Hacking the PSP Blog

SCEE Unveils PSP Video, Photo Unit Go!Cam

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have announced the first details of Go!Cam, the €49.99 ($68) video camera attachment for its PSP, along with Go!Edit, its portable photo and video editing suite with full internet uploading functionality.

Intended for release on May 16th in Europe, the Go!Cam will allow both 2.5 hours of video recording time and up to 40,000 photos per 4 gig memory stick, and includes a built in microphone and a vertically tilting lens to change the direction both toward the user and away.

The €49.99 ($68) price tag will also include Go!Edit, Sony's bespoke editing software which allows for portable editing of both photos and video, with sound and graphic effect enhancements, as well as the ability to upload Go!Cam creations to the internet directly from the PSP itself.

Said SCEE PSP marketing manager Stephane Hareau, "Go!Cam is fantastic news for all those PSP owners looking for something new, fun and creative. With Summer around the corner and the ability to turn your PSP into a mini camcorder and capture all the best moments in your life, this is yet another reason to get a PSP and to take advantage of truly portable entertainment."

Brandon Boyer
May 1, 2007

Source: Gamasutra

Sony PSP For $139 After MIR, Select UMDs for $4.99 @ Sam Goody

A deal spotted at a Sam Goody store brings the PSP to within $10 of it's rival, the Nintendo DS, coming to $139.99 after a $30 mail-in rebate. Apparently this deal is only in retails stores (not online) and it's only good until tomorrow (Wednesday), with the possibility of an extension into next week. Sam Goody also has select UMD titles for $4.99 but quantities are limited, of course. Use the Sam Goody Store Locator to find the retail location closest to you.



Source: Gaming Bits

Future to remove images of dead goat from Official mag

Offending pages cut from 80,000 print run

Future has confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that images branded as "depraved" by the Mail on Sunday will be removed from 80,000 copies of the Official PlayStation Magazine.

The latest issue of Future's flagship games title contains images from a press event held for the release of God of War II, where a headless goat was on display to promote the 18-rated game.

Yesterday, the Mail on Sunday reported on the launch party, branding it "depraved".

Animal welfare activists were also offended by the use of a goat carcass to sell a videogame, with a spokesperson for The International Fund for Animal Welfare branding it "stupid and completely unjustified".

A spokesperson for Future confirmed that the publisher and Sony had together made the decision to address the issue after copies to subscribers were mailed out.

"It was a joint decision to remove the offending pages across the print run," said Future. "But the copies for subscribers have already been sent out so we can't recall them."

The spokesperson went on to confirm, "The decision was made to remove the pages in 80,000 copies of the magazine being prepared for the newstands."

Matt Martin
April 30, 3007

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Sony: We're Sorry About the DEAD GOAT

I still want to know whose bright idea it was to promote a game with a real-life decapitated goat... Brilliant! For the "internal investigation" it should be easy to find the culprit - just follow the trail of blood... <guffaw>

From EE Times via Reuters:

Sony apologizes for dead goat prop at game party

LOS ANGELES ‹ Sony Corp. Monday (April 30) issued an apology for using a freshly slaughtered goat as a prop at its "God of War II" video game launch party in Athens, a publicity stunt that has outraged animal rights activists.

Sony hosted about 20 journalists at the March 1 event, which it called a theatrical dramatization with a Greek mythological theme. The goat, provided to the production company by a local butcher, was part of the set dressing, the company said. 

The U.K.'s Daily Mail newspaper on Sunday published a story on the party, where female hostesses with breasts covered with nothing but body paint fed grapes to guests, who competed to eat the most "warm entrails" -- a meat soup made to look like the goat's internal organs.

The Daily Mail's story quoted the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which said it was "outrageous" that the animal's death had been used "to sell a few computer games." 

In its mea culpa, Sony said: "We recognise that the use of a dead goat was in poor taste and fell below the high standards of conduct we set ourselves."

The company said it has launched an internal inquiry into the circumstances of the event and that it will put measures in place to make sure it does not happen again. 

Greek mythology-inspired "God of War II" for the PlayStation 2 console was the best selling game in the United States in March. The game has a mature rating and Sony said party attendees were all over the age of 18.

While sales of the PS2 remain robust, sales of Sony's new PlayStation 3 are lagging those of rival consoles from Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. Ltd 

This is not the first time that the Japanese electronics maker's video game marketing has inflamed critics. 

Last year, the company pulled a Dutch billboard advertising campaign for its the white version of its PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld player. It portrayed a white woman aggressively grabbing the face of a black woman and was dubbed racist by critics.