It will soon be the Year of the Rat.

In Chinese astrology the Rat is considered a leader and a pioneer. Rats can also be controlling, having their own way whatever the cost. Although Sony were 'born' in 1946 (which makes them a Dog - incidentally the same sign as my good self), you might say there are certain attributes of the Rat that sit well with them.

If you think it is odd to mix Chinese astrology with a Japanese company then bear with us. Although the Japanese celebrate the new year on the 1st January, they send postcards to their family and friends with the relevant animal depicted on the front - harking back to when the lunar calendar and the 12 animal signs were in use throughout Japan.

So what will this year bring, and will Sony win the ratrace against their most fierce of rivals? Just how will the Dog fair against the Rabbit (Microsoft) and the Ox (Nintendo).

Burnout Paradise is our first indication that 2008 is going to be a good one for the PS3. Yes - I know... since it is being released in January it doesn't fall into the Chinese 'lunar year' which starts in February. But since the Japanese start their year in January too, we're going to run with this one!

Then it's the turn of Devil May Cry 4 to hit our screens. There was a time when I was particularly angry with the Sheep (otherwise known as Capcom) for taking DMC to other platforms. But now we've seen it looking particularly spectacular on the PS3 we're not so unhappy. Add to that some exclusive downloadable content and the grass is certainly looking greener on this side of the fence. Maybe we'll hold off on turning Capcom into lamb chops for now.

Haze can't be ignored. Although it is yet another FPS, it is a special one. I don't honestly think that it is going to compare in any way to the Rabbit's best effort (the ever present Halo franchise) but it is truly a much deeper and more involving experience than many of the existing 'shooter' offerings available on the PS3. Call of Duty 4 excepted.

Shortly after you've managed to figure out how to squeeze those three titles into your heavy social calendar, the Tiger of Rockstar will rip your diary apart with the launch of GTA: IV. Once again it is a title that will appear on the Rabbit's platform, but we're not bitter about it. I couldn't care less if it were on every platform - just as long is it rocks our world as much as we think it will!

Around this time in the Year of the Rat, we expect that two amazing innovations will have found their way on to our favourite black monolith. PlayStation Home and LittleBigPlanet.

Home promises to be more than just a 3D lobby, although admittedly the ability to launch you and your newly-made friends into the multiplayer part of any game you own is a great feature. With huge amounts of content promised for launch and throughout the life of Home, plus the 'social networking' abilities available via the web-based portal to your Home space, Home will become many things; a replacement for the XMB, a lobby, a content viewer (both yours and content from Sony and third-parties), a casual games arena, a social networking site, a marketing tool to reach non-PS3 owners, a vanity case of game achievements, a mobile blogging/photo centre and much more.

LittleBigPlanet is surely one of the most anticipated titles of the year with it's innovative mix of gameplay, creation and sharing. If there's one title that is destined to take on the marketing behemoth that is Halo 3, this is it. 'What?', I hear you cry. How can you compare LBP and Halo 3? Think about it.

There's Halo 3 characters, faceplates, headsets, controllers and skins everywhere you look on your favourite retailer's shelves. You can get ringtones, wallpapers and themes for almost any mobile device. If there is one thing I want to see this year it's a Sackboy that I can actually buy, along with fabric pens so I can modify him, just like in the game. And a Sackboy controller. And a Sackboy gift set. Sony should be marketing the crap out of this game. I want to see Sackboy on the shelves of Clinton Cards alongside that ever-present blue-nosed teddy bear. You get the idea.

As the year progresses, we'll be hit with another massive title that is definitely staying on the PS3 only. Metal Gear Solid 4 will arrive. Every indication is that this final chapter in the story of Snake will be monumental in every way. The recent previews we've seen show the game to be something really special and the ending is promising to be as epic as you would expect. Once again you're going to have to figure out how to balance still playing GTA and LBP when this one hits. Who said gaming was easy!

Although Europe will see GT5 Prologue early in the year (February we reckon), there's a good chance the full Gran Turismo 5 experience will hit our shelves in the Year of the Rat. Promising a huge amount of detail, cars, tracks and content, along with realistic damage (hooray!), real-time weather simulation, GT-TV content, My Garage homepages/social networking and - most importantly - the Top Gear Test Track, GT5 will give us petrol-heads something to really get our teeth into once we've completed everything Burnout Paradise can offer.

Finally, we'll be sinking our teeth into the Hellghast scum once again as Killzone 2 comes to the PS3. Whether or not the screenshots you have seen are 'doctored' or not, it doesn't really matter. The fact is that this game is one hell of an FPS. Incredible graphics, amazing character animation, deep storyline, real atmosphere and pixel-perfect shooting mean that this one title may just blow your mind as well as your wallet. Another PS3 exclusive, I predict Killzone 2 will be the biggest selling of them all, which is a risky bet given the massive appeal of the games we've detailed above.

Honourable mentions go to the other games that will hit this year in retail and PS Store form; Tekken 6, SOCOM: Confrontation, Madden 09, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Everyday Shooter and Wipeout HD to name but a few. And we've ignored the possible release of those other exclusives - Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII - because we just don't believe they'll make it onto shelves this year.

And don't forget the additional hardware and PSP interactivity that is due. Soon you'll be able to buy PlayTV in Europe and add a twin-tuner Freeview PVR to the list of incredible things you can do with a PS3, and view live TV or your recorded programmes via Remote Play. There's so much more to come from the PS3 this year and much of it will be delivered, free of charge, via firmware updates and the PS Store.

Simply put, the Year of the Rat will be the best one yet for Sony. The Dog can learn new tricks, it seems.

Check out the gallery below for various screenshots and wallpapers...

Labels: Burnout Paradise, Devil May Cry, GT5, GTA, Haze, Home, Killzone, LittleBigPlanet, Madden, MGS4, news, Playstation 3, PlayTV, PS Store, PS3, PSN, SOCOM, Star Wars, Tekken, Wipeout

We're finally back from our extended break (some much needed R&R), and we're starting 2008 with the PS3 Attitude Big Three for January.

As a reminder, the Big Three tells you what you should be spending your hard earned cash on during the coming month. We only cover UK and European release dates, so don't go telling us that the 'big US-only release' is missing from the list! And we only cover games arriving during the month in question.

Picking three titles in January is a little harder than expected since new games will be a little thin on the ground at the start of 2008, but let's give it a go anyhow:

1. Burnout Paradise

There aren't many demos out there that I actually play for as long as a full release, so all the signs are good for the first next-gen Burnout title.

Set in Paradise City, which is much bigger than we expected, this version of Burnout has a number of nice gameplay changes over previous incarnations. For example, you no longer choose from a menu of different races. You simply pull up at the lights and hold down the break and accelerator to signal your intent. Each junction has a different challenge.

The online gaming is sublime and the full game will include over 300 challenges. If you've been playing the demo you will have noticed that they keep adding new challenges, including the 'synchronised barrel roll' task on the beach. It's great fun hooking up your PS Eye or headset to coordinate the drivers into the right locations to ensure everyone completes the challenge, and I can't wait to get my teeth into the full title when it arrives on the 25th.

Not only is this your 'must have' game for January, it will certainly be one of the standout titles for the whole of 2008!

Bonus Material: If you click the title link above to pre-order Burnout Paradise the nice people at GAME will send you a code via email on launch day to unlock an exclusive extra car.

2. Haze

Although no-one has yet confirmed the launch date for Haze, we fully expect it to be available in January. As soon as we get full confirmation, we'll let you know.

As you'll have gathered from our initial impressions of the build we played at GameCity, Haze is a great FPS from the team that brought the world such gems as GoldenEye and TimeSplitters. To say this game has pedigree would be an understatement.

The gameplay by itself is enough to warrant attention, but the storyline and the use of the soldier-enhancing/entrancing drug Nectar take this particular game to another level.

We're sticking our neck out here by putting Haze in the January Big Three when the lainch date hasn't been confirmed, but we're fairly confident. And regardless of which month Haze is released, it would be in our Big Three in any case, so put a few pennies aside for it anyway!

Bonus Material: By clicking the link above you can pre-order Haze and the chaps and chapesses at GAME will send you the product in a nice tin with a free glow stick. Nu Rave!

3. Unknown

Heck - we failed. We couldn't find three titles that were certain to launch in January. Haze isn't even certain to arrive and it still made it onto the list!

The truth is, there's going to be a lot more to talk about in February and beyond with games like Mercenaries 2, Devil May Cry 4, Viking, Army of Two and Brothers in Arms all arriving before the end of March. Along with a whole slew of great PS Store titles that are expected to hit before the end of the quarter we'll all be very busy. Our advice is to save up your pounds or euros in anticipation.

Labels: Big Three, Burnout Paradise, Haze, news, Playstation 3, PS3

This will be the last post until after Christmas (unless some monumental news comes our way) so we thought we'd do a bit of a Christmas Special.

First of all we have to wish all our readers and our friends the very best for the holidays. We hope you all have a fantastic time.

We had a great first few months with PS3 Attitude and it's only going to get better. We've got plans for all sorts of upgrades and design changes in 2008 so watch this space!


First up in our Christmas Special is a new theme for your PS3 from the nice people at SCEE. Get your 'Season's Greetings' theme by clicking the link. Download it to a USB key or memory card in a folder called PS3->THEME and install to your PS3.




Now, sit back and relax as the good people at Polyphony Digital jointly celebrate 10 years of Gran Turismo and Christmas simultaneously. Then go green with envy as Santa drives away in your dream car!



Now here's something you don't see every day - Santa packing heat! Guerrilla have released this awesome wallpaper for your PC or PS3. Click on the image to get the HD version, then right-click and save it to your HDD.




Of course, don't forget to get on to the PS Store and download the free Folklore and Motorstorm Christmas add-ons. If you're in the US you can get a free holiday song for Guitar Hero III too!


So there you have it - lots of lovely PS3-flavoured goodness for you. Have a great time and we'll be back before the year-end to deliver the PS3 Attitude Big Three for January and a few other tidbits for your delectation.

Labels: GT5, Killzone, news, Playstation 3, PS3

We found this map at Criterion's site and decided to give it a little update to show the tiny area we've been hammering around in the demo.

Then we realised Kotaku got there ahead of us and covered the same story. Only they didn't highlight the area, so we win! Ha!

Here's the picture that paints a thousand words and makes us realise just how massive Paradise City is going to be.

Labels: Burnout Paradise, news, Playstation 3, PS3

Many of the updates in the US Store mirror what we received in Europe, which is a step in the right direction. And the US finally get some PS Eye love to spread around as well.

Snakeball is one of the titles available in the US that we don't have, and there's a Blacksite: Area 51 demo and a special GH III track too, but otherwise the updates are fairly comparable.

If you own a US account you'll enjoy all the free video, theme and wallpaper content too. I haven't tested whether the High Stakes: Poker Edition add-ons will work with the EU version of the game, but since I only play No Limit Texas Hold'em anyway I'm not too bothered!

Here's the full list:

Games
Toy Home ($9.99)
Snakeball ($9.49; download the free demo, and then purchase in-game)
Trials of Topoq - PS Eye ($4.99)
Mesmerize (Distort) - PS Eye ($1.99)
Warhawk - PS1 game ($5.99)

Demos
Snakeball (Free)
Blacksite: Area 51 (Free)

Add-ons
Guitar Heroes III - Holiday track pack - "We Three Kings" (Free)
MotorStorm - Holiday Paint Job (Free)
Warhawk - Operation Omega Dawn ($7.99)
Folklore - Holiday Pack (Free)
2 x High Stakes: Poker Edition add-ons (extra game modes) (Free)
Rock Band - track packs - "Buddy Holly", "Brass in Pocket" and "My Iron Lung" ($1.99 each)

Videos (all free)
GT 5 Prologue
DMC4 final
Warhawk Omega Dawn
PS3 'Only On'
PS3 Universe of Entertainment
Tony Hawk's Proving Grounds - Mike V's Skater Story
Turok Dino Mauling
PSP Feature
Uncharted Animation - behind the scenes

Wallpapers (all free)
High Stakes: Poker Edition

Themes (all free)
Warhawk
PAIN Cookie
PAIN Santa

Movie Trailers (all free)
Strange Wilderness
Shakira 'Oral Fixation' Tour (Blu-ray)

Another great update.

Labels: Folklore, Guitar Hero, Motorstorm, news, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Rock Band, Warhawk

The final update before Christmas, and both SCEE and SCEA are spreading the cheer around.

In this update, you'll find two complete games (including one classic), a demo, some free GH III goodness, a Christmas present for Motorstorm and a stack of wallpapers and themes.

The 'classic' I speak of? Populous makes it's way on to the PS3. I used to play this game to destruction on my Amiga 500 so this is sure to bring back loads of great memories.

Here's the full list:

Games
Toy Home (£4.99)
Populous: The Beginning (£3.49)

Demos
Timeshift MP Demo (Free)

Add-ons
Guitar Heroes III - Boss battle track pack (Free)
MotorStorm Holiday Paint Job (Free)
Warhawk - Operation Omega Dawn (£3.99)

Videos (all free)
DMC4 TGS
Sega Rally - Canyon
Sega Raly - Arctic
Kane & Lynch Fragile Alliance - Walk in the Park Trailer
Kane & Lynch TV AD
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men - Fragile Alliance & Co-op
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men - Insider Video 1
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men - Insider Video 2
MGS4 TGS 2007 Trailer
Assassin’s Creed TV Spot
Sky Diving
GTA IV Trailer 3 Move up ladies

Wallpapers (all free)
High Stakes on the vegas strip: Poker
Uncharted Forum Prize Winner
Pain - Jervis Bowler
Pain - Jervis Rapper
Pain - Jervis Vs Cow
Pain - Wallmime

Themes (all free)
Retro
Nature
Manga
Pixels

Movie Trailer (all free)
CJ7

A great update to take us into the Holidays.

Labels: Guitar Hero, Motorstorm, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Warhawk

Sorry for the lack of news over the past few days. Due to various issues we've been unable to update the site.

Which is a real pain considering everything that has happened to the PS3 in the meantime!

In case you've been hiding under a rock, here's a quick summary (click the links for more detail):

PS3 firmware v2.10 - now available and includes DivX support, Blu-Ray Profile 1.1, Type 3 music bitmapping, a voice changer for your in-game speech and a couple of undocumented features; a new 'earth' visualisation for your music, the ability to play all PS1 titles via Remote Play and various bug fixes (such as movie icons now animate when in folders).

Folding@Home update v1.3 - now available and includes auto-shutdown options and the ability to play music whilst you cure cancer!

Warhawk Omega Dawn - available a day earlier than expected (and for a while, was free of charge until they 'fixed' that particular issue), so go get it! Also, v1.2 patch available. Our advice is to launch Warhawk and get v1.2 first, then get Omega Dawn.

Speaking of Warhawk, check out this great video on YouTube of a jeep race set up and run in our favourite online game. We've added it to the PS3 Attitude YouTube Channel as a 'favourite', so just scroll down and click on "Warhawk: the first road race Test". Don't forget to subscribe to the channel whilst you're there!

Oh, and ThreeSpeech added us to their link list. Thanks guys!

Labels: firmware, news, Playstation 3, PS3, Warhawk

In what could be seen as a trend (and a very welcome one at that), Burnout Paradise is another demo that will feature additional content as we get closer to the January launch date.

This kind of online update was last seen in the GT5: Prologue demo, where we enjoyed additional cars, news (if you could read Japanese) and GT-TV programs as the weeks progressed.

In a similar vein, Burnout Paradise will feature new challenges and races as time moves closer to launch date.

A great incentive to leave the demo on your hard drive and keep coming back to it to see what's new.

To keep a check on what is coming, just hit the right button and choose 'news' from the menu anywhere in the game.

Labels: Burnout Paradise, news, Playstation 3, PS3

A good update for the US but, for the third time ever, the European update is actually better.

We got three demos, two games and a bunch of add-ons, which competes well against one demo, no games and a bunch of add-ons. In other words, we see your update and raise you.

The only thing that doesn't add up is the Need for Speed unlockables. You can work through career mode in the game to earn all of these. But also, game saves have been available on the internet for PS3 titles without any cost or toil needed. Why would you spend money unlocking everything when you can download it, or play it, for free to get the same content? Weird.

Here's the full list:

• 2 x new characters - High Velocity Bowling add-on ($0.99 each)
• Burnout Paradise - demo (free)
• Punk Pack 1 - Rock Band track pack ($5.49 - "I Fought the Law", "Rockaway Beach" and "Ever Fallen in Love" available separately at $1.99 each)
• Ultimate Performance Bundle - NFS: Pro Street unlockable ($9.99)
• Muscle Car Bundle - NFS: Pro Street unlockable ($4.99)
• Tuner Car Bundle - NFS: Pro Street unlockable ($4.99)
• Sport Car Bundle - NFS: Pro Street unlockable ($4.99)
• Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 - NFS: Pro Street unlockable ($2.99)
• Pagani Zonda F - NFS: Pro Street unlockable ($2.99)
• Nissan GT-R - NFS: Pro Street unlockable ($2.99)
• GT Awards at SEMA - video (free)
• "Stunt Run" - Burnout Paradise trailer (free)
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - trailer (free)
• Ratchet & Clank - behind the scenes video (free)
• Untraceable - movie trailer (free)
• Cloverfield - movie trailer (free)

Labels: Burnout Paradise, news, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Ratchet and Clank, Rock Band, Tony Hawk

Is this the week the European Store fights back?

There are three momentous changes in the Store today.

1. Guitar Hero II add-on packs have finally arrived in Europe
2. A new game (new to us, anyhow) has appeared with a note saying "this is in English only", therefore avoiding any further delay due to language localisation issues (something I've been saying should happen for some time)
3. A major demo arrived in the US and Europe on the same day

These three shifts are enough to make us very happy here at PS3 Attitude. And the content itself? Brilliant. The Burnout Paradise demo on it's own would have been enough, but the rest of the update is great too. There's even a bit of festive joy for Folklore being given away for free.

Here's the list:

• Piyotama - game (£3.49)
• High Stakes on the Vegas Strip: Poker Edition - game (£4.99)
• Christmas Present - Folklore add-on (free)
• Burnout Paradise - demo (free)
• NBA2K8 - demo (free)
• Conan - demo (free)
• Velvet Revolver - Guitar Hero III track pack (£3.99)
• Foo Fighters - Guitar Hero III track pack (£3.99)
• Dark Mist - trailer (free)
• High Velocity Bowling - trailer (free)
• High Stakes on the Vegas Strip: Poker Edition - trailer (free)
• Piyotama - trailer (free)

A brilliant update, I'm sure you'll agree.

Labels: Burnout Paradise, Guitar Hero, news, Playstation 3, PS3

Ubisoft announced some remarkable results today.

Assassin's Creed is now officially the fastest-selling new video game IP in the US, ever. Ubisoft have already shifted over 2.5 million units worldwide on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, and they have increased their original sales estimate for 2007/2008 from three to five million units of the game as a result.

The net result is that Ubisoft have raised their expectations across the business and are reporting they will clear an additional €15m in sales revenue.

It will be interesting to see how other Ubisoft titles do next year in comparison. With the likes of Haze and Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway on the way, there's a good deal of decent titles to come from Ubisoft in the New Year...

Labels: Assassin's Creed, news, Playstation 3, PS3

Activision are battling more than just Slash when it comes to Guitar Hero III.

Harmonix, who were the people behind the original Guitar Hero series, went off to create Rock Band with EA and MTV, which obviously created some bad blood. As is well known, the guitar controllers for Rock Band are incompatible with GH III, and vice versa.

So the people at Harmonix put their differences aside and produced a patch to let GH controllers work on Rock Band. Nice.

However, the people at Activision don't like this 'freedom of choice' and so are blocking the release of the patch. The patch is with Sony, but Sony won't release it due to "Activision's continued objection".

On the other side of the coin, Activision are now being sued over an issue on the Wii version of the game. Instead of the advertised Dolby Pro Logic II output, the Wii version apparently produces mono audio output instead.

Although a patch has been promised for early 2008, this isn't quick enough for one consumer and they have brought action against Activision for 'continuing to engage in deceptive practises' - in other words, still selling the game without so much as adding a sticker to the box that states the truth of the current audio output.

Maybe Activision should allow one patch and create another (a sticky box patch) to fix their problems, rather than letting their legal team lead the way. After all, think of the additional controllers they will sell for people who want to rock out on both GH and Rock Band with their friends whilst the additional Rock Band controllers are unavailable.

Labels: Guitar Hero, news, Playstation 3, PS3, Rock Band

Warhawk gains its much lauded expansion pack next week.

Sony have officially announced that Omega Dawn will be available on the European and US PS Stores next Thursday (20th December).

So you'll get one new map, one new vehicle (the amazing drop ship) and all the existing maps have had an overhaul to allow the drop ship to be used on the larger playing fields. All that and the fact that Omega Dawn also adds night missions makes it a must have.

And the mega deal?

It's only £3.99 ($7.99 in the US).

Fantastic news. And just in time for Christmas.

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, Warhawk

Now that the main titles for 2007 are done and dusted, Sony have rolled in with a pre-Christmas taster of what to expect in the first few months of 2008. The announcement is surely designed to shift a few more boxes based on the promise of what is to come, but we think that titles like Uncharted and Ratchet & Clank will do a fine job of shifting hardware all by themselves.

Here's the list of PS3 titles and when they're expected (bear in mind these timescales may not mean 'worldwide release' times; Europe and the US may be different by a few weeks):

• MLB: The Show 08 (Retail) - Spring 08
• Hot Shots Golf 5 (Retail) - March 08
• Wipeout HD (PSN) - Early 08
• Rat Race (PSN) - Winter 07/08
• echochrome (PSN) - Q1 2008
• Grant Turismo 5: Prologue (Retail/PSN) - Q1 2008 (US release is mid to late-February)
• PixelJunk Monsters (PSN) - January 08

I'm really looking forward to all of those titles with the exception of MLB. Whilst MLB will undoubtedly be a good game, I'm just not into baseball at all.

Labels: GT5, news, Playstation 3, PS3, Wipeout

Labels: Motorstorm, news, Playstation 3, PS3

• PAIN
• Guitar Hero III track packs
• Rock Band track packs
• Oblivion Shivering Isles add-on
• High Velocity Bowling
• flOw expansion
• Everyday Shooter

Labels: Guitar Hero, news, Oblivion, opinion, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Rock Band

Our good friends at The Sixth Axis have discovered full details of the forthcoming GT5 Prologue, which will feature on the Japanese PS Store later this week (13th December).

The most surprising news is that GT5 Prologue will not feature an online racing mode when it launches. However, all is not lost. Online will be added as a free download on Christmas Day.

We're not entirely sure why they would take this route but it does give everyone a chance to unlock as much as they can before taking their game online.

And it's not a bad Christmas present either!

Click the link above for full details of what is in GT5 Prologue.

Labels: GT5, news, Playstation 3, PS3

It is almost that time of year when the games industry takes a well-earned break and concentrates on how they're going to start out the New Year.

It is also that time when nothing usually arrives on the shelves of our favourite retailers (and retailers we don't like too). But surprisingly enough, there's still something to be had with only two weeks to go before C-Day.

Here's the list of titles available in shops this week:

Half-Life 2: The Orange Box

What - that's it?

Maybe - maybe not.

You see Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition was supposed to come out this week as well, but has disappeared off the schedules of some of the retailers we track, so we're not entirely sure. I'm going to say it probably will arrive on Friday, but until we get some confirmation we're just not 100% sure.

Watch this space.

Oh - and don't forget The Orange Box is one of our Big Three for December (since we don't get UT III over here). Click on the links above to preorder.

Labels: Big Three, news, Oblivion, Playstation 3, PS3, The Orange Box

Labels: Playstation 3, PS Eye, PS3, rumour

Wow. What a difference a region makes.

Fipping over to the US store is like a revelation some days. There's new games to play (PS3 and PS1), new add-ons to buy and even a multiplayer demo. If you couldn't watch the GTA: IV trailer due to internet meltdown yesterday, they've even put that up for you.

I didn't realise that by living in Europe I'd be missing out on so much. Maybe I should move to the States.

Here's the list for all you lucky US PS3 owners:

• High Velocity Bowling - game ($9.99)
• Wild Arms - PS1 game ($5.99)
• GTA IV "Move up, ladies" - trailer (free)
• Timeshift Multiplayer - demo (free)
• "Falfer Domino" - Motorstorm add-on ($0.99)
• Folklore - add-on 1 ($3.99)
• Folklore - add-on 2 ($3.99)
• Folklore - add-on bundle 1 ($5.99)
• Rock Band "Black Sabbath" - pack 1 ($5.49) (Also available, the individual tracks "N.I.B", "Sweet Leaf" and "War Pigs" - all at $1.99)
• Metal Gear Solid 4 TGS 2007 - trailer (free)
• Uncharted "Environments" - video (free)
• Timeshift "FPS Video 3" - video (free)
• Turok interview - trailer 1 (free)
• Battlefield "Frostbite" - video (free)
• The Legend of Zorro - Blu-Ray trailer (free)
• Uncharted - theme (free)
• Ratchet & Clank - theme (free)

Enjoy your update US of A... we're jealous. Here - we'll let you download the Kane & Lynch demo you didn't get in case it helps redress the balance. It doesn't, but we can pretend it makes a difference...

Labels: Folklore, GTA, Guitar Hero, Motorstorm, news, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN

Disappointed.

That's one word to describe this week's European PS Store update.

No Guitar Hero III packs yet, despite them being available in the US.
No Everyday Shooter yet, despite being available almost everywhere else.

What do we get in their place. Themes.

Now whilst we all like customising our PS3 experience, I personally wouldn't mind playing some games instead. I'm not falling in with the 'PS3 has no games' crowd - especially after all the brilliant titles I've bought on Blu-ray lately. It just would have been nice to download some additional content and play something fresh like John Mak's great game. Especially after the US have had all this great stuff for so long now.

We did get some more Motorstorm and Folklore updates, but even they can't brighten my day.

So, here's the list of things you can grab from the Euro Store right now:

• Kane & Lynch - demo (free)
• "Domino & Adventure" - Motorstorm vehicle pack (£1.49)
• "The Origin of Belae" - Folklore add-on pack (£1.49)
• Blazing Angels 2 Multiplayer - trailer (free)
• Mesmerize - theme (free)
• Tori Emaki - theme (free)
• Heavenly Sword - theme (free)
• Snakeball - theme (free)
• Lemmings - theme (free)
• Killzone 2 - theme (free)
• Singstar - theme (free)

Remember, if you want lots of great themes that you can download directly from your PS3, click the link in the left sidebar to visit PS3-Themes.com

I'm off to log in to the US Store where, as you'll read in a moment, they faired rather better. What a surprise.

Labels: Folklore, Motorstorm, news, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN

Coming to the PS3 and other platforms in 2009, SouthPeak games announced today a new title in their development schedule.

Edge of Twilight is billed as an 'exploration' title. In the words of SouthPeak:

Edge of Twilight is set in a post-apocalyptic dual universe where light and dark no longer co-exist, but are instead fractured into two separate planes of existence. With the player’s character, Lex, as the only ‘halfbreed’ left who can travel between the light and dark worlds, the scene is set for a truly vast adventure taking place within parallel realms, both rich enough to become living, breathing universes.

It certainly sounds intriguing but it's early days yet. Check out the concept art below for a taste of what is to come.

Labels: Edge of Twilight, news, Playstation 3, PS3

Just a quick reminder for everyone.

Today is the day you'll get to see the next GTA: IV trailer. UK viewers can expect to help the internet crash at 8 p.m.

You can read more about the forthcoming video and see the box art for the game revealed by clicking the link.

Labels: GTA, news, Playstation 3, PS3, video

At the Criterion Games website they've started a countdown to the release of a demo for Burnout Paradise, and the clock will run out next Thursday.

Given that the PSN updates every Thursday, it doesn't require Holmesian deduction capabilities to presume the demo may well be coming to the PS3. We knew from previous conversations with Criterion that a demo was on the way in December for both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, so I'm sure we can hang our hats on being able to play the much anticipated title after next week's PS Store update.

Watch this space for more details!

Labels: Burnout Paradise, news, Playstation 3, PS3

There's much to be happy about this week in Europe. Two major titles are headed our way, both of which feature in December's 'PS3 Attitude Big Three'.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune makes it's welcome debut this side of the Atlantic, having already been released in the US. This has to be one of the most incredible games available for the PS3 thus far and is bound to result in a new franchise that is set to run and run.

And SingStar finally becomes available. Whatever you think of party games, SingStar is one of those titles that everyone should have available in their library for those days (usually during Christmas) when you want to show off to all generations of relatives what fun having a PS3 can be.

Here's the full list:

• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
• SingStar
• World Series of Poker - Battle for the Bracelets
• Medal of Honor: Airborne

Whereas the World Series of Poker game is more for a niche market, Medal of Honor: Airborne is also worthy of a mention. Whilst it may get lost in a sea of FPS titles, the unique gameplay element that sees you parachuting into the battlefield will win some fans. You get to choose whether to land in a flanking position, on a rooftop for sniping duty or wherever takes your fancy. Whilst it might be a challenge, we wouldn't recommend landing right in the middle of enemy territory!

Click the links above to pre-order these and have them delivered to your door on launch day.

Labels: Big Three, FPS, news, Playstation 3, PS3, SingStar, Uncharted

For those of you who experienced the sometimes funny, but mostly infuriating freeze in Assassin's Creed, here's some good news.

The patch is now live and should update as soon as you launch the game on your PS3.

The official word came from Ubisoft over the weekend:

Following consumer feedback regarding some issues while playing Assassin’s Creed for PlayStation 3, a corrective update has been developed and will be released worldwide on the PLAYSTATION Network over the next few days. You can proceed to installation simply by launching your Assassin’s Creed game. Please note that release times of this update may vary depending on your location. Thank you again for your patience.

I have it on good authority that the patch is live across the UK and Europe right now so go ahead and update your copy today.

Labels: Assassin's Creed, news, Playstation 3, PS3

With revenues at around the $3.9bn mark (estimate for this year), EA has long been the biggest name in games worldwide. But that's all about to change.

In an $18.9bn deal announced yesterday Activision and Vivendi are to merge and create Activision Blizzard.

By combining the two businesses their revenue will increase to around $3.8bn for the current year, which puts them virtually neck-and-neck with EA. What's more interesting is the momentum Activision Blizzard will carry in comparison.

EA have had their troubles this year. What with buggy games coming out on all platforms and an inability to produce anything worthy of the PS3 thus far, it's not been great for them. Add in the cost cutting they've had to put in place (such as shutting the Chicago office in the US and the Chertsey office in the UK) and it's obvious they're feeling the heat right now. From a personal perspective, FIFA 08 is the first EA title I've ever had to return because it was so full of issues it became unplayable.

Activision, on the other hand, own some of the most popular titles around such as Guitar Hero and Call of Duty. And Vivendi have the incredible World of Warcraft which probably still has another two years of growth in it and will contribute around $1.1bn a year. World of Warcraft is such a phenomenon that over half of the world's entire MMORPG gaming community are registered players.

It looks like a good deal for both companies and Activision Blizzard will automatically become the leaders in the MMORPG space that EA is so desperate to get into. I predict they'll be the number one games company in the world by this time next year - anyone want to disagree?

Labels: news, opinion, Playstation 3, PS3

Gamer TV, which airs in the UK on Bravo, will be showing a Haze special this weekend.

Tune in at any of the following times to see how Haze is shaping up. As you may know, we think Haze is something special, so it will be good to see what Gamer TV make of it.

• Saturday 1st December 10.00 am on Bravo 2
• Sunday 2nd December 11.30 am on Bravo
• Monday 3rd December 4.30 pm on Bravo

Now that Ubisoft have confirmed to PS3 Attitude that Haze will be a 2008 release, this will help keep us happy until it arrives.

Labels: Haze, news, Playstation 3, PS3

This week saw one of the most popular articles of the entire year when we announced the PS3 Attitude Big Three for December.

There was much talk about our choices on forums elsewhere, mostly because people didn't grasp the basic premise that the Big Three is all about the three titles you need to get that month. For some reason the internet thought we ought to add Ratchet & Clank (which came out in November and was in our Big Three last month!) and UT III (which doesn't arrive in the UK or Europe until 2008, and will definitely feature in a future Big Three).

Of course, it didn't help that some misguided soul started an internet bun-fight over The Orange Box. As we said in the Big Three, OB is just fine on the PS3. Don't believe the anti-hype!

As usual we told you about the US and European PS Store updates and the European retail releases for the week.

SingStar featured well with news of the SingStar Studios at the O2 Arena and a nice SingStar pre-order deal that comes in under £38 when you add in the bonuses. Great party games like SingStar and Buzz! really make Christmas almost bearable!

Finally, we revealed some nice Blu-ray sales and market share statistics and a super video from Rockstar that shows the unveiling of the GTA: IV box art in a unique way.

Stats for this week:

• PS3 Attitude readers mostly use IE (43%), Firefox (41%) and the PS3 (9%) to view the site
• 2% of our readers used the mobile version of PS3 Attitude (on both phones and the PSP)
• We had 45,000 views of our videos at the PS3 Attitude YouTube Channel this week

Thanks to all our readers for making this site as popular as it is. If you like what you read here, don't forget to use the links at the bottom of each post to share the stories (via email, Digg etc.) and post your comments. We want to hear from you!

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, website, weekly

The US store received it's weekly update and, as is usual, they faired slightly better than Europe.

Those two weeks where Europe had better updates than the US were just a blip then. Normal business has been resumed.

There's a couple of things to get excited about if you're a US user - PAIN and the Shivering Isles add-on for Oblivion. At one time Bethesda said that the expansion pack would only come on disk, so it is nice to see it appear on the PSN for those of us who shirk exercise.

And while we get zero GH III song packs, the US are in full swing and receive their third. Nice.

Here's the full list:

• PAIN - full game ($9.99)
• "Bracknell/Axbridge" - Resistance: Fall of Man map-pack ($4.99)
• Motorstorm - vehicles and skins pack ($1.99)
• Guitar Hero III "Boss Battles" - song pack (free)
• "The Shivering Isles" - Oblivion expansion pack ($29.99)
• "David Bowie" - Rock Band song pack ($5.49) (also, "Heroes", "Moonage Daydream" and "Queen Bitch" available seperately at $1.99)
• Ratchet and Clank "Weapons" - video (free)
• Timeshift - video (free)
• Stop Loss - movie trailer (free)
• Resident Evil: Extinction - Blu-Ray movie trailer (free)
• Memoirs of a Geisha - Blu-Ray movie trailer (free)
• Aquatopia - wallpaper (free; known as 'Aqua Vita' in Europe)
• PAIN - 6 wallpapers (free)
• Resistance - 5 wallpapers (free)

I do hope Europe get PAIN, some GH III song packs and the Oblivion update next week, or I'll have to take things into my own hands. Now, where did I last put my balaclava?

Labels: Guitar Hero, Motorstorm, news, Oblivion, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Resistance

"It's the most wonderful time, of the week"...

Once again the Store has been updated with a bunch of goodies. But it's not what is there that worries me this week - it's what is missing.

Whilst we expect PAIN will arrive on the US Store today, Europe only gets the trailer for PAIN. And in the US they received the first Guitar Hero III expansions a week after the game's release. We, on the other hand, get nothing.

What is good about this week's update is the addition of the new Resistance maps and two addition skin packs for Motorstorm vehicles.

Otherwise if you're a fan of PS1 titles or you don't subscribe to the PS3 Attitude YouTube channel, you might find something else in today's update that will amuse you...

Here's the list:

• Destruction Derby - PS1 game (£3.49)
• Kula World - PS1 game (£3.49)
• Timeshift - demo (free)
• "Crazy Samurai and Quick Foot" - Motorstorm add-on pack (£1.99)
• "Bracknell/Axbridge" - Resistance: Fall of Man map pack (£2.99)
• Sonic The Hedgehog - add-on packs (six in total; £1.99 each)
• Uncharted "Making the Game" - video (free)
• Blazing Angels 2 "Racing" - trailer (free)
• PAIN - trailer (free)
• WWE 2008 - trailer (free)
• Assassin's Creed "Altair was here" - trailer (free)
• Bee Movie - movie trailer (free)
• PS3 "Blu-Ray" - advert (free)
• PS3 "Gaming" - advert (free)
• PS3 "Evolving Entertainment" - advert (free)
• PS3 "Faster Processing" - advert (free)
• PS3 adverts "Making of" documentary (free)

Labels: Assassin's Creed, Motorstorm, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS1, PS3, PSN, Resistance, Uncharted

Labels: GTA, news, Playstation 3, PS3, video

Sony have announced that sales of Blu-ray movies in Europe have eclipsed the 1 million unit mark, and they largely have the PS3 to thank for it. Sony have said that the launch of the PS3 in March this year made all the difference to the format's success.

Blu-ray movies now make up around 73% of all HD movie sales in Europe, so BD is clearly leading HD-DVD in this particular region. It's fair to say that in Europe at least, Michael Bay is right on the money.

And it's not just Blu-ray movies that are doing well for the format. When you add in all the Blu-ray based games our favourite console enjoys, the total for all BD disk sales comes to over 21 million units.

That's a lot of blue in a short space of time, wouldn't you agree?!

Labels: Blu-ray, Hardware, news, Playstation 3, PS3

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, Resistance

Labels: Big Three, Haze, news, Playstation 3, PS3, SingStar, The Orange Box, Uncharted

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, SingStar

Today Activision have announced some new wireless stand-alone controllers for Guitar Hero III.

The PS3 version of the game will gain a Gibson Les Paul lookalike whilst PS2 owners will get a Gibson Kramer doppleganger.

The new wireless controllers will be available in good stores (and some bad ones) in early 2008.

The plastic fantastic versions will look as similar as possible to their real counterparts (pictured).

Labels: Guitar Hero, news, Playstation 3, PS3

With all the titles that have been launched over the last few weeks still taking pride of place in our wallets, you'd think things would slow down.

And whilst three out of the four games on offer this week can't be listed as A, let alone AAA, there is a tiny jewel in the crown. Stranglehold finally makes it's way to European shelves. The game has been reviewed by many who say it's a little repetitive, but the demo showed there was a certain amount of joy to be had shooting people in the nuts in slo-mo!

The demo is available on the PS Store so you can see if it's your bag or not. Still, if you're not sure you could always rent it out from someone like GameTart.

Here's the list:

• Cars: Mater-National
• John Woo presents Stranglehold
• Blazing Angels: Secret Missions of World War II
• The Golden Compass

Clich the links to pre-order any of these and have them delivered on launch day.

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3

If you're around the O2 Arena (formerly know as the 'big white tent that somehow cost us £860m', or Millennium Dome by any other name) between now and the 18th December it might be worth your while popping in, even if you already have a PS3.

Why?

Well as part of the PlayStation 3 UK Tour the O2 Arena is also host to a live demo of Singstar. Following on from the success of the Singtar Studios earlier this year SCEE have repeated the exercise in Greenwich.

Budding X-Factor wannabes should stump up the ridiculous O2 Arena parking fee now for their chance to shine. You can always go watch a movie there to get your parking fee back anyhow!

The SingStar Studios are open from 16:00 to 22:00 weekdays and 12:00 to 22:00 weekends.

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, SingStar

Another week, another update. It's great that SCEE continues to update the store every week and if you don't have a US account, this is a great week for you.

Not only do you get the Uncharted and Blazing Angels 2 demos but there's a PS1 game and some additional content for both Folklore and Motorstorm. In addition there's a bunch of trailers and some wallpapers (at last).

If you do have a US account you've already seen or played pretty much everything here. And that's the big issue with the store in general. If we could get to the point of simultaneous worldwide release of major content and keep the peripheral stuff local then people would be much happier.

Anyhow - here's the list:

• G-Police - PS1 game (£3.49)
• Uncharted - demo (free)
• Blazing Angels 2 - demo (free)
• "Rascal & Governer" - Motorstorm add-on pack (£1.49)
• "The Alchemist Pack" - Folklore add-on pack (£1.49)
• Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection - wallpapers (free)
• Ratchet & Clank - trailer (free)
• Motorstorm "Devil's Weekend" - trailer (free)
• Uncharted "Lifelike Facial Animation" - trailer (free)
• Uncharted "Hunting El Dorado" - trailer (free)
• PSN Showcase - trailer (free)
• Blazing Angels 2 - trailers (free)
• Battlefield: Bad Company - trailer (free)
• Beowulf: The Game - trailer (free)

Labels: Folklore, Motorstorm, news, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Ratchet and Clank, Tekken, Uncharted

You may remember we featured the Folklore 'Design-a-Folk' competition some time ago.

Well, the winner has been announced and you can view that entry plus all 180 of the other designs at the official PlayStation site.

The winner was the enigmatically named 'Jeff R' with his 'Malion' creation which will feature in a future downloadable content pack for Folklore.

Labels: Folklore, news, Playstation 3, PS3

Sony have launched a PC based PlayStation Store primarily for PSP owners so they can download demos, games, PS1 titles, videos and all the other content you'd expect without the need for the PS3.

This store links with your current PS3 Store account which means you can log in using the email address and password you use for your Master Account. You can then click on 'Account Management' and access your full details.

This means you can administer your wallet preferences, add funds and generally make sure everything is ok with your account via your PC.

You can also gain access to your download list any time in case you need to audit your PS Store purchases. It will list all purchases across platforms but you can, of course, only download PS3 content via the black monolith. PSP downloads you've paid for can be re-downloaded to the same PSP any time.

I've tried the Store out and found that initially it was not obvious you had to download an extra application in order to follow any of the links. You'll find the application you need in the 'instructions' area. Silly me - when do I ever read any instructions?!

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN, PSP

Firmware 2.01 has arrived as expected and is a bugfix release.

However it appears that as well as the network issues 2.00 created, this fix also improves the stability of some games. After a serious gaming session with Assassin's Creed combined with reports from friends and colleagues, it appears nobody is experiencing the 'white screen of death' at all now.

Whether this is a global fix is yet to be seen but I can report that in the UK at least, we are no longer seeing problems with AC and other titles. Good news!

[UPDATE] After more testing and a couple of additional reports, I'm afraid to say Assassin's Creed still freezes under 2.01. There is a quick fix though - it hasn't yet frozen whilst signed in to the PSN. So before you play AC sign out and all should be well. I expect a further update by either Sony or Ubisoft will fix the issue for good in the future.

Labels: Assassin's Creed, firmware, news, Playstation 3, PS3

We were seriously thinking about adding a PS3 theme area here at PS3 Attitude. And then the guys at PS3-Themes.com came along and did such a good job, we really don't feel the need any more.

So if you want PS3 themes that you can download either via your PC or directly with your PS3 browser head on over there and grab whatever you like.

Some of theme are a bit hit-and-miss but generally the themes people are creating are of a high calibre. I got the 'Half Life 2 #2' theme today and it's very well done.

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, themes

It appears some people are having issues with Assassin's Creed on the PS3. The title is sometimes freezing - becoming known as the 'white screen of death' - and there are various glitches along the way.

We know that firmware 2.01 is coming along soon and there is a possibility that this will include a fix for Assassin's Creed.

In the meantime there is a suggestion that if you're running 2.00 you only need to disable the new Information Bar to stop AC from freezing. It has also been suggested that signing out of the PSN before starting the game helps as well.

So if you're having issues, and since there's no on-line multiplayer element in AC, you may as well sign out of the PSN before playing to ensure a seamless experience until 2.01 comes out.

Labels: Assassin's Creed, news, Playstation 3, PS3

Due to various issues, PS3 Attitude has been a little quite over the last few days.

Since our friends at PS3 Fanboy do such a brilliant job of detailing the European and US store updates the best thing we could do right now is point you over there to get the latest news.

European Updates
US Updates

Normal service will be resumed soon.

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN

So it's finally here - Assassin's Creed hits the shelves today.

You may have noticed we don't do traditional 'reviews' here at PS3 Attitude. We prefer to tell you what we think and leave you to make up your own minds.

But just in case you were wondering what everyone else thinks of this much anticipated title we thought it would be a good idea to give you the current 'scores on the doors'.

Games Radar - 100/100
Game Informer - 95/100
1Up - 70/100
PSX Extreme - 9.1/10
CCC - 4.4/5
GamePro - 5/5
Spong - 7.9/10

I could go on, but it seems there's a pattern - most people love it, a couple of sites think it is good but not great. Whether those sites/magazines/publishers are getting enough advertising revenue from Ubisoft could always be swaying their opinion of course!

So if you were in any doubt, it looks like the PS3 has gained another 'must have' title. How I'm going to fit this in to an already packed diary of Ratchet & Clank and Call of Duty 4 I'm not sure - and that's before Guitar Hero III and Haze turn up!

Labels: Assassin's Creed, news, Playstation 3, PS3

After all the rumours and blurry pictures of DivX videos in PlayStation Home, it's finally happened. DivX Inc. confirmed today that DivX technology will be coming to the PS3 'real soon'.

DivX Inc are currently working to certify the PS3 for their video compression format and DivX support for PS3 users will arrive in the form of a firmware update in the not-too-distant future.

Developers can already integrate DivX technology into their titles using the current build of the dev kit, which was released to them on 2nd November 2007.

Is this the end of having to convert videos using PS3 Media 9 or whatever your favourite flavour of video converter happens to be? Let's hope so.

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, video

New features always make us happy at PS3 Attitude, and today sees the launch of PS3 Attitude Mobile.

By clicking the 'chicklet' on the left or by visiting m.ps3attitude.com you will now get a suitably 'light' version of the site specifically designed for mobile phones and other devices (such as the PSP).

The last 10 stories are available in summary form and you can then choose to launch through to the full HTML version if you're suitably interested.

Hooray!

If you're reading this on a mobile platform, why not click the chicklet now?

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, PSP, website

Recently, PS3 owners received another terms and conditions update notification by email.

As usual, we went digging around to see what had changed.

Apart from all the usual 'don't upload nasty things' stuff that had already appeared in some parts of the last update, we noticed a glaring new addition - the constant mention of the PSP.

Now whilst this may just be a legal department being extra zealous, there is a good chance that this version of the agreement (version 4.0 in SCEE terms, 2.0 in SCEA terms) points the way to the PSP being able to access the PSN directly.

This is not the first time we have thought this at PS3 Attitude. When the PSP Remote Play via Internet feature launched we noted that the need to sign in to the PSN using your email address. We thought this already pointed to direct access to your Friends and other PSN features.

And we already know from various announcements that the PS3 will become a 'hub server' for various other Sony platforms, including the PSP. Imagine connecting multiple PSPs to your PS3 to stream your movies, music, TV and other HDD content to several PSP devices. That would make the PS3 rival devices like Slingbox and Philips Streamium.

Now it would appear these latest Ts&Cs changes shore up those points of view. It's just rumour and speculation right now, but will we see direct PSP access to the PSN soon?

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, PSP, rumour

Fresh from Ubisoft come two MP3 downloads for your listening pleasure that go some way to helping you get a feel for the quality of the audio throughout the game.

You can download two tracks from Assassin's Creed directly from PS3 Attitude (right-click and choose 'Save Link As' or 'Save Target As'):

• City of Jerusalem
• Jerusalem Horse Ride

Keep checking back for more Assassin's Creed Week content as we build up to the release of the game this Friday.

Labels: Assassin's Creed, audio, news, Playstation 3, PS3

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3

There may not be a huge number of games released in Europe this week, but the one title that is on the way is certainly one of the biggest releases of the year.

Yes - you can finally get Assassin's Creed this week (hit the link to pre-order and have it deliverd on the day of release)

It's true you won't find a more hyped title this side of Christmas, what with the game's producer (that's Jade Raymond if you've been living under a rock) getting almost as much publicity as the game itself.

What Jade does very well is show her boundless enthusiasm and seemingly sincere excitement for the game in every interview, no matter how many times she's had to repeat answers about the title (and herself) that day. And why shouldn't she - it looks truly impressive.

Look out for more on AC here at PS3 Attitude as the week progresses.

Labels: Assassin's Creed, news, Playstation 3, PS3

It was a big day in the US. After so many weeks of waiting, the Uncharted: Drake's Fortune demo finally hit the Store.

So everyone with a US account headed over to download the massive 1.2Gb file only to discover that if you were outside the US and Canada there was a little surprise waiting for you.

That doesn't take away from the awesome update given to the US Store. After two weeks of having better updates than the US, it seems the norm has been restored for the EU PSN.

Here's the full list of what is available:

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - demo (free; doesn't yet work outside of US and Canada - fix coming apparently)
College Hoops 2K8 - demo (free)
Motorstorm "Devil's Weekend" pack - add-on ($5.99)
Guitar Hero III "Velvet Revolver" pack - add-on($6.25)
Guitar Hero III "Foo Fighters" pack - add-on ($6.25)
Pink, Nature and Pixel - PS3 Themes (free)
Devil May Cry 4 Tokyo Game Show - trailer (free)
Motorstorm "Devil's Weekend" - trailer (free)
Ratchet and Clank launch - trailer (free)
WWE Smackdown vs RAW - trailer (free)
Burnout "Carson GT" - trailer (free)
Burnout "Manhatten" - trailer (free)
One Missed Call - movie trailer (free)
Sweeney Todd - movie trailer (free)
Hostel Part II - Blu-Ray movie trailer (free)
Call of Duty 4 - wallpapers (free)

Given we don't have Guitar Hero III in the UK yet, that doesn't bother me. It would have been nice to be playing the Uncharted demo but since Ratchet & Clank and Call of Duty 4 are released in the UK today, I think I'll be busy anyway.

In addition, the US got the Motorstorm v3.0 patch today as well. Launch Motorstorm's online mode to get it before you go downloading any of the add-ons.

What does still concern me is that content which clearly works everywhere, such as wallpapers, the new PS3 themes and trailers - for example - still arrive on separate stores at separate times (or sometimes not at all). I mean, what mad licensing issues have Sony created for themselves where they can't distribute a bunch of Call of Duty wallpapers worldwide?

If SCEE or SCEA are listening, would you care to explain?

Labels: Burnout Paradise, Guitar Hero, Motorstorm, news, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Ratchet and Clank, themes, Uncharted

Another week, another store update. Will it be 'EU > US' three weeks in a row? No. But still a reasonable update anyhow.

If you're wondering why the US won again, it'll be down to a certain adventure title that just got it's demo début in the States.

Not that I'm complaining about the EU update. Have a look for yourself:

• Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Online - full game (£14.99)
• Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Online Upgrade - full game upgrade (£3.49)
• Cool Boarders - PS1 game (£3.49)
• NFS: PROSTREET - demo (free)
• Folklore "Bottom of the sea" pack - add-on (£1.49)
• Motorstorm "Devil's Weekend" pack - add-on (£3.99)
• Uncharted "Animation Overview" - trailer (free)
• PSP Shapes Your World - trailer (free)

A pretty good result I'd say. Highlights for us are the Tekken 5 Online upgrade/game finally, another PS1 title and two great add-ons.

The Motorstorm Devil's Weekend pack includes a new track, nine new races and five new vehicles. The Folklore add-on further extends the game, adds new folks to capture and has a new look for Keats.

The PSP Shapes Your World video is the same brilliant stop-motion piece we featured back in July, but it's great to see it in hi-def.

Labels: Folklore, Motorstorm, news, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN, PSP, Tekken, Uncharted

You'll have heard by now that the demo for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune on the US PS Store will only work in North America and Canada. If you've downloaded it for use on a PAL machine, for example, you may be faced with a black screen or a message asking you to insert a disk.

Was it deliberate? Was it a bug? Who knows. What's important is that PS3 owners in their droves headed over to the Official PlayStation Blog and voiced their concerns. Some of them even used ASCII pictures to illustrate their point!

No whilst the initial reaction from SCEA was 'sorry it has happened and you'll all get a localised version of the demo soon', they soon realised the furore that was building and - to be fair to them - have moved fast to change things around.

In a comment post at the PS blog, Sam Thompson says:

Hi guys and gals,

We hear you loud and clear. Wanted to chime in here and let you know that we have shared your frustration with the Naughty Dog team and we are going to see what we can do. I will be back tomorrow with an update, but in the meantime I hope you can be patient and bear with us. As you have learned through communicating with Evan and Amy on the blog, Naughty Dog is a studio that listens to gamers, so I hope to have good news for you soon.

So expect a new version of the demo, or maybe a patch for the existing one, soon. Will the patch come out before the demo is localised and released on our PS Store anyway? Again, who knows.

But since we're the voice of reason here at PS3 Attitude, we just wanted to ask everyone to chill out a little.

SCEA made a mistake. They realised it was a mistake. They're fixing the problem.

What? You never made a mistake in your lives, all you 'blue tongued' commenters? You're all perfect are you and you've never messed up once?

There's no problem with everyone heading over to the blog to say 'no fair Sony', but please could everyone keep it civil and explain in constructive terms why it was a bad idea, rather than just throwing your toys out of the pram. Remember that it could be worse - you could be paying a monthly subscription for all this!

[UPDATE]Christophe Balestra has added a post on the Official PlayStation Blog that apologises for the 'honest mistake'. The good news - the demo is now fixed. You will need to re-download it from the US store, but it should all be fine and dandy now.

Labels: news, opinion, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Uncharted

So, you've got firmware 2.00 now - right?

And you've played around with the XMB customisation, yeah?

So by now you're already sick of just flipping between the original and Air Paint themes, aren't you?

PS3 Attitude comes to the rescue with these three official themes from the land of the rising sun. You can download them and put them on a USB stick, Memory Stick or other external media in a folder called PS3-->THEME and then Install them from the Themes menu.

Or you can browse PS3 Attitude on your PS3 and click on the theme of your choice below. This route is simpler as it will Install the new PS3 themes for you.

Just click the preview picture of the theme you'd like and off you go!

More themes will follow soon...

If you're more adventurous and want to create your own theme, PlayStation Australia now have the Theme Compiler with English instructions.

[UPDATE] Some people are experiencing an issue when trying to download these via the PS3 browser. If you have a problem, hope over to the Japanese PlayStation website and try there instead whilst I fix things here...




Pixel







Nature







Classy Pink

Labels: firmware, news, Playstation 3, PS3, themes

Head on over to our friends at PS3 Fanboy, where they managed to score the exclusive first screens of the new PS3 2.00 firmware.

First impressions? Nice. Everything looks so crisp and fresh, like unwrapping the PS3 for the very first time.

Can't wait to get back to my black monolith and start the download, which apparently will arrive tomorrow along with some nice PS Store content.

Labels: firmware, news, Playstation 3, PS3

Just received the official word from SCEE; PS3 firmware 2.00 is upon us.

I can't verify whether it has actually arrived on the PSN as yet (can you?), but the press release says that it is out now.

New features include:

• Support for PSP remote start - switch the PS3 on with your PSP and go into a Remote Play session
• Build playlists in the music and photo sections of the XMB
• Customisation of the XMB - change colour and brightness of the icons (useful for when you have a bright wallpaper) and apply custom icon themes, very much like the PSP custom theme capability
• Information Board - a new addition to the XMB providing you with the latest PlayStation news (well, it would do if it showed you the PS3 Attitude feed of course!)
• New PlayStation Network category on the XMB, with the much discussed new logo taking centre stage
• Trend Micro Web Security - a free security application for your PS3 web browser, providing parental controls amongst other things (free until end of April 2008, when pay options will be made available to keep it up to date)

All in all, a pretty good update. Of course, many will start shouting "what - 2.00 without custom soundtracks and no in-game XMB?", but the fact is that we're sure these things will be coming in a future update.

SCEA, for example, recently asked the following question in a survey of their Gamer Advisory Panel members:

Choose which XMB feature would be most important to you in a possible
PLAYSTATION Network update:

A) In-game access to PSN messaging
B) Ability to play my own music from the XMB while in-game
C) Larger buddy list and buddy-list features such as categorizing

This is a clear indication of what they're thinking of adding to 2.x.

Some games, of course, already support access to the XMB and PSN messaging (Resistance, for example) so surely this is just a case of the developers making use of the feature set that ships with the current development kit?

Whatever way I look at this, it's still positive news. The XMB customisation is welcome (and reasonably fun on the PSP) but the ability to switch on the PS3 remotely is a must, especially with PlayTV coming early 2008. And how on earth did we get along without music playlists?!

Thanks Sony!

Labels: firmware, news, Playstation 3, PlayTV, PS3, PSN, PSP, Resistance

Labels: God of War, news, Playstation 3, PS3

Some of you might think we're just being a little tardy of late, but other than the obvious and regular 'new retail/PS Store releases' news it's been a little slow lately.

I think it's the calm before the storm, which starts this Friday when all those great games hit the streets (and by all I mean specifically Ratchet & Clank and Call of Duty 4).

If you're hankering for PS3 tidbits, have a look at what's happening over at our friends' websites:

PS3 Fanboy
The Sixth Axis

And remember, if you subscribe to our feed in a reader or subscribe by email, you'll also get our Digg feed as well, just in case you're still news hungry.

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3

I can't stop myself. There I was, trying to think of some way to describe this week's PS3 releases without making some sort of reference to Mr. Fawkes, but I just can't pass up the opportunity.

The fireworks are really flying this week. Yes, European PS3 releases are about to go with a bang as the titles you've been burning to play finally explode onto our shelves.

There. I've got it out of my system now.

If you can't find something to play in this lot, there's something wrong with you. By 'something to play', I mean Ratchet & Clank, which is PS3 gaming perfection. And if that doesn't float your boat one of the standout titles of E3 is here - Call of Duty 4.

Here's the list:

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
WWE Smackdown! vs. RAW 2008
Lair (finally hits our shores - is it as bad as the reviews say?)
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam
The Simpsons
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

This week's 'Colon Index' is 57%.

Seriously, is it law now that your game has to have a colon in the title? I would like to see more semi-colon action. Those guys are underated; never getting the attention they deserve.

Will Lair ship with tweaks and fixes to make it a better experience? Who knows. I'll probably be too busy playing R&C to even know.

Pre-order any of the above by clicking the links.

Labels: Call of Duty, Lair, news, Playstation 3, PS3, Ratchet and Clank

For those of you who don't have a US account, the three trailers featuring various cars from Burnout Paradise are now available at the PS3 Attitude YouTube Channel.

Enjoy!

Labels: Burnout Paradise, news, Playstation 3, PS3, video

The US Store also saw it's usual update and given the US hasn't been granted any of the PS Eye titles yet (save EyeCreate of course), I feel this is the second week in a row where the EU update is actually better than the US one. Which is remarkable, given what we've had to go through to this point.

Here's the list of available goodness:

• Timeshift - demo (free)
• Need For Speed Pro Street - demo (free)
• Twisted Metal 2 - PS1 game ($5.99)
• The Godfather: Don's Edition - add-on content (various costs)
• Uncharted "Massive Attack" - trailer (free; and awesome)
• Burnout "Annihilator" - trailer (free)
• Burnout "Hawker" - trailer (free)
• Burnout "Roadster" - trailer (free)
• Beowulf - trailer (free)
• NF5 Pro Street - TV ad (free)
• GT5 Prologue TGS - trailer (free)
• PS Eye - trailer (free)
• The Bucket List - movie trailer (free)
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind Anniversary - trailer (free)

Haven't had time to try the demos yet, but I have to say the Burnout and Uncharted trailers are stunning. Uncharted particularly looks outstanding in this trailer.

Labels: Burnout Paradise, GT5, news, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Timeshift, Uncharted

"Two weeks in a row" I hear you cry. "Two weeks in a row and the EU store gets some great content".

Keep this up SCEE and we'll let you have the puppy back. He's safe - don't worry - apart from that one hair we sent you.

Here's the full list of updates for the store:

• Tori Emaki - PS Eye game (£1.99)
• Mesmerize - PS Eye game (£1.99)
• Feel Ski - full game (£4.99)
• Juiced 2: HIN - demo (free)
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 - demo (free)
• Motorstorm Revenge Weekend - trailer (free)
• PS Eye - trailer (free)
• Lair "Call of the Beast" - trailer (free)
• Uncharted "Introducing Naughty Dog" - trailer (free)
• Uncharted "The Characters and Music" -trailer (free)
• Uncharted - wallpaper (free)
• Eye of Judgment "How to Play" - trailer (free)
• Alien Vs Predator Requiem -movie trailer (free)
• Hitman - movie trailer (free)

I have to say that both the PS Eye titles are strangely captivating. Along with Aqua Vita, they strike me as the kind of 'interactive art' that people have been talking about having in their homes for years. Put one on - get a book out - have a read to the sound of your virtual Japanese painting. Nice.

And Feel Ski is remarkably good fun, especially the online mode. A steal at less than a fiver, if you ask me. I bought two double espresso's in London yesterday and it cost me more than that.

Labels: Lair, Motorstorm, news, PES, Playstation 3, PS Eye, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Uncharted

With PS3 firmware 2.0 clearly on the way, it's fun to have a look at the Internet melting down with predictions and 'insider knowledge' on what's happening.

Of course, if all 'insider knowledge' was true, the update would have hit on the 30th as was widely reported!

However, our good friends at The Sixth Axis have really done their homework. I don't know who their source is, but I would say these are the most likely features in FW 2.0 so far.

Labels: firmware, news, Playstation 3, PS3

All this talk about upgrades and patches.

We've got Firmware 2.00 on the 'incoming' list after the PSP 3.72 update.

There's Warhawk 1.1 any time now and 1.2 coming in December.

Motorstorm 3.0 hit recently.

And now, by this evening/tomorrow morning, we'll have the latest Resistance update.

And some people say games aren't value for money! Even UK launch titles like Resistance and Motorstorm are still getting TLC from their developers.

The latest Resistance update brings:

• Ability to take screenshots in game using a USB keyboard
• Weapon balance changes and new round balancing options
• DualShock 3 support for online and single player games
• Password protection for custom games
• Bug fixes galore

Time to go dust off the Resistance disk and rediscover the joy of the PS3's first FPS. Enjoy!

Labels: firmware, FPS, Motorstorm, news, Playstation 3, PS3, Resistance, Warhawk

I've largely given up on reporting rumours here at PS3 Attitude, since they hardly ever come true. We're just trying to bring the news, people.

So when I saw the perennial "2.0 is coming" rumour at Kotaku I was sceptical. To be fair to Kotaku, they were taking it with a pinch of salt too. The rumour was that 2.0 was coming on 30th October, which even the most inebriated reader will recognise as 'today'.

But then a funny thing happened. I switched on my PSP and checked the available updates to find a new firmware. Version 3.72 of the PSP firmware adds the PSP Remote Start feature we reported earlier this year (according to the official PlayStation website - the PSP Update only mentions additional support for PS titles).

The catch?

Remote Start requires PS3 Firmware 2.0, according to the website notes.

When we last had a joint PSP/PS3 firmware update, they were only one to two days apart across all territories. Which leads me to believe we're going to get 2.0 by the end of the week.

Now for the inevitable rumours about what 2.0 includes... PlayStation Home anyone? Nah - can't be...

Labels: firmware, news, Playstation 3, PS3, PSN, PSP

The PS3 Attitude Big Three is here, so let's count down the titles we think you should be aiming for this November.

1. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Quite simply, this game is close to perfection. We've played the demo and we've had a view of the finished product and I have to tell you, it's superb in every way. Ratchet & Clank have always been favourites of mine, but the PS3 really takes them to the next level in every way. A must for PS3 owners.

2. Assassin's Creed

Whether you buy the regular version, or the special edition, Assassin's Creed should make it's way into your collection without fail. Beautiful graphics and awesome gameplay where everything has a reason. Every crack in the wall is something for Altair to climb up and your actions change the way other characters respond to you, including the crowd. Take a look at the latest trailer to get a feel for the game.

3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

It was a hard choice to pick number three, especially with Call of Duty 4 and the possibility of Haze still coming in November (despite the fact that it hasn't yet gone gold). But in the end it had to be Guitar Hero III. It simple. Haze and CoD are both different and yet brilliant FPS titles. CoD was the toast of E3, and Haze looks quite incredible. But since Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II were incompatible with the PS3 I've been suffering huge withdrawal symptoms! Get your rock god on this coming month.

Labels: Assassin's Creed, Big Three, Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Haze, news, Playstation 3, PS3, Ratchet and Clank

Coming this week to a store near you (or a store far away if you're that way inclined), are the following tasty PS3 morsels.

Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
NBA 2K8
NHL 2K8

You can pre-order any of these by clicking the links.

Not a bad week but considering the titles coming in November, I'll be saving my pennies for now.

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, Tony Hawk

GameCity was enjoyable if a little 'spread out'. Anyone who knows me appreciates I'm not too great at walking, so it was a bit cruel having the convention across different venues in the city of Nottingham.

Along the way I met some great people and wanted to just say thank you to Alison Beasley of Lincoln Beasley PR for all her help.

As well as all the excellent photos taken by Jon Jordan which you'll find on Flickr there was a hugely talented artist/doodler/salad enthusiast going by the name of Jon Burgerman.

Are all talented people called Jon I wonder?

Jon Burgerman was doodling away during the Curry on Gaming dinner and I have to admit I was fascinated. His work wouldn't look out of place at Clover Studios (Capcom) or in a game by Takahashi in fact. Above you'll find the doodle Jon did of me (I explained that I like cats, so naturally he made me into one), but you can also find out more at his website or his excellent Flickr pages.

And what can I say about the Curry on Gaming session?

"You had to be there..."

Labels: GameCity, news, Playstation 3, PS3

One of the other big reasons to travel hundreds of miles to Nottingham (instead of going a few miles to London!) was the hands-on Haze demo.

I met David Doak of Free Radical at the event and got my hands dirty with a title that I'm certain will do good business.

Playing initially as one of the 'rebels' on a split screen with another avid gamer, the first thing you notice is that the controls are immediately accessible. Haze doesn't mess with the FPS formula in this respect. Everything you'd expect would be on the buttons and triggers is there, but with a few bells added on.

For example, if you are playing as a rebel you can grab some 'nectar' from any of the Mantel fighters you've despatched and create a nectar grenade. Throwing the grenade at Mantel troops initiates an overdose of the drug in their systems. You can see the individuals who are affected since their armour turns red.

You see, when you have an overdose of nectar as a Mantel soldier you go a bit crazy. You see the Mantel troops going mad and shooting their own people under control of the drug. The nectar grenade also provide cover and, simultaneously, gets in the way of targeting troops on the other side of the fog, so you need to be careful to use effectively.

The controls are fluid, the graphics are gorgeous and the storyline is well-considered. You move seamlessly between action and the occasional story-supporting cut scene but never with that feeling some games offer where the screen goes black and you wait for the FMV to appear. It's all rendered by the PS3, and it all flows.

Playing as the Mantel troops is a lot of fun too. When you administer nectar you have to be careful not to overdose. You also have to be careful not to administer too little either, or the effect won't last long enough for any benefit.

When you are under the spell of the drug, enemies glow. When you're fighting in the jungle and the rebels are using cover, nectar is the only way you can spot them, so it is essential to get the balance of nectar application right. You also run faster under the drug's effects and you gain a slight 'auto-aim' capability which helps with picking off the rebels.

The biggest feeling you walk away with is one of true involvement. The AI is great with enemies taking up good positions and working together (when they're not shooting each other after an overdose) and that helps the atmosphere. The graphics are stunning and the sound seems excellent.

I spent a long time talking with David about the game and the state of video games in general. Some of what David said needs to be in a different story as it relates to the game industry in general. As far as Haze is concerned although the game is slick and plays beautifully, they are still working furiously to give it some extra spit and polish.

Which means to say that the rumours we've all seen about Haze going gold can't be true! However, David was keen to point out that they should still have it ready and available for Christmas. We know from a recent Ubisoft financial report that Haze is one of the three new titles they are to release between now and next March but I personally think we'll see this one hit in late November.

Many thanks to David and Free Radical for a great session with Haze. I for one can't wait to play the final product. Whilst the PS3 has many FPS options, Haze is certainly a stand-out title and deserves it's place in anyone's collection.

[Photo by Jon Jordan - thanks Jon!]

Labels: FPS, Haze, news, opinion, Playstation 3, PS3

Live from GameCity 07 in Nottingham; before we get into the strange tale of Takahashi and the keynote speech, I thought you would like to actually see the technical demo of Nobi Nobi Boy.

Now we know Nobi Nobi Boy is definitely a PS3 exclusive, it will be interesting to see how the mechanics are translated into an actual game. Whilst Takahashi himself was guarded about the actual goals of the title (or maybe he just doesn't know yet!) I have my own ideas.

In the demo, you'll see you have the ability to 'stretch' and move the Boy around objects. He can jump in the air, move both sides of his body independently (one end on the left analogue stick, the other end on the right stick) and can swallow items and push them out of the other end - seriously!

My guess is that we'll be moving animals and other objects around a 3D environment by corralling them or 'eating' them only to spit them out in another place. Only time will tell.

Anyway - enjoy the video. The audio may not be the greatest, but the part where we are all laughing out loud was where Takahashi wanted two players from the crowd to form an 'N' with him on the screen and, for some reason, those other players just couldn't manage it!

By the way, YouTube screwed up my video upload, so here's someone else's from Gametrailers.com. Hey ho...

Labels: GameCity, news, Nobi Nobi Boy, Playstation 3, PS3

Live from GameCity 07 in Nottingham; I've just been in the most bizarre keynote speech ever.

There will be a full write up once I've unscrambled my brain and once YouTube has uploaded the video of the technical demo, but in the meantime here's the news I was expecting (and the main reason I gambled on coming 250 miles to Nottingham).

Takahashi-san's next game after finishing with the Katamari Damacy series, Nobi Nobi Boy, will be on the PS3 only.

I can't describe the game mechanics through words alone. It's too bizarre, and strangely a lot of fun although what we saw had no real environment to speak of. The video will be up soon, and you'll be able to see for yourself.

Labels: GameCity, news, Nobi Nobi Boy, Playstation 3, PS3

I almost can't believe my eyes.

Apart from the fact that EyeCreate landed at the US Store on the 23rd, it looks like Europe actually got the better deal for once.

Check out the list of updates for yourself. One PS1 game, the Rachel Master add-on and a bunch of trailers. No PS Eye games at all. Incredible.

• Spyro the Dragon - PS1 game for PS3/PSP ($5.99)
• "Rachel Master" - Ninja Gaiden Sigma add-on ($2.99)
• "Halloween Skin" - Piyotama add-on (free)
• Bionic Commando - trailer
• Time Crisis 4 - trailer
• The Water Horse - movie trailer
• P.S. I Love You - movie trailer
• AC/DC Live at Donnington - Blu-Ray movie trailer
• Reign Over Me - Blu-Ray movie trailer

Pinch me now...

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN

What can I say? We have ourselves a bone fide massive EU Store update on our hands people! It's like a revelation.

Of course, much of it has been sparked off by the launch of the PlayStation Eye - and I'm not complaining in the slightest. I get my Eye of Judgement pack tomorrow so I spent a tenner on three Eye compatible titles plus the Folklore expansion. I mean really - ten pounds for three full titles and some extra folks. Value for money or what?!

Here's the full burgeoning list of updates available at the Store, which for some of the time today was clearly buckling under the pressure as it was unavailable for a couple of hours...

• Pixel Junk Racers - game (£4.99)
• Aqua Vita - PS Eye game (£1.99)
• Operation Creature Feature - PS Eye game (£3.49)
• Trials of Topoq - PS Eye game (£3.49)
• Eye Create - PS Eye application (free)
• Tony Hawk's Proving Grounds - demo (free)
• Ratchet and Clank - demo (free)
• "The Kidnapped Folk" - Folklore add-on (£1.49)
• "Halloween Livery" - Motorstorm add-on (free; and a nice touch too)
• "Rachel Master" - Ninja Gaiden Sigma add-on (£2.99)
• Tekken 5: DR Online mode - trailer (free)
• Eye of Judgment Introduction - trailer (free)
• Toy Home - trailer (free)
• Midnight Club LA - trailer (free)
• Metal Gear Online TGS - trailer (free)
• Courage Under Fire - Blu-Ray movie trailer (free)
• Beowulf - movie trailer (free)
• Stardust - movie trailer (free)

Keep this up SCEE and we'll forget all about the past. Like it never happened... deal?

Labels: Folklore, MGS4, news, Playstation 3, PS Eye, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Ratchet and Clank

GameCity starts over here in the city of Nottingham, and PS3 Attitude will be there tomorrow and Saturday to cover all the big PS3 stories, including the exclusive hands-on demo of Haze and Takahashi's keynote speech which details what's next after Katamari Damacy.



The only downside is that it's the same time as the London Games Festival, which is two hundred miles closer to where I live!

If you're going to be visiting GameCity on Friday or Saturday drop a comment here. It's not like we're going to hook up or anything since there's going to be thousands of gamers decending on the city, but it's nice to know you'll be within shouting distance!

Labels: GameCity, news, Playstation 3, PS3

Subscribers to the PS3 Attitude RSS feed will have already seen the details of Warhawk patches 1.1 and 1.2, as we included them in our Digg profile. Remember, if you subscribe to the RSS feed, you get exclusive Digg news in with your PS3 Attitude stories.

It turns out the Warhawk 1.1 patch actually came out earlier than expected. Some US Blu-Ray version players were able to download the patch and apply it. This has since been fixed so we don't expect anyone else will be able to get the patch until October 30th.

Anyone who did get the 1.1 patch really needs to go into the Game Data folder and delete it, otherwise you won't be able to play in the 1.0 world.

In addition PS3 Firmware 1.94 has also hit the network. At the moment though it appears that only people who have Ratchet & Clank can get the update, but we're waiting for confirmation of that.

[UPDATE] It appears the 1.94 firmware is actually included on the Ratchet & Clank disk. This is apparently how they will be providing 'rumble out of the box' in games like Ratchet and Uncharted. As some US PS3 owners managed to get Ratchet a week earlier than expected, this is why the 1.94 release is trickling out and is not on the PSN.

So we have two updates that appear to be for the few rather than the masses - one by mistake and one by design.

Here's a quick list of changes in both updates.

Firmware 1.94

• Rumble support added (this has been apparently been tested with an old PS2 controller by someone at the N4G forums)
• Fix for Ratchet & Clank (the US version shipped with a bug that had a work-around where you needed to add or delete around 500Mb of data for it to load - 1.94 appears to fix that, but we're waiting on confirmation) - [UPDATE] Looks like this bug isn't fixed in 1.94 and that it just adds rumble support for Ratchet & Clank.

Warhawk 1.1

Server-side updates

• Stat database stability improvements
• Improved server stability
• Max Clan limit changed from 32 to 64
• Viral Rank-up bug fixed and correct for players that were accidentally ranked up.
• “Time-in-Vehicle” Stats fixed so certain awards can now be granted properly.

Client-side updates

• Stat connection, fetch/post fixes
• Significantly improved client connection stability
• Quad “????” Ping display bug fixed.
• Added support for Player-Ranked Servers.
• Game synchronization fixes due to fluctuating network conditions (packet-drop).
• Crash fixes for end of game and split screen.

Labels: firmware, news, Playstation 3, PS3, Ratchet and Clank, Warhawk

In an agreement with Polyphony Digital, the BBC will be providing content from their Top Gear TV show for users of GT-TV, the 'video download' section of the new Gran Turismo games.

The current GT5 Prologue demo has already given us a feel for what GT-TV will look like, with downloads of popular Japanese motor shows.

Under the agreement, the BBC will provide 40 episodes of the best motor programme in the world (I'm biased; I've been to see it being recorded!) but that's not the only good news.

The Top Gear test track where they record the 'star in a reasonably priced car' feature and where they test all the latest and greatest supercars will be replicated in GT5 when it is released next year. You too will be able to take a Suzuki Liana or that Chevrolet Lacetti they use and see if you can meet or beat the best times set down by your favourite international celebrities (assuming Polyphony put those cars into the game too).

Awesome!

A big thumbs up from me then. I've always wanted to see if I could beat JK from Jamiroquai or if I'd be more like James 'the slowest man in the world' May.

“We at Polyphony are great fans of the world’s best motoring programme, Top Gear, so we’re delighted to be collaborating with BBC Worldwide to deliver Top Gear content via Gran Turismo. We’re sure that players will be as thrilled as we are when they get the chance to put their own driving skills to the test on the Top Gear Test Track in GT5, as well as enjoying classic episodes of Top Gear via GT TV.” - Kazunori Yamauchi, President, Polyphony Digital.

Labels: GT5, news, Playstation 3, PS3

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3

Labels: interview, LocoRoco, news, Playstation 3, PS3

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS Eye, PS3

Labels: GT5, news, Playstation 3, PS3

Labels: GT5, news, Playstation 3, PS3

As per usual, the US store got an update that trumps our EU store. Here's the list of available items:

• Calling All Cars! - Game (re-issued at a new price of $4.99 until October 25th)
• Folklore - Demo
• Juiced 2 - Demo
• Devil May Cry 4 TGS - Video
• Turok "Dino Luring" - Video
• Uncharted "Tech Dive" - Video
• Burnout Paradise "Street Wheels" - Video
• Rail & Ties - Movie Trailer
• Incubus Alive at Red Rocks - Blu-Ray Movie Trailer
• Underworld - Blu-Ray Movie Trailer
• Eye of Judgment - Wallpapers

Although I'm personally not too excited at Juiced 2, I'm sure a lot of you will enjoy the demo.

Since I gave yesterday's EU store a grade, let's do it again: I give the US update a B (going in the right direction).

Labels: Burnout Paradise, Devil May Cry, Folklore, news, Playstation 3, PS Eye, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Uncharted

It's that time of the week again - here's what's new at the EU PS Store:

• CTR: Crash Team Racing - PS1 Game
• Everybody's Golf 2 - PS1 Game
• Syphon Filter 3 - PS1 Game
• Dynasty Warriors: Gundam - Demo
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune; The Inspiration - Video
• Alien Versus Predator - Blu-Ray Movie Trailer
• Lair 'Good Dragon' - Wallpaper
• Lair 'Bad Dragon' - Wallpaper

You can keep throwing Uncharted stuff at me - I'm lapping it up. It's certainly one of the games I'm most looking forward to. As far as the rest of the update is concerned, it's nice to see some PS1 games appear, but the rest of the Store is a little uninspiring.

And putting AvP on Blu-Ray isn't going to make that movie any better. Or even remotely good.

I'll give this week's update a C+ grade - 'Could do better'.

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Uncharted

At various points today as we reached the zero hour, Capcom Unity was down. Clearly, there's a reasonable amount of interest in what the Japanese developer/publisher is up to - enough to bring their servers to a halt at least!

So, what was the big Capcom announcement for PS3 fans we've been leading up to all this week?

Up until about 10 minutes past zero hour, I was still none the wiser. The servers were still down.

And then it appeared. Lost Planet is coming to the PS3.

So we lose Devil May Cry 4 exclusivity and then the Monster Hunter franchise and they give us Lost Planet. Wow.

The PS3 version will at least feature all the unlockables and extras from the PC and 360 versions. Gosh.

Why am I so under-whelmed. Lost Planet is yet another FPS that looks like Resistance/Area 51/FEAR/whatever. Whilst Resistance does the whole 'alien-infected wasteland' theme quite well and offers 32-player online, Lost Planet will offer 16-player online instead.

At the Capcom Gamer's Day in London today they also announced Streetfighter 4 and the aforementioned Dark Void but wouldn't confirm which consoles they would appear on.

Remember, Christian Svensson at Capcom said "let's see how they [PS3 owners] feel at the end of next week about us" after the Monster Hunter removal.

I have to respond, 'not great'.

Labels: Capcom, FPS, Lost Planet, news, opinion, Playstation 3, PS3, Resistance

Whether it's people snapping up the cheaper 60Gb bundle, or the new 40Gb flying out the door, Sony seems to have jumpstarted UK sales of our favourite console by injecting a price drop and a new SKU into the market.

Figures from ChartTrack confirm the 178% spike in sales and it's impressive.

Software sales also spiked with Resistance, Motorstorm and Heavenly Sword all going up or back in to the UK charts.

I still maintain the loss of backwards compatibility is an error without a clear plan to launch a 'premium' model to replace the 60Gb. Sony may, of course, have that clear plan but they're not going to tell anyone since that would halt sales of the 60Gb unit.

With other stories of further SKUs going through the FCC right now, I wouldn't be surprised to see a 120Gb or 160Gb with backwards compatibility next year to help bring the millions of PS2 owners over to the PS3.

Labels: Hardware, Heavenly Sword, Motorstorm, news, Playstation 3, PS3, Resistance

According to details given by Rockstar Games at the PlayStation Holiday Preview Event in Toronto, GTA IV will feature a multiplayer mode that allows 16 people to frag, slice and dice their way across Liberty City.

There aren't many other details available but people are already talking about how they'll handle the 'map' problem. Do you reveal it, piece by piece, as the game goes on or unlock the entire city from the start?

Personally I wonder if they'll go with a separate multi-player menu that kicks you into pre-determined maps (since 16 players across the entire map would be daft - you'd find it hard to actually find anyone else), or if they go with the old multiplayer icon that then 'ring fences' that immediate area for the players.

If they did the latter, you could still have the 'revealing map' process since only people who have played the single player mode could get to the better multi-player maps - a reward system if you like.

Thanks to Digg user MAKJohn for shouting this story to me. Remember, if you subscribe to the PS3 Attitude RSS feed using the link on the left sidebar, you'll get access to our Diggs too.

Labels: GTA, news, Playstation 3, PS3

I'm afraid you'll just have to keep playing those titles you've already purchased.

This week in the UK and Europe, there are no new titles.

Nada.
Nothing.
Zip.

Still, don't fret. Next week you're going to have a real cash flow problem.

Jericho (and the Jericho Special Edition), PES 2008, NHL 2K8, NBA 2K8 and the brilliant The Eye of Judgement are all due on the 26th. If you want to, you can click these links to pre-order now since you have no other purchasing decisions to make this week anyway!

Labels: Jericho, news, PES, Playstation 3, PS Eye, PS3

Following the news that Capcom had taken the Monster Hunter franchise away from Sony to make it a Wii exclusive, PS3 fans around the world decided to round on the massive Japanese developer/publisher.

Their response?

Christian Svensson, Sr. Director of Strategic Planning & Research for Capcom, replied "let's see how they [PS3 owners] feel at the end of next week about us".

So what have Capcom got up their sleeve.

If you head on over to Capcom Unity you'll see there's a countdown clock that is due to expire on 17th October at 09:00 (if my maths is correct!). Capcom's message? 'Prepare Yourself'.

Is this an exclusive PS3 title announcement that will make us all happier with Capcom. After all, we lost Devil May Cry 4 as an exclusive and then Monster Hunter, so maybe this is what Svensson meant by making us feel better.

The 'Prepare Yourself' headline is followed up with a cryptic message at the Capcom site:

??? ???? ????????????? ???? ??? ????????? ? ????? ? ??????.

??????? ???????? ??? ? ?????!

Elsewhere, people have spotted that Capcom have filed a trademark for the name "Dark Void". It's unlikely they would file a trademark this late and so close to an announcement, and none of the 'question marks' in the cryptic message have a four-letter word followed by another four-letter word, so I'm sceptical about this being anything to do with the announcement.

Still, roll on the 17th.

Labels: Devil May Cry, news, Playstation 3, PS3

The jewel in the PS Store update crown goes to the US. Putting us into complete shade once more our friends across the pond have just received a veritable smorgasbord of PlayStation joy:

• Everyday Shooter Full Game ($9.99)
• Ratchet & Clank Demo (as predicted)
• Conan Demo
• NHL 2K8 Demo
• Folklore Launch Trailer
• Uncharted BTS Part 2 Video
• Fallout 3 Trailer
• Walk Hard Movie Trailer
• The Assassination of Jesse James Movie Trailer
• Spiderwick Chronicles Trailer

There may be some wallpapers thrown in there too, but I'd already lost the will to find more content by then given the state of the EU Store update.

So if you're in the US, or if you have a US account, enjoy playing one of the standout games that I'm sure is going to sell PS3's everywhere - welcome back Ratchet & Clank; we missed you.

And let's not forget the psychedelic Everyday Shooter. If you can't remember what it looks like, take a trip back in history to when we featured the video in July.

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Ratchet and Clank

Well, the Ratchet and Clank demo didn't hit the EU Store today but that doesn't mean it won't hit the US Store.

What did we get? A mix of demos and wallpapers that were already released to the US and that many of us already played through our US accounts. Here's the full list:

• Pixel Junk Racers Trailer (many have already played the demo)
• Fallout 3 Trailer
• Tiger Woods 08 Demo
• The Simpsons Demo
• Pixel Junk Racers Wallpapers
• Lair Wallpapers
• Folklore Booktease (it's just a wallpaper)
• Men of Honor BD movie trailer
• Planet of the Apes BD movie trailer

Not exactly an inspiring collection of updates. Let's hope the R&C demo arrives later today or tomorrow on the US account.

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS Store, PS3, PSN, Ratchet and Clank

We love new features here at PS3 Attitude. There's a whole slew of them coming, and so let's begin with the first of a long line of updates and upgrades to your PS3 news portal.

When you subscribe to the PS3 Attitude RSS feed, you will now get a Digg Summary.

'What's that when it's at home?' I hear you cry.

Every time we Digg a story that already exists or if we submit a story to Digg, RSS feed subscribers will get a exclusive Digg summary post that explains what we've just dugg.

You can then click over and Digg it for yourself, helping other Digg users find the story as it becomes more popular. And we'll be digging other people's PS3 news as well as our own, so you'll gain access to a raft of extra information (plus the very occasional 'off topic' tidbit).

You can also add yourself to our Digg Friends list by visiting our profile page and choosing 'Add as a friend'. Once you are a friend of ours (and if you allow 'shouts'), you'll get exclusive first access to news and the odd extra 'shout' we might throw out.

Just use the 'Subscribe in a reader' link below or in the left sidebar to add our RSS feed to your favourite reader to enjoy this new feature. See you on Digg...

Subscribe in a reader

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, website

One of the more popular stories on today's PS3 news feed at N4G tells the story of a list of 'confirmed' EU PSN releases.

I'm not posting the list here yet because I've been told by SCEE directly that the list is a bit 'hit and miss' - in other words some of the titles are right, and some aren't.

All we can say with any surety is that the Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction demo is expected to hit either the US or EU PS Store (or maybe even both) tomorrow. Which is awesome news.

Slowly but surely Sony are releasing the captive demos we know have been finished for some time...

Let's hope that R&C is the one item on the rumoured release schedule that is more hit than miss.

[UPDATE: We just heard that Ratchet & Clank will also support rumble straight out of the box, just like that other AAA title we mentioned, so importing a DualShock 3 is getting more and more tempting.]

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, Ratchet and Clank

It's becoming a bit of a tired refrain.
SingStar has been delayed yet again.
The karaoke hit title is still being tested.
Our patience has once again been bested.

I should promise not to sing songs.
About SingStar, that would be wrong.
But I can't help myself at this time.
So I made up this silly rhyme.

Oh SingStar
Where have you been
Oh SingStar
In which year will you be seen
Oh SingStar
I can't wait any more
Oh SingStar
Someone show me the door

[Repeat until head explodes]

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, SingStar

Over on the official PlayStation Blog they've announced that Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, certainly one of the most anticipated PS3 exclusives, is only two weeks away from going gold.

For those that don't already know, going gold is video game parlance for 'that's it, we're all done and the master disk is at the production factory'.

The QA team are working furiously in various locations to ensure they hit their deadlines, which is great news for a simultaneous worldwide release. So what do we know about this title already:

1. It's by Naughty Dog who gave us Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter, so platforming credentials are all in place
2. You play Nathan Drake who believes he is a descendant of Sir Frances Drake, on the trail of the fabled treasure of El Dorado
3. We know the actual screens are not only as good as the 2006 'target render', in most cases they're better
4. Uncharted gives us rumble straight out of the box, so if you import a DualShock 3 from Japan in November, you'll get to feel the game without waiting for a downloadable patch
5. Nathan shows emotion throughout the game, so you can actually see the fear on his face when he is behind a wall that is being peppered with bullets
6. The game will run at both 720p and 1080i at 30 fps
7. Release date is expected to be late November/early December, with a demo available on the PSN just before release

All in all Uncharted: Drake's Fortune looks like another potential PS3 seller this Christmas along with a host of other AAA exclusives. Looks like everyone else's present money has already been spent - sorry family and friends!

You can pre-order this title from GAME right now.

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, Uncharted

In what I can only assume is a moment of madness at Sony, they have confirmed that when the 60Gb PS3 is sold out the 40Gb will be the only kid on the block.

Why do I think this is madness? First, let's have some good news...

So far the PS3 hasn't been the complete failure everyone would like you to believe it has been (and by everyone, I mean MS and Nintendo fanboys and any podcast or TV show by G4).

If you look at the sales of the PS3 and map out a graph, then overlay the original sales pattern of the Xbox 360 (i.e. line up the launch dates), you'll find that sales of the PS3 have tracked the sales of the MS box almost exactly.

One in the eye for Xbox fanboys then...

So what could accelerate PS3 sales so that Sony grab the number one or two slot once again? In a word, churn.

'Churning' the current base of 110+ million worldwide PS2 owners over to the PS3 would make a huge different to the so-called 'next-gen battle'. And other than a price drop, what softens the blow for PS2 owners who want to upgrade?

Backwards compatibility.

You see, the current 60Gb PS3 doesn't just play PS2 titles, it makes them look even better than ever by upscaling the graphics. Who wouldn't want to revisit their PS2 library and play those old classics again, especially since the PS3 is still getting up to speed on 'must-have' titles.

The defining line between the 40Gb and 60gb choice is clear for me.

If you are more of a movie buff than a gamer, or if this is your first PlayStation experience, go for the 40Gb. For £299 there's not a single BluRay or DVD upscaling player out there that comes close.

If you're a gamer or a PS2 owner who wants to upgrade (and who doesn't, frankly, want to have both consoles hanging around) then spend the extra £50 and get extra disk space, some memory card slots, extra USB and backwards compatibility.

I'm waiting to hear from SCEE on whether an 80Gb or 120Gb unit might come in with all the options that the 60Gb offers, but no word as of yet.

By removing the choice and turning their back on the massive PS2 owner base, I believe Sony have made a mistake on this occasion. I hope they rectify it with a bigger and better PS3 in the near future once the 60Gb has gone.

Labels: Hardware, news, opinion, Playstation 3, PS3

First we had the October 12th 'big bang' announcement rumours. Then SCEE said they weren't happening.

In the midst of the Internet meltdown we had GTA IV early release rumours - which we reported but took with a pinch of salt - and they were debunked by Rockstar.

Then yesterday, I got wind of an announcement in the UK about the 40Gb PS3 and a price drop for the existing model. I didn't bother putting it up since I was all 'rumoured out' for the week.

So today - of course - SCEE actually announced a new 40Gb model and price drop for the 60Gb model!

The new 40Gb model has no memory card slots, no backwards compatibility and only two USB ports.

Of course, you can pop a four-way USB port on one of those and get yourself five ports easily enough, and you can use one of those for memory sticks and external FAT32 formatted drives, so external storage shouldn't be much of an issue.

The lack of PS2 backwards compatibility isn't an issue in SCEE's eyes as 'later purchasers of the PS3 are less likely to need this'. With literally millions of PS2 owners still to 'upgrade' I personally think this is a misjudgement, but then the 60Gb model has come down in price for those people that need to access their old game library.

So, the 60Gb model now weighs in with a SixAxis controller and two first-party games for only £349 (about £75 cheaper) and the new 40Gb PS3 'lite' comes in at £299 as expected - both being released on October 10th in time for the Christmas rush.

All this comes on the back of repeated announcements that there would be no price drop before the end of the year in the UK, which is expected since that would have slowed down sales of the existing units as people would have waited for the cheaper 60Gb or 40Gb models.

This is all welcome news for the UK market and I'm looking forward to seeing how this accelerates sales of our beloved monolith across the region. After all (and analysts who predict the PS3 will rule once more in the future know this) if even 25% of PS2 owners across the globe 'churned' over to the PS3, Sony would be back in the number one slot again.

Labels: Hardware, news, Playstation 3, PS3

So, what did the US get that we didn't this week?

Here's the list of US PS Store releases, although as of writing this they haven't appeared on the network:

• Go! Sports Ski Game ($2.99)
• The Simpsons Demo
• Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War Demo
• NBA 08 and Eye of Judgment Video Tutorials
• Uncharted Behind the Scenes Video
• Haze developer interview Video
• Tekkonkinkreet Movie Trailer
• Surf's Up Movie Trailer

The Go! Sports Ski game is remarkably cheap. I thought LocoRoco Cocoreccho was cheap when it came out in the UK, but $2.99 (£1.46 or so) is amazing. Even if they swap the Dollar sign for a Pound sign when it hits Europe it'll still be good value.

Enjoy!

Labels: Haze, news, Playstation 3, PS Eye, PS Store, PS3, PSN