Sony Computer Entertainment America has agreed to settle a class action suit filed by former and current employees who were not appropriately compensated for overtime work.

For its part, Sony has agreed to put up an US$ 8.5 million settlement fund which will be used to pay off the concerned personnel. In addition, the company also agreed to reclassify the positions of its artists and other production crew in accordance to the federal Fair Labor Standards act.

The suit was filed in 2005 when employees responsible for the copying and production of images complained of not being paid overtime compensation, paving the way for Andrew Wilson v. SCEA in court.

Sony, however, maintains its innocence even if it agreed to a settlement. In a statement, the company said it "denies the allegations in the lawsuit and admits no liability or wrongdoing in settlement." In more recent news, SCEA Director of Corporate Communication David Karraker said that the lawsuit has no impact on the company's financial status for the quarter.

The suit is similar in context to those filed against big game companies Electronic Arts and Activision lately. The game companies have all maintained that they are not at fault but have opted for settlement for the sake of expediency.

SCEI, now chairman">Ken Kutaragi is synonymous with the brand PlayStation. after all, he is the brilliant mind behind consoles PlayStation 1 (PSOne), PlayStation 2 (PS2), PlayStation 3 (PS3), and even handheld PlayStation Portable (PSP). So we were shocked after hearing that Kutaragi will step down from his post effective June 19.

While Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) didn't give any reasons why Kutaragi is leaving the PS family behind, it did say that the official will remain as an honorary SCEI Chairman and will be Senior Technology Adviser to Chairman and CEO of Sony Corporation Howard Stringer.

Well, Sony actually did say something about Kutaragi's departure. According to them, Ken Kutaragi decided to "pursue his dreams beyond PlayStation and to accelerate his network vision" right after the worldwide launch of the new console. But you know how things go whenever a top executive leaves. It's always been "to pursue other dreams" so we don't know for certain if that's the real score.

When asked about this development, on the other hand, Kutaragi explained,

I am happy to graduate from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. after introducing four platforms to the PlayStation family. It has been an exciting experience to change the world of computer entertainment by marrying cutting edge technologies with creative minds from all over the world. I'm looking forward to building on this vision in my next endeavour.

SCEI's new CEO is going to be Kaz Hirai who used to man the Group Chief Operating Officer. He will also retain his position as SCEI president. We wonder if David Karraker will still say that this is actually no big deal...

Fansite "Killzone Unit" just had a bit of Q&A with SCEA. After asking their readers for possible questions to ask, it was none other that David Karraker himself who spoke for the company and answered some rather burning questions. There were a lot of issues raised, and some clarification on certain rumors we've been hearing for the past couple of days/weeks/months now. Some of the more interesting parts of the interview:

KZU: Now that Sony and Immersion have settled, is rumble going to eventually make it's way to the PlayStation 3 SIXAXIS controller?
Dave: We are currently in discussions with Immersion on how we can incorporate their technologies into our products. No word on when that will happen.

Take note, he said "when" and not "if". Is the rumble feature as good as confirmed then?

KZU: Regarding the XMB, are there plans to allow users to customize their backgrounds similar to the PSP?
Dave: Yes, we are currently exploring numerous options that allow people to make their PS3 experience more personalized.

Will this open up homebrew custom firmware and XMB custom icon packs in the future, much like what's been going on in the PSP community for the past couple of months?

KZU: What does the future hold for the PSP? Are there anymore plans for PS3 & PSP integration?
Dave: We just announced the price drop on PSP which saw a really good bump in sales. We have also announced that we are looking to launch the entertainment download service this year, in addition to God of War coming to the platform. Thanks to Remote Play and the direct wi-fi connection, PS3/PSP integration is something developers can take advantage of right now. I would think as we start looking at this next generation of software you will see more and more game makers taking advantage of it.

More PSP games taking advantage of the PS3 inter-connectivity feature. Why didn't I see that coming?

These excerpts pose some interesting developments and forecasts on the PSP, PS3, and the whole direction that Sony is going with their PlayStation brand. The rest of the full interview is waiting behind the Read link below.

For the past few days now, we've been hearing reports that Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) will be laying off a handful of its employees. Even though a lot of reasons were given - to cut costs, to streamline operations, because the industry is changing - the bottom of the matter is still yet to be reached.

But whatever the real reason behind all of these is, it seems that the move is on a worldwide level. Sony Computer Entertainment America's (SCEA) former Developer Relations Head Mark DeLoura remarked that some "really great people" had been laid off from SCEA just recently.

DeLoura added, "There were definitely some job cuts at SCEA last week, a bunch of the folks in marketing who have been involved in E3 prep in previous years were let go." It should be remembered that spokesperson Satoshi Fukuoka remarked that Japan may also see streamlining to their operations in the future.

However, David Karraker is insisting that there's no real surprises here as he explained, "Any recent staff changes at SCEA are part of the normal day-to-day operations of the company and are not related to the reorganization announced by SCEE this week."

With each new day comes a slew of new statistics. The latest one now comes from Sony's camp, with David Karraker recently announcing that more than 1.3 million people have signed up for Sony's PlayStation Network. 

The numbers are hardly surprising given the PlayStation's current status as a gaming hub, with additional numbers backing up the announcement. For instance, Karraker also reiterated that close to half the number of people signed up for the PSN is from North America. In addition, more than 3.7 million content downloads have occurred since the PSN's inception.

We're pretty sure that the main reason people have been going online and trying out the Network has been because of Folding@Home. It's the scientific fad that's really gotten everyone clamoring for people to help out. Otherwise, we'd all be playing games and not downloading stuff while waiting for our cyber-molecules to analyze themselves.

Is the 20GB model of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) going to be extinct in the future? We're not too certain on what's the real score on that, but judging from the rate that things are going, it is highly probable. In fact, just the other day, we learned that the online shop Sony Style US just pulled out the said models.

To add to that, we got a tip today from Kaizer_911, a manager for the retail chain EB Games, that his company is no longer purchasing new stocks of the PS3 20 GB model. According to Kaizer_911, the revelation was made through an e-mail from the company's higher-ups and the reason given was that "the demand and interest in the 60GB model out weighs that of the 20GB model."

Mote interestingly, Kaizer_911 went on and divulged that EB Games is currently devising a way to honor the PRP (warranties) sold on the console's smaller model. Another e-mail was sent, accordingly, in relation to this and part of it reads,

If a customer is trying to claim the PRP on a 20GB PS3, and your store doesn't have any, nor do any of your other local stores, you MUST email Store Operations of this issue and we will send you one from the warehouse within 2-3 days. This is currently how the PRP replacement plan is going, we are still looking into other ways to honor these PRP customers should the warehouse no longer have stock of the 20GB model.

A couple of weeks ago, it should be remembered that Best Buy admitted and confirmed that it is finally removing the 20GB model from its shelves. Uh, Mr. David Karraker, where are the 20GB models allocated for North America?

Meanwhile. in case we missed anything, Kaizer_911's full message can be found at the Full Article

When Sony announced the PlayStation Home service for the PlayStation 3, Microsoft was rather quick to bash it, saying that it's not even game-centric. So after confirming the long-rumored Xbox 360 Elite, MS should expect the same from its rival company. This time, the guns were fired by David Karraker, Senior Director of Corporate Communications for Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA).

The official said that this move will not, in any way, increase MS' market share. If anything, releasing a third SKU will diminish it as it will ultimately eliminate existing Core consumers. Karraker even said that Microsoft should focus on expanding its demographic outside its 10 million-strong user base. And then Karraker explained,

We're focused on reaching out to the mass market beyond the hardcore gamer, through things like LittleBigPlanet, through Home, through the network. We view every single PlayStation consumer as an elite consumer. Meaning no one is going to get shortchanged at the end of the day, whether they bought one on day one or just yesterday.

It should be remembered that Microsoft remained quiet for so long about this upgraded version of the Xbox 360. At one point, some of its officials were even quoted saying that the HDMI feature is not necessary and that a 20GB space is enough to handle several downloadable content.

Karraker then discussed how the Core version of Xbox 360 is related to PlayStation 2 (PS2). According to him, introducing a new SKU will not allow MS to dip into the existing PS2 consumers. Lastly, he mentioned that when one really thinks about it, the PlayStation 3 (PS3) is just an upgraded version of the PS2. Karraker remarked,

It's the value proposition. When you do the inflation figure for the US$ 299 PlayStation 2, and include the hard drive price in that, it'd be about the same price as a PlayStation 3. The onus is on us to educate the consumer on the value of a console that is going to last for 10 years.

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) Senior Director of Communications Dave Karraker, alongside other top Sony executives, promised that a list of backward compatibility titles for Europe will be released through a dedicated website on or before the PlayStation 3 (PS3) launches in Europe this March 23.

You may be delighted to know that this site is already up and running now. A couple of days ago, most of you got a bit pissed when we shared with you a report saying that, after running a series of test,  the European version of the system is only compatible with Eragon. While that wasn't the official list, it was quite unsettling to say the least.

Anyway, we checked the official compatibility site and as it turned out, there's actually a sufficient-enough library of video games for PlayStation 2 (PS2) and PlayStation 1 (PSOne) owners alike to enjoy. The games can be viewed according to countries, making it easy for fans to browse the site. The Eragon-test was ran on a German PS3 and it is worth saying that the said site doesn't have a Germany-dedicated page.

If you want to get a headstart and make a checklist of PS2 titles that you can play on your new system, the Read link below should take you to the European PS3 backwards compatibility status site. A similar site, as you all know, is available as well for North American players.

It seems that Best Buy is throwing in the towel on distributing the 20GB model of the PlayStation 3. This move was confirmed by Joystiq when a Best Buy employee sent a printout (printout shown in upper right) from their computer. The printout marks the PS3 20GB model as "discontinued."

David Karraker, head of SCEA PR, has reportedly said, "Overwhelmingly, retailers have been requesting the 60GB model, the mix has been about 80 percent 60GB, 20 percent 20GB retailer orders." It seems that demand for the 60GB model has already far surpassed the demand for the 20GB model.

Now, critics say that the sales for the PS3 system have not exactly been spectacular, but if the sales are skewed towards the 60GB model, will Sony discontinue the production of the PlayStation 3 20GB model?  For now though, Sony has confirmed that they are still producing the 20GB model.

UPDATE: It seems that Dave Karraker wised up and decided to do make-up with Kotaku. Brian Crecente writes:

He told me his take on the story and his frustrations and I told him mine, in the end we agreed to disagree on some level, but also decided that our readers and gamers in general would be best served if Sony and Kotaku could still play nicely together.

In a nutshell: The story remains up and Sony has re-invited us to the meetings and interviews initially scheduled for the Game Developers Conference.

It's unfortunate that we, not just Kotaku and Sony, but all of us had to go through this, but it's good to see the outcome: We were doing our job and Sony was doing theirs and now we can both continue to do so.

So how are we going to interpret this? Sony PR tried to do some damage control on that leaked rumor, only to have that backfire, and then now they're wising up and realizing that they better just try and befriend "teh internetz?"  Uh, yeah, that seems right.

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We've repeated it like a some cultist mantra: Sony needs to get in touch with it's audience again. Looking at recent events, this is not the way to do it.

Here's some background just so you know what we're talking about, if you troll gaming news sites though, you probably know about it already. Recently, Kotaku reported on a rumor that Sony is set to blend Microsoft Achievements, and Nintendo's Miis into one nifty feature called PlayStation Home. With PlayStation Home gamers will supposedly be able to set-up, ala Nintendo Miis, their own virtual space in PlayStation, and fill it with items that can be unlocked, ala Microsoft's Achievements.

While all Kotaku had going for this rumor, and they themselves admit this, was their source, and several excerpts from a multitude of interviews that hint that the source was legit, what Sony did in response to Kotaku's rumor report just gave the thing legs to stand on.

David Karraker responded to Kotaku's report in this manner:

I am very disappointed that after trying to work with you as closely as possible and provide you and your team with access and information, you chose to report on this rumor.... I can't defend outlets that can't work cooperatively with us.