All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

PlayStation Network will undergo maintenance tomorrow, August 30th.

Maintenance is expected to start at just after midnight Pacific and will last for several hours, until approximately 12:30pm Pacific. During this time, users won’t be able to access the PlayStation Store or Account Management, and may encounter difficulty while signing in to PSN.

Please stay tuned to the PlayStation Twitter feed for updates and a notice when PSN is fully back online.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

It's been a relatively slow news week compared to the past couple of weeks, but the next seven days should see some interesting PC game related news coming just before and during PAX Prime. In the mean time, let's check out what the last week gave us, shall we?

Exclusive Features

• Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days review: We give our final verdict for Io Interactive's sequel to its third person action game
• Razor2: Hidden Skies review: It's our verdict for the recent indie arcade shooter.
• Freeware Friday: Our popular column returns with a look at the game Goblin Camp.
• Contest: There's still plenty of time to enter our latest giveaway where we will award three $200 Best Buy gift cards

Downloads

• R.U.S.E. demo: Check out this single player demo for Ubisoft's upcoming RTS game.
• Metro 2033 demo: Several months after the full game was released you can now try out a free taste of the first person shooter.
• ArmA II: Operation Arrowhead 1.54 patch: It's the latest update to the military shooter that also adds content from the British Armed Forces DLC
• Portal 2 trailers: Check out new gameplay trailers from Valve's upcoming puzzle shooter for the Aerial Faith Plate, Repulsion Gel and co-op teaser features.

The comments of the last few installments of the Japanese Hardware Sales saga have seemed to focus on a pair of dear, dear friends whom we lost in the Futurestiq relaunch: The Green Up and Red Down Arrows. We miss them just as much as the next person -- more, probably -- but their tendency to go rogue just didn't jibe with the direction in which the rest of the site was moving. As a result, we went our separate ways, and then we had them assassinated, because if we can't have them, no one can.

No use crying over spilled arrow blood, though, is there? We've got the future to think of! The future, with its boundless options for methods to symbolize whether numbers are increasing or decreasing. Why, there's some new ones in the chart posted after the jump right now! You're going to love them! Or else you're going to sleep with the arrows.

Listen, we're sure whatever custom superhero you're planning on creating within DC Universe Online is going be a precious and unique snowflake -- but you know who else is great? Batman and all his friends. You can check out their exploits, both heroic and villainous, in the gallery below.

If you didn't get in on the first wave of closed beta invites for THQ and Relic's Company of Heroes Online, you're guaranteed to get your chance in the coming days. A new trailer for the online strategy title sent to us by THQ included the announcement that the game's open beta testing will kick off some time this week. An exact time and date for the relaunch wasn't announced, but an update on the title's official site promises more details are coming soon.

In the mean time, check out the new trailer after the jump, and think about which of the three Doctrines your strategy will be built around. Wait, you're adopting a policy of pacifism? Yeah, that's going to work out really well for you, we think.

Maxis clue us in on Darkspore's backstory, its game mechanics and how it's inspired by Plants vs. Zombies.

Researchers from Ithaca College recently created an incredibly neat device to give a bit of mobility to babies who suffer from disabilities which keep them from crawling: A motorized chair which lets its infant pilot navigate using the Wii Balance Board. See, babies lack the motor skills required to maneuver a more conventional motorized chair, but this particular model taps into a baby's natural proclivity to reach for things they want, which registers on the Balance Board and steers the device. (The chair also has a remote control override, in case its occupant decides he or she wants to reach for a flight of stairs.)

Check out an impossibly adorable video of this ingenious, pint-sized automobile after the jump.

#wii Toys 'R Us is currently listing an Epic Mickey Collector's Edition that delivers a bunch of swag for $69.99. Interestingly, it gives Nov. 15 as an estimated shipping date. More »

This week’s The Drop tells the story of the Green Knight, Gray Knight, Conehead and Snakey when they discover a black magical box in the Animal Ark that plays Blu-Rays. Get your battle axes and animal orbs ready, The Pipistrello and the Frost King await your arrival on the PlayStation Network. Need a testosterone hit of big guns, mechs and explosions? Here’s your chance to save New York City (again.) Shinji Mikami replaces the undead of Resident Evil with the Augmented Reaction Suit, when the PSN demo for his new sci-fi action shooter drops on PSN.

Jeff has a death grip on his PSP this week with the arrival of Valkyria Chronicles II, and PlayStation minis get some love when Europe’s Metacritic PSP darling and Youtube viral sensation goes ‘crabbing for gold.’ The PlayStation Network has tons of love to give this week — get the bandages ready — your gaming thumbs are going need it.

PlayStation Network

Castle Crashers // PSN Demo — Dan Paladin is not only the co-founder of his very own independent studio and Art Director for Castle Crashers, he’s also amazing at wrapping gifts. Yes, August 31st may be a Tuesday, but it’s also the official day PlayStation fans can pull battle axes and volleyballs out of their closets and download Castle Crashers on the PlayStation Network.  If the whole hack’n’slash thing has got you down, there’s a happier alternative. The PS3 version of Castle Crashers adds an additional volleyball mini-game, where you can play locally or online. There’s also a demo on PSN if you want to dip your toes in before taking the plunge.

Sam & Max Episode 5: The City That Dares Not Sleep – Debuting as a comic book in 1985, Sam & Max have their own episodic video game in its third season. Episode 5 of The Devil’s Playhouse grants Max the ability to shape shift, teleport and use future sight to fight an arcane scholar.

PlayStation Network Demos

Vanquish — If the creator of Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami woke up from a dream one morning and wanted to create his very own third-person shooter (and destroy San Francisco) he’d named that dream Vanquish. In the distant future, Russians have captured a US space station which harnesses solar energy, and have used it to annihilate the Bay Area faster then you can say Nuclear Man.

Armed with the Augmented Reaction Suit (ARS) — you play as Sam Gideon — the last defense against the Russians. Your mission is to restore peace and recapture the space station before they reach their next target, New York City. Associate Community Manager for Vanquish, Julian Mehifeld posted a blog earlier this week, with more details on PlantiumGames‘ latest title.

R.U.S.E. — Deception and intellect are the key ingredients behind this real-time strategy game. Play up to six different factions ranging from the US to the USSR, and change the tides of war using decoys and ruses to trick your enemies. Ubisoft and Eugen Systems deliver a demo this Tuesday and promise PlayStation Move support in the future.

PlayStation Portable

Valkyria Chronicles II — Valkyria Chronicles II takes place two years after the conclusion of the original game on the PlayStation 3. Experience stories of friendship, love and growing pains when Gallian Military Academy cadets plunge into civil war against the Gallian Revolutionary Army.

It’s no secret that our very own Jeff Rubenstein is a huge fan of Valkyria Chronicles II. He frequently drives to SEGA to pay Aaron Webber a visit when he needs a VC multiplayer fix on his PSP — we have a new multiplayer video tour coming up this week. Stay tuned.

PlayStation minis

Coconut Dodge — Coconut Dodge is an arcade-style mini that was released in Europe in May and quickly gained critical success with glowing reviews and a handful of perfect 10 out of 10 scores. It now sits at number 25 all time highest rated PSP games on Metacritic.com. Check out how addictive the game can be in the infamous One More Go video, which shows a player going through the highs, the lows and the ultimate joyous relief as he tackles Level 9 of Maze Master mode. Get ready to Crab some Gold!

#cars A German site got its hands on what it says is the full list of the 66 licensed vehicles appearing in Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. It's a whole lotta fahrvergnügen. More »

#twig Metroid: Other M, on the Wii, is the biggest console release, returning to space with the iconic Samus Aran. Valkyria Chronicles II on PSP, Castle Crashers on PSN and a Dead Rising 2 prequel on XBLA round out the highlights. More »

The actual listing doesn’t show anything different included in the Special Edition, nor does it have a rundown of information. If there is a Special Edition, we’re going to have to wait for more info from SEGA themselves. Thanks to Eevee for the heads up!

EA has tapped British author Chris Ryan to write a prequel novel to Medal of Honor, which will use in-game missions as the basis for "an authentic and respectful account of an elite soldier fighting in Afghanistan." Ryan is the author two bestselling novels, in addition to The One That Got Away, a narrative account of his time as a Special Forces operative on the Bravo Two Zero patrol in Iraq. Presumably he'll use both his combat experience and storytelling prowess to do the game franchise right. Hopefully his first line will be better than the one we came up with: "They loaded their guns carefully, knowing that soon, they'd be shooting a lot of people."

The creatively named Medal of Honor: The Book will be offered as a bonus with preorders of the game from UK retailer HMV, but we're not sure if it will be available for sale elsewhere -- we've contacted EA for comment and will update if we hear more. We sure hope it sees print in the US, if only to find out what a former British operative thinks of the Medal of Honor, a uniquely American military decoration.

I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run.

Does your plain white Wii look like a blank canvas in your mind's eye, just waiting to be mussed up by a few splashes of darkish blue paint? Your bizarre outlook can be brought to life by purchasing the Epic Mickey Collector's Edition, which was recently revealed by Toys 'R Us' online storefront.

The $69.99 bundle includes everything seen in the image above: A copy of the game, a pair of skins for the Wii, a faceplate for your Wiimote, a DVD containing behind-the-scenes videos and other marketing materials, some special packaging and a five-inch vinyl figurine modeled after the game's falsetto protagonist. See, here we would have settled for a 25 cent paintbrush and a set of Crayola watercolors. Thanks for not taking the easy way out, Disney!

#cheevos The achievement set for Fallout: New Vegas got out on Friday, courtesy of the fine folks at Xbox360Achievements.org. You can get a look at some of the quest names and diversions featured in the game. More »

#ps3 Gran Turismo 5's base installation is just 256 megabytes. There's also a 10 gigabyte install for roomier drives, according to the series' top designer. More »

Yesterday, while answering Gran Turismo 5 fans' questions via his Twitter feed, series creator Kazunori Yamauchi made a fairly startling announcement. Though the game will only require a 256MB pseudo-install on the PS3 hard drive in order to be playable, Yamauchi suggests players reserve 10GB of HDD space for the smoothest possible gameplay experience.

Yamauchi's 140-character missive wasn't able to explain exactly why the game has two install options, or how much of an improvement the 10GB installation would offer. Not that this should matter much to folks who own a newer PS3 with a beefier hard drive -- though folks with one of the older 20GB models probably have a few difficult deletion decisions to make if they pick up Gran Turismo 5 when it launches November 2.

#screengrab First it was "Tremendous Johnson." Now we have a BLumpkin on the depth chart. If you don't know what that is, ask Mr. Urban Dictionary. As seen by Joe at the U. of Maryland. More »

Ever want to know what the various employees at EA, Activision or LucasArts make in a year? Well now you can, thanks to this handy spreadsheet. I guarantee that some of it is going to be pretty surprising!

Coming from the Team Meat Twitter… secret picture for secret announcement on secret day Well, I have no idea what it means. Anyone else care to venture a guess as to what this could be about?!

Remember, it’s possible that all these cars won’t make it into the Wii version, but I’m sure most will be represented. Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione Alfa Romeo 8C Spyder Aston Martin DBS Aston Martin DBS Volante Aston Martin One-77 Aston Martin V12 Vantage Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI quattro Audi TT RS Coupé Bentley Continental Supersports BMW M3 E92 BMW M6 Convertible BMW [...]