The service will be affected from 4 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. EST.  During the down time, users will not be able to access the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Home, and Account Management.

However, if you have been signing for the past few days, you’ll still be able to play your online sessions and access apps during this period of time.

• NHL 14 - $59.99
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Blacklist  – $59.99
• The Bureau: XCOM Declassified - $53.99

PS3 Games

• Dragon’s Crown - $49.99
• Tales of Xillia - $54.99

PSN Games

• ibb & obb - $9.99
• Superfrog HD - $9.99 (Cross-Buy with PS Vita)

PS Vita

• Dragon’s Crown - $39.99
• Superfrog HD - $9.99 (Cross-Buy with PS3)

PS2 Classics

• The Red Star - $9.99

For those of you that have PlayStation Plus

Instant Game Collection

• Hitman: Absolution Special Edition (PS3) - Free
  

PS Plus Discounts

• Escapevektor (PS Vita) – PS Plus Price: $3.99
• Wicked Monsters Blast! HD (PS3) – PS Plus Price: $1.00
• Superfrog (PS3) – PS Plus Price: $7.99
• Superfrog (PS Vita) – PS Plus Price: $7.99
• Rayman Origins (PS3) – PS Plus Price: $5.00
• Rayman 3 HD (PS3) – PS Plus Price: $2.50
• Rayman Origins (PS Vita) – PS Plus Price: $6.75
• Rayman Arena (PS2 Classic) – PS Plus Price: $2.50
• Rayman 2 Revolution (PS2 Classic) – PS Plus Price: $2.50
• Rayman 2: The Great Escape (PSone Classic) – PS Plus Price: $1.50
• Rayman (PSone Classic) – PS Plus Price: $1.50

PS3 Demo

• ibb & obb

PS Vita Demo

• Doodle God

Price Changes

• F1 Race Stars – PS3 Game (now: $29.99 original price: $39.99)
• Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed – PS3 Game (now: $29.99 original price: $39.99)
• Papo & Yo Bundle – PS3 Game & Soundtrack (now: $16.99 original price: $19.99)

Sales

Sound Shapes Birthday Sale

• Sound Shapes– PS3/ PS Vita Game Add-On (now: $7.49 original price: $14.99)
• Sound Shapes 80s Sound Pack– PS3/ PS Vita Game Add-On (now: $0.49 original price: $0.99)
• Sound Shapes 8-Bit Sound Pack– PS3/ PS Vita Game Add-On (now: $0.49 original price: $0.99)
• Sound Shapes Acoustic Sound Pack– PS3/ PS Vita Game Add-On (now: $0.49 original price: $0.99)
• Sound Shapes Car Mini-Album & Entity Pack – PS3/ PS Vita Game Add-On (now: $0.99 original price: $1.99)
• Sound Shapes Drum Kits Sound Pack – PS3/ PS Vita Game Add-On (now: $0.49 original price: $0.99)
• Sound Shapes Dubstep Sound Pack– PS3/ PS Vita Game Add-On (now: $0.49 original price: $0.99)
• Sound Shapes Record Player Avatar (now: Free original price: $0.49)
• Sound Shapes Guitar Walker Avatar (now: Free original price: $0.49)
• Sound Shapes Music Box Avatar (now: Free original price: $0.49)
• Sound Shapes Player Blue Avatar (now: Free original price: $0.49)
• Sound Shapes Player Brown Avatar (now: Free original price: $0.49)
• Sound Shapes Avatar Pack (now: Free original price: $1.79)

Other Sales

• Castle Crashers – PS3 Game (now: $7.49 original price: $14.99)
• Escapevektor– PS Vita Game (now: $4.99 original price: $9.99)
• God Mode – PS3 Game (now: $4.99 original price: $9.99)
• Rayman – PSone Classic (now: $2.99 original price: $5.99)
• Rayman 2: The Great Escape – PSone Classic (now: $2.99 original price: $5.99)
• Rayman Arena – PS2 Classic (now: $4.99 original price: $9.99)
• Rayman 2 Revolution – PS2 Classic (now: $4.99 original price: $9.99)
• Rayman 3 HD – PS3 Game (now: $4.99 original price: $9.99)
• Rayman Origins – PS3 Game (now: $9.99 original price: $19.99)
• Rayman Origins – PS Vita Game (now: $13.49 original price: $26.99)
• RockSmith – Various Songs (now: $1.99 original price: $2.99)
• Wicked Monster Blast! HD – PS3 Game (now: $4.99 original price: $9.99)

PS Vita Add-Ons

Dragon’s Crown

• Storyteller Voice Pack (Free)

Dynasty Warriors 8

• BGM Pack 1 ($1.99)
• New Stage & BGM Pack 1 ($2.99)

Pool Nation

• Cue Balls and Decals ($1.49)
• Pressed for Time Pack – Unlock All Assets Pack ($1.49)

Tales of Xillia

• 300,000 Gald (1) ($4.49)
• 300,000 Gald (2) ($4.49)
• Adventurer’s Nest Egg (Free)
• Alvin’s Steward Costume ($2.99)
• Alvin’s Swimwear Costume ($2.99)
• Color Variation Set (Free)
• Elize’s Maid Costume ($2.99)
• Elize’s Swimwear Costume ($2.99)
• Jude’s Steward Costume ($2.99)
• Jude’s Swimwear Costume ($2.99)
• Leia’s Maid Costume ($2.99)
• Leia’s Swimwear Costume ($2.99)
• Level Up +10 (1) ($4.49)
• Level Up +5 (1) ($2.99)
• Level Up +5 (2) ($2.99)
• Milla’s Maid Costume ($2.99)
• Milla’s Swimwear Costume ($2.99)
• Rowen’s Butler Costume ($2.99)
• Rowen’s Swimwear Costume ($2.99)
• Sample Material Set (Free)

PS3 Themes

• Dragons Crown: Into The Labyrinth Theme ($1.99)
• Abstract: Dynamic Bubbles Dynamic Theme ($2.99)
• Amazing Earth: Summer Beach Dynamic Theme ($2.99)
• Dynamic Celtic Maiden 1 ($2.99)
• Surreal: Chameleon’s Eye Dynamic ($2.99)

PSP Themes

• Digital Blasphemy Campfires ($1.49)
• Digital Blasphemy Circumpolar ($1.49)
• Digital Blasphemy Extra Solar ($1.49)
• Digital Blasphemy First Light ($1.49)
• Digital Blasphemy Geomancy ($1.49)

PS3 Videos

• Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag: A Pirate’s Life On The High Sea
• Borderlands 2 – Dragon Keep Launch Trailer
• Dungeons & Dragons Chronicles Of Mystara HD Launch Trailer
• Mad Max – Gameplay Reveal – Soul Of A Man (US, CA only)
• Need For Speed: Rivals Cops vs. Racers Trailer
• Payday 2 Web-Series Episode 1
• Payday 2 Web-Series Episode 2
• Saints Row IV – Johnny Gat Trailer (US only)
• The Guided Fate Paradox Pv1

 Source

The images that are available offer you a chance to represent the characters you are most eager to play as. They are a bargain, being priced at only $0.49

These are the avatar images that are available.

What do you think? Which one will you be choosing? Do let us know.

Check out the full listing below.

JULY 2ND – 9TH

• Call Of Duty Black Ops II (PS3) – Regular Price: $59.99 Sale Price: $41.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $37.79
• The Amazing Spider-Man (PS3) – Regular Price: $49.99 Sale Price: $29.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $20.99
• Batman Arkham Asylum (PS3) – Regular Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $9.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $5.00
• The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest (PS Vita/PSP) – Regular Price: $9.99 Sale Price: $4.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $2.50
• Mortal Kombat (PS Vita) – Regular Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $9.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $5.00
• Mortal Kombat – (PS3) – Regular Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $9.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $5.00
• Prince of Persia Forgotten Sands (PS3) – Regular Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $7.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $4.00
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: the Game (PS3) – Regular Price: $9.99 Sale Price: $3.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $2.00
• Shadow of the Colossus (PS3) – Regular Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $9.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $5.00
• Ratchet & Clank Collection (PS3) – Regular Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $14.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $7.50

July 9th – 16th

• Fast & Furious Showdown (PS3) – Regular Price: $39.99 Sale Price: $31.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $23.99
• Star Trek (PS3) – Regular Price: $54.99 Sale Price: $43.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $32.99
• Men In Black: Alien Crisis (PS3) – Regular Price: $39.99 Sale Price: $29.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $20.99
• The Simpsons Arcade Game (PS3) – Regular Price: $9.99 Sale Price: $6.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $4.89
• X-Men (PS3) – Regular Price: $9.99 Sale Price: $6.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $4.89
• Hitman Trilogy HD – (PS3) – Regular Price: $39.99 Sale Price: $19.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $15.99
• Lord of the Rings: War in the North (PS3) – Regular Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $9.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $5.00
• Silent Hill: Book of Memories (PS Vita) – Regular Price: $29.99 Sale Price: $14.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $7.50
• LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (PS3) – Regular Price: $29.99 Sale Price: $14.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $7.50
• LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (PS Vita) – Regular Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $9.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $5.00
• The Adventures of TinTin: The Game (PS3) – Regular Price: $39.99 Sale Price: $19.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $10.00
• Star Wars The Force Unleashed II (PS3) – Regular Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $9.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $5.00
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (PS3) – Regular Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $9.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $5.00
• Just Cause 2 (PS3) – Regular Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $9.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $7.99
• Prince of Persia Classics Trilogy (PS3) – Regular Price: $39.99 Sale Price: $15.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $8.00
• Tron Evolution (PS Vita) – Regular Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $7.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $4.00
• Alice: Madness Returns (PS3) – Regular Price: $19.99 Sale Price: $7.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $4.00
• Fight Night Champion – Full Game (PS3) – Regular Price: $29.99 Sale Price: $11.99 PlayStation Plus Price: $6.00

Would you be a part of the ‘Blast’? Do let us know.

Strength of the Sword was first revealed back in 2009 at the Game Developers Conference. On June 5^th, the game is launching on the European PlayStation Network after five long years of development.

The studio informed PlayStationGang that a U.S release is also planned but failed to give us a release date.

The “blade-wielding, magic-powered war machine from the heavens” combat game is currently titled, Strength of the Sword 3, and it is the first game labelled as the third, with a series that doesn’t exist.

The game is more in to giving players a challenge rather than just going through the story. The system’s “group AI” recognizes how each gamer plays and uses that advantage against the players, making it a stimulating gaming experience.

Ivent says, “We’re NEVER going to make sequels to our games. We want to take up different challenges each time around. And getting stuck on a single series doesn’t fit into it. So… we’ll be finishing all of our ‘trilogies’ right off the bat. Like, for Strength of the Sword 3… If we want to revisit the project, we much rather do it through DLC, so that we can just build on it instead of redoing it. Why go through all the boring things again-like tutorials and stuff; when we can just give the players that liked it more of the exciting content like Bosses, Levels, Weapons and stuff.”

It is without a doubt that all the best games were derived from ideas of people knowing they can do more for gaming. We find it inspiring that two individuals were so dedicated to gaming, that they devoted five years of their life developing their own unique game.

Check out ‘Strength of the Sword’ preview below:

The attack was centered on web servers and the Tranquility cluster, “which houses Eve Online and DUST 514.” Shortly after the discovery of the attack, the servers were taken offline. Although briefly reinstated, servers have once again been taken down while the company continues its investigation.

According to Eve Online’s official Twitter account, servers are expected to remain offline for several hours as this process should not be rushed.

It is noted that Cerny has been faced with the challenge of designing the architecture of a console that has to serve for several years. The design and architecture of the PlayStation 4 is built to last. ”We’ve done a great job of matching the GPU that we believe will allow the system to grow over the years,” he says.

The trajectory of the versatile Mark Cerny will soon be rewarded in Spain with the Legend Award 2013 in Barcelona GameLab, an award established two years ago, which has already received Peter Molyneux and Hironobu Sakaguchi.

Below, you can read Mark Cerny’s Elmundo interview about his work and the PS4.

Were you involved in the development of PS4 in 2008?

I guess I’ve worked in secret ever since.

How did you start the project? I’d like to get a brief description of your role.

In the summer of 2007, after shipment of the launch titles, began a series of ‘postmortem analysis’ for the PlayStation 3. By that I mean we inspected in great detail how the ‘hardware’ and the ‘software’ of system and development environment meet the needs of developers. I was a participant in these conversations and they were fascinating. I started thinking about possible strategies for the next generation console, an issue even more interesting to me.

In late 2007, I took a chance and asked the direction of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) to let me play a leading role in the project of the next generation and, to my surprise, they said yes. As a result, I worked in the architecture of the ‘hardware’ since 2008 but also was involved in many conversations about our strategy in relation to the ‘software’ of the system and the services it could provide to facilitate the development of games and better meet the needs players.

In a recent interview, Shuhei Yoshida said that one of the main patterns of SCE was that the PS4 console would facilitate the work of developers. How have you managed to achieve this?

A strategy based on developers stems from our desire to be dedicated to the consumer. We understand that by providing developers with a set of attractive tools to support the creation accounts of the desired titles by players.

As a result, at the beginning of the development work kept many conversations with internal and third-party developers about seeking a tool set on a next generation console. They assumed that any system we create would have high performance, so your comments focused primarily on the ease of creating games.

The consensus among developers was not the rejection of a design “blank sheet” for PlayStation 4, but rather wanted us to use some kind of conventional technology for computing and graphics. Using this technology, the developers would be able to start working directly in games without the need for a long period of study.

Finally, and for the above reasons, we opted for an x86 processor and PC GPU, although we ended up refining the GPU in many respects. Over time we think developers will find the time to use these advances and the result will be higher quality graphics, better physics simulation, etc.

SCE insists that the PS4 will approach the user experience. I would like a more detailed explanation of this strategy. Can you reveal any item that you have made or intend to integrate ye to help improve the user experience?

There are several design principles behind PlayStation 4. One of them is ‘instant’ we minimize waiting time experienced by the user. For example, if you buy a game digitally, you will not need to wait for the whole game to load before you start playing. PS4 titles are designed to allow you to play once you’ve downloaded only a small part of the data of the game, and the rest of the game is downloading while you play.

Another design principle is ‘social’. We have added a button to the controller named ‘SHARE’, which takes you quickly to an interface to upload screenshots and gameplay videos. Whenever we record the video of your game in the background, so it is very easy and convenient to share these videos on PlayStation 4.

There are other social functions, such as our commitment to friendship networks based on real names and profile pictures. This does not mean that we remove the aliases and icons used in the current multiplayer sessions, are very useful when anonymity is important. However, we want to add a new social dimension in which it can interact with real-world friends.

Other principles are ‘integrated, simple and personalized’. In short, it is too far to explain in a few paragraphs. We want to explain more about the set of functions over the coming months.

The computers are in a constant process of evolution and continuously hurtle new architectures, processors and more powerful GPU, etc.

How do you tackle the risk that this console is obsolete in a few years? For example, how does it affect the product life of Moore’s Law?

In some ways, the rapid evolution of computers plays in favor of consoles. Many of the teams take about five years to develop a game. As a result, they need a stable specification during that period and that is what provides a console, ie about one hundred million devices that share the same basic specification.

The consoles also tend to have higher performance than would be expected by the cost, due to lightweight operating systems and the fact that developers enjoy many years to study the specific architecture.

Regarding the performance issue in the context of Moore’s Law, our strategy has been to create a console with a number of features for the short term and others for the long term. We have a family basic feature set that allows a wide range of games at launch and have done a great job of matching the GPU that we believe will allow the system to grow over the years. To give just one example, we have adapted the ‘hardware’ to allow the ‘shaders’ computing are used in traditional graphics interface. This is the kind of technique that we believe will be used within three or four years of the life cycle of the console to increase the graphical quality of the games.

I would like to know your experience working with developers in the design of this new console. What does that have requested the creators?

The number one request was unified memory architecture, because programmers spend much time in managing multiple memory banks. They also asked us to create a very wide unified memory to support the trend toward more detail and variety in the game world. We finally found a way to satisfy these two requests.

The hard drive of each PlayStation 4 also is the result of contributions from developers. Much of the rationale was to support the currently popular model of launching a bigger game and then provide little additional content digitally through the online store. But there is also another justification, based on the desire of many developers to create what can be called ‘live software’, for example a game in which, each time you come back to play every day or week, the world itself evolves and new open gaming opportunities. The result is a huge amount of data that must be stored locally, making a hard drive is almost essential.

Will the PS4 need to be connected all the time? And if so, how will this affect plans for PSN?

PlayStation 4 is not a permanent connection system in that sense, but the experience is much richer if you are connected. You will have access to digital content and updates your games, along with a wide range of social functions: upload videos and screenshots, see your friends play and interact with them in various ways within the games.

You are an expert in all fields of game development: you’re a developer, programmer, and an animator. Which of these roles suits you more?

During these years I worked mainly as a designer, programmer and producer. Right now, in my title for PS4, first occupy the post of creative director, and I have to say that I find it incredibly rewarding, designing the game world, writing the script for the game’s narrative and so on. I am very excited to return to the position of creative director in future projects.

Todd M. Miller, of Columbus, in the US state of Ohio, was sentenced on Thursday to a year of house arrest for obstructing a Federal investigation.

According to The Columbus Dispatch, the judge also sentenced Miller to three years probation and ordered him to get his high school equivalence certificate.

US District Judge, Peter C. Economus, said in Federal Court that Miller was a member of a hacking group called the KCUF clan that, starting in 2008, organized an ongoing attack on Sony’s servers.

The hack took the PlayStation Network offline in April 2011. Sony soon realized that the breach had enabled the attackers to access the personal data, including credit card information, of millions of online gamers.

The April attack ushered in a series of over a dozen attacks against Sony websites around the world that played out over the following months.

Sony wound up getting fined £250,000 ($383,767) by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office for breaching the Data Protection Act in connection with the hacks.

The FBI initially interviewed Miller in 2011.

When they came back with a search warrant, they found that his hard drives were nowhere to be found and that Miller had smashed his computers.

Without the computers, the FBI didn’t have enough to prosecute Miller or another unnamed Columbus man on the hacking charges.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that Miller has a ninth-grade education.

Miller told the judge that he was “immature and ignorant and caught up with the wrong people at the wrong time” when he destroyed his hardware but that he’s since learned his lesson and that the judge “will not see [him] again.”

Were the FBI to have gotten its hands on the hard drives, Miller would have been facing up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Judge Economus said that he saw no purpose to sentencing Miller to prison, given that he has a full-time job and “some stability” after a “tumultuous childhood,” the Columbus Dispatch reports.