Beyond the amazing line up of Blu-ray games hitting this holiday, we’re also expecting some blockbuster Blu-ray movie releases, including Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Star Trek. We’ve also announced some really groundbreaking initiatives that make Blu-ray synonymous with movie watching. In December, consumers will have access to the first-ever hybrid disc that will feature Sony Picture’s District 9 movie and a demo of God of War 3. This is a true testament to the endless opportunities ahead for Blu-ray and entertainment. And if you’re already an existing Netflix consumer, now you can access both your Blu-ray disc movies and stream 17,000 movies and TV shows from one machine – the PS3.

Readers of this blog are of course, already aware that the PS3 comes built in with one of the industry’s best Blu-ray players. But we wanted a spot that would hammer home the Blu-ray movie advantage and speak to this broader audience that may not be as familiar with the PS3’s feature set. So we asked Kevin Butler to bestow some wisdom in this exchange with an unhappy teenager who is complaining his grandmother is hogging the PS3 to watch Blu-ray movies. You can catch this commercial on air starting next week. For you, our loyal fans, here’s the exclusive sneak peek:

We’d love to hear what your favorite spots are so far. We certainly are having a hard time just picking one. We still have a couple more special updates on the way, so make sure to check in next weekend. More to come.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone,

Peter

In its infancy, PlayStation Network began as a free service to gamers offering an online commerce option for games and game content. Today, it offers an unrivaled social networking experience in PlayStation Home, a robust video delivery service for purchasing and renting SD and HD content from every major studio, social networking applications like Facebook, instant streaming content from Netflix, and a rich selection of more than 450 games for PS3 and PSP…oh, and yes, it’s still free.

Momentum is going strong and signs are only pointing up for us. In October, we saw a 70 percent increase in PS3 sales over last October. This was fueled by a marketing campaign that many of you have commented on, but also by a new slimmer and lighter form factor with a larger hard-drive for $100 less. We’re seeing hundreds of thousands of you joining the PlayStation family every day, and we welcome you to check out all of the amazing things that PlayStation has to offer.

We are really hitting our stride here and with how far you’ve seen us come in three short years, imagine how far we’ll go with the next three. It all starts with this holiday and blockbusters like UNCHARTED 2 and Ratchet & Clank, and only gets better in Q1 with MAG, Heavy Rain and God of War III.

Really, what I’m here to say is, thanks for all of your support. Without your enthusiasm and feedback, PS3 wouldn’t be what it is today.

This is just the beginning of our integration with Facebook and we are looking forward to adding new features enhancing the experience in future updates.

Additional highlights from update 3.10 include:

• The Photo category on the XMB has been revamped to make it easier to see more of your photos stored on the PS3.
• The PSN Friends List has been modified based on feedback we received after update 3.00. Additionally, you can now choose a color for your PSN ID on the XMB.

To get a preview of what’s coming in update 3.10, check out the video below:

We’re looking forward to releasing firmware update 3.10 soon. As always, we appreciate your feedback.

Today, we announced the availability of a new PS3 system with a 250GB hard drive hitting store shelves on November 3. The PS3 250GB system has the same slim look, feel and features as the 120GB system, but with a 250GB built-in hard drive for $349.99. With the new, larger capacity, you’ll have even more room to store your favorite games, movies/TV shows, music, photos and PlayStation Network downloads.

We’ve been saying it for a while now—this year we’ll see the best software lineup to date. What better way to enjoy your PS3 than by playing some of this season’s exclusive PS3 titles such as UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, and PlayStation Network downloads like PixelJunk Shooter, Gravity Crash, and Hustle Kings. In addition to the huge software lineup available this holiday, there are 2,300 movies available to download from the PlayStation Network’s video delivery service, with a third of those movies available in full high-definition.

As always, we look forward to hearing your feedback and enjoy!

Stay tuned for more exclusive motion controller updates soon. If you’re just tuning in, be sure to check out Motion Controller Update Parts One and Two as well.

Thanks for all your amazing feedback on our new “It Only Does Everything” ad campaign. Kevin Butler has been busy pushing the new $299 PS3, not just on our blog but on some of your favorite TV programs, and the reaction has been fantastic.

I mentioned on my initial post that we have a huge campaign designed to show “Everything” the PS3 can do. And since you’re all PlayStation’s biggest fans, we’ll be debuting each one here first. Our next spot features Kevin Butler helping a desperate father connect with his kids by finding the best family-friendly entertainment. The ad is also timed to support the new “Game of the Year” edition of LittleBigPlanet, which shipped this week. The new edition of LBP includes everything from the first game plus more than $30 of bonus content, new levels and free downloadable content packs.

We hope you like this next installment of the campaign as much as you enjoyed the first two spots. Lots more coming, including ads that feature some of our biggest games like UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves and Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time. You’ll be hearing plenty more from me and Kevin Butler very soon…

Enjoy,

Peter Dille

We know you guys are eager to learn more, so this week we’re talking to Anton Mikhailov, a software engineer (and right hand man to Richard Marks) in SCEA’s Research & Development department. You may recognize Anton from the motion controller demonstration at this year’s E3 presentation. Anton was gracious enough to break down the new controller’s PVC origins and some of the possible applications for this new technology. Check out the video below for more details.

Next week, we’ll be posting Part III so be sure to stop by the PlayStation Blog for more exclusive motion controller info.

Hey PixelJunk fans,

Well, Q-Games has been busy again, and not just on PixelJunk. You may have noticed some new additions to the PlayStation 3’s XMB (Xross Media Bar) with the latest firmware update to version 3.00.

Well, we’re behind the “star dust” and if you haven’t noticed it yet, you’re in for a nice surprise. We wanted to implement something like the beginning of the movie Gattaca but they wouldn’t let us go quite that far, so we settled on the subtle but pretty dust effect you can see now. If you shake the Wireless Controller, you can move them about a bit, as if they are being carried by eddies in the wind.

Also, there are these new things called Dynamic Themes, and we’re proud to say that this is a system we were involved in developing. Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) wanted to spice up the background a bit and static pictures just didn’t cut the mustard. So we collaborated with them to make a system where developers can display what they want and animate and move them around. This definitely adds a little life to the PS3’s background so be sure to try it out.

In fact, go ahead and download our PixelJunk Monsters Dynamic Theme which is now available for $2.99 on the PlayStation Store. Soon you’ll have the little Tikiman running around amongst the trees behind whatever it is you are doing in the XMB. This is actually the very first theme ever made with the system because we used it to test out the features!

So go for it and grab a bit of PS3 history for yourself.

Oh and one more thing…PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe is coming to PSP very soon featuring a brand new island, more maps, new monsters & towers. We’ll have more info on that later!