questions questions

With E3 a matter of mere weeks away, I'm curious to hear your predictions of the major news to emerge from the show. In the "console war" space, what - if anything - might we see from Sony and Microsoft to combat the runaway success of the Wii? And, more generally speaking, what new game announcements from first and third-party publishers are you anticipating?

Recently, we've heard whispers that Sony may unveil a redesigned PlayStation Portable, potentially abandoning the UMD format in favour of digital delivery. And, as rumoured prior to last year's show, we're once again hearing that Microsoft may roll out some kind of motion control technology. Meanwhile, Nintendo have yet to announce a single first-party game for the latter half of 2009.

What do you think the "big three" should be revealing at E3? And what do you think they will end up announcing?

T-20 days to go

With a 40-kilometer (24.8 miles) draw distance, a large assortment of vehicles and varied environments, FUEL should quickly become one of 2009's best racing games. With Codemasters at the helm (and considering how much we love Dirt and GRID), this one's in good hands.

Red Dead Redemption Trailer

/// It's by R*, it has cowboys and gunfights and is set when the wild frontier was slowly loosing to the onrush of a technological steampunk future... or not. in my mind it did anyway, it's not Damnation, it's a proper real manly men type cowboy action game, hats, chewing baccy, slapping you wife and riding your horse, or the other way around, depends how you roll i guess #smirk. yee-HA!

3D gaming on the cheap

Guinea Pig sporting action title G-Force will ship with 3D support, the developers announced tonight.

G-Force, a game based on the upcoming 3D movie, did have the 3D display on show this evening. Both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game will support 3D graphics, which can be switched on and off on the fly.

The 3D graphics used in the game requires gamers to sport a pair of cardboard blue and red lensed glasses (RED/CYAN ANAGLYPHIC) and uses a type 3D known as off-axis, the developers said. The effects seen in motion were surprisingly good, The guinea pig lead stood out on the screen, enemy shots seemed to blow out of the television and the world felt more realistic, though with slightly muddled colors because of the graphics.

Though not the first game, by a long shot, to sport 3D graphics the game certainly seems to put a shine on the red/blue technology

Video Killed The...

#PS3 users are set to get a whole host of new music and video content through their console this summer, and even better - it's not going to cost them a penny.

Bringing free music videos to your sitting room, the #VidZone application will be available from PlayStation Store via PS3 in a few months and will be "the most valued player in your living room" according to #Isabelle Tomatis of SCEE.

The press release claims the application will bring "thousands of music videos and live concert videos, as well as behind the scenes, interview[s] and making of footage." VidZone CTO Michael Russo comments, saying it will contain "one of the world’s largest collection of music videos."

/// You will have to put up with some ads for the #free service, but if you can hack that, you'll have access to a catalogue of more than 25,000 downloads to browse through at your leisure.

You'll be able to get to the VidZone app through the console's #XMB, and then choose your vid, save it into a library or create a custom playlist to suit your mood. Any gamers with a PSP as well will be able to kick off and manage their PS3 downloads and playlists using their handheld.

Zero Punctuation reviews The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena.

no FFXIII demo for you

Just because the Final Fantasy XIII Blu-ray demo powered Japanese PS3 sales, don't expect the same for the West. Heck, don't expect a Blu-ray demo for the time being.

When Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase was asked by website VideoGamer.com whether there will be a Blu-ray FFXIII demo, the producer replied, "The type of demo version we released in Japan, we currently have no plan of doing that abroad, partly because we are going to carry on with the project alongside the Xbox version, so we really can't just make it available only for the PS3."

But does no Blu-ray demo mean no demo at all? "But we hear that the demo version normally means something that you can download in the West," Kitase continued, "so that is a possibility we would like to check." That's nice of them to check and all, but we're pretty sure demos are things you can download in Japan, too

/// Why not, for example, get an uber exclusive deal with OPM and get the demo cover mounted? just think what that would do for sales of the magazine. #thinks# I know.. then we'd have to get it localised, translated etc etc etc and knowing how amazingly efficient SCEE et al is at that sort of thing we'd probably end up with the demo a month after the full game had been out.

Greetings all lovers of Sackboy!

Hi to Everyone!

A big thanks to you - all our subscribers, its been amazing to see so many LittleBigPlanet fans on the page. Due to the popularity and amazing response the giveaway has now closed - the first 5000 that subscribed are now being sent out their woolly Sackboys over the next few weeks, the following 3000 that subscribed will be sent a Sackboy T Shirt. But don't worry if you missed out this time, keep checking the page as we will be offering many other giveaways this year :)

Finally - check out the new Norse Mythology Mini Pack avaliable on the Playstation store on the 7th of May. This pack contains Thor and Valkyrie costumes, and Norse themed stickers:
• Thor costume: Thor's helmet, beard, belt and wristguards, legs, Thor's Hammer
• Valkyrie costume: Valkyrie helmet and braids, Valkyrie jerkin and cape, Valkyrie boots
• 10 Norse theme stickers

Have a great day! Sackboy :)

trophy whoring

What’s up folks! This is Mitch Powers, senior global brand manager from Disney Interactive Studios. Just wanted to drop a quick note and let everyone know that trophies will be available for PURE on PLAYSTATION 3 this Wednesday, May 6. Whether you’re a hardcore PURE player or you’re just getting started, there are trophies you will be able to earn when you throw down on PURE as you nail the sick tricks and huge aerial jumps in Black Rock’s action sports game. The update includes more than 30 trophies at the Gold, Silver and Bronze levels. There’s also a Platinum Trophy that can be earned only by gathering up all of the other trophies in the game. We are super excited to finally bring this offering to all of you huge PURE fans! So go get the update this Wednesday, and we look forward to seeing you pull off tricks on all the different tracks!

/// well, it's pretty sweet that PURE is finally getting the shiny shiny things but i have to admit to totally 100%ing this game months back, and i do mean 100% i got all the quads, all the parts, gold on every track/event and can bust a 'phat' move with the best of them online. The reason this game got overlooked by the great unwashed masses was because it basically went head-to-head with MS:Pacific Rift, and not looking at the sales figure, i guess it lost. shame really as it does look and play like a class title, IMHO it is the better game of the two. MS:PR was ok but it just felt like a map pack expansion (am i wrong?), not much there really new, ok, it had split screen! pure had the ability to build your own ride from the frame up and paint it in garish colours. don't be put off by the previous dire ATV/MX/BAJA titles that have crawled onto our console like festering wounds from the states, pure is in a class of it's own and should be hanging around the cheap bins of your local games emporium right now.

Close Range EXCLUSIVE!

MAY GAME RELEASES: (possibly)
the FUEL release date has slipped from the 15th to 29th May (according to the Codies website), but Red Faction looks still set for June 5th. don't know about you but i like a bit more than a week between game purchases. damn. Other stuff that's coming out in the next month is.. *clicks open secret folder* Hannah Montana: The Movie Game.. (yeah, ok, we're all tired of living a double life). X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Uncaged Edition (flame on! -heh-). SingStar Pop Edition - Game Only (the horror). Blaze Digital Arcade Stick (which looks quite a good deal for £25 if a bit plasticy). Damnation (22nd). UFC 2009: Undisputed (22nd). Fritz Chess (WWII come to the chess board??) inFamous (29th - who's NOT going to buy that title!) Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising (you will die very quickly). Guitar Hero: Metallica (if it's anything like the last album..) SBK: Superbike World Championship 09 (now with added scenery apparently) Terminator: Salvation (29th) HEI$T, Virtua Tennis 2009, Supercar Challenge all due at the end of the month.

i guess there's something for everyone there. what are you getting?

HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY!

Free Sackboy for every man, woman and child of the UK

Well, ok there probably aren’t that many to give away, and this isn’t a Government mandate or anything, but Sony Europe are giving away free woolen Sackboy toys to Happy Gadders in the UK and Ireland - yay!

Subscribing to our page before 1st July 2009 entitles you to a free woolen Sackboy. Simply send your name and address to either the inbox or littlebigplanet@scee.net and we’ll pop your Sackboy in the post. This giveaway is open to all our UK and Irish friends.

So, to get your toy, simply do the following:

* Go to the official UK LittleBigPlanet YouTube page
* Subscribe to the channel
* After subscribing you will then need to send a message with your home address, via either…
o Youtube messaging system or
o an email to: littlebigplanet@scee.net

We’ve got our requests in, hope you have too ;) Oh, please don’t email us, email Sony!

and with the May Day holiday dropping this weekend, what are you playing?

oh and i'd like to give all the posters and commentators a big pat on the back
*pats vigorously*
we made it through our first unoffical month without being sued, pulled down or otherwise sent nasty legal speak emails from annoyed software companies. go us! :)