Sony's new AI beats humans in Gran Turismo racing game

Sony said on Wednesday it has created an artificial intelligence agent called Gran Turismo Sophy (GT Sophy) that was able to beat world's best drivers of the PlayStation racing simulation game Gran Turismo.

To get GT Sophy ready for the game, different units of Sony brought in fundamental AI research, a hyper-realistic real world racing simulator, and infrastructure for massive scale AI training, the company said in a statement.

The AI first raced against four best Gran Turismo drivers in July, learnt from the race and outperformed the human drivers in another race in October.

"It took about 20 PlayStations running simultaneously for about 10 to 12 days to train GT Sophy to race from scratch to superhuman level," said Peter Wurman, director of Sony AI America and the leader of the team who designed the AI.

While AI had been used to defeat humans in the games of chess, Mahjong and Go, Sony said the difficulty in mastering race car driving was the many decisions that need to be made in real time.

Sony's rival, Microsoft, which recently bought Activision for $69 billion, has been using games to improve AI by offering up new challenges for AI models to solve.

Gran Turismo, a racing simulation video game, made its debut in 1997 and has sold over 80 million units.

Sony wants to apply the learnings to other PlayStation games.

"There are a lot of games that pose different challenges for AI and we're looking forward to starting to work on those problems," he said. (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee, European Technology & Telecoms Correspondent, based in Stockholm; Editing by Sandra Maler)

-reuters

Sony posts record Q1 profit on pandemic demand for devices and content

TOKYO - Sony Corp raised its earnings outlook on Wednesday after a record first-quarter operating profit helped by pandemic stay-at-home demand for PlayStation 5 consoles, TVs, music and movies.

Operating profit for the quarter ended June 30 rose to 280.1 billion yen ($2.57 billion) from 221.7 billion yen a year earlier, topping the 207.96 billion expected by 10 analysts, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

It raised its profit forecast for the year through March 2022 to 980 billion yen from 930 billion, bringing it closer to the 1 billion yen average estimate from 25 analysts.

Sony had expected growing pandemic demand for its devices and content to wane as coronavirus lockdowns eased, but with fresh waves of COVID-19 infections sweeping the world, restrictions are still common.

A shortage of semiconductors, however, which is also affecting the likes of Apple, means it cannot produce enough PlayStation games consoles to meet demand.

Those supply-chain constraints could also affect the production of other consumer electronic devices, Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki told a news briefing after Sony's results.

"We use a lot of semiconductors and it is a source of concern," Totoki said. "We can't become complacent," he added.

Sony in May said it expected to sell 14.8 million PS5 units this fiscal year. Launched in core markets in November 2020, the console, which sells for as much as $500, quickly sold out.

Sony has secured enough chips to achieve that production target, Totoki said.

Sony sees the game console as a way to connect its traditional consumer electronics with its growing content business by encouraging online game downloads and sign-ups for subscription services.

As it streamlines its consumer electronics business, Sony is beefing up its entertainment content and distribution business. In December it agreed to buy AT&T Inc's T.N animation business Crunchyroll with 3 million subscribers worldwide.

In June it bought Housemarque, a Finnish game software maker. I

Sony also increasing movie offerings on streaming services offered by Walt Disney Co and Netflix as the pandemic delays movie theatre releases.

Higher production costs, however, dented profitability, the company said.

In May, the company indicated that it would continue to expand its content business through acquisition when it said it would spend 2 trillion yen over the next three years on strategic investments, including a push to expand subscribers to its gaming and entertainment services.

In its financial division, Sony posted a 16.8 billion yen one-time loss resulting from an unauthorized fund transfer at a Bermuda subsidiary, SA Reinsurance, in May.

The company said it reported the payment to local authorities and was trying to recover the money.

-reuters-

E3 unleashes next generation of gruesomeness

LOS ANGELES — Game makers at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo went for the jugular.

That’s not just a metaphor about the competitive spirit of the video game industry at its annual trade show this past week. There were also actual depictions of throats being ripped out — as well as spleens, spines, hearts and testicles — in some of the goriest scenes ever shown off at E3.

Developers of such titles as “Bloodborne,” ”Let It Die,” ”Mortal Kombat X,” ”Dead Island 2″ and “Dying Light” weren’t shy about harnessing the high-powered graphical capabilities of the latest generation of consoles to portray more realistic decapitations, dismemberments and other grisliness.

Why the apparent boost in high-definition gross-outs?

“I think in the early years of a console launch, you have the so-called early adopters and hardcore fan base,” said Shawn Layden, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, which launched the PlayStation 4 last November. “I think they look for the latest gaming experience that takes them to another level from where they’ve been before, and a lot of our publishing partners are pursuing the new, most impactful experience for gamers.”

The parade of carnage kicked off Monday at Microsoft’s presentation when the creators of “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare” demonstrated a level in which a character’s arm is ripped off while attempting to sabotage an enemy aircraft in South Korea. Michael Condrey, co-founder of “Advanced Warfare” developer Sledgehammer Games, later maintained the amputation wasn’t only intended to shock.

“We know that war is terrifying,” said Condrey. “The military advisers that we work with talk about the horrors of war. ‘Call of Duty’ isn’t just about gratuitous violence. The scene that you saw in Seoul at the Microsoft press conference, that’s an impactful story moment. The loss of the arm is really part of the narrative. We showed that for a particular storytelling reason.”

Other slaughter on display at E3 included a first-person perspective of a decapitation in a demo of the French Revolution-set “Assassin’s Creed: Unity” and several bone-crushing new moves in “Mortal Kombat X,” like extreme close-ups of characters snapping their opponents’ spines and manhandling their genitals.

“It seems, as time goes on, video games continue to become more violent, realistic and graphic,” said Brad J. Bushman, a communication and psychology professor at Ohio State University. “This is a disturbing trend. Unfortunately, I see no signs that it will stop. The research evidence clearly indicates that violent video games increase aggression in players, and can make them numb to the pain and suffering of others.”

But it wasn’t merely blood and guts on display at E3 this year. The virtual horse that players will mount in the open-world action sequel “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” has been programmed to spontaneously defecate. And in a creepy abandoned mental institution from the Victorian-era thriller “The Order: 1886,” there’s not just blood smeared across the walls.

Game makers defend that gore aids the narrative, yet many believe a little goes a long way.

“For us, it’s more impactful if it’s done tastefully,” said “The Order” game director Dana Jan. “If you just throw blood all over the place, it’s meaningless. … We have to look at what we think is disturbing or scary and figure out how to do that masterfully without going too over the top.”

E3 wasn’t completely consumed with bloodshed. This year’s show featured a plethora of non-bloody, artsy games that attracted an unprecedented amount of attention. Still, the biggest games at E3 are usually the most hardcore

While violence has long been part of gaming history, and these gory titles are destined to be restricted to adult buyers by the industry’s rating board, such footage received visceral reactions from even the most seasoned gamers this year.

“E3 2014, taken as a whole, doesn’t feel as obsessed with violence as past shows,” wrote Chris Plante, co-founder at the gaming site Polygon. That was before he cut the show’s most graphic violence into a one-minute video. “The supercut is dense with blood, organs and unrecognizable viscera,” Plante wrote. “It’s strange how these things can wash over you but make an impact when taken together. These conferences can be a bit desensitizing.”

source: technology.inquirer.net

Sony issues consumer alert on hacked PS3 units

Hacked PlayStation 3 units have been prevalent and a big concern for Sony Computer Entertainment. Hackers who have tried to crack the machine have met many difficulties in getting through the block that allows users to sign in the PlayStation Network with a “jailbroken” console in the years following the system’s release. 

 

Recently,  LV0 keys had reportedly been released online by hackers, enabling hacked units to access PSN content with the assistance of a PC. It’s a legitimate concern that Sony has addressed via their official website, issuing a consumer alert the addresses PlayStation Network and Sony Entertainment Network Services users.

 

Sony’s Notice Statement from the US Playstation website is as follows:

 

“Dear valued PlayStation 3 customers,

 

Unauthorized software for the PlayStation 3 system was recently released by hackers. Use of such software violates the terms of the “System Software License Agreement for the Playstation 3 System” and the “Terms of Services and User Agreement” for the PlaStation Network/ Sony Entertainment Network and its Community Code of Conduct provisions.

 

Violation of the System software License Agreement for the PlayStation 3 system invalidates the consumer’s right to access that system. Consumers running unauthorized or pirated software may have their access to the PlayStation Network and access to Sony Entertainment Network services through PlayStation 3 system terminated permanently.

 

To avoid permanent termination, consumers must immediately cease using and delete all unauthorized or pirated software from their PlayStation 3 systems.

 

In order to help provide a safe, fair, online environment, consumers who we belive violate “Terms of Services and User Agreement” for the PlayStation Network/ Sony Entertainment network or the applicable laws or regulations of their country or region risk having access to the PlayStation Network and access to Sony Entertainment Network services terminated permanently.”

 

 

In summary: those with hacked units and accessing the PSN or Sony Entertainment Network will get their accounts terminated immediately. PlayStation users best heed this bit of news.— TJD, GMA

source: gmanetwork.com

Aerosmith Push Album Release Back to November

Aerosmith have moved the release date for Music From Another Dimension, their first album in 11 years, back from August 28th to November 6th, frontman Steven Tyler revealed during a call to Cleveland radio station 100.7 WMMS.

"It's pushed back because too many people are releasing those weeks, and we don't want to step on their release dates," said Tyler. "So we said, 'You know what, we got the goods, ain't no doubt about [it], we'll wait a couple months.'"

Music From Another Dimension will be the band's first LP since 2001's Just Push Play. The group debuted the record's first single, "Legendary Child," during the season finale of American Idol last month, but the song has failed to gain traction on both the Billboard and iTunes charts.

Tyler also mentioned on-air that Sony will release two more singles before the album drops in November. One of those tracks could be the blues-tinged rocker "Oh Yeah," which the band debuted last week at the Minneapolis kick-off of their Global Warming tour, which finds them rekking across North America alongside Cheap Trick throughout the summer.

"We accomplished what we set out to do, which was write some stuff so we could represent who we were in the old days," Tyler told WMMS. "After all these years, you can become something other than you started out to be – and I'm not saying that's a bad thing – but we kinda love our rock and I love the diversity of this band ... I thought that was one of the secrets that Aerosmith had that other bands didn't – a little bit of this, a little bit of that."

source: rollingstone.com

Report: Shakira to Sign $30-$60 Million Deal With Live Nation and Sony

Shakira is close to inking a deal with Live Nation and Sony to release her next three albums, according to the New York Post. Shakira's new deal will have the two companies teaming up to release new music together while sharing profits from sponsorships, merchandising and recorded music. Sony is expected to handle distribution.

Reports on the deal's amount vary, with The Hollywood Reporter citing an agreement around $30 million while the Post pegs the amount closer to $60 million.

In 2008, Shakira left Sony for a 10-year deal with Live Nation estimated between $70 million and $100 million. She released her last album, Sale el Sol, in 2010.

source: rollingstone.com

PlayStation Network Goes Down Today for Maintenance

Just a quick reminder for all you PlayStation Network users: The PSN will go down today for what sounds like a piece of heavy-duty maintenance. While previous maintenance outages have been limited in scope, today’s will be different. According to Sony, users logged into the network prior to the outage will be signed out and no user will be able to login once the outage begins. And it will go on for quite a while.

According to Engadget, the maintenance will begin at 3 P.M. EST today and end some 14 hours later at 5 A.M. EST tomorrow. Sony is encouraging users to follow their Twitter account for the latest news about the outage, which has already been delayed once.

source: http://www.geekosystem.com/psn-down-maintenance/