PlayStation News, Articles and Information for the UK and Europe

This week’s Top 10 has Modern Warfare 2 showing Red Dead Redemption who’s boss by climbing back up to the number one spot for the first time in a while.

Now that it’s back in stock, Demon’s Souls jumps right back up to number four, which is excellent news for such a fantastic niche game. Although it’s very hard going to begin with, Demon’s Souls is one of the best RPGs of this generation so it’s good to see it getting the level of sales that it deserves. When White Knight Chronicles (another PS3 exclusive RPG) was released to mediocre reviews it barely made a dent in the sales charts. The success of Demon’s Souls, however, shows that gamers are willing to buy these kinds of games, and also shows just how much influence review scores can have on game’s sales.

Dragon Age: Origins, another excellent RPG, sneaks back in at number 10, thanks to a massive price reduction to just £12.93. If you’ve not already played it, for that price you’d be mad not to pick it up. Other than that it’s just the usual suspects. See the full chart below: Read more

PLATFORM: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC

RELEASE DATE: 26th March 2010

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

DEVELOPER: Avalanche Studios/Eidos Interactive

PUBLISHER: Square Enix

Much like the Assassin’s Creed series was in nature, the original Just Cause was a disappointment for most and was criticised for its many bugs and short storyline, but Eidos (now owned by Square Enix) decided to change that with the sequel.The new game boasts a massive playable area and a seemingly endless amount of things to do, with graphics that are reminiscent of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, so it’s no wonder that the Just Cause series is making itself known in the world. One question remains though, like Assassin’s Creed II, has Just Cause 2 manage to fix the problems with its brilliant but flawed predecessor?

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According to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), the range of ‘Minis’ for PlayStation 3 and PSP has now surpassed one million downloads across Europe, North America and Europe.

Minis are PlayStation’s answer to Apple’s ‘apps’, providing smaller, simpler games at a low price for gaming on the move with PSP or for a short gaming session at home when you don’t have time for Grand Theft Auto IV.

Zeno Colaço (Vice President, Publisher and Developer Relations) from SCEE had the following to say:

“We’re always looking for exciting and unique content to offer our audiences and minis offer exactly that.  minis offers a huge variety of snackable gaming experiences, be it games from smaller developers, with small budgets to more established developers, with established IPs that are easily accessible and great value for money.  We’re proud to have achieved over a million downloads in less than a year and with new developers coming on board every day, bringing with them incredibly fun and creative games, we look forward to establishing minis as a fans favourite amongst the PlayStation community.”

There are now nearly 100 minins available on the PSN Store from over 50 developers, with many more to follow over the next few months.

Those hoping for a sequel to be currently in the works by Red Dead Redemption developer Rockstar San Diego can get their tears ready now.

Alongside the studio laying off at least 40 people, Steve Martin (studio manager) released this statement:

“As is typical with game development, our team sizes have always fluctuated over the course of the development cycle. As Rockstar San Diego transitions from the launch of Red Dead Redemption onto future projects, we are realigning our resources in order to continue to develop games as effectively as possible.”

More interestingly, though, is this:

“We are ensuring that all employees who are affected by these changes are being treated with care. While we have no announcements to make regarding a sequel to Red Dead Redemption, the team here are hard at work on the development of downloadable content for the game.”

So, no sequel in the works. But honestly, who cares at the moment? Red Dead Redemption only launched last May, it was a massive hit worldwide and at PlayStation Future (I scored it a brilliant 9.2/10) and one free DLC has already been released, alongside four more in the coming six months.

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is a high-definition remake of the original Secret of Monkey Island game that was first released in 1990 for PC, Atari ST, Amiga and eventually several other platforms. The basic premise is that you play a wannabe pirate called Guybrush Threepwood, who sets out on a journey to become a fully fledged pirate in the Caribbean. The Secret of Monkey Island has a very quirky sense of humour and it is this humour that most people fondly remember the series for. There are so few genuinely funny computer games that, even now, the Monkey Island series stands out as among the funniest games of all time.

The gameplay is essentially a ‘point ‘n’ click’ adventure that requires players to explore various locations across the caribbean, collecting objects, talking to NPCs and generally solving puzzles to meet the objectives of the game. Like many adventure games from the early 90s, it is virtually impossible to die or fail in the game, leaving you free to try out as many wacky and inventive ways of solving puzzles as you like, without the fear of seeing a game over screen. Read more

…according to Sony’s latest Terms of Service update.

“Some people may experience discomfort (such as eye strain, eye fatigue or nausea) while watching 3D video images or playing stereoscopic 3D games on 3D televisions. SCEA recommends that all viewers take regular breaks while watching 3D video or playing stereoscopic 3D games. The length and frequency of necessary breaks may vary from person to person. Please take breaks that are long enough to allow any feelings of discomfort to subside. If symptoms persist, consult a doctor.”

It also goes on to say how young children should stay clear of the PlayStation 3 3D technology altogether.

“SCEA recommends that you consult your doctor (such as a pediatrician or eye doctor) before allowing young children to watch 3D video images or play stereoscopic 3D games. Adults should supervise young children to ensure they follow the recommendations listed above.”

That would be a great shame, especially considering the amount of fantastic games that will be using the technology. Gran Turismo 5, MotorStorm Apocalypse and Killzone 3 are all on the list.

The solution? Play games in 3D anyway- surely not much harm can be done?

The biggest news this week from UK PSN Store is the release of DeathSpank, as outlined earlier this week. It’s had some pretty good reviews so far, though we’ve not had chance to review it ourselves yet, and if you’re a fan of Ron Gilbert (from the first two Monkey Island games) then DeathSpank should be well worth checking out.

One of the best PSN games out there is Trine and this week’s store update brings a new add-on pack for the game called “Path to New Dawn” – and for just £0.79! There’s not much else of note on the store this week however, with few other DLC packs and yet again no PS One Classics. It seems incredible that classic PS One games like Resident Evil aren’t on the store yet, though Sony make it clear that it’s generally the publishers who are ultimately responsible for this rather than Sony themselves.

Overall, a smaller update this week that, aside from DeathSpank, won’t hold much of interest for many gamers. Let’s hope next week is an improvement. Read more

We’re slowly drifting into the lull that most people call ‘Summer’ in the game industry, where all the thrill of May titles seems to have died down, and with the most anticipated releases seemingly years away. FirstPlay have managed to pull yet another decent episode together though, and although there aren’t any new substantial downloads (which I know are a major selling point for some of you) there is still a lot to love within the walls of Episode 15.

This week I have a surprisingly full list of what’s in this episode, it seems that FirstPlay have revealed almost everything that this episode has to offer, so I’d best get started then. This week’s main feature is a preview of the E3 sensation that is Killzone 3 followed by a preview of Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (which is tainted to be a lot better than the original for those who’ve played it).

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United Front Games – the developer of ModNation Racers – today announced that the patch (currently in-the-works) would do more than just reduce load times and improve the online community, it will introduce a new Casual difficulty for the single player campaign.

Any players of ModNation Racers, or even people who’ve read a review of the game will know that MNR has become renowned for its punishing difficulty – and not in a good way like Demon’s Souls either – with a lot of emphasis on the cheating AI – unlimited weapons, high top speed etc. The new Casual difficulty will reduce AI aggressiveness, more details hopefully to follow.

So if you’ve broken your fourth Dualshock 3 controller trying to win all of those tough events, help will soon be at hand. In a statement on the US PlayStation Blog, UFG said they were putting the ‘finishing touches on the patch’ although a release date has still not been confirmed, I just hope for my PS3′s sake, we’ll get it sooner rather than later.

A brand new arena-based FPS called Nexuiz is heading for PSN (and XBLA) this winter and will be the first PSN title to be powered by CryENGINE 3, the graphics engine built for Crysis 2.

Nexuiz is a futuristic shooter with competitive multiplayer modes including Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. From the look of the screenshots so far, Nexuiz could be one of the best-looking PSN games ever and may end up giving the long-standing Unreal Tournament series a run for its money. We’ve yet to see how the game plays, but if it’s half as good as it looks then gamers could be in for a treat.

CryENGINE 3 has been hailed as one of the finest graphics engines of this generation and Kedhrin Gonzalez, Creative Director of Nexuiz developer IllFonic, explains how they made the decision to use CryENGINE 3:

“When we were strolling around GDC 2010′s floor we stopped by the Crytek booth. I watched someone show off a few features of CryENGINE 3. Right then and there, I knew I had to have it.  It’s powerful, fast and easy to use. Crytek has been awesome to work with providing excellent support in a relationship that has really benefited us.”

You can see the incredible-looking first screenshots below: