PlayStation News, Articles and Information for the UK and Europe

Square Enix has finally revealed on their EU page of the popular social networking site Twitter, that Final Fantasy XIV will be releasing in the Autumn on PC, when? That depends on which version of the game you want to get! Taken from SQUARE_ENIX_EU’s Twitter page:

FINAL FANTASY XIV is coming! 22/09/2010 for the Collector’s Edition, and 30/09/2010 for the Standard Edition.

Like I said though, this is the PC date that has been revealed and so far it looks like the PS3 version will be launching sometime in March 2011. Now, if only we knew when the beta started!

First off, I’d like to thank nineinchnailed for covering last week’s equivalent of this post, and secondly, I’d like to detail all the content you’ll find in this week’s episode – the thirteenth. Let’s start with old content shall we? The Backbreaker demo featured in the last two episodes is here yet again if you haven’t already got your hands on it.

On to the more recent bits now, and accompanying the Backbreaker demo in the Featured Downloads section is another theme for your collection – this time featuring Deus Ex. So nothing too grand this time in the FD section, but I’m sure FirstPlay will surprise us with something new soon. In the HD Reviews and Previews section is a (little late) review of May’s third racer Blur as well as the team’s thoughts on the more recent Joe Danger. If you’re still in love with Lara Croft after all of these years, then you’re in luck, as the First Play team have a preview of her latest adventure – The Guardian of the Light.

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So, after yesterday’s PS3 software update, PlayStation Plus has finally launched. And in style. What can you expect by grabbing a year subscription? Well, its £39.99 and I’ve already downloaded over £30 of content. This is in the first 24 hours.

On offer now is WipEout HD for FREE, likewise LittleBigPlanet on the PS3, and three minis for PS3 and PSP: Fieldrunners, Destruction Derby, and Age of Zombies. Add to that some great offers including:

• LittleBigPlanet LocoRoco Costume Kit  (Now £1.20/Was £2.39)
• LittleBigPlanet God Of War Level Kit (Now £1.20/Was £2.39)
• Gravity Crash (Now £5.03/Was £6.29)
• Fat Princess Roles Expansion Pack (Now £3.19/Was £3.99)
• Killzone 2 Steel and Titanium Game Pack (Now FREE/Was £4.79)
• Sackboy on the Run Dynamic Theme (Now FREE/Was £1.59)
• Fat Princess Avatars x 2 (Only available with PlayStation Plus)
• The Game is Just The Start Dynamic Theme (Only available with PlayStation Plus)

As you can see, an absolute mass of content there so, why not join the revolution today! It’s worth it.

So here we are, tomorrow is the day that PlayStation Plus launches and with it (later tonight) is the latest release of PlayStation Firmware. There were many rumours as to what would be included in this update, read on to find out more…

For any that are interested, here is a full list of all the features, including the smaller ones too (with thanks to uk.playstation.com for the full list):

Main Features

• PlayStation®Plus membership
  PlayStation Plus membership is now supported on PlayStation Network.
• PlayStation®Network Area of Photo Gallery
  [PlayStation®Network Area] has been added under [Photo Gallery]. You can now use Photo Gallery to browse photos from Facebook® or Picasa™ Web Albums. You can also share photos from Photo Gallery with your Friends on PlayStation Network.
• Video Editor & Uploader
  Using the video editing and uploading feature, you can now edit video content that is saved on your PS3 system’s hard disk and upload it to Facebook or YouTube™.

Settings

• [Deep Color Output (HDMI)] has been added as an option under [Display Settings].
• [Automatic Download] has been added as a feature under [System Settings]. This feature is exclusively for use by PlayStation Plus members.
• The default setting for [System Auto-Off] under [Power Save Settings] has been changed to [After 2 Hours].

Photo

• You can now print a photo in [Photo Gallery].
• You can now delete a photo in [Photo Gallery].

Friends

• You can now see the trophy level of a Friend by selecting the Friend’s avatar.

Other

• You can now use a five-star rating system to evaluate products that you purchase from PlayStation Store.
• The internal clock functionality that accounts for leap years has been improved.

Also worthy of note is a new Facebook application which allows you to connect with your PSN account and find friends that have a PSN account. Please note that this is not included in the firmware update and is an entirely separate entity.

A lot of hype was amongst last week’s launch of a massive PlayStation Home update which consisted of a new Home Square, Shopping Centre, and a Playground space, along with many other general stuff like new clothes and furniture. But, sadly, sometimes hype dries up when the package arrives, and this is exactly what’s happened.

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Once again at the top (no prizes for guessing) is Red Dead Redemption, with LEGO Harry Potter: Episodes 1-4 climbing all the way from ninth to hit the runner-up spot (number two).

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is still clinging on at number three, despite having been released for over seven months now. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Platinum Edition falls down from second to fourth place within the week, and Price of Persia: The Forgotten Sands makes its way into the top ten at the number seven spot along with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 and Blur – in both eighth and ninth respectively.

Medal of Honor (which was in sixth last week) plummets all the way down to twenty-fourth on the list – probably due to the E3 hype dying down – as well as, surprisingly, Gran Turismo 5 which has sunk to twenty-seventh, down seventeen places from last week.

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PLATFORM: PlayStation 3 (Exclusive)

RELEASE DATE: 26th February 2010

RATING: 15 (BBFC), 18+ (PEGI)

DEVELOPER: Quantic Dream

PUBLISHER: Sony Computer Entertainment

When Heavy Rain was first announced in E3 2006, it certainly shook things up, with the tech demo called The Casting it was great to see what the wet-behind-the-ears PS3 could do. Ever since then, Quantic Dream have been teasing us with the looks of such an inspiring and ground-breaking game, including the sole use of quick-time-events (QTEs) throughout the game. Finally, Heavy Rain has been released to the awaiting public, warts and all. But has the game disappointed many with the oodles of hype, or has it just exceeded those expectations? Whatever the reaction was, it was going to rock the community’s world…

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So, you played FIFA 10 and the World Cup game? Now what. Yep, you guessed it, EA Sports’ yearly addition to the franchise arrives this October in the form of FIFA 11, and has been revealed to provide a massive leap over FIFA 10 to what the improvements were from 09 to 10, which was not many.

We got a taste of FIFA 11′s goodness with 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, but only an appetiser. With what has been revealed so far, FIFA 11 could be set to refine the football genre.

1. New Passing System

The groundbreaking new gameplay feature is an improved passing system. Well, it’s not improved, it’s totally new. Instead of tapping X violently to get the ball from player A to B, FIFA 11 is letting players have variety in their passes- and alongside a sense of challenge that hasn’t ever been felt in previous football games.

2. Record Songs/Chants

It’s official: your FIFA really is something to call your own with the ability to record chants and songs. The latter of which is played at the start of a game, at half time, and at the end of the game. Chants are what the crowd cheers during a match, so you can now finally get to hear your own Be a Pro player being chanted, for example.

3. Save Replays to your Hard Drive

It was always going to happen: but now it finally has after a long wait. It’s small, but previously you were only able to save replays to your game or upload them to the EA Sports website. Now, that has been expanded on: you can save the replays to your hard drive and watch them in all their glory without having to load up the game.

As always, PlayStation Future will update you with all of the latest FIFA 11 news.

John Marston is just the kind of person who you wouldn’t want to mess with. Full of comic remarks, a load of violence and all in all a gentle soul, this man is the king of the Wild West and most importantly the protagonist of a fantastic story which will keep you hooked in the marvel of the game that is Red Dead Redemption; the Wild West’s answer to Grand Theft Auto.

Now, before I go any further I must say this: Red Dead Redemption is developed by Rockstar, and yes, therefore many aspects are very similar to GTA. But this is no bad thing in the slightest, and even with so many GTA aspects, RDR still manages to be its own, unique game. And what a game it is.

John Marston is an outlaw coming to America to escape his past of violence and betrayal (Niko Bellic anyone?) and before you know it, the ****’s already hit the fan. He is recovered by farm owner Bonnie MacFarlane: and this is where the game really kicks off in the peaceful surroundings of MacFarlane’s Ranch, without a doubt the most relaxing place in the game after the harshness of warfare. The houses are beautiful, the lanes are peaceful, and the people are nice. Obviously being a farm, there are a lot of animals kept here which actually play a part in the story: Bonnie’s missions have you learn the tricks of the trade in farming. How to lasso wild horses and how to herd cows are on the agenda. And so begins the most peaceful start to a game you’ll ever experience, even if herding cows is quite challenging. Sorry, but it just is. Read more

This week’s FirstPlay episode has a wide range of information that includes a PSP Comics rundown and a Blu-ray review, and the two gane reviews included are both quite niche games – perhaps FirstPlay have been running a bit ligher on ideas this week, or more optimistically perhaps they are trying to broaden our horizons!

Demon’s Souls is given a very interesting review, showing some of the multiple deaths that most players will have to endure in the game, as well as explaining some of the more unusual (but nonetheless clever) mechanics of the game. With Demon’s Souls finally getting a UK release this Friday, it’s sensible timing on FirstPlay’s part to get a review in now – hopefully this trend will continue rather than slip back to the post-release reviews we’ve often seen recently. Read more