PUBLIC MARKS from mrongos with tags ps3 & TGS

We all know that it is highly likely that the PS3 will come bundled with some Blu-Ray movie love. Afterall, what better way to get all 6 people that own 1080p TVs hooked on the superiority of Sony’s latest format? When word broke at TGS that the XBox 360HD-DVD player would come bundled with King Kong, the guessing game for the PS3’s pack-in reached its peek.

The fine folks over at EvilAvatar and MagicBox are reporting that the low-end PS3 isn’t the only PS3 to gain an HDMI port. According to their TGS information, the 60GB version will now have not one, but two HDMI ports. Like me, you maybe asking yourself: “What the hell?” Here’s Sony’s alleged answer.

It’s been a little while since we’ve heard about Level 5’s White Knight Story, arguably one of the coolest games shown at TGS, less arguably and more accepted as the most badass RPG shown at TGS. Akihiro Hino, producer of White Knight Story, sat down for a quickie with IGN recently. There, some interesting pieces of information were revealed… mostly resulting in mad respect points.

If you happen to stroll into your local Best Buy at or after October 20th, there is some evidence on the Neogaf forums that clue you in to what you should expect. What should you expect? PS3 stuff. Lots of PS3 stuff. How would you like to demo the Playstation 3 on a 46″ Sony Bravia flat-panel TV at 1080p? Sit on some Lay-Z-Boy couches while doing so and enjoying the Sony 7.1 Component Home Theater System? Yeah. That’d be pretty excellent. Now, this is just a rumor, but the slides seem fairly authentic (from personal Best Buy experiences) and the setup is fairly… er, large. So large, in fact, the 360 kiosks may be removed entirely. But PS3’s may be downsized on October 25th when the Wii moves out (maybe not). This is a great rumor to hope for as fact because being able to get our hands on the Playstation 3 nearly a month before its release is bliss — and may push those teetering on the edge of a purchase over to the “yes!” side. So, uh, who’s planning a Best Buy field trip? We are, since we couldn’t get to the Tokyo Game Show.

A gameplay video of Coded Arms Assault is now available for your viewing pleasure. It looks all right. It doesn’t seem like too much of a separation from standard FPS titles, but it’s worth a look if you’re an FPS junkie. There’s also a gorgeous Ridge Racer 7 gameply video. It looks better than all right. Mostly awesome. Just look at that gorgeous car go around that gorgeous track… and rear-end that other car. It’s pretty sweet. Also, a Ninja Gaiden Sigma trailer is up and running. If you guys were right, those who’ve played Ninja Gaiden Black won’t see too much new here. But then again, maybe so. Let us know. Here’s a gameplay video of Lair also. What can we say? Dragons, flying, destruction… it’s something special, to be sure. Lastly, there’s a gameplay video of Devil May Cry 4. Besides the fact the person playing it has no idea what he’s doing (sorry, but it’s true, unless the controls have changed completely), the game looks astoundingly good. Bias? Sure. But it does. If you mention the cape/sword clipping, that’s true, but that in no way should detract from your enjoyment of the game. Anyway, we’ll keep you informed of other game videos and other stuff as we get our news from the Joystiq staff that had the honor of being there.

Sony can’t catch a break. This time the rumors and innuendo have cost them. Literally. Earlier this week, Macquarie Equities analyst, David Gibson, put the hurt on Sony by apparently stating that “he had heard” that several PS3s on the show floor at TGS “operated erratically and had to be repeatedly reset.” According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “The problem seems to stem from consoles running too hot and then shutting down. Sony has claimed that it was simply a case of not having the proper ventilation at the kiosks where the consoles were played. It’s possible, but Sony stock was down almost 3 percent by Wednesday from the revelations.” To put that into perspective, a 3% drop in Sony’s stock price on the NYSE represents a drop in Sony’s value by more than $1 billion dollars! Yes, I said “billion.” Of course, stocks rise and fall everyday… sometimes by less than 3% and sometimes by much, much more. What’s interesting is that with this drop attributed to PS3 overheating “news,” it appears that shareholders (specifically, institutional investors), are watching the PS3 launch very, very closely. Everyday, my appreciation for the PS3’s potential to make or break Sony grows. On the bright side of things, and based on the picture to the right, the PS3 can double as a mirror! That should drive Sony’s market cap up a few hundred million.