Back in the 80s for a while if you owned a VCR you either had Betamax or VHS, depending on where your loyalties lied and what your local video rental store had the most of.

Eventually that section in the rental store which stocked Betamax videos shrunk to nothing—and here’s the fascinating story of why that happened.

Are you ready for the coolest party of the rest of your life? If the answer is ‘yes’ then we need some essential goodies to make this happen – Cool location. Check – Friends and family (yes, they are invited). Check – Awesome music. Check – Amazing video visuals. Check. All the latest video games. Check – As much time as you want to indulge yourself in all of the above. Check.

But how i hear you ask? Well, it’s as easy as saying ‘Sony Entertainment Network’ – One account and one login is all you need to get started. Plug in, turn on and tune out.

We put some of the world’s best music, movies, games and technology all under one roof, added a huge chunk of creativity and made something truly unique: One of the greatest entertainment experiences the world has ever seen, inspired by the minds behind Sony Entertainment Network.

To find out more go to: www.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com

This summer sees the release of The Amazing Spider-Man blockbuster – as I’m sure you’re aware. To celebrate the return of the famous comic book crime-fighter, Sony are giving people the chance to appear in their own Spider-Man adventure.

Fans are able to upload a photo of themselves, along with their friends, and edit this into the mural to create their own personalised Spider-Man poster. My Spidey-senses are tingling.

Sony commissioned photographer Dave Hill to create an interactive Spider-Man mural depicting a scene from the New York streets.

The creators of the most impressive murals, as voted for by Sony, will receive a photo and video editing kit including an NEX-5N camera and the latest VAIO E Series 17 with Vegas Pro 11.

Visit www.yourspidermanadventure.com to take part and follow the story at #yourspidermanadventure.

We also went behind the scenes with composite photographer Dave Hill to capture how the Spider-Man Adventure mural was created, from shooting the New York City landscape through to editing and layering the different elements of the story.

During the shoot of the Spider-Man Adventure mural, Sony arranged for a SWPA student photographer to have a two-day tutorial on set and learn the tricks of compositing, lighting, and positioning – which you can also watch to get hints and tips on creating a winning mural!

Now you have tips from the experts, Sony is giving you a chance to picture yourself in an amazing Spider-Man adventure mural.

Visit www.yourspidermanadventure.com to take part and follow the story at #yourspidermanadventure.

Ever played Uncharted? Well, now you can win the chance to meet the creators of the PlayStation® game Uncharted and create your own in-game multiplayer character for Uncharted 3.

All you have to do is audition and prove you are as good as Nathan Drake. Impress the judges and you go in the running for the final prize!

Check it out here – http://www.theunchartedaudition.com/uk

it’s a pretty immersive game, with real mystery and location and characters that you love and hate. It’s a bit like ‘playing’ inside a film that’s unraveling. What you might not know is that the characters you see in the game are played by real actors, acting out the scenes whilst being motion captured. Their movements and facial expressions are taken and animated by the team at Naughty Dog’s studio where Uncharted is made:

The action heroes of video games are no longer just drawings and pixels, with motion capture your favourite PlayStation® game characters come to life using real actors. Watch to hear from Nolan North and Emily Rose who play Nathan Drake and Elena, about where they draw their inspiration from to play their characters.

Go behind the scenes at Naughty Dog’s studio where they created Uncharted for PlayStation®, and see what inspired the cast and crew including writer and creative director Amy Hennig, to create the most cinematic video game experience ever made.

Uncharted wouldn’t be possible without the cutting edge cinematic technology and creative genius available at PlayStation® and Naughty Dog. Meet the technical experts behind the game and hear what it takes to get from the motion capture studio to the finished product.

For more information around this event check out these links to Facebook and Twitter

Ever wondered how it feels to be moments away from stepping onto the stage and performing in front of a roaring crowd? Sony is inviting you to immerse yourself in this electrifying atmosphere. Enjoy a multi-dimensional journey featuring a seamless mix of fast-paced imagery, combining photography and ground breaking three dimensional sound.

Grab your headphones and join this exciting audio-visual journey created using 3-Dimensional sound – technically known as binaural – that will make you experience rock stardom.

Want to know how this was done? Meet the men behind the magic. The sound designer is a world leading expert in binaural sound, Nick Ryan. He is a multi-award winning sound designer and audio media specialist widely recognised as the world’s leading binaural sound expert, and was in charge of designing and recording the binaural soundscape for this project.

This piece was produced by employing the technique of binaural sound, where sound is recorded using two microphones arranged in the same distance as human ears are apart, to create a sensation where the listener hears like they were actually in the room with the performers or instruments or sounds they are hearing.

The sound designer in this project used ‘dummy head recording’, where a mannequin head is fitted with microphones in each ear, to record the sounds you hear in the piece. A binaural recording is intended for replay using headphones and will not translate properly over stereo speakers.

This year alone he has created binaural campaigns for Nike, launched a real time 3D audio iPhone game with no video and interpreted a novel into an audiobook – www.nickryanmusic.com

Complementing Nick’s sound design is photographer Andrew Scriven, who was a finalist in the SWPA 2011 Open category and was chosen to take part in this project because of his attention to detail and consideration he puts into every shot. He is British and previously worked as an Analyst in the city of London.

He gave up his job to pursue his dream of becoming a photographer and recently took a 12 month journey around the world which took him to Antarctica, on-board a 3 mast tea clipper where he captured the photos which lead to him being a finalist in SWPA. www.andrewscriven.co.uk

For more information about how you can start using this amazing technology check out this information pack and see how it is all done.

It’s enough to make Optimus Prime hang his head in shame – THIS is exactly what you need to suit your every mood and impress your buddies in the process – talk about awesome!

Check it out as this guy’s room totally transforms! No SFX, no post production, no cuts, everything you see here was done 100% for real. Transformer-tastic!

Making it in the music biz is fraught with ups and downs, it’s the kind of career that you’ll need skin as thick as Cee-Lo’s waist band to survive. But if you do decide to head down this treacherous path, then hope that your rise to meteoric super stardom is swift and successful.

Like these rising stars Oh Land, Mads Langer and Loick Essien. They’re living the goddamn dream and maybe you can too, remix a Bob Dylan or Ting Tings track and win a bunch of stuff.

A long time ago, like in the 1980s or something, there was a trailer & it was used to advertise a film. This is the story of that trailer. Not really, this is a bunch of work shy film students trying to make a formulaic action trailer for the movie moguls of L.A.

Will they shake the very foundations of Hollywood? Or will they wish they hadn’t missed half their classes down the bar drinking cheap beer & discussing what you call a Whopper in Paris?