Before Ratchet and Clank, Sony developer Insominac developed this early Playstation FPS game. Amidst a sea of Doom clones that were already on the system during it’s early days, Disruptor’s high production values. live-action cut scenes, and unique level designs made it stand out. Players also gained access to several psionic powers such as shield, psi-blast, and healing. Even though the game could be completed in a weekend, it’s still fun to play through. With Insominac closely in Sony’s corner, we could be seeing this game again on the Playstation network. It might not be Half Life 2, but it’s still an excellent game.

As many of you have probably read already, as of this past Thursday, Mr. Ken Kutaragi has stepped down and retired from his position as chief executive officer and chairperson of Sony Computer Entertainment. Kutaragi will still have a role as an Honorary Chairman, but for all intents and purposes, will no longer be working directly with Sony.

As a little recap, Kutaragi was the inventor of the original Playstation gaming console, and has been dubbed the “Father of the Playstation”, and it’s subsequent sequel systems. With this act, the Playstation franchise became the the most profitable division of Sony. However, Kutaragi will end up passing the torch at the next Sony shareholders meeting on June 19, 2007, where it is said he will then venture off to work on his own projects.

““It has been an exciting experience to change the world of computer entertainment by marrying cutting edge technologies with creative minds from all over the world. I’m looking forward to building on this vision in my next endeavors.”

Additional news and press release information can be found here.

Of course, rumors of conspiracy are abound and in full swing. With Sony having to deal with $2 Billion in losses related to their gaming division over the past year, and the underwhelming failure of Playstation 3 sales, this will do anything but give the company new momentum and direction. Kutaragi admitted himself that the shortage of Playstation 3 consoles sent to North America and Japan retailers, as well as the postponement of the console’s release, led to Sony’s declining strength in software. Sacrificial lamb? Who knows. All that is known now is that Sony is losing a brilliant mind and the original driving force behind the Playstation franchise. What this means for the company’s future will remain to be seen, though it seems like it very well could be just another nail in the coffin for their reputation.

Because we didn’t have enough versions of the older Final Fantasy games they’re now being released in a similar but once again slightly improved version in “Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition” for the PlayStation portable. Gamespot has some images from the two games to be released, Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II. The graphics are 2D, not 3D like the recently released Final Fantasy III for the Nintendo DS, but they are still a considereable improvement over the last version of these games we’ve seen. The Wonderswan Color, PlayStation 1 and Gameboy Advance versions of Final Fantasy 1 and 2 all had essentially similar graphics which were redone since the original games. What we see here is an improvement of those graphics in a similar style.

The low end 20gb version of Sony’s PlayStation 3 is being discontinued. This toned down version of the console retails for 100$ less than the full fledged 60gb version. It wasn’t selling well though such statements are relative. The 60gb wasn’t selling well either but when comparing one to another the 20gb was doing much worse.

This quote from a Sony rep is especially ridiculous:
“Due to the overwhelming demand for the 60 GB model from both retailers and consumers, we have ceased offering the 20 GB model here in North America,”

I’m amazed at that company’s ability to maintain the illusion that they think the system is selling well. Maybe they should cease offering the 60gb version due to overwhelming demand for the Wii and XBox 360…

Source: Tech News World

Still not quite as cheap as the Nintendo DS, Sony’s handheld is coming to a more reasonable price at $169.99. That $200 you had socked away can now get not only the PSP Core pack, but a game as well! Before taxes of course.

It’s become far too easy to rag on Sony’s powetful little handheld, so hopefully this will give it a shot in the arm. At over 24 million sold, it’s the highest selling non-Nintendo handheld ever made, and that’s a pretty good success story in itself.

Official announcement should be here in the morning, but GameStop signage has already leaked to confirm.

WIRED Magazine has just released their annual list spotlighting the best and brightest companies in tech.

The Wired 40 this year puts Nintendo on the list for the first time at an astounding #6. Microsoft, unstoppable juggernaut of the industry they are, barely made the list at #40. Don’t feel too bad for them: Sony didn’t make the list at all. Google and Apple retain their 1 & 2 spots from last year.

Bonus: a lenticular cover featuring The Office‘s Jenna Fischer.

Cure for cancer, cure for AIDS, make a gamer want to not play PS3 for days.

Distributed computing has been done for years on PC. Sci-Fi nerds spare cycles and bandwidth to help the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence for example.

Now with the super powerful Cell processor combined with a current lack of compelling software, Stanford University’s chemistry department has released a version of their Folding@home software on Playstation 3. Basically you can turn it on, and let it run while you’re not playing games and Stanford will use your game machine’s horsepower to run simulations of protein folding. Understanding the hows and whys is beyond me, but the research is currently being used to explore cures for various ailments, including some cancers and Alzheimers.

So go ahead and download it on PS3, you’ll find it on your XrossMediaBar under the network icon. Or if you like the idea you can toss it on your PC, Mac, or Linux box.

A new box set was recently released for this movie which is based on the ever popular Final Fantasy VII PlayStation video game and it even includes the rare Final Fantasy VII Advent Rising anime special. Is it worth getting? Check out what Cloud has to say in this review to find out if this set’s right for you.

Buy the DVD set from Amazon

Check out some scans of the box art and exclusive postcards after the jump. [Read the rest of this entry…]