PlayStation News, Articles and Information for the UK and Europe

Ever wanted to say more than just words with your comments but don’t understand that Gravatar stuff? Well fear not, for a brand new avatar system is now in place on PlayStation Future where you can pick from 10 pre-existing gaming icons to use as your avatar. If that’s not enough for you, we’ll be adding another 10 by the end of the week so if you have any suggestions, leave a comment below and we’ll see what we can do!

With stunning review scores across the board, it’s no surprise to see Red Dead Redemption not only holding the top spot but also taking second place for the limited edition version of the game. The success of the game seems to have taken many retailers by surprise, as stock shortages have been reported online and in stores across the country. In particular, Amazon is out of stock at the time of writing and is currently selling for £51 via 3rd party sellers.

The only other movement of note in this week’s Top 10 is ModNation Racers’ move up to number 5 which, considering it was released on the same day as Red Dead Redemption, is pretty good going. A lot of gamers have been questioning which to get over the last week or two and it’s a really tough call between the two. Our advice is simple; if in doubt, sell something and buy both! Read more

FirstPlay has sent a newsletter out to all subscribers today detailing which four minis will be featuring in the next four episodes. As you already know, Episode 7 featured the great little Echoes mini. Episode 8 will feature Blast Off, Episode 9 will feature Age of Zombies and Episode 10 will feature Rocket Racing, so if you plan on buying any of these minis, hold out a little longer and you can get them dirt cheap. Also interesting to note is that all four minis here were developed by Halfbrick Studios, so odds are that Future Publishing has made a deal with them, if you’d like to see Halfbrick’s site, and find out what else they’re up to, click here.

So here we are at the start of the minis chain this week with a free download of the Echoes mini. Also on offer in this episode are reviews of Skate 3 and UFC Undisputed 2010 and a preview of Red Dead Redemption. On top of that are screenshots of LEGO Harry Potter and White Knight Chronicles 2 as well as some tips to score Free Kicks in FIFA. I’m sure all of you know the drill by now, we’re here to give our verdict on the episode as well as detail what’s inside. So fasten your seatbelts, because this is a whirlwind of an episode.

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With Square-Enix’s forthcoming Final Fantasy XIV MMO entering its closed-beta phase recently, a new set of screenshots has emerged showing various locations around one of the cities in Eorzea. Although mainly interior shots, there are also some fantastic looking exterior shots showing among other things a cool looking ‘pirate’ ship.

If you’ve not already signed-up for a chance to enter the beta’s open phase, you can do so right here. Final Fantasy XIV is currently scheduled for release towards the end of this year on PS3 and Windows PC. Read more

Codemasters have just released new screnshots and a brand new gameplay trailer for their forthcoming cricket game, International Cricket 2010, which is currently set for release on June 18th.

In the video, Jonathan Agnew, former England player and part of the in-game commentary team, introduces International Cricket 2010’s key new gameplay enhancements, including Action Cam and Power Stick.

Agnew, or ‘Aggers’ to cricket fans, is the BBC’s Chief Cricket Correspondent, and broadcaster on Test Match Special. He is joined in-game by Shane Warne, Ian Bishop, and for the first time in a Codemasters cricket title, David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd.

See the screenshots and new trailer below: Read more

For many years, you may have seen game that you’ve wanted, but not absolutely had to get on day one, so you wait for a bit. One day, you go into a shop and see a pre-owned version of the game for about half the price. Great! Right? Well for you, maybe, but for those same years, the developers have felt left out – a pre-owned title does not gain them money as it is merely one person selling to another person in the superficial hands of a retailer.

Well, now developers are starting to get their own back, they’ve had enough of this and have decided to alter the content which second-hand gamers get. Yes, it could be classed as wrong, and many oppose this system; but many others also see the point that developers have. But is this fair to the gamer? Do the developers know how it feels to buy a game and then realise that you’ve only really bought most of it?

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This week’s update has a couple of nice demos, including one for ModNation Racers which is due out on 21st May. There’s also another Add-on for Dragon Age: Origins which is priced at a reasonable £3.99, some ModNation Racers DLC and some Split/Second Unlocks which you can actually get for free by actually playing the game. If you’re short on time or patience however, it will allow you to unlock all the vehicles, game modes and tracks instantly.

There’s also the usual Rock Band etc DLC, the next FirstPlay episode and an Aqua Panic! Spring Theme. No PSOne Classics again this week but we’re told that Final Fantasy IX will be on there store within the next few weeks, so there’s always that to look forward to. With so many excellent PS3 games out at the moment, including Red Dead Redemption and ModNation Racers which are both out this week, there’s plenty to be getting on with in the meantime. Read more

So here we are, quite probably the busiest week of the year so far in the game industry with release of ModNation Racers, Split/Second, Red Dead Redemption and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. Luckily though this week’s episode of FirstPlay seems jam packed full of content with not one, but two game reviews including Skate 3, and UFC Undisputed 2010 as well as a preview of Red Dead Redemption, on top of this are some screenshots of Test Drive Unlimited 2 and a look at Just Cause 2, FIFA and the Comic Store in the Network Highlights as well as Echoes (a free mini) for you playing pleasure.

Read more for the full content list, and catch the analysis of this episode this weekend.

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The official teaser website for forthcoming co-op action RPG Hunted: The Demon’s Forge has just been unveiled by publishers Bethesda Softworks at www.huntedthegame.com. Bethesda, known for massive open-world RPGs like Morrowind, Oblivion and more recently Fallout 3, have handed development to Californian developers inXile who are hoping to re-invent the dungeon crawler genre with Hunted, placing a big emphasis on co-operative play and exploration.

Hunted: The Demon’s Forge is currently due for release in early 2011. If you want more information, head over to the new website. It’s early days but Hunted: The Demon’s Forge is shaping up to be a very interesting take on the co-op action genre.