Gaming in the Media Blog

The recently embattled Rockstar Games is going to develop an exclusive title for the PlayStation 3.

Wired Magazine’s Joystiq column has the scoop:

When Sony passed on the exclusive rights to Grand Theft Auto 4, many saw it as a sign of insanity from the leadership camp. The latest episode of Spike TV’s Game Head, however, reveals that perhaps they had a plan all along. SCEA president Jack Tretton pulled that curtain back for host Geoff Keighley, casually mentioning that Rockstar has made an exclusive agreement to bring “their next big franchise” to the PlayStation 3 and no, he’s not talking about L.A. Noire.

Shortly before the show hit the tubes, SCEA’s director of 3rd party relations, Michael Shorrock, confirmed this statement on the official US PlayStation blog adding, “Rockstar really wanted to make a game that you can truly only do on PS3, harnessing the power of CELL and Blu-ray disc and this deal lets them do just that.. This is really a win-win situation for both companies.”

So what is it exactly? Sony has made an agreement with Rockstar to say no more concerning the deal nor the title involved. From a developer that has tackled everything from gang violence to ping pong, your guess is as good as ours.

Two quick news bytes from Sony [props to BBC for the news breaks] -

Sony up Despite PlayStation Woes

BCC reports:

Sony profits for the April to June period have more than doubled as robust demand for its cameras and a weak yen offset losses at its games unit.

Net earnings for the first quarter at the electronics giant rose to 66.5bn yen ($552m; £269m), up from 32.3bn yen last year.

The fall in the Japanese currency against the US dollar and euro helped boost the firm’s overseas earnings.

But its Playstation 3 console continued to struggle in a tough games market.

A nice piece of news, but I spotted this item a couple days ago…

PlayStation 3 Sales Boost in the US

Also from BBC:

Tracking firm NPD Group reported that 98,500 PS3s were sold, compared to 198,400 Xbox 360s (up 28%) and 381,800 Wiis (up 13%).

Sony said that the $100 (£50) price cut to the 60GB PS3 led to a 135% sales rise over the last two weeks.

Independent figures for sales of the cheaper PS3 are not yet available.

“This jump in sales bodes very well for us heading into the fall as we launch an impressive arsenal of hardware and software,” Jack Tretton, head of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said in a statement.

So…which one is it Sony?