The forgotten fad of virtual reality gaming may be set for a surprise revival, with Sony confirming to Develop that it is experimenting on the technology within its studios.

Mick Hocking, senior director at Sony Worldwide Studios, said that a prototype device used to test virtual reality also displays high-end 3D.

"We've got a new head mounted display [in development] that we showed at Consumer Electronics Show," Hocking said in a newly published interview with Develop.

He said the prototype device (pictured below) has twin-OLED screens - one for each eye - to eliminate information crossover issues.

Now further developments have led Sony to incorporate head-tracking into the device, paving the way for a virtual reality experience.

The tech is being experimented on with a number of games including first-person shooters, but there appears to be no solid product launch plans for now.

"At the moment it's just a head-mounted display; the head isn't being tracked - but that's something we're doing R&D on," Hocking said.

"I have to say, what we've done in the R&D projects has just been fantastic. We're working with a couple of games at Sony that are experimenting with virtual reality type experiences."

Notebook Italia recently posted a hands-on video showing off several features of Sony’s S1 Android Honeycomb tablet. The S1 was announced in April — alongside the S2 — and is set for a fall release, but Sony hasn’t provided many chances for press to check out the device first-hand. As the video shows, the S1 will be the first tablet to run Sony’s PlayStation Suite software, an application that provides access to Sony PlayStaton certified games and content, such as the Green Hornet trailer spotted in the video. The S1 is powered by a 1GHz dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, which means you’ll get a top notch gaming experience out of the box.

 World Game Project is taking place in Akihabara on July 23rd. The flash animation that opens up the site says "Play the world's games," so this is presumably a demo event focused on international titles.

Sony is providing developers a helping hand in the creation of PSP Remaster titles. The “PSP Engine” was introduced by Sony’s Kentaro Suzuki during a session at the Game Tools & Middleware Forum in Tokyo, which is described as the base engine for bringing PSP games to PlayStation 3.


The “PSP Engine” offers developers the following features:


1. High-resolution rendering


2. Control (with Dual Analogue support) through wireless controllers (DualShock 3 / SIXAXIS)


3. 3D stereoscopic output


4. Ad-hoc Party unification


5. Main memory and graphic memory expansion


6. Common save data


Currently, the only PSP Remaster title to be announced is Monster Hunter Portable 3rd HD Ver. from Capcom.

Big changes are happening at Sony Computer Entertainment. Effective September 1, President and Group CEO, Kaz Hirai, will become Chairman of the company; the current President, CEO, and Co-COO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Andrew House, will take over Hirai's former position.


Additionally, Ken Kutagari, the father of PlayStation, retired yesterday from his role as Honorary Chairman. Even so, he will still work as a senior technology officer at the company.

A new video clip of Amy, Lexis Numerique’s upcoming PlayStation Network title, has been released, aiming to highlight the visual aesthetic of the title.

The new model, available in Charcoal Black, will have lower power consumption at 200 watts, lower weight at 2.6kg, and will include a 320 gigabyte hard disc. Pricing is set at ¥34,980, the same as the pricing on similar current models. The included accessories remain unchanged: Dual Shock 3, power cable, AV cable and USB cable.