PlayStation News, Articles and Information for the UK and Europe

Originally released a staggering five years ago, Oblivion is being re-packaged and re-released as a 5th Anniversary Edition in North America, with Europe and the rest of the world possibly to follow. The new edition contains the Game of the Year version of Oblivion, along wtih the original ‘making of’ DVD, a map, and a $10 off Skyrim coupon – all packaged in a steelbook case.

Being a relatively old game, the PS3 version of Oblivion didn’t have any Trophy support and for some reason was never given access to any of the extra DLC that the PC and Xbox 360 versions had. Bethesda eventually confirmed that they had ceased work on Oblivion altogether and there was no chance that the PS3 version would get the extra DLC, nor Trophy support. Then a glimmer of hope arrived with an early scan of the box art for the forthcoming 5th Anniversary Edition of Oblivion, set for release next month in North America…

As you can see, the box art clearly states ‘Trophies’ as one of the features of the game. Has Bethesda finally gone back to Oblivion to add Trophy Support? Could they have added support for the extra DLC at the same time? Alas, no. Read more

Those of you who have played Valkyria Chronicles will probably know it as a highly innovative game that managed to revitalise the strategy RPG genre with its innovative battle system and quirky art style. Fans may well also have played the sequel, Valkyria Chronicles 2, which was released on PlayStation Portable last year. Unfortunately, many gamers felt that the setting, poor class upgrade system, and redundant map design of Valkyria Chronicles 2 let the game down somewhat. These problems are supposed to have been addressed in Valkyria Chronicles 3, which came out in Japan earlier this year, with the game’s darker theme and more direct influence from the original Valkyria Chronicles.

Today however, we’ve learnt that the 3rd Valkyria Chronicles game will never see the light of day in the United States and therefore probably not Europe. The question of a Western release was first posed to Sega on Twitter, who responded saying Valkyria Chronicles 3 will not be at E3 and that there has been no announcement for a stateside release. A fan of Phantasy Star Online Portable asked Sega if they will release the game in the United States and here is his paraphrase of Sega’s response:

“As much as I would love to see an English release of Infinity, SEGA West is currently not looking at further PSP development. Games like PSP2 and Valkyria Chronicles 2 did not sell nearly as well as we had hoped that they would. Also, we all have to take into account the heavy amount of piracy that plagues the West. It may happen at some point, but there are currently no plans for it.”

There you have it, Sega will not be releasing another Valkyria Chronicles game in the United States because the second game did not sell as much as they would like and that the prevalence of piracy makes it hard to make a profitable PlayStation Portable game – it’s a real shame that we’ll probably miss out on Valkyria Chronicles 3 because of this.

Two Worlds II, a game already brimming with content, has yet more exciting adventures on the way for fans – this time in the form of Pirates of the Flying Fortress, a brand new expansion pack. We’ve got six brand new screenshots for you and, as you can see, they pack quite a punch in the visual department. If TopWare Interactive can iron out some bugs found in the main game, Pirates of the Flying Fortress could really be one to watch.

Cult fighting game series BlazBlue will be making its debut on PlayStation Vita with under the working title BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II Plus. It’s  called “Plus” because the PS Vita version will be getting a full version of Continuum Shift as well as a whole swathe of extras and added features. According to the game’s developer, Continuum Shift II Plus will take advantage of the PS Vita’s touch screen and touch pad, as well as having online play. There’s not much other info around yet, but we’ll post back with any news as we get it.

Do you remember Far Cry? It was an incredible semi-open-world game that let you run around absolutely beautiful tropical islands shooting at mercenaries and apes. It was then followed up by Far Cry 2, a multiplatform sequel that seemed to miss the mark with many fans and critics. Now Ubisoft are hoping to pick up the momentum again with Far Cry 3, set for release on PS3, Windows PC and Xbox 360 some time in 2012.

This time around you’ll step into the shoes of Jason Brody, the usual brave loner type who’s managed to get himself stranded on a mysterious tropical island. Building on the setting and gameplay from the original Far Cry, in Far Cry 3 you’ll be able to forge relationships and shoot the crap out of the potential allies and enemies scattered throughout the fallen paradise. Read more

E3 2011: Konami releasing Sons of Liberty, Snake Eater, Peace Walker in one console package in November; updated ZOE duo coming in 2012; Transfarring announced.

Konami will release the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection and Zone of the Enders HD Collection for not just the PlayStation 3. A first for both the Metal Gear and Zone of the Enders franchises, the two HD Collections will also be released for the Xbox 360.

The MGS HD Collection, which is due this November, will include high-definition updates for Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and the highly regarded recent PSP release, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Both the original and second Zone of the Enders will be packaged into one box for its HD Collection release, which is currently slated for 2012. Read more

The E3 2011 trailer for Final Fantasy XIII-2 has been released by Square Enix. It shows that this time, the game will focus more on Serah and Lightning; also there’ll be an updated battle system (although battles look similar to FFXIII), new playable characters, and what look like actual towns to walk through. At the end of the trailer, it is also revealed that FFXIII-2 will see a release in ‘Early 2012′ – whether this applies to Europe or not, we’ll have to see.

You can now download system software version 3.65 for you PS3. We’re not sure about everything in this update, but one new feature is the ability to back up your PS3 games to PSP. If you have any tips of what else is in the update, please let us know.

NB: You can still sign in without downloading this update, go to System Update in the Settings category of the XMB to get the update.

If you are not currently on System Software 3.61 – check the archive here to see what other features have been added.

Yup. The maintenance has finished and the store has been revived, full to the brim with new content from the last few weeks. Of course, the sheer volume of traffic on the Store at the moment means it’s a little unstable, but the Store team are working to improve that as I type.

If you do manage to get to the Store, you’ll see that there is loads of content such as: Outland, Under Siege, Alien Crush, SEGA Rally Online, Wizardry, Final Fantasy VI, more content for PlayStation Plus subscribers (including Burnout Paradise for free).

There are even demos of: The Fight, inFamous 2, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean, No More Heroes, Red Faction, Motorstorm Apocalypse and more.

Unfortunately, the Welcome Back program has not taken effect yet, so you won’t quite be able to download your free offerings just now, however we will let you know as soon as it happens.

Remember PlayStation Home? It may have had some pretty significant changes since you last visited it, and as luck would have it along comes the perfect opportunity to revist the misunderstood social gaming hub: Sony’s press conference from this year’s E3 Expo will be broadcast, live, through PlayStation Home.

You may remember the E3 presentations being watchable in PlayStation Home last year, but they were recorded footage. This year marks the first time that the footage will be broadcast as it happens, on June 6th at 5pm Pacific Time (which equates to midnight in the UK). So far this news has only been confirmed on the US PS3 blog, so it’s still possible that this will only be available to those of you with a US PlayStation Account (they’re free to sign up for). If we get any confirmation from the EU blog we’ll let you know.

Last year more people explored the virtual booth than the real one

PlayStation Home will once again provide access to the PlayStation Home E3 Virtual Booth, allowing you to walk around a virtual representation of the conference centre and check out brand new videos and demos, as well as collecting exclusive virtual items for use in PlayStation Home.

After the recent security problems Sony has faced, we’re hoping that Sony are going to use E3 2011 as their springboard back into the spotlight by unveiling some pretty exciting games and promotions. By broadcasting their press conference live, it’s a good indicator that Sony is preparing to do all it can to make this year’s E3 the best ever.