Sony quietly(for them) unveiled a firmware update for their PS3 on October 15th. The update includes, among other things, several interesting additions for for cinéphiles out there. You can now enter your DivX VOD registration code to make using the king of codecs on your home television easier. The update also offers 50Hz video output, Mosquito noise reduction video enhancement and support for chroma unsampling. Check the link for more details.

Does any of this help you with your level editing on "Little Big Planet?" Um, not at all but that is one amazing game and it deserved a shout out.

An international solid state circuit conference, which sounds super fun, has been going on this past week. One thing that we should care about is IBM’s announcement that it has figured out a way to shrink the Cell processor that’s used in the PS3, cutting its power consumption in half (or just about). Following the imaginary flow chart, less power consumed leads to less heat generation which leads to less chance of overheating and failure. It’ll also be cheaper to produce, which could, one day, help Sony lower its price. IBM has also found a way to cut the power usage of the light bulb that appears over their heads, each time they get a bright idea.

GT provided the Nerd with a video preview of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, which is slated for release on April 17th in the US. It looks so realistic.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue runs in full high definition at 1080p. Additionally, in conjunction with a robust offline experience, for the first time in the history of the franchise Gran Turismo 5 Prologue supports up to 16 players racing head-to-head online, complete with global leaderboards.

Click the link below to see the video.

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Rumble is available for the PS3, but not without jumping through some hoops. To make it easier, just buy Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (the first retail game with built-in rumble support) and you will have the firmware. The controller is a more difficult as it is set to release next month in Japan.

Get on those forums and make friends in Japan!

And another price reduction from Sony. This should teach us all to wait and not buy right away. But will we listen?

Granted, this is a rumor, but….the story is that Sony is planning a $400 40GB PS3 for the holiday season.

The story goes on to say that the price may drop soon to $500 for the 80GB version and that both will come bundled with a Blu-ray version of Spider-Man 3.

Hold onto your hats – er, wallets – the PS2 is supposed to be selling for $100! Now that’s news!