Promotional Video

► Uncharted 2
○ Promotional Video 2

THEMES & WALLPAPERS

► King of Fighters XII
○ Theme 3 (¥150)

Via NeoGAF

Full results here

Overall, company-wide (mostly non-gaming) results were bad. Compared with the same quarter last year, revenue was down 19.2%, and the company went from generating a ¥73.4 billion yen operating profit to a ¥25.7 billion yen operating loss.

For the gaming results, the first thing you notice is they reorganized the company’s divisions and gaming is no longer a separate division and is much harder to separate out.

• Whole world economy is down. It is fair to judge Sony’s performance relative to other consumer electronics and game makers.
• April-June of 2008 was a hot quarter for software PS3 had several of their biggest-ever games ship in that quarter: GTA 4, GT5 Prologue, and Metal Gear Solid 4. For April-June 2009, they shipped Infamous and had a few OK cross-platform titles (Prototype, Red Faction, UFC) but clearly April-June 2008 was an unusually hot quarter for software by any standard.
• Japanese currency has appreciated, the dog ate my homework, etc. Seriously, an appreciated currency is bad Japanese export makers like Sony, but great for Japanese consumers. Still, if the company was selling more units rather than fewer units, they wouldn’t have to dwell on these things.
• Results are still disappointing. Even with all the above qualifiers, these results are still disappointing. Sony shipped the best games for the first half of 2009, and it doesn’t seem to have much of an impact. These results aren’t disastorous, but they are disappointing.

The US movie theater has just been one screen since the open Beta. Now it’s being expanded to 10 movie screens and a lobby. Some of the screening rooms may be giving stuff away too. Sony said that you might be able to watch full-length TV shows or movies in the screening rooms in the future.

Others updates is a Burn Zombie Burn space. Which has a zombie maze with exclusive prizes, and movies. Then MotorStorm Pacific Rift will get Game Launching. They are working a Space for MotorStorm as well. Here is a sneak peak.

Next (and this is very exciting) as of tomorrow, we will be launching a new event in PlayStation Home – the Fat Princess “Quest for Cake.” Based upon the brilliant PSN title which launches today, all you have to do is click on the PlayStation Events Space chip on your World Map to join in this very special confectionary quest.

You have to find 8 pieces of cake in the Home Space to feed the princess to get your reward, a Fat Princess Throne. Good updates Sony, keep them coming.

The Curtain Rises on the 10-Screen Movie Theater in PlayStation Home, MotorStorm Game Launching Crashes In, and Fat Princess Needs Cake!

Ever wondered how a Blu-ray disc is born? Check out this step by step gallery.

Sega’s US marketing department said they are not going to bring Yakuza 3 to the west:

The reason as to why they won’t be bringing the game over is simple: it won’t sell, he told me. They have a firm stance to believe that would be the case, too. Yakuza 2 has only sold around 40k copies in America on the PS2. The numbers for the original Yakuza aren’t much better.

Sega is wildly out of touch with western gamers.

WESTERN ENTHUSIASTS DO NOT BUY GAMES ON PS2!

As a publisher, you really couldn’t kill your sales any more by beating customers away with stick. I don’t care how good your game is; if it’s only on PS2, the press will ignore it and the western enthusiast market won’t buy it. This may not be the most rational thing in the world, but that’s how it is and how it has been.

Even Final Fantasy XII, which back at it’s release, was one of the biggest, hottest, most reputable series in all of video games, was mostly ignored because it was on old-gen hardware. And that was released in late 2006, when the PS2 still had a small shred of enthusiast mindshare left. Yakuza 2 came out in late 2008, long after any enthusiast gamers were remotely interested in buying new PS2 games.

Yakuza 2 wasn’t even one of the few PS2 titles that actually rings up new-unit sales by catering to a certain non-enthusiast nichce like Guitar Hero or Iron Man. Yakuza caters to exactly the type of gamer who stopped buying PS2 games the day after the PS3 was released.

Yakuza 2 was a better game than Sega’s other late 2008 game: Valkyria Chronicles. The difference was, Valkyria Chronicles was on a current-gen system, and therefore was able to get strong word of mouth buzz, and half-decent sales.

What else is there to say: Sega is clueless, and it’s unfortunate to see such quality software and entertainment be buried by such bone-headed business decisions.