Yes, it’s that time of year again when Activision roll out the first reveal trailer of the next Call of Duty game ready for release in November. This time it’s Modern Warfare 3, and it’s a predictable affair: real-life locations have come under siege, husky soldiers riot through sprawling urban locations guns blazing, and helicopters crash and explode with cinematic bombast. And not to be outdone by Battlefield 3, it too has a falling skyscraper shot straight out of Transformers 3.

The trailer also hints at the game’s globe-trotting locations which includes the likes of Germany, France and England which is a refreshing change from the Middle East.

Set your sights on the first gameplay reveal of Modern Warfare 3 after the jump.

One thing’s for certain: this November is going to be an all-out war between this and the opposing Battlefield 3. Now that we’ve seen footage of both contenders, which has you gunning for glory the most? If you ask me, Battlefield 3′s Frostbite 2.0 tech and solid multiplayer reputation gives it the edge, but Call of Duty’s unstoppable fanfare will probably say otherwise.

Following from the recent earthquake disaster in Japan, Sony has wisely opted to delay the forthcoming release of MotorStorm Apocalypse in both Japan and the UK thus far. It was previously due to launch in just 3 days time on March 18.

“Although we have shipped the game into the channel last week, given that we are able to do so, we have chosen to postpone the launch in the UK,” a Sony spokesperson commented. “ We are shocked and saddened to see the impact of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and our thoughts are with all those affected, including our colleagues within the Sony family, living and working throughout Japan.”

“We are very conscious of the parallels between these events and the underlying theme in Motorstorm and are doing everything we can to be as sensitive as possible to the situation. Although the game itself is already in distribution, we are ceasing any further shipments and removing as much of the marketing materials as possible.”

Considering that the game is set in a city amid a massive earthquake, it’s hard not to draw such parallels when real-life footage of Japan’s crisis unfolding is at the forefront of your mind. I think I can safely say that Sony has done the honourable thing here.

Source: MCV

Following on from the initial teaser trailer, EA has posted an all new video teaser of the upcoming Battlefield 3. The crucial difference this time, however, is that it contains actual gameplay footage from the game, showing glimpses of the new urban city environments and Frostbite 2.0 destruction.

What do you think of that, Activision?

Aww, Sackboy. Your woollen charms were enough to sway millions of budding level designers into the enchanting world of LittleBigPlanet, a pinnacle platformer that set the benchmark for user generated content in the YouTube generation for consoles. It may have taken a while to truly take off, but LittleBigPlanet remains one of the most ingenuous and unique titles of this generation, allowing players with unbridled imaginations and too much time on their hands to “Play, Create and Share” custom designed levels with the online community.

It was certainly an ambitious concept, and one that finally gave Sony a mascot character for the PS3 in the form of Sackboy, an infectiously cute mass of cloth and stitching tailor made for ample merchandising opportunities.

Developer Media Molecule was always adamant that LittleBigPlanet’s incredible depth meant that a direct sequel would be highly unlikely, but this was soon quashed by the surprise announcement of LittleBigPlanet 2 last year. Does it suffer from sophomore syndrome or can LittleBigPlanet 2 once again turn legions of gamers into masterful creators?

A common criticism of the original was that the single player Story felt tacked on with no real semblance of a plot or purpose. Thankfully, LittleBigPlanet 2 improves on this aspect by contextualising the campaign with a narrative complete with animated cut scenes and intelligible voice acting, once again casting you as the loveable Sackboy (now referred to simply as the genderless ‘Sackperson’). The loose plot centers around the Negativitron, a supersonic vacuum cleaner intent on causing untold terror to the habitants of Sackboy’s home planet Craftworld.

As a noble Sackperson, you soon become part of an elite academy on a mission to defeat the Negativitron. Side scrolling platforming remains the order of the day as you guide Sackboy through all manner of weird and wacky worlds in a variety of superbly executed levels designed by the talented team at Media Molecule.

Each world sports a vibrant visual style that retains the same charming, handcrafted aesthetic of its predecessor, along with a suitably dreamy soundtrack that perfectly characterises the contrasting environments. I must say, however, that hearing the Finnish heavy metal band Nightwish in LittleBigPlanet 2 was an unexpected, yet pleasant surprise for this self-confessed fan.

There is no end to the sheer variety and innovation throughout the wonderfully crafted campaign. One level set in a cake factory, for example, mounts a rapid cake firing gun to Sackboy’s head to dispose of confectionery enemies – only in LittleBigPlanet could such a concept be feasible.

Beyond its charm, LittleBigPlanet 2 remains a solid and ultimately fun platoforming experience, particularly when played with up to three other Sackpeople either offline or online (yes, you can still play happy sack slapping with each other for no apparent reason) – the only problem is that the slightly cumbersome physics of the original remain intact, meaning that jumping can sometimes be more problematic than it needs to be.

The addition of a grappling hook is also a welcome addition to Sackboy’s inventory, allowing you to cling onto objects in order to solve puzzles – it can be a little tricky to work with the physics at times, but this gadget adds a whole new dimension of enjoyment to navigating levels.

LittleBigPlanet 2 expands the original’s platforming roots by introducing a number of levels involving arcade style shooting and vehicle navigation: one standout scenario has you piloting a nanomachine through a character’s blood stream to defeat an infection, while another tasks you with riding a caterpillar along some trees. While these novel diversions don’t always mesh with LittleBigPlanet 2’s core platforming merits, they do help to introduce some diversity to the proceedings.

Comprising of 30 levels including bonus mini challenges that clock in at around five hours, it’s a shame that the story is so disappointingly brief, as there are some genuinely fun, clever and invoking levels on display. As with the original game however, it mainly serves as an appetising template for the ever-expansive Create mode, which provide the very same tools that the developers used to construct the Story.

While these tools previously felt finicky and unnecessarily complicated, LittlebigPlanet 2’s are notably more streamlined thanks to the addition of some time-saving tools. Chief among which is the Controlinator, allowing you to assign button inputs to any item you desire – it’s a technique that is especially useful when creating racing games for example, compared to wiring the components manually like before.

Sackbots add another new element, as it is now possible to program enemy AI and set their patrolling patterns. I can’t help but feel that this aspect feels rudimentary at this stage however  – enemies waddle along robotically without a shred of personality and are limited to following linear paths that seldom follow Sackboy.

Other notable assets include the Grabinator and Creatinator, which allow you to pick up or fire large objects from a head-mounted gun respectively. Then there’s the advent of Microchips, a useful device that can connect switches together whilst saving space on an object.

I’ve barely scratched the surface to be honest: in addition, it is now possible to import PS Eye photos, direct cut scenes, record voice acting, design custom menus and HUDs and compose music, to name a few. If that all sounds overwhelming, fear not: the insightful Stephen Fry is once again on hand to deliver a set of warmly narrated tutorials covering each aspect profusely. The scope for creativity is staggering, and there’s now an emphasis on creating whole games rather than throwaway levels as you can now string custom levels together.

So far I haven’t been able to muster anything particularly extravagant, mainly due to laziness and lack of imagination, but it’s fair to say that if you invest copious amounts of time then you will certainly reap the rewards, and even newcomers shouldn’t feel too disheartened due to the simplified system. It is, after all, the active community that has kept LittleBigPlanet alive, a fact that holds very true for the sequel.

If the infamous giant calculator contraption from the first game bewildered you, then the mindfield that is the online community of LittleBigPlanet 2 will absolutely astound you. Think of the most ludicrously ambitious idea and it will in all probability be worryingly possible to vitalise in LittleBigPlanet 2.

The eccentric community has already managed to compile over three million levels (plus the 5m-strong back catalogue from the first game which is compatible too), but it’s the creations that mimic existing games that seem to be the biggest crowd pleasers, with standout achievements including eerily accurate renditions of the original NES Legend of Zelda, the PS1 classic Mico Machines and the therapeutic PSN title Flow doing the rounds on the leaderboards.

New search criteria filters such as Media Molecule’s very own handpicks also make it easier to find high quality levels with ease – you can spend literally hours just marvelling over LittleBigPlanet 2’s comprehensive library of gems.

And therein lies the beauty of the series: whether you want to be a bedroom-bound designer slaving away for hours on end, delve into the millions of online user-created levels or simply concentrate on retrieving every last unlockable in the Story mode, LittleBigPlanet 2 caters for everyone. Considering how far the community has come already, it will be very interesting to see what will be lurking in LittleBigPlanet 2‘s toy box in a year’s time.

After riling its PC fanbase with the cancellation of Battlefield 1943 and Onslaught, DICE seem keen to swiftly make amends as today marks the first peek at Battlefield 3, the official successor to the highly influential PC hit Battlefield 2 from 2005.

Hit the jump for the first teaser trailer and newly revealed details.

The official Battlefield Blog reveals that a single player campaign will be included as in Bad Company 2 and the flagship multiplayer will support up to 64 players, for the PC version at least. In addition, Battlefield 3 will see the return of jets and prones which were curiously absent in the Bad Company series, along with an all new version of the revolutionary Frostbite engine.

Since Battlefield 3 will also be available on the consoles this time round, it will be interesting to see how the titular sequel will differentiate itself from the established Bad Company. More details of the game are expected during GDC on March 1st.

Expect Battlefield 3 to consume an astronomical amount of your life once more when it launches this Autumn. With the possibility of Modern Warfare 3 also coming out towards the end of this year, the battle for FPS supremacy between the closest rivals looks to become increasingly heated.

It’s the announcement you’ve all been anticipating in another of Sony’s now infamous worst kept secrets: the belated unveiling of  the PSP’s proper successor.

Announced during Sony’s top secret “PlayStation Meeting 2011″ in Japan this morning, Sony’s next endeavour into the portable platform has been codenamed NGP (Next Generation Portable), implying that they could be ditching the faltering PSP brand altogether.

Hit the jump for the all important features list!

Key features:

• “Revolutionary interface” – dubbed as LiveArea, NGP’s new touch screen will replace the XMB with a home screen that contains access to friends, messaging, the PS Store, Trophies, internet browser and a host of other applications including ‘Near’, an application that, worryingly, tracks your location and tells you where you’ve been
• The rear of the console will also have a touch pad
• Dual analogue sticks, at long last
• Games will now  be stored on flash-based memory cards, allowing Sony to provide higher capacity cards for future games development. Good riddance UMD, you won’t be missed.
• Also announced today, PlayStation Suite software will initially emulate PS One games for Android devices and also be compatible with NGP

Here is the official hardware specification from Sony:

• CPU: ARM Cortex-A9 core (4 core)
• GPU: SGX543MP4+
• External Dimensions: Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)
• Screen: 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED
• Touchscreen: Multi-touch screen (capacitive type)
• Rear touchpad: Multi-touch pad (capacitive type)
• Cameras: Front camera; rear camera
• Sound: Built-in stereo speakers; built-in microphone
• Sensors: Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer); three-axis electronic compass
• Location: Built-in GPS; Wi-Fi location service support
• Keys/Switches: PS button; power button; directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left); action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square); shoulder buttons (Right/Left); right and left sticks; Start button; Select button; volume buttons (+/-)
• Wireless communications: Mobile network connectivity (3G); IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1×1) (Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode); Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (A2DP/AVRCP/HSP)

Sony also showed off a number of new and familiar game franchises that will be coming to the platform:

• Call of Duty
• Broken
• Gravity Daze
• Hot Shots Golf
• Hustle Kings
• Killzone
• LittleBigPlanet
• Little Deviants
• Reality Fighters
• Resistance
• Smart As
• Uncharted
• WipEout

Portable Uncharted? Count me in.

Developers have been quick to demonstrate NGP’s colossal capabilities by showing the hardware running the likes of Lost Planet 2, Yakuza, and Metal Gear Solid 4. It all points to the previous early indications that the system will be comparable to that of the PS3, but how much it will actually cost is a factor that remains undisclosed. Still, only a few months until E3, right?

Looking at the design, NGP clearly hasn’t strayed too far from the established PSP framework, but it’s still looking super slick and the additional features such as the dual analogue sticks (that should have been there in the first place) and rear touch pad are very welcome additions that raise intrigue for the prospect of future games. Let’s also not forget the twin cameras and motion sensors that show potential for future Apps akin to the PlayStation Move.

What are your initial reactions? Do you think it will suffer the same fate of the PSP? Does it have a hope in hell when Apple’s fashion accessories have suffocated the market and Nintendo’s revolutionary 3DS has been raising eyebrows? All I can say is that E3 should certainly be eventful for Sony this year.

Oh, and you’ll be able to get your grubby fingerprints all over it in late 2011 “this holiday season”, although it remains unclear if this is a worldwide date . It’s like 2005 all over again.

More shots and videos from the event are available on EnGadget.

It’s time for another weekly installment of PS Store updates, with this week’s standout offerings including the anticipated Angry Birds Mini, along with a playable demo for Winter Sports 2011 and some delicious DLC for ModNation Racers, The Sims 3 and a Linkin Park pack for Rock Band 3.

Check out this week’s update in full after the break.

Special Offers

(Offer prices available until the 19th January)

• UNO (PS3) (was – £6.29/€7.99 now – £0.79/€0.99)
• H.A.W.X. Supremacy Pack (was – £7.99/€9.99 now – £4.79/€5.99)
• Blood Bowl (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £9.99/€12.99)
• Pro Cycling 2010: Tour de France (PSP) (was – £23.99/€29.99 now – £13.99/€17.99)
• UNO (PSP) (was – £6.29/€7.99 now – £0.79/€0.99)
• Driver (PSone) (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £2.99/€3.59)
• Alien Havoc (mini) (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £2.49/€2.99)
• Bubble Trubble (mini) (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £2.49/€2.99)

Permanent Price Reductions

• Alien Breed: Impact (now – £7.19/€8.99)
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (now – £7.99/€9.99)
• Tom Clancy’s EndWar (now – £7.99/€9.99)
• Prince of Persia: Revelations (now – £11.99/€14.99)
• Prince of Persia: Rival Swords (now – £11.99/€14.99)
• Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (now – £11.99/€14.99)
• Splinter Cell Essentials (now – £11.99/€14.99)
• Driver ’76 (now – £11.99/€14.99)
• Brothers in Arms: D-Day (now – £11.99/€14.99)

Trial and Unlock (PS3)

• Faery: Legends of Avalon (£11.99/€14.99)

Downloadable Games (PS3)

• Germany’s Next Top Model (€9.99)
• PopStars (€9.99)

Subscriptions (PS3)

DC Universe Online

• 30 Day Subscription (£9.99/€12.99)
• 90 Day Subscription (£27.99/€34.99)
• 180 Day Subscription (£44.99/€64.99)

Downloadable Games (PSP)

• Buzz! The Ultimate Music Quiz (£21.99/€26.99)
• Crystal Mines (£11.99/€14.99)

minis (PS3 and PSP)

• Angry Birds (£2.49/€2.99)
• Jane’s Hotel (£2.49/€2.99)

PSone Classics (PS3 and PSP)

Tomb Raider Chronicles (£7.99/€9.99)

Demos (PS3)

• Winter Sports 2011

Demos (PSP)

• Crystal Mines

Add-On Game Content (PS3)

ModNation Racers – Jak and Daxter Mod Pack (£1.39/€1.75)

The Sims 3 – Asian Fusion (£7.99/€9.99)

Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage – Shin and Thouzer: Original costume and 2 new missions (£4.99/€6.19)

Super Street Fighter IV – Ultra Shadaloo Pack (£3.19/€3.99)

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock

January Mega Pack (£13.99/€17.99) (contains the following tracks which are also available separately)

• ’2nd Sucks’ By A Day To Remember (£1.59/€1.99)
• ‘All I Want’ By A Day To Remember (£1.59/€1.99)
• ‘Buried Myself Alive’ By The Used (£1.59/€1.99)
• ‘Closer’ By Nine Inch Nails (£1.59/€1.99)
• ‘Head Like A Hole’ By Nine Inch Nails (£1.59/€1.99)
• ‘Rescue Me’ By Hawthorne Heights (£1.59/€1.99)
• ‘The Downfall Of Us All’ By A Day To Remember (£1.59/€1.99)
• ‘The Hand That Feeds’ By Nine Inch Nails (£1.59/€1.99)
• ‘We’ve Got A Situation Here’ By The Damned Things (£1.59/€1.99)
• ‘Wings Of A Butterfly’ By Him (£1.59/€1.99)

Rock Band 3

Linkin Park Pack 01 (£4.99/€7.99) (contains the tracks listed below which are also available separately)

• Crawling (£0.99/€1.49)
• In The End (£0.99/€1.49)
• Numb (£0.99/€1.49)
• Somewhere I Belong (£0.99/€1.49)
• Waiting For The End (£0.99/€1.49)
• What I’ve Done (£0.99/€1.49)

Rock Band Network

• ‘Gasoline’ by The Bouncing Souls (£0.59/€0.79)
• ‘Let Us Slay’ by GWAR (£0.59/€0.79)
• ‘Saint Simon’ by The Shins (£0.99/€1.49)
• ‘Smokahontas’ by Attack Attack! (£0.99/€1.49)
• ‘White Knuckles’ by Okay Go (£0.99/€1.49)

Add-On Game Content (PSP)

• Prinny 2 – Asagi Wars Premium Special Ticket (free)

FirstPlay (PS3)

• FirstPlay Episode 40 (£0.99/€1.20)

Avatars (PS3)

EyePet

• Looking Back Sitting Pet (£0.20/€0.25)
• Rapper Pet (£0.20/€0.25)
• Boxing Pet (£0.20/€0.25)

Themes (PS3)

• Spare Parts Theme 1
• Top Darts Theme

Premium Themes (PS3)

Disruptive Themes

• Smooth Notes (£1.19/€1.49)
• Draco: The Return (£1.19/€1.49)

Dynamic Themes (PS3)

Thumbstar Themes

• Shine (£1.59/€1.99)
• Cube (£1.59/€1.99)
• Destinations (£1.59/€1.99)

Wallpapers (PS3)

• Dragon’s Lair HD Wallpaper
• Eat Them! Purple Monster Wallpaper
• Eat Them! Red Monster Wallpaper
• Spare Parts Wallpaper 1, 2 & 3

Wallpapers (PSP)

• Legends of War: Patton’s Campaign Wallpaper 4

Videos (PS3)

• Faery: Legends of Avalon Trailer
• Dead Space 2 The Sprawl
• Crazy Taxi Launch Trailer
• Kung-Fu LIVE! Launch Trailer
• Dead Nation Housemarque Trailer
• MotorStorm Apocalypse Developer Diary

Source: PlayStation Blog

Until now, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has been cruelly starved of worthwhile DLC for too long. The optimistically priced online co-op Onslaught was completely lacklustre and the recurring influx of “new” VIP map packs was becoming a running joke.

Coincidentally timed with the release of a game that bears the initials of a certain breed of fish, DICE finally served up a tastier DLC dish comprising of four free maps, which did well to accentuate the aforementioned fish’s astronomically priced map packs. This, however, was only the start of DICE’s extensive DLC plans.

Announced in the most fleeting of teaser trailers during this year’s E3, Bad Company 2: Vietnam is DICE’s latest and most substantial DLC offering to date, stealthily creeping into the market after months of uncertainty surrounding the release date. But with such stiff competition in the FPS pond, is there any room left for Vietnam to engage?

True Battlefield veterans will recall that this is not the franchise’s first venture into Vietnamese territory however – Battlefield Vietnam, the official sequel to the original Battlefield 1942, was released back in 2004.

Whereas the original was a full standalone game, DICE’s new attempt to rally its troops into Vietnam acts as an online expansion pack for Bad Company 2, adding four brand new, Vietnam-themed maps (along with a fifth map that has now been unlocked after the community achieved an ambitious 69 million assists on each platform), 15 new weapons and an army of new vehicles. Each map is also playable in the same game modes from Bad Company 2, i.e. Rush, Conquest, Squad Rush and Squad Death Match.

Bad Company 2 was already rife with impeccably designed battlefields, but Vietnam’s rank among the best the game now has to offer, a point that is dramatically apparent when you first set foot in the standout map Hill 137.

As armed jets soar overhead, the previously serene jungle becomes visually engulfed by a sudden napalm strike, rendering a section of the environment completely devastated in a valley of burning backdrops. For this alone, it’s an awe-inspiring set-piece and one of the most visually striking multiplayer maps I’ve played in any game.

An abundance of enclosed trenches also ensures that Vietnam often enforces close combat compared to that of Bad Company 2, resulting in battles that are more immediate whilst still retaining Battlefield’s trademark sense of staggering scale.

The remaining maps are equally impressive, for the most part. Vantage Point’s uphill route is a welcome change from Bad Company 2’s predominately flat terrain that creates some truly tense stand-offs, whereas Phu Bai Valley is the map of choice if you want all-out war in the game’s numerous vehicles. On the other hand, Cao Son Temple doesn’t feel quite as captivating due to its bland setting but the newly unlocked Battle of Hastings more than makes up for it with its multiple branching routes and dividing bridges.

Vietnam retains Bad Company 2’s graphical splendour, but sports a grittier visual style to represent the Vietnam era to set it apart from Bad Company 2. DICE has implemented their usual admirable attention to detail too, adding an air of authenticity that makes the battles feel all the more immersive as, unlike Bad Company 2, the game is set in a real-life conflict. Even the briefing videos before each game contain pre-emptive narrative providing context to the Vietnam War.

Vietnam‘s new weapons often make you feel naked in combat thanks to the lack of high-tech red dot sights and motion mines, but this only adds to the sense of foreboding danger. As a result, it’s certainly more challenging than Bad Company 2 which may deter some players accustomed to its modern luxuries, but I found the contrast to be refreshing and satisfying due to the reliance on skill alone.

New weapons such as the Ak-47 are worthy additions to Bad Company 2’s attractive armoury, but nothing prepares you for when you first encounter an enemy with a flamethrower – there’s nothing more sadistically satisfying than torching scores of panic stricken enemies, especially when the flamethrower is mounted to a tank which is made possible by a new specialisation.

Bad Company 2’s barrage of playable war machines made each game a spectacular spectacle as fleets of tanks, helicopters, jeeps and boats ran rampant, and Vietnam doesn’t disappoint in this regard either. The imposing AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters, the defining aircraft of the Vietnam War, are particularly deadly, but their lack of armour makes it surprisingly easy to destroy with stock weapons. Marvellously, a rocking soundtrack can now also be played whenever you commandeer a vehicle – it’s especially comical to hose enemies down with heavy machine gun fire to the tune of the Rolling Stones. And yes, because it’s Vietnam, Fortunate Son has not been omitted.

There is just one thing that baffles me however: why isn’t it a standalone release? Battlefield 1943 proved that online exclusive distribution was a very feasible market and Vietnam is a very similar package in terms of both content and price, yet it requires ownership of Bad Company 2.

This lack of segregation is particularly evident by the fact that Vietnam retains the same online ranking progress from Bad Company 2, meaning that everything is already unlocked if you’ve previously clocked in the hours. I have mixed feelings about this decision, as while it’s useful to soldier on with your main game rank, it makes playing Vietnam feel a tad aimless without any unlocks.

Speaking of rankings, an unfortunate glitch that resets your ranking (therefore leaving you without the weapons and gadgets you unlocked) still plagues the game to this day. It’s a minor inconvenience, yes, but one that DICE has had ample time to fix.

Considering Vietnam’s price point of £9.99/$15, it’s difficult to complain about the amount of content on offer here, and DICE’s generosity puts COD’s equivalent DLC to absolute shame. In short, Battlefield’s excursion to Vietnam makes it feel like a completely different game altogether, therefore making it a must have for trigger happy Bad Company 2 fans longing for a new reason to return to the battlefield.

It’s Wednesday, which of course means it’s time to unwrap another Store update. This week sees a new batch of downloadable games including Prince of Persia Warrior: Within and Two Thrones and the glorified tech-demo that is Sackboy’s Prehistoric Moves, along with some fresh DLC for Dj Hero 2, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II.

Check out this week’s PSN update in full after the break.

Special Offers

(Offer prices available until the 22nd December)

• Tank Battles (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £0.79/€0.99)
• DropLitz (was – £7.99/€9.99 now – £3.99/€4.99)
• Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood – Old West Map Pack (was – £7.99/€9.99 now – £5.49/€6.99)
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game (was – £7.99/€9.99 now – £5.49/€6.99)
• Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP) (was – £19.99/€24.99 now – £13.99/€17.99)
• Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
• Splinter Cell Essentials (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Predator (PSP) (was – £23.99/€29.99 now – £16.99/€20.99)
• Panda Craze (mini) (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £2.49/€2.99)
• Caterpillar (mini) (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £2.49/€2.99)

Permanent Price Reductions

• Disney’s Action Game Feat. Hercules (now – £4.39/€5.49)
• Disney’s Atlantis : The Lost Empire (now – £4.39/€5.49)
• Disney Pixar Toy Story 2 (now – £4.39/€5.49)
• Disney Pixar Toy Story Racer (now – £4.79/€5.99)
• Lilo & Stitch : Trouble in Paradise (now – £3.19/€3.99)
• Monsters Inc : Scare Island (now – £3.19/€3.99)
• Peter Pan : Adventures In Never Land (now – £3.19/€3.99)
• Party Time with Winnie the Pooh (now – £3.19/€3.99)
• The Little Mermaid II (now – £3.19/€3.99)
• A Bug’s Life (now – £3.19/€3.99)

Downloadable Games (PS3)

• Prince of Persia: Warrior Within HD (£11.99/€14.99)
• Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones HD (£11.99/€14.99)
• Sackboy’s Prehistoric Moves (£4.79/€5.99)
• Prototype (£31.99/€39.99)

Downloadable Games (PSP)

• Prinny 2 (£23.99/€29.99)
• Bakugan: Defenders of the Core (£19.99/€24.99)

minis (PS3 and PSP)

• Core Blaster (£2.49/€2.99)
• Dr. Minigames (£2.49/€2.99)
• Farm Frenzy (£2.49/€2.99)
• I Must Run! (£2.49/€2.99)
• Shapo (£3.99/€4.99)

Demos (PS3)

• Planet Minigolf Move Demo

Add-On Game Content (PS3)

• DJ Hero 2 – Old Skool Hip Hop Mix Pack (£6.29/€7.99)
• Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – Mont St. Michael Animus Update Pack (free)
• Borderlands – Add-on Extravasplosion (£15.99/€19.99)
• Monopoly Streets – Stratosphere City (£5.49/€6.99)
• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light – Raziel and Kain Character Pack (£2.39/€2.99)
• Joe Danger – New Costume Bundle (£2.39/€2.99)
• The Fight – Duke Character Pack (£0.99/€1.49) Rating: PEGI 16
• EyePet Move Edition – Clown Styling Pack (£2.39/€2.99) Rating: PEGI 3

Trinity Universe

• Gift for Everyone Pack (£0.79/€0.99)
• Mid-Level Armour Pack (£1.59/€1.99)
• Middle Ability Pack (£1.59/€1.99)
• My Secret Savings Pack (£0.79/€0.99)

Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage

• Ken’s Rage Pack 3 – Heart Playable, 2 Scenarios (£7.19/€8.99)
• Ken’s Rage Pack 5 – Jagi Costume, 2 Scenarios (£2.99/€3.59)

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2

• Costume Pack 1 (£0.79/€0.99)
• Endor Level Pack (£0.79/€0.99)

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift

• Additional Character Colour Vol. 1 (£5.10/€6.49)
• Additional Character Colour Vol. 2 (£5.10/€6.49)
• Additional Character Colour Vol. 3 (£5.10/€6.49)
• Additional System Voice Type-C (Taokaka) (£3.99/€4.99)
• Additional System Voice Type-K (Jin) (£3.99/€4.99)
• Additional System Voice Type-M (Carl) (£3.99/€4.99)
• Unlock ‘All Unlimited Characters’ (£3.99/€4.99)
• Unlock Playable Character: ‘Mu’ (£1.59/€1.99)

Mushroom Wars

• Mushroom Wars Online Pack (£2.39/€2.99)
• Mushroom Wars: Map: Duplex VII (£0.79/€0.99)
• Mushroom Wars: Map: Duplex VIII (£0.79/€0.99)
• Mushroom Wars: Map: Quadrex III (£0.79/€0.99)
• Mushroom Wars: Map: Quadrex IV (£0.79/€0.99)
• Mushroom Wars: Map: Triplex V (£0.79/€0.99)

Rock Band 3

• Billy Joel: The Hits (Rock Band Edition) (£9.99/€14.99) (contains the tracks listed below which are also available separately)
• ‘Big Shot’ (£1.49/€1.99)
• ‘Captain Jack’ (£1.49/€1.99)
• ‘It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me’ (£1.49/€1.99)
• ‘Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)’ (£1.49/€1.99)
• ‘Only the Good Die Young’ (£1.49/€1.99)
• ‘Piano Man’ (£1.49/€1.99)
• ‘Pressure’ (£1.49/€1.99)
• ‘Say Goodbye to Hollywood’(£1.49/€1.99)
• ‘The Entertainer’ (£1.49/€1.99)
• ‘The Stranger’ (£1.49/€1.99)
• ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ (£1.49/€1.99)
• ‘You May Be Right’ (£1.49/€1.99)

Rock Band Network

• ‘Best I Never Had’ by The Downtown Fiction (£0.99/€1.49)
• ‘Broke Down on the Brazos’ by Gov’t Mule (£0.99/€1.49)
• ‘Children of December’ by The Slip (£0.59/€0.79)
• ‘I Just Wanna Run’ by The Downtown Fiction (£0.99/€1.49)
• ‘Oceans Between Us’ by The Downtown Fiction (£0.99/€1.49)

FirstPlay (PS3)

• FirstPlay Episode 37 (£0.99/€1.20)

Avatars (PS3)

The Fight

• Danny Dreadnaught (£0.20/€0.25)
• Sgt. Tank (£0.20/€0.25)
• Vinnie the Wall (£0.20/€0.25)

EyePet

• Snowman Pet (£0.20/€0.25)
• Flyboy Pet (£0.20/€0.25)
• Santa Pet (£0.20/€0.25)

Themes (PS3)

• Prince of Persia Trilogy Static Theme

Premium Themes (PS3)

• Von Chrono Themes – Gassed (£1.19/€1.49)

Disruptive Themes

• Kaleidoscope (£1.19/€1.49)
• The Big Apple (£1.19/€1.49)

Dynamic Themes (PS3)

• Prince of Persia Trilogy Dynamic Theme (free)

Lama Themes

• Dynamic Christmas (£1.59/€1.99)
• Dynamic Christmas Candles (£1.59/€1.99)
• Dynamic Christmas Snow (£1.59/€1.99)
• Dynamic Red Planet (£1.59/€1.99)
• Dynamic Underwater Theme (£1.59/€1.99)

Wallpapers (PS3)

• Top Darts Wallpaper
• Top Darts Beach Wallpaper

Explodemon!

• Wallpaper 1
• Wallpaper 2
• Wallpaper 3

Wallpapers (PSP)

• Legends of War: Patton’s Campaign Wallpaper

Videos (PS3)

DC Universe Online – Character Creation Trailer

Eat Them! Launch Trailer

Top Darts Fun Features Trailer

Resistance 3 Trailer

• Deus Ex: Human Revolution Upgrades & Augmentations Trailer
• Vanquish Weapons Trailer
• Yakuza 4 Story of Yakuza 4 Trailer

Echochrome II

• Trailer
• Launch Trailer

Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam

• Hill 137 Trailer
• Phu Bai Trailer

Videos (PSP)

• Everybody’s Stress Buster Launch Trailer

Source: PlayStation Blog

I think you’ll have gathered by now that I have very mixed feelings towards Gran Turismo 5‘s car list. Like me, many fans have been reeling in the decision to restrict around 800 of the 1000 + strong car lineup to inferior quality PS2 imports, and it’s easy to see why after the arduous 5 year wait.

Well, it looks like Polyphony are hoping to rectify this as a recent comment from Kaz himself in Famitsu magazine indicated that there are plans to upgrade Standard models to the prestigious Premium quality, sporting superior quality modelling and the all-important full interiors. Just how many cars will get the Premium treatment remains to be seen, but it’s nonetheless encouraging to learn that GT5‘s tinkering is showing no signs of ending any time soon.

The Bugatti Veyron will be a priority upgrade though, right?

Source: GTPlanet

Now here’s a sentence I didn’t think I would ever be writing at one point: Gran Turismo 5 is here. Complete. Finished. Ready for retail. I know, I’m just as flabbergasted as you are. And yet here I am cradling a real, physical copy of Polyphony’s long overdue new-born baby.

Kaz Yamauchi’s devoted drive for perfection has meant that GT5 has been in development since the dawn of time, incurring several disappointing delays – it was originally meant to leave the forecourt in 2008. Mind you, this is the same developer who stated Gran Turismo PSP would be a launch title.

Over four main iterations, Gran Turismo has enjoyed considerable success and recognition for shaping the racing simulation genre, creating a global icon whilst sitting safely in a class of its own. Times have changed however, and as 2007’s Gt5 Prologue became GT5 Prolonged, the competition has become ever more turbulent since GT4’s release back in 2004, with the likes of Forza Motorsport shadowing its slipstream. Can Gran Turismo get back into the race or has it run out of fuel after such a long pit stop?

One thing is for certain: GT5 doesn’t leave a good first impression. To reduce loading times, the game invites you to begin an optional data installation – this is nothing new for a contemporary console game these days, except this one is a hard-drive-hogging 10GB. The waiting time? Roughly 45 long, empty minutes.

It wouldn’t be so arduous if the game entertained you with something other than a black screen and garish loading bar during installation, so you would be wise to make some babies, eat a pie or do something equally productive to while away the time. The eta is also hysterically optimistic, as “3 seconds remaining” stretches for several agonising minutes – it’s about as reliable as the fluctuating release date.

Your treat for such endurance is a pretentious 7 minute-long intro cinematic depicting a car being constructed from its core components, before an ill-fitting music montage by My Chemical Romance, a band worshipped worldwide by mortally depressed 14 year olds – whatever happened to the days of Moon Over the Castle or Feeder? Remarkably, the game still hasn’t even finished installing at this point, procedurally loading components such as track and car selections on the fly.

Then you enter GT Life, the main meat of the game, which on first glance looks as if Kaz stuffed his mouth and nose full of menus and then sneezed. In contrast to GT4’s navigable world map, GT Life’s lifeless home screen is bland and cluttered with an overwhelming number of options, forcing you to trawl through an endless array of sub-menus to perform rudimentary tasks. Still, at least we have some pompous jazz music to sooth the mood.

Once again, you start with a meagre budget that only allows you to buy a used crummy car, gradually working your way up until you have a car collection that Jay Leno would be envious of. It’s a familiar structure that remains largely unchanged since GT’s inception in 1997, though GT5 also introduces a new ranking system – yes, even GT has now conformed to the XP mechanic.

Completing events will earn you XP and advance your level, unlocking previously restricted events and cars, thus preventing you from accessing the more difficult events and faster cars too early on. It’s a mechanic that cements the “caRPG” vibe the series has retained, but GT Life can become a ritual as you struggle to reach the higher ranks to the point you end up repeating earlier events just to level up.

Many events also have car restrictions that force you to scour the used dealership (which randomly generates new cars in the same vein as GT PSP), yet it’s still sometimes possible to race in unfairly powered cars which often takes driving skill out of the equation in the early events. The dreaded license tests also return but are thankfully no longer mandatory, and achieving gold in every test will take some time.

While A-Spec covers the main racing events in the game, events can also be repeated in B-spec, whereby you observe the race from a manager’s point of view issuing commands to your driver, who will respond according to their current stamina. In all honesty, B-spec is a tiresome distraction that did little to keep me awake, although it can be useful for milking money.

Special Events provide a welcome break from the grind of A and B-spec, and are the undisputed highlights of GT Life. Chief among which is the inclusion of the Top Gear Test Track, the iconic abandoned airfield used to test cars on a certain BBC show I happen to admire.

Sony was no doubt pleased to obtain this prestigious license, as Top Gear’s mass appeal will no doubt provide a unique selling point for the game. The introduction, which explains the premise of the show before showing the rendered studio and the Stig thrashing an Aston Martin, had me buzzing with excitement, only to then be disappointed when the “exciting” event was unveiled – a race in VW Camper Vans that struggle to reach 50 MPH. How Polyphony thought they could derive any fun from this is beyond me.

It’s still fun to pretend you’re the Stig and exclaim “and across the line!” after each lap, but the license feels like a missed opportunity: even the reasonably priced cars are nowhere to be seen. DLC, I demand thee.

Thankfully, this wasn’t the only license Polyphony acquired. Special Events serve as a poignant reminder of GT5’s astonishing car variety – one minute you’re sat an inch from the track in a dinky go-kart, the next you’re taking NASCAR lessons from a ghostly Jeff Gordon, tackling the perilous Nürburgring segment by segment in a Mercedes AMG or taking part in tough WRC challenges with Sebastian Vettel. In short, GT Life covers a lot of ground, with no shortage of unique events to participate in and a strong scope for car collecting.

Oh dear; it’s time to talk about the car list. The last time I did this I managed to upset some Internets who hastily concluded I should be grateful that the game sports over 1000 cars. I won’t argue that, statistically, this is indeed a staggering and commendable achievement, but those who failed to read past the first paragraph of the aforementioned article ultimately missed my point.

I’ll reiterate: GT5’s car list is woefully unbalanced, with a clear bias towards Japanese cars (how many variants of the Nissan Skyline do you really need?) and isn’t nearly as comprehensive or up to date as you would have thought. I hate to say it, but right now Forza Motorsport 3‘s car list is far more diverse than GT5’s disappointingly dated roster. And this is coming from a well acquainted GT veteran before the fanboy flags are waved.

What’s more, there is an unfortunate divide in quality between car models. Out of 1000 cars, around 200 are “Premium” models awashed with supreme detail and fully modelled interiors, whereas the remaining 800 or so are “Standard” models that were directly imported from GT4 and GT PSP.

Premium models reinforce GT’s photorealistic aesthetic, and look salivating sensational with a painstaking level of detail. By contrast, the Standard cars’ age-old heritage shows, with inferior texture quality and jagged edges abound: Polyphony restrict you from taking photographs of Standard cars too close-up, which says it all really. Standard cars also lack interiors, meaning you have to adjust to different viewpoints if you normally drive with the cockpit view – even using GT PSP’s detail-less dashboards would have been better than nothing at all. GT has never stood for quantity over quality, so such sacrilege is perplexing.

It’s a similar story with the track design. New city tracks such as London and Madrid dazzle you with their lavish lighting and expertly crafted structures, but old favourites like  Trial Mountain and Deep Forest shatter GT5’s good looks with an abundance of PS2 quality textures, scenery pop-up and trees that still look like they were stencilled with blunt Crayolas. It’s like scanning a supermodel, only to find they have a bulging boil planted on their face.

With 20 tracks and 70 variations (including some new aesthetically pleasing weather effects and day and night transitions), GT5 provides an ample number of locations, and yet there are still a few questionable omissions: where is Midfield Raceway, El Capitan and Apricot Hill, to name a few? There is also a new track editor, but there’s little to rave about as you are restricted to adjusting corners on a pre-rendered layout. ModNation Racers this is not.

Then there’s that long requested feature: car damage. Yes, GT finally allows you to inflict damage to its previously pristine cars, but before you get excited, the effect is extremely understated. It’s still possible to come out unscathed during hard impacts, and Standard cars only suffer minute dents whereas some premium cars incorporate flapping panels. There are also no debris effects whatsoever, and the collision physics still leave a lot to be desired.

When it boils down to it however, GT has never been about crashing: it’s the art of driving that the game was principally designed for. Mercifully, this is once again where GT absolutely excels over the competition, as GT5 delivers a phenomenal physics engine that’s leaps and bounds ahead of GT5 Prologue. Sublime doesn’t even begin to describe the degree of sophistication.

Equip yourself with a wheel, and you will soon learn why GT is touted “the real driving simulator,” allowing you to feel every subtlety of handling a car. GT5 removes the previous arcade and professional physics settings, instead allowing you to customise the difficulty by tweaking the driving aids. With all aids turned on it’s accessible for beginners, but those who are brave enough to turn them off will find the more ferocious cars complete animals to tame: there’s no better feeling than tail sliding a Ferrari 458 with no traction control.

Online multiplayer for up to 16 players finally makes its full debut, but, like a lot of features in GT5, it feels rather archaic. Players can join each other’s online “Lounge” (GT5’s upper-class term for “lobby”) so you can chat whilst gorging on Ferrero Rocher’s before the race begins. From here, you can restrict races by car make and power and the online performance is smooth, but there’s little incentive to play online at this point since you can’t earn XP or money. Online leaderboards are also curiously absent at the time of writing, but will reportedly be added in the near future.

If you’re as fanatical about cars as Kaz, it’s easy to appreciate GT5’s enthusiastic efforts to encapsulate the feeling of collecting cars and driving them beyond their limits. As a game sequel however, it’s not quite the evolutional leap many were hoping for as the many niggles and lack of innovation prevent it from achieving the perfection it aspired to, resulting in a refinement of an age-old formula.

If anything, GT5 sets the technical foundations for GT6, a pattern that we’ve seen time and time again – just look at the leap from GT3 to GT4. GT5 can therefore safely be filed under “one for the fans”.

Hot on the release of Gran Turismo 5, Forza Motorsport 4 has been announced in a new debut trailer from VGA 2010.

Details are scarce at the moment other than the fact it will launch in “Fall 2011″.

Note to Polyphony: it’s taken six years for Turn 10 to churn out four Forza Motorsports compared to five Gran Turiusmos in 14 years.