Remember that countdown clock that popped up on the DUST 514 site on Friday? It turns out it was counting down to Sony's E3 press conference.

CCP CEO Hilmar Petursson just announced at the event that DUST 514 will be a PlayStation 3 exclusive. Of course, it will be linked to EVE Online's world on the PC. He also stated that DUST 514 will support the Move motion controller and will be "extended" to the NGP PlayStation portable. It was revealed later in the press conference that the portable device is now officially known as PlayStation Vita.

The DUST 514 closed beta will be held at the end of this year. The game will launch in summer 2012.

UPDATE: CCP has released a press release regarding the PS3 announcement and Petursson has written a letter about the news for the EVE Online community, which you can read after the jump. Community Manager James Egan has also posted a lengthy introduction to DUST 514 on the PlayStation Blog and is answering questions from players.

CCP has launched an ominous countdown clock on the DUST 514 site, and it looks like fans will have something to look forward to when the clock hits zero on Monday, June 6 at 8 p.m. EDT. Here are a couple comments from the game's Facebook and Twitter pages to tide you over while you wait.

Facebook: "We'll spare you that obligatory 80's hair band joke, and simply say that we're counting down to something at www.dust514.com. If you've been following along and waiting for more info about DUST 514, we thank you for sticking with us and hope you'll join us when we count down to zero."

Twitter: "What's this? Well, let's just say it's not a self-destruct countdown... www.DUST514.com #dust514"

E3 kicks off next week, so the announcement most likely coincides with CCP's presence at the convention. What do you think will happen when the countdown reaches zero?

Do you want that monocle up there? If you do, you'll probably be interested to hear that CCP plans to sell EVE Online vanity items for a new currency called Aurum in an in-game store. The new feature is expected to launch within the next couple of months.

So what types of items will be for sale? According to the dev blog, you'll be able to purchase "clothes and accessories for your character, custom paint jobs or logo placement on your ships or a fishtank/stripper pole for your Captain's Quarters." These items will be transferrable between characters.

For more details, check out the brief FAQ after the jump.

CCP announced today that EVE Online: Incarna will be released on June 21 with the launch of the Captain's Quarters. This new feature will provides a 3D space for characters outside of their ships. Here's the description from CCP Zulu's blog post:

"When you dock your ship, your Captain's Quarters will replace the current hangar view with a multifunctional room from which you can perform all the actions you previously could in the hangar view as well as manage your planetary infrastructures, explore new opportunities with a redesigned agent finder, use the corporation recruitment interface to find new allegiances, and watch streaming data, fed live from the vibrant universe of EVE."

CCP Zulu also says that the team will be rolling out more Incarna content throughout the year, including more rooms and more functionaility.

Do you want to see the Captain's Quarters in action? Then watch the introductory video below, which is a work in progress.

"What makes a good MMORPG?"

Ever since I started working as a video game journalist, I've been rather obsessed with this question, throwing it out in candid phone interviews and studio visits whenever I could. In particular, I love to ask this when I hear of a new MMORPG being developed, because when launch day rolls around, that's when it's time to see if the vision matches the product. Unfortunately, I don't think I ever realized what a loaded question I was asking until someone asked me the very same thing and hundreds of different answers popped into my head. Fact is, for every stellar MMORPG we run across, there are probably a dozen mediocre ones waiting to be launched. So just what is it that makes for a good MMORPG?

I've decided to devote a bit of my time and a few articles to exploring this.

As part of an experiment, CCP has added PLEX as a reward for EVE Online's Buddy Program. When inviting new players using the Buddy Invite page, you will have a choice of selecting either the standard 30 days of game time or a PLEX as the potential reward for that invitation. CCP will be monitoring the change closely and is prepared to adjust or abort the PLEX reward if necessary.

In addition, the team has added a few more features to the Buddy Program based on feedback: The cap on invites has been raised from three per month to ten per month, and Buddy invitations will remain valid and will no longer expire after a set period of time.

If you'd like to participate in the program, head over to the Buddy Program page to get started. More details on the PLEX reward can be found in the FAQ after the jump.

Do you have any questions for EVE Online developers? Then this is your lucky week! CCP is currently collecting questions from players through May 11, and they hope to have them all answered by May 13. All you need to do is post your question in this thread on the official forums, or go the social media route and ask it on Facebook or Twitter.

There's also another reason that today is a very special day for EVE Online players. CCP has released its EVE informercial spoof from Fanfest. It ranks right up there with the Slap Chop. Check it out below.

Today marks the eighth anniversary of EVE Online, and CCP is celebrating by giving giving away six-packs of Quafe Zero.

"As a thank you to all of you who actively play the game, we would like to give each of you a six-pack sample of the Quafe Company's newest product, Quafe Zero. Made from compounds found only in Sleeper vessels, each can of Quafe Zero promises to boost your Speed and Scan Resolution 5% for one hour, with zero booster side effects. Tastes great, won't fill you up, and makes you a better pilot? For free? What a deal!"

You can redeem your gift through May 31. Happy anniversary EVE Online!

EVE Online's PLEX for Good program is back once again, and this time players are invited to donate PLEX to help aid those who were affected by the recent storms and tornadoes in the southern-midwestern and eastern United States. Here are the details:

"Beginning May 3, 2011 and ending at 23:59 UTC on May 16, 2011, CCP will be accepting PLEX donations for PLEX for Good: Storm Relief. Each donation will be converted into cash currency and donated to the Red Cross.

To make your PLEX donation:

• Contract your PLEX to the "CCP PLEX for Good" character, and please make sure the character is in the "C C P" corporation and that the name is spelled correctly to avoid scams.
• Contracts will be accepted within 24 hours of submission, though usually sooner than that.

CCP regards any scamming attempts surrounding this effort to be morally reprehensible and they will be met with swiftest action.

To learn more about how this program works, please check out this FAQ for more information."

CCP has announced that on Friday, May 6, EVE Online will be celebrating it's eight-year anniversary. What's a birthday without presents? On Friday, the team will have a special redeemable present available to all pilots on active, paid accounts. The CCP team said:

"People giving fancy speeches often say 'We couldn‘t have done it without you'. In this case that‘s not just fancy talk and hardly a debateable fact. None of this would have happened without you, the citizens of EVE, who came along for this crazy ride. And to celebrate everything you‘ve built with us, we want to give each of you a present. The birthday girl herself needs no presents, she‘s happy as long as you all show up for the party"

Congratulations to CCP and EVE on their milestone!