PlayStation News, Articles and Information for the UK and Europe

Sony has released PS3 system software update version 3.72. This update is only minor but is mandatory in order to sign into the PlayStation Network. Sony has stated “With this minor update, system stability during use of PS3 format software and network services has been improved.”

If you’re not currently using system software version 3.70, check to see what other features may be included in your update in our archive here.

Let’s get this out the door right away to avoid any confusion: I am a big fan of the Deus Ex series. The original Deus Ex is one of my favourite games of all time and its sequel, Invisible War, is still a great game despite not being the follow-up that Deus Ex deserved. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the follow-up that the original Deus Ex deserves.

To put it bluntly, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is one of the best games released this year – so far… (lest we should forget about Skyrim/Dark Souls/Uncharted 3/Arkham City et al). What’s so good about Human Revolution that earns it this accolade? It’s difficult to pin down any one aspect of the game that stands out, but in broad terms it is the sheer depth of game that underpins its success. Let’s take a look at a scenario from the game: Read more

L.A. Noire is a crime thriller set in the late 1940s in Los Angeles. You take the role of Cole Phelps, a patrolman who has just returned from fighting as a Marine out in Japan and follow his journey through the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department. What makes this title special though, is the introduction of MotionScan technology, a system of HD cameras which are used to directly relay an actor’s face into the game. But underneath all of that, does the game play well? Or is the MotionScan gimmick the only reason to buy the game?

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If you’re a follower here at PlayStation Future, you’ll know that a while back we had a feature listing Amazon’s Top 10 games every week. Sadly, we had to drop that feature but due to its popularity we have decided to bring it back with ShopTo as its focus. Like a game that you see in the list? Click on it and you’ll be taken straight to the product page at ShopTo!

This week, Resistance 3 just managed to pip Dead Island to the number one spot. Warhammer 40K: Space Marine takes third whilst the God of War Collection Volume 2 takes fourth on the day of its release. Gran Turismo 5 (Platinum) makes an appearance at number 7 with its brand new Platinum edition – available for just £17.86! Deus Ex: Human Revolution has proven to be a hit with critics and sits happily at number 8 whilst Splinter Cell Trilogy HD occupies 9th place – also on the day of its release.

Hit the jump to see the full list…

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Sony held a conference at TGS this morning, revealing a number of exciting details about many things – but mainly Vita. To round up, the conference told us the following:

• The latest worldwide sales figures for PS3 and PSP are 51.8 million and 71.4 million respectively.
• Vita will be launching in Japan on 17th December.
• The Welcome Park application on the VIta introduces you to the system.
• Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will be a launch title for the Vita.
• Square Enix announce two launch titles for the Vita: Lord of Apocalypse and Army Corps of Hell.
• A HD Remake of Final Fantasy X will be released on PS3 and Vita to coincide with the 10th anniversary of its release.
• Metal Gear and Zone of the Enders HD Collections are coming to Vita in 2012.
• The launch line-up for Vita will also include Fish On, Ridge Racer, Dream Club Portable, Project Noels, F1 2011 and Virtua Tennis 4 – making a total of 26 launch titles – check the dedicated page here.
• The Vita will feature PSP backwards compatibility, with full scaling and use of dual analog sticks.
• Sony is considering making special downloads for UMD-only titles.

Ever since the Japanese release of the PSP version of Persona 2 and the anime series iteration of Persona 4, things on the Atlus franchise’s side have been quiet. That ended today, as Japanese gaming site Famitsu carried multiple major announcements in regards to the Shin Megami Tensei spin-off series.

As revealed by a recent teaser site, Atlus will be remaking Persona 4 for the upcoming PlayStation Vita console. The portable iteration of the hit 2008 title will feature a new character named Mary, more voicework during in-game dialogue scenes, and new animated cutscenes. The game will also include a new wireless support feature where players can call upon other users when their party members are close to death. The new port will be out next spring in Japan.

Atlus also revealed it will be teaming up with Arc System Works (creators of the BlazBlue series) to develop a 2D fighter based on the Persona universe. The game will be called Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena and will launch in spring 2012 for the arcades, with a PS3 and Xbox 360 release due for summer 2012. The game will feature characters from Persona 3 and 4.

Finally, Atlus confirmed that Persona 5 is in the works, with series director Katsura Hashino resuming his role once again. Shigenori Soejima and Shoji Meguro will return to their roles of lead character designer and music composer, respectively.

Persona 4 was released back in March 2009 for the Playstation 2, you can also check out our classic review of the game, praised with a hefty 10/10 score.

At the time of release the PlayStation 3 version of Bayonetta was slated for being inferior to the Xbox 360 version, and it’s true that the PS3 version does have minor issues. However, the many of these issues were ironed out in a post-release patch that allows you to install the game for much faster load times, giving the PS3 version a bit of a boost.

The spiritual predecessor to Bayonetta was Devil May Cry; which is a hack and slash action game. The director of Bayonette, Hideki Kamiya, worked with Capcom to create some of the best games over the years such as Okami, Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe, but left Capcom and then worked with SEGA but working under Platinum games.

The main plot of Bayonette is set in the present day; a fat man called Enzo has joined up with Bayonetta, a witch who was revived twenty years ago from the bottom of a lake and has little or no memories of her past. When Enzo informs her of the possible whereabouts of the person that owns the “Right Eye”, one-half of a set known as the “Eyes of the World”, she sets out to find this person, hoping that it may help her regain her lost memories. Throughout the main story you discover more about Bayonetta’s past and memories on what happened to her. Read more

Bioshock: Rapture tells the story of the events leading up to the original Bioshock game. Have you ever wondered where everything came from and how Ryan’s personal utopia became an dystopian nightmare? Bioshock: Rapture will guide you through the events in detail, and hopefully answer many of the questions you may have.

Much of the backstory in Bioshock is told through audio clippings and notes, giving an patchwork overview without going into too much detail. It’s up to the player to piece everything together and work out what’s going on themselves, and it’s a technique that lends itself to creating an immersive atmosphere of confusion and intrigue. It’s also a technique that purposefully leaves gaps in the story, hoping the player will fill them in with their imagination. Like many good examples of storytelling (Half-Life 2, Lost, Star Wars before the prequels), it’s what you don’t know that makes something interesting. Explaining everything to the Nth degree often pulls down the shroud of mystery that made everything so exciting in the first place. Fortunately, Bioshock: Rapture gets the balance more or less right, padding out the story without demystifying it. Read more

PlayStation Home has always been a confusing place for gamers. It’s not a game, it’s not The Sims and it’s not a real social network. It’s a little of bit of each of those things, with a good measure of stuff thrown in to boot. But what exactly is it? If you’re confused you’re not the only one. Fortunately, Sony has woken up to the idea that Home needs redefining and has promised a massive overhaul, bringing a much needed emphasis on gaming, both within and outside of Home.

“This is a giant leap in the evolution of the platform,” said Jack Buser, director of PlayStation Home. “We are going to ‘up level’ games as the heart of PlayStation Home. This means that Home itself is going to become a game. The first things you see when you get into Home are games.”

The new layout will be based around a central hub, and surrounding ‘themed’ areas that match your gaming mood, be it Action, Sports, Adventure or Puzzle. There will also be a re-write of the core Home client, which should streamline the user-interface and let you get into Home faster than ever.

The new update is currently scheduled for Fall 2011 in North America – there’s no date scheduled for Europe yet but it’s a good bet that we won’t be far behind.

For more information check out the Official US PlayStation blog.

This review is for Gran Turismo 5 running at version 1.10 (patch officially released on 7th June 2011). We wanted to wait for the first few major patches to be released before reviewing the game.

Gran Turismo 5 is a behemoth of a game. Upon first loading the game, you are strongly encouraged to sit through a 6.5GB installation that can take anywhere from 25 minutes to an hour, depending on the volume and free space of your hard disk. You then need to patch it, which currently requires about 650MB of data to be downloaded and installed. Make no mistake, Gran Turismo 5 is a big beast. With all that data, surely Gran Turismo 5 is the most graphically detailed, content rich racing game ever made? In a word: mostly.

It is hard to escape just how much hype preceded the release of Gran Turismo 5. After being delayed for years longer than expected, Gran Turismo 5 was finally released back on November 24th 2010. For fans, the silver lining of the incredibly long development time was that the game would turn out perfect. It hasn’t. But it’s still one of the finest computer games of this generation. Read more