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PlayStation 3 exclusive gaming rundown--screenshots

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As Sony starts to make a push for the holiday season with a new bundle and rumors of slimmer hardware, we all know that exclusive software remains as the biggest selling point for any console.

We recently showcased a handful of Xbox 360 titles that will be available only on that console. Now it's time to take a look at what the PlayStation 3 has to offer in the coming months.

PlayStation 3 owners already enjoy franchises like Resistance and Ratchet and Clank, but will finally get a taste of some series that have yet to debut on the PS3.

There are also a few titles we left out just because information on them is still very scarce. While we're excited for exclusive titles like The Last Guardian, we're not sure of a release date.

Click through to see our slideshow of exclusive titles for the PlayStation 3. Be sure to check out our Xbox 360 feature and stay tuned for our look at exclusive titles for the Nintendo Wii.

While Sony didn't necessarily dazzle us with unannounced exclusive titles, the company definitely cemented the console's beefy lineup with a handful of live demos. Kicking it right off was gameplay footage of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, expected this holiday season. What some call the "male Tomb Raider," Uncharted 2 was quite possibly the best-looking game of the conference.

(Credit: Gamespot)

Next up was MAG, a game teased at last year's E3 promising 256 online players at once. We were treated to a live demo that accomplished the feat featuring players from all over the world. MAG is expect this fall.

Sony Computer Entertainment of America President and CEO Jack Tretton then briefly mentioned Rockstar Games' Agent, claiming the title could only be possible on a PlayStation 3. Unfortunately no footage or release date was given. Two developers from Ubisoft then showed off Assassin's Creed 2, though the game will not be a PS3 exclusive. It will be available this holiday season.

(Credit: Gamespot)

While we all knew Final Fantasy XIII was coming to both Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles in 2010, we had no idea that Final Fantasy XIV was in development, let alone an exclusive PS3 title. A trailer for the game noted the next chapter in the story would take players online as well.

Sticking with the theme of "play, create, share," Modnation Racers will allow users to customize racetracks, cars, and racers very much in the vein of LittleBigPlanet. Gamers can also design their very own tracks to share and play with other PS3 owners--a demo that made us immediately think of Sim City.... Read more

In the time of triplicates, shredders and burn cans were SOP for destroying records at embassies and military installations. Today, information stored on hard disk drives far forward on the battlefield demand other methods.

Fujitsu has come up with a way to dispose of your brigade's database of informers and cash payoffs in a hurry. The Fujitsu ME-P3M emergency degausser combines state of the art with a good ole' hand crank, allowing a drive to be wiped clean in 10 to 20 seconds--even absent electrical power, according to Jim Preasmyer, business development manager, Fujitsu Computer Products of America (click here for PDF).

(Credit: Fujitsu Computer Products of America)

A degausser (PDF), named after researcher Carl Friedrich Gauss, generates a reverse (coercive) magnetic force to demagnetize HDDs, rendering stored data unreadable and unrecoverable "by any known technology."

The unit is a takeoff on the Fujitsu Mag EraSURE line, used by the legal, medical, and financial professions and anyone else wishing to avoid database disasters like the 2002 debacle in which 139 Veterans Administration Medical Center computers ended up in schools and on the open market, where they were later discovered to contain current VA medical records and credit card numbers.

DriveSavers, a premiere data recovery service, has certified that the Mag EraSURE renders all data on HDDs "unrecoverable by commercial means," according to Fujitsu.

So while there may be something satisfying about leaving the quintessential thermite grenade to melt its way through the server rack when the huey is holding on the roof, given the advanced state of contemporary computer forensics you may want to start cranking instead.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News)

Sony on Tuesday afternoon concluded the trio of press conferences kicking off E3 2008. Here are some of the highlights:

We first got a glimpse of the highly anticipated sequel Resistance 2, set to ship in the fall. The gameplay looked gorgeous and featured a battle with a 300-foot monster. Next up was some time with LittleBigPlanet, shipping in October 2008, a game that will allow users to design, create, and share their own custom levels over the PlayStation Network. MotorStorm: Pacific Drift and SOCOM Confrontation were also briefly shown.

Other PlayStation 3 games were just teased as we saw a short trailer for God of War III, but we got no real information on its release. We also got to see a glimpse of Infamous, scheduled to ship in spring 2009. It's a title where you play a superhero who must decide the fate of an entire city. Next was DC Universe Online, a massive online role-playing game that will have you roaming around and interacting with your favorite DC characters. We were also introduced to MAG (Massive Action Game), a title that boasts online battles involving up to a whopping 256 players.

Sony also announced a new 80GB PlayStation SKU that will go on sale in the fall for $400. The console will mirror all of the functionality in the current 40GB version and looks like it will also include a DualShock 3 controller.

PSP owners will be glad to see a handful of releases, including the newly announced Resistance Retribution, which will ship in spring 2009--an original adventure set in the Resistance universe. Other PSP titles shown off included Patapon 2, Loco Roco 2, Stardust Portable, and Buzz Master Quiz.

The PlayStation Network is also getting a lot of love. Available immediately is the video store that will let you rent and buy movies and TV shows. Sony has sealed up content support from major studios such as MGM, Warner Bros., Fox, Lionsgate, and Disney. Titles bought can be sent to your PSP for viewing on the go. Also, your PlayStation ID will now allow for universal logon including Web integration.

Also announced was a hefty list of exclusive PlayStation Network games. Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest For Booty will be a shorter adventure continuing the story from Tools of Destruction and available for just $15. Other titles include Crash Commando, Fat Princess, PixelJunk Eden, PAIN: Amusement Park, Flower, Siren Blood Curse, and Rag Doll Kung-Fu.

Sony gave us another look at PlayStation Home, which included game-themed environments. But it still did not disclose a release date for the service.

That does it for the opening press conferences. Keep checking Crave for up-to-the-minute updates from the show.

(Credit: IDO Security)

When it comes to gentility and airline security, we may have something to learn from Nairobi International, where they have the decency, and the equipment, to allow you to keep your shoes on.

Nairobi joins Madrid, Prague, and Budapest in deploying the MagShoe, a "high-speed, shoes-on, portable footwear weapons detection system," at their respective airports. U.K. and U.S. airports may be next.

The MagShoe is a metal detector designed to test shoes and ankles in the ongoing fight against foot-borne threats. A passenger simply steps on what looks like a twin mud scraper/shoe buffer, and within an average of 1.2 seconds an audio-visual signal either alerts the operator to concealed metal or gives the all-clear.

Development of the device was initiated by the technical branch of the Israeli Security Agency in response to 9/11 and the Richard Reid "shoe bomber" incident, according to the manufacturer, IDO Security. In both cases the weapons were smuggled in shoes, and in both cases the terrorists went through an Arch Metal Detector (Magnetometer Gates) without being detected.

MagShoe is being evaluated by TSA for the Department of Homeland Security and is expected to receive the seal of approval soon, according to the company. But not in time for the holidays.

MacBook Pro owners are apparently having trouble supplying power to their computers both from the battery and from the wall.

AppleInsider is reporting that Apple is getting ready to introduce new 85-watt MagSafe adapters for MacBook Pros following a litany of complaints about fraying cables on the adapters. When they were first introduced, most customers liked the idea of flexible cables that would detach from the computer if subjected to excessive stress, preventing your nice laptop from flying across the floor of the coffee shop when somebody trips over the cord.

Reports that Apple's MagSafe power adapter has been prone to fray might be prompting the introduction of new models.

(Credit: Apple)

However, the flexibility of the power cable has caused some cables to fray at the connection point after repeated use. Reports have surfaced over the past few months of MagSafe adapters that have started to smoke or even spark in certain cases. Some of those affected have reported receiving adapters with heftier cords, which might be what Apple is getting ready to ship to all MacBook Pro customers.

A CNET News.com reader reported having trouble finding 85-watt MagSafe adapters at Apple retail stores late last week, and the online Apple Store is currently quoting a two- to three-week delay in shipments of the 85-watt adapters, designed just for use with the MacBook Pro. Apple representatives did not immediately return an e-mail seeking comment.

In other MacBook Pro news, last week's battery update--coming six months after a similar one in April--doesn't appear to have satisfied owners posting on Apple's support discussions forum. Numerous threads have been started complaining about automatic shutdowns and batteries that have less capacity after the update was installed.

For the record, my MacBook Pro's MagSafe adapter cord is working fine, but I have been experiencing the random shutdowns when on battery power both before and after installing the latest update. I had figured the shutdowns were somehow my fault since I hadn't been practicing very good battery hygiene by draining the battery every so often and recharging. I've had my notebook for a year and a half, and I tend to leave it plugged in all the time. (I know, I know.)

However, several posters on Apple's site recommended checking the battery stats under the Utilities folder (Utilities to System Profiler to Power) to see if the Full Charge Capacity is holding up the way it should. I'll do that later tonight and see what I get.

(Credit: Replug.com)

It's not too hard to remember a time when it required two hands to get a simple plug out. Things have since changed, and many manufacturers, especially in the gaming industry, are moving toward wireless peripherals, or including breakaways to remedy consumers stumbling over cords and taking the entire machine with them. The coolest one in recent memory is Apple's MagSafe power adapter, which not only makes your Mac laptop easier to plug-in, but keeps flying laptops at a minimum.

Replug is a handy product that's done the same thing for audio jacks. It's a two-part system that uses a small adapter that plugs into your audio jack, followed up by an extender that latches on magnetically and lets you plug in your favorite pair of headphones. If you apply too much stress between the connector and the adapter, your plug will fly off safely, and with much less force than it would take to unplug a standard audio jack from off-angles.

No word yet on price of availability besides a "fall" launch time frame.

[via Gizmodo]