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PlayStation Underground members have been informed by way of email that they can expect the next downloadable episode of Qore to provide access into the Resistance 2 beta. This highly-anticipated sequel to the best-selling launch PlayStation 3 title is expected to revolve heavily around multiplaying action. With Insomniac Games pumping the online limit up to 60 players, it makes perfect sense to throw a beta the online portion of the game. This will not only help tide fans of the series over, but it’ll also give Insomniac a better impression of how well the servers will handle the massive amount of traffic they’re sure to receive.
The beta is expected to begin during the month of September, so Qore users will have to wait quite some time before their purchase pays off. For those of you interested on when you can pick up the next installment of the online magazine, it’s scheduled for release on August 7. So far Qore has allowed users to gain eventual access to SOCOM: Confrontation’s beta, have an early playthrough of the latest Naruto demo and now gain an invitation to check out Resistance 2’s online play.
All that is left to do is to figure out if this beta is worth the asking price of a mere $2.99.

UPDATE: If you don’t want to purchase Qore, Insomniac has assured the public that there will be additional ways to acquire the Resistance 2 beta, such as a pre-order program that should be unveiled soon. As for any worried Europeans, the beta will take place in all territories, so don’t fret. [PSU]

Square Enix has gone PC. On the first day of the show, the Japanese game publisher announced that Final Fantasy XIII is coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (in Europe and North America only) and PC. During a press conference following the Microsoft event, Final Fantasy XIII Producer Yoshinori Kitase discussed the new development strategy that Square Enix has taken with its upcoming games.
Aside from the new The Last Remnant game, which is being created for Xbox 360 and PS3 using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3 externally, all new internally-developed games from Square Enix, including Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII Versus, and an untitled new massively multiplayer online game, utilize the new PC-based Crystal Tools development environment. These tools allow development teams to create cross-platform games.
“The content will be the same on all platforms,” said Kitase. “However, we have yet to determine how many discs will be required for the 360 version. We’ll have to consider the differences between formats. Currently the game is being built on PC, where it’s actually functional. We’re still focusing on making it work on PS3, so it’s difficult to know how long the process of taking it to 360 will take.”
Thanks to the new PC development platform, Kitase added, “Now that we’re developing on a PC base, the pace is going a bit faster,” Kitase said. “We haven’t introduced new footage of the game, but we should be able to show something new in the near future.”
Square Enix showed the beautiful pre-rendered trailer for Final Fantasy XIII at the end of the Microsoft press conference. The publisher has a big event scheduled for Tokyo next month where the first new information will be revealed on all Final Fantasy titles. Previously, the publisher released its online game, Final Fantasy XII, on Xbox 360 and PC. [Nzone]

Sony Computer Entertainment America’s Peter Dille has played down the significance of losing PlayStation 3 exclusivity of Final Fantasy XIII, suggesting that long time fans will still be drawn to the Sony platform release.
“What you have with Final Fantasy XIII is a lot like what they’ve paid for with GTA. It’s not an exclusive on their platform. It’s now a cross-platform game,” said Dille, during an interview with MTV’s Multiplayer Blog. [PSU]

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Dirk Meyer, the new chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices, said during a conference call with financial analysts that the company had initiated pilot production of microprocessors using 45nm fabrication process and that the chipmaker was on track to deliver actual products in volume in early fourth quarter.
“We are well on track with the 45nm plan as we have been telling this group about in the past. We have actually started production late last quarter and are on track to start buying shipments early in Q4,” said Dirk Meyer during the conference call. Earlier it was widely believed that AMD will only manage to start shipments of its 45nm microprocessors late in Q4, however, the company now seems to be a bit more optimistic about its 45nm transition.
View: The full story @ Xbit-Labs

If you don’t like the look of the new Xbox 360 Dashboard unveiled at E3 last week, then “you don’t actually have to use it,” says Microsoft’s Xbox Live director of programming Larry ‘Major Nelson’ Hryb.
According to The Major, every single function available in current 360 backend will be included in the new, clean-looking Dash’, which you can bypass completely if you choose.
“I know that there are some people that aren’t going to like the happy, happy, shiny New Xbox Experience. For whatever reason it’s not flipping their bit,” Hryb said in his latest podcast.
“Here’s my message to you: you don’t actually have to use it. You can never go there, just leave your game disc in and pretty much do everything that you could before but on the Guide level - one button press away in every single game. [ComputerandVideogames]

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If you’re looking to step up to a 60GB Xbox 360 but have an irrational fear of Amazon, Circuit City just put it up for pre-order. The price is still $349.99 but ship date is August 6, two inexplicable days later than Amazon. The site lists an HDMI output with upscaling DVD player, which is nice to see. Other than that, all else looks to be the same — no Circuit City bonuses like cables, games, or other schwag. [Engadget]

Google said Friday it will pay $140 million for a Russian contextual advertising company as it seeks to expand its services to advertisers and Web-site publishers outside the U.S. The 6-year-old company, Zao Begun but known as Begun, has a search and contextual advertising business, with about 40,000 advertisers and a network of 143,000 Russian-language Web sites.
Last month Begun launched a contextual video advertising service, Begun. Videocontext, the first such service in Russia, according to Rambler Media, a Russian company that runs a search engine, instant messaging service, an online newspaper and a price-comparison site, among other Internet properties. The service is wrapped into Rambler Vision, a video-sharing Web site. Advertisers can place ads that match users’ search queries. Videos are tagged with metadata, and Begun’s system takes into account the viewer’s location along with demographic information. Advertisements appear below the main content, and users have the option of closing that window completely.
View: Full Story at InfoWorld

Apple computers have enjoyed an excellent second quarter of 2008, with sales growing faster than any other manufacturer.
Gartner is reporting that Apple’s sales grew 38 per cent over the period and the company now has 8.5 per cent of the US market. HP consolidated its position as market leader with over 11 per cent sales growth, giving it a market share of 31.9 per cent. Overall the decaying economic situation has proved something of a boon to PC manufacturers.
View: The full story @ vnunet

AMD announced today that Hector Ruiz is stepping down from his position as chief executive officer in favor of President and COO Dirk Meyer, who was elected by the board of directors to fill the newly opened position; in turn, will become executive chairman of AMD and chair of the board of directors. Ruiz, 62, joined AMD as president and chief operating officer in January 2000 and became AMD’s chief executive officer on April 25, 2002. “AMD has fundamentally altered the industry landscape, leading the innovation agenda while delivering greater choice and better experiences for our customers and users,” said Ruiz. “Dirk is a gifted leader who possesses the right skills and experience to continue driving AMD and the industry forward in new, compelling directions. I am placing the company in excellent hands.” [Neowin]

“Dirk’s election to CEO is the final phase of a two-year succession plan developed and implemented jointly by AMD’s board of directors and executive team,” said Robert Palmer, lead independent director. “Under Hector’s strong leadership, AMD drove the industry adoption of pervasive 64-bit and multicore computing, became a trusted enterprise-class partner to leading technology suppliers and significantly expanded its global footprint in high-growth markets like China.“

Insomniac’s recently revealed PSN version of Ratchet & Clank will be available on Blu-ray in Europe.
Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty (notice the word ‘Future’ is missing from the PAL version) will release simultaneously with its US counterpart on the Store and on BD. Other titles including MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 “will all be appearing in our fiscal year, which is before March 31st 2009,” according to SCEE President David Reeves. Hopefully this isn’t implying that there will be a delay between the US and European versions.
“Coming in spring will be inFamous and MAG, and God of War [3] will be coming later in 2009. I can also confirm that we will support DC Universe online for PS3.” [PSU]