Some screen shots of a new update for the PS3 that shows Facebook running on the console have tipped up in Europe. Facebook has been available on the Xbox 360 for a while but hasn’t been offered on other consoles.

I guess Sony is finally tired of Xbox offering things that the PS3 doesn’t. Now that the PS3 has Netflix and will be getting Facebook; the Xbox has two reasons less to buy it rather than the PS3. There is no word on when exactly the update will hit.

We talked earlier this month about the announcement that the PS3 would be getting Netflix streaming service. Today marks the official live date for the PS3 Netflix deal. If you were wondering how Netflix got around that deal with Microsoft, Blu-ray is the answer.

The Blu-ray disc that has to be in the PS3 at all times uses BD-Live to access the Netflix streaming catalog. As long as the disc is in the PS3, you can stream until your heart’s content. The service is free to all Netflix members, but you have to request one of the discs.

PS3 users have been waiting for this one for awhile while their Xbox 360 buddies have been streaming Netflix since July of last year and bragging about it. But now is your time Sony fans. PS3 instant streaming discs are now being sent out to Netflix users who have requested them.

It’s either this or wait for an XMB software update late next year that will let you stream Netflix to the PS3 disc-free, which is how it should be.

You’ve been praying for it and now at long last Netflix streaming will be available “later this year” on the PS3. Just like the Xbox 360, it will be free with the $8.99-a-month plan. But with the PS3, you’ll enable Netflix via an “instant streaming Blu-ray disc.”

The free disc will activate Netflix via BD-Live. You’ll have to load up the disc every time you want to use Netflix for now. You’ll be able to order movies and do all of the other stuff right on screen without having to do it on your computer first.

The idea here is that if you buy a Bravia TV, they’ll throw a PS3 at it for you. Or something. Clever Australian marketing. Take one 46-inch Bravia TV KDL46X LCD and launch a PS3 Slim into it at 50 MPH. It’s sure to go viral. Or so they hope.

It’s a slow motion thing of beauty. Much more graceful than watching a Wiimote assault a TV. Very satisfying. So the moral of the story is to get yourself a PS3 along with that TV, because there are better ways to connect the two.

SplitFish, the company that sounds like it suffered tragedy on a butchers table and lost all of it’s insides, has announced that the SFX Frag Pro controller will be shipped on November 10th, 2009.

As some of you already know, the controller has a mouse section with a 2000dpi sensitivity as well as a FREVO “Fragchuck” section that functions as a gaming controller for the PC and the Sony PlayStation 3. The SplitFish Dual SFX Frag Pro Controller will cost you $90 each.

As you know, Sony has moved into motion control gaming and the Blaze PS3 Motion Freedom 3D Controller will let you interact with Sega Tennis for the PS3, letting you play Tennis with real life motions just like the Wii. As well as other games. So heck, why not have the controller look just like a Wiimote?

We don’t know when the Blaze PS3 Motion Freedom 3D Controller will be released, or how much it will cost, but we wonder what Nintendo thinks about this design?

Your current game controller is probably a little boring. Why not spice things up with this Warrior USB Joypad? Channel your inner warrior and use his power to conquer your foes, while trying to forget how uncomfortable this thing is.

The warriors eyes light up and it will vibrate with compatible games. It’s compatible with USB, PlayStation PS3 and PS2. To me, this thing looks like a bat with a Samurai head. I think they may have created a new superhero.

Final Fantasy fans will want to save up their money for this one. At the Tokyo Game Show press conference today, Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase unveiled the special FFXIII-themed limited edition PlayStation 3.

As you can see, the FFXIII PS3 is pink on white, with a “Lightning” theme along with FFXIII branding. Under the hood, it will be a 250GB model. If you don’t mind the pink, then consider this a Christmas present to yourself. It’ll be available on December 17 in Japan.

The PS3 could face shortages during this holiday season if the current sales rate continues, according to SCEA chief Jack Tretton. He brags that PS3 sales have tripled since the price drop to $300 and the new slim redesign and says that it’s “conceivable” that these sustained sales could lead to some stores running out as demand outpaces supply.

The price drop alone has led to the PS3 outselling the Xbox 360 and the Wii. We’ll see what happens. Microsoft’s matching price drop for the Xbox 360 Elite might offset the discount, as well as the impending Wii price cut.

Above is a Microsoft Word document from SEGA America’s official FTP site in SEGA’s news directory. It could be there as a joke, but if it’s real, then it reveals some interesting details. Mainly that Sony will be launching its PS3 motion controller in Japan in March of 2010, then elsewhere in the Spring.

There are also details of PlayStation 2 emulation on the PS3 and that “SCEA wants to sell all PS2 titles on PSN (GTA Vice City/Sonic/etc).” Want more? Maybe they will announce it at the Tokyo Game Show which starts Thursday.

This is the tipping point. This bit of news right here. This is the very thing that finally, at long last dooms humanity to a Wall-E future, where humans are all fat and stupid. Yeah, why bother to use the phone? Who needs all that human contact? No way you’re heading to the store to pick up that pizza either, not the way your chins bang into each other like a pair of Kerbangers.

No, the best way to do it is to order pizza from your PS3. The Papa John’s site delivers ads for Sony games like LittleBigPlanet and the digital download PixelJunk Shooter, and makes it easy to order a pizza with your DualShock 3.

Looks like Sony’s PS3 Slim is paying off for the company. Sales of PS3 hardware at “top retailers” jumped 300% for the first week of September compared to the week before the system’s price was cut to $299 for the “slim”.

Yes, people are actually buying the console. This news surely makes the folks at Sony feel all warm and tingly, but that’s not it for good news. According to a survey by GamePlan Insights, five of consumers’ top 10 most-wanted games are actually on the PS3 (Gran Turismo 5, Final Fantasy XIII, God of War III, Assassin’s Creed 2, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2).

Here’s one gamepad that looks vroom vroom fast while standing still. These exclusive Thrustmaster gamepads are for the PS3 and PC. They are wireless and of course detailed with Ferrari stylings. The wireless versions are the Ferrari Wireless Gamepad 430 Scuderia and the F1 Wireless Gamepad Ferrari F60.

You won’t pick up any hot babes with these in your hands, but they do look pretty cool and they ship this October for $49.99 each, unless you want a wired version for $10 less.

In case you have been living under a rock, the big thing right now is 3D and the 3D bandwagon is bursting at the seams from so many people jumping on board. The PlayStation 3 is the latest on the 3D bandwagon, bringing a 3D mode to Sony’s console that will work with all existing games sometime in the next year.

To enjoy this feature, you will of course need a new TV that supports 3D. So it may be a while until this is really common. It’s one interesting direction that consoles are headed in, but what do you guys think of the whole 3D momentum? Is it over-hyped or is this really the future of gaming? We want to hear your thoughts.