Geek In Me

via ps3fanboy.com

The console wars continue raging on. May’s NPD figures are out, and PS3 has pushed out another victory this month, beating Xbox 360 by 22k units. The PS3 sold over 208k units this month, an increase of 155% over last year’s May figures. Grand Theft Auto IV undoubtedly helped PS3 sales, with over 442k units of the game sold for PS3 in May alone. According to Sony, more than 32% of US PS3 owners now own a copy of Rockstar’s latest (that’s a 6% higher attach rate than Xbox 360). The exclusive releases of SingStar and Haze may have also helped sales.

Sony is undoubtedly pleased by this month’s results, but imagine how ecstatic they’ll be next month. PS3 sales are sure to spike in June, thanks to the release of the Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle.

via ps3fanboy.com

The Cell processor, known as the heart of the PS3, is being used every day in rather extraordinary situations. IBM has crafted yet another supercomputer, codenamed Roadrunner, which runs at a record-setting petaflop speed. (A petaflop is the equivalent of one thousand trillion calculations per second.) This speed makes Roadrunner twice as fast as the previous best supercomputer.

“We are getting closer to simulating the real world,” Bijan Davari, vice president of next generation computing systems at IBM, told BBC News. The computer will be installed in a US government laboratory to monitor the US nuclear stockpile. It will also be used for research into astronomy, genomics and climate change.

The Roadrunner will use less than 20,000 chips, and will use a hybrid design of both conventional supercomputer chips, and PS3’s Cell processor.

Australians say PS3 is supposed to be the biggest power consumer in the household. When you think you are doing something good with Folding@Home, think again… Your PS3 will cost you approx. 250 australian dollars yearly. Three times more than an iMac or twice as much as an 2.16 CoreDuo PC. Check the scary calculations here.

by Nilay Patel via engadget.com

Considering how little attention the PS3’s motion-sensing functionality currently receives, we’re not inclined to think that Sony’s making an even deeper push into the Wii’s territory, but a site called Playstation Lifestyle says that Sony conducted focus-group testing on a controller similar to the Wiimote earlier this year. Apparently the device was mounted on a foot-tall mini-tripod, and was demoed with tennis, fencing, and paintball mini-games, as well as used to play Quake on a laptop. That’s not to say that Sony’s ever going to bring this stuff to market, but it would certainly be interesting if it did — and coupled with those persistent Xbox 360 remote rumors, the gaming landscape could suddenly be overrun with people miming tennis.

For Quarter one of 2008, that is. It’s a small victory for our sleek black box; however, it surely is an interesting victory considering that the PS3 is a very pricey machine down under. According to Sony managing director Michael Ephraim who spoke with PALGN, the PS3 outsold the 360 by 45% in Q1 2008. Ephraim believes that, “it’s a matter of time before [the PS3] surpass the install base [of the Xbox 360 in Australia].”

It looks like this far away PAL continent is starting to follow the footsteps of their European friends. Could Australia become the next Sony stronghold? Ephraim thinks so, “[Microsoft] were very weak in Continental Europe, so they have done fairly well here, but with the rate we’re going we will definitely surpass the install base, we’re just guessing somewhere around the end of the year, if not sooner if the trend keeps going the way it is.”

via ps3fanboy.com

via gizmodo.com

Sony’s latest firmware update (2.35) for the PlayStation 3 is available now. Nothing special here, as the firmware is only meant to “improve the stability of some PS3 titles.” And by “some PS3 titles,” Sony couldn’t possibly mean GTA IV…