PlayStation News, Articles and Information for the UK and Europe

If you’ve had a look around PlayStation Home over the last few months you may have noticed that European gaming retailer GAME have their own ‘GAME Moonbase’ with free mini-games, poster sites, video screen and 4 internet browser terminals as well as an event area featuring dance-floor, meetings places, video screen and billboards.

Well, the GAME Moonbase has just received its first major update in the form of a new mini-game called Lunar Duel, where you can battle one-on-one against your opponent until their force field has been reduced to zero. Lunar Duel supplies you with a powerful arsenal of weapons, including repeat fire Satellite Grenades, EMP Bombs, and a devastating Star Strike option. Have a look yourself next time you’re in home – if you want a sneak peak yourself check out the trailer below: Read more

As we revealed last night, the long-awaited Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is finally released on the PSN Store today, several months after the North American release. However, good things come to he who waits and now Monkey Island fans across Europe can get their hands on the hi-def remake of the original Monkey Island game.

Also this week we have some decent price reductions on SEGA games to celebrate Sonic’s 19th birthday! There are quite a few full games this week aside from Monkey Island, and plenty of add-on content to boot. Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated DLC this week is the new co-op add-on for Red Dead Redemption, which actually hit the store yesterday and allows players to posse up with friends online for a new mission called Outlaws to the End. There is also a new Onslaught Mode for Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

There’s a nice ModNation Racers Dynamic Theme if that’s your kind of thing, as well as all the usual Rock Band/LittleBigPlanet/Just Cause 2 (I think it now deserves a place in this list) DLC. If you’re a fan of Killzone and Lost Planet you can also get the Killzone character pack for Lost Planet 2 absolutely free. All in all a fairly hefty update, with plenty for you to get your teeth into.   Read more

A quick news update for all you Monkey Island fans – The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition has been confirmed for release tomorrow, 23rd June, in Europe!

We’ve had to wait patiently since April for this but one of the greatest point ‘n’ click adventure games of all time is finally coming to PSN.

In today’s emergency budget the British Government has confirmed that it will not be introducting a tax break for the UK gaming industry, something which will come as a disappointment to many.

The Coalition Government, formed of Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs, has back-tracked on pre-election suggestions from both parties to introduce a new Games Tax Relief.  Clearly, British developers are going to feel let down by this latest move to deny tax breaks to the industry. Jason Kingsley, CEO of Rebellion Studios and chairman of TIGA, said:

“It is hugely disappointing that the Coalition Government has decided not to introduce this tax measure, especially given the existence of tax relief for other sectors of the economy. However, TIGA will continue to lead the campaign for Games Tax Relief in the months ahead. Games Tax Relief or a similar fiscal measure is the industry’s top priority.”

The UK gaming industry is responsible for some of the most successful gaming franchises in the world, including Grand Theft Auto and Tomb Raider, and with the right financial incentives Britain has a chance to continue to lead the way in computer game development across the world. Conservative MP Ed Vaizey, who holds the brief for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries within the Government, will be at July’s Developer Conference in Brighton to discuss the Games Tax Relief proposals – as a long-standing supporter of British gaming he will hopefully have some positive comments to make.

Just when we all thought it couldn’t get any better, amongst the E3 madness, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, has confirmed some stunning details of much anticipated racer Gran Turismo 5. Before you read on, I recommend you get a shovel ready to scrape your jaw off from the floor.

Take it away, Shuhei:

‘What can we look forward to when Gran Turismo 5 releases on PlayStation 3?
Gran Turismo 5 will offer gamers an experience more rich, more in-depth and more exciting than they might expect – even from a series as closely identified with innovation and invention as Gran Turismo. Not only will Gran Turismo 5 deliver an even more comprehensive set of cars and courses than gamers saw with previous iterations, it will also feature new game-enhacing graphical effects such as damage, night racing and weather.

These innovations are twinned with the option to join millions of like-minded individuals globally within the Gran Turismo community and to find a driving experience to suit, whether that is taking on the Top Gear test track, chucking cars around stunt arenas, go-karting, creating and sharing your own track or intense head-to-head races. Who, where and what to drive is completely down to the individual.

This time around Gran Turismo is likely not just to be the definitive driving experience but a definitive gaming experience full stop.’

Gran Turismo 5 launches on PlayStation 3 on the 2nd November 2010 in North America. A European release date is not yet known but has been confirmed for November as well.

Like him or loathe him, Harry Potter has made his mark on the gaming world and the latest in a line of Harry Potter games is Lego Harry Potter: Years 1 – 4, which is released this Friday 25th June.

Lego Harry Potter is a fusion of two enormous franchises and is sure to be a big seller for Warner Bros and developer Traveller’s Tales – yet another in the long-line of successful British developers. Reviews should start coming in soon and early indications are that it’s looking pretty good. Have a look for yourself with this great new trailer:

Red Dead Redemption is holding strong at no.1 again this week, with the recently re-released Uncharted 2 following up closely at no.2, up one position from last week.

Making their debut this week are Medal of Honor and Lego Harry Potter Episodes 1-4. Medal of Honor isn’t out until October so these are particularly strong pre-sales considering how long gamers will have to wait to get their hands on a copy. The news that Gran Turismo 5 finally has a release date (November 2nd) have pushed the long-awaited racer into the Top 10 for the first time, sittingly quietly at the bottom waiting to pounce on the no.1 spot when the time is right. If all goes to plan, Gran Turismo 5 will be a big seller for Sony and could well be biggest selling PS3-exclusive game so far.

Another eagerly anticipated PS3 exclusive is Demon’s Souls, which dropped out of the Top 10 last week, it back in at its highest position so far, at no.8. The UK version, although set for release almost 18 months after the Japanese version, is known as the ‘Black Phantom’ edition and comes with the game’s soundtrack and a guidebook – pretty good value for just £34.80 on Amazon. Read more

After Sony’s big announcement of inFamous 2 a few week’s ago, and an impressive trailer to show off at E3, we’ve finally got our hands on a few screenshots – only a few mind you, but it gives you a chance to see the new and improved Cole in action – this time with a full head of hair. inFamous 2 is currently due for release in 2011 – as the trailer revealed at E3, however no further dates have been set. To see the trailer, click here to go to nineinchnailed’s post on it, and to see the screenshots, keep reading…

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This new monthly article (built as a replacement to the weekly reviews) is here to tell you about all the best bits from FirstPlay in the past month or so (Episodes 007 – 010). And what a month it has been, with each of the four episodes featuring a free mini! On top of that, there have been many reviews of the May release games as well as tons of cool previews of upcoming games, all of this brought to you with some excellent narration by the lovely Lucy Porter (whom always brings a smile to your face) and a look at the latest goings-on in PSN.

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The E3 bandwagon keeps on rolling here at PlayStation Future and we’ve got a treat for Final Fantasy fans – the latest trailer from Square-Enix for Final Fantasy XIV.

Final Fantasy XIV, the second MMO in the Final Fantasy universe and the first MMO for PlayStation 3, is currently scheduled for release towards the end of 2010, though we wouldn’t be surprised if this slips to early 2011. Either way, from the look of this new trailer, Final Fantasy XIV is shaping up very nicely. See for yourself below: