The online PSN service has long been heralded as one of the PlayStation 3’s greatest assets, principally because, unlike its arch-rival the Xbox 360, it is available without the need to pay for the privilege of online gaming. Imagine, then, the faces of bewilderment as SCEA President Jack Tretton announced with enforced enthusiasm PlayStation Plus, a new premium service available exclusively for the charge of a subscription fee.

The idea is that hardcore PSN users will be showered with a stupendous supply of freebies, discounts and early demo and beta privileges, which sounds jolly spiffing on internet paper. But is it such a tantalising prospect in practice?

Read more… »

Say what you will about Eidos’ befallen heroine, but you have got to give the girl credit – whenever you think it’s game over for the once-untouchable mascot, she comes fighting back with something that defies the notion of what one would expect from a Tomb Raider game.

For those expecting a continuation of Underworld, avert your eyes now! Not only does this barely resemble a Tomb Raider game, but it seems to look more like a dungeon crawler – for those eagerly awaiting Diablo 3, this could be deemed as a worthy distraction until the damn game is finally released.

Read more… »

Remember when I told you guys about the Red Faction made-for-TV movie coming to the SyFy channel? Today, SyFy let a few more details squeak out.

Now titled Red Faction: Origins, the made-for-TV movie will arrive within the same window as the upcoming game Red Faction: Armageddon (March 2011). Origins, described as a “pilot” movie, will tell the tale of what events occurred between Red Faction: Guerrilla and Armageddon. Read more… »

With the exception of Deathspank (possibly the greatest name for a game ever), this week’s Store update pales in comparison to recent weeks in terms of note worthy content, unless of course you happen to fancy some more EyePet avatars for your collection. Just watch as your friends list slowly declines.

Downloadable content has also been spread rather thinly, restricted mainly to everyone’s favourite set of music titles that have featured for the 9000th week running. On the plus side, Blur finally gets a PS3 demo and there is a reasonable roster of special offers and minis to choose from.

This week’s PSN Store update can be read in full after the break.

Read more… »

There’s a certain magic to be experienced when playing a highly regarded game nearly twenty years after its original release. It’s not something that gamers get to do often, especially in an age when high-quality releases threaten weekly to bury us even during supposed “summer droughts.” Too often, years and years of praise and hyperbole create in our minds an image of perfection that no game, especially one that has suffered the ravages of time, could live up to. We play a classic, sit back after the credits roll and wonder why we bothered, and we wish we could have played it in its prime.

Hidden among those hundreds of disappointments is the inverse: a classic game that creates in you the feelings of pure admiration and gratitude, and we know that this game is and was something truly special. And, perhaps, it can be made more special by our many years of separation from it, as if the people we are today were the ones meant to experience it.

This is that game.

Read more… »

When I get together with some of my mates we tend to drink some beers.  Maybe play some Rockband or take in a movie.  When Sean, Grant, Ryan and David – the entire team of Hello Games – got together, they decided what the world really needed was a fantastically fun game that served no greater purpose than to amuse and entertain – I’ll wager some beers were also consumed during this postulation.

With that pure notion in mind they have spent the past two years slaving away over Joe Danger.  Leaving behind well paid jobs at some of the UK’s top development companies to create a start-up developer in one of the most unpredictable financial markets of the past 30 years.  Luckily for them their game is an absolute belter.

Hello Games seem to of drawn influences from titles current and past that there are so many obvious titles that could be mentioned here.  Titles like Trials 2 and Trials HD spring instantly to mind.  As does Nintendo’s Excite Bike.  All of these comparisons are fair and justified but there are so many more genre types bursting forth from this game.

Read more… »

The latest update has landed on the PSN Store this week, bringing with it a fine selection of content  to enjoy.

Monkey Island 2 is the undisputed highlight of full PSN games, and there’s the usual supply of game boosting DLC including additional content for Dragon Age: Origin, some Marvel level and costume kits for LittleBigPlanet and even a playable demo of the scary, quintessentially Japanese Patapon 3. Oh, and there’s another preposterously priced map pack for Modern Warfare 2.

Hit that jump for a full roundup of this week’s PSN Store update.

Read more… »

This week’s PSN update sees the launch of PlayStation Plus, the new subscription based scheme revealed at this year’s E3 which entitles you to a slew of free goodies, including free games, DLC and minis.

Elsewhere, Fat Princess becomes a trifle more bloated after gorging on a particularly fattening expansion pack and the SEGA special offers continue to dominate.

But that’s not all: all can be revealed after the break.

Read more… »

Oh what a glorious week it has been for the PS3. Last night we received a pretty new firmware update, version 3.40, fresh with PlayStation Plus, a networking feature in the photo gallery, video editor and uploader, rating system for PSN content, and enhanced power saving settings. I don’t know about you, but I don’t update anymore until I know it won’t brick my system. Call me paranoid but my launch day PS3 is my precious.

Anyhow, Sony continues to shower us with gifts today! This week, you can find new PlayStation Plus PSN Store content, a digital version of inFAMOUS, and if that doesn’t feed your hunger for PSN content, perhaps a Fat Princess expansion pack will. If that isn’t enough for you, hit the jump to see what else today’s US PSN Store update has in store for you – literally. Read more… »

There used to be a genre type that had everyone’s hearts pounding, their veins coursing with adrenaline.  A genre that required absolute precision and lightening fast reactions.  Follow me on a brief jaunt in gaming history.

It’s the late 80′s / early 90′s and everyone who wants to blow something up is hammering coins into arcade cabinets housing titles like Twinbee, Salamander, Flying Shark, R-Type and a hundred others.  Home versions of those and other great shooters like Thunder Force IV, Apidya and Project X all light up the charts.  These were the glory days of the shoot’em up.

Then along game a rather talent Uber-Geek and he coded a fancy thing called a 3D game engine – shooters changed overnight and the rest is gaming history.

Read more… »