Since introducing the PlayStation Plus
subscription service at E3 last June, Sony has struggled to give PS3 owners a compelling reason to sign up. But the latest addition to the feature just might do it.
Starting Thursday, the company will allow Plus subscribers to save their games on an online storage system.
Within days of its retail release, hackers 
were already finding some innovative ways to use Microsoft’s Kinect motion controller. Now they’re going to get their chance with the PlayStation Move.
Sony has announced plans to make the software development application for Move available to students, researchers and enthusiasts later this spring. The company says it’s hoping the action will lead to increased innovation in gaming and other fields.
Panasonic finally saw the Jungle
for the trees.
The consumer electronics company has abandoned its plans to create a handheld gaming device – which was codenamed ‘Jungle’ – that would have focused on massively-multiplayer online games for the portable audience.
Panasonic is headed back 
to the city.
The consumer electronics giant has stopped development on its handheld gaming system that was code-named Jungle “due to changes in the market and in [the company’s] strategic direction”.
Sony has some mounting problems
in Europe.
Customs officials have been ordered to seize shipments of all PlayStation 3 shipments from the manufacturer and hold them in storage for at least 10 days. The orders come as LG has won a preliminary injunction against Sony in an ongoing patent dispute between the companies.
With its next generation portable system 
looming, Sony is giving the PSP one last moment in the spotlight. Effective this Sunday, the company will cut the retail price of its portable gaming system by $40, from $170 to $130.
The move not only lets Sony access a new audience with the PSP, it lets the company get out in front of the launch of the Nintendo 3DS, which will hit shelves on March 27.
In terms of big splashes, the Game Developer
Conference generally pales in comparison to E3. But even though it might lack a circus atmosphere and onslaught of new product announcements, that doesn’t mean there’s a lack of news.
This will be the 25th time industry developers and executives have gathered to network, seek inspiration and learn more about the industry of making games. Started in a developer’s living room in 1988 with roughly 25 people attending, this year’s show is expected to welcome more than 18,000 attendees to the Moscone Center in San Francisco when it kicks off on Feb. 28.
Here are a few of the topics you’re likely to see make the headlines:
3D hasn’t exactly taken the gaming world by storm 
so far, but that’s not stopping Sony from giving the technology another big push.
Killzone 3, due out this week, is the latest installment in the company’s eye-popping shooter series. And Sony’s pulling out all the stops this time. Arguably the best graphics to appear in a PlayStation 3 game to date? Check. Integration of the PlayStation Move controller? You bet! 3D? Oh yeah — it’s in there, too.
Mere days after Sony confirmed the existence
of the so-called PlayStation Phone, the tech rumor mill is already buzzing about a PlayStation tablet.
The device, which could hit stores as early as September, is said to sport a 9.4-inch screen and is powered by the Android 3.0 “Honeycomb” operating system with a strong focus on media and gaming.
With Apple taking an increasingly large bite of the 
mobile gaming space, Sony has taken out the big guns in an effort to win back market share.
The company has unveiled the Xperia Play — better known as the PlayStation Phone — at the ongoing Mobile World Congress.
Due in March, the device will be available exclusively through Verizon in the U.S. market and will lead the charge of cell phones capable of playing PlayStation titles.
Chris Morris: Journalist 