They previously said it was scheduled for "an early December release," and now, we get an actual release date! According to a product listing on GameStop, the peripheral is now available for pre-order and is scheduled for release on December 1.

New information about the upcoming firmwares for the PS3 and PSP have surfaced. Well, when Eric Lempel revealed the list of features for PS3 FW 2.50 and PSP FW 5.00 yesterday, he did say it wasn't the entire changelog.

UPDATE: PS3 Firmware 2.50 is now available for downloading, folks. The changelog is shown once you start the download. Nice.

 

Korea, home of thousands of MMORPGs and professional gamers, finally gets it console gaming fix with the launch of PS3 this Saturday. After selling 200 units in three minutes, the hype over Sony's hot machine continues, and we've got explosive pics from the launch to boot.

These guys have something to be happy about - not only will they be getting 80GB units, but QWERTY keyboards to come with the package. Just look at the smiles of those big boys holding their boxes while being surrounded by cute promo girls.

People not planning to grab a PS3 just yet also had a chance to test out some games. Quite a variety of Blu-ray movies were also up for grabs.

With such a warm reception, will StarCraft finally have some solid competition to win hearts of gamers? Won't be surprising to see 'gosu' players on PSN sometime soon. What do you think?

Find the pics after the jump!

PS3 sales is moving really slow compared to its market competitors, especially during the month that passed. This, however, is no sign at all that Sony's horse is in a critical condition. In Korea, whose market is dominated by online PC-games, 200 PS3 units were unexpectedly sold in three minutes.

Before the scheduled launch this June 16, Sony placed some units up for grabs on a cable TV shopping channel. It was supposed to fuel the hype by showing off the various functions of the console, but hungry fans could not wait more. All the units were sold almost instantly, leaving no space for any more introductions.

Sony Computer Entertainment Korea marketing manager Kang Hee-won said, "It was an amazing pace that nobody had expected. It also meant that there wasn't enough time to show off the PS3's various functions to viewers, since they were sold out before we could explain them."

Even with such warm reception, Microsoft is not backing down. Instead, Microsoft Korea marketing coordinator Lim Dae-hwan actually believes this is a good sign for both companies. He stated, "We have a positive view [on the launching of the PS3]. We welcome it. We have walked alone, but the competition will make us grow together [with Sony]." Looks like there won't be any wars here, but healthy competition, like in the UK.

As if our Korean gaming friends weren't lucky enough with their 80GB PS3s, their 360 Elites will be packed with a QWERTY keyboard. With all the love they're getting, will we see the industry bloom in Korea? After all, it's a country that embraces StarCraft like a national sport, and a place where the best on the online scene come from.

Finally. Something to make text input easier on the PS3. Some of you guys might have abhorred typing in some stuff with a SIXAXIS. And while you could plug in your own keyboard via USB... why not kill two pterodactyls with one huge comet and transform your controller into a keyboard itself? (saves a lot of space, ya?)

The Mad Catz laboratories rolled out a new peripheral: the PS3 Wireless Thumbpad. And at US$ 30, it's quite a bargain too. Thirty bucks get you the following features:

• Functional multi-key QWERTY interface
• Enhances in-game messaging capabilities
• Convenient clip-on design
• Fully compatible with PS3's web browsing functions
• Plug and play technology
• All PS3 controller buttons still accessible
• Removable clamp increases versatility

From the looks of things, the mini-keyboard itself must be clipped on top of the controller. We're not sure though if it can be clipped onto any other part of the SIXAXIS... but hey, text input in semi-inconvenient place is far better than no text input at all.

Well guys, as Ludikhris, Christopher and MESSIAH have managed to tell us, PS3 Firmware 1.6 is out now. If you're a PS3 owner, you may want to try downloading the update now so you can get back to your regularly scheduled Resistance: Fall of Man fragfest. In the meantime, we'd like to ask for your participation in helping us get the word out.

We're currently downloading the update, but if you guys happen to have finished the update, let us know in the comments or on our forums. Inform us of what's in the final changelog for FW 1.6. We'll be scouring the internet for more information, but you can debate the merits of the PS3 FW 1.6 and whether or not we were gimped by this new firmware release on the forums in the meantime.

This post is up for only a few minutes and already the updates are pouring in. Trifecta called our attention and linked us to a post made by user friendly in our PS3 forums. Basically, our good member user friendly has made a list of the changelog for PS3 firmware 1.6 via info from a press release. Here's what he has for us:

Featured Content
Folding@home connectivity, background downloading of content from the PLAYSTATION®Store, support for Bluetooth keyboards and mice, and an optional full QWERTY on-screen keyboard for text entry.

The full changelog awaits after the jump!