PlayStation News Message Board older than one year ago

Long-running racing series keeps going and going and going.

Dear Mr. Larson, Congratulations! With your recent purchase of our 46-inch Bravia KDL46X 3100 LCD TV, you're eligible to receive a free PlayStation 3 -- provided you haven't changed your address, and still live in Australia. Funny story: You're actually the last person that's eligible to receive the free console with the TV's purchase. "Lucky Number 25,000," we've been calling you around the office. I'm running to the stockroom right now, so I can ship your console and television to you personally, along with a very heartfelt letter of gratitude. Oh, crap. Listen, Mr. Larson -- I might have forgotten something ... important. See, to promote this offer, we may have flung the last PlayStation 3 into your Bravia television at 50 mph. By "may have flung," of course, I mean "totally did fling." If it makes you feel any better, it was a really good ad (check it out after the jump)! Very thought-provoking, and even a little cheeky. Just know that your television and video game console died for a worthwhile cause. (What? No! Of course there are no refunds. Don't be silly.) Love, Sony Australia.

Plus, the latest on Versus, Agito, and The 3rd Birthday.

Transmission Games goes off the air.

Sony's Playstation Blog announced today that the two expected Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time demos will hit the PSN over the next couple weeks. The first one, releasing this Thursday, is the Clank demo (he's the robot). Players will take the bucket of bolts with a destiny through the Great Clock, as he learns some "time-based abilities" for puzzle solving.Next week will be Ratchet's turn to shake his money maker so you'll buy the game. Although the details are scarce as to what players will do in the demo, if we know anything about that lombax -- and after seven games, we certainly know plenty -- it'll involve blowing stuff up with crazy weaponry.

Ubisoft's tentatively titled Ghost Recon 4 may just be "Ghost Recon: Predator" -- that is, if this OFLC classification is any indication. The classification itself is pretty barren, save for the title of the game, the fact that it's multiplatform and it's rated MA 15+. Still, given the title, it's a pretty safe bet that this will be a Ghost Recon game more in line with the roots of the series and not another Advanced Warfighter -- mostly because it doesn't have "Advanced Warfighter" in the title. Hopefully, Ubisoft will confirm sooner rather than later. We definitely encourage the company to do so, especially if it still hopes to get the game on shelves by March 2010. [Via VG247]

With more avenues now open between consumers and game creators than ever before, third-party companies like Telltale Games can sell their wares on every platform -- as long as their software runs on it. That's the tricky part, but Telltale CEO and co-founder Dan Connors has told Gamesindustry.biz that his team is already looking to take advantage of the "huge potential" out there."I definitely think there's huge potential there, and right now we're working on getting our content over to some more channels, over to new consoles and the Mac," Connors said. With any luck, PlayStation 3 will be caught in Telltale's wider net -- it's the only current home console that has yet to be visited by a talking dog, a hyper-kinetic rabbity thing ... or even a dog that doesn't talk but is still weirdly expressive.Telltale's ambitions go further still, added Connors. "And after that's done, we're going to be looking at handhelds. I think we have to consider the PSP Go for sure."

The .hack franchise has always been a series we've wanted to like: CyberConnect 2's transmedia story combines an edgy, inspired style with a unique premise filled with intrigue. However, the original PS2 games -- spanning the .hack// tetralogy and the .hack//GU trilogy -- skimped on gameplay, failing to actualize its overly-ambitious vision.Perhaps the only thing more surprising than the fact that the franchise's finale will appear exclusively on PSP is that .hack//Link has the potential to be the best game ever created in the long-running RPG series. Although not formerly announced for a US release, we find little reason for Namco Bandai Games America to skimp on a localized version: The demo at Tokyo Game Show had a fresh, "fun" attitude that's evident in both the game's new art style and its combat system.We didn't have a chance to see much of the game's story in our demo. However, Link takes a page from the other compilation games so popular in Japan right now (Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Tales of VS), by populating the game with many faces from the various .hack games, manga and anime series. Playable partners in the TGS demo included Haseo (from .hack//GU) and Tsukasa (from .hack//SIGN).Gallery: .hack//Link

Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time may be the titular duo's last adventure -- at least, for a while. Speaking with CNN, Insomniac's creative director for the game, Brian Allgeier, stated, "Never say never, but people need that closure. ... We hope to be wrapping things up with a bow."It seems unclear, from the comments Allgeier gave to CNN, whether he's referring to the franchise or just the storyline started in the Ratchet and Clank Future series. With 16 million copies of R&C games sold across seven installments since 2002, sales obviously have a lot to say when it comes to sequels. If A Crack in Time does well, we wouldn't be surprised to see the Lombax and his metal companion return within a couple years -- well rested and with some fresh ideas.Gallery: Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

click to fall up into our galleryNamco Bandai and TimeShift developer Saber Interactive hope you'll flip for their new shooter Inversion. Because it literally features the ability to reverse gravity.The third-person shooter takes place during an invasion by the alien luchadores Lutadore, which happens to coincide with the appearance of random "bubbles" of anti-gravity or gravitational vector change (just go with it). That means that at various times throughout the game, you'll enter an area and start floating, or be flipped over as the ceiling suddenly becomes the floor.The player, as cop Davis Russel or, uh, cop's neighbor Leo Delgado, is armed with a Grappler weapon that allows the manipulation of gravity to move giant objects around. This permits the player to move enemies' cover or make their own out of items in the environment. Or to just throw stuff.Inversion will ship sometime in 2010 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

It's been a while since we were legitimately excited by an addition to the PSOne Classics storefront -- however, now we're waiting on bated breath for the PSN re-release of two timeless titles: Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee and Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus. The pair of PlayStation platformers will say "hey-lo" to the PlayStation Store this Thursday, where they'll be sold for $9.99 a piece. We know we should be counting our blessings, but we're hoping the addition of these impossibly Odd titles is just a precursor to more PS1 platformers getting ported to the PSN. In simpler, less alliterative terms, we're gonna need someone to bring Heart of Darkness into the family of PSOne Classics. We're gonna need someone to do that immediately.

Award-winning iPhone game proving popular with PlayStation fans.

Mind-blowing (mahynd-bloh-ing) v. Literally, to blow one's thoughts from the mind with a gun-firing hand motion to the head. Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list: Last updated: Monday, 1:54 PM

David Jaffe's Calling All Cars will have its internets removed on January 14, 2010. An official announcement within the game (pictured) declares that the servers will be shut down, and thanks players for thar support.Though it's sad to see the game's online bouts coming to an end, it won't affect a majority of users -- there are currently zero games being played and zero players online.[Thanks, Kassatsu; Via PSN Stores]

The first installment gives us a look at Ubisoft's blending of game and film.

It's hard out there for an assassin. It was hard for Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, anyway; father of Assassin's Creed II protagonist Ezio. As you can see in the teaser for Assassin's Creed: Lineage above, the dude had a lot on his plate -- and good thing he had a sharp knife, too, to handle all that meat carving. According to Ubisoft, you'll get to see how it went down when the first of three Lineage short films, introducing plot elements leading up to Assassin's Creed II, debuts on YouTube on October 27.What we really want to know is: How did Giovanni manage to keep his whites so white? With all of that blood flying around, it must have been one helluva laundry day for the 15th century assassin.

Listen up, soldiers -- we've got new intel from the PS Blog on the enemy and it appears your unique set of SOCOM: Confrontation skills are needed in the snow-covered lands of eastern Europe. If you've got the mettle, we'll be taking the fight to the enemy in five new warzones: Uprising; Entrapment; Blizzard; Night Stalker; and Vigilance -- two of which are brand new zones of conflict while the remaining three war zones are from previous SOCOM campaigns. We'll also be needing those of you brave enough to enlist to hit the books and gain intel on Arms Run, an all-new multiplayer mode where players must destroy or activate a series of dynamically placed missile silos.Considering we're tossing you out into these icy, blinding conditions, we're also providing you with more than the fancy white goose-down gear you see above (we pay extra for goose feather because we care): soldiers who enlist in the new Cold Front DLC pack will also gain access to a new thermal scope attachment, allowing you to spot the enemy much more effectively. You'll be dealing with the Russian Spetsnaz in these new areas, soldier -- so we're also going to give you some new weapons, ordinance and the option to choose primary and secondary specializations with unlockable equipment unique to the specific skill set you choose.Finally, the bad news: due to the current economic conditions affecting the country, you'll need to help us recoup some of the cost of keeping the war machine oiled up trying to make a better tomorrow. As such, all soldiers who sign up for Cold Front will be required to pay an initial fee of $14.99. The information on when Operation: Cold Front DLC will deploy is currently on a need-to-know basis and we'll be sure to let you know when you need to know.

We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week. Recommendation of the Week: Black Dynamite (In actual theaters -- get out of the house and treat yourself!) Remember Michael Jai White? The dude played Spawn in the forgettable movie, and was seen without makeup or a mask as Gambol in The Dark Knight. However, you've never seen him as a jive-talkin', nunchuck-swingin', butt kickin', fro-wearin' guy who gets results. From the website: "When 'The Man' murders his brother, pumps heroin into local orphanages, and floods the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor, Black Dynamite is the one hero willing to fight all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of the Honky House." You owe it to yourself to see an amazing return to blaxploitation. As usual, we'll see you at the popcorn st -- well, actually, we won't see you at all. But you catch our drift. Plus, be sure to tell us what you'll be watching, or what you've seen recently that bowled you over.

Providing further evidence of our belief that there's a nice retail markup on the PSP Go, electronics retailer Fry's has put the UMD-free device on sale for $199, through October 22. Fry's sales tend to vary by location, so it may be wise to call your local store before you begin your epic, miles-long trek through its near-endless expanses. We verified the sale price with the Austin, TX location, which is pretty far away from the Fremont, CA store whose ad appears here, so it would seem to be nationwide. That $50 discount almost puts the Go near the price point of the previous PSP models! [Thanks, Brian!]

Developer squashes rumors of a PlayStation 3 port for good. Do you believe them?

Tecmo Koei opened a teaser site for the new North Star Musou, featuring a brief clip of in-game action. If you're familiar with either Fist of the North Star or the Dynasty Warriors games, you know exactly what to expect: a little post-apocalyptic Mad Max-esque wasteland, and one giant guy exploding a horde of identical thugs with his bare fists and feet. The combination of these two licenses is doing a pretty good job of renewing our interest in both!See the footage after the break. If you squint, it kind of looks like a high-definition God Hand sequel. [Via Andriasang]

While Americans who purchase the God of War Blu-ray Collection and the Japanese gamers who pick up Infamous will be spending the harsh winter of 2009 behind the helm of a demo for God of War III, our European pals won't be so lucky. Sony recently confirmed to Eurogamer that the sneak preview of the Grecian action title wouldn't appear in the region until 2010. Yes, unless you check out God of War III at the Eurogamer Expo in late October (or import one of the two games listed above), you'll have to do without this holiday season. Don't worry, you should be able to live vicariously through our highly exuberant tweets.

Nintendo software tops the charts once again.

Get a chance to play the season's biggest Sony games.

After Uncharted the First hit Japan with the force of a thousand baby chicken feathers, we didn't think the game's sequel would have much of an impact in the region. It seems we were mistaken -- according to a gaming retailer blog called Sinobi, Uncharted 2 sold 47,000 units in its first day at retail in Japan. Sure, it's not the biggest launch ever, but it's a huge improvement over the original Uncharted's first-day sales of 7,300 units. Of course, the original Uncharted didn't have the massive install base and Sony marketing support that Naughty Dog's latest endeavor has -- nor did it possess the simply stunning box art seen above. Seriously, Japanese Uncharted 2 box art, we're gonna need that breath back. You know, that breath that you took away. [Via Andriasang; image credit]

Rockstar is throwing some support behind PSP's digital distribution initiative and has added several titles in with today's PSN update, with more soon to follow. The initial offering included Manhunt 2 ($29.99), Midnight Club L.A. Remix ($19.99) and Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition ($19.99). 1UP reports that soon the entire Grand Theft Auto PSP line-up (including Chinatown Wars at launch) will make its way to the PSN, along with The Warriors and Beaterator. The publisher also plans to launch a Rockstar storefront on October 22, just to show it's as serious about supporting PSP digital distribution as a guy sticking a gun in your face and stealing your car.

Beaterator, GTA Stories, The Warriors all available this month.

You guys aren't going to believe who our very own Jem Alexander got to interview recently: Hideo Kojima! That's right, we've got some Joystiq Original Reporting[TM] in the video above, in which Joystiq's European emissary interviews the Metal Gear Solid creator about his upcoming plans. It's a huge boon for our humble news site, and we thank Jem for his -- wait, what? He doesn't work here anymore? That limey bastard! We're going to be busy stewing in our anger for a while, so go ahead and watch that interview --make sure you don't miss the 3:45 mark, when Kojima speaks about how a current-gen Zone of the Enders title is "on the top of the list" of his studio's priorities. That news is almost delightful enough to make us forget our brutal betrayal.

Sony's back to the two-SKU configuration with PS3 "slim," today announcing that the 250GB model of the system previously announced for everywhere but the US will be coming to these shores on November 3. The machine will sell for $349, which is just $50 more than the $299, 120GB model. 50 bucks for an extra 100GB ain't too bad, considering Microsoft's hard disk pricing.There's still not a peep about whether we can expect any of the 250GB bundles other territories will be getting here in the States, but we're activating full-on Pester Mode, target: SCEA.

Sony finally doubles the hard drive space for North America.