In other news this week, PlayStation’s cross-country tour has officially hit the road through November, Netherrealms dished out Mortal Kombat tips for you, Sorcery revealed members of its monstrous menagerie, the GT Academy competition moved to Round 3 and 4, PixelJunk 4am launched on PSN with a free viewer app, Lightbox Interactive showed a new Starhawk development diary chronicling the final hours of development, indie legends Superbrothers and Jim Guthrie announced their participation in the PS Vita musical platformer Sound Shapes, and the team behind upcoming Foosball 2012 revealed the nuances of their PlayStation Move support (Protip: It’s extensive).

What are you playing this weekend?

• I’m playing: Mortal Kombat for PS Vita, Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer,
• I’m watching: Homeland
• I’m reading: Borderlands 2: Your Questions Answered
• I’m listening to: Official PlayStation Blogcast 025: The Last of Us Explore the Future of Oddworld

Most-Watched Video of the Week: Smart As… for PS Vita – Developer Walkthrough

The 10 Most-Viewed Posts of the Week

Image courtesy of Epic Games.

We might have been down a man this week for the Game|Life, but call us Humphrey Slocombe, because we’re still armed with CRAZY SCOOPS. (Seriously, WTF kind of flavor is Strawberry Candied Jalapeno?)

It’s true, Chris Kohler was down at pre-E3 Judges’ Week, subsisting solely on sliders and bitter tears, but we still held it down in the sweltering podcast booth. On the review front, managing editor Marty Cortinas gave his his first impressions of Diablo III, and senior editor Chris Baker broke down the flash and foibles of Rockstar Games’ Max Payne 3, out this week. We also spent a not-insignificant portion of the show—correcting for double negatives, that would come out to a significant portion—discussing our reveal yesterday of the feature on Epic Games and Unreal Engine 4 coming out in our June issue. As the editor of Stu Horvath’s feature, I spoke on some UE4′s most interesting feature, as well as the tech demo itself, which I saw behind closed doors at this year’s GDC. It’s development nuts and bolts the likes of which we rarely talk about, filtered through the mind and halting speech of a man (me) who couldn’t contribute meaningfully to a video game if his sanity depended on it. So enjoy!

Game|Life’s podcast is posted on Fridays. It is available on iTunes, can be downloaded directly, and is embedded below.

GameLife Reboot:
Episode 030

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However, you also had more questions, and we have the answers! Character customisation options, voice chat, Mechromancer, a unique reward for Borderlands 1 players – I’ve done my best to answer as many of your questions about Borderlands 2 as possible. Read on…

Can we expect better more consistent framerate this time around? (via @Is_It_JustMe @Iantheausguy)
That’s certainly the plan! We’re entering the phase of development right now where we are focusing on framerate and stability, so it’s too early for me to give any final numbers, but you will see an improvement over the first game.

Can a second player on local splitscreen be logged in to a separate PSN ID and gain Trophies and stats? (via @frag123456)

We’re looking into this as well, but right now the answer is no.

The only important question: will voice communication be fixed? It was unusable in BL1. (via @keithschon)

Good timing – you’ll hopefully be pleased to know that a portion of our programming team is working on voice chat issues right now so they will be working for everyone when the game launches!

Will there be more character customization (individual skills, armor, etc) than in the first one? (via @justtom2012)

You’ll be able to choose from a large variety of swappable heads/hairstyles/headgear in addition to choosing from hundreds of unique color and decal themes, and both together offer a ton of options for customization. As for skills, each class offers a bigger quantity and more interesting variety of skills to choose from in the skill trees.

Will vehicle-based gameplay be enhanced? It was fairly basic in the original game.

We’re introducing a new vehicle, the Technical, which can hold 4 players at once and also has a few weapon configurations to choose from. Some are better than others depending on the types of enemies you’ll face and the environment you’ll be fighting in. On the other hand, Borderlands is mainly a game about weapons and loot so we don’t want to force people to stay in vehicles for too long.

Will there be a shortcut button for health kits? Going thru your backpack sucks, especially during battles! (via @TheVic82)

Yeah, that sucked. Pausing wasn’t really fun in combat. It was a tough decision, but we decided to remove carryable health packs and instead fill that need with new relics and shields that can help keep you out of that emergency state to begin with. The result is a more fluid combat experience since now you’re not worrying about when the best time to pause the game is and you still get that fun sense of preparing for a battle by choosing the right gear.

Health Packs will still appear and drop and they will now heal you up in the middle of battle.

What enhancements have you made to the weapon interface, inventory, and pickup system?

We have a completely new inventory screen and all of the other interface screens have received various upgrades. There’s a lot more useful data for gear comparison and also more descriptive text on the item cards as well. Having said that, the best way to know what a gun does is to use it – and some weapons are *very* special…

Money and ammo now automatically pick up if dropped from enemies as well!

Will the environments be more varied, instead of one big desert? (via @DoctorMous3)

Absolutely! We’ve shown a tundra, cavern, grasslands, and Hyperion tech environments so far, but there are many more in the game – I think you’ll enjoy the environmental diversity in BL2.

What are you doing to extend the variety of enemy types and combat encounters?

There are brand new enemy families in Borderlands 2, and the total count of unique enemies (including special elemental variants with unique AI) is in the triple digits. New environments + new enemy types and behaviours = much more varied combat encounters!

So when will we get the Mechromancer class and is it a exclusive to any version of the game ? (via @Tenkisin)

We’re hoping to release her to the world as soon as possible – but we have to get the game through the certification process as right now she only exists as a sketch and we need to finish up Borderlands 2! The good news is that the Mechromancer will be compatible with all versions of the game and she will be free if you preorder at participating retailers through the Borderlands 2 Premiere Club!

Is the story going to be more cut-scene based like UNCHARTED, or more audio log based like the original BL? (via @Ejsponge61)

We’re mixing it up a bit this time: few short cutscenes (and title cards) where necessary, lots of in-game moments, ECHO logs, missions, and environmental storytelling – not to mention the significant NPC improvements we made so it doesn’t just feel like a cardboard cut out of a dude is sending you on a quest.

What’s great is that we catered it towards both audiences that love story telling through NPCs and those who prefer to go kick some ass! If you choose to do the latter, you can run off as the NPC is talking to you and the discussion will appear as an ECHO transmission. No chains attached!

Will we be able to use custom soundtracks on PS3? (via @Nem0905)

No, but hopefully you’ll like the huge amount of new music we’ve composed just for this game!

Will there be any in-game bonuses in Borderlands 2 if you have a save file and completed the first game? via (@CFinalBlade)

Yes, if we detect a save file from the first game on your console then you’ll be rewarded with a unique swappable head and skin for every class!

Will the max level be past 69? (via @Martothedragon)

We’re balancing the game to cap at level 50; in the first game we ended up pushing the cap to 69 through post-launch patches and DLC. I don’t have DLC plans for Borderlands 2 yet but we tend to want to one-up ourselves each time, so… we’ll see what happens!

I’m excited to announce that the PlayStation Experience is back on tour for 2012 and we have some awesome games and experiences planned for you, our community. For those of you new to the PlayStation Experience, every year we tour the country’s biggest concerts and festivals to show off all of our latest games and gadgets. This is your chance to meet other local PlayStation enthusiasts, compete in your favorite PlayStation titles, and most importantly, get your hands on unreleased games! I guess there are also the live performances to check out too, but who goes to music festivals for that? Especially when you can play:

• LittleBigPlanet Karting
• PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
• Starhawk
• Twisted Metal
• MLB 12 The Show
• PixelJunk 4am
• Journey
• Mortal Kombat
• Street Fighter X Tekken
• Soul Calibur V
• Madden 13
• FIFA 13
• NBA 2K13
• NHL 13

…and that’s just the list of games that I can share with you! To top it all off, we will be giving away loads of PlayStation prizes everywhere we go. Trust me when I say, if you love video games and PlayStation, you will definitely want to make your way to the PlayStation Experience. Here’s a list of our confirmed stops:

We’re constantly adding new stops to the tour, so be sure to check the PlayStation Experience page regularly for updates. You can also follow @HeyPlayStation on Twitter for live Tweets from the road as well as other event updates and weekly giveaways.

I hope to see each and every one of your game faces out on the road!

There are quite a few unique features with this Vita version of Mortal Kombat. While preserving the core gameplay elements, we’ve implemented a ton of new functionalities, such as touchscreen Fatalities and X-Rays, as well as an all-new Challenge Tower II that takes advantage of the diversity of features that the PS Vita system provides.

One question that we continue to see on our official @MK_MortalKombat Twitter is: “Netherrealm, I can’t beat Mission XXX in the new Challenge Tower! Can you help?” Why, yes we can! To answer, we decided to put together some Tips and Tricks videos to outline strategies for some of the more difficult missions within the Challenge Tower II (it’s not called Easy Tower!).

Check out our video below to see our design team spill some secrets on how to master new, exclusive characters and use the new PS Vita system features to their maximum potential. Once you’re done, please share your tips in the comments section below!

Jane Jensen at home in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Image: Pinkerton Road

When she launched her new game studio, Jane Jensen had to look no further for inspiration than her own doorstep.

“My husband and I have been into organics for a few years,” she said to Wired earlier this month. “When we lived in California, we belonged to a CSA,” community-supported agriculture. “You subscribe to a small organic farm and get a basket of their latest produce every week.” CSAs cut out the middleman and put consumers directly in touch with their local food growers.

When Jensen and her husband Robert Holmes lived in California in the 1990′s, they worked for Sierra, the birthplace of the point-and-click adventure game. Jensen co-designed the fondly-remembered King’s Quest VI in 1992 before creating the Gabriel Knight trilogy, a unique series of dark M-rated adventures that gave Jensen her own loyal fan base.

Jensen continued to develop adventure games after the fall of Sierra, but finding the funds to create these author-driven games, considered niche in the post-King’s Quest market, is difficult. Reading an article in an issue of Entrepreneur magazine, Jensen and Holmes found that other businesses were adopting the CSA model: artisanal sheep’s wool, gourmet ice cream.

Why not videogames?

In April, Jensen and Holmes launched their new studio Pinkerton Road, dedicated to the “community-supported gaming” model. A Kickstarter soon followed. Unlike most crowdfunding drives, Jensen’s isn’t asking supporters to back one particular game. She’s asking them to become members of the first year of the CSG’s life, during which they will receive benefits in accordance with their donation levels.

Concept art from Moebius, the first game from Jane Jensen’s studio Pinkerton Road.
Image: Pinkerton Road

Pinkerton Road will release at least one game during this “season.” Fans voted on which of three PC game designs they’d like to see realized by the master storyteller, choosing a game called Moebius. It’s a Gabriel Knighty game about an antiquities dealer drawn into a globe-spanning, deadly conspiracy.

Just what the fans have been clamoring for. But can adventure games grow beyond that?

“There’s a certain new audience that we want to reach that probably would not be very tolerant of some of the classic adventure game mechanisms,” Jensen said. So she’ll create a “casual” difficulty setting that features more “hand-holding.” The objectives will be more clearly stated, spots on the screen that you can interact with will be highlighted.

“At the same time, people are nostalgic for these classic games, and as a designer I’m nostalgic for them,” she said. So the “unabridged” version of Moebius should be the sort of challenge that adventure game die-hards crave. “I don’t believe in making puzzles pointlessly hard,” she says, but adds that “it’s kind of like ‘no child left behind’ — if you always have to go for the lowest common denominator, things can be so obvious that a relatively intelligent person finds no challenge in it whatsoever.”

Fans who donate to the Kickstarter or become a CSG member later via PayPal will get “a virtual seat in the studio,” Jensen says, although she adds that “what that means to them and what that means to me might be different.” They will elicit feedback from fans, letting them beta-test the game and choose between different character design concepts. But ultimately, Jensen says, she and her team will decide whether or not to address fans’ comments and ideas.

Pinkerton Road isn’t funded entirely by Kickstarter; Jensen said that she hopes to get more funding from angel investors and that a second game has been funded by an outside publisher. Going to Kickstarter, though, has put Pinkerton on the fast track to finishing games sooner and with more artistic freedom.

The Kickstarter campaign ends Saturday; nearly $400,000 has been pledged thus far. Two excited fans have pledged $10,000 each for a personalized studio tour of the Pinkerton Road farm and an audience with Jensen.

“It is kind of strange if you think about it,” said Jensen of the top tier donations. “I probably wouldn’t spend that kind of money for something like that.”

It is with immense pleasure that we are announcing our involvement with a video game project known as Sound Shapes. We are extra excited to be contributing alongside sworcery maestro Jim Guthrie. This represents the latest in a series of Superbrothers X Jim Guthrie a/v collaborations dating back to 2005′s musical film Children of the Clone and 2008′s Dot Matrix Revolution, but this will be our first a/v collaboration since 2011′s cult classic videogame Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP.

Much like Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, Sound Shapes is a made-in-Toronto DIY videogame that is unusually collaborative and has a heavy emphasis on synesthetic audiovisual style. What’s more, the people making Sound Shapes are all basically our very best pals – they’re the folks with whom we play board games, drink the beers, go skating and play hockey. On every level it’s an honor and a thrill to be involved.

The Superbrothers + Jim Guthrie collaboration will take the form of a Sound Shapes ‘album’ – a series of thematically connected & musically-linked levels known as CORPOREAL.

Sound Shapes is coming to PlayStation Vita, and it’ll be available before too long. Get psyched!!!

The collaborative process

After some initial discussion with Queasy, we chose to explore some of the concepts in prior Superbrothers films including Children of the Clone and Dot Matrix Revolution, so our levels are populated by computers, mainframes, office workers and water coolers. My mom was one of the first female computer programmers in Canada and my father worked as a mainframe computer salesman for decades, so it was nice to set aside the skeletons & space babies of sworcey and get to work on 20th century visual concepts. Meanwhile, the video game design takes the friendly platforming mechanics of Sound Shapes and stretches them in the direction of something like Impossible Mission for C-64 & Spectrum.

With this new collaboration the configuration is quite different. The game design, level design and sound integration are being handled by the Sound Shapes experts at Queasy. The order of operations was a little different this time around too. On S:S&S EP, many of the songs predated the project and I was able to create the world & concepts by listening to specific songs, many of them pre-existing compositions from Jim. In this case, the art assets were created without a specific soundtrack, and then it was up to Jim to craft his sounds to fit the look and concept.

Of course, the real work took place at Queasy & Capy, where a wide-ranging assortment of designers & creators – the Sound Shapes experts – put all the pieces together. Thanks so much for all your hard work folks, it has been a pleasure contributing to your efforts!

So, super excited to share this collaboration and can’t wait for you folks to check it out yourselves. If you’re going to be at E3, be sure to swing by the PlayStation booth for some hands-on time!

So, my debate for you all today is:

If you could invite five game characters to a dinner party who would they be?

My first invite would have to go to Nathan Drake. His charm appeal and stories of unimaginable near death experiences would have me captured in adventure bliss (whilst also naively arranging to join him on his next journey).

Get your thinking caps on and I’ll look forward to my invite!

In March, we announced our upcoming PS3 and PS Vita game Foosball 2012. And now we’ve returned to PlayStation.Blog to showcase a series of short developer diaries where we introduce you to some of the game’s coolest features, like PlayStation Move support, full cross-platform compatibility between PS3 and PS Vita and also the online multiplayer mode.

Our first video demonstrates Foosball 2012 and PlayStation Move motion controllers in action, showing that you can play this game exactly the way you are used from a real table football (“foosball”) game. Thanks to the precision and zero lag of PlayStation Move, even the slightest movements of your hands can be properly translated into the game, allowing you to precisely control the shot power, positions of your foosmen, and so on.

One or two PS Move controllers can be used by one player, or you can ignore motion controls and play with the time-tested DualShock 3 controller, where the left stick controls the poles and movements of the ball and the right stick is used to shoot, allowing you to accurately aim and control the shot power.

In our next video, we will show you how PS3-to-PS Vita crossplay and game continuation will work. Foosball 2012 will be released soon on the PlayStation Store, and both the PS3 and PS Vita versions will come together for a single price. If you want to know more about Foosball 2012, visit our official website here.

Racing fans have got it alright this week too, as the Access TV crew head to Wimbledon Stadium for some banger racing fun. Access TV cameraman and video editor Dave Jackson gets behind the wheel and, after being shunted across the track, catches up with Codemasters’ Iain Smith and Mike Chapman.

From cars to planes, Access TV go wing walking with competition winner Martin Tester, who got his wish of standing on top of a flying plane well and truly granted. See all the footage first hand.

To finish off, there’s all the latest PS3 news to enjoy, plus a roundup of all the week’s best content from the digital realm of the PlayStation Store. Enjoy the episode!

Don’t forget, we’re being lovely and giving you 2 free minis games for squat-all pennies. We may bribe you into liking our page, but you can cope with that when we bring you SO MUCH AWESOME each week – right?!

Access TV is available every Friday on YouTube – head to youtube.com/playstationaccess to subscribe and never miss an episode.

To sign up for future Access events or to hang out and chat with other members of the Access community, then visit us on Facebook at facebook.com/PlaystationAccess, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/PSAccess.

In March, we announced our upcoming PS3 and PS Vita game Foosball 2012. Now, we’re back with a series of short developer diaries. We’ll introduce you to some of the game’s coolest features, like PlayStation Move support, full cross-platform compatibility between PS3 and PS Vita and also the online multiplayer mode.

The first video you can watch today demonstrates Foosball 2012 and PlayStation Move controllers in action, showing that you can play this game exactly the way you’re used to when playing on real table football!

Thanks to the precision and zero lag of PlayStation Move, even the slightest movements of your hands can be properly translated into the game, allowing you to precisely control everything from shot power to the positions of your foosmen.

One or two Move controllers can be used by a single player, or you can ignore Move controls completely and play with the good old DualShock 3 controller. Using the DualShock 3, the left stick controls the poles and movements of the ball and the right stick is used to shoot; allowing you to accurately aim and control the shot power.

We hope you enjoyed the video. Watch out for next week’s episode where we will be showing you how cross play and game continuation will work.

Foosball 2012 will be released soon on PlayStation Store where you’ll have both the PS3 and PS Vita versions together for a single price.

If you want to know more about Foosball 2012, visit www.foosball2012.com.

See you next week

First off, a look at new gameplay. As every Sly fan knows, Sly Cooper and Carmelita Fox have a long and torrid history — a history that’s destined to continue in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. The game picks up where Sly 3 left off, and Sly is feigning amnesia so he can be with the love of his life, Carmelita. But when he rejoins the Cooper Gang on their time-traveling escapade to restore his family’s legacy, you can be sure Carmelita will quickly become embroiled in their wild adventure.

Carmelita is radiant on the PS3, and the powerful graphics hardware allowed us to make her much more detailed and expressive than in the past titles on PS2. She is, of course, a fully playable character in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time and so we also spent a lot of time evolving her gameplay. We have gone with a more precise over-the-shoulder aiming technique that allows players to lock on the targets quickly and easily. You can see how this can be put to good use in the multi-layered boss battle.

Now for more big news! Ever since we revealed the game, fans have been asking me about PS Vita, arguing that Sly would be a great game to take on the go. I completely agree…and I can now confirm that Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time will be shipping this fall on BOTH the PS3 and the PS Vita, on the same day.

The portable version will contain all the same awesome Sly Cooper action you will find on the PS3 along with cool Vita-specific features that incorporate the front and rear touchscreens and motion controls. The game will also feature cross-save capability, so you’ll be able to save the game from either machine and then pick up right where you left off — whether you’re at home or on the go.

So there you go! We are thrilled to finally show Carmelita in action — she’s a big fan favorite and I know everyone will love how she looks and plays in the latest installment of the series — and to be announcing the PS Vita version of the game. It’s been a crazy ride over the last few months, but when we see the results we know it was worth it. So stay tuned for more PS Vita details including date and price coming very soon.

So it has once again been a while since I have posted to the PlayStation.Blog, BUT from the content of this blog entry you will all get to see exactly why!

As every Sly fan knows Sly Cooper and Carmelita Fox have a long and torrid history, which is destined to continue in the latest instalment. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time picks up the relationship where Sly 3 left off, Sly is feigning amnesia so he can be with the love of his life, Carmelita. But when he re-joins the Cooper Gang on their time-travelling escapade to restore his family’s legacy, you can be sure Carmelita will quickly become embroiled in their wild adventure.

Carmelita is of course radiant on the PlayStation 3, the new hardware allowed us to make her much more detailed and expressive than in the past. She is of course back as a fully playable character in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time and so we also spent a lot of time evolving her gameplay. We have gone with a more precise over-the-shoulder aiming technique that allows players to lock on the targets quickly and easily.

Ok and now for another piece of really big news; a lot of people have been asking me about the PlayStation Vita, they feel that Sly would be a great game to take on the go. And I completely agree! SO that being said I can now announce that Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time will be available soon on BOTH the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Vita!

The portable version will contain all the same awesome Sly Cooper action you will find on the PlayStation 3 along with some very cool Vita specific features that incorporate the front and rear touch screens and motion controls. The game will also feature cross save capability; players will be able to save the game from either machine to the cloud and then pick up right where they left off at home or on the go.

And there we have it! We are all really excited to finally show Carmelita in action, she is a big fan favourite and I know everyone will love how she looks and plays in the latest instalment of the series. And we are also very psyched to be announcing the Vita version of the game, it’s been a crazy ride over the last few months bringing it over but when we see the results we know it was worth it. So, stay tuned for more Vita details including date and price coming very soon.

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With Jeff and Rey in L.A. for pre-E3 activities, and Nick still wandering the primordial plains of Africa, I preside over today’s somewhat more intimate show. Luckily, I roped in PSN Sr. Community Manager Matthew Harper to share his eye-opening Origin Story, which provides some helpful tips for those of you who have wondered how to break into game development.

We kick off with a late-breaking interview featuring Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley from Naughty Dog, the creative director and game director of upcoming PS3 survival epic The Last of Us. If you’ve wondered how the game will play compared to UNCHARTED, or how Naughty Dog is handling the game’s decidedly mature themes, today’s shows will provide the answers you need.

Then we shift gears for a detailed discussion with Oddworld creator Lorne Lanning and Just Add Water CEO Stewart Gilray. The pair provide insight into the upcoming PS Vita version of Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath HD, discuss how PSN’s indie-minded model has reinvigorated the seminal series, and lay out their plans for world domination.

And as always, we reveal next week’s PSN game lineup, share a selection of new user questions and tips, and provide a head-scratching new Mystery Theme.

Stuff We Talked About

• The Last of Us – new in-game cutscene
• Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD

The Cast

[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game
details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating
descriptions.]

• Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. Special thanks to Astro Gaming headsets for providing audio gear.

E.X. Troopers emulates Japanese comic books right down to the onomatopoeia.
Image courtesy Capcom

Capcom announced E.X. Troopers, a cartoon-styled spin-off of its Lost Planet third-person shooting franchise for PlayStation 3 and Nintendo 3DS, this week.

E.X. Troopers will occupy the same universe as the Lost Planet games, but it will drop the hard sci-fi look in favor of the comic book approach. Characters look hand-drawn rather than sculpted from polygons, and the action seen in the game’s first trailer is punctuated with on-screen Japanese onomatopoeia.

The main characters appear to be all new and rather young, according to the profiles on the game’s official site. Many of the Lost Planet robots and monsters, however, have made the jump to E.X. Troopers, as Japanese bloggers have found by comparing the trailer with images from previous games.

E.X. Troopers will be released in Japan sometime this year. It is produced by Shintaro Kojima, who worked on Capcom’s Monster Hunter series, according to a translation from this week’s Famitsu magazine.

A proper third installment of that series, Lost Planet 3, is due in 2013.

We’ll also be able to tell you more about some great downloadable items soon, including our first free map…Cypress. Stay tuned for details!

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In this new behind-the-scenes video, our final installment of our four-part series detailing the making of Sorcery, we discuss what it took to create the game’s vast, magical universe. You’ll gain insight into the numerous creative decisions that we had to make, such as crafting the look and feel of the different environments — from The Realm of the Dead to the Faerie Forest — and the strange and dangerous beasts that inhabit them. You’ll hear from the development team on how we went about making a fantasy world feel otherworldly, details on the backstory behind places like the Endless Stair and the Faerie Forest, and some anecdotes on why the prettiest character in Sorcery is also one of the most dangerous!

Sorcery hits store shelves next week, Tuesday, May 22nd. For more info on this eagerly anticipated PlayStation Move title, visit our official site.

This is the final installment in our four-part series detailing the making of Sorcery. In this video we discuss what went into the invention of this vast, magical universe to which players are transported in the game. There were quite a few creative decisions that had to be made, so we give you a bit of insight into the process of how we came up with the look and feel of the different environments/realms and the dangerous creatures that inhabit them. You’ll hear from the development team on how we went about making a fantasy world feel fresh (and strange), details on the backstory behind places like the Endless Stair and the Faerie Forest, and some anecdotes on why the prettiest character in Sorcery is also one of the most dangerous!

I’m Steve and I’d love to tell you about the latest great PS Vita AR game, Table Top Tanks, which we developed at Devil’s Details in Sheffield, UK. When we were asked if we’d like to develop Table Top Tanks by our friends at SCEE we couldn’t believe our luck: Who doesn’t like blowing stuff up with Tanks? And we got to play with and help develop SCEE’s AR technology too. So, we said “Yes please!” and got down to work.

So, what’s in Table Top Tanks? Firstly, there are the tanks: They’re quite quick, nimble, and fun to drive and you can choose from 10 different colours. Their main cannon is pretty powerful and you can upgrade its shell type by running over pickups; my favourite is the bouncing missile – they’re great fun to spray into the edge of the arena and watch them cause carnage and confusion as they bounce around. To get you started playing the game we’ve included a single player campaign, which will teach you how to play and challenge your tank skills.

But the real fun comes making your own maps using the simple editor. You pick a map size – small, medium or large – and then place virtual shapes around real world objects, so the Vita can “see” the objects. You can also fill the shapes with water, smoke or fire and so that when they’re shot by a missile they’ll leak water, spill smoke or be set on fire.

Once you’ve crafted your level it’s time to play from a choice of capture the flag, last man standing or two vs. two game modes.

Table Top Tanks allows you to play with and against AI tanks (and you can choose how smart they are) but it’s much more fun to play against up to three friends over Ad Hoc. Share your newly created battlefield with your friends and duke it out from different angles. It’s really great fun, and because the levels are quick and easy to make go ahead and experiment by creating new maps.

With a little effort you can also move Table Top Tanks from the table top. If you print some new markers out (the original pdf is here) but scale them up (we printed them so they filled A4 sheets, just make sure you keep the aspect ratio the same), you can upscale the awesome by playing Table Top Tanks on the floor rather than on a desktop. The Tanks become model car size and you can set up obstacles using the editor and get the whole house involved, blasting the dog or setting fire to the coffee table. We played quite a lot of large marker Table Top Tanks when we were developing the game and it’s serious fun; get some friends together and give it a go.

Finally, if you fancy a little extra twist on the tanks, we’ve got a tank pack DLC in the works which features our take on “toy” tanks. They’ve got a really distinct, bouncy shape and you also get a themed fighter jet too. They’re a firm favourite with us and we’re sure you’ll enjoy playing with them.

We look forward to hearing everyone’s feedback!

So, what’s in Table Top Tanks? Firstly, there are the tanks: They’re quite quick, nimble and fun to drive and you can choose from 10 different colors. Their main cannon is pretty powerful and you can upgrade its shell type by running over pickups; my favorite is the bouncing missile – they’re great fun to spray into the edge of the arena and watch them cause carnage and confusion as they bounce around. To get you started playing the game we’ve included a single player campaign, which will teach you how to play and challenge your tank skills.

But the real fun comes making your own maps using the simple editor. You pick a map size – small, medium or large – and then place virtual shapes around real world objects, so PS Vita can “see” the objects. You can also fill the shapes with water, smoke or fire and so that when they’re shot by a missile they’ll leak water, spill smoke or be set on fire.

Once you’ve crafted your level it’s time to play from a choice of capture the flag, last man standing or two vs. two game modes.

Table Top Tanks allows you to play with and against AI tanks (and you can choose how smart they are) but it’s much more fun to play against up to three friends over Ad Hoc. Share your newly created battlefield with your friends and duke it out from different angles. It’s really great fun, and because the levels are quick and easy to make go ahead and experiment by creating new maps.

With a little effort you can also move Table Top Tanks from the table top. If you print some new markers out but scale them up (we printed them so they filled A4 sheets, just make sure you keep the aspect ratio the same), you can upscale the awesome by playing Table Top Tanks on the floor rather than on a desktop. The Tanks become model car size and you can set up obstacles using the editor and get the whole house involved, blasting the dog or setting fire to the coffee table. We played quite a lot of large marker Table Top Tanks when we were developing the game and it’s serious fun; get some friends together and give it a go.

Finally, if you fancy a little extra twist on the tanks, we’ve got a tank pack DLC in the works which features our take on “toy” tanks. They’ve got a really distinct, bouncy shape and you also get a themed fighter jet too. They’re a firm favorite with us and we’re sure you’ll enjoy playing with them.

We look forward to hearing everyone’s feedback!

Word to your grandmother people, it’s a distinctly urban post this week. So put yo’ hands in the air like yo’ really don’t mind and check out what we have in store for you this week.

First off, we have a WORLD EXCLUSIVE VIDEO for the new Virus Syndicate video “Money” which takes a Pink Floyd sample to a place you would never think it could go. For those who don’t know, they are a four piece dubstep and grime collective hailing from Manchester, UK who began their careers on the airwaves pirate radio station Rinse FM and have supported Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, De La Soul, Cypress Hill and Dizzee Rascal. If you like the video the single, ”Money” is available worldwide on 6th June 2012. Head over to the Maximum Bass Zone to watch.

Secondly our Artist Of The Week is…. The one and only Nicki Minaj, with her so-bad-it’s-good British accent and her trend defying fashion. She has yet another new video called ‘Star Ships’ and it really is rather good (I knew I couldn’t keep my urban talk going for too long!)

We continue the urban theme with our spot lit Hip Hop Zone below, plus everything else you can look forward to seeing!

SPOTLIGHT ZONE

Hip Hop Zone
So hip you have to hop… that was really bad… sorry… let me make it up to you with our very special Hip Hop Zone.

Beastie Boys – Greatest Hits
He was one of the hero’s of Hip Hop. RIP Adam Yauch (aka MCA) you will be truly missed.

NAS – Centre Stage
So many hits you have to call a doctor, featuring latest video ‘The Don’

Drake – Artist Focus
Hip Hop over achiever, featuring his collaboration with Rihanna ‘Take Care’

Akon – VidZone Recommends
He’s not lonely anymore, featuring the stars latest video ‘Hurt Somebody’ with US rapper French Montana

A$AP Rocky – One To Watch
So bling he has dollars in his name, featuring the video for “Goldie”.

ZONE HIGHLIGHTS

They deserve a spotlight but we only have one (we spent the rest of the money on beer) these are really worth checking out.

Rock Zone

The Vans Warped Tour – ‘No Room For Rockstars’
To celebrate the release of the Vans Warped Tour ‘Rockumentary’ we’ve created a playlist featuring bands that have previously played on the tour. Featuring videos from bands such as ‘Blink 182, No Doubt, New Found Glory and Good Charlotte.

Kerrang Awards Nominees
My personal favourite onomatopoeia named magazine since oink monthly, Featuring You Me At Six, Iron Maiden, Evanescence and 30 Seconds To Mars.

Tenacious D – Artist Spotlight
Ok we do have another spotlight… but its smaller and less zone shaped. Featuring new video Rize Of The Fenix plus the duo’s back catalogue.

Temper Trap – Artist Focus
Aka Anger Cage (note: lie) Featuring the groups new video ‘Need Your Love’ plus back catalogue.

Live Zone

Music Is Great Britain
To celebrate all things British ahead of the Queens Jubilee and Olympics we have collected some seminal live performances from the most iconic British acts of all time including the likes of Adele, Muse, Orbital and David Bowie.

Live Music TV – Pop
Big production live shows from the likes of Jessie J, Amy Winehouse, Beyonce and Shakira

Live Music TV – Alternative
Guitars galore, featuring Coldplay, Florence & The Machine, The Killers and Oasis

Classic Live Videos TV
The greatest of all time, featuring Queen, Bob Marley, James Brown and Elton John

Latest Videos
Check the video to see just a taste of what’s in store for you this week.

• Nicki Minaj – Starships (Pop)
• Para One – Lean On Me (Dance)
• Virus Syndicate – Money (Maximum Bass)
• Leah Labelle – Sexify (RnB)
• Michael Kiwanuka – I’ll Get Along (Alternative)
• Tenacious D – Rize Of The Fenix (Rock)
• Love and Death – Chemicals (Metal)

EVERYTHING ELSE
As always, please keep in touch with the following fun ways to communicate. We read everything and love your comments so don’t be shy!

• Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/VidZone
• Twitter – http://twitter.com/VidZone
• Google+ – https://plus.google.com/107359012918224788979
• YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/vidzone
• Official VidZone Site – www.vidzone.tv
• Issues – Email ps-problems@vidzone.tv
• Requests – Email playstation@vidzone.tv

I’m off to refill up my gin and juice.

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An image from Epic Games’ upcoming Unreal Engine 4 demo. Image: Courtesy of Epic Games

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When Tim Sweeney is out in the world discussing pedestrian things—the sweet tea at a particular barbecue restaurant, say, or the irony of having a hockey team in North Carolina, a place without much naturally occurring ice—part of him seems to be missing. It’s as if some roped-off area of his parietal lobe is back in the office, mulling over whatever conundrum is plaguing his graphics guys: how best to digitally re-create the diffusion of light through skin maybe, or how to show the world reflected in a character’s eye.

Tall and thin, with hair slightly unkempt and glasses thick enough to focus sunlight into a lethal, ant-killing beam, Sweeney often sounds short of breath while talking, which makes his already wispy voice seem as though it might fade out entirely at any second. Only when small talk turns technical does the founder of Epic Games seem to come truly alive. His eyes light up, his voice grows stronger, and he begins measuring the world in orders of magnitude and processing speed. Sweeney is living in the future, and he wants us all to see it.

He’s brought us there before. At the heart of every videogame—underneath the art direction, the writing, and the action—is an elaborate piece of software called the game engine. It’s an essential collection of programs and algorithms, a periodic table of the elements that allows a game’s programmers and designers to create the rich and varied worlds gamers have come to expect. Lighting, physics, artificial intelligence: These are all the purview of the game engine. And once a game studio puts all those elements together, the engine is also responsible for running them as the game is played, controlling a never-ending cascade of complex interactions, scenarios, and outcomes on the fly.

While some developers make their own game engines, the vast majority rely on other companies’ creations. And hundreds of them use Epic’s Unreal Engine, which Sweeney and his team first brought into the world in 1998. Through three distinct incarnations (think of Mac’s growth from OS 8 to OS X), the Unreal Engine has become the default substrate of the gaming industry. The most recent, Unreal 3, has powered more than 150 games since 2006, from sleeper hits like Borderlands to top-line blockbusters like the Mass Effect trilogy to Epic’s own juggernaut, the Gears of War franchise. If you’ve fired up a console game in recent memory, chances are you’ve seen the scythe-tipped lower-case u that is Unreal’s logo.

But six years is a long time in binary code, and it represents a lifetime for gaming hardware. Indeed, since consoles became the primary way to play videogames at home in the 1980s, the industry has rolled out a new generation of consoles roughly every five years. It was the only way to keep pace with the exponential improvements in chip speed and processing power. But as the seventh-generation consoles—today’s PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360—approach their sixth and seventh years on the market, respectively, the current hardware has grown rickety with age and is now easily outclassed by high-powered PCs. The Xenos graphics processor in the Xbox 360 can handle roughly 240 billion floating point operations per second; the latest high-end processors for PCs can handle around 3 trillion. Not surprisingly, speculation has been ramping up for several years about the next wave of game consoles. We may hear word of them this year, or next, or not until 2014. Whoever knows isn’t telling. But what we do know is that the wizards at Epic have been hard at work on the engine that will power this new generation of consoles. It’s called Unreal Engine 4, and it’s ready now.

UE4 represents nothing less than the foundation for the next decade of gaming. It may make Microsoft and Sony rethink how much horsepower they’ll need for their new hardware. It will streamline game development, allowing studios to do in 12 months what can take two years or more today. And most important, it will make the videogames that have defined the past decade look like puppet shows.

Will that be enough? Today’s videogame industry generates about $65 billion a year in revenue, and the vast majority of that comes from premium titles that can cost upwards of $150 million to produce (and have the potential to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars on release day alone). But paradigms are shifting: Cheaply developed mobile titles and an unforgiving economy have cast doubt on the future of the blockbuster game. Why go big and risky when you can be safe and profitable? Unreal 4 is Epic’s answer to that question. With it, the company is staking its existence on a bold prediction: that the future of the industry depends on ever-more realistic visual spectacle.

For all their profits, many videogame companies have never bothered to upgrade their offices to the bucolic campuses and Infinite Loops of the personal-computing world. Epic’s headquarters, outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, are housed in a squat concrete building off a winding drive in an industrial park. Still, there are plenty of perks inside—a gym, a quiet room for stressed developers, and an amply stocked kitchen. There’s also a massive motion-capture studio for translating live action into animation and a traditional art studio where game artists can keep their nondigital skills limber. For the requisite rejuvenile whimsy, there’s a tubular slide that takes people down from the second floor to the common lounge. (When it was first installed, it shot people out so quickly that Epic had to adjust the angle for safety—there’s no tweaking our planet’s physics engine.)

It’s late February, a week before the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, where Epic will be unveiling UE4 for the first time outside of the office. Reps from Microsoft, Sony, Nvidia, and the most influential game developers in the industry will be seeing the demo behind closed doors; the NDA-only affair will be Epic’s first and best chance to convince them that the future of gaming is unlike anything they previously imagined. “There is a huge responsibility on the shoulders of our engine team and our studio to drag this industry into the next generation,” says Cliff Bleszinski, Epic’s design director. “It is up to Epic, and Tim Sweeney in particular, to motivate Sony and Microsoft not to phone in what these next consoles are going to be. It needs to be a quantum leap. They need to damn near render Avatar in real time, because I want it and gamers want it—even if they don’t know they want it.”

While “damn near render Avatar in real time” likely isn’t up on a whiteboard in the office, it’s the kind of rapid-fire hyperbole that has made Bleszinski the face of Epic to many gamers. For his part, though, Sweeney is a bit more diplomatic. “We’re much more in sync with the console makers than any other developer is,” he says. “That means we can give detailed recommendations with a complete understanding of what is going to be commercially possible.” In other words, Epic has seen the specs of proposed new consoles and is actively lobbying for them to be more powerful. It could be a bad sign for the industry if new, relatively underpowered consoles make an appearance at this year’s E3 consumer show (as is popularly rumored about Sony’s PS3 successor, the alleged specs of which leaked in April).

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Screen Grab from Unreal Engine 4 Demo Reel
Courtesy: Epic Games

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When Tim Sweeney is out in the world discussing pedestrian things—the sweet tea at a particular barbecue restaurant, say, or the irony of having a hockey team in North Carolina, a place without much naturally occurring ice—part of him seems to be missing. It’s as if some roped-off area of his parietal lobe is back in the office, mulling over whatever conundrum is plaguing his graphics guys: how best to digitally re-create the diffusion of light through skin maybe, or how to show the world reflected in a character’s eye.

Tall and thin, with hair slightly unkempt and glasses thick enough to focus sunlight into a lethal, ant-killing beam, Sweeney often sounds short of breath while talking, which makes his already wispy voice seem as though it might fade out entirely at any second. Only when small talk turns technical does the founder of Epic Games seem to come truly alive. His eyes light up, his voice grows stronger, and he begins measuring the world in orders of magnitude and processing speed. Sweeney is living in the future, and he wants us all to see it.

He’s brought us there before. At the heart of every videogame—underneath the art direction, the writing, and the action—is an elaborate piece of software called the game engine. It’s an essential collection of programs and algorithms, a periodic table of the elements that allows a game’s programmers and designers to create the rich and varied worlds gamers have come to expect. Lighting, physics, artificial intelligence: These are all the purview of the game engine. And once a game studio puts all those elements together, the engine is also responsible for running them as the game is played, controlling a never-ending cascade of complex interactions, scenarios, and outcomes on the fly.

While some developers make their own game engines, the vast majority rely on other companies’ creations. And hundreds of them use Epic’s Unreal Engine, which Sweeney and his team first brought into the world in 1998. Through three distinct incarnations (think of Mac’s growth from OS 8 to OS X), the Unreal Engine has become the default substrate of the gaming industry. The most recent, Unreal 3, has powered more than 150 games since 2006, from sleeper hits like Borderlands to top-line blockbusters like the Mass Effect trilogy to Epic’s own juggernaut, the Gears of War franchise. If you’ve fired up a console game in recent memory, chances are you’ve seen the scythe-tipped lower-case u that is Unreal’s logo.

But six years is a long time in binary code, and it represents a lifetime for gaming hardware. Indeed, since consoles became the primary way to play videogames at home in the 1980s, the industry has rolled out a new generation of consoles roughly every five years. It was the only way to keep pace with the exponential improvements in chip speed and processing power. But as the seventh-generation consoles—today’s PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360—approach their sixth and seventh years on the market, respectively, the current hardware has grown rickety with age and is now easily outclassed by high-powered PCs. The Xenos graphics processor in the Xbox 360 can handle roughly 240 billion floating point operations per second; the latest high-end processors for PCs can handle around 3 trillion. Not surprisingly, speculation has been ramping up for several years about the next wave of game consoles. We may hear word of them this year, or next, or not until 2014. Whoever knows isn’t telling. But what we do know is that the wizards at Epic have been hard at work on the engine that will power this new generation of consoles. It’s called Unreal Engine 4, and it’s ready now.

UE4 represents nothing less than the foundation for the next decade of gaming. It may make Microsoft and Sony rethink how much horsepower they’ll need for their new hardware. It will streamline game development, allowing studios to do in 12 months what can take two years or more today. And most important, it will make the videogames that have defined the past decade look like puppet shows.

Will that be enough? Today’s videogame industry generates about $65 billion a year in revenue, and the vast majority of that comes from premium titles that can cost upwards of $150 million to produce (and have the potential to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars on release day alone). But paradigms are shifting: Cheaply developed mobile titles and an unforgiving economy have cast doubt on the future of the blockbuster game. Why go big and risky when you can be safe and profitable? Unreal 4 is Epic’s answer to that question. With it, the company is staking its existence on a bold prediction: that the future of the industry depends on ever-more realistic visual spectacle.

For all their profits, many videogame companies have never bothered to upgrade their offices to the bucolic campuses and Infinite Loops of the personal-computing world. Epic’s headquarters, outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, are housed in a squat concrete building off a winding drive in an industrial park. Still, there are plenty of perks inside—a gym, a quiet room for stressed developers, and an amply stocked kitchen. There’s also a massive motion-capture studio for translating live action into animation and a traditional art studio where game artists can keep their nondigital skills limber. For the requisite rejuvenile whimsy, there’s a tubular slide that takes people down from the second floor to the common lounge. (When it was first installed, it shot people out so quickly that Epic had to adjust the angle for safety—there’s no tweaking our planet’s physics engine.)

It’s late February, a week before the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, where Epic will be unveiling UE4 for the first time outside of the office. Reps from Microsoft, Sony, Nvidia, and the most influential game developers in the industry will be seeing the demo behind closed doors; the NDA-only affair will be Epic’s first and best chance to convince them that the future of gaming is unlike anything they previously imagined. “There is a huge responsibility on the shoulders of our engine team and our studio to drag this industry into the next generation,” says Cliff Bleszinski, Epic’s design director. “It is up to Epic, and Tim Sweeney in particular, to motivate Sony and Microsoft not to phone in what these next consoles are going to be. It needs to be a quantum leap. They need to damn near render Avatar in real time, because I want it and gamers want it—even if they don’t know they want it.”

While “damn near render Avatar in real time” likely isn’t up on a whiteboard in the office, it’s the kind of rapid-fire hyperbole that has made Bleszinski the face of Epic to many gamers. For his part, though, Sweeney is a bit more diplomatic. “We’re much more in sync with the console makers than any other developer is,” he says. “That means we can give detailed recommendations with a complete understanding of what is going to be commercially possible.” In other words, Epic has seen the specs of proposed new consoles and is actively lobbying for them to be more powerful. It could be a bad sign for the industry if new, relatively underpowered consoles make an appearance at this year’s E3 consumer show (as is popularly rumored about Sony’s PS3 successor, the alleged specs of which leaked in April).

Attention GT Academy competitors: we are now in the third week of the 2012 season, and the competition is heating up. Since May 1st, nearly 600,000 competitors have driven more than 51,000 miles and reattempted 52,000 times for their chance to become this year’s GT Academy Champion.

As you may already know, Round 3 and 4 became available this week – offering faster and more advanced technical driving challenges to prepare you for the final eighth round starting in June.

To give you a leg up on the competition, TwitchTV will be doing a live webcast with the first US GT Academy Champion Bryan Heitkotter today at 6pm Pacific Time. Be sure not to miss this as Bryan will be providing some inside tips for each of the round challenges and his predictions for this year’s winner.

Here’s a quick reminder for each of the challenges from Round 1-4:

Round 1: Nissan Leaf (Current Leaderboards)

• Simple Right-Hand Corner
• Simple Left-Hand Corner
• Simple Series of Corners
• Series of Blind Corners
• Driving with Opponents

Round 2: Nissan Silvia Spec-R Aero (Current Leaderboards)

• Long Banked Corner
• Hard Braking Before a Corner
• Series of Corners on the Rome City Course
• S Curves 1
• High-Speed Approach to a Series of Corners

Round 3: Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II (Current Leaderboards)

• Rotary Corner in the Madrid City Course
• S Curve at Suzuka Circuit
• Continuous Corners and Elevation Changes
• Variations of Corners
• Maintaining Stability in High-Speed Sections

Round 4: Nissan 370Z (GT Academy) ’08 (Current Leaderboards)

• The Nurburgring’s “Kallenhard” Section
• Low Speed ‘S’ Curve with Changing Radius
• ‘S’ Curves 2
• Suzuka Circuit’s “Spoon Curve”
• The “Variante Ascari” and “Parabolica” at Monza

Remember, in case you haven’t started, GT Academy 2012 is available as a free downloadable through the PlayStation Store until the end of the competition on June 24th. See if you have what it takes to become the next GT Academy Champion!

More information on GT Academy is available through the official site and our Facebook page.

Image: Courtesy Blizzard

It’s been just a little over a day since Blizzard performed one of the old rituals, releasing Diablo upon the world for the third time, and I’ve been doing my best to play all the hell out of it.

There’s a lot of hell in there, though. Wired will have a full review of Blizzard’s long-anticipated action role-playing game in due time, but first, here are some early thoughts about the experience I’ve had so far. Not all of them are positive.

I’m currently near the end of Act 1. I play as a Demon Hunter with a crazy magic bow and magical pants.

I get the feeling that Diablo III’s story was developed separately from its game mechanics, because they often clash.

For instance, early on there’s a mission in which the blacksmith at New Tristram, a gentleman named Haedrig Eamon, needs someone to help him kill his wife, who has been infected with some sort of zombifying disease.

I agreed to help Haedrig, and followed him down into his cellar. For some reason there were about 20 other zombies aside from Haedrig’s wife in that cellar, which sort of implies that Haedrig has a habit of keeping dozens of dead folks locked up in his basement. I’m not one to judge, though, so Haedrig and I fought through the zombie army and made it to his wife, who was in the midst of the zombie transformation process.

When I say she was in a process, what I actually mean is that she vomited everywhere and turned into a hideous monster — with really high HP. Why would the blacksmith’s wife have higher than normal HP? Anyway, we quickly finished her off. The moment she died, a pile of gold coins and a pair of fuzzy boots popped out, and without second thought I snatched them up. All of this is happening directly in front of Haedrig. He didn’t care. He was too busy alternatively howling lamentations and thanking me for my help.

Really, Diablo III? I can kill somebody’s zombie wife and steal the boots right off of her exploded corpse, and everybody is okay with that?

This game has no control over its own mechanics. When people die, funny money and enchanted doodads always come flying out. The game’s rules don’t bend, even when those rules ruin attempts by the developer to tell an interesting story.

That said, all of the actual game parts of Diablo III are wonderful. Blizzard added in loads of tiny refinements to the formula. You can pick up gold by simply running over it, warping to town no longer requires scrolls and the skill system is far more approachable. These make the game feel snappier than its predecessors. None of the game’s depth has been removed by these streamlinings.

I suspect that some pieces of Diablo III are included simply because they’re expected, though. For instance, given that I can just warp to town to sell all my goodies at any point, why do I have a limited inventory in the first place? It’s a completely unnecessary inclusion, since players no longer have any motivation to only pick up important items.

My play style is to pick up absolutely everything that drops, and then return to town whenever I’m full. Why put an arbitrary limit on the amount players can carry? It’s not as if the current limit is bound by any sort of reality: Right now, my Demon Hunter is hauling around a knapsack filled with three giant battle axes, four bows, two entire sets of armor and enough gold coins to embarrass Scrooge McDuck.

Conversely, I can’t think of enough good things to say about the sights and sounds of Diablo III. Especially the music. I’m usually not the guy who goes out and buys videogame soundtracks, but Diablo III’s score is incredible. What was Blizzard’s budget for the soundtrack? It’s on par with that of any high-budget film I’ve ever experienced. I mean, I’ve actually left the login screen up for extended amounts of time just so I can listen to the songs. While I’m downstairs cooking up chicken pot pie in the kitchen, the entire upper level of my house is a creepy-yet-epic orchestral concert. Please, Blizzard, sell me this soundtrack.

I’ve got a whole lot more Diablo III ahead of me. Expect a full review once I crawl back out of the zombie-filled cellar again.

A Sony booth worker holds up a PlayStation Vita at Tokyo Game Show last September. Interest in Vita has since cooled.
Photo: Robert Gilhooly/Wired.com

Fewer than 8 percent of Japanese consumers want to buy a PlayStation Vita or a Wii U, according to a recent survey conducted by online firm Goo Research. This is the third such survey in a row to report a decline in interest.

Among the 1083 people surveyed, 701 (64.7%) said they owned at least one video game console. From that group, 61.6% said they owned a Nintendo DS (this included all iterations, including the 3DS), followed by PlayStation 2 (50.5%), Nintendo Wii (50.1%), PlayStation Portable (32.4%), and PlayStation 3 (28.1%). Only 18 people (2.6%) said they owned a Vita. These figures have remained relatively stable over the months.

When asked “would you like to buy a PlayStation Vita?” only 7.8% of 1065 people said they did. 31.7% responded that they were curious about the Vita but did not plan to buy one. 60.5% said they had no interest whatsoever.

These numbers jibe with the weekly sales figures coming out of Japan that show Vita purchases stagnating since its 2011 launch. Vita is routinely outsold by its predecessor the PSP and rival 3DS.

Nintendo’s forthcoming Wii U did not fare any better in this opinion poll. 7.1% of 1083 asked said they wanted to buy a Wii U, 33.5% were curious but did not plan to buy, and 59.4% showed no interest at all. This is for a console without a set release date or price, but those are low numbers given the evergreen popularity of Nintendo’s games and consoles.

The survey also included questions about Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play, an Android smartphone that plays PlayStation games. Not a single respondent owned one, only 2.8% said they wanted to buy one, and 79.8% said they were not interested in the device.

Launching this fall, Smart As is a social brain-training experience that will put your brain to the test with 20 unique, engaging, tactile and highly interactive puzzle games. This next-gen puzzle game will also enable you to share your stats with players from around the world using a robust set of social and connective features.

Produced by XDev Europe, Smart As takes full advantage of PS Vita’s touchscreens, cameras and Augmented Reality capabilities to deliver Daily Training challenges featuring fun arithmetic, logic, language and observation-based puzzles. Your scores from each puzzle are used to calculate your overall Brain Power and anybody at any skill level can get in on the fun. The more you play, the better your chances are of increasing your Brain Power score and unlocking new puzzle games.

The best part about Smart As is that it’s not just a brain training game; it’s a social experience. Once you’ve earned your daily Brain Power score, you can go online to see how smart you are compared to your friends, people that you’ve met through “near,” players in your city, country, continent and the entire world using the Smart As leaderboards. You can even post your Brain Power scores to Facebook to boast about your cerebral superiority. Using PS Vita’s “near” feature, you can also drop off puzzles for nearby users and pick up new challenges left by other players.

When you play Smart As on the go using PS Vita’s Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, you’ll have the opportunity to unlock even more challenges in different regions with the Street Smart mode. Simply by competing in as many regional challenges as you can, you will get to prove that you are smarter, more travelled and better connected than your friends.

Watch the video above for an exclusive sneak peek at Smart As in action, and check back soon for more Smart As news.

Speeding his way back onto the scene is everyone’s favourite blue hedgehog back in an all new episode of Sonic the Hedgehog 4, aptly titled Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II.

Together with his old friend Tails, you can play either single player or co-op (local or online) with an evolution of Sonic 2′s collaborative mechanics. Use devastating collaborative attacks and combination moves to defeat the united force of Metal Sonic and Dr. Eggman.

If that’s not enough, those who own both Episode I and II will gain access to Episode Metal, featuring exclusive levels with Metal Sonic as a playable character. Nice!

Get ready for an all new musical phenomenon. Today, PixelJunk 4am releases for all of you with a PlayStation Move controller and PlayStation Eye camera (both required). Wave your hands in the air to blend sounds together and create your own unique music each time you play, whilst also broadcasting your performance via PlayStation Network.

We’ve also got a new PS2 game, as well as a PSOne game this week.

First up, Deus Ex, originally released on PlayStation 2. In the dystopian future of the year 2052, society slowly spirals into chaos. A lethal virus, the “Gray Death”, ravages the world. The only vaccine, “Ambrosia”, is in such short supply, it is only available to those wealthy enough and deemed “vital to the social order”. With no hope for a cure for the common people, riots occur worldwide and a number of terrorist organizations have formed. As a response, the United Nations has created The United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition (UNATCO). You assume the role of JC Denton, a nanotechnologically augmented UNATCO agent. After completing his training, JC gets slowly plunged into the world of augmentations, human misery, and conspiracies, determined to uncover the truth behind the real world order.

Our PSOne game this week is an addition to the imports section going by the name of Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty. This Japanese fighter is a classic example of the great stable of fighting games that came from PSOne era. Choose from 11 funky Chinese characters as they battle each other for the supreme goal of a unified Middle Kingdom. Each character has his own special powers and weapons. Or you can forgo the weapons and fight like a man with your bare hands! This formidable gem from Japan deserves your attention.

If you haven’t seen Andy’s post yet then not to worry. Click here to see our themed sale of the doom and gloom the world will (apparently) face in 2012. Scary stuff.

Lastly, there’s also a price drop for Under Siege, now only £3.99!

PlayStation Network New Content

Content may be added or removed, or move dates – please stay tuned to your weekly Store Update for the most up to date listings. Listed savings are approximate, based on SRP excluding Special Offer pricing and should be considered as a guide only.

PS3 Games

PixelJunk 4am (Trial available)
Become a headline act in a global musical phenomenon with PlayStation®Move.

Mix your own tracks in front of a live audience and listen to musicians perform around the world.

A PlayStationMove motion controller and a PlayStationEye camera are required to play this game.

Price: £6.49,€7.99,AU$12.95
PEGI: 3
Availability: All
File Size: 279MB

Saints Row: The Third
Years after taking Stilwater for their own, the Third Street Saints have evolved from street gang to household brand name. The Syndicate, a legendary criminal fraternity with pawns in play all over the globe, has turned its eye on the Saints and demands tribute. Refusing to kneel to the Syndicate, you take the fight to a new city.

Price: £29.99, €39.99, AU$59.95
PEGI: 18
Availability: All
File Size: 7333MB

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II
The Sonic 4 Saga continues as Sonic reunites with Tails for all new collaborative play! Race across four new Zones and utilise ingenious combination moves to fight the united force of Metal Sonic and Dr. Eggman.

BONUS! Owners of both Episodes I & II gain access to Episode Metal, featuring exclusive levels and a playable Metal Sonic.

Price: £9.99,€12.99,AU$19.95
PEGI: 3
Availability: All
File Size: 419MB

PS2

Deus Ex
Compatible with PlayStation 3.

Critically hailed as millennium Game of the Year, Deus Ex draws you into a doomed world of chaos and paranoia. As civilization nears collapse, a conspiracy bent on world domination emerges from the shadows of legend. The conspirator’s greatest strength? No one believes they exist. No one but you.

Price: £7.99, €9.99, AU$15.95
PEGI: 16
Availability: All
File Size: 1360MB

PSOne

Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty
Compatible with PSP (PlayStation Portable) and PlayStation 3.

This fighter is a classic example of the great fighting games from Japan. Choose from 11 funky Chinese characters as they battle for the supreme goal of a unified Middle Kingdom.

This title is a Japanese import. It requires a 60Hz compatible display. The manual is in English. Help can be found at www.monkeypawgames.com.

Price: £3.99, €4.99, AU$8.45
PEGI: 12
Availability: All
File Size: 92MB

minis

Nom Nation
Prices: £1.74,€1.99,AU$3.45
PEGI: 3
Availability: Not available in DK,LU,NO,PT,RU,UK

Rasmus Klump and the Big Maze (PETZI UND DAS GROSSE LABYRINTH)
Prices: € 3.99
PEGI: 3
Availability: AS, GE Only

Velocity
Prices: £3.99,€4.99,AU$8.45
PEGI: 3
Availability: Not available in PO

PS3 DLC

Asura’s Wrath
Lost Episode 2
Prices: £1.59,€1.99,AU$3.45
PEGI: 16
Availability: All

Final Fantasy XIII-2

• Noel’s Outfit: Black Mage (£1.59, €1.99, AU$3.45)
• Mog’s Outfits: A Wondrous Wardrobe (£1.59, €1.99, AU$3.45)
• Serah’s Outfit: White Mage (£1.59, €1.99, AU$3.45)
• Lightning: Requiem of the Goddess (£2.99, €3.59, AU$6.25)
• Snow: Perpetual Battlefield (£2.39, €2.99, AU$4.95)

PEGI: 16
Availability: All

LittleBigPlanet 2

• Men In Black Costume Kit (£4.79, €5.99, AU$9.95)
• Sack In Black Costume (£1.59, €1.99, AU$3.45)
• Gentle Rosenberg (£1.59, €1.99, AU$3.45)
• Scrad Costume (£1.59, €1.99, AU$3.45)
• Boris Costume (£1.59, €1.99, AU$3.45)

PEGI: 3
Availability: All

Max Payne 3
Gorilla Warfare Loadout Pack
Prices: £1.19,€1.49,AU$2.45
PEGI: 18
Availability: All

Motorstorm RC (Vita compatible)

• Special Monster Truck: Castro Box (£0.21, €0.25, AU$0.45)
• Special Big Rig: Castro Shanty (Free for 7 days only!)
• Veteran Race Truck: Castro Robusto (£0.40, €0.49, AU$0.90)

PEGI: 3
Availability: All

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
Spec Ops DLC Missions 5-7
Prices: £7.99,€9.99,AU$15.95
PEGI: 18
Availability: All

Rock Band 3
Paramore Pack 01 (£2.49, €3.99, AU$6.45)

• Brick By Boring Brick
• Ignorance
• The Only Exception

Prices (each track): £0.99, €1.49, AU$2.45
PEGI: 12
Availability: Not available in BL, HR, CZ, GR, HN, IN, IL, KW, LU, PL, QT, RU, SA, SI, ZA, TR, UA,AE

Rock Band Network

• Beer, Metal, Trolls And Vomit! (£0.99, €1.49, AU$2.45)
• Ocean Floor (£0.99, €1.49, AU$2.45)
• Song For The Broken (£0.99, €1.49, AU$2.45)
• Toccata And Fugue In D Minor (Bach) (£0.59, €0.79, AU$1.30)
• Younger Lungs (£0.99, €1.49, AU$2.45)

PEGI: 12
Availability: Not available in BL, HR, CZ, GR, HN, IN, IL, KW, LU, PL, QT, RU, SA, SI, ZA, TR, UA,AE

UFC Undisputed 3

• Ultimate Fights Pack 1 (£3.19, €3.99, AU$6.95)
• Fighter Catalog Key 01 (£1.59, €1.99, AU$3.45)

PEGI: 16
Availability: All

Worms Ultimate Mayhem
Worms Ultimate Mayhem “Multi-Player Pack”
Prices: £3.19,€3.99,AU$6.95
PEGI: 12
Availability: All

Yakuza: Dead Souls
Densetsu Pack
Prices: Free
PEGI: 18
Availability: All

PSVita DLC

Motorstorm RC (PS3 compatible)

• Special Monster Truck: Castro Box (£0.21, €0.25, AU$0.45)
• Special Big Rig: Castro Shanty (Free for 7 days only!)
• Veteran Race Truck: Castro Robusto (£0.40, €0.49, AU$0.90)

PEGI: 3
Availability: All

Reality Fighters

• Football Fight Style Pack
• Ghostbusters Pack

Prices: £2.39,€2.99,AU$4.95
PEGI: 12
Availability: All

Avatars

The Studio Avatars

• Eboy Avatar Bundle (£0.99, €1.19, AU$1.95)
• Eboy Avatar 1
• Eboy Avatar 2
• Eboy Avatar 3
• Eboy Avatar 4
• Eboy Avatar 5
• Eboy Avatar 6

Prices: £0.21,€0.25,AU$0.45
Availability: All

Themes

DYNAMIC THEMES

Abstract
Dynamic Beautiful Girl Theme 4 (£1.59/€1.99/$3.45)

Games
Max Payne 3 (£1.19/€1.49/$2.45)

Nature
Mini Winterland Theme (£1.59/€1.99/$3.45)
Snowy Mountain (£1.59/€1.99/$3.45)
White Buffalo Theme (no price listed)

Places/Landmarks
Japanese Village Theme (£1.59/€1.99/$3.45)
Lost Highway Theme (No price listed)

Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Dynamic Azmodeus Dark Angels Sunilda Theme (No price listed)
Dynamic Pirate Theme 2 (£1.59/€1.99/$3.45)

Sport
Dynamic Snowboard Theme (£1.59/€1.99/$3.45)
Dynamic Tower on Racetrack Theme (£1.59/€1.99/$3.45)

Price Drops

Under Siege (PS3) (£7.99, £3.99/€9.99, €4.99/$15.95, $8.45)

Disney Pixar Cars 2 The Video Game (PS3) (£31.99, £19.99/ €39.99, €29.99/$59.95, $39.95)

LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (PS3) (£31.99, £19.99/€39.99, €29.99/$59.95, $39.95)

Videos

Sorcery Story Trailer
Availability: All

Playtime Trailer
Availability: Ex,NL,PT,RU,UK

Access TV
Access Episode 034
Availability: GB only

Ghost Recon Future Soldier
Ghost Recon Alpha
Availability: Ex, De

London 2012
London 2012 – London Is Ready
Availability: All

Lost Planet 3
Lost Planet 3 Announcement Trailer
Availability: Ex. DE

Spec Ops: The Line
Spec Ops: The Line Multiplayer Trailer
Availability: Ex. DE, KW, QT, SA, AE

METRO: 2033 LAST LIGHT
Metro: Last Light – Enter the Metro Trailer
Availability: Ex. DE

Assassin’s Creed III
Assassin’s Creed III Gameplay Reveal Trailer
Availability: Ex. DE

The Midway 3 is a collection of crazy carnival midway games and excitement! Buy a green ticket, play some games, win a hundred wacky prizes! This is the best place to play all day! Green tickets can be used in all three Midway spaces, and we give you Darla’s Den, a free personal space, just for showing up!

The Hot Zone is a smokin’ space that serves as a hub for all three Midway mini-game collections and hosts a bunch of Hot Streak Air Hockey tables (2-player real-time games). You will also find a Tele-Port-A-Potty leading to Darla’s Den, a Mass Media Store ticket booth, and the Lots O’ Junk Redemption Centre.

Two of Novus Prime’s most popular items are on sale this week only! Save 40% on the mysterious Obsidian Pilot outfit & ultra-fast Blade fighter ship bundle, and take futuristic fashion to the next level with the Nebulon-Interweave Power Suit for 50% off. And don’t forget, owners of the Obsidian Pilot outfit save 20% on the new Obsidian Bladewalker suit!

Visit the Novus Prime space station today, and act fast – this sale ends Tuesday 22nd May!

This week new Men in Black™ costumes, weapons and furniture will be unleashed to help you protect the Earth from the scum of the universe! If you need backup, Frank the Pug the companion has got you covered! So, suit up and get ready for Men in Black III and the new video game Men in Black: Alien Crisis!!!

Want to see more about Activision’s upcoming Men in Black: Alien Crisis game? Check out the video below!

Allow Drey to paint you a picture. It starts with an impression of a figure; they look a little like you, but indistinct, lost in the landscape. As bold strokes of colour are added, the lines of a jacket, or maybe the rolled up sleeves of a sweater, the picture takes shape. A fine brush picks out the finishing details, a bag or a clutch, earrings or a smouldering hairstyle. The picture is complete and it’s you, only better.

The Kaleidoscope Colour collection from Drey combines bright, fun colours with comfortable, tailored designs. Ladies can stand up and be counted in the gravity-defying Ultra Wedge Heels and the Dewdrop Earrings can add a splash of colour to any outfit. The men’s Smart Artist collection draws on a slightly more muted pallet, but throws in statement pieces such as the distinctive Bowling Shoes and suave hairstyle The Expressionist.

Drey. Be your own masterpiece.

In Threads this week, Granzella releases a range of school uniform clothing, while Konami releases additional hairstyles for women. Focusing on trendy and fashionable hairstyles and highlights, Konami hairstyles will make you the focus of any party!

Struggling to show off that dazzling personality? Give yourself a hand with the exquisite Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire suit bundle. This massive 24-item bundle includes male and female versions of three sparkling suits that are guaranteed to get heads turning. The clothing is split into individual pieces so you can mix and match with the less flashy elements of your wardrobe. If you own any part of the PS Home Mansion, this bundle is available at half price!

Joel and Ellie won’t have an easy road ahead on their journey across the U.S. Their path will intersect with those of other remaining survivors, some of whom won’t be so friendly. In this scene Joel and Ellie continue the journey west in a salvaged pickup truck. The sombre tune of Hank Williams Sr. echoes the desolation of the world of The Last of Us. As they drive towards the next destination on their route – really just another place to find resources that will help them survive – they run into some hunters. What happens next is something you have to witness to understand. Check it out:

What you watched here is only a peek into how alone and forsaken the world has become. Our world is a brutal, lethal place in The Last of Us. Be ready for things to get much worse.

We can’t wait to share this genre-defining game with you. The hounds have started to bay. Get prepared for the coming months and look out for more information at E3.

Joel and Ellie won’t have an easy road ahead of them. Their path across the US will intersect with other survivors, some of whom won’t be friendly. In this scene set to the somber chords of Hank Williams, Sr., Joel and Ellie continue their journey west in a battered pickup truck. As they drive towards the next destination on their route, and hopefully a place to find critical resources, the pair encounters a group of hunters. What happens next is something you have to witness to understand. Check it out in the video above.

What you watched here is only a peek into how alone and forsaken this world has become. Be ready for things to get much worse.

If you missed any of Game Informer’s coverage of The Last of Us, be sure to dive in — we have so much more to show you and you won’t want to miss any of the backstory. Most recently, Game Director Bruce Straley and Creative Director Neil Druckmann spoke with IGN and answered some questions about the game. Be sure to read it! We can’t wait to share this genre-defining game with you.

The hounds have started to bay. Get prepared for E3 in early June and the growing news storm in the months to come!

Starting today, you will be able to download a huge selection of our games on the PlayStation Store at 50 percent off for PlayStation Plus members and 30 percent off for all other users. The sale will end on May 22, so act fast!

Ubisoft has an extensive and high-quality PSN catalog. Last year, we saw the launch of some of our best PlayStation Network games to date – From Dust, Outland, Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes and Beyond Good & Evil HD – all which will be in today’s promotion. For those looking to hop into retail games, we have several of our Blu-ray titles available on the PlayStation Store as well.

Here’s a list of all the content that we will have on sale this week. All these items have been discounted 50 percent for PlayStation Plus members and 30 percent for all other users:

• From Dust – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Outland – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Beyond Good & Evil HD – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Scott Pilgrim – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Prince of Persia Classic – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood – PlayStation Plus price $14.69; Sale price $20.99
• Assassin’s Creed 2 – PlayStation Plus price $13.99; Sale price $9.79
• Assassin’s Creed – PlayStation Plus price $13.99; Sale price $9.79
• Far Cry 2 – PlayStation Plus price $13.99; Sale price $9.79
• Call of Juarez 2 – PlayStation Plus price $13.99; Sale price $9.79
• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands – PlayStation Plus price $13.99; Sale price $9.79
• Prince of Persia (2008) – PlayStation Plus price $13.99; Sale price $9.79
• Prince of Persia Classic Trilogy HD – PlayStation Plus price $19.59; Sale price $27.99
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Prince of Persia: Warrior Within – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood – Da Vinci Disappearance DLC – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Assassin’s Creed 2 – Battle of Forli DLC – PlayStation Plus price $1.95; Sale price $2.79
• Assassin’s Creed 2 – Bonfire of Vanities DLC – PlayStation Plus price $3.42; Sale price $4.89
• Far Cry 2 – Fortunes Pack DLC – PlayStation Plus price $2.44; Sale price $3.49
• Call of Juarez 2 – Old West Map Pack DLC – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Prince of Persia (2008) – Epilogue DLC – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Scott Pilgrim – Knives Chau Add-On Pack DLC – PlayStation Plus price $0.97; Sale price $1.39
• Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines (PSP) – PlayStation Plus price $9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Complete Edition (includes Da Vinci Disappearance, Animus Project Update 1, Animus Project Update 2 and Copernicus Conspiracy Missions) – PlayStation Plus price $14.99; Sale price $24.99
• Far Cry 2 Complete Edition (includes Fortune Pack) – PlayStation Plus price $11.99; Sale price $19.99
• Prince of Persia (2008) Complete Edition (includes Epilogue) – PlayStation Plus price $11.99; Sale price $19.99
• Scott Pilgrim Complete Edition (includes Knives Chau Add-On Pack) – PlayStation Plus price $4.79; Sale price $7.99
• Call of Juarez 2 Complete Edition (includes Old West Map Pack) – PlayStation Plus price $11.99; Sale price $19.99

There you have it folks. The promotion will be running until May 22. What are you looking to pick up?

Hi everyone! Gaming is the bread and butter of PS Vita, with titles such as Resistance: Burning Skies, Sound Shapes and Gravity Rush launching soon.

Starting today, you’ll have even more reason to never stop playing. We’re very excited to announce the following PSP titles and minis will be available on the PS Vita Store, with many more coming soon. These aren’t just the same games you might have played at one time in the past! Check out the full list below, and we’ll keep you posted as further titles are brought to PS Store.

Available Today

PSP Titles:
Cho Aniki Zero (Aksys Games Localization, Inc.)
Strikers 1945 Plus (PM Studios, Inc.)
Tom Clancy’S Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (UbiSoft, Inc.)
Tom Clancy’S Rainbow Six: Vegas (UbiSoft, Inc.)
Valhalla Knights 2: Battle Stance (XSEED JKS, Inc.)
Ys: I & II Chronicles Digital (XSEED JKS, Inc.)

PSP minis:
Aero Racer (Halfbrick Studios)
Age Of Zombies (Halfbrick Studios)
Blast Off (Halfbrick Studios)
Dynogems (StormBasic)
Echoes (Halfbrick Studios)
Me Monstar: Hear Me Roar (Cohort Studios)
Vempire (Impressionware Srl)

Coming Soon

PSP Titles:
3D Twist & Match (Sanuk Games)
Aedis Eclipse: Generation Of Chaos Legacy (NIS America, Inc.)
Bejeweled 2 (Sony Online Entertainment LLC)
Beta Bloc (D3 Publisher of America)
Brain Challenge (Gameloft)
Dead Head Fred (D3 Publisher of America)
Field Commander (Sony Online Entertainment LLC)
Gods Eater Burst (D3 Publisher of America)
Groovin’ Blocks (Sony Online Entertainment LLC)
King Of Pool (Nordcurrent UAB)
Luxor: Pharaoh’S Challenge Umd Legacy (Mumbo Jumbo)
Major League Baseball 2K10 (2KGames)
Mercury Meltdown (Ignition Entertainment)
Mx Vs Atv Untamed (THQ, Inc.)
Peggle (Sony Online Entertainment LLC)
Prehistoric Isle (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Puzzle Quest: Challenge Of The Warlords (D3 Publisher of America)
Reel Fishing: The Great Outdoors Legacy (Natsume, Inc.)
Split Second (Disney Interactive Studios)
Super Pocket Tennis (D3 Publisher of America)
The Red Star (XS Games, LLC)
Unbound Saga (Vogster Entertainment, LLC)
Undead Knights Digital (Tecmo Koei America Corporation)
Uno (Gameloft)
Untold Legends: Brotherhood Of The Blade (Sony Online Entertainment LLC)
Untold Legends: The Warrior’S Code French (Sony Online Entertainment LLC)
Work Time Fun (D3 Publisher of America)
WWE All Stars (THQ, Inc.)
WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010 (THQ, Inc.)

PSP minis:
5 In 1 Solitaire (Digital Leisure)
Alien Zombie Death (PomPom Games)
Arcade Air Hockey & Bowling (Icon Games)
Babel: The King Of The Blocks (StormBasic)
Bashi Blocks (Icon Games)
Bermuda Triangle (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Breakquest (Beatshapers)
Bubble Trubble (Creat Studios)
Card Shark (Laughing Jackal Ltd)
Carnivores: Ice Age (Beatshapers)
Cohort Chess (Cohort Studios)
Doodle Fit (Gamelion)
Doodle Pool (Big Head Games)
Duael Invaders (Laughing Jackal Ltd)
Enigmo (Beatshapers)
Family Games (Icon Games)
Farm Frenzy (Alawar Entertainment, Inc.)
Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain (Laughing Jackal Ltd)
Fly Fu (Invictus Games LTD.)
Galcon Labs (Beatshapers)
Gamocracy One : Legend Of Robot (AYEWARE / Bearded Ladies Consulting)
Gold Medalist (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Guerrilla War (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Hal 21 (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Hero Of Sparta (Gameloft)
Hysteria Project 2 (Sanuk Games)
Ikari Warriors (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Ikari Warriors Ii: Victory Road (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Jelly Pops (PomPom Games)
Karimogi (StormBasic)
Labyrinth (Bigben Interactive, S.A.)
Let’S Golf (Gameloft)
Marvin’S Maze (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Mecho Wars (Creat Studios)
Omg-Z! (Laughing Jackal Ltd)
One Epic Game (Grip Digital)
Ozma Wars (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
P.O.W. – Prisoners Of War (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Pipe Madness (AYEWARE / Bearded Ladies Consulting)
Pix N Love Rush (Sanuk Games)
Psycho Soldier (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Red Bull X-Fighters (Xendex)
Rumble Trucks (Playerthree Ltd)
Street Smart (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
The 2D Adventures Of Rotating Octopus Character (Dakko Dakko Ltd.)
The Impossible Game (Grip Digital)
The Marbians (Nordisk Film Distribution A/S)
Twin Blades (Sanuk Games)
Vanguard Ii (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Wackylands Boss (Creat Studios)
Yetisports (Xendex)
Zombie Racers (Big Head Games)

It’s been almost three months since we launched PS Vita here in the U.S. and we’re continuing to find ways to add to your portable entertainment experience. With the recent launch of non-gaming apps such as Skype and Paint Park, and upcoming apps such as Treasure Park and Wake Up Club, all available for free, the PS Vita is an ever-evolving platform that keeps you connected to the content and experiences that are most important to all of you gamers.

What PSP games are you most excited to play on PS Vita?

Do you have a PlayStation Move motion controller? Do you like music? Are waffles delicious? If you answered “Yes” to any of the above questions, I have some delicious news for you!

PixelJunk 4am will be released later today on PSN for $9.99! The FREE PixelJunk 4am Viewer app will also be available to download today, and will enable you to stream the full library of 4am visualizers and songs from performers around the world.

If you’re not already familiar with PixelJunk 4am, it’s a Virtual Audio Canvas that uses PlayStation Move, giving you the power to craft music in a unique new audio-visual experience. Your creations are broadcast live on PSN around the world to viewers who can stream (and cheer you on!) in real time.

You can look forward to seven songs and six visualizers with 38 variations, 10 events and over 190 different sounds to play with. PixelJunk 4am supports both in-game Twitter and Facebook connectivity, enabling you to promote your performances with personal messages and start to build your own persona and audience. You can also use 4am as a stand-alone visualizer (no Move required) and play your favorite music from your PS3.

For anyone still yet to see 4am in action, we’ve been playing with it lately in the office here and did some raw filming. Here’s a peek at what can be done with just one song & visualizer!

4am also supports two two Move controllers, meaning you can mix simultaneously with a friend live, or dual-wield by yourself like a pro. We took it up onto the roof in the rain last night. Phat bass filtering down into the streets below…

Watching players in the early access live beta, we’ve already been blown away by people’s creativity. Some of you have been uploading performances to YouTube in suits and masks or adding your own digital GUI overlays. And that was just with the one song the Beta offered! o.O I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with using the full release library!

So please, show us how it’s done. We’ve provided the platform, it’s up to you guys to stand on it. Surprise us and show us what you can come up with! We’ll be streaming wherever you are in the world.

If you answered “Yes” to any of the above questions, I have some delicious news for you!

PixelJunk 4am will be available for download tomorrow on PSN for (EU) €7.99 / (UK) £6.49. The FREE PixelJunk 4am viewer will also be available, allowing you to stream the FULL LIBRARY of 4am visualizers and songs from performers around the world.

If you’re not already familiar with it, PixelJunk 4am uses the PlayStation Move controller and a Virtual Audio Canvas giving you the power to craft music in a unique new audio visual experience. Your creations are broadcast live on PSN around the world to viewers who can stream and cheer you on in real time.

You can now look forward to 7 songs and 6 visualisers with 38 variations, 10 events and over 190 different sounds to play with. 4am supports both Twitter and Facebook from within the game letting you promote your performances with personal messages and start to build your own persona and audience. You can also use 4am as a stand-alone visualizer (no Move required) and play your favourite music from your PS3.

For anyone still yet to see 4am in action, we’ve been playing with it lately in the office here and did some raw filming. Here’s a peek at what can be done with just one song & visualiser!

4am also supports up to two Move controllers, meaning you can mix simultaneously with a friend live, or dual-wield by yourself like a pro. We took it up onto the roof in the rain last night. Phat bass filtering down into the streets below…

We’ve already been surprised by people’s creativity from the early access Live Beta! Some of you have been uploading performances to YouTube in suits & masks or adding your own digital GUI overlays. And that was just with the one song the Beta offered! o.O I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with using the full release library!

So please, show us how it’s done. We’ve provided the platform, it’s up to you guys to stand on it. Surprise us and show us what you can come up with! We’ll be streaming wherever you are in the world.

Players can leap into the lava of Bowser’s Castle 1, shown here, and end up ahead in the race.
Photo: Wired

A mandatory update will remove three extreme shortcuts from Mario Kart 7 online matches, Nintendo said Tuesday.

A glitch in the popular Nintendo 3DS racing game that allowed players to leap from the track and respawn in advantageous positions in the Wuhu Island Loop, Wuhu Mountain Loop and Bowser’s Castle 1 racetracks will no longer work once the patch is applied.

All players who connect their 3DS to play Mario Kart 7 online will be prompted to quit and download the “Ver 1.1″ patch from the eShop. However, even with the patch in place, the glitches will remain in all offline modes, so players who view these as just the latest in a long line of unintended Mario Kart shortcuts can continue to exploit them.

The notion of downloading a patch is run-of-the-mill for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners, so much so that the process is practically automatic. But this is a first for Nintendo, having only last month added the ability to patch 3DS games with a system software update as part of its growing digital games initiative.

On PS Vita, Escape Plan entered its third month of leadership on the PS Vita PlayStation Store. In Add-Ons, Call of Duty content (both new and old) stormed in, while MLB 12: The Show content shared some of the top honors.

Get the download on all of April’s top sellers below. Think you can predict what next month’s top sellers will be? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Top 20 PSN and PS3 Full Games

1) I Am Alive – Ubisoft’s twist on the survival genre edged it above last month’s top seller Journey.
2) Journey
3) SkullGirls
4) The Walking Dead – Episode 1: A New Day –  TellTale explores player choice and consequence.
5) The House of the Dead 4
6) Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection
7) Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
Grand Theft Auto IV
9) NBA JAM: On Fire Edition
10) Gotham City Impostors – Fervent support from developer and community for this multiplayer world.
11) Sonic CD
12) inFAMOUS Festival of Blood – Last year’s dark adventure demonstrates impressive staying power.
13) World Gone Sour
14) Resident Evil 4
15) The Simpsons Arcade Game
16) Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
17) Dead Rising 2 Off The Record
18) Warrior Orochi 3
19) Pinball Arcade – Cracking the top 20 on both PS3 and PS Vita, this realistic pinball simulation packed an impressive value proposition: buy one version and you get the other for free.
20) Castle Crashers

Top 10 PS Vita Games

1) Escape Plan – With a friendly price point and continuing Add-On content, there’s no reason every PS Vita owner shouldn’t have this gem.
2) Pinball Arcade
3) Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack
4) Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention
5) Plants vs. Zombies
6) Super Stardust Delta
7) Unit 13
StarDrone Extreme
9) Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
10) MLB 12 The Show

Top 5 PS3 Add-Ons

1) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Collection 1 – A special collection of all the current Add-On proved too good for COD fans to pass up.
2) MLB 12 The Show Road to the Show Training Points (6,000)
3) Call of Duty: Black Ops Rezurrection: Content Pack 4
4) MLB 12 The Show Road to the Show Training Points (1,000)
5) Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation: Content Pack 2

Top 5 PSone Classics

1) Final Fantasy VII – Final Fantasy VII is Final Fantasy VII. You know the deal.
2) Resident Evil 2
3) Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
4) Final Fantasy IX
5) Final Fantasy VIII

Top 5 PSP Games

1) Monster Hunter Freedom Unite – Addictive Monster Hunting action just barely edged out the competition to reach the top PSP spot!
2) Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
3) Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable
4) Mega Man Maverick Hunter X
5) NBA 2K12 PSP

Hello Everybody

The year is 2012 (gentle reminder!) It is told that this year brings forth the end of the world or so the interesting people tell me. So I thought it would be a good idea to bring you some awesome games with an apocalyptic theme to get you in training for our impending doom.

One of the best ways to get a crash course into surviving a nuclear fallout would be the legendary games Fallout3 and Fallout: New Vegas. There will be a 30% discount on all Fallout3 and Fallout: New Vegas individual add-on packs, and a 50% discount for fans buying all add-ons as a bundle (with extra discounts for PlayStation Plus members).

How about living in an underwater city? Or on a strange, distant planet which looks surprisingly like the Arizona desert? You can expect titles such as Bioshock 2 and Borderlands from just £9.69/€11.99 with extra discounts for the DLC.

Of course, no ‘end of the world’ scenario would be complete without a zombie biting at your ankles here and there, so for this we have Resident Evil 4 and Code Veronica: X, as well as Amy, Burn Zombies Burn and All Zombies Must Die.

What better way to spend your last moments on Earth than playing games where the world hasn’t quite ended? So check out these great offers and more available on the PlayStation Store from Wednesday 16th May to Wednesday 30th May.

The Import section is now over a month old. Thanks for tuning in and showing interest! So far, we’ve built up the shooter portfolio with some old-school twitchers. Now we’re going to switch gears and present a great fighter from Land of the Rising Yen.

Our release this week will be Arcade Hits: Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty, a classic fighter from the era of when beat’em-ups ruled the consoles. It had progressive and pioneering elements that many future fighters mimicked. And in some aspects, it exceeded what the legendary games of the fighter class established. This was Data East’s second major attempt at a fighting game series, after Fighters History.

The game is set in the world of the ancient novel Water Margin, also known as the Legend of 108 Outlaws. In Japanese, the novel is translated as Suikoden – and this is a fighting game in that same universe. The story surrounds 12 of the 108 outlaws, testing their skills in Liangshan Marsh (where the novel takes place) as the Gods of War judge from the heavens.

We hope you’ll like this fighter as it really brings back the finer points of the retro era. While fighters were well-represented during this era, few stand the test of time better than Outlaws. We love Data East and their treasure trove of delectable goodies. Give this one a spin, it’s a steal for just (EU) €4.99/£3.99.

MonkeyPaw has received a large amount of comments from the community. We know all of you would like to see Arc the Lad in English (coming soon…thanks for your patience!).

We’ve also had many requests for new games. Many of you would like to see some big name games like Chrono Crisis or Xenogears. But we have limited possibilities to get licenses from publishers like Square Enix, Namco or Capcom. Our selection of games revolves around Japanese publishers who may not be able to market their library to the West.

We’re sorry we can’t get all of the great ones but we’ll do our best to deliver games high in quality, fun, and wackiness. Please try them out and enjoy them for what they are…lost gems from Japan.

Exciting news for lovers of all things sports! Together with the BBC, we’re bringing a new application to your PlayStation 3. The BBC Sports app.

The BBC Sports app will sit on your XMB, feeding you with highlights of key sporting events during the summer and beyond. Throughout the London 2012 Olympics alone, the app will deliver 2,500 hours of content and up to 24 simultaneous events, all in glorious HD and all at the touch of the X button.

Plus catch other sporting highlights, like Wimbledon and Formula One™, where you’ll be able to take command of your viewing experience with an array of camera angles and interactive experiences.

The best bit? It’s completely free and it’s coming to your PlayStation 3 this summer, before Wimbledon 2012 kicks off in June.

We’ll have more news really soon! For now, post your questions and comments below and I’ll do my best to get them answered for you.

The long-awaited Midway 3 is coming this week. As if that wasn’t enough on its own, it’s bringing sweet, sweet prizes with it. No, not virtual prizes (it has over 100 of those, too) but real prizes. Sony prizes. Awesome prizes. Oh, and cash prizes too!

The Midway 3 hosts 10 games, each with 10 levels of difficulty, and rewards players with over 100 unique virtual items. Grab your tickets and play a variety of hilarious carnival games like Pull My Finger, Puck It!, and Penny Pincher. Enter the new Midway Hot Zone to play the Hot Streak Air Hockey. Earn Hot Zone points and then cash them in for wild prizes from the Lots O’ Junk Redemption Center. That’s not all – players that enter the Midway are entered into the Cash Carnival sweepstakes, where you can win weekly prizes from Sony Electronics and even a grand prize of $15,000 (click here for the official rules)! Be sure to head over to the Midway 3 on Wednesday, May 16th and start playing!!

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For the more refined, Drey provides in May. The Kaleidoscope Color and Smart Artist collections from Drey deliver comfortable, tailored designs for this season. The spring fashions you are looking for are here, in bundles and ala carte.

x7 members will get early-access to special new selections this week as well. Ladies should check for the White Leather Jacket and Pants, while the men might find that the Sleeveless Gi fills a certain void in their wardrobe.

Speaking of cool places to hang out, Sony Pictures Entertainment and LOOT have joined forces to bring the MIB Headquarters to PlayStation Home! Help agents Jay and Kay protect the Earth from the scum of the universe by monitoring alien activity. Play the quiz to find out if you’re considered an alien or agent in the eyes of the agency. Take photos with your favorite agents then roam the headquarters for sweet rewards and sneak peeks from the new movie Men in Black 3 and the upcoming video game Men in Black: Alien Crisis.

Fire up PlayStation Home and discover which bits of this week’s update you love the most! If you can’t decide where to start, try the Hub – you’ll find content from Midway 3 and Men In Black there, plus a free ride to x7 if you need one.

See you there!

Tomb Raider has been delayed until 2013, but here’s a new screenshot to make up for it.
Image: Square Enix

First it was BioShock Infinite. Now Square Enix’s reboot of Tomb Raider has been delayed from the fall of 2012 into the first quarter of 2013.

Unlike Infinite, however, Lara Croft’s new adventure will still be shown at this year’s E3 Expo in June.

Two high-profile delays and it’s not even E3 yet. Who wants to place some bets on the next game to get bumped into next year?

How are you all in SingStar world? As already mentioned above, this week’s SingStore boasts new songs from the artists above but of course, that’s not all.

Apart from that there are also five Take That singles from the Take That 3 song pack, in case you didn’t want to buy them in bulk or, god (of pop) forbid, you didn’t like one or two of them.

It would also be rude of me not to mention OutKast and their massive hit ‘Ms. Jackson’ or ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feelin’ by The Righteous Brothers, right? Ahh, remember the scene in the film Top Gun when Tom Cruise grabs the mic in the bar and serenades Kelly McGillis with it? Ooops, probably showing my age here and getting a tad sentimental. Apologies.

Please note that Sunrise Avenue ‘Somebody Help Me’ is only available in Austria, Germany and Switzerland as detailed below.

If you’re bored this week, why don’t you head to the ‘Charts’ section in game for the brand new ‘Punk’ themed list? Can you already guess what’s on it? Don’t forget, there will be a new one this Friday so check back if you’re in need of some inspiration.

Enjoy!

See ya in two!

Nina xx

Track has previously been released on a disc.

Screengrab: Wired

The arcade classic Xevious is now playable online at no cost, thanks to a Japanese campaign for Sprite.

As part of a retro-themed campaign for the citrusy soft drink, which features Sprite’s classic logo and other nostalgic imagery, you can now play a slightly tweaked version of the 1982 aerial shooter called Sprite x Xevious. It’s got online leaderboards and can be controlled with either the keyboard or mouse. Oh, and many of the enemies have been replaced with twirling soda caps and bottles.

Otherwise, the gameplay is mostly unchanged. There’s still the vertical-scrolling, laser-firing action that was so influential to the creation of the shmup genre. Huge “Sprite” logos are stamped into the landscape below. But brand visibility is also given maximum screen time through another gameplay tweak: unlimited lives.

While Xevious was a hit in Japan, the game remains less known in the West. Nearly all of the sequels and spin-offs, which were mostly sprinkled throughout the ’80s and ’90s, were Japan-only releases.

The original arcade game is available on Wii’s Virtual Console, and was released on Nintendo 3DS last year with 3-D visuals.

Palooza it up people! This party’s not over yet!

Track Creation Challenge: “Home Sweeeet Home”
This challenge will test the skills of even the best track creators in the game. Relying on imagination and not a “midnight pizza-vison” to come up with amazing tracks or creations; those skills may not work here. Players will need to simulate the city where they live. Our favorite tracks will make their way into PS3 Top Tracks or Hot Lap for a week of notoriety (San Diego Studio Faves for Vita). Sign up HERE!

The “Moddys”: Our Favorite Tracks
Two weeks in to the popular “Moddys” Celebration 2.0. We searched through 1,000’s upon 1,000’s of Mods, Karts, and Tracks to present you with some of our favorite amazing, scary, and wacky creations.

This week we bring you… our favorite Tracks

The categories include:

• “Rollercoaster of Love. Say What?” (Favorite Rollercoaster tracks)
• “U-G-L-Y, You Ain’t Got No Alibi, You Ugly” (Favorite Not-Pretty tracks)
• “Gosh Darn It” (Favorite Dam Tracks)
• “You Must Be Petrified” (Favorite Epic Animal Track Creations)
• “What Is It Good For? Absolutely Nothing!” (Favorite War Themed Tracks)
• “Auto-Populated… My Eye!” (Favorite “Overstated” Track)
• “It’s All In The Name” (Favorite Named Tracks)
• “Hands Off Me Booty” (Favorite Pirate Themed Tracks)
• “USA! USA! USA!” (Favorite PSN ID: marusarusa Tracks)
• “That Sir Is Utterly Inflammatory” (Favorite Tracks With Flames)
• “It’s A Wonderful Day In The Neighborhood” (Favorite Suburban Tracks)
• “You’re As Cold As Ice” (Favorite Ice Themed Track)
• “Fortification Schmortification” (Favorite Fortress Track)
• “Yippee Ki-yay” (Favorite Western Tracks)

Please take the time to view these creations HERE

ModNation Racers Double XP Week!

You: Are you down with Double XP?
Mark: Yeah, you know me!

Enjoy Double XP for the Week of May 14th – 20th – brought to you by the good folks of MNR!

“Road Trip” Track of the Week / Community Hot Lap Challenge
Each week we will host the “Track of the Week” Community Hot Lap Challenge to see who can post the best time on selected tracks. The top three times will be mentioned here in this ModNation Monday blog for the world to see.

Last Week’s Hot Lap Results:
Track: “Catfish Rally Vita” by CAPNDigital

1. ZlheckJr 53.081
2. Punishthem420 54.476
3. jadace12 56.708

This week’s track:

ModNation Racers For PS3

ModNation Racers Two-Year Anniversary Collectable Wallpaper
ModNation Anniversary wallpapers in six designer colors. Visit our Facebook page to get yours now!

ModNation Racers: Grand Prix Track Selection
We asked you to build the tracks for the upcoming Grand Prix and wow!… did you deliver! It was difficult to narrow it down to just 10 tracks, but here are our favorites:

• 2012 MNR UFG MRC GP by Onemama
• Desert GP rally by The_Pwner007
• 2012 North Woods GP by Onepoppa
• Green Valley Speedway by ath_racing
• Grand Prix 2012 by prob_alex
• 2nd Annual MNR Grand Prix by John31269
• The 2012 H*3*L*L *A* GP by KING_MEPHISTO
• Icecap Colosseum by Yika
• Eternal Life: Tree Shaker by Freshwick
• Canal Streets GP by mackattack8000

Thanks to everyone who obviously put a lot of time and effort into creating all of the tracks!

Anniv. Celebration Fun Race Nights in May
Join ModNationSD for a night of fun races all throughout the month of May from 4:30 – 5:30 pm Pacific Time! If you would like to race, send a friend request to ModNationSD and I will add you for the night.

Top Tracks: Best of PSN ID: Kickin’ It Old School
For those that were never able to experience the Top Tracks rotation for the first six months of the game’s life, we present them one more time.

Too soon?

My bad.

ModNation Racers Hot Lap Tracks: Best Of UFG and San Diego Studio

This week we celebrate Hot Lap with the “Best of UFG” tracks Monday-Friday. Which tracks you ask? You’ll have to show up in the Modspot to find out. Note: Saturday and Sunday will run the tracks that were replaced by the Grand Prix races.

Happy Anniversary ModNation-ites!,
Mark
PS3: ModNationSD
Vita: ModNationSDVita

We are in the process of moving the blog to a new server and our IP address is changing. The disruption time will vary based on your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and how long they cache our old IP address.

You may still be able to access the blog as normal during this time, however please bear in mind that whilst you are free to browse and comment, you may experience issues such as comments not saving correctly or not appearing at all.

We would appreciate your patience during the disruption and will do everything we can to ensure the interruption as small as possible.

N.B This maintenance is not related to PlayStation Network and none of your gaming services will be affected.

The Men in Black have a brand new member joining their elite secret agency and there’s nobody better for the job than Agent S!

The new Sack in Black Costume is joined by a trio of infamous aliens from the Men in Black movies and with Agent S in charge, you can be sure that they won’t be messing with the Men in Black anymore!

In celebration of this awesome collection of costumes from one of our favourite movies series, head on over to LittleBigPlanet.com and download this fantastic new movie poster for LittleBigPlanet!

Don’t forget that Men in Black III will be in cinemas soon too!

Be sure to check it out to see the original Agents J and K in action!

Mm Picks

The Mm Picks this week include a couple of dark and mysterious platforming levels, along with a couple more light-hearted mini-games that challenge your pizza making and button pressing skills.

The stand out level series featured this week though is the Titanic 100th Anniversary movie that spans across an impressive 10-level series featuring educational and interactive levels, which form together to make a truly touching movie project that pays tribute to the Titanic tragedy from 100 years ago and to the lives lost on that day.

TITANIC 100th Anniversary PART 1 ‘THE SHIP OF DREAMS’ By TITANIC100th

TITANIC 100TH Soundtrack By hugh-es

Embrace of Darkness (Part 1) By papanurgle123

Pizza Party (Move Required – 1Player) By SasukeUchica

ブロック消し block eraser [JPN] By tyutyukoderax

Days Of Revenge part 1 –The Final Judgement– By monstertruckpipk

LBPC Contest Crew – Aquatic Acceleration

The Contest Crew over on LBPCentral.com have just announced their 8th competition!

They’re looking for the community to create the fastest, most exhilarating, underwater level that you can imagine!

So put on your Scuba Gear and get creating for your chance to win a Rare Prize Crown and the LittleBigPlanet Central Pin!

Head on over to LBPCentral.com to find out how you can enter this competition.

Sign-up for the LittleBigPlanet Vita Beta!

Last but by no means least, we announced the LittleBigPlanet Vita beta last week and time is quickly running out for people to register to be in with a chance to be chosen to join our community of bug blasting Sackfolk!

Head on over to LittleBigPlanet.com now and register for your chance to be selected for the LittleBigPlanet Vita beta, before it’s too late!

Derrick the Deathfin is the world’s very first underwater papercraft game. The action – of which there is plenty – takes place in an irreverent aquatic world full of paper, goofy fish, paper, arcade action, paper, wanton destruction, and paper*.

After Derrick’s parents are brutally turned into soup he sets forth on a worldwide rampage of destruction in order to make himself feel a bit better. On his travels he eats all manner of dopey delights for dinner, duels with paper enemies and decimates manmade cardboard monstrosities. Derrick also has a distinct fondness for picking up diamonds and jumping through burning tyres in the sky. Just like a real shark.

Derrick journeys through 32 beautiful, vibrant levels set across 11 environments and 4 continents. He is in a constant battle against his metabolism, needing to constantly eat to stay alive. He must move, groove, jump, race and puzzle his way through increasingly crazy challenges to attain paper-shark certified glory.

You could describe the gameplay of Derrick the Deathfin as the illegitimate lovechild of Ecco the Dolphin and Sonic the Hedgehog. Possibly with Joe Danger filming in the background during conception.

Indeed the idea for Derrick came from a mildly confrontational and slightly inebriated argument one evening about the relative merits of Sonic and Ecco. Clearly the only logical next step was to try to combine the two game styles and frame it all in an underwater papercraft world. So that is what we set about doing.

The unique, vibrant art style of the game has been masterminded by street artist and all-round superstar Ronzo. All of the characters and environments in the game are based on real papercraft, often being modelled in paper before being photographed and recreated as 3D models, then imported into the game. This process and Ronzo’s uniquely goofy character designs give the game an original look and charm.

Derrick the Deathfin’s distinct styling and accessible yet frantic arcade action gameplay is designed to appeal to anybody with a PS3 and a bit of sense.

Derrick will be shredding his way onto PSN this summer.

* There is also a bit of cardboard for those that way inclined.

From the crazy, ambient, mellow world which only exists within the mind of Baiyon, PixelJunk 4AM exclusively on PSN and PlayStation Move, reflects a huge departure from previous PixelJunk titles by putting the power of creation directly at your fingertips.

In Max Payne 3 for PS3, Max takes a job in São Paulo, Brazil, protecting the family of wealthy real estate mogul Rodrigo Branco, in an effort to finally escape his troubled past. But as events spiral out of his control, Max Payne finds himself alone on the streets of an unfamiliar city, desperately searching for the truth and fighting for a way out. Enjoy this week’s The Drop.

PlayStation 3

Max Payne 3 – Max Payne 3 continues the tale of former New York City detective, Max Payne. Still haunted by the memories of his traumatic past, Max begins a new life working private security protecting a wealthy industrialist and his family in Sao Paulo, Brazil. When gangs target the family under his protection, Max is forced to fight to save his clients and clear his name, in a bid to, once and for all, rid himself of the demons that have tortured him for far too long.

Game of Thrones – Created in partnership with author George R. R. Martin, this role-playing adventure is inspired by the author’s award-winning, international bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series (better known under its first book’s title, A Game of Thrones.)

Battleship – Lock, load and prepare for grand oceanic action in Battleship. Inspired by the classic naval strategy game and serving as a stand-alone story for fans of the blockbuster action movie, Battleship offers a blend of strategic naval command and first-person action gameplay.

Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends – Race some of the sexiest cars ever made in this Ferrari-licensed entry in the famed Test Drive racing franchise. Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends brings over 70 years of the world’s most recognizable performance cars to gamers. Developed by world-class developer Slightly Mad Studios, Ferrari Racing Legends explores the legacy of Ferrari Racing. It recreates Ferrari’s most beloved and coveted performance racers, from today’s latest models to the legendary vehicles that have dominated racing history.

PlayStation Network

PixelJunk 4am – Utilizing the PlayStation Move motion controller and its full range of motion, players can use PixelJunk 4AM’s unique Virtual Audio Canvas to mix tracks and experiment with audio effects to create breathtaking compositions they can share and broadcast to anyone and everyone!

Prototype 2 (w/ Radnet Access Pack) – Prototype 2 continues the shape-shifting, open-world action franchise, this time focusing on Sgt. James Heller and his mission to destroy Prototype’s original anti-hero, Alex Mercer.

Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II – Available exclusively via download, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II continues the addictive side scrolling action that Sonic fans love in an all-new 2D adventure. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II comes complete with a totally reworked physics engine and all-new character animations as it expands the Sonic 4 storyline with new areas to speed through and new challenges to face.

Goldeneye 007 Reloaded (PS Move Compatible) – You are Bond, James Bond. Your mission is to recover the key to a devastating Soviet orbital weapon, GoldenEye. This reimagining of the action classic GoldenEye allows players to channel Daniel Craig’s lethal and gritty James Bond in an innovative, modern take on the legendary Bond adventure, GoldenEye. GoldenEye 007: Reloaded improves on the Wii hit with HD visuals and realistic environments running at 60-frames per second.

Jam Live Music Arcade – Jam Live Music Arcade offers a new approach to the music genre with a real-time live music sandbox that allows the player to immediately build and customize their very own tunes. Starting with any one of the 30+ licensed songs featured in the game (including hits from Modest Mouse, Fallout Boy, Fatboy Slim, Rise Against, Atmosphere and more), you get to jam with and remix all aspects of the song — guitar, bass, drums, synth and vocals — to experiment with the song and re-create it to their own personality.

Rock of Ages – Two castles stand opposed, bridged by an uneven, narrow pathway. One is yours, and you’re quite fond of it. See how the parapets catch the sunlight ever so stylishly? The other is your enemy’s; they’re a jerk, and their crappy crenellations are driving down your property values. Also, their castle sucks, justification enough to try crush it using an enormous rolling stone. Unfortunately, they’ll have a chance to plan and build up some security, doing everything they can to derail your razing rock.

PS3 Demos

• PixelJunk 4am
• Rock of Ages
• Sonic The Hedgehog Episode II

minis

• Velocity

PSone Classic

Myst – A direct port of the PC hit, MYST is a classic puzzle and exploration game. The premise is simple: the player must explore the island of Myst, researching the notes of a mysterious man, Atrus, and tracing his exploration of several distinct worlds. Through Atrus’ notes, players find solutions to puzzles that open gateways to these worlds, which they then explore to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Atrus and his two sons. The majority of the game is simply walking around the various locales, making connections between the cryptic information given and the puzzles presented. In this sense, MYST demands a great deal from the player careful attention must be paid to the slightest details. This game is more about observation and the ability to think outside the normal logic you might be accustomed to using. If you’re looking for a superb intellectual challenge, then MYST is exactly what you need.

PlayStation 2 Classic

Red Faction 2 – Red Faction II is the sequel to the popular first person shooter, Red Faction, which debuted on the PC and PS2 in 2001. Red Faction II is run on an enhanced version of Volition’s Geo-Mod engine and incorporates an in-depth storyline. Players will go on multi-objective mission with a whole arsenal of weapons and items at their disposal. Players are able to control a variety of vehicles and fight with elite squad members at their side. Red Faction II introduces refined graphics, advanced AI, customizable computer opponents for multiplayer and even new multiplayer game modes.

[Editor’s Note: The following dates are subject to change. Game details are gathered from Press Releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]

In other news, this week saw the release of two new dev diaries for PS Move spellbinder Sorcery (and Papo & Yo, too), first details and video for the Hitman: Absolution Sniper Challenge PSN game, word of a Ghostbusters gear invading PS Vita brawler Reality Fighters, a two-year anniversary for ModNation Racers, the PSN release of the long-awaited Move mystery Datura, and a sneak preview of the next issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine.

• I’m playing: Starhawk, Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer
• I’m watching: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
• I’m reading: Mazada 3 2008 user’s manual
• I’m listening to:Official PlayStation Blogcast 024: From Canada With Love

Most-Watched Video of the Week: Assassin’s Creed III – World Premiere Gameplay Trailer

The 10 Most-Viewed Posts of the Week

As for other changes happening in patch 1.11 UNCHARTED 3’s Lead Multiplayer Designer Robert Cogburn and Game Director Justin Richmond have something to say:

Or if you’d rather read everything in list form here is the full rundown of changes for 1.11:

- The Lab returns and we begin the playlist with a T-bolt/Pistole-only map. We will be rolling out other game types as the year progresses.

• The Lab will contain treasure drops from whatever the base game type is (the T-bolt/Pistole map is considered Team Deathmatch)

- Elimination Mode has been added.

• Elimination mode will contain treasure drops from Team Deathmatch

- Message of the Day returns – a daily message will pop up with news, tips, and other information.

- The following custom game settings are now available via a menu in Custom Game mode called “Advanced Settings.”

• Respawn Time
• Buddy Spawning toggle
• Health Multiplier – by percentage
• Sprinting toggle
• Weapon Mode (Default, Basic Weapons, Pistols, RPG-7)
• Medal Kickbacks toggle
• Boosters toggle
• Grenade Throw Back toggle

- If you leave a game, disconnect, or turn off your PS3 mid-game, it will be counted as a loss.

- Kill and deaths no longer count towards your career stats in Plunder and Team Objective modes

- The technical hooks to make the Game of the Year edition (EU) work properly with DLC were added

- In Team Deathmatch mode the Airstrip and London maps now are listed with “No Intro” variations. If these variations are selected you’ll start those maps with no convoy events.

- The Long Ranger Medal can now be earned by achieving 3 kills at 50 meters in a match instead of 3 kills at 70 meters.

Very important note: Similar to patch 1.09, all cinema files created pre-patch 1.11 will no longer work once patch 1.11 is released. Therefore if you want to preserve your cinema files please be sure to upload them to YouTube BEFORE downloading and installing patch 1.09. Do it now!

If you’re curious as to why we jumped to 1.11 and the last patch we talked about was 1.09, well, 1.10 had minor fixes so we kept rolling up the changes so we could get 1.11 out for you. We’re thrilled to open the Lab for UNCHARTED 3 and can’t wait to see you online! Be ready for more information about The Lab and future UNCHARTED 3 multiplayer plans in the coming weeks.

Image courtesy Camouflaj

At 7:58 a.m. Pacific Friday morning, a game called République (pronounced “Republic”) finally reached its $500,000 funding goal on Kickstarter with only six hours to go after one of the most tumultuous month-long campaigns in Kickstarter history.

At the beginning, République looked like a sure thing. Its creator had serious industry cred; Camouflaj founder Ryan Payton produced Metal Gear Solid 4 and worked on Halo 4. The Kickstarter campaign was slick, featuring a top-notch trailer full of gameplay footage. Payton and crew wanted to bring a big-budget gamer’s game to iPhone and iPad. But even as other gaming Kickstarters were raking in millions, République failed to grab backers.

At the end of the first 24 hours of République‘s 32-day campaign, it had gathered a little over a 10th of the money it needed to succeed. That might sound like a healthy number, but Payton had reason to be dismayed by the results.

“I looked at the list of the names of backers on the first day and realized that I recognized the names of almost all of them,” he told Wired on Friday. “We weren’t appealing to a mass market.”

Over the course of 31 more days, République‘s Kickstarter rode an awful, creeping emotional roller coaster.

République‘s Kickstarter didn’t catch fire until the last few days of the fundraising campaign.
Image: Kicktraq

April 11: $50,000

Payton wasn’t feeling confident, but he kept a positive tone in his first update to the Kickstarter page.

“We knew we were taking risk in developing a big budget AAA game for iOS and turning to the Kickstarter community to help us fund the project,” Payton wrote. “But the amount of encouragement we’ve received from you all has already made it all worth it.”

April 18: $90,000

République stagnated around the $90,000 mark for close to a week. This had been in spite of significant coverage from nearly every gaming outlet out there: Kotaku, IGN, Game Informer, Joystiq and many more posted stories about the Kickstarter campaign, but it had almost no effect.

In the first few days, Payton says, the Kickstarter trailer/pitch video for République had been viewed over 200,000 times, but only 1,000 viewers had backed the project. Payton called this the lowest point in the project. “For about an hour, I considered pulling out and canceling it,” he says.

At this point, some members of the media began expressing doubt — to put it lightly. “Does anyone really think République is going to soak up half a million dollars in shitfarter contributions in the next month?” said Eli Hodapp, editor in chief of the iOS site Touch Arcade, on Twitter.

April 26: $100,000

Another week had gone by with almost no action. “On our slowest day, we only raised $700,” says Payton.

On this day, Camouflaj gave in to the demands of Kickstarter backers and officially announced a PC/Mac version of République, to be released once the iOS version is completed. While the game was originally intended to be played via iOS, the most successful Kickstarters had been computer games, and Camouflaj hoped they’d join in now that their platform of choice was to be supported.

Still, he says, the idea of giving up at this point was no longer an option. “Even if we’re not going to make it,” he recalled thinking, “we’re going to show the world that we’re professional and that we’re going to see this through.”

April 27: $120,000

Camouflaj had hoped that the PC/Mac announcement would prove to be the kick in the pants that the game needed to succeed, but it made little difference. The game had already used up more than half of its 32 days, and still hadn’t managed to raise a fourth of its funding target. On the Game|Life podcast, Wired editor Chris Kohler wondered whether République would come to serve as an example of how not to do a Kickstarter campaign.

Image courtesy Camouflaj

May 2: $160,000

With no new announcements to make or content to release, Camouflaj gave fans the tools they needed to spread the word themselves. It launched the #KeepHopeAlive Twitter campaign (“Hope” being the name of the game’s main character), releasing downloadable Twitter profile pictures that looked like something from a grassroots political movement. The thinking was that if Camouflaj could get enough people talking about the game and its Kickstarter campaign, the message could spread virally.

May 7: $300,000

#KeepHopeAlive was catching on. République was by no means in the clear, but the rate at which new backers began coming in increased dramatically. One wealthy person donated over $7,500 to get his voice integrated into the game. Camouflaj had another major announcement that increased the game’s visibility: It announced that voice actors David Hayter of Metal Gear Solid fame and Jennifer Hale from the Mass Effect series had joined the cast to play “significant roles.”

But $300,000 was still a good long way from half a million, and there were only four days remaining.

May 10: $450,000

At this point, République had less than 24 hours to go, but the story of “the game that just might make it” was sweeping Twitter and generating even more last-minute coverage on gaming websites. With the deadline coming up soon, Payton and friends released a new gameplay trailer for République, demonstrating in more detail how the game might play. The Twittersphere exploded with news of the impending climax of what was clearly shaping up to be a photo finish. République was either going to just barely get across the finish line, or fall heartbreakingly short.

May 11: $555,477

Success.

Camouflaj knew from the beginning, says Payton, that “this was going to be a cage match; really a dog fight to the very bitter end.”

If the Kickstarter had failed, République would probably have made it out, but not necessarily the way that Payton wanted it to. Camouflaj would have had to turn to investors and traditional game publishers, perhaps having to give up the rights to its intellectual property in order to get the game made. This would’ve been a “very hard” scenario, he said. As you might imagine, he’s very happy the team decided not to quit when things were at their lowest.

After this very public, very stressful trip, one thing remains to be seen: Is this a story that will inspire other developers to turn to Kickstarter as well?

Or fair warning for those who don’t think they can handle standing on the precipice of failure for 30 long days?

Original image: Irrational Games

It’s a bad news bonanza on this week’s Game|Life! Yes, we here at the Game|Life podcast advise you to listen to this episode while sitting down drinking a nice relaxing cup of chamomile tea and having a good cry. Let it all out.

BioShock Infinite has been delayed. Sony is losing boatloads of cash. The Japanese government won a game of chicken with social gaming companies, causing their stocks to drop and eliminating a major source of their revenue. The NPD Group’s sales reports are in and the individual biggest-selling game is Kinect Star Wars. Everything is going to hell in a handbasket this week.

Wired senior editors Peter Rubin and Chris Baker and Wired managing editor Marty Cortinas join me to help you through it.

Game|Life’s podcast is posted on Fridays. It is available on iTunes, can be downloaded directly and is embedded below.

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The Aqua Blue 3DS, one of two colors available at launch, will be discontinued.
Screengrab: Wired

Nintendo’s Japanese branch will discontinue the Aqua Blue 3DS, one of the two colors available since the system launched in 2011, according to its website. No explanation or announcement of any kind was made: The company simply added a note reading “Production will soon cease” in the upper left of the product’s web page, as seen above.

The Aqua Blue 3DS was central to the marketing campaign surrounding the 3DS, and remains a popular consumer choice. Amazon Japan currently lists it as the second best-selling 3DS model, trailing the Ice White model that is not yet available in the United States.

Nintendo introduced a new Cobalt Blue 3DS in March, putting the total number of available colors in Japan at six. Perhaps that was just one shade of blue too many.

In other termination news, Nintendo will end its free “Itsu no Ma ni Terebi” video service on the 3DS, the company announced. A Japan exclusive, the program delivered short 3-D videos produced by the Nippon and Fuji television networks. The service was free of charge and included advertisements.

Unlike Netflix or Hulu in the U.S., Itsu no Ma ni Terebi videos were not streamed but downloaded onto the 3DS hardware via the SpotPass service. Typical clips included animals, horoscopes and first-person footage shot from moving vehicles.

A quick glimpse of the interface and its content can be seen on YouTube. Note that the uploader used an Aqua Blue 3DS, making his video soon to be double-obsolete.

In announcing the cancellation, Nintendo said over one million customers had used the service. The company added that other video content on the 3DS, such as episodes of Game Center CX, would continue via direct download from the eShop. The program will end on June 20, one day shy of its first anniversary. A similarly-named “Wii no ma” video service for the Nintendo Wii also ended this past April.

In this installment of our “Making of Sorcery” video series, we turn our attention to the music and sound design in this upcoming PlayStation Move title. It was very important to have a Celtic inspired score for this game, but we wanted to do something a bit unusual with Celtic music, almost stretching the use of the instruments where possible in an effort to give the world of Sorcery its own unique sound. As you’ll notice, we have drums, flutes, and other instruments that give the music somewhat of a medieval feel, but at the same time we didn’t want to be limited to that.

We wanted to bring in as many other sounds as possible to create a wider palette. The result is a fusion of traditional Celtic music with more contemporary instrumentation and sound effects that boost the feeling of immersion you get by casting spells with the PS Move controller. Here’s a look, and don’t forget Sorcery will hit stores in North America on Tuesday, May 22nd!

In this post we turn our attention to the music and sound design for Sorcery. Members of the development team talk about how Sorcery’s score fuses traditional Celtic music with more contemporary instrumentation, and about how the sound effects are used to boost the feeling of immersion you get by casting spells with the Move controller.

Cerberus defectors have verified key intel on Reaper banshees to help provide us a vulnerability to exploit. Banshees are created from a specific kind of asari that cannot be replaced quickly, so we are diverting forces to focus on an all-out banshee extermination effort.

This task is an onerous one, and many of you are right to dread contact with these particular foes, but rest assured that we are prepared to reinforce your battalion with reserves. The vorcha want in, and as soon as they complete combined-arms training with our technically-skilled personnel, we will let them loose.

It’s time to make our enemies scream.

Allied Goal: Kill 3,000,000 banshees
Squad Goal: Survive until a full extraction on any map against any enemy on gold difficulty.

Successful completion of the allied goal will grant all players a Victory Pack.
Successful completion of the squad goal will grant all squadmates a Commendation Pack.

–PRIORITY TRANSMISSION FROM ADMIRAL HACKETT–

Attention PlayStation 3 N7 forces: We have some great news. After working closely with Sony we are now able to offer you the multiplayer Commendation Packs for Operation Goliath and Operation Raptor, held previously this year. As of now, PlayStation 3 users can login and check the in-game store for your Goliath and Raptor packs, free of charge.

Rally your squad, prepare your arsenal, and get ready to give the Reapers hell.

Welcome to the next N7 Weekend Operation, Operation SILENCER, beginning this Friday, Saturday, May 12 at 02:00am BST until Tuesday, May 15 at 01:00am BST, and all of our N7 forces from the PlayStation 3 platform are welcomed and encouraged to participate. Please remember to set the “Upload Gameplay Feedback” setting to “On” in the online options to be able to participate in this N7 Operation.

*Please note that due to a known issue, PlayStation 3 users will not see the promotion screen but they will be participating in Operation SILENCER and will be rewarded.

Keep up the pressure, troopers. As you can see, N7 efforts to date have been bringing the fight right to the front door of our enemy. Our enemy is fierce, but we’ve got the might of the entire galaxy on our side.

Good luck and see you on the battlefield.

I am posting this short note to let you know that this will be my last post as PlayStation.Blog Manager, as I am moving on from SCEE to have a go at some opportunities elsewhere.

“OK…so what’s the bad news?” I can hear you type in the comments.

That’s a bit of a joke, but the truth is that there isn’t really any bad news – my leaving opens the door for someone to come in with fresh ideas, different opinions and enthusiasm abound. I’m proud to have helped create a social platform that isn’t about individuals, but about bringing PlayStation customers closer to the professionals who make the games they love; hopefully the next in line will take this small idea even further.

However, I would ask you to be patient while my colleagues work through the transition. The department is working very hard to get the right person as quickly as possible, and recruiting good people can sometimes take time. In the interim, we have organised for some contributing editors to steer the ship and, when the next full-time Blog Manager has been appointed, you will be the first to know.

Well…they’ll probably let the successful candidate know first, but you’ll be informed pretty soon afterwards.

All that’s left from me is to say goodbye, thank you for sticking with us through thick and thin, and keep on enjoying your games.

Sometimes thinking about magic makes us sad, like when Harry Potter ended and one of the Weasley twins wouldn’t wake up, or that time in school when Mr McMonies was going through a divorce and taught physics in a wide-brim wizard’s hat before bursting into tears and refusing to come out of the cupboard.

Other times, though, it means firing spells using a PlayStation Move motion controller as a wand and feeling like an arcane badass. Like in this episode’s Game Of The Week, Sorcery, which also includes mixing potions (don’t do fairytale herbs, kids), moving big rocks out of the way and sort of having a cat as a girlfriend.

Elsewhere things are less unusual, as our news round-up sees us at Sundance London and talking to Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 developer Treyarch. And, sticking with shooters, we put your questions to the men (or, in this case, singular bearded man) behind Medal Of Honor: Warfighter, with results that include checking that we really meant to ask that, and, after confirming that we did, eventually some answers.

Capping it all off is a visit to Honeyslug to speak to two of the minds behind the free and essential PlayStation Vita… well, not so much “game” as “experience involving buttons and laughing which makes you gladder you bought a PS Vita” (note: Frobisher does /not/ care that “gladder” isn’t a word).

Access is available every Friday on YouTube, and is free to download for all UK PSN users from the PlayStation Store on Wednesdays.

For the latest PlayStation UK news, events and competitions join us on Facebook (and get 2 free minis games just for being part of our mob!).

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Because our hearts pump not rich salty blood, but sweet, sweet maple syrup, Jeff, Rey and I decided to head to Toronto, Ontario to record this week’s very special episode of PlayStation Blogcast. The spotlight is on the Canadian indie development scene in today’s double-stuffed show, and we get first word of Zombie Tycoon 2 for PS3 and PS Vita (and Lights, Camera, Party) from Frima Studio, quiz Queasy Games wunderkind Jonathan Mak on Sound Shapes and his origins as a game developer, and discuss recent enhancements to PSN exclusive Papo & Yo with Producer Charles William from Minority, And hey, we even interview Atlus USA legend Aram Jabbari for a deep dive on next week’s PS3 RPG Game of Thrones: The Game. It didn’t have anything to do with Canada, but hey, we’re cool like that.

That’s in addition to exclusive first details on next week’s PSN game lineup, as per usual, and a single, glorious user tip. Oh, and plenty of poutine talk! Listen in and let us know what you think in the comments…and shed a single tear for our friend Nick Suttner, who is currently vacationing in his ancestral homeland of South Africa.

Stuff We Talked About

• Poutine
• Game of Thrones: The Game
• Papo & Yo
• Sound Shapes

The Cast

[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game
details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating
descriptions.]

• Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. Special thanks to Astro Gaming headsets for providing audio gear.

“The Avengers sure was a fantastic movie, but what would be really great is if there were a videogame,” said no one.

In response, Ubisoft and Marvel said Thursday that they will release Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth this fall. While the announcement did not contain any details as to what type of videogame this would be, the two platforms should give us something of a clue: Kinect and Wii U.

Thursday’s announcement says that the game will be “motion-controlled” and include 20 characters like Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Thor¹.

The game is not based on the Joss Whedon-directed film but instead “inspired by iconic Marvel comic artwork and the Secret Invasion storyline,” according to the announcement. THQ was working on a proper Avengers movie tie-in game, but shuttered the project last year.

¹Free marketing suggestion: “Play this motion game, and you’ll be Thor — tho thor you can hardly thit down!”

Sega’s Monster World IV was translated into English for the Wii’s Virtual Console.
Image: Nintendo

Nobody remembers anymore that Wii even has a Virtual Console service, but even as it lies on its deathbed Sega can still find more games in the Wonder Boy series to release for it at exaggerated prices. Today, for just $9 each, you can purchase the arcade version of Wonder Boy In Monster Land and the Sega Genesis game Monster World IV.

The latter is actually a pretty special thing: The final game in the series, it was never released outside Japan before now. Sega has actually gone back and translated the ROM — something that I wish had been done more on Virtual Console. Oh well.

I have taken the liberty of updating, for the final time, my post about all the many, varied Wonder Boy games on Virtual Console. For all of the classic games that never made an appearance, there sure are a lot of games from this obscure series! In fact, there are actually two of each game, for different platforms.

The World Premiere Gameplay Trailer of Assassin’s Creed III is finally here! We know you’ve been waiting for this since the initial announcement back in March, so go ahead and watch it right now…I’ll be right here when you’re done.

Okay, now that you’ve been properly introduced to Connor, our new Assassin, there are a couple of things in this video that I’d like to call your attention to.

Firstly, there are the basics of Connor’s character. He is a brutally effective Assassin, taking down his targets with speed and dexterity. Note how he flows across the battlefield, moving from one kill to another in a seamless, unbroken pace, until finally finishing his target with vicious grace. There’s also Connor’s Native American/English heritage, which adds complexity and richness to his motivation.

On top of the incredibly fluid combat, Connor is generally more agile and deft in his movements, easily able to employ all of the trademark maneuvers of the Assassin. Now, however, Connor can travel through the trees as effortlessly as he sprints across rooftops and, for the first time in the Assassin’s Creed series, barrel through open windows, using building interiors to obscure his escape!

We also get a peek at how Connor will interact with some famous historical figures (who’s the guy with the cigar?) as well as wildlife in this trailer, showing off just the tiniest fraction of the vast living world the Assassin’s Creed series is known for.

There’s still so much more to reveal, but all that will have to wait. We’ve still got a few months before Assassin’s Creed III launches at the end of October.

Ignite the revolution!
UbiGabe

Effective May 20, the Nintendo DSi will cost $99.99.

Nintendo is lowering the price of the DSi to $100 and DSi XL to $130, it said Thursday. The new prices go in effect on May 20. The two handheld consoles currently cost $150 and $170, respectively.

While the DSi handhelds have a successor on the market in the 3DS, Nintendo has continued to support the older system line with games like Pokémon Black and White, Kirby Mass Attack, and the upcoming Pokémon Black 2 and White 2.

Since the Nintendo 3DS suddenly dropped in price last summer to $170, three of Nintendo’s handhelds were crowded around the same price point. This move alleviates that jam, although it puts a question mark on the future of the $100 Nintendo DS Lite. Will that machine, soon to be six years old, get a price drop of its own? Or is this the signal that it will be quietly retired?

The World Premiere Gameplay Trailer of Assassin’s Creed III is finally here! We know you’ve been waiting for this since the initial announcement back in March, so go ahead and watch it right now… I’ll be right here when you’re done.
<br/

Okay, now that you’ve been properly introduced to Connor, our new Assassin, there are a couple of things in this video that I’d like to call your attention to.

Firstly, there are the basics of Connor’s character. He is a brutally effective Assassin, taking down his targets with speed and dexterity. Note how he flows across the battlefield, moving from one kill to another in a seamless, unbroken pace until finally finishing his target with vicious grace. There’s also Connor’s Native American/English heritage, which adds complexity and richness to his motivation.

On top of the incredibly fluid combat, Connor is generally more agile and deft in his movements, easily able to employ all of the trademark maneuvers of the Assassin. Now, however, Connor can travel through the trees as effortlessly as he sprints across rooftops and, for the first time in the Assassin’s Creed series, barrel through open windows, using building interiors to obscure his escape!

We also get a peek at how Connor will interact with some famous historical figures (who’s the guy with the cigar?) as well as wildlife in this trailer, showing off just the tiniest fraction of the vast living world the Assassin’s Creed series is known for.

There’s still so much more to reveal, but all that will have to wait. There’s still so much more to reveal, so stay tuned! Assassin’s Creed III launches on October 30.

Ignite the revolution!

UbiGabe

Resistance: Burning Skies brings a lot of “firsts” to the PS Vita – First-ever dual-analog FPS control on a portable device, the first competitive multiplayer shooter experience on the PS Vita, and the first support for Party voice chat. The real question though, is who is going to be the first to Platinum Resistance: Burning Skies? In order to help you along, we thought we’d share the game’s Trophy list:

There are also 5 more Trophies we didn’t mention to avoid any spoilers, but that list should get you started. Keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks, because there’s much more to come before May 29th. Also, if you missed our last post, we’re offering some nice goodies when you pre-order your copy of Resistance: Burning Skies today!

Resistance: Burning Skies brings a lot of “firsts” to the PS Vita – first-ever dual-analog FPS control on a portable device, the first competitive multiplayer shooter experience on the PS Vita, and the first support for Party voice chat. The real question though, is who is going to be the first to platinum Resistance: Burning Skies? In order to help you along, we thought it would be nice to share the game’s trophy list with you:

There are also 5 more trophies we didn’t mention to avoid any spoilers, but that list should get you started. Keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks, because there’s much more to come before May 30th. Also, if you missed our last post, we’re offering some nice goodies when you pre-order, so be sure to pre-order your copy of Resistance: Burning Skies today!

Excitement around Hitman: Absolution has been building at an impressive rate over the last year. In fact, today it’s exactly one year ago we came out and announced that we were working on Absolution and we’ve had a great ride. From sharing the first gameplay at E3 2011 and releasing the full 16 minutes for everyone to see afterwards to showing off the gorgeous orphanage level, revealing the fate of 47’s long-time handler Diana, showing off new features like Instinct and introducing exciting new gameplay series of videos called ‘Introducing’, we can safely say the fans have been with us through quite a ride thus far.

And now it’s time to kick it up another level. Today, we announce two new things. One is the Hitman: Sniper Challenge pre-order bonus and the other is the release date of Absolution. Let’s start with the release date – November 20th, 2012 is the day the game will hit PS3. So get your behind to Mars, er, GameStop and pre-order the game. Why? Well, that’s where this Sniper Challenge comes in.

You see, the Sniper Challenge is a way for us to say “thanks and we love you” to all the dedicated fans who have been waiting these last few years for a new Hitman experience. We’ve taken our time in creating a great game for fans, new and old alike, and we’ve tried out many different things in the process. One of those things was an early prototype for sniper gameplay in the game. It started out as two grey boxes with 47 on top of one and a target way off in the distance on the other. A few more items were added and the thing was shared internally to see if it worked. Pretty soon, it went viral at IO Interactive. Leaderboards were built, people started spending more and more time on it and we realized that this was something awesome. So we decided to expand upon it and make it into something that wasn’t Absolution – it was never going to go in the game as it just didn’t fit anywhere – but a few guys scrounged up some internal resources and started building the level out as a bonus to the fans that had been waiting for so long already.

So, here’s the deal – the Hitman: Sniper Challenge is a standalone hit, only available for Hitman: Absolution pre-orders. As the original assassin, you’ll unpack your Agency Kazo TRG sniper rifle, scope out the penthouse balcony of one Mr. Richard Strong Jr., CEO of Stallion Armaments and soon-to-be dead guy. And here’s the great thing: you get to play it immediately upon pre-order starting May 15th! Take out Mr. Strong Jr. and his entire staff of bodyguards, score big on the leaderboards and you’ll unlock equipment upgrades that carry over to Hitman: Absolution when the game comes out on November 20th. All you need to do is pre-order the game with GameStop, obtain the redeem code, boot up your PS3 and grab the Sniper Challenge from PlayStation Store starting May 15th. That’s it!

We truly hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we have. And don’t forget – November 20th is the day of Absolution.

If you are able to access the blog as normal at this time, bear in mind that, while you are free to browse and comment as normal, you may encounter issues, such as comments not saving correctly or not appearing at all.

Please bear with us, and we will do everything we can to ensure the disruption as small as possible. Be aware that this is not related to PlayStation Network and none of your gaming services will be affected.

Image: Ronimo Games

About 30 seconds into my first actual match of Awesomenauts, I had a moment of déjà vu. I’d just stood behind an army of friendly bots and wailed on the X button repeatedly to finish off an enemy turret when memories of many wasted summer hours came flooding back: “I’m playing 2-D Monday Night Combat, aren’t I?”

No one warned me ahead of time that Awesomenauts is just another in a long list of arena-battle games taking direct inspiration from the old WarCraft III mod “Defense of the Ancients.” But it is. In this giant game of competitive tower defense, you and an enemy team attempt to destroy each other’s base — in this game it’s a “drill core”; in Monday Night Combat it was the “money ball.”

There are automatically generated robot allies, turrets and an in-battle upgrade shop. All familiar stuff.

Awesomenauts, a downloadable game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (reviewed), takes the genre that “Defense of the Ancients” created and re-imagines it as a side-scrolling platform game. Players choose a single unique character and jump/hover/jetpack around arenas assisting their minions and teaming up with other players to strategically advance on the enemy’s base.

The platforming and combat add a layer of twitch action to the underlying strategy gameplay that you won’t find in other DotA clones. You’ll often find yourself in frantic leaping duels with enemy players, wherein the player with the best aiming and dodge skills usually comes out on top.

The opening cut scene implies that player’s should be concerned with the origins of the Awesomenauts, but that’s all just shiny wrapping paper around a game that’s really designed for 3-versus-3 online battles.

Awesomenauts forgoes including a single-player campaign, instead offering a barebones “Practice” mode to prepare players for online/split-screen competitive play. That works for me, because it at least gets online play right –– wait times are short, players who drop out of games mid-match are replaced by helpful bots and the game’s rank-up/unlock system is fair.

I’d be really interested to see what high-level Awesomenauts play looks like, because I was at a loss to figure out how to reliably get better at the game. Coordination between teammates seems to be pretty important, but otherwise I felt like each match hinged on whether or not teams could get momentum early and shut buy upgrades quicker.

The game’s tutorial successfully taught the basics, but many players may stagnate after that point.

WIRED Fun split screen/online co-op, great as a party game.

TIRED Doesn’t do enough to differentiate from other DotA clones

Rating:

$10, Ronimo Games

Read Game|Life’s game ratings guide.

You guys already know that we’re exclusively showing two of Hooper’s very first films, his short The Heisters and his feature debut Eggshells. Well, now that you’ve got a chance to see some of Hooper’s early films now you’ve got a chance to talk to him! We are taking questions from the MUBI community for Tobe over in our web forum. We’ll be taking questions for the cult filmmaker for two weeks before selecting the best of the bunch, sending them to Tobe to answer, and posting them there and here on the PlayStation blog. Have questions about Poltergeist, making people jump out of their seats, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre or the two restored films of Hooper’s we’re now showing on MUBI? Now’s the time to ask! Head here to post your questions.

Meanwhile: Cannes! We don’t know what will be good this year but we do know what we’re anticipating. And hey, what do you know, a lot of films by filmmakers selected for Cannes this year are playing on MUBI! There are a lot of our favorites in the lineup, so we’ll split our picks between this post and our next update here! Here’s part one:

Jacques Audiard has Rust & Bone in Competition. We’re showing Audiard’s The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) in Spain.

Leo Carax has Holy Motors in Competition. We’re showing Carax’s Les amants du Pont-Neuf (1991) in Austria, Germany, Switzerland; and Tokyo! (2008) in Belgium, Netherlands.

Michael Haneke has Amour in Competition. We’re showing Haneke’s The Seventh Continent (1989) in United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands; Benny’s Video (1992) in Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands; 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994) in Austria, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands; Code Unknown: Incomplete Tales of Several Journeys (2000) in United Kingdom, Ireland, Demark; The Piano Teacher (2001) in United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark; Time of the Wolf (2003) in United Kingdom, Ireland; Hidden (2005) in Belgium, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland; Funny Games U.S. (2007) in Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland; and The White Ribbon (2009) in Norway.

Im Sang-soohas Taste of Money in Competition. We’re showing The President’s Last Bang (2005) in United Kingdom, Ireland.

Abbas Kiarostami has Like Someone in Love in Competition. We’re showing Kiarostami’s Shirin (2008) in Portugal; and Certified Copy (2010) in United Kingdom, Ireland.

Ken Loach has  Angels’ Share in Competition. We’re showing Loach’s Riff Raff (1991) in Belgium, Luxembourg; Land and Freedom (1995) in Italy; Bread & Roses (2000) in Italy; The Navigators (2001) in Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands; Sweet Sixteen (2002) in Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden; and The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006) in Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Switzerland.

Christian Mungiu has Beyond the Hills in Competition. We’re showing Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland; and Tales from the Golden Age (2009) in Portugal.

Alain Resnais has You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet in Competition. We’re showing Resnais’ Night and Fog (1955) in Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands; Hiroshima, Mon Amour (1959) in Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden; Muriel (1963) in Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands; Same Old Song (1997) in Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands; Not on the Lips (2003) in Belgium, Luxembourg; Private Fears in Public Spaces (2006) in Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland; and Wild Grass (2009) in United Kingdom, Ireland

Carlos Reygadas has Post Tenebras Lux in Competition. We’re showing Reygadas’ Japón (2002) in Australia, New Zealand; Battle in Heaven (2005) in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands; and Silent Light (2007) in France, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal.

Stay tuned for our next update to see what else we’re showing on MUBI by filmmakers who are in Cannes 2012!

–PRIORITY TRANSMISSION FROM ADMIRAL HACKETT–

Attention N7 forces on PS3: We have great news. After working closely with PlayStation we are now able to offer you the multiplayer Commendation Packs for Operation Goliath and Operation Raptor, which were held previously this year. As of now, PS3 users can log in and check out the in-game store for their Goliath and Raptor packs, free of charge.

Rally your squad, prepare your arsenal, and get ready to give the Reapers hell.

Cerberus defectors have verified key intel on Reaper Banshees to help provide us a vulnerability to exploit. Banshees are created from a specific kind of asari that cannot be replaced quickly, so we are diverting forces to focus on an all-out Banshee extermination effort.

This task is an onerous one, and many of you are right to dread contact with these particular foes, but rest assured that we are prepared to reinforce your battalion with reserves. The vorcha want in, and as soon as they complete combined-arms training with our technically-skilled personnel, we will let them loose.

It’s time to make our enemies scream.