EU/US & Jap PlayStation Store Update 24th April 2008

United States

Games/Demos:
-R-Types (PS1) - $5.99
-Echochrome demo
-Iron Man demo

DLC:
-Army of Two - SSC Challenge Map Pack - $4.99? - $9.99?
-Call of Duty 4 map pack 1 - $9.99
-Eye of Judgement - Set 2 - $14.99?
-Guitar Hero III - Def Leppard Track Pack - $5.99
-Karaoke Revolutions - New Songs - $1.49 each

Rock Band tracks:
Mötley Crüe - “Saints of Los Angeles” (master) - $1.99

Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance LP (masters) - $14.99 for all or $1.99 each
“The Hellion/Electric Eye”
“Riding on the Wind”
“Bloodstone”
“(Take These) Chains”
“Pain and Pleasure”
“Screaming for Vengeance”
“You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’”
“Fever”
“Devil’s Child”

Trailers:
-Army of Two - "SSC Challenge"
-Burnout: Paradise - "BTS - Fast Car music video"
-Burnout: Paradise - "Interview w/ Wyclef Jean, pt. 1"
-Burnout: Paradise - "Interview w/ Wyclef Jean, pt. 2"
-FIFA 08 - "Features"
-Gran Turismo 5 Prologue - "Techno"
-Iron Man
-PlayStation @ Coachella
-Prototype - "Discover Evolution"
-Resistance 2 - "Debut Teaser"


United Kingdom

Games/Demos:
-Bishi Bashi Special (PS1) - €4,99
-Command and Conquer (PS1) - €4,99
-Rocketmen: Axis of Evil demo

DLC:
-Call of Duty 4 - Map Pack 1 - £6.99 / €9.99

Trailers:
-Resistance 2 - "Debut Teaser"
-TimeShift - "FPS Differently" (3 of them)
-Viking: Battle for Asgard (2 of them)
-Warhawk - "Operation Broken Mirror preview"

Other:
-Dark Sector wallpaper
-Metal Gear Solid 4 wallpaper
-MotorStorm wallpapers

Japan

Games/Demos:
-Siren demo (survival horror game, going up early Friday morning US time)

DLC:
-Hot Shots Golf 5 – New Course(s) – ¥800
-Flow Expansion – ¥300
-PixelJunk Monsters Encore – ¥600

Major UK retailers already sold out of GTA IV

Several major UK game retailers and supermarkets are already sold out of Grand Theft Auto IV.

Big gaming outlets such as Game.co.uk, HMV and Gameplay are either completely sold out or can no longer guarantee delivery on April 29.

While it seems as though now you’re going to have to take your chances in shops on release day, most major online retailers still have the special edition available.

It also appears that the PS3 version is in higher demand than its rival.

Here’s a list of retailers that no longer can give you the game when you want it:

• Amazon.co.uk (360/PS3)
• Gamestation.co.uk (360/PS3)
• Play.com (PS3)
• Woolworths.co.uk (PS3)
• Asda (PS3)
• Shopto.net (360/PS3)

Playstation Store Officially Closed For Now

PS Store Closed April 14th 8am(PST) /4pm(GMT) . New PS Store reopens 11pm(PST) same evening/April 15th 7am(GMT).

PSN Store Update and Network Downtime Confirmed

It’s been confirmed that the next system software update and PSN Store update will take place on April 14th, just in time for those of us rushing to file our US Income Tax returns to be forced to take a break and try to track down that receipt for that business dinner at the "Thirsty Alligator House of BBQ".

According to playstation.custhelp.com, the PSN store will be upgraded and inaccessible from April 14th at 8:00 am Pacific Standard Time and available again at 11:00 PM that evening. The entire PSN will be unavailable as well during this time frame. Once the PSN is back up and running, a new software upgrade will be available and will be required to use the PSN.

Once you get the update and check out the store, please check back and tell us your thoughts.

MGO Beta Free Download For All Europeans: No Pre-Order Needed

Well here’s some great news for the often forgotten Europeans. Although North American’s must pre-order Metal Gear Solid 4 to access the Metal Gear Online Beta, Europeans will be able to download the Beta for free, and with no need for a code. Follow the jump for more information.

In reporting new information on the Playstation Store relaunch and its included content, there was a nugget of information that would be easily overlooked if it wasn’t spelled out. Sony Europe confirmed that the Metal Gear Online Beta would be available on April 17th, but we presumed this would only be for thos who pre-ordered.

We then realised that, as of yet, there were no reports of Beta Codes in Europe. Konami thus made things all the clearer today, saying that the “Metal Gear Online Premiere Beta will be available as a free download on the Playstation Store from April 17th until May 6th.” The Beta itself will begin on April 21st (plenty of time to get hold of this presumably very popular download) and end on May 6th.

The beta phase features two maps, four gameplay modes, the SOP System that encourages up to 16 players to team up and share information, and deep skill-customization. Also equipped with auto-matching and training modes, the game offers players a sneak peak of this totally new approach to console-based competitive gaming.

Bring on the Metal Gear Online Beta for all Europeans (and hopefully others in the Pal region, including Australia) and those North Americans who were clever enough to pre-order.

Source

Ben Heck's Latest Wonder Project: PS3 Laptop

It looks like the PS3 is finally getting some hot mod love from console modding's reigning wizard, Ben Heck. We don't really have all the details since he hasn't announced the project yet, but the display looks like it's the one he used for the Xbox 360 Elite laptop, for a true 720p picture. He's obviously been leveling up his already formidable powers though, 'cause this is one of his most polished projects yet.


Source

Sony Unaware Of Alleged PS3 Error

Sony has told Eurogamer that it is unaware of any issues regarding the mysterious PS3 error codes supposedly popping up around the world.

The allegedly cursed number is 80010514. It relates to a faulty sector on the hard drive and faulty installation of firmware updates, according to GameRevolver.

There's advice to avoid this by following the correct procedure when installing updates, using a stable Internet connection to download and dust your machine to stop heat issues and other glitches occurring.

Despite the problem being unrelated to the hardware, your system will apparently still need replacing if the error occurs.

So is this a serious problem, or just Internet bunkum? An SCE UK spokesperson told us, "I've spoken to our Customer Services department and they aren't aware of this issue with the PS3".

Make of that what you will. And many of you probably will.

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Retail Confirms PlayStation 3 GTA IV Bundle

UK retailer Shopto has confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that a PlayStation bundle with Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV is due for release in Europe on April 29.

The retailer said that there was some confusion as to who would be distributing the product in the UK – Gem, which has the exclusive distribution contract with publisher Take-Two, or Centresoft, the company that handles distribution for Sony.

"We know for a fact it is coming out in Europe and we are expecting an announcement in the UK any time," confirmed Igor Cipolletta, COO of Shopto.com.

"We are not sure if Gem or Centresoft are distributing it yet, that seems to be the hold up," he added.

The bundle has a RRP of GBP 299 and will go on sale the same day as the release of the highly-anticipated Rockstar game.

Source

Interview With SCE Engineers Reveal BD-Live, Firmware Plans

People love firmware updates on the PS3. Why? They continue to add new functionality. While the most-requested feature, in-game XMB, still has not arrived, the latest update (2.20) included a number of new features, such as support for BD-Live, the latest Blu-ray disc profile. The interview notes that the PS3 is much more powerful than standalone Blu-ray players on the market, and that the "performance gap" won't get smaller any time soon. Because of this, Blu-ray discs can differentiate between players, and include "richer effects" on PS3 systems.

Future firmware updates will include 1080 deinterlacing and DTS-HD MA, much to the joy of serious home theater buffs. Expect updates to happen quarterly -- although the revised PS Store will break from that planned cycle.

While the most recent firmware is required to sign into the PSN and play the newest games, it seems as though firmware updates will be required for movie playback as well. In fact, the Resident Evil: Extinction BD includes an updater on the disc, for firmware 2.10.

Expect this trend to continue into the future.

Source

GTA IV PS3 Bundle Coming To Europe

Swedish retailer Webhallen has today revealed the first image of a new PlayStation 3 bundle which will be launching in Europe alongside Grand Theft Auto IV. The bundle includes the standard 40GB PlayStation 3 console and a copy of the game.
The price listed is 4499kr, which is the same as the Gran Turismo 5 bundle which launched just over a week ago. While availability in other countries has not been announced, this indicates that the GTA bundle should sell for £299.99 in the United Kingdom and €399.99 elsewhere.

Source

Metal Gear Solid 4 - Official Packshot

Konami has revealed the official European boxshot for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The game is exclusive to PS3, and due too be released on June 12th.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue takes pole position in Australian charts

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue takes pole position in the latest Australian software chart.

n doing so the Polyphony Digital developed racer, which is out in the US on April 15, echoes the success it enjoyed earlier this week in the UK where it debuted at No1 in the chart and became the fastest selling PS3 title within a week.

Brain Training re-enters the top ten at No2, while Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, also for DS, is a non-mover at No3.

Last week’s best seller, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, is down five places to No6, former No1 Guitar Hero III makes two entries, while God of War: Chains of Olympus for PSP is new at No10.

01. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (PS3)
02. Brain Training (DS)
03. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS)
04. Guitar Hero III Double Pack (Wii)
05. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3)
06. Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (360)
07. Mario Party 8 (Wii)
08. Guitar Hero III Rock Bundle (360)
09. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
10. God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP)

Chart data compiled by GfK Australia.

Revamped PS3 Store "will no longer use the PS3 web browser"

The revamped PlayStation 3 Store "will no longer use the PS3 web browser", a Sony source has told Eurogamer.

Due to launch in mid-April, the Store features a slick new front-end and our source says it's an improvement in other areas too.

"It will cache all images properly and is much faster than the old one," he says.

We were also told that the Store "will require everyone to upgrade to 2.30 [firmware]," which Sony has yet to talk about publicly.

The new Store, officially confirmed earlier today, was drawn up in response to feedback from the PAL PS3 community.

Sony plans to launch it in mid-April and will not be updating the Store with new content until it has done so.

Source

New look PS Store advertised on PS Store

We know that a new look PlayStation Store is coming, but seeing that Sony Europe are so sporadic with their updates it is nice to know that they seem aware of it too. The first news of the store update was confirmed earlier this month by John Hight, but now it seems Sony are happy enough to publicly promote its arrival on their service. As such, they have launched a new advertising banner proclaiming that a “Great new look” will “coming soon.” The banner is not clickable, so no further info was revealed on when it may be coming or what new features it may bring.

GT5: Prologue now live on PSN

The game’s now up on the European PSN and is available for download.

GT5: Prologue was supposed to release yesterday on PS3’s online service, but was delayed due to 'technical' problems, according to a statement issued by SCEE earlier today.

The wait’s over, anyway. Go fetch, assuming you haven’t bought the disc out of wild frustration at not being able to download it at midnight last night.

360 and PS3 rocket during bumper Easter

PS3 leading year-to-date sales battle with 360; Sony and Microsoft consoles see over 70 per cent sales boost.

The race between Xbox 360 and PS3 shifted up a notch this past week as both consoles saw huge leaps in hardware sales, thanks to the Easter break.

Though PS3 is still outselling 360 regularly week-on-week and in terms of year-to-date sales, the Sony and Microsoft platforms both saw a 73 and 78 per cent rise in hardware sales respectively this week.

Nintendo’s mega-selling Wii and DS also saw significant rises, despite stock concerns.

ChartTrack data obtained by MCV suggests that the Easter break also saw a significant boost for software sales as parents and school kids rushed to the High Street to snap up the latest releases.

"Week 12 fell during Easter so we saw software and hardware up across the board," ChartTrack director Dorian Bloch told MCV.

"PS3 and Xbox 360 are pretty much neck and neck at the moment, with PS3 slightly ahead. Software was up, and the formats that Rainbow Six Vegas 2 appeared on did especially well".

Retailer activity, particularly from Dixons and Argos, have boosted already strong PS3 sales – and there’s more to come, said Bloch.

"The release of GT5 Prologue and its bundle will see a further rise on PS3 after its release. PS3 has been outselling Xbox 360 for some time, but last week they were pretty close. In terms of sales so far this year, PS3 is ahead".

But it’s not over yet – a split Easter period means that the sales bonanza will continue into next week, added Bloch. "Some schools are on holiday so next week will be similar, as there are a lot of product slated for March 28th. We’ve seen bumper sales this week and we can expect the same for next week".

WEEK-ON-WEEK HARDWARE SALES

360 - Up 78 per cent
PS3 - Up 73 per cent
Wii - Up 37 per cent
DS - Up 32 per cent
PSP - Up 10 per cent

Source

'Technical difficulties' hold up GT5 Prologue PSN

Sony has told Eurogamer that "last minute technical difficulties" are to blame for the absence of yesterday's expected PlayStation Store update.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue was supposed to go on sale, alongside a demo of UEFA Euro 2008 according to EA, and the new Grand Theft Auto IV trailer.

"Unfortunately due to some last minute technical difficulties, we were unable to publish the new content to the PS Store yesterday," Sony told us just now.

"We are working to resolve these issues and will let you know as soon as new content is posted".

The platform holder has not said whether or not we will see the update today or later. So fans of GT might want to go outside in the rain and buy the Blu-ray version instead.

Source

GT5 Prologue misses PSN launch date

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue appears to have missed its March 27th PlayStation Network launch date, with the game unavailable from Sony's PAL store at the time of writing.

Speculation grew as the day wore on with no new files that Sony was holding off until it was possible to include the new Grand Theft Auto IV trailer - the embargo on that was 10pm - but as the hour came and went still the storefront remained unchanged.

In fact, a big fat nothing has gone up on PSN overnight, despite us staying up until our eyes bled, and Sony hasn't said anything to the press yet, or on the European PS3 forums, where people are not very impressed.

GT5 Prologue had been due to launch on PSN yesterday and should be out on Blu-ray today in Europe. Priced GBP 24.99, it has 71 cars and six tracks, but offers many hours of awesomeness thanks to an extensive single-player mode and new Euro-specific Quick Tune feature that allows you to extend the life of the game by customising car settings to power past the opposition.

You can read much more about all that, and the game's promised online options and swanky visuals, in our Gran Turismo 5 Prologue PAL review, and hopefully pick it up on Blu-ray today - saving yourself a nearly 2GB download and potentially a couple of quid if you shop around.

Elsewhere on the PS3 Store this week we were promised a UEFA Euro 2008 demo, with EA oblivious to any kind of delay to the PSN schedule when we spoke to them on Thursday afternoon.

Eurogamer are chasing Sony for an explanation and hope to have one later this morning.

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PSN hacked notice: There has been unauthorized access to user accounts of PS Store

Official European Playstation sites have posted a notice to users that there has been a possibility of unauthorized access to personal information on the PLAYSTATION Store through PCs. They are asking users to verify there account is intact by signing in to the PSN (if your pre-set password works you are unaffected).

Notice to PLAYSTATION®Network Users

We have found out that there has been a possibility of unauthorized access to personal information on the PLAYSTATION®Store through PCs, a content download service of the PLAYSTATION®Network. Although unlikely, it is possible that the passwords of a small percentage of PLAYSTATION®Network users may have been changed through unauthorized access, making it possible to view users’ personal information and/or use the Wallet for the PLAYSTATION®Store. PLAYSTATION Network accounts do not display entire credit card numbers, so any unauthorized access to your PLAYSTATION Network account is very unlikely to compromise your credit card number.

We have taken immediate measures to rectify this issue and system security is restored.

We have investigated the extent of unauthorized access and possible alteration of passwords that could have occurred before corrective measures were taken, and are directly contacting customers who may have been affected by this incident. In order to verify that your account is intact, we strongly suggest that PLAYSTATION®Network users sign in to the service. If you can successfully sign in with your pre-set password, your account is not affected by this incident.

For more information, please contact Customer Service.

Remember; do not disclose your log-in or password details on any email communications.

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GT5: Kazunori Yamauchi Answers Five Questions On Prologue

Kazaunori Yamauchi talks to gamer.tv