As part of yesterday’s PSN (excuse me, Sony Entertainment Network) update, the Jak and Daxter Collection is now available for purchase. It’s been over a decade since the original Jak and Daxter was released on the PS2, so now is a perfect time to revisit the series or experience it for the first time.

I never got to play the original trilogy on PS2 so personally I can’t wait to get this. The collection is also available in stores for those of you who don’t like digital downloads. Jak and Daxter Collection sports HD graphics, 3D support, and trophies for you to collect.

[Source: Playstation.Blog]

An army of penguins under the leadership of evil dictator Putzi is taking over Albatropolis and there’s only so much an underground resistance of Cardinals can do to stem the tide of Antarctic invaders. But from the sky soars a jetpack-wearing, shotgun-shooting, action-hero of a chicken, ready to rain death upon the ruthless aggressors invading his homeland.

Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken recently made its way to the PlayStation Network, but is this puzzle-platforming shooter worth your dollar in this crowded holiday season? Read on after the break to find out.

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This review of Dungeon Defenders must begin with a short study of M. Night Shyamalan’s film, Lady In The Water. It’s a worthy comparison in its own way. Both game and film feature casts of characters who must defend their precious jewels from evil (in the film it’s a lady and in the game it’s an actual jewel).

One character in Shyamalan’s film also serves as a metaphor for the game as a whole. It’s Reggie the Guardian, that guy with one super buff arm and one regular arm. Translate that into Dungeon Defenders; from one side it seems to have true strength as a co-op RPG. Take a look from another angle, and it’s a rather bland tower defense title.

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This is the second week of my personal, three week journey through blood and horror. Beginning with a review of the highly anticipated Dead Island, this month started off rather well. If you liken it to a plot in a good B-movie horror flick, this would be around the time we get a twist. Whether it’s a good one will surely depend on your point of view.

While horror films are lauded for their incongruous material, that’s not something you really want to see in a video game. Not when incongruity means poor design, lack of depth and self mutilation. On that note, I have to say I feel my review of BloodRayne: Betrayal is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.

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I admit that I barely heard of Digital Reality’s SkyDrift, an aerial racing game available on Xbox Live and PSN, just a couple of weeks before it launched. However, what I’d seen impressed me. For a downloadable game, SkyDrift looked like a truly polished title. I had high hopes for this aerial racing game, and luckily most of them came true.

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If you’ve been playing Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine this week you might have noticed some problems with the online multiplayer. While the problems with matchmaking in the PC version of the game have been fixed, PlayStation 3 owners aren’t quite as lucky. Wait times to get into a match on PSN can exceed 35 minutes. While THQ have a patch coming to remedy the problem, the fact that such a substantial bug managed to get past the Relic Entertainment’s quality control is really troubling.

Space Marine‘s co-op campaign won’t be dropping for another three weeks. While it will be coming in the form of free DLC, between that and these bugs, it’s begining to look like THQ shipped an unfinished product. Unfortunately they’re in between a rock and a hard place with the fast-coming holiday season. Pushing the game back would mean increased competition for upcoming titles like next week’s Gears of War 3. Hopefully THQ’s attempts to expedite the patch will be successful. It would be nice to get in a match within a couple of minutes of booting up the console for once.

When DeathSpank released on PSN and XBLA last summer it received no shortage of praise. Headed up by legendary Monkey Island designer Ron Gilbert, that title combined the strengths of adventure games with those of hack and slash titles like Blizzard’s Diablo seies. While there were some problems with gameplay execution, DeathSpank won gamers over with an irreverent sense of humor.

While The Baconing might not bear the moniker of its predecessors, DeathSpank is back. The hero to the downtrodden has put on too many undergarments and has thus brought on the apocalypse. He must cast the thongs into the fires of Bacon to stop the end of the world. Yes, it’s that typical sense of humor you’ve come to expect of the series. I wish I could say that the same quality was there. But that would be a straight up lie.

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It seems like every developer with a well known backlog of games is jumping on the HD collection bandwagon. First there was the God of War HD Collection, then the Prince of Persia Trilogy HD; now it seems that Capcom’s Devil May Cry series will be getting its own re-release.

While Capcom has yet to officially announce anything, the ESRB has rated the first three Devil May Cry titles for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Considering that the DMC series was a PlayStation 2 exclusive, branching out with a HD collection might get some younger gamers interested in the franchise. Read more… »

Grasshopper Manufacture is back with a strange new downloadable title. This time around the Shadows of the Damned development house is teaming with Digital Reality to bring an action-platformer to XBLA and PSN. The European developer and Grasshopper have worked together before, on the yet to be released horizontal shooter Sine Mora.

After the break we have a gameplay video of legendary Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka unveiling Black Knight Sword at Grasshopper Manufacture’s event at Gamescom in Germany. Let’s just say if you like marionettes, you’re in luck with this one.

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Chris Hecker (Spore, Quake) announced Thursday the price for early beta access to his latest espionage game, SpyParty, will be $15. This gets you access to the early beta, access to the forums and discussions, as well as the complete game once its released. Players who sign up through the game’s site will also have a chance to lay down $50 or more for their name to be included in the credits once the full title is released.

$15 dollars is a justified price, Hecker says, as it “has become the de facto price point for AAA Indie Games.” Is SpyParty a AAA indie game and is it worth $15 dollars? A good number of people certainly think so. Last time Hecker checked in on the numbers, there were more than 700 gamers already signed up and ready to go. That’s only a few months after he opened the sign up. Not convinced?

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Sony announced the the first annual PSN PLAY event Friday, vying to replicate the success Microsoft has had with its annual The Summer of Arcade sale. PSN will offer four games at retail, with a fifth game free to players who purchase all four. Pre-orders start Tuesday, August 9; and the event will last until Monday, September 19.

Sony goes further, giving players a free PS3 theme along with an unannounced “special gift” with each pre-order. Playstation Plus members will also get a 20% discount off every purchase during the event. This sounds like a good deal on the surface. But, I tell you, my wallet is terrified. Let’s break it down and do the math.

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Way Forward and Majesco are bringing back femme fetale Rayne with BloodRayne: Betrayal. Wednesday, they released new screenshots of this side scrolling, hack-and-slash blood fest. Gamer Limit has them here for you.

Back in June, we got our hands on this game at E3 and recommended that you keep your eyes on this downloadable title for Xbox Live and PSN. Whether you’re into side scrolling hack-and-slash and gore, or a fan of the franchise. Did we mention that it has a knock-out art style? It does.

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