Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, Resistance

Insomniac are on a short break at the moment and are due to hit us all with an announcement about their next title on Thursday 17th.

So how is it that everyone already knows what is going to be announced!?

I can only assume that the Resistance themselves got to Insomniac and made them talk.

With every man and his dog giving out details of Resistance 2 it was no surprise that ThreeSpeech put out a post about the forthcoming sequel. Here's their rundown of the new features Resistance 2 sports:

A huge co-op component featuring eight player story-driven campaigns over PSN
(two player local) alongside single-player campaigns.

Sixty player competitive modes with a focus on squad-versus-squad combat set in huge United States landscapes.

New enemies including Chameleon and Stalker with total cloaking ability

Multiplayer class system. Three basic templates - tank with heavy weaponry, special ops for distance (bullseye modified with zoom) and medic.

Online matching - standard difficulty discarded for scaled challenges for team skill.

Partially randomised geometry making levels different with each play through.

Insomniac have been listening to players complaints about the first game and are also further tapping the power of the PS3 to give more enemies onscreen and improved AI. They are also working on a solution to the long checkpoints and health system.

The 'partially randomised geometry' is an interesting one. I know FPS fans like to learn every nook and cranny of a map so having the map change with every play is a good way to level the playing field for those more casual gamers.

We'll have more details soon. The game is due for release this year.

Of course, it would be even better if Insomniac announce a completely different title this Thursday, such as the next Ratchet & Clank game. We need to find out how the story continues, dammit!

Labels: news, Playstation 3, PS3, Resistance

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: news, Playstation 3, PS3, Resistance

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

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

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

In an interview with ShackNews, Insomniac's Ryan Schneider explains that a Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction demo is finished and ready for the Playstation Store.

"Well, our E3 demo is certainly finished and media have received copies of it for preview coverage. What Sony chooses to do with it, and when, it really is in their hands. The demo is finished - I mean, you saw it [at E3], you played it - and when it comes out, we have a rough idea, but you never know. I think the PlayStation Store is a fluid storefront, and anything can happen."

In the interview, Ryan also explains that there is more Resistance content on the way after good feedback and sales of the recently launch map pack.

He goes on to explain that Ratchet & Clank will also use the PSN in some way, but says it won't be in the form of cheesy weapons upgrades.

With most games using the PSN to show worldwide or regional high scores, I would have thought that is a 'given', but Insomniac have a habit of doing things we don't fully expect so I'm hoping they'll come up with something much more original. Time will tell...

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

Sony announced an apology to the Church of England today regarding the use of Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man.

They also said the cathedral will never appear in another game.

And that's the end of the matter as far as Sony is concerned.

I have to say I believe that's the right approach. The CofE's demands for a donation don't make sense to me.

In the eyes of the Church surely something is either right or wrong. It can't be wrong one minute but made right after a reasonable donation. That would be hypocritical and would tell the world that the Church was just after the money in the first place, wouldn't it?

Labels: FPS, news, Playstation 3, PS3, Resistance