Monthly Archives: June, 2011

In response to the growing number of "social" mobile gaming devices and projected decline of the traditional console gaming* Sony has revealed the PlayStation Vita at the 2011 E3 convention in Los Angeles. Sony says the portable "entertainment system" combines rich gaming with social "connectivity" (one of the hottest keywords in the electronics industry this year).

Most weeks we report on Amazon's "Blu-ray Deal of the Week," focusing on box sets marked down by at least 50%. This week is no exception. The Alien Anthology, no doubt one of the best BD releases of 2010, is marked down 62% (or $87) from the original list price of $139.99. The box set includes all four Alien movies: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection, along with tons of extras, archive materials, and documentary features making this six-disc set a steal at $52.99.

Paramount's Digital Entertainment division will debut the CBS-licensed video game "Star Trek" at E3 this week. The game's story is based off the latest "Star Trek" (2009) movie from director J.J. Abrams, with Kirk and Spock as the center characters.

Hulu added Miramax movies to their streaming library this week, with about 15 titles even available for non-paying Hulu users (commercials added). For Hulu...

The PlayStation Network servers will be humming tonight as Sony launches its "Welcome Back" program for PlayStation Network users. Probably the best part about the appreciation program is the offer to download free games. As a thank you, Sony is offering two free PS3 games and two PSP games to keep. You can download the games for the next 30 days on up to five activated systems with your PlayStation Network account. (See list of titles below.)

The PlayStation Network went down for a bit yesterday in several parts of the world including the U.S., interrupting my download of the new Uncharted 2 demo. Apparently, the downtime was planned as Sony attempts to bring back the entire worldwide network. Sony said only "some" users were affected yesterday -- with some getting logged off randomly and others having trouble signing in. However, after logging in again this morning the 'Uncharted 2' download continued.

Sony has finally got it's PlayStation Store open for business again after weeks of troubleshooting and installing deeper security procedures. If you're anxiously awaiting the free "thank you for being patient" content, you'll have a wait just a bit longer as they further test the promised downloads. But for now, login and you'll find some added content including two full game trials and several new games and DLCs. Check out the new content below:

Oh, how we love Discovery shows in hi-def. And that's why we're surprised to find Gaiam Inc. will release eight Discovery titles on DVD this month, but not on Blu-ray Disc. "American Loggers," "How the Universe Works," "Dinosaurs: Perfect Predators" -- those are a few of the titles that will hit shelves throughout the month of June. They're all great shows which were probably shot in HD but unfortunately dropped to 480p for home release. I guess that's why they invented upscaling?

Here's the schedule for the 2011 NHL playoffs. This year we find the Boston Bruins in their first hockey finals appearance since 1990 versus the Vancouver Canucks who last made a Stanley Cup attempt in 1994. Check your local listings for HD coverage on CBS, NBC, RDS or VERSUS depending on your location.

True Blood: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray is now selling for $39.99 -- that's half off the list price of $79.98. The HBO Home Video release includes five Blu-ray Discs for a total run time of 720 minutes. Extras include a vampire documentary, six audio commentaries from the cast and crew, and additional special features.