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Silent Hill to dominate March 2012

Nadim — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:20:13 +0000

Silent Hill: Downpour, Silent Hill: HD Collection and Silent Hill: Book of Memories will all be releasing the same month. March, obviously. Here are the details and release dates for each game: - Silent Hill: Downpour is a new entry in the series that hopes to bring new life into the series. You play as Murphy, a convicted felon that is stranded in Silent Hill after his transport bus crashed. Official release is March 13. - Silent Hill: HD Collection is a remastered bundle of previous games 2 and 3 with high definition visuals and redone voice overs (funny stuff). Official release is March 6. - Finally Silent Hill: Book of Memories is a PlayStation Vita exclusive that plays in the same vein as the typical entry in the series would as well as adding cooperative multiplayer support. Official release is March 27. So there you have it. Konami is really starting to push this brand to the next level with these three high-profile releases that will surely garner some attention for the classic series. Source: vg247

Starhawk public beta to go live on January 17

Nadim — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:41:00 +0000

The large-scale online multiplayer that is Starhawk will soon be available to everyone with a PlayStation 3 and an online PSN account. Sony and LightBox were kind enough to give us a nice video to promote it. Check it out, here. January 17 is for previous private beta members as well as PlayStation Plus subscribers. After that, those who got a beta voucher bundled with their copy of Uncharted 3 will gain access on January 31. Facebook winners join in on February 7, followed by other promotional winners on February 14. The beta will be fully public to anyone with an account on February 21.

Epic Mickey 2 in development, will be heading to multiple platforms

Nadim — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:11:42 +0000

A Disney newsletter mistakenly announced the existence of Epic Mickey 2, a sequel to the original game that was exclusive to the Nintendo Wii. It was taken down quickly after realizing the game wasn't officially announced yet, but here's the info it shared:

"Disney Epic Mickey 2 is the latest game in the critically acclaimed Disney Epic Mickey videogame series. In this all-new action-platforming game available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii, Mickey embarks on an epic journey and is pulled back into a world filled with Disney's forgotten characters. Players can choose to play single-player as Mickey or for the first time players can also choose two-player split screen mode. In the two-player mode one person can play as Mickey wielding magic paint and paint thinner to dynamically change the world and the second player can play as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit - Walt Disney's first cartoon star - with the power to fly like a helicopter and use electricity to fight or friend enemies and solve challenges. Team-up and choose your path to save this forgotten world because the choices you make will alter the story and change the end of the game!"

It was also mentioned that the game would be coming to the PlayStation 3, among multiple platforms, Christmas 2012. Due to the nature of the gameplay in the original Epic Mickey, it's a safe bet that Epic Mickey 2 will take full advantage of the PlayStation Move. It's nice to see motion control gaming still getting some love. The critical acclaim for Epic Mickey will make it's sequel something to look out for. Source: Eurogamer

OnLive UK boss wants Sony discussion over PS4 integration

Miles Jolliffe — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:41:43 +0000

OnLive is interested in running its cloud gaming service on the PlayStation 4. During a chat with Eurogamer, Bruce Grove, head of OnLive UK, claims the tech would work “nicely” on next generation consoles from both Sony and Microsoft. "If they decide they want to use our technology, that would be a great discussion because we've already got the infrastructure," he said. "We know how to do it. There are a lot of things we could bring to the table and they could bring to the table. It would certainly be a discussion we would love to have. It would be very interesting. "For us, it broadens our market. Look at in the same way the Xbox is becoming a media hub. It's becoming more than just a game system. It's just announced with the BBC. He added: “In the US it's announced with U-verse for AT&T. They're saying, how do we become more than just this? And this [OnLive] is a service that could quite easily work through their service and would work quite nicely, to be honest." Conversations between OnLive and Sony have taken place in the past, but nothing has materialised just yet. With the PlayStation 4 expected to be unveiled for the first time sometime in the next 12 months though, who knows what’s happening behind the scenes.

Sony: Giving competition head start with the next generation would be “undesirable”

Miles Jolliffe — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 17:44:59 +0000

Sony’s Jim Ryan has said it would be “undesirable” to give its competition too big a head start when it comes to the next generation of consoles. During a chat with Eurogamer, the SCEE boss said: "I think we would consider it undesirable to be significantly later than the competition [with the next PlayStation]." Nintendo will launch its Wii U hardware sometime next year, and reports running claim Microsoft is set to unveil the next Xbox – said to be codenamed ‘TEN’ – at CES 2012 in January. If that all pans out, we may be seeing the PlayStation 3’s successor sometime next year. For now though, we’re guessing Sony’s main focus is the forthcoming launch of its PlayStation Vita handheld.

Hitman: Absolution ‘Run for your life’ gameplay gets IO commentary

Miles Jolliffe — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:12:42 +0000

Square Enix has released a new version of Hitman: Absolution’s ‘Run for your life’ level with commentary from game director Tore Blystad and gameplay director Christian Elverdam. The level – which has been shown to press over the past few months at multiple gaming events – sees protagonist Agent 47 up against the police in an abandoned Chicago library. Watch him stealthily get through this one. Hitman: Absolution launches for PlayStation 3, as well as Xbox 360 and PC sometime next year. When released, it’s likely to be the first title in IO’s excellent franchise in six years. Let’s hope it’s worth the wait. http://youtu.be/0Ze35M7F608

Naughty Dog unsure whether next title will launch this generation

Miles Jolliffe — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:22:42 +0000

Naughty Dog’s Richard LeMarchand is unsure as to whether the studio’s next title will launch on PlayStation 3. Speaking to Eurogamer, the designer claimed it is "very hard to say" if the next title from the California developer will be on PS3 or Sony’s next home console. That game is of course expected to be Uncharted 4, following the release of the spectacular Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception earlier this week. Le Marchand added his belief that the PS3 “still has a lot of mileage in it,” but, rather than a matter of power, pushing the hardware is now about processes. "It now becomes a question of: how do we optimise those processing jobs that we send to the Cell processor; what kinds of things to choose to send to the Cell as opposed to the graphics processor; what different tricky ways can we find to get even more out of the system?" "I think whatever we do next on the PS3 or on any future platform, we're going to be able to apply those lessons we've learned in the course of making this sequence of games, and put those lessons to good use,” he added. “Every single person at Naughty Dog is brimming with ideas for future games."

60 percent of PSP owners looking to upgrade to Vita, says Sony

Miles Jolliffe — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:47:06 +0000

Almost two-thirds of current PlayStation 3 and PSP owners are planning to purchase PlayStation Vita, according to Sony’s John Koller. Speaking to AllThingsD, the company’s director of hardware marketing claims 63 percent of those currently owning a PS3 are looking to splash the cash on the forthcoming handheld powerhouse, with 60 percent of PSP owners are planning to upgrade. Obviously there’s a bit of an overlap with the figures, but you get the picture. Vita launches next month in Japan, with North America and Europe having to wait until February 22, 2012. As brilliant as the figures are for Sony, they don't come with much surprise, with it now being five years since the launch of PSP, and four since that of the PlayStation 3. Many gamers quite obviously want this new slice of PlayStation in their lives. Thanks, Verge.

Uncharted 3 soundtrack remixed by British musician Kirk Spencer

Miles Jolliffe — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:26:36 +0000

Tracks featured in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception have received the remix treatment from British musician Kirk Spencer. Sony has commissioned Spencer to remix two tracks from the game – ‘City of Sand’ and ‘Desert’. "Uncharted 3 looks like one of the best action games I've seen in a while,” said Spencer. “It's a game that I would take a day off just to complete. To be asked to work with the music from it is such a great feeling because I've grown up playing PlayStation Games. "I wanted to make the tracks follow the action packed theme of the game and be quite cinematic. It was hard at first because I wouldn't usually be thinking too much about visuals but as soon as I saw the trailer I knew what direction I was going to take. I've given them my twist which is quite electronic and hopefully people will like what I've done with them." You can check out both tracks at Spencer’s official SC page. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception launched exclusively for PlayStation 3 on Tuesday in North America and yesterday across Europe.

Naughty Dog tester beats Uncharted 3 in just over 3 hours

Miles Jolliffe — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:09:06 +0000

The single-player campaign of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception has been beaten in spectacular style. An unnamed in-house tester at Naughty Dog managed to speedrun their way through Nathan Drake’s latest adventure in just 3 hours and 8 minutes, game director Justin Richmond revealed in a chat with Official PlayStation Magazine UK. Richmond notes that the tester was playing on the game's ‘very easy’ difficulty level, running through it as fast as he could, and knew all the answers to all the puzzles featured. Whether that impresses you or not, it’s not quite as good as Bethesda’s recent speedrun of upcoming title The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which was beaten in an incredible 2 hours 16 minutes and 10 seconds. Uncharted 3 hits PlayStation 3 on November 1 in North America, with its European release set for the following day.