PS3 Attitude

PlayStation 3 news, views and gossip from PS3 Attitude - a daily news site with bite!

Friday, 7 March 2008

Burnout takes on Motorstorm! New car and area on the way...

As we revealed the other day when news of Burnout Paradise v1.2 hit, Criterion are going to be confirming their forthcoming DLC soon.

So it's good to see that the 'Developer's Blog' on the Criterion website is giving us a little hint of what to expect today.

A new vehicle is coming. Called the 'Dust Storm', it's obviously Criterion's version of the buggies from Motorstorm. Heck, they even used the word 'storm' in the name.

But that's not all. As well as the vehicle video you can watch below, they've added a new area to the Paradise City map. In fact, they say this area is 'outside of the city' for the first time.

So what can we expect? Given the title of the developer's blog post, I'm thinking the new bridge will take us into the desert, perhaps.



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The Getaway doesn't live up to it's name

E3. 2006.

That's the last time we heard anyhing from Sony on The Getaway for PS3.

Back then we were blown away by the visuals as Sony showcased what London could look like in-game. I'm sure you remember the picture of Piccadilly Circus which actually came from a 2005 screen test.

To be fair, we thought the game had lived up to it's name and 'got away'. There are a whole bunch of games that have had similar smoke screens around them for almost as long, and we wonder about them too (Afrika, anyone?).

But now it has been revealed that the PS3 incarnation of The Getaway is still on the cards.

In a recent interview, screenplay writer Katie Ellwood had this to say about the title, and what the PS3 brings to the table:


"The Next Gen of consoles have liberated us in other ways. There are wider possibilities to use that processing power and tell a story during the game play."

"We can stream a wider variety of dialogue and animations to progress the story and characterisation rather than breaking the flow of the game play for a cutscene. If games are about immersion, then we are now about to deepen that immersion."

During the same interview, Ellwood went as far as to say that Sony are talking to production houses about a Getaway movie.

Just as long as Uwe Boll isn't lined up to direct it we think it would be a good idea. After all, Hitman didn't actually suck.

So, will we see the next Getaway game in 2008? Unlikely. But with other strong 'sandbox' competition already lined up for this year, 2009 might be a better time to launch the title anyhow.

[via Den of Geek]

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Rocketmen demo fired up, misses target

Yesterday finally saw the release of Capcom's Rocketmen: Axis of Evil on he PS Store in the US. The game was also launched two days ago on the X360.

The first we saw of Rocketmen was almost a year ago (April 2007 in fact) when Capcom released the initial batch of screenshots. The release date was originally Autumn 2007, so has the game benefitted from being in the kiln for an extra two seasons?

The graphical style of the game is the first thing that makes you feel uneasy. The cel-shaded comic-book style graphics are pleasing to the eye, but the animation on the title screen and in the many, may cut-scenes is - frankly - bizarre.

The opening title, for example, shows three of the main characters jittering around in front of you like they all have ADD.

When you fire up the demo you are given the opportunity to create a character, and the options allow you a good amount of customisation. If you go ahead an buy the full game in order to earn lots of the various credits the game offers a good number of additional customisations become available.

It is after creating your character that you are subjected to the most bizarre graphical style choice yet - cut-scenes that quickly snap each character into a fixed pose for seconds until they've delivered their line from the (not funny or interesting) script. The result is quite unnerving, as the characters jump from line to line as if you're watching them in a strange 0.2 frames-per-second mode.

The amount of cut-scenes also detracts from the action. Just when you're in the middle of some frantic shooting against the martian hordes, you will brush past a pick-up only to be launched into a whole speech about the item you touched.

But the worst element of Rocketmen, the one thing that makes it almost unbearable to play, is the camera.

The camera moves you forward towards your next natural goal, but it moves very slowly in comparison to your character. Whilst this might be a gameplay choice the developers thought would promote movement strategy, in reality it's just plain annoying.

However, that is not the most heinous crime the camera commits.

The viewpoint moves you forward towards your next goal but doesn't allow you to go back. Because it seems to move you based on certain trigger items (i.e. when you pick up something, the camera assumes that part of the level is done and so moves you on) you often find that you can't collect the items that were dropped by the martians after you sent them packing.

Even worse, the camera often pushes you forward into clumps of martian enemies leaving you absolutely no space on the screen to avoid their rapid-fire pistols.

Rocketmen could have been good fun but the bizarre animation, annoying cut-scenes and terrible camera mechanic ruin the game entirely. No amount of funky weapons, armoured clothing and character customisations will ever make it fun enough to play for long.

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Thursday, 6 March 2008

European PS Store updates for 6th March

The PlayStation Store has been updated once again. Will we get more than we did last week? Well, we couldn't get any less, could we?

In fact, it's not a bad update at all if you like add-ons.

The flOw expansion pack has made its way over to Europe. flOw has always been a little but of a favourite here at PS3 Attitude. When you've had a stressful day, it has a happy knack of unwinding the knots in your muscles faster than a massusse on crack - and with no pressure to have a 'happy ending'.

Guitar Hero III content is always welcome, and No Doubt is as good a track pack to have - even if it's just for 'Don't Speak'.

Here's the full list:

Add-ons

flOw expansion pack (£1.99)
Guitar Hero III - No Doubt Track Pack (£3.99)

Videos (all free)

Oblivion Shivering Isles trailer
WipEout HD trailer
Uncharted 'DJ Shadow' trailer
The Pursuit of Happyness Blu-ray movie trailer
Reign Over Me Blu-ray movie trailer
Perfect Stranger Blu-ray movie trailer

Themes (all free)

Graffiti

So - two add-ons amongst a bunch of videos and a theme. Like I said - it can't be worse than last week!

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Echochrome demo now available

As we announced last week, the echochrome demo is now available to download on the Japanese PS Store.

You'll need a Japanese PSN account to get your hands on it, of course.

For those of you that grab a copy, here's a quick guide:

  • The d-pad or left analogue moves the perspective
  • The triangle button stops your character (thinking mode)
  • The X button speeds up your character

That's pretty much all you need for the demo. The full echochrome game will be available in Europe this May.

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Burnout Paradise 1.2 on the way, plus DLC coming too


The guys and gals at Criterion are set to release an update to Burnout Paradise soon to fix a whole slew of issues, exploits and problems. The update will also tweak some of the gameplay settings to make the exprience even better than it currently is.

Although an official release date for the update hasn't been announced, Criterion promise that it won't be long and that they will be telling us soon about this and their plans for downloadable content (DLC) for the latest in their racing franchise.

Burnout Paradise is already one of the best online games for the PS3, so any updates and DLC to ensure that stays the case is welcome.

Here's a complete list of the PS3 version updates:

The Top 10 problems reported by users have been fixed


  • PS3 game can crash when a player is taken down and the player that has performed the Takedown leaves the game.

  • The game indefinitely displays "Connecting to Paradise City Servers" if it's having problems pinging the rebroadcast server.

  • Disconnecting the controller before a race begins can mean that race timings can be manipulated with players who didn't cross the line first being awarded the win

  • Repeatedly joining and leaving a game with 8 players can cause the game to hang.

  • Hammering the X button after unlocking a car can cause the game to hang.

  • East Crawford and Watt St achievements can not be achieved if the player goes online and sets road rules before attempting them.

  • Audio distortion when using 5.1 / DTS and looking rearwards.

  • Total time driven in player stats would stick at 145 hours.

  • VoIP connection problems with 8 player games.

Game experience enhancements


  • We're going to be running road rule timers in all events and online challenges.

  • Tuning Online Takedown logic & physical behaviour to iron out instances where it doesn't feel fair.

  • Increase online race timer timeout so players have a greater chance of finishing the race.

  • Fix drifting bug when drifting and boosting there wasn't any real control on the brake so players would grind around the walls of the corners. Getting better control.

  • Boost fix, stabbing the boost has too much of a jerky behaviour in the car handling.

  • Surround sound fix - Centre speaker was 4dB louder, ruining the mix and the speech has now been positioned correctly.

  • Tweak Marked Man gameplay AI, was easy to exploit by driving in reverse.

  • Increase the # of search results returned for online games.

  • Increase Picture Paradise timer so it doesn't kick in so quickly.

Other high priority issues being fixed


  • Some online race start points face the players in the wrong direction

  • Instances where Barrel rolls were not registering correctly in Stunt Run

  • Instances in Stunt Run where players would crash but not wreck & score multipliers by driving away

  • Fixed instances where the counting of Boost Chains would drop out

  • Some instances where Revenge Rivalries desync & don't get fixed until players are updated online.

  • Some instance where the Host couldn't change the game access if the game was created through an invite.

  • Achievements, Awards and Challenges numbers sometimes not updated if the player didn't leave the game cleanly

  • Online challenge issues where the challenge couldn't be completed if it was started at the exact time that a player left the game.

  • Incorrect rivalry updates when European players played against English or Japanese players.

  • Instances where Friends were not being displayed on the mini map.

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Wednesday, 5 March 2008

5 reasons why GT5: Prologue is a full game and not a demo

If there's one Gran Turismo 5: Prologue question I get asked more than anything else right now it is "why should I pay £25 for a demo?".

And it would appear this is not an isolated issue. I see the same sentiment across the 'net and in the glossy magazines that land on my doorstep.

So here are 5 reasons why GT5: Prologue is actually a full game, and worthy of your twenty-five notes:

1. It has (at least) 50 cars in it.

Admittedly this isn't the hundreds of cars that will potentially be available in GT5 when it launches, but 50 cars is about the same amount as you get in Ridge Racer 7 (40 cars) and Motorstorm (keeps changing!). It's nearly the same amount you'd find in a game such as Project Gotham Racing 3 on the Xbox 360 (80 cars). No one considers those titles mere demos. GT5: Prologue also features 'accomplishments' that unlock new cars in addition to the ones it ships with. The original Japanese version came with 37 cars, and reports suggest that the European version will actually ship with more like 60.

2. It has 16-player online racing.

A first for the Gran Turismo series, you can now take your game online and battle up to 15 friends (or enemies) on track. Forza 2 and PGR 3 on the X360 only offer 12-player and 8-player online respectively. Motorstorm allows 16 players online, and once again no-one would argue that any of those three titles are demos.

3. It has a wealth of online features.

As well as the online racing (which actually includes time-limited downloadable races attached to an online calendar), GT5: Prologue features a mix of other online modes. Real-time weather for dozens of real-world racing tracks, GT-TV downloadable content delivering top car programmes and news to your hard drive, the usual mix of online leaderboards, motosport related news tickers and other online features. GT5: Prologue is also planned to work with Home, allowing players to jump in and out of a GT5 Home Space to create a social element to the racing franchise.

4. It has top-level hardware support.

Not only does GT5: Prologue make the most of the PS3 by running at 60fps in 1080p, it also has it's own branded force-feedback steering wheel from Logitech, as well as support for other older Logitech wheels. GT5: Prologue features 7.1ch surround sound. What demo what bother with such features?

5. There's a PS3 bundle and a soundtrack - and it's available via retail.

I've never heard of a demo that spawned a soundtrack before. GT5: Prologue is blessed with an 18-track CD available in Japan for around £12, and there's a new PS3 bundle arriving at the end of March that will come with the game included on Blu-ray disk. Warhawk is another title that is available as a PS Store download and a Blu-ray, and that is certainly not a demo either.

So enough already. GT5: Prologue is a full-blown, bone fide game.

One extra bonus: if you pre-order your copy of GT5: Prologue from GAME right now you'll save a fiver and get it for a shade under £20, which has got to be the bargain of the year so far. Mine's already in the delivery queue.

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PlayStation Store gets a spring clean

There have been rumours floating around for days, but we can now confirm the PlayStation Store is going to get a big overhaul in the early part of April.

At the Destination PlayStation show recently (you know, the retailer event where they announced the Metal Gear Solid 4 release date) Sony gave details of the changes. Because nothing concrete came out of that event, rumours spread quickly about the possibilities - including talk of a new video store that allows you to download movies and music videos.

SCEA's John Hight has now told the guys and gals at Gamasutra:

"We give [Sony's PSN team] a lot of feedback based on how our customers are reacting to things, and I think you will see a pretty big change in the PlayStation Network in the early part of April, where we roll out some new interface stuff largely based on customer feedback. Simplification, cutting down on the number of mouse clicks, making it easier to find stuff that you want to find... that's kind of an outgrowth of us having more content now, so we have to make sure that you can get at it easily."
So whilst details of the video store are still thin on the ground, we do now know that the PS Store will look very different this coming month. We'll keep our ear to the ground for more details as they are confirmed.

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Tuesday, 4 March 2008

Play.com Live '08; Gemma Atkinson and Iain Lee announced as presenters


Play.com Live is a new event for UK gamers that will take over Wembley Stadium on March 15th and 16th. And as you'd expect, PS3 Attitude will be there to cover the event.

Today, Play.com announced the line-up for the event which includes 'TV babe' Gemma Atkinson and Virgin Radio presenter Iain Lee. The pair (ahem) will be presenting and hosting the event, which also includes a number of music acts.

The fantastic line-up of artists performing includes Elliot Minor, the brilliant We Are Scientists and will be the home of the stars with celebrity appearances by Jamie Cullum, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Lee Sharpe.

The event will also have numerous competitions and feature all the latest video games, with exclusive launches and first-looks, plus movie trailers from this year’s biggest films.

All the major video games companies, including Sega, Electronic Arts (EA), Activision, Microsoft, THQ and Ubisoft will be showcasing their hits for 2008.

New releases such as LEGO Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, Condemed 2, Sega Superstar Tennis, Rock Band, LittleBigPlanet and DeBlob are just a few of the exciting titles that will be there to try out.

Tickets cost just £6 per adult and £3 for children and can be purchased through Play.com. They are available to buy for a morning or afternoon visit to the show on either day or you can buy VIP weekend tickets for £16.

Check back on PS3 Attitude during the 15th and 16th for live updates.

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PAIN finally on the way, along with Elefunk and echochrome

It's been a long, long wait, but according to a recent press release from Sony, PAIN will arrive on the PlayStation Store this month.

When it does launch here it will be accompanied by some of the additional characters already available in the US, with plans to release up to ten additional ragdolls.

The press release also states that Elefunk will launch in April whilst echochrome will turn up this May.

Elefunk is a game that requires you to build routes from various materials to stop the herd falling into a pit of oblivion. It looks cute and sounds like a pachyderm version of Lemmings.

If you want to get an early taste of echochrome, don't forget the Japanese PS Store will get a demo this week.

That still means there's a whole bunch of releases Sony are keeping from the PS Store, but this is a good start. And whilst the press release didn't mention anything specific, we do know that Super Puzzle Fighter is now in various European languages, so surely that can't be far behind.

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Phil Harrison is President of Atari-land.


We called this one out when Phil left Sony and now it's come true - Phil Harrison has joined Atari as their new President, looking after group publishing and game development.

Reporting directly to CEO David Gardner, Phil will be tasked with overseeing Atari's studios and help attract new internal and external developers.

Which means that a good percentage of the third-party developers Phil has connected with over the years in his role at SCEWW could well sign up to produce content for Atari over the next few months.

David Gardner recently went on record about Atari's plans for the future:


“We’re rebooting Atari. My vision is to bring the coin-op arcade back home through the web. To me that’s not just re-hashing the old games but it’s re-interpreting them for audiences today.”
Phil is now part of this vision, helping to build Atari's online gaming brand:

"This is the perfect time to join Infogrames and help shape the future of Atari - one of the industry's legendary brands. As the game business moves rapidly online I believe we have an outstanding opportunity to create amazing network game and community experiences for players the world over. I am especially excited to be working on this challenge together with David, one of the most respected leaders and successful executives in our industry."

PS3 Attitude wish Phil the very best in his new role. We look forward to seeing lots of great Atari-branded games appear on the PlayStation Network in the not-too-distant future.

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Monday, 3 March 2008

Check out The Minority Report; you might like it!

We were introduced to a new gaming podcast on the wonderful world wide web today.

The guys over at Gamer 2.0 have created The Minority Report, a 30-minute (or so) podcast that will air weekly.

Whilst not specifically PS3-related, the guys have some good insight into topics such as the EA bid for Take Two, whether the PS3 will take over from the Xbox 360 and a segment called 'buy or sell' where they throw out a situation and then decide if they 'buy' the scenario or 'sell' it (like it or throw it out).

Keep it up guys - we'll be listening. Should PS3 Attitude start a podcast? Put your thoughts in the comments section...

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In-game XMB confirmed and Home rumoured for Summer; the secret of firmware 2.4

In a recent interview with MCV, Ray Maquire of SCE UK was congratulating UK retailers on helping them sell 1m PS3 units faster than the PS2 did.

During the short interview however, he said:

“Our momentum will continue with the introduction of in-game communication in the summer, firmware update 2.4 and the strongest line-up of games through our third party partners and our own studios. I’d personally like to thank our trade and business partners for helping us on the start of the PS3 journey.”
So the question is, why would Mr. Maguire make a special point of firmware v2.4? Surely this update will be an important one. He already said in-game XMB will come along, maybe to co-incide with the Summer release of Metal Gear Solid 4.

So will firmware 2.4 include a new, sparkly Home icon? It must be something important, or he wouldn't have mentioned it as a separate possible milestone in the yet-to-be-told story of the PS3 throughout 2008.

What do you think is included in firmware v2.4?

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March Madness; PS3 Attitude Big Three


Once again, it's that time of the month where we run down the three titles you really have to seek out in the coming month.

As a quick reminder, the PS3 Attitude Big Three takes in UK and European release dates only and is for titles that will be released in March.

You can keep tabs on the latest release dates by using the PS3 Attitude PlayStation 3 Events Calendar, which you'll also find a shareable/embeddable version in the left sidebar.

So let's get started - what should you spend your money on this month?

1. Army of Two [pre-order] [pre-rent]

The first couple of levels in this buddy-em-up shooter will help you learn about everything at your disposal, and you're going to need it. The gameplay mechanics and commands available are surprisingly complex, but in this case that is a good thing.

In Army of Two you play as one of two mercenaries - Salem or Rios. If you play the game in single-player mode your teammate will be controlled by the PS3. If you command your teammate to be the centre of attention by firing at anything that moves, the enemy are less likely to spot you which allows you to flank round the side and take out the opposition.

But it's the co-operative set pieces that impress the most. Early on in the game you'll get to grab a ripped-off car door and use it as a shield whilst your partner fires over your shoulder. You'll also get involved in tandem parachute/sniping exploits and you'll have to learn how to heal your compatriot when he goes down, even helping stop bloodflow with a tampon.

The multiplayer experience is great fun too. Army of Two could be one of the sleeper hits of the year.

2. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue [pre-order]

The debate about whether this is a full game or a demo of a forthcoming game still rages on. I'll tell you where we stand: GT5: Prologue is a completely full game in it's own right.

Available around 28th March in retail disc, PS Store download and special European PS3 Bundle Pack versions, GT5: Prologue has everything a Gran Turismo fan is looking for and more. Lots of cars (40 to choose from and earn), 10 track configurations from five tracks and some 'firsts' for the GT franchise such as in-car view with full dashboards.

But the most important 'first' - online racing. 16 drivers going head-to-head around some of the most beautifully rendered race tracks you're ever likely to see.

Add to that a whole slew of 'net features such as GT-TV, realtime weather conditions for major tracks around the world and the chat functionality from the My Garage page and you have a full-blown, bone-fide release on your hands. No question about it.

3. Everybody's Golf World Tour [pre-order]

With the usual confusing mix of FPS titles available in March (Blacksite, Soldier of Fortune, Turning Point etc.) it's nice to feature something cuter and cuddlier in the Big Three. The latest Everybody's Golf title (known as Hot Shots Golf elsewhere) arrives on the PS3 this month to a shower of daytime fireworks and giddy cartoon caddies, who are only happiest when they're sprinting after your ball like a Duracell/Energiser bunny on acid.

With a new swing mode that does take a little bit of getting used to, Everybody's Golf is the anti-Tiger - immediately accesible with the emphasis on fun and laughs. But don't be fooled - there's as much of a golf simulator here as you'll find in many an EA game if you want to really get into it.

For those that find the new swing mechanism too far from the immediate 'plug-in-and-play' joy that makes the series truly Everybody's Golf, you can flip back to the familiar 'three-click' system that golf game officianados will have probably first experienced when they played Access' brilliant Leader Board on the C64 back in the 80's.

The online multiplayer is great fun and the lobby looks like a mix of a cut down version of Home mixed and the little Mii avatars from Nintendo's online service. The whole social side of the online experience is almost worth your time and money by itself. And when you do get a game going, everyone plays the hole at the same time - it's just fun to see a whole rain of golf balls flying across the course!

You can check out video trailers for all three titles below. Have a great March!












[Hot Shots/Everybody's Golf trailer via IGN]

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