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PlayStation Europe is getting in on the spring sale action by sweetening the prices of many PSN games, with some tasty-looking savings to be found until April 9. There more than a half-century of discounted games on offer, although only one specifically for Vita: Urban Trial Freestyle, down from €9.99/£7.99 to €6.99/£5.49.

That said, with Persona 4 Golden only reaching the continent last month, Europeans may be tempted to summon returns to Persona 1-3, all discounted and playable on the Vita as well as the PS3 and PSP. Persona 3 Portable is half price at €14.99/£11.99, as is the the P2/P3 bundle at €24.99/£19.99. PS Plus subscribers can nab an extra ten percent off on both those discounts.

On the PS3-only front, the gorgeous Child of Eden is a bargainous €4.99/£3.99, while Driver: San Francisco, quite appropriately, leaps from €14.99/£10.99, crashing down to €7.49/£5.99. Again, a PS Plus subscription extends those savings by ten percent, as it does most things in the sale, which you can surmise in full on the PS Blog - the spring sale also brings some daily deals to the price-cut picnic, so be sure to look out for them.

BioShock Infinite is the marquee Day 1 Digital release on PS3 today, even allowing Plus users to download it and play a timed trial for free. Other new games on the PSN include Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel, Tiger Woods 14, and previously retail-exclusive game Tales of Graces F.

In terms of (sort of) smaller games, PS3 also sees the release of Terraria and WRC FIA World Rally Championship, a very long title that we believe refers to cars. Other assorted PS3 items of interest include Nobunaga's Ambition: Iron Triangle for PS2 Classics, and a bundle of Sega's recent fighting game re-releases for $10. And on Vita: Machinarium!

Sony has confirmed new games for all PlayStation platforms, including a ton of titles for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.

Sony's flexibility with indie developers - something it's been driving home for a little while now - also extends to the concept of buy-in-alpha games. It's a concept that's gained acceptance after the wild success of Minecraft and we were curious if Sony was open to the idea, particularly after Steam announced its "early access" program.

"Yeah, if it doesn't have any bugs that are completely destroying the world," Adam Boyes, VP of publisher and developer relations at Sony America told Joystiq last night at the PlayStation Indie Arcade event. "[CCP's Dust 514] is a great example of putting out content that you know is not final. If you want to monetize it, that's fine. I mean, if you want to put out a game that's playable and does pass the checklists and stuff, you can. If it doesn't sell and you can't support, you may not want to support, but we absolutely support that."

Boyes noted the buy-in alpha openness wasn't just for the upcoming PlayStation 4, but could be applied to PS3, Vita or PlayStation mobile.

He continued, "We allow that on all of our platforms, that sort of continually updating and selling. Again, if people buy it and they're passionate about it, and you want to improve it and make it better over time you can."

If you've been waiting for a side-scrolling brawler about a Mexican wrestler who can shift between dimensions and uses this power to punch chickens in two worlds, your seemingly impossible needs will be met April 9, when Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack developer DrinkBox Studios releases Guacamelee! on Vita and PS3.

At least, that's the North American date. Europe will get its first taste of Guacamelee! on April 10. The game will support Cross-Buy, so your $14.99 purchase gets you both PS3 and Vita versions.

Spelunky, Mossmouth's diabolically random subterranean platformer/shopkeeper revenge fantasy, is moving from its XBLA home to PS3 and Vita this summer, with "new exclusive features," Sony announced today, also confirming plans to release Limbo on Vita. Developer Derek Yu told Polygon that the port would be developed by an external studio.

Spelunky was originally released as a freeware PC game, before being made into a dramatically upgraded XBLA game and a series of excellent toys.

It just wouldn't be the release of an ultra-hyped AAA game without some adorable little Sackboy cross-promotion costumes, so obviously BioShock Infinite outfits will be heading to LittleBigPlanet 2, LittleBigPlanet Karting and LittleBigPlanet Vita tomorrow.

As seen above, the pack includes Infinite's heroes Elizabeth and Booker, as well as a few of the game's less savory characters. Each costume is priced $1.99, while the party of five comes in at $5.99.

Several hundred hours of intricate strategy and exploding dead penguin demons can be yours this week, at no cost beyond the PlayStation Plus membership you might already have. Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention is free for PS Plus members in North America starting tomorrow.

Other interesting deals include steep discounts on Square Enix games, including Just Cause 2, both Kanes & Lynches, and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, and some extremely interesting THQ deals. Like "De Blob 2 for $3.75" interesting.

Vita and PS3 2D hack-and-slash Dragon's Crown gets a North American coronation this summer, both at retail and on PlayStation Network. The PS3 price is $49.99, while on Vita it's $39.99. While the co-op game (for up to four players) won't support cross-platform play, multiplayer can be enjoyed both on PS3 and Vita, the latter via an ad-hoc network.

The news swiftly follows the reveal of the Vanillaware game's Japanese release date of July 25, along with a two-minute trailer which displayed once more the Muramasa and Odin Sphere studio's hand-animated style, along with some interesting character designs.

Final Fantasy X and X-2 take us back to the reverie of Spira, Seymour, and Sin sometime this year. The two HD remasters are bundling into one disc on PS3, and releasing separately on Vita. And look, here's a trailer to prove it's really happening.

#moneysaver In a week already bursting with crazy discounts, Steam has announced their Indie Spring Sale, featuring 1000 discounted indie titles. Since indie titles are already typically pretty cheap, we're talking extremely low barriers to entry here. Given the quality, fun factor, and artistic merit on tap, this is an amazing dollar-to-entertainment ratio. There are also categories for past Independent Game Festival Winners, and a category for games featured at PAX East which is happening concurrent with this sale. More »

The April update for PlayStation Plus in Europe not only slings another slew of Instant Collection games our way, but also a brand new one in Thomas Was Alone. The European launch of the indie minimalist platformer will see it be free for Plus subscribers on the continent. Curve just announced Thomas Was Alone is coming to PS3 and Vita in Europe on April 24, and April 30 in North America.

The other subscription-based freebies headed the continent's way are Okami HD, Lord of the Rings: War in the North, and The Cave, all for PS3 on April 3, along with Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward for Vita on April 10.

As always, a few games now find themselves in PS Plus' last chance saloon. Departing from the service are Mass Effect 3, Mortal Kombat, and Guardians of Middle Earth, all on April 3, as well as Metal Gear Solid HD Collection on April 10, and Puddle on April 24.

Thomas Was Alone will find companionship on your PS3 and/or Vita starting April 24 if you're in Europe, and on April 30 if you're in North America. Curve Studios, who is developing the PlayStation port of Mike Bithell's platformer, also noted in a recent newsletter the game will be free in Europe at launch for PlayStation Plus members.

The European PlayStation Blog, in its announcement of the deal, also shared the above video, which shows the new DLC level.

Final Fantasy X on PS3 and Vita will officially be accompanied by a similarly remastered version of Final Fantasy X-2, Square Enix revealed today. In the west as in Japan, they'll be bundled together on PS3 on a disc, and sold separately on Vita.

Both versions of Final Fantasy X HD Remaster and Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster are due for release in 2013. There will be a trailer on Monday. No, we don't know why Square didn't release the trailer today along with the news.

Sony has announced a partnership with Unity that will result in tools built for "optimized deployment" to the PlayStation 4, PS3, Vita and the PlayStation Mobile platform.

Games developed on the "Unity for PlayStation" platform will be able to take advantage of system-specific features - like the Vita's touchpads and cameras - and can integrate easily into the PlayStation Network. The tools also allow developers to more easily port titles across to other supported Unity devices, such as iOS and Android.

Sony's platforms already support Unity's tools, with Might & Delight's Pid and Funbits' Escape Plan built with the engine. The full Unity for PlayStation toolset will be available along with the rest of the PlayStation platform development tools later on this fall.

Vlambeer's campaign of mobile platform domination continues. Following the successful release of the absolutely essential iOS game Ridiculous Fishing, the company has made its plans for a PS3/Vita release of the dogfighting action game Luftrausers official, putting a spring 2013 release window on it. That's really soon!

Devolver Digital, who worked with Vlambeer on Serious Sam: The Random Encounter (reminder of how weird our world is: that exists) is acting as publisher for this release, along with the PC/Mac/Linux version. For the most part, if you have a game machine, you'll be able to get blown up by a surprise blimp.

#soulsacrifice Soul Sacrifice is the latest game from the mind of Mega Man creator, Keiji Inafune. The game is scheduled to hit stores in North America on April 30th, and in Europe on May 1st, giving people living in those areas a month to wait. However, for those of us fortunate enough to live in Japan (and can read and understand Japanese), the game is already out and, for a PS Vita game (someday I won't have to use that moniker), is selling relatively well with over 12,000 copies sold. More »

After Vanillaware finally unveiled a new 30-second teaser for PS3 and Vita game Dragon's Crown last month, the Muramasa and Odin Sphere studio hurried back to the drawing board to rustle up a full two minutes of hand-animated, 2D action-RPG trailerness. Which is why it's here for your viewing enjoyment this morning.

Not that you need us to tell you the trailer's for a Vanillaware game. The studio's inimitable, time-intensive style makes its games easily stand out, which is why an art book sounds like a great bonus for a limited number of early adopters in Japan. Publisher Atlus revealed the 64-page hardback includes art by Vanillaware, and tribute work from Kinu Nishimura, Akira Yasuda, and Bengus of Capcom fame.

Today's trailer confirms the reported Japanese release date of July 25. Last we heard, Atlus said it's bringing Dragon's Crown to North America sometime this year.

#moneysaver Hi, Moneysaver readers. Welcome to the slightly-different but still wallet-friendly version of the Moneysaver. Going forward, this feature will be brought to you by a member of our company's new Commerce Team. Fancy! What this means is that you'll no longer see Moneysavers penned by those of us in editorial but by the good Shane Roberts here who works on the biz side. The main difference is that—full disclosure—our company will now make a cut of purchases you make through links that are featured in the Moneysaver. The Commerce folks want you to get the best deals. If they don't, what's the point, right? So you can expect a regular offering of great shopping options for games and who knows what else. We all still want to save you money. Take it away, Shane! - Totilo More »

This week's PlayStation Store update is notable for its substantial subtractions, particularly to the price of the Persona series. The three PSP games are each discounted by $10 or more, while the massive Persona 4 Golden for PlayStation Vita is marked down from its regular $40 to $30.

If you prefer portable pugilism to Persona's one-two punch of high-school time management and dungeon crawling, Tecmo Koei is offering a Plus-sized Vita version of Dead or Alive 5 for $40.

Meanwhile, the PlayStation 3 gets a new Atelier Totori game, a Darksiders series bundle and The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct - a licensed FPS that has yet to be widely reviewed.

Information reportedly leaked out of this week's Famitsu puts a July 25 release date on the Japanese version of Vanillaware's PS3/Vita fantasy action game Dragon's Crown. The game's official website promises some kind of update on March 21, which would square with the timing of the official magazine release.

The idea that Dragon's Crown is that close to release seems like something of a relief, after a troubled development cycle that saw publishing duties, and development assistance, handed off from Ignition Entertainment to Atlus.

This is a good time to be a fan of this type of game. In addition to Dragon's Crown, Korean ratings point to an updated release of Capcom's Dungeons and Dragons arcade games - on which Vanillaware founder George Kamitani served as producer.

Rumors from Japan suggest the upcoming remaster of Final Fantasy X - remember, it's not a remake - will come bundled with another game on PS3: a remastered version of its direct sequel, Final Fantasy X-2. Though each will be sold separately on the PS Vita, the latest issue of Japanese mag Shonen Jump says they'll be sold separately on Vita.

The remaster of Final Fantasy X was first announced back in late 2011, only for Square Enix to go silent for almost the next two years. The HD version resurfaced last month, when Square Enix producer Shinji Hashimoto gave us a brief glimpse at the game running on PS Vita. Square Enix has said an announcement with further details regarding the Final Fantasy X remaster is coming "soon."

[Thanks, Draco.]

Ovosonico, the development studio founded by Shadows of the Damned director Massimo Guarini, has signed up with Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios Europe to work together on a new intellectual property. Ovosonico is the first studio in Italy to partner with SCE WWSE - "and due to the growing talent in this country; we believe the first of many," noted senior vice president Michael Denny.

In the absence of information about Ovosonico's first game, allow us to use this space to tell you to go play Shadows of the Damned.

Now that Divekick has found a publisher and doesn't need Kickstarter to finance the game any more, it's obvious the power is going to their heads - well, to one guy's head, anyway.

Fez has found its way to Steam, hitting PCs on May 1 - but that's not all developer Phil Fish has up his tiny, red hat. Fish hosted a Reddit AMA today, where he revealed Mac, Linux, Vita, Ouya and iOS versions of Fez are all in various stages of planning and development.

Mac and Ouya ports are definitely on the way, while Linux is part of some "vague plans, but plans nonetheless. Fez should eventually be out on pretty much everything," Fish said. For Vita and PSN, Fish said he's working with Sony "to figure something out." An iOS launch is "highly probable."

Fish also says "thanks for all the spreadsheet jokes." And you all thought you were so original.

Check out all of the Fez information you never knew you wanted right here, and make sure to see the Fez Fish Gaijin Games created for Runner 2 (Warning: It's a fish in tightie whities, and we do mean tight).

PlayStation Plus members can snag free downloads of The Cave and Tekken 6 starting tomorrow, the former a PS3 download, the latter a PSP game compatible with PS Vita. This week is also your last chance to grab a free copy of Plants vs Zombies on PS Vita.

The PlayStation Blog clues us in on some deals dropping this week, as well - specifically, cheap downloads of Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken and Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational on PS Vita. Rocketbirds is 40 percent off on PS3 and Vita, while Hot Shots is hocking a course and character DLC pack for 25 percent off.

#theweekingames God of War got its prequel last week; Gears of War gets one Tuesday. We've also been charmed by LEGO City: Undercover on Wii U, available on Monday. More »

I was impressed with Gungho Online Entertainment's first batch of PSOne Import games, partly for symbolic reasons: they were all interesting games, yes, but they were also numerous, and Gungho CEO Jun Iwasaki told me the company had plans to release more. Imports, in my mind, are the most potentially exciting aspect of legacy download services, as companies can cheaply bring over games that wouldn't have big enough audiences to justify a localization, much less a spot on shelves.

Gungho's second batch of imports crosses an important milestone on the path to comprehensive import catalogues by adding text-heavy games to the lineup. Most PS3 or Vita owners won't even be able to play dating game Sentimental Graffiti, due to the pages and pages of Japanese text required to enjoy it.

"Our approach is to bring over as many games as possible as long as we can secure the licenses to publish them in North America and Europe," CEO Jun Iwasaki told me in an email interview. As this batch of games shows, "as many games as possible" could mean almost anything!

Of course, a small group of bilingual gamers will be delighted by things like Sentimental Graffiti, as will people hoping to improve their Japanese reading comprehension through video games. And releasing games that don't really make sense to release is a step toward getting them out there indiscriminately - the true iTunes of retro games.

Another selection of lucky so-and-so PlayStation Network users in North America received XMB messages with $10 credit from Sony yesterday. Following last month's influx of PSN credit, doled out to "loyal" customers and fans of the service, a further group of users, including some of our readers, received messages yesterday with the digital moolah attached. Once more, it's unclear just how many did and why.

When approached, a Sony Computer Entertainment America spokesperson provided Joystiq with this statement: "While we don't disclose the exact criteria used, we can say that select active PSN users were chosen to receive an XMB message that included a credit for their SEN [Sony Entertainment Network] Wallet as part of this special promotion."

It should be noted SCEA's Morgan Haro provided the same statement when asked about last month's credit giveaway. However, unlike previously, this time the XMB message makes no mention of loyalty. So it's unclear if this is a separate rollout from the one last month, or if Sony just wised up to not deeming a select group of its userbase as "loyal." We tease, Sony - free credit is just capital.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Lone Survivor is making a break for PS3 and Vita this summer, featuring two new locations and sidequests, new NPC dialogue, more than 20 fresh items, and a new ending, all initially exclusive to Sony consoles. Lone Survivor will support Cross Buy, Cross Play and Trophies.

From developer Jasper Byrne, Lone Survivor is a blend of psychological horror, point-and-click adventure and survival simulation, starring a man in a city brimming with disease and monstrous creatures. While those circumstances are terrifying enough, the protagonist questions how much of what he sees is even real, taking players on a deep mental journey as they battle the physical demons.

"I wanted to try and make a role-playing game with meaningful choices," Byrne writes on his Superflat Games blog. "It's an experiment in making every insignificant fact in the game having an invisible, or murkily visible effect on your outcome, however small."

Byrne is looking into touch control for inventory management and movement, and any features that can make the PSN version "enhanced in every way, smoother, nicer to control." Lone Survivor launched on PC and Mac in March 2012 and Byrne announced the Sony versions in November.