PS3 Attitude

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

Tuesday, 15 April 2008

GT5: Prologue gets an update today

Looks like it is a day for updates! The latest news comes from the good people at Polyphony Digital, who have this to say about GT5: Prologue:

Starting on Tuesday, April 15th, we have provided an update for “Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Spec II”. The main contents of this update are as follows;

Online play
- The award of race credits are now allocated at a fixed rate regardless of the number of race participants.
- The High Speed Ring course diagram has been fixed.
- Some online ID's were appearing in grey in the entry list, this has been amended.
- Some online opponents appeared to "blur", this has been amended.

Rankings
- Country and area information now appears next to the online ID in the ranking boards.
- Unusually high scores had been recorded in some Drift Trials, this has been rectified.
- When Drift Trial replays were saved, occasionally these appeared in the "Load as Ghost" option of Time Trials.
This has now been rectified.

Performance Points (PP)
- The method of calculating Performance Points has been revised, to balance vehicles in events with PP upper limits.

Miscellaneous
- LCD display has been added in the F2007 interior view.
- Some interiors and exteriors of some vehicle models have been revised.
- On occasion the Quick Tune gear ratio became impossible to reset in some cars, this has been amended.
- The manual has been updated.

Caution
- The button assignments will be reset when the update is applied.
- In line with the application of the update, all ranking data will also be reset.

* To update, you will need a Playstation 3 connected to the internet with a broadband connection, and "Gran Turismo 5 Prologue" (Either the Blu-ray disc version or downloaded version)
Seems like a comprehensive bug-fix to us. Hopefully the re-balancing of the PP system will allow us here at PS3 Attitude to complete those last two 700PP 'S' Class races!

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Thursday, 3 April 2008

GT5: Prologue getting crunched in Autumn

We already knew from various interviews last year that the full Gran Turismo 5 experience would be getting car damage for the first time.

But today it has been announced, in an interview with IGN, that GT5: Prologue will gain the 'car deformation' features in a download sometime in Autumn this year.

So you'd better be practising driving around those tracks without using the barriers or the side of an opponent's car for leverage, as it's going to cost you in the not-too-distant future!

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Tuesday, 1 April 2008

PS3 April Fools - roundup of the ruses

It's April Fools Day, and you know what that means.

So rather than come up with an elaborate 1st April story ourselves, we thought we'd round up what other sites have been touting as the truth so that you, the loyal reader, can divine the real from the rip-off.

Let's get started with the number one ruse of the day:

1. World of Warcraft coming to consoles - FAKE

The award for this year's 'greatest production values in an April Fool' goes to Blizzard, who not only put up a convincing WoW page for a game called The Molten Core, but also produced a full blown (and pretty funny) trailer for the fake game.

Of course, you'll immediately be tipped off by the features: 'glorious 2D animation' - 'full 192i resolution' - 'move in any of 8 unique directions' - 'has SOUND'...

The game is due to be released for the Atari 2600 platform, according to the site.

I particularly like the 'concept art' versus 'screenshot' section at the bottom of the page. Well worth a visit.

1. CBR 600 motorbike in GT5: Prologue - FAKE

The guys over at PS3 Addict put up a photoshopped picture of a Honda CBR 600 stating that "when you win every event in every class (C,B,A and S), this amazing bike will be delivered to your garage, free of charge."

The fact that they used screenshots that had the wrong icons included on the menu should have been enough to alert everyone to the fakeness of the news, let alone the obvious Photoshop cues and slightly wrong shadow. Still, it's a fun idea.

2. Microsoft own a patent on custom soundtracks - TRUE

Our friends at Ripten found a great piece of news yesterday and immediately it became one of the hottest topics on N4G. Why? Well, because most people called it an April Fool in the comments section!

The fact is, this patent exists and the news is real. However please don't be fooled into thinking that this stops Sony going ahead with custom soundtracks (which, of course, they have already announced will arrive in the Summer).

You can't patent an idea, just a method. Sony can do all the same things as Microsoft but just use a different method. And they can then patent that method also (which they probably already have).

It was still a good story and a great find by Patrick Steen of Ripten, who had this to say about the piece...

"It's not an April Fools. I'm doing more research to confirm the validity of the patent. Some seem to think that it is tied to actual Xbox programming, but since it was filed using Xbox 1 diagrams and then approved in 2006 (when the Xbox 360 had taken over), it is certainly not tied to a particular system and/or software program. As seen in this section of the patent; 'Although the invention has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claimed invention'."

3. GTA IV delayed by Byron Review and Grand Theft Childhood - FAKE

Industry veteren Bruce Everiss has a great blog over at Bruce on Games, and he came up with this 'exclusive' this morning.

However, you should have spotted that the names of the spokespeople in the story are all characters from GTA: San Andreas. Carl Johnson. Frank Tenpenny. Melvin Harris. They're all there.

Nice work Bruce, but the wool and my eyes never did meet.

And whilst we're talking about Bruce, we think he tried to make the GTA story more credible ny posting the much more obvious 'Microsoft and Nintendo to merge' story first. Double bluff attempt - denied!

5. Sony launches a $150 PS3 with no Blu-ray drive - FAKE

Over at PSX Extreme they continued their story from yesterday about a new SKU at the FCC with the statement that Sony have announced a $150 PS3.

The reason for the massive price drop? No Blu-ray drive! You can only play downloadable games on this puppy.

You should have been tipped off by the absurdety, but in case you needed a real April Fool clue, the name of the SCEI spokeperson is Aperelli Doorichka. Not only does this person not exist, we're pretty sure that this is the phrase 'April Fool' in a different language.

6. Firmware 4.1 now supports HD-DVD playback - FAKE

Over at HDDVD.com they have proved they have a sense of humour too by claiming Sony will support HD-DVD playback in their new firmware.

Apart from the version number of the firmware being enough to tip us off, the piece contains some nice touches:

When asked why they waited this long to announce these breakthroughs, Microsoft pointed the finger of blame in Sony’s direction saying that Sony only downloaded the 360’s HD DVD emulator when it finally become free. Sony spokespeople responded that they’d have downloaded it months earlier had their Xbox Live account not been banned due to Halo 3 cheating, and mentioned problems using Visual Studio 2008 on their “Vista Capable” workstations.
Good work guys.

Did we miss your favourite? Is there a piece of news you think is fake and you need it checking over? Let us know in the comments...

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Friday, 28 March 2008

European PS Store update for 28th March

Yes - we know. It's Friday.

Despite hanging around (well, actually I was playing GT5: Prologue on Blu-ray) until about 02:30 this morning, the weekly update just didn't appear.

We know that the original plan was to have the update arrive early evening yesterday. Then there were rumours that things would be held back until the GTA: IV trailer launched. Either way, something broke.

And that is, after all, what software does. It breaks every now and then. Regardless of whether you're on a free network like the PSN, or if you pay a monthly fee like on XBL, it is occasionally not going to work. It's just unfortunate that it didn't work on the day many people were looking forward to downloading the PSN version of GT5: Prologue.

So other than the biggest download of the year so far and the one-day delay, what else was made news on the PS Store today?

Here's the list:

Games

GT5: Prologue (£24.99)
Reel Fishing (for PSP and PS3; £3.49)

Demos (all free)

EUFA EURO 2008

Add-ons

Turok Map Pack (£1.99)
Unreal Tournament III Map Pack (free)
Eye of Judgement Biolith Rebellion Set 2 (£6.99)

Videos (all free)

GT5: Prologue TV trailer
Dark Sector - five trailers
Everybody's Golf World Tour trailer
Eye of Judgement Biolith Rebellion Set 2 trailer
Dynasty Warriors 6 Producer Q&A

Two full games (one of them monumental), a demo, two map packs, the extra card set for Eye of Judgement and a bunch of videos.

I'd say that was worth the extra day, wouldn't you?

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Monday, 24 March 2008

Easter Monday news wrap-up

As we've mentioneda few times, we're on our Easter break here at PS3 Attitude, so here's a quick wrap-up of the news from today:

1. Warhawk version 1.4 will definitely contain new game modes, according to Dylan Jobe. And they'll be free.

2. Staying with Incognito, Dylan also confirmed on the Official PlayStation Blog that the Warhawk development team are working on a new game.

3. Don't forget this week sees the release of GT5: Prologue and Everybody's Golf World Tour, both on our PS3 Attitude Big Three for March. Check the PlayStation 3 Events Calendar for more details on all the forthcoming UK and European releases.

Enjoy the rest of your Easter break and we'll be back to normal service from tomorrow.

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Friday, 21 March 2008

Good Friday news wrap-up

As we're taking a short break for Easter, here's a quick summary of the news:

1. In the comments section of a post on the Official PlayStation Blog, SCEA's Takau Imasaki said of GT5: Prologue "Private races with buddies and in-game chat are all in the works... but will not be ready from day one. Will keep you posted on the progress!"

2. Staying with the PS Blog, the new official logos for Resistance 2 have been posted there as well as concept art for the multiplayer classes.

3. The new maps for Call of Duty 4 will be on the Xbox 360 for 21 days before appearing on the PlayStation 3. There's a chance this exclusivity will backfire on Infinity Ward, since this places the release of the extra four maps close to GTA: IV's arrival - we suspect CoD4 will be put back on many people's shelves for a while around that time.

4. Motorstorm 2 gets a proper name - Motorstorm: Pacifica. We know game developers are fond of their colons (make up your own joke) so it's no surprise to see one appear in the title of the next Motorstorm game.

That's it for today. Have a great long weekend and we'll keep an eye out for the best stories on Easter Monday for you.

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Sunday, 16 March 2008

Play.com Live 08; Day Two wrap-up

As you're blissfully aware of by now, PS3 Attitude were at Play.com Live 08 to cover the event and find out as much as possible about forthcoming PS3 titles as we could.

Day Two saw much of the same action as Day One. The fact is, the show was relatively small. Having said that, this was the first ever Play.com Live event and I'm sure they'll take feedback from this to ensure it's better in years to come. The UK certainly needs a single retail event right now.

We did get a chance to look round the areas we missed on the first day, which included watching the video footage of Ghostbusters and Prototype. Unfortunately, neither title was available to play. Vivendi did, however, have the Bourne Conspiracy for gamers to get their hands on. The people I spoke to were impressed with the gameplay, which combines close-quarters combat with third-person shooting and driving.

We also finally got a chance to play with GT5: Prologue properly using the new Logitech wheel. Playing the London track in a new Mini, the graphics are as stunning as you'd all expect. It's the wheel that really grabbed me. The accuracy and feedback you get from the steering wheel is almost perfect. If only the pedals had a little more 'bite' to them...

The highlight of the day for us was interviewing Patrick and L-P about Far Cry 2. Out of everything we saw at the show, this title really impressed us the most. We'll have much more on this survival-FPS in the not-too-distant future.

We haven't mentioned the additional entertainment across both days. There were number of great music acts on across the event. On the first day, Vincent Vincent and the Villains were great, as were 'headliners' We Are Scientists today. In addition there were loads of competitions with over £90k worth of prizes up for grabs, and to promote FIFA Street 3 EA brought in a World Record street football juggler doing the most insane keepy-uppy tricks I've seen. And of course there were the usual array of unnervingly good looking people giving out bags of goodies to the punters.

So - Play.com Live is over for this year. There will be more from us over the next couple of days, so keep checking back. We have a stack of pictures and an extra video to put up, plus we'll be running a little competition for all our readers.

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Saturday, 15 March 2008

Play.com Live 08; Day One wrap-up

Wembley Stadium played host to the inaugural Play.com Live show today, with another day of the event coming tomorrow.

PS3 Attitude were there to cover the event and whilst there was a lack of items we felt needed 'live' updates, there were some highlights for PS3 fans.

The bottom floor of the event was almost exclusively Xbox 360 hardware. And yet there were still new builds of multi-platform products to be played. The latest Soul Calibur IV was there and looks very slick indeed.

Playing as one of three characters - Taki, Cassandra or Mitsurugi - it is exactly what you would expect from a Soul Calibur title. Only this time the graphics have taken a real ramp up since the PS2 incarnation. Everything looks pixel perfect.

Rainbox Six Vegas 2 was also present and was another title that seemed to deliver exactly what was expected of it. A straight sequel, and whilst that's not a bad thing it also doesn't appear on the surface to bring anything new to the franchise.

Moving upstairs marked the shift from white to black as everything became PS3-oriented. Immediately to the right was the Rock Band setup from EA. With still no release date for the UK, I was surprised at the skill of some of the players, the best of which were chosen to battle on the music stage later in the day for a complete Rock Band kit each.

Sony's stand was very well put together with some impressive 'pods' set up for GT5: Prologue. Around the driving area Sony had a number of screens showing videos from LittleBigPlanet and God of War: Chains of Olympus for PSP. In addition, they had playable demos of Time Crisis 4 and the new Buzz! game.

We covered Time Crisis 4's FPS functionality earlier today. In the standard game mode it doesn't offer anything new, but the new GunCon 3 is a remarkable piece of equipment that we expect will be made use of in the future to much better effect.

Buzz! now comes with wireless controllers, although your old wired ones will do just fine. The game has taken a real step up graphically as you'd expect, but the new game modes are a lot more fun and I can see this version being a massive hit for families. I played against three other players (and won with 5,000 points - woo hoo!) and it really helped me to forget just how much my feet were hurting!

The latest build of Haze was also available to play upstairs and although it doesn't look like it has graphically moved on from the build of Haze we played at GameCity, it's still as exciting to us as before. In the deluge of FPS titles available for the PS3, I can see Haze being one of those that raises its head above the rest. The responses I got from other players seemed to suggest they thought so too.

Capcom showed the Street Fighter IV trailer and had Lost Planet set up to play, so I'm afraid we didn't spend much time with that.

On the third floor were a few third-party stands, such as the memory manufacturer SanDisk and Corgi, who had light sabres and other merchandise for sale. I was fortunate enough to meet my favourite ever Dr. Who - Tom Baker - who was being as effervescent as ever. On the next stand was Robert Llewellyn of Red Dwarf and Scrapheap Challenge fame who I shared a few comedy moments with.

The e-sports section of the show saw one lucky PES 2008 player walk away with £50,000 in cold, hard cash. The Soul Calibur IV competition had a Dodge car as the prize. Certainly Play.com seemed to have lined up some pretty decent prizes for their first show, and it's good to see e-sports becoming more serious and gaining better rewards.

The two outstanding moments for me were the actual gameplay video from Codemasters of Race Driver: GRID, and the demonstration from the guys who are making Far Cry 2.

Race Driver: GRID looks amazing, but it is the little things that make a difference. The environments you race in and the detail in the crowd and surroundings are superb, but also subtle. Unlike some racing games I've played, the crowd don't all move in unison as if they're connected by a metal rod, and they're not cardboard cut outs either. It's this subtlety that makes all the difference.

Far Cry 2 will be coming to the PS3, and it looks like a serious step up for FPS titles. The real selling point is the natural weather and enemy AI. Virtual wind blows the palm fronds (which are all destructible) and also allows you to set fires that blow towards your enemies, helping you gain cover and create a distraction. The world (which is 50Km in size!) gradually moves through a 24-hour cycle. If you spend long enough, you'll see the sun set. If you want to perform a mission at night, you can sleep for a while and tackle it in the dark.

We'll have more on Race Driver: GRID and Far Cry 2 in the near future.

So - on to Day Two. We'll cover anything that needs a quick update live from the show, but come back same time, same place tomorrow for a wrap-up.

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Tuesday, 11 March 2008

Official GT5: Prologue UK/Europe release dates

Forget what you might be reading at other sites, PS3 Attitude has the official word from Sony.

Gran Turismo 5: Prologue will appear on two seperate dates in March depending on whether you want the Blu-ray disk (BD) version, the PS Store download version of the bundled with a new PS3 version.

As we confirmed in one of our lead stories from last week, the European version of GT5: Prologue will come with an array of additional features over the original Japanese version.

71 cars, 6 tracks (each with two possible layouts, making 12 tracks in all), split-screen multiplayer and drift mode are just some of the features for Europe.

So when is it all happening?

If you want the BD version or the new PS3 40Gb bundle, Wednesday 26th March is your date of choice.

If you want to download your copy from the PS Store instead, Thursday 27th March is the date you've been waiting for.

It's the best GT ever, and as we've argued before, it is a full game for less than £20, so don't miss your chance to get your hands on a copy this month.
The scarily accurate PS3 Attitude Calendar has been updated as you'd expect.

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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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Monday, 3 March 2008

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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Wednesday, 20 February 2008

GDC 08; Logitech launch GT5 Prologue wheel


At the Game Developers Conference today, Logitech announced and unveiled 'the official wheel of Gran Turismo' for the PS3.

Looking much like any other Logitech wheel (and that's a good thing) this new controller is due to arrive in May this year. It will be available in Europe and the US for $149 (£75).


“The Gran Turismo series has always been designed for racing enthusiasts. The Driving Force GT racing wheel was designed to perfection by our team, specifically for the next generation of Gran Turismo.” - Kazunori Yamauchi,
President of Polyphony Digital.

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Wednesday, 23 January 2008

GT5 Prologue European release date confirmed

We knew that GT5 Prologue would be coming some time in Q1 this year, but we didn't think it would arrive almost exactly as Q2 comes around.

Yes, the official date for GT5 Prologue is 28th March. As you'd expect, we've updated the PS3 Attitude PlayStation 3 Events Calendar with the good news.

We're big fans of the Gran Turismo series here at PS3 Attitude, so the end of March can't come soon enough!

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Thursday, 17 January 2008

European PS Store updates for 17th January

If you're after some extra Guitar Hero III goodness, today is your lucky day. There's a total of six new tracks to rock out to included in the update.

In addition we get two demos, another Folklore add-on and a smattering of trailers.

Still no Everyday Shooter or PAIN though. Hmmm. I wonder if they will ever turn up.

Here's the list in our handy new 2008 format:

Demos (all free)

NBA 08
FIFA Street 3

Add-ons

Warner Track Pack - Guitar Hero III (£3.99; includes No More Sorrow by Linkin Park, Sleeping Giant by Mastodon and Pretty Handsome Awkward by The Used)
Die fantastischen Vier track - Guitar Hero III (£1.49)
Extremoduro track - Guitar Hero III (£1.49)
Trust track - Guitar Hero III (£1.49)
Visions of the Tower - Folklore (£1.49)

Trailers (all free)

GT5 Prologue
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Borderlands 'Debut'

Movie Trailers (all free)

Cloverfield

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Friday, 4 January 2008

In the Year of the Rat, will Sony win the race?



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...

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Friday, 21 December 2007

PS3 Attitude - Christmas Cheer

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.

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Wednesday, 12 December 2007

Sony announces their lineup for early 2008

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.

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Tuesday, 11 December 2007

GT5 Prologue will be offline to begin with

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.

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Friday, 2 November 2007

US PS Store updates for November 1st

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.

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Wednesday, 24 October 2007

BBC to make Top Gear available within GT5


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.

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Monday, 22 October 2007

GT5 Prologue demo; new cars unlocked this week


The Tokyo Motor Show starts in 5 days time. Why is that important to PS3 owners?

As new cars, like the Lexus IS F, are announced at the show they will be simultaneously unlocked in the GT5 Prologue demo.

So, answering the much lauded forum question "how do I unlock cars in the GT5 Prologue demo?" is an easy task - patience is the key, my friends.

Keep an eye on the new content in the GT-TV and News options. Even if you don't speak or read Japanese visit anything that is new and then check the showroom whilst the show is underway - you'll get a nice surprise or two as the week progresses.

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Friday, 19 October 2007

GT5 Prologue Demo appears on Japanese PS Store today


If you don't have a Japanese account, today would be a good day to invest five minutes setting one up.

I know a lot of people out there consider GT5 Prologue a 'demo'. A cut down version of the real thing.
I think of it as a segue. A nice little filler to help us transition from the old GT4 to the new GT5 - and keep us GT fans mildly happy whilst we wait for 'the big one' next year.

So it may seem a little odd that they are releasing a 'demo of a demo', but at least it's free so I'm not sure I really care about the semantics!

Domo arigato Sony-san - releases like these are most welcome. Now, if only you'd made the demo available worldwide, that would have definitely garnered an A+ from me.

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Thursday, 20 September 2007

TGS 2007; GT5 Prologue trailer looks as good as ever

A new trailer for GT5 Prologue has been released at the Tokyo Games Show, and frankly it looks just like all the other trailers for GT5 Prologue have been remixed into this one.

Not that this is a bad thing - GT5 Prologue is looking mighty good.

Good to see at the end of the trailer an official release date and price. GT5 Prologue hits Japan on the 13th December via Bluray and PS Store download, and will cost around 4,500 Yen (about £19.50).

Check out the trailer below, or visit the PS3 Attitude YouTube Channel for this and many other PS3 videos.

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Tuesday, 11 September 2007

GT5 Prologue is priced; it's not free, but it's not bad

At the same SCEE Benelux event, it looks like GT5 Prologue has got a price.

Despite rumours saying it could have been free, GT5 Prologue is looking like it's going to weigh in at around 40 Euros, which is £27 (so probably £29.95) or $54.

SCEE are keen to ensure everyone knows this is a full game, like Warhawk. With 40 cars and 5 tracks to choose from (plus I expect they will double up by offering reverse tracks) it sure seems like a full release.

Since GT5 Prologue is a nice stopgap whilst we wait for the full GT5 release, having a price point that's almost halfway between 'free' and 'full price' seems fair to me.

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European PS Store release dates

Dutch website PS3only.nl have stumbled across a number of European PS Store release dates, apparently given out at a recent Benelux region press event.

Here's what they discovered:

LocoRoco Cocoreccho!: 20th September
Feel Ski: 4th October
Toy Home: 11th October

They also list Pixel Junk Racers and Snake Ball as coming in October; WipEout HD, High Velocity Bowling and Everyday Shooter coming this November; Elefunk, Pain and GT5 Prologue hitting the Store by this December.

Down for 'quarter 3' releases are Operation Creature Feature, Trials of Topaq, Aqua Vita and Eye Create. Since theses titles are all tied in to the PlayStation Eye release, I'm guessing that they mean 'Sony Fiscal Year Quarter 3'and not the actual third quarter of the year, so expect these before Christmas.

This also makes sense as they list Echochrome as 'Quarter 4', which would mean between January and March 2008.

PlayStation Home is listed as 'middle of Autumn' and Little Big Planet doesn't yet have a release date.

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Monday, 27 August 2007

Could GT5 Prologue be free to download like GT HD?

We've heard a rumour that GT5 Prologue is going to be a free download via the PSN later this year.

Apparently, Polyphony Digital said it would be free, and whilst Sony have said they were thinking of charging for it, for now it will be free.

That's not a complete confirmation but if it turns out to be true it'll be very welcome news indeed.

Let's celebrate with this new footage from Leipzig:

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Wednesday, 18 July 2007

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue website goes live


Hop over to the GT5 Prologue website and check out the glorious pictures and incredible videos.

This is one title that can't come quick enough as far as I'm concerned...

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Tuesday, 17 July 2007

News from the PlayStation Premier event in Tokyo

As we heard from Kojima-san at last week's E3 keynote, he is showing a real demo of MGS4 in Tokyo today.

While we wait for any video footage we can get our hands on let's wrap up the rest of the news from today's PlayStation Premier press event.

First up, we found out after the demo that a new Metal Gear Solid title is coming our way! Kojima-san announced they are producing a PS3 version of the online game that was included in MGS3 Subsistence. It looks like they will show this at the MGS 20th Anniversary Party next week in Tokyo.

Tekken 6 is announced as a full online title. We know that we are going to get an updated Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection title on the PS Store soon that will provide online battles, so this isn't a great shock.

News from the floor is that Final Fantasy XIII is only 13% complete at this time! But that's ok, since Final Fantasy Versus XIII is supposedly less than 2% complete, so in comparison they're storming ahead.

Grand Turismo 5 Prologue, as announced at E3, is supposed to be arriving in October.

White Knight Story will be playable at this year's Tokyo Game Show which is being held in September.

And my favourite news of the day - LocoRoco for the PS3 is on the way. Slated for release via the PS Store in the near future (it is 95% complete) the tentatively titled "Buu Buu Cocoreccho! by LocoRoco" will feature over 200 LocoRoco characters and full use of the SixAxis as its control mechanism.

Check back soon for the MGS4 demo video assuming I can get my grubby mitts on it!

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