During gameplay of 'Last Of Us' a small sign contains phone numbers that connect to 'Sex Hotlines'
Sony is busy trying to patch out the 'problem' after players discovered the 'phone numbers' disappeared on signs while you play 'Last Of Us' actually connect to live working 'Sex Hotlines'
Developers of 'Last Of Us' are scrambling to patch the game after the 'Sex HotLine' numbers were discovered by gamers and posted online via various websites.
There has not been X-Rated scandal for Sony since Rockstar was forced to remove the hidden 'Hot Coffee' scene found on PS2 game discs of GTA.
At least now in digital age, the game can be quickly patched next time your console goes online, whereas before millions of GTA had to be pulled off the shelves and discs re-issued causing the developers millions of dollars.
No comment yet from Sony on this latest PR nightmare that follows just a week after the bad 4.45 firmware release, or how it will effect sales of 'Last Of Us'.
Developers of the PlayStation 3 title "The Last of Us" are scrambling to patch the title upon learning that a pair of phone numbers that appear on a sign in the game connect people to actual sex hotlines.
The numbers, which were first discovered by a reader of game enthusiast site Kotaku, were an accidental inclusion, says the developer. But experts say it's still a PR stumble that could be embarrassing for Sony.
"That was an artist's mistake," the game's creative director Neil Druckmann told Kotaku. "We're now working to take it out. It was just an honest mistake."
One of the two sex phone lines is now, seemingly, out of order, but as of press time the other one was still working.
To be sure, the "Last of Us" is an M-rated game, which means it's recommended for ages 17 and higher. But because some parents and children ignore the game ratings systems-and because sex is such a hot-button issue for some parents groups-analysts say Sony might have some push back.
"It's going to be a negative for Sony but not a strong negative," says Billy Pidgeon, an independent market research analyst. "I guess some troublemakers could try to run with it, but anyone playing that game should be old enough to go ahead and call those numbers."
Sony US Site has 'hidden' pictures of PS4 Bundle with DualEye
A PlayStation 4 bundle equipped with cables, headset, a copy of the Knack video game and the PlayStation 4 Camera has surfaced in a trio of leaked images recently found on Sony's US website.
A series of pictures have been discovered on Sony's website that shows off an PS4 Bundle with DualEye and Knack.
Is this an Bundle they are planning on releasing later close to Holiday Season for like $499 to match XB1 price?
Or was this the original idea for the PS4 Launch at E3, but later then scrapped it after seeing the $499 price for XB1, to make their PS4 system cheaper by $100 bucks, by junking the need of the DualEye and a free included game?
A live Sony page currently offers a PS4 gallery with 30 pictures, but hovering over each thumbnail reveals that the images are actually numbered from 1 to 33. However, as first reported by DualShocker, a simple change of numbers in the file name magically makes the missing images appear straight from Sony's server hard disks.
This could mean that Sony has yet to announce the bundle - or the images are a remnant of something Sony wanted to offer but changed course to reduce costs and remain attractive at a competitive price.
Sony likes bundles, and rumours of a similar PS4 bundle have circulated in the past, so this particular offering could be legit.
Of course no comment yet from Sony regarding this leak, I guess we will know more once they offically announce an PS4 Release Date.
Console architect says hardware team has learned hard lessons from PS3
The developer-led initiative to create PS4 has led to the console becoming as approachable to developers as the original PlayStation, a key system architect has claimed.
Mark Cerny is the designer behind PS4, and he stated that the direction he designed the PS4 for was 'ease of development' that it takes only 1-2 months to get usable graphics code running, compare to the PS3 where it was 6-12 months, and this will help PS4 greatly as the 'time to triangle' is the same as the original PlayStation, and Cerny started as early as Holiday 2007 designing the whole new PS4, as the whole direction in the creation of PS3 was "clearly a mistake".
Mark Cerny, who has spent five years working with Sony to build the next generation PlayStation console, made the claim during a keynote address at the GameLab expo in Barcelona.
He explained his reasoning using the term "time to triangle" - a phrase which essentially means how long it takes coders to create usable graphics with the hardware.
In a slide presented to the audience, he claimed that programmers commonly required one to two months to produce low-level graphics code on PlayStation One.
Cerny then claimed that the PS2 - a system remembered for its complex and sophisticated architecture - required three to six months of coding for studios to get going.
Later in the presentation, he remarked on a PS3 development meeting he had with Ken Kutaragi back in 2004. Kutaragi, the former head of Sony Computer Entertainment, told Cerny to focus less on "time to triangle" and more on the bigger picture of building highly sophisticated hardware.
"Triangle counts are misguided," was, according to Cerny, what Kutaragi had told him. As a result, the PlayStation 3 was the most complex system yet, requiring six to twelve months for studios to build usable graphics code.
Cerny said that, prior to Sony releasing the PS3, first-party PlayStation studios were struggling with the hardware.
"The third party teams were having an even more difficult time," he said.
At launch, the internal focus shifted from sharing technology (to help devs) to working on launch titles (to create games). Cerny said much of the direction in the creation of PS3 was "clearly a mistake".
Cerny, who says he spent an entire holiday in 2007 researching the history of x86 hardware to see if it was possible on a next-gen console, told the audience that his direction is different to Kutaragi's.
As the key PS4 system architect, Cerny said that in 2008 he sent a questionnaire for third parties to ask what features they wanted on future hardware.
After speaking with more than thirty teams from around the world, he said the most popular request from developers was unified memory - a requirement which the PS4 team fulfilled.
Cerny said the company was tempted to add an eDRAM chip to the system, as it would increase the memory speeds in further, but eventually declined as it would mean more work for studios to get running.
"The straightforward approach we have gives us excellent day one performance," he claimed.
Altogether, the "time to triangle" on PlayStation 4 takes about one or two months, Cerny claimed, which theoretically makes the system as developer friendly as the original PlayStation.
This ease of use benefits the "vital" third parties, and in particular indie developers, Cerny said.
A new PS3 CFW APP that makes usage of Google Drive
Ever want to cloud-sync your saves, etc. on the PS3, but don't want to bring your CFW PS3 online and subscribe to PSN+, will now you can thanks to this handy-dandy new homebrew app for your enjoyment!
Mr. Mohammad Haseeb started blogging about 'game save hell' for Video Game Developers over an year ago, and being a developer himself, he been busy working, but finally he has time to polish off the first release of his 'PlayStation 3 Cloud Drive' that makes usage of your 15gb Google Drive account, and allows to to sync your saves to the Cloud on your CFW PS3, basically the same you can do with PSN+ but they only give you 1gb.
Playstation 3 - Cloud Drive
It was at the end of last year that I posted this. It really took me away from gaming on the ps3 for a while. Earlier this year, I searched for a ps3 app that would sync a user's game-saves to the cloud. I didn't care which service was it, as long as it was free and easy to use. Unfortunately, apart from Sony's PS Plus service, there was no application/home-brew that accomplished this task. But I did find this. A user named "gingerbread" on the ps3hax forums had this idea about a "Dropbox" app that could work like a game-save synchronization application for the PS3.
I decided to take a shot at it and although the development went slow for several reasons, I eventually finished the first set of features I planned for. The application is called "Playstation 3 - Cloud Drive". You can install this application on a ps3 running a custom firmware. This app is programmed using "PSL1GHT" open source SDK and it was a pretty good experience working on the ps3 overall. Anyhow, here's more information about the app itself:
Current Features:
The application works with Google Drive. You will need a Google account to use it.
Google Drive comes with 15GB of free space compared to PS Plus's 1GB.
Remote Authorization through "OAuth 2 for Devices" does not need you to give application any of your personal information.
Bi-Directional Sync is possible. The application will sync your saves to the cloud and will download them to your hard drive.
Resume support is present and you can quit the application any time you want. The app will pick up from where it left off.
Resumable uploads and partial responses are supported.
Save Revision and pinning/sticky support.
Save Difference and update will only sync data that has changed to cut bandwidth usage.
gzip compression for faster transfers. This is to save bandwidth on those ridiculously big "replays" and saves from some games.
Planned Features for next releases:
Selective Sync. Users can select the game-saves they want to sync to the cloud. This also requires a GUI for the user to select which saves he needs transferred. Most likely a Dual panel layout.
PSX/PS2 card slot sync. This might have made into the current release but I need to test some stuff before I put this in.
Multiple Playstation 3 units support per account. A user may sign into a PS3-Cloud-Drive account and download saves from another ps3. This feature is highly dependent on selective sync.
How to use: Authentication
Authentication is a one time process and you do not need to repeat it unless you delete the app or wipe your ps3s hard drive.
Download the "PlayStation 3 Cloud Drive" at the bottom of this post.
Install it on your PS3. This app has been tested on various firmwares up to 4.41 CFW including (DEX/REX).
Visit the above url on your computer/smart phone and enter the code given by the application. You must be signed into a Google account for verification.
Click "Allow Access" to register your account with the app.
The PS3 will automatically detect the authentication as soon as you finish registration.
Once the authentication completes, the application will start building data and syncing game-saves to the cloud
How to use: General Usage
Every time you run the application, it will detect and sync changes to the cloud automatically.
You can press the "X" button to cancel the sync at any time. But let the application finish the current transfer. If you force quit it, there's a chance of corrupting data.
Q: Does this app harvest or store any of my "personal" information?
A: No. the application uses Remote Authorization or OAuth 2 for authentication. It does not require any of your personal information. None of your personal data from the ps3 running the app, apart from game-saves, is transferred to the cloud. You may use a proxy application to sniff the data.
Q: Can't you make this app work like a service? Such that it automatically runs in the ps3′s background?
A: I honestly do not know how to do that yet. If you know how, please get in touch.
Q: Do saves from the currently logged in user get uploaded or all users on my ps3?
A: The app syncs saves for all user profiles present on the internal HDD.
Q: Does the app sync PS1/PS2 cards?
A: Not right now, but that's planned for the next release.
Q: Can I give custom paths to the app to sync?
A: Not right now because I do not plan to make it anything else apart from a gamesave sync utility. I might add a custom path feature later.
Q: Does this app update/modify/delete any of my saves?
A: Not at all. The application is designed to let the user decide what gets synced. It will never "ever" delete or modify any of your saves. See next question for more details.
Q: So how does it "download" saves back to my PS3 or any ps3?
A: The application will only download a save back to your hard drive, if you "delete" the save "yourself". It will detect the missing save and automatically download it again.
Q: Can I use "one" account on two ps3s to sync saves?
A: In short, yes. You can use the same Google drive account to sync two ps3s. However, you must understand that the application has no way to differentiate the two Playstation units apart from the Gmail address used to register the application. So here's what happens: If you sync your saves on PS3-A and then run the app on PS3-B with the same Google account. The application will download the saves from PS3-A which are "not" present on PS3-B. It will "not" replace or update saves that are already there. It "will" upload/update all the saves on PS3-B to the google drive account that were not present in PS3-A. Hence it might not be feasible for people that own two Playstation units and want separate save locations to use "one" google account to run the application. However, if you have one PS3 in the living room and another in the lounge with the same saves/games; You can use the same account. Once the application has "selective sync" feature implemented, it will be a lot easier to use this feature because the application will let the user decide what to upload/download on every sync.
Q: So why can't you just program selective sync right away?
A: This is dependent on so many things but mostly because the PS3 dev community hasn't been all that helpful. I'm figuring things out about the ps3 and psl1ght sdk over time. Currently, I'm trying to figure out selective list import/export functions on psl1ght. If any dev can help me with this, I'll appreciate it.
Q: A corrupt save got uploaded/synced. And if I delete the corrupt save, the application keeps downloading the corrupt save.
A: By default the app thinks of the last save revision as the one that gets synced. However, if this scenario happens, you can go to Google Drive yourself and delete the last revision and pin the revision that is not corrupt. You may then download the save yourself or run the application again to download the correct revision. This is also a planned feature, where a user can select which revision he wants to download. See question for more details.
Q: My revisions got purged on Google Drive?
A: Google Drive has a default policy of purging older revisions after 30 days. This is enough time for you to recover any data. Read the linked article on how to recover a revision or mark it as pinned, such that it never gets purged.
Q: So why can't you pin every revision by default?
A: This may be a future feature in the options but for now because every revision takes the same amount of space the original file does, this is not enabled. I understand that Google Drive has so much space for playstation3′s saves that it shouldn't be a problem.
Q: The application data got corrupted due to a malfunction or the PS3 shutdown abnormally (power failure etc). How do I recover application data?
A: The app keeps a backup of your configuration and sync data with ".backup" extensions. You can delete the corrupted data and restore the backup. The backup might not be recent but it should still save you a lot of hassle.
Q: Is this app going to be open source?
A: I might make it open source if I don't find time to fix bugs or update it.
Q: Can I cancel my PS Plus subscription now? I've got cloud save sync!
A: Oh no, PS Plus is so on another level. This is just one of its features. I don't think Sony would like you to use their PS Plus subscription "and" have a CFW running. You've been warned.
Q: Can you make this app stealth like multiman?
A: I currently do not know how to do that. But may be down the road. If you know how to, drop me a message.
Q: Are you associated with Sony, Google or the PlayStation brand?
A: Nope, nada.
Thanks to People:
I'd like to thank Baatish for taking the time out for testing the program with me for so long. I'd also like to thank some other people:
- gingerbread (it was his idea in the first place)
- KaKaRoToKS (for all the help on twitter)
- Rautz (tester)
- w0313 (tester)
- condorstrike
- any one else I've forgotten
Step-By-Step Guide released for those with semi-bricked 4.45 consoles
Finally after more then a week's delay when 4.45 was released that turned tons of PS3 consoles into frozen shells of gaming technology, Sony has released 4.46 which (should) fix the problem!
The nightmare for Sony and those with frozen 4.45 consoles is finally over, now that the new Sony 4.46 update has been released.
For those without problems or still on 4.45, you can update normally, but for those with bricks, here is Sony's Step-By-Step Guide:
If you updated your PlayStation 3 Software to version 4.45 and the XMBTM (XrossMediaBar) menu is not displayed, please follow the steps below to manually update your PS3's Software and restore your system's functionality. Step 1: Manually Download System Software
You will need a USB Mass Storage device such as a USB flash drive with at least 168 MB of free space. If your PS3 is either CECHA00/CECHB00 series model, you can also use Memory StickTM, SD Memory Card, and CompactFlash®.
Create a folder named "PS3" on the storage media or USB device.
Within the PS3 folder, create a folder named "UPDATE".
Download the update data from the webpage and save it in the "UPDATE" folder.
Location: Save in the "PS3" folder > "UPDATE" folder
File name: Save as file name "PS3UPDAT.PUP"
Note: If the data is not saved in the correct way, the PS3 will not recognize the update data. The folder name must be in all uppercase letters. Step 2: Activate Safe Mode
With the PS3 off (power light should be red), touch and hold the Power button, you will hear the 1st beep indicating that the PS3 is powering on.
Continue to hold the power button, and after approximately 5 seconds you will hear a 2nd beep.
Continue to hold the power button and after 5 more seconds you'll hear a 3rd beep, and system will power off (Power light goes red).
Release power button.
Touch and hold the Power button, you will hear the 1st beep, again for PS3 power on.
Continue to hold and after approximately 5 seconds you will hear the 2nd beep for video reset.
Continue to hold and after 5 seconds you will hear a quick double beep. At that point release power button.
If you succeeded in activating Safe Mode, you will see a message on screen saying, "Connect the controller using a USB cable and then press the PS button".
Please note: Data and settings may be deleted if you choose any of the first (5) options. Please make sure to only choose option [6 - System Update].
Press Start and Select at the same time.
The PS3 system will restart and recognizes the update file in the storage media.
Press right on the d-pad to scroll through the update description and user agreement.
Press X to confirm the update.
The system will now install the new system software and restart automatically upon completion.
If you were not able to properly install the firmware or experienced and issue please follow the steps again. If you are still having an issue: Please contact us for further assistance.
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PS4 bundle leak with Camera and Knack game surface
Homebrew Release: PlayStation 3 Cloud Drive
