Telltale has been churning out some fantastic adventure games as of late. The team responsible for Sam & Max, Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People and Wallace & Gromit has found its games on both WiiWare and Xbox Live Arcade. But why no love for the PlayStation Network? It's "easy," explains Dave Grossman to The Guardian. "Our engine doesn't run on the PlayStation yet."

We'd like to think that the developers are working on making the engine that powers these games fully multi-platform. We don't see why Telltale couldn't handle the PS3, especially considering the success found by the folks behind Penny Arcade Adventures.

... And for good reason, too. The company is bringing out two PS3 exclusives this year: Quantum and Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. Considering its third-party status, Tecmo is really risking a lot by abandoning a traditional multiplatform approach.

"Whenever I discuss this with Sony reps I always ask them: 'Please cut the price'," Tecmo's Kenji Matsubara told CVG. "Sony introduced cutting-edge technology in the PS3, that's why people in the industry accept that the PS3 cost is so high, but we'd welcome a price cut."

That's certainly a change of tone from a different third-party publisher, Activision. That company most recently made waves when it half-heartedly "threatened" to remove support for PlayStation products. In spite of the difference in approaches, it's clear that the PS3's price needs to be lowered. Not only does the customer want it, but publishers are demanding it as well.

Are you one of the few people who visit our site every day, only dreaming of owning a PS3? Well, maybe now's the time to change that dream into a reality. Newegg is having a special coupon-only deal, which will take $40 off the standard price of a PS3. It's not a price drop, but it's pretty close. To take advantage of the deal, use promo code EMCLVLN52.
For $360, you'll be able to pick up an 80GB "Core Pack." Sure, it doesn't come with the nice bonuses of the full-priced Best Buy bundle, but the $40 you save can go towards buying some PSN games. May we recommend a few?

[Thanks, majindustin!]

If you've been looking to color up your PS3 controller collection, you'll be glad to know that silver DualShock 3 controllers are now available nationwide at GameStop. This new color will set you back $54.99, which is the same MSRP as the standard black controller.

[Via Twitter]

A PS3 price drop is an inevitability. The only questions are when, and how much. While it may seem like a no-brainer, Sony must carefully plan out a price drop if it wants to get anywhere near its goal for profitability. Outspoken analyst Michael Pachter notes that Sony could lose $350 million of profits on a price cut of just $50 (accounting for 6-7 million systems sold after a reduction). While a cut to $299 would be far more palpable to gamers, that would cost the company at least twice as much -- would Sony want to incur those losses during a difficult financial market?

Considering the exorbitant price tag on a price cut, it's likely Sony will choose the smallest cut possible. Pachter suggests that a $350 bundle, which includes a first party game (such as Killzone 2) is the likeliest solution for the company, predicting the drop will happen in October -- just in time for the holiday season.

PRICE DROP?! Okay, not really. amazon.com is having a Gold Box deal today which drops the price of the standard 80GB PS3 down to $349 -- that's a savings of $50. We're certain most (if not all) of you already have a PS3, so this is where you'll have to evangelize a bit. Tell your friends why they should join the PlayStation Nation. Talk about the great games already out on the system: Uncharted, MGS4, Killzone 2, inFamous, etc. Then, do a Jack Tretton and talk about PS3's upcoming games: God of War, Final Fantasy XIV, Heavy Rain, etc.

Yeah, you'll become a salesperson, but think about this key benefit: the more people that actually own PS3s, the less stupid "PS3 has no games" comments you'll see online. And really, isn't that a "win" for everyone?

[Thanks, Kenny M.!]

Sony has landed a big Rockstar exclusive -- they have just announced that the Grand Theft Auto developer is bringing a new IP called Agent to the PS3. Details are still as shrouded in secrecy like so many spies, but we're told the game "will take the player across the globe" to participate in various spy-related activities.

Sony says they expect Agent to have the same effect on their platform as the original GTA3 exclusive did with the PS2, but we'll have to see. They didn't show gameplay or even a cinematic at the press conference, so even though the prospect of a Rockstar-developed PS3 exclusive sounds enticing, we'll probably have to wait quite a while for more.

It looks as though Sony is planning to introduce yet another PS3 SKU in the coming weeks. A reader has tipped us to a new addition to Best Buy's product database -- a "limited edition" PS3 bundle that includes a 80GB system and two games. It sounds similar to Target's post-GDC PS3 bundle, which included MotorStorm and Resistance.

According to the database, this new SKU is scheduled for release on June 9th, one week after the start of this year's E3 Expo. The listed price for the bundle is $399, the current price for a PS3 system now. Analysts have repeatedly stated a PS3 price cut is in the works, but this new SKU may suggest otherwise. Conversely, Sony may opt to drop the price on a "bare bones" bundle, while offering this new "elite" package at the now-standard price.

For now, this new bundle may be exclusive to Best Buy, similarly to Target's post-GDC bundle. The UPC listed uses a prefix that is typically used in Best Buy's PlayStation products. If Sony packages some newer high-profile games with the system (we have a few in mind), the $399 price point might be a bit more attractive. Oh, and Sony, please don't bundle Lair and Haze with the system, kthanks.

Are you expecting Sony to make the megaton announcement at E3? Y'know the one we're talking about. The price cut? Well, THQ doesn't share that vision. At its investor call earlier today, THQ's Brian Farrell cast doubt on a PS3 price announcement at the annual trade show. "We're not expecting a price cut at E3, but we do expect one later in the year."

A price cut for the PS3 will help THQ's sales portfolio, which is still largely rooted in games for the "core gamer." PS3 software sales represented about 13% of THQ's revenue for fiscal 2009, an increase from 8% the year before.

Don't have a PS3 yet? Really? Why?! Gamestop has a very good promotion right now, allowing you to save $100 off the purchase of a 80GB PS3 system when you trade in your PS2 and three games. To get the credit, your system must include AV cables, power cable and a working DualShock 2 controller. Most PS2 games will be eligible for the promo, but they must be worth at least $2 in trade value, meaning your old copy of Madden '04 will definitely not work.

Considering the cost of a new PS2 is now $100, this is quite possibly the best deal you'll be able to get on selling your old and busted system. With Uncharted 2, MAG, Heavy Rain and a number of PS3 exclusives in the pipeline, now might be the time to jump in ... unless you're waiting for that still-elusive price drop.

[Thanks, Torgo!]

Here's another way to harness the power of the PS3's Cell chip. Fixstars Corporation of Japan has announced CodecSys CE-10, the first H.264 encoder that's designed specifically for the PS3. The product will be showcased at the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas starting April 20th. The CE-10 software will be installed on a PC, but will somehow allow users to access the power of the PS3 as a way of accelerating video encoding. Fixstars is promising "ultra fast HD encoding" and "high quality low bit rate compression," targeted at the prosumer market at a prosumer price.

When questioned further on how the PS3 would interface with the CE-10 program, we were provided this rather useful document (pictured above). It appears the PS3 will need Linux installed, severely limiting its accessibility to all but hardcore PS3 owners. Considering the rather specific demands of this application, perhaps that makes sense.

CE-10 will be available for purchase in June 2009. For burgeoning HD filmmakers, this should be a very cheap way of turning the PS3 into a powerful piece of video hardware. Also, did we really just say "prosumer?"

While Microsoft often touts the Xbox 360's impressive attach rate -- the number of games sold per console -- Sony isn't sitting on its laurels. According to recent Sony comments to Gamasutra, the PS3 has a higher attach rate than the Xbox 360 when it comes to multiplatform titles. So ... what does that mean?

Basically, the claim is that many multiplatform games sell to a higher percentage of PS3 owners than Xbox 360 owners. In other words, the 402,919 copies of Street Fighter IV sold on PS3 represents a larger percentage of its installed base than the 446,435 sold on Xbox 360. Thus, the attach rate for the PS3 version is higher, even though it's sold fewer copies. Sony also cites Metacritic data in this campaign, noting that PS3 has a higher percentage (there's that word again) of titles with a score of 80 or higher than Xbox 360.

The elephant in the room, of course: Microsoft's console has a larger installed base -- by about 7 million or so -- and a larger software library, tilting the odd percentage game in Sony's favor. There's a valid point to be made here, specifically that certain multiplatform game sales are faring very well on PS3 despite the console's smaller installed base. You just have to unwind the spin to find it.

The Wonder Girls are rather popular in Korea, and it looks like Sony is leveraging their celebrity to promote the PS3. The music video for "Now" has the girls seductively turning on the PS3 and wildly moving their bodies to control Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. (Maybe they're using SIXAXIS controls?) The music is a little unbearable, and the video is almost absurd, but it's fun to see PS3 break into other forms of media.

[Thanks, James!]

You've heard it time and time again: the PS3 is not easy to develop for. However, the folks behind Sony's flagship FPS, Killzone 2, will disagree. Guerilla Games' Managing Director Hermen Hulst spoke to GameDaily about the working as a PlayStation-exclusive developer. "Like us, if you are native to PlayStation, our tech director doesn't say it's particularly difficult. It's specific, but it's not difficult like PS2 was difficult – PS2 was a difficult [machine] to crack, but PS3 didn't take us a long time to get up and running." Hulst does admit that multiplatform developers may have more trouble working with Sony's console "because it is very different" from other consoles.

Development Director Arjan Brussee not only sees PS3 as an easier system to develop for, but also believes Sony's proprietary architecture can be easier to deal with than the Xbox 360. "I actually think PS3 is a simpler architecture than some of the other consoles; you just have to have a certain mindset on how to address it. I think the Cell-based processor with the SPUs and the super high speed DSPs that you can throw all your calculation tasks at gives us a model that's way easier to program for, even for junior programmers, than the general purpose multi-core type of architecture, which the PC and Xbox 360 have." Brussee notes that offloading certain processes to the SPUs allows programmers to take full advantage of Cell's processing power.

The remarkable visuals of Killzone 2 certainly gives credence to their claims. Perhaps Guerilla should follow Insomniac's steps and allow the development community to learn some of their PS3 programming tricks.

Update: Looks like we may be wrong about this one as James Stevenson appeared on the PlayStation.Blog saying multiple PSN log-ins are included in the current firmware. Looks like we may have misinterpreted his comment on our site. Our original post remains below.

Looks like a PS3 firmware update may be happening today or tomorrow, folks. We reported details on the upcoming Resistance 2 patch which includes a number of features, one being multiple PSN log-ins. Many of our readers chimed in, saying this is a feature not possible with the current PS3 firmware.

We got potential confirmation of a pending PS3 firmware update through our comments section. Insomniac Games' James Stevenson responded to our post clarifying the situation. "Resistance 2 is the first game to fully log-in two PSN accounts. LBP only logs you in locally, and does not register both accounts as online through PSN. This is a big difference, and what is required for split-screen online co-op with other folks."

Here's the smoking gun: "And it was dependent on a Sony update, hence why it wasn't in when the game shipped." If the R2 patch is available on March 26th, then a new PS3 firmware update may be necessary today or tomorrow. It will have to allow for multiple PSN sign-ins, but will it feature any other improvements? Stay tuned.