PlayStation Vita Message Board older than one year ago

#psvita "House of Cards" isn't a "free" show—you still have to pay for Netflix to see it the same as you would to watch "Breaking Bad." But Netflix itself is the primary distributor, and it outbid HBO, AMC and all the rest to make it the streaming service's first original programming, launching the entire first season back on Feb. 1. More »

The Scott Pilgrim DLC really exists. We know it came out yesterday but seeing it on the PSN Store update list makes it even more real to us. Wow. Also up on PS3 today is Darkstalkers Resurrection, the brain game Psych Yourself (about your psychological profile!) Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear, and the PS2 classic Kessen 2. Grab Joe Danger 2 for free if you have Plus. Also, Quantum Theory is downloadable, if that's what you're into.

Cross-platform releases include a series of impenetrable PSOne imports - which we don't mind saying is really cool, in an insane way - and way, way too many Ubi discounts.

Sound Shapes wants to pump up the volume today with a few downloadable additions, first with the Car Mini-Album and Creator Pack, which runs $2 and adds two new vehicles, new levels, a Sound Pack, new editing options, Beat School lessons and trophies.

The Community Milkcrate includes six new albums and a total of 35 levels created by players just like you (but probably with more dedication to Sound Shapes level creation), hand-picked by the developers at Queasy Games. The Community Milkcrate is a free update, and so is the addition of offline play - sync levels while connected to the Sound Shapes servers, and then play those levels whether on- or offline.

Queasy teased this massive DLC and update back in February, noting that it is Cross Buy enabled, and kept successfully silent until now. For a game called Sound Shapes, that's no easy feat.

The Indie Megabooth returns to PAX East this year, cramming 62 games into a single booth whose vast expanses you could get lost in. Bring survival gear.

Here's how enormous the Indie Megabooth is: in addition to dedicated spaces for games like Toki Tori 2, Ridiculous Fishing, Octodad: Dadliest Catch, Outlast, Guacamelee!, and Delver's Drop, the Megabooth even has a "Minibooth" in it with a rotating lineup of games. The organizers heard you liked shared spaces for indie games, so they put an indie booth in your indie booth so you can play games while you play games.

Forgive the ancient meme, but it seemed appropriate. PAX East runs March 22-24 in Boston.

Baseball has roots as deep and interwoven in the culture of America as any other tradition, a pastime that Baseball legend and Hall of Famer Ted Williams says is "the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer." MLB 13: The Show is beyond a good performer, setting the bar that much higher with utilitarian improvements that push to evolve the solid core experience rather than simply offering new modes of play or flashier presentation.

MLB 13: The Show is, like its predecessor, the best baseball video game to ever hit the market. Developer Sony San Diego is the die-hard fan rocking the nosebleeds, calculating pitcher ERA and WHIP in a crummy little note book at each and every home game. Their care and diligence has paid off yet another year, as MLB 13: The Show is, in a word, excellent.

MLB 13: The Show champions the best parts of iterative development, a triumph that doesn't feel like a rubber stamp sequel despite the lack of any one dramatic improvement or addition that I can point to as this year's theme. Instead, the tweaks and changes in MLB 13: The Show come from practical points of view, changes that mean to build even more upon the series' flawless foundation.

Looking for a new challenge from an old game? Gungho Online Entertainment has a new batch of PSOne Imports this week, which includes Sentimental Graffiti, a dating game that is, as far as we know, untranslated. Do you dare attempt to scale the walls of Japanese text?

You can also try your kanji dictionary skills with RPGs First Queen IV, Rung Rung: Oz no Mahou Tsukai, and Favorite Dear: Enkan no Monogatari. For a full-on language and culture shock, here's a mahjong game, Mahjong Uranai Fortuna: Tukino Megamitachi. Or a more familiar (but still Japanese) card game, Trump Shiyouyo!

Somehow, the DICE-developed racing game, Motorhead, got mixed in with these imports, all coming Tuesday.

PS Plus members can snag a pile of Ubisoft games for 50 percent off this week, while standard players get 30 percent off the same titles. Games available for half off include the Prince of Persia Trilogy ($19.60), Rayman Origins ($9.80 on PS3, $13.20 on Vita), Shoot Many Robots ($4.90), I Am Alive ($7.30), Lumines Electronic Symphony ($13.20) and a bunch of other PS3, Vita and PSP games. Check out the complete lineup below.

Ubisoft has reason to celebrate following the surprise PSN launch of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World's multiplayer and Wallace DLC pack today. PS Plus members get $1 off the DLC, making it $4, and the full game's Ultimate Edition is $12 for Plus members, a discount of 20 percent.

Joe Danger 2: The Movie (which is a game) is free for Plus members this week, a savings of $15. How dangerous.

#theweekingames The prequel to the God of War series arrives Tuesday, along with the long-awaited StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm and Battlefield 3's final DLC extension. More »

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment will be downloadable from the PlayStation Store on Vita and PSP starting March 12, thus making it possible to collect the whole Persona series from the comfort of your Vita.

The PSOne Classic was released in February, intended for use on PS3, PSP, and Vita, but mysteriously only playable on PS3. That was later patched to work on Vita and PSP, but only when transferred from PS3. Now, it is finally being added to the store on those platforms.

PSOne Classics on Vita can be kind of complicated.

#phantasystaronline2 Back before the release of Phantasy Star Online 2 on the PC, one of its main selling points was that it would eventually be released on the PlayStation Vita as well. Now, nearly a year after the game's PC launch, this has finally come to pass. And while the Vita version of the game remains largely identical, it is the little changes that make it enjoyable on Sony's pint-sized system. More »

#review The oldest memory I have is of catching a baseball. Coming from a sports fan, this may sound like treacly, lump-in-your-throat stuff, but it's true. I was three years old. My father was mowing one side of our front lawn, I was standing in the other, and I underhanded a pop fly into the air. It hung up there forever and I got dizzy trying to follow it. When the ball smacked into my hands, I had no idea how I'd caught it. More »

This week's PlayStation Store update is truly conducive to the reclusive, enabling downloadable versions of Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and MLB The Show 13 . There's no need to leave your cave, cut your way through other consumers and then do some kind of baseball thing.

Bit.Trip's auto-running champ, Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien, is also available for $15 (or $12 on PS Plus), as is a cross-buy special edition of When Vikings Attack.

Check out the full list of updates over at PlayStation Blog.

Sony announced all of March's free PlayStation Plus games at once, with a twist. We don't know which week will offer which game. They're just ... sometime in March, on a Tuesday. We do know which game goes free tomorrow: Spec Ops: The Line, the game that makes you feel sad about war.

Other freebies offered this month to Plus members include The Cave and Joe Danger 2 on PS3, and Disgaea 3 and Tekken 6 for Vita. Well, technically Tekken 6 is for PSP, but you can download it on your Vita. And while you're downloading free PSP games, don't forget the anniversary deals!

#vita Earlier this year, Kotaku reader Lewis bought a PlayStation Vita. He bought two 32 GB memory cards: one for games and applications, and the other for music. More »

There's PSN downtime scheduled today to allow those busy boys and girls in engineering to "upgrade the software for the PlayStation Store." The service will undergo maintenance between 5AM PT (8AM ET, 1PM UK) and 9PM PT.

The store will be down during this period, but you may be able to play games and use apps if you've signed in to PSN prior to the downtime. For more details, head this way.

#theweekingames Tomb Raider got a thumbs-up last week and on Tuesday, you may see it for yourself. The Lara Croft reboot arrives on shelves alongside the annual baseball releases MLB 2K13 and MLB 13 The Show. DLC for popular titles rounds out the release week. More »

Sony will release downloadable characters Zeus and Isaac Clarke for PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale on March 19, along with a new stage that is a cross-over of MediEvil and The Unfinished Swan. According to a post on the PlayStation Blog from newly appointed Sony lead game designer Seth Killian, the stage will be free to play in online ranked matches, $1.99 to own.

Both Zeus and Isaac are being offered gratis to those who purchase God of War: Ascension, available through an included voucher; or you can buy each combatant for $4.99 through PSN on March 19. Above, you can see Isaac battle back the madness - hop past the break if you want to see Zeus choke Sackboy.

#senrankagura The PS Vita isn't dead in Japan. Yet. Kidding! (Well, sorta.) Earlier today, the PS Vita's Japan-only price cut went into effect. Along with the cheaper portable, Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus (and its limited edition pack) also went on sale. More »

Earlier this week, Gaijin Games told us Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien would be released on PS3 next month and Vita sometime in the summer.

That PS3 version arrives next week, on March 5. While the game requires 100 percent accuracy, it only requires 80 percent of the full $15 price if you are a PlayStation Plus member and you buy it in the first two weeks.

Gaijin co-founder Mike Roush also reiterated the summer release window for the very exciting Vita version, "the only place for Runner2 on the GO!" Unless you count lugging the Wii U with you and plugging it in at a nearby power outlet. Runner2 will not support Cross Buy, unfortunately, so you'll have to choose your platform.

Thomas Was Alone on PC, but now he'll have company on PS3 and PS Vita. Developer Mike Bithell is bringing his minimalist platformer, about the coordinated escape of a rectangle and his new friends the, um, other rectangles, to Sony platforms with Cross Buy this spring.

As you go through the levels, using different quadrilateral characters' different properties together, " you'll hear an awesome story narrated by Danny Wallace (Assassin's Creed) and scored by the epically talented David Housden," Bithell explains. "On PS Vita, you can use the touchscreens to select characters, or to control the camera."

The new console version of the game will include "creator's commentary," and will be the first version to receive a DLC prologue "about a square who is given a jetpack."

PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale will get DLC immortalizing a game that came out four months ago. A stage based on PSN's abstract The Unfinished Swan will be released March 19, according to an IGN feature, along with playable Zeus from God of War and Isaac Clarke from Dead Space.

Isaac uses a variety of weapons in combat, with a style most similar to Jak, Drake, or Radec in IGN's estimation, while Zeus is more of a "powerhouse." Oh, and the Unfinished Swan stage also crosses over with MediEvil.

To see more of these new All-Stars and their new playground, you can watch 27 minutes of gameplay and commentary with Sony Santa Monica lead game designer Seth Killian.

Retro City Rampage has been around the block a few times, establishing a steady launch stream across PC and consoles since October. Now that the game has had time to settle on XBLA, PS3, Vita and Steam, developer Brian Provinciano has a clear, surprising favorite: Vita.

"Indies should definitely jump onto the PS Vita," he tweets. "RCR's sold much more on PSN than XBLA and more on PS Vita than even PS3."

Retro City Rampage was part of the PS Plus Instant Game Collection, but Provinciano's praise doesn't include those numbers. PSN sales, both in units and revenue, eclipsed XBLA and even Steam on their own, and any PS Plus action is an extra bonus.

"Steam's done far better than XBLA too, but PSN has still done the best," Provinciano says.

While Vita is the "easiest console platform to develop for," XBLA clearly falls behind in Provinciano's estimation. Getting on XBLA required two rounds of pitching, paperwork and negotiation, each time taking more than six months. "It's absurd. They don't make it easy," Provinciano says.

He continues, "It cost more to do the XBLA version than all other SKUs combined. Made more on all other platforms. XBLA: 'a learning experience.'"

Provinciano has an idea why Retro City Rampage is doing so well on Vita: "Sony promoted the game incredibly well and Vita players are hungry for games! Make them more!" Provinciano will cover his multi-platform development process and resultant sales at GDC 2013, with a talk titled, "One Man, 17 SKUs: Shipping on Every Platform at Once."

#thomaswasalone I loved Thomas Was Alone, the minimalist platformer released last year by Mike Bithell. The hilarious narration, memorable characters and awesome music defied my expectations I had after first hearing about the game and I was glad to see Thomas find a home on Steam. I'm never going to stop wanting for more people to play it. So it's great news that Thomas Was Alone will becoming to PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. More »

North Americans waiting for a PSP-playable localization of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment are going to have to wait a little bit longer. The Atlus JRPG, which came out on PSN this week as a $9.99 PSone classic, can be downloaded onto PS3, but not as yet onto Vita or PSP.

Sony Computer Entertainment America says the game was intended to be compatible with Vita and PSP, and is now working on a fix to ensure it is. There's no exact ETA, although community manager Morgan Haro says "worst case scenario" is that it takes a few weeks.

#persona Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, the second-second game in Atlus's twisted demonic series, is out on the PlayStation Network today. More »

This week's PSN dump is a grab bag stuffed with random treasures, topped off with the long-awaited launch of Skyrim's Dawnguard DLC on PS3, at a release-week sale price of $10.

PlayStation Store pre-orders are off the charts today, with BioShock Infinite and its season pass bundle, Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel, The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist Of Dusk, MLB: The Show '13 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour '14. As for Vita, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is now officially available on Sony's handheld.

As laid out earlier, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment is now part of the PSOne Classics collection. The PSN Gamers' Choice winners are on sale for Plus members this week as well. Check out the complete lineup of this week's discounts and launches here.

Through April 1, every $50 spent using your "SEN Wallet" gets you $10 back. That's fancy talk for putting money into your PSN account and spending it. Sony has a list of suggestions on the PlayStation Blog, including pre-orders of MLB The Show 13, BioShock Infinite, and more, but any purchase adding up to $50 will do.

This is a really great time to get a year of PlayStation Plus and start loading up on all the included games, especially with an extra three months added to your order through March 4 - though as that costs $49.99, you might have to top up with, like, an avatar.

#mlb13theshow Do sports video games deserve a spoiler alert? If I don't put one here, I'm sure someone will complain about it. Over the weekend I heard various reports of MLB 13 The Show being sold before it's supposed to hit shelves next week. Someone got their hands on a copy and have been feeding Operation Sports all kinds of good stuff from within the game, including that nice opening cinematic (above), which you'll probably watch once and then button through after getting the game. Still, I like the effects with Bryce Harper's eyeblack and cover star Andrew McCutcheon sliding into the scorebook. More »

Tomorrow's PSN content dump unlocks Plants vs. Zombies on the PS Vita for all PS Plus members, free of charge. The usual asking price for Popcap's tower defense darling is $10.49 - PS Plus members will find the free game available in their Instant Game Collection when PSN updates tomorrow.

In addition to the free game, the PlayStation Blog has given us a look at some of the discounts on offer in this week's update. Quirky rhythm game Retro/Grade from 24 Caret Games will be on sale for a mere $2.44 this week, plus the winners of the PSN Gamers' Choice Awards contest have been determined - a promotion that asked gamers to vote on which games they'd like to see discounted. Highlights include reduced prices on PS All-Stars: Battle Royale, Sound Shapes and Escape Plan.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment is forever slapping the PlayStation Network's wrists as of this week. The game arrives on North America's PS Store tomorrow, February 26, after recently receiving ESRB ratings for PS3 and Vita. The PlayStation Blog didn't list a price.

It's unknown if Eternal Punishment is coming to other regions, although Europeans fans of the series can at least fall back on Persona 4 Golden, which came to the region last week.