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When the Sound Shapes DLC drops on March 12 - whatever it may entail - it will launch alongside a patch for the game, PSN Stores reports. The patch will add the ability to download community levels and play them offline, a handy trick for anyone with a wifi-only Vita and who enjoys the multitude of user-created levels in the Sound Shapes universe.

The Sound Shapes DLC will support Cross Buy, meaning a purchase on Vita transfers to your PS3 version of the game, and vice versa. Sony will release more information about the DLC itself "soon."

#theweekingames You know it's a slow cycle when Brutal Legend—remember that?—makes its PC debut, nearly five years after it came out on console. Star Wars Pinball, DLC for Borderlands 2 and Skyrim (on PS3) round out the week's highlights. More »

Queasy Games has announced that a new bundle of Sound Shapes DLC has had its debut performance scheduled for Wednesday, March 12, and that said DLC will indeed be Cross-Buy enabled. It's sort of like when you buy a modern album on vinyl, but it also comes with a code for a digital copy.

Unfortunately, Queasy neglected to mention what the DLC actually is, and instead only revealed its release date, saying that more information will be forthcoming. Personally, we're hoping for an "all MIDI dog sounds" pack.

To make amends for the latest delay of Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault (known as QForce in PAL territories) for Vita, Sony will provide a second free game for those who purchased the PS3 version. The European PlayStation Blog notes those who purchased the PS3 version of the game, which was supposed to launch with cross-play for Vita, will also receive MotorStorm RC at no extra charge.

Europeans who purchased QForce on PS3 will receive a download voucher for MotorStorm RC by email before February concludes. The voucher is valid for 60 days.

The free game is in addition to Ratchet: Deadlocked (PAL: Ratchet: Gladiator), which will also be a free download with the purchase of QForce, but there's currently no announced release date for that game. Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault for Vita currently has a "spring" release window.European Ratchet & Clank: QForce buyers get 2 free games

European PlayStation Plus subscribers can rub their hands and smack their lips at another decent haul of Instant Collection games in March. For PS3 there's Mass Effect 3, Dead or Alive 5, and Joe Danger 2: The Movie, while on the way to Vita are Puddle and Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, which includes MGS2: Sons of Liberty and MGS3: Snake Eater.

The newbies start rolling out on March 6 with a triple substitution: Mass Effect 3, DOA5, and Joe Danger 2 are in, while Sleeping Dogs, Vanquish, and Limbo depart the service. Next up are the two Vita games, with MGS HD Collection swapping in for Wipeout 2048 on March 13, and Puddle for Lumines Electronic Symphony on March 20.

Those are some very brief runs for Sleeping Dogs, Wipeout 2048, and Lumines ES, which all came to PS Plus in February, so now's the time to snap them up.

#guide So you have a Vita and love Japanese games. We've already shown you how to make a Japanese PSN account and how to reset your Vita region to access the Japanese PSN on a non-Japanese Vita, but why go through all the hassle? Well, maybe you'd rather download the games you want to play instantly rather than wait for a physical copy to arrive; maybe you've bought some Japanese games already and want their DLC; or maybe you are just curious and want to try some demos. More »

A major feature of the PlayStation 4 is native remote play support on the Vita for PS4 games. During last night's presentation, Gaikai CEO David Perry talked about the work being put in to ensure the fastest response times for remote play. It's a big part of the PS4 and speaking to Engadget, Sony worldwide studios president Shuhei Yoshida said Sony is requests developers for its new console test their game on Vita using remote play before submitting for certification.

Yoshida said the addition of remote play with the PS Vita means developers can create custom control layouts on Vita. "Some PS Vita games make use of the edge of the screen to add contextual buttons - that works really well, I think, and it's easy to see. So that kind of thing I'd like to see developers do on PS Vita over remote play." Of course, the onus is entirely on the developer, but custom controls for the handheld would be swell.

Last night's PS4 unveiling event showed Sony is a company committed to digital distribution and the cloud. Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida echoed those sentiments during follow-up interviews, telling Destructoid that the digital business is quite booming for Sony, especially on the PS Vita - which has more people purchasing content on a monthly basis than on PS3.

"Digital business is the faster growing business," Yoshida said. "We do not publish numbers, but every month it's almost a new record that the purchase on Vita is higher than the PS3, because everything is available [digitally]."

Among the things we anticipated from last night's event was a price drop for the PS Vita in North America. Sony lowered the price in Japan last week, but during our own interview with Yoshida, he confirmed no such plan exists for North America.

#psvita "We want more people to play with the PS Vita" said Hiroshi Kawano, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. In an interview with Weekly Famitsu, Kawano talked about the reasons behind as well as the timing of the recent decision to not only drop the price of the PS Vita, but to make both the 3G and Wi-Fi models the same price. More »

Sony's PlayStation 2013 event just concluded in New York City and while many developers and business types talked about the future of PlayStation 4 and what's possible, many concrete details were missing, like a price tag.

Perhaps the biggest omission was the PlayStation 4 hardware itself. Sony gave us a glimpse at the new DualShock controller - which features a new rounded design and built-in touch-screen - but we didn't get to see the console. What does the PS4 look like? What will PlayStation Plus entail on PS4? Will it even exist on PS4?

Another letdown was the lack of first-party games. Sure, Sucker Punch unveiled a new Infamous game, Guerilla Games gave us a taste of Killzone: Shadow Fall and we caught a glimpse of a new IP in Knack, but where was The Last Guardian? We couldn't get a new Uncharted? What new games we did see, aside from those mentioned, were pretty tech demos for games a long way off or pre-rendered stuff. Like Square Enix's presentation and Capcom's Deep Down.

Where was the PS Vita love? All PlayStation 4 games allow for remote play on PS Vita, so why not mention a price drop? Japan is dropping the price of the PS Vita later this month and tonight would've been a great place to announce a price drop for North America.

In the end, at least we got to see the successor to Ravi drums, Media Molecule's PS Move tech demo. That's got to be worth something.

The PlayStation 4 will allow games to be played via remote play on PlayStation Vita. The news was announced at the PlayStation 2013 event by industry veteran and Gaikai CEO David Perry. Using Gaikai technology, PS4 remote play on the Vita promises "reduced transmission times so the gameplay is snappy and immediate," said Perry.

Mark Cerny's Knack, announced earlier during Sony's event, was shown running on a PS Vita. The "goal," said Perry, is for all PlayStation 4 games to support remote play.

This is it: Sony's big PlayStation event where we expect to hear about the company's next-generation console. The stream will be online 30 minutes before the event kicks off at 6PM ET tonight (3PM PT, 11PM Brit-time), and live video should kick in five minutes prior to the event start time. Our liveblog can be found here.

Last week, a report from the Wall Street Journal suggested that Sony's next console will be able to stream PS3 games over the internet - the result of a $380 million acquisition of cloud-based gaming company Gaikai. We've also seen supposed leaked images of a new PlayStation controller, sporting a new analog stick design, more rounded edges and a small touchscreen.

We're carving out this spot on the internet for Joystiq's impending liveblog of Sony's PlayStation 2013 Event, which we are attending as live human beings. It starts at 6PM EST (3PM PST, 11PM GMT), so please take your seat and activate your second-screen experience before then.

Once we're ready, we'll document the event as best we can, complete with keen observations on the ambiance, humidity, odor, vegetation, precipitation and prestidigitation surrounding the Playstation powers that be. Stay tuned to this post!

The "Day 1 Digital" thing may have ended, but you can still frequently buy games digitally on day 1 on PSN. Case in point: Crysis 3.

Perhaps the exact opposite of Crysis 3, at least in terms of processor requirement, is Capcom Arcade Cabinet. It's out now, a free download with a free copy of 1987's Black Tiger included, and more old arcade games to buy. On Vita, Patapon 3 is now available to download, and be sure to get the free Maverick Hunter X if you're a Plus user. Check out the full release list at the PlayStation Blog.

Ahead of today's expected PlayStation console reveal, Sony announced it's forecasting an operating profit by the end of its fiscal year next month. Reuters reports the company plans to do this by selling six percent of its shares in M3 Inc, a marketing company, which will result in a ¥115 billion ($1.23 billion) operating profit.

Sony has also shifted other assets -- rather than product -- to place itself in this position. The company announced in January it was selling its New York City headquarters for $1.1 billion, with the proceeds from that, estimated at $770 million, to be recognized in this fiscal year.

Speaking of New York City, Sony will hold its PlayStation event this evening at 6PM. Join us.

[Image: Adriano Castelli via Shutterstock]

Sony is sending $10 vouchers for free PlayStation Network credit to "loyal" customers of the service, although it's not clear what constitutes that loyalty exactly. Multiple PSN users from North America, both on Twitter and the NeoGAF forum, are reporting they received messages this morning with $10 credit enclosed. We've also received a tip confirming the credit being added to a user's PSN account. Meanwhile, some users are reporting they received $5 credit, and a Twitter search suggests that freebie was sent out last week.

The $10 credit message (see below the break) reads: "Thank you for being a loyal customer and fan of PlayStation Network. As a token of our appreciation, we've sent you $10.00 to spend on the PlayStation Store."

So far, the free credit is apparently restricted to North American customers, and there aren't any clear patterns as to who's entitled to it and why; we've reached out to Sony for more details. Sure, the timing suggests this is all about stirring up further buzz amongst the already fervent PlayStation Fourplay, but free stuff is pretty much always lovely.

[Thanks, Sean]

Got a lot of costumes for LittleBigPlanet games? Good news then, as LittleBigPlanet Karting is getting some free cross-compatibility DLC. The content, which is already available, will allow you to outfit your little karters with costumes from other titles in the LittleBigPlanet universe. Furthermore, as promised many cardboard moons ago, costume purchases made in any LittleBigPlanet game will automatically unlock across all other LittleBigPlanet games (even on LittleBigPlanet Vita). If only dress-up in real life was this easy.

The third annual PSN Gamers' Choice Awards are open for voting today through February 25, with winners announced and discounted on Tuesday, February 26. The awards cover 10 categories, including Best PSN Exclusive, Best PSN Game, Best Indie Game, Best PS3 Game and Best PS Vita Game.

Awards show powerhouse Journey is nominated in three categories: Best PSN Exclusive against Tokyo Jungle and The Unfinished Swan, Best PSN Game against The Walking Dead and Sound Shapes, and Best Indie Game against Sound Shapes and Rainbow Moon. The Best PS3 Full Game nominees are Borderlands 2, Assassin's Creed 3 and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, while Vita nods to Gravity Rush, Super Stardust Delta and Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack.

Vote for your favorites via the PlayStation Store or its website.

With Sony taking care to refresh our memories on all its PlayStation hardware over the last few days, it has finally brought it all home with what really matters: Games. The video above highlights a few examples that stand out from the usual gaming crowd, including Gran Turismo, Flower, Journey, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, The Unfinished Swan and LittleBigPlanet.

Presumably, we'll quickly forget about all of these games - perhaps even grow to hate them for their hilariously antiquated technologies - after Sony's big PlayStation 2013 event tomorrow night, where the company is expected to unveil its next PlayStation.

After posting retrospectives for the PS1, PS2, and PS3, Sony remembered it released a couple of those portable thingamies too. So, take a look at these, because it's the last time ... you'll see them ahead of tomorrow's PlayStation 2013 event. Unless you replay the video.

Taste the happy, Vita and PS3 owners, because the raw violence-o-rama that is Hotline Miami is coming to the PlayStation platforms this spring as a cross-buy game. That means a single purchase entitles you to versions on both platforms.

The ports are being developed by Abstraction Games under the guidance of original developer Dennaton Games. You might recognize Abstraction's name from previous PSP and DSiWare conversions of Angry Birds and Cut the Rope respectively, as well as WiiWare puzzler Potpourri (and if you do, kudos to you).

Publisher Devolver Digital also revealed the 80s-infused ultraviolence of Hotline Miami is proving a hit on PC, with 300,000 sales to date.

You are the fictional niece of game designer Keiji Inafune, visiting his new theme park for the first time. However, the terrorist Count Hogstein has invaded the park and kidnapped the staff on that very day. There's nothing for you to do but take part in Hogstein's twisted games, in an attempt to save Inafune and, perhaps, find love among the other participants.

This is possibly one of the best premises for a game ever, and definitely the best premise for an otome game, interesting enough for us to be curious despite the Idea Factory developer credit.

Aksys Games is bringing this unique romantic adventure, Sweet Fuse: At Your Side, to PSP in North America this summer.

The Vita price drop is great, and Final Fantasy X is exciting and all, but the real news out of Sony's Japanese PlayStation event is this Dragon's Crown trailer. The Vanillaware action game inspired by Capcom's Dungeons & Dragons brawlers, hasn't made a peep since Atlus picked up publishing duties (and development assistance) from Ignition.

Even before that, footage was rare. Now we can see what was happening during all that quiet development time: a lot of drawing. A lot.

Dragon's Crown is still billed for a 2013 release in Japan on both PS3 and Vita.

Just in time for the release of Platinum Games' latest, PlayStation Plus offers ... a completely different Platinum game for free. Vanquish is free for PlayStation Plus members on PS3 starting tomorrow. Dust 514's Starter Pack is also free for Plus.

Meanwhile, Vita gets its own free sci-fi action shooter: Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, the PSP remake of Mega Man X. Not at all related to sci-fi shooting, or free, are discounts on both the PS3 and Vita versions of Urban Trial Freestyle, a very familiar-looking bike game.

Square Enix's hi-def remastering of Final Fantasy X made a surprise appearance during Sony's Vita-focused broadcast. After its announcement nearly 18 months ago, we've heard very little about the spruced-up re-release, which is coming to both PS3 and Vita. However, in this morning's broadcast series producer Shinji Hashimoto assured fans the game is still in development, and that an announcement of further details in coming "soon."

The broadcast offered some very brief first footage of the remaster, which only showcased characters Tidus, Yuna, and two of the aeons, all in their in-battle animations. As if to prove it all wasn't an elaborate ruse, Hashimoto then held up a Vita with the game running on it (see below the break), which you can see for yourself by watching a replay of the Sony broadcast here (head to the 32m30s mark for the FFX footage).

#vita Hours ago in Japan, Sony slashed the Vita's price tag. Good news for gamers who haven't purchased a Vita yet! Bad news for gamers who just purchased one. More »

#japan Tonight in Japan, Sony announced that it will lower the price of the PS Vita. Both the WiFi and the 3G versions are priced at ¥19,980 (US$214) starting February 28. More »

Adorably insidious indie puzzler A Virus Named Tom will leave the confines of the home and infect various pocket devices sometime this summer, as Misfits Attic has announced both PlayStation Vita and PlayStation Mobile-enabled thingamabob ports of its previously PC-only pet project. As of yet, further information regarding pricing and other details is unavailable.

To celebrate the announcement, Misfits Attic has placed the Steam version of A Virus Named Tom on sale until Friday, February 22, meaning that you can discover why our own Jess Conditt loved this game so much for a smooth Lincoln.

#theweekingames The nanosuit is back this week with the release of Crysis 3 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance looks to carve out a niche for itself as well, as does DLC for Assassin's Creed III. More »

Patapon 3 will become a PS Vita-compatible game next week. The news comes via the latest PlayStation Blogcast, episode number 62, wherein social media manager Sid Shuman and crew confirm the new PS Vita compatibility will be available alongside next week's PSN update.

Predecessors Patapon and Patapon 2 are both compatible with PS Vita. A multiplayer demo for Patapon 3 was issued ahead of its launch a few years back, though our quick check on PSN shows that free demo is no longer available.