Talk Playstation 3 News

Sony has released a press release regarding SingStar Vol.2 for the Playstation 3. One of the new features is a harmony duet mode which is basically allows two players to sing different lines to a song at the same time.

Here is the full press release:

Announcing SingStar® Vol.2 on PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™)

30 new tracks on Blu-ray Disc, a new harmony duet mode and PSP™ (PlayStation®PlayStation) Remote Play functionalities

o Sing 30 new tracks from top artists including The Killers, Eminem and Gorillaz
o Showcase your skills by singing duets in harmony!
o Share your performances with the SingStar community at My SingStar™ Online
o Get access to the ever-expanding SingStore™ to download all your favourites tracks

15 April 2008: SingStar® fans are in for a treat this summer with the launch of SingStar® Vol. 2 on PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™). The new addition to the multi-million selling franchise features 30 new tracks, a brand new harmony duet mode, PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) Remote Play functionalities, increased levels of personalisation and an entry point to My SingStar™ Online – the rapidly growing online SingStar community.

Whether you’re an entertainer, a diva, a rocker, a crooner or hip hopster – or even a shy star – there will be something for you on the disc’s 30-strong track list. Artists featured include The Killers, Eminem, Kaiser Chiefs, Gorillaz and many many more. All track features the original music video for you to enjoy!

Singstar Vol. 2 will feature a harmony duet mode: a new way of playing that allows two players to sing different lines to a song at the same time, showing off their harmonising skills. This is really your chance to showcase your talent and adds a new dimension to the SingStar experience! Special tracks have been included to showcase this new mode such as Kool and the Gang: Celebration, the Paul McCartney & the Frog Chorus: We all Stand Together and The Mamas & The Papas: California Dreamin’.

As if that wasn’t enough, SingStar Vol. 2 also includes Remote Play functionalities with PSP. Using PSP and a wireless Internet connection, players will be able to access various areas of the game such as:

* SingStore: browse, select and download new songs, from SingStore remotely. This is really your chance to get your favourite party tracklist ready before you’re heading back home!
* My SingStar Online: browse and participate in all areas, rate media, leave comments, take part in polls, etc.). You can now continue to be part of the SingStar community on the go: share and show off hilarious and killer performances to your friends and family!

As with the first instalment of SingStar on PS3, SingStar Vol. 2 gives players instant access to SingStore, the ever-expanding online download store where extra tracks can be purchased, allowing players to add to their collection of songs and create their own SingStar playlists to suit their party mood. There are currently over 300 tracks in SingStore costing 1.49€ / £0.99 per track. Make sure you’re part of My SingStar Online, the next-generation community where players can share their performances with the world after capturing them with a PLAYSTATION®Eye or EyeToy® camera.

Key Features:

* Introducing the new harmony duet mode: Put your vocal skills to the test as you perform different lines to a song against your SingStar rival! This is your chance to perform duets in harmony and showcase your skills!

* 30 strong track list: Sing along to critically acclaimed artists and bands from The Killers, Eminem, Kaiser Chiefs, Nirvana and Gorillaz and many many more!

* PSP Remote Play functionality: With a PSP and a wireless internet connection, you will now be able to browse, select and start downloading new songs from the ‘SingStore’ on the go. Choosing your perfect tracklist is easier than ever before. You can also access to all areas of My SingStar Online and share the best SingStar performances with your friend and family!

* Join the online SingStar community: Enter via the game (My SingStar Online) or PC (www.singstargame.com) and upload your performances and rate others. Who knows, you could become an overnight star.

* Download in an instant: SingStore is directly accessible in-game. It’s easy to use and your song selections can be quickly granted. And with over 300 tracks available for you to download directly from the SingStore, there is plenty of choice to suit your party mood!

* Slick new look: Navigate the famous ‘carousel’ for your song selection and enjoy a cool, sophisticated slick new in-game design

* The SingStar experience: Competitive game-play with battle and one-player modes, credible artists and social, inclusive fun – everything you know and love about SingStar but more music and more choice than ever before.

Visit www.singstargame.com for the latest news on the SingStar community, where you’ll also find polls, quizzes, free downloads for MySpace and Bebo pages, party ideas, music news and updates on new tracks available in the SingStore for PS3.

Source: Threespeech.

Are you waiting for a demo for Haze? Your wish has come true because today Ubisoft have announced the release of a playable demo of Haze with a taste of the single player compaign and yes you guessed it, 4 player online co-op.  The demo is due to be released early May on the Playstation Store, just weeks before the full game is released on May 20th in the US and May 23rd in Europe.

Here is the press release:

April 15, 2008 – Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, today announced the imminent release of a fully playable demo for Haze, the new first-person shooter set in a harsh future where war is never quite what it seems. Coming exclusively to the PLAYSTATION®Network in early May, this playable demo will give gamers a taste of not only the single-player campaign in Haze, but will also allow up to four-player, drop-in drop-out co-op play online. Developed by shooter experts Free Radical, creators of the critically acclaimed TimeSplitters® series, Haze is scheduled for release exclusively on the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system on May 20th 2008 in the US. Haze is rated “M” for Mature by the ESRB.

There is a new video of Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet. This video shows the different game modes within the game. I cannot wait for this game, it looks amazing and is probably at the top of my list of musy buy games. LittleBigPlanet is due later this year.

Check out the video:

Remember the Resident Evil 5 video interview that was Famitsu Magazine we posted a few weeks ago? It was all in Japanese so most of us couldn’t understand what the developers were saying about the game. Worry no further, the same video has been released but with English subtitles!

Head over to GameVideos and take a look at it once more.

1UP have took some vital points out of the translated video, mentioning:

“We settled on the fact that we really wanted to show the origins of the virus. So for the setting, we thought ‘How about using the place where human kind was born?’ Well, I’m not a scientist so I don’t know how things might change in the future, but we thought we would use Africa, which is now called the birthplace of humanity, as the model. That’s how we came to use a place in Africa as the setting for [Resident Evil 5].”

and also mentioned:

“I looked at the Resident Evil 5 trailer and I was like, ‘Wow, clearly no one black worked on this game,’” said Croal. “…The point isn’t that you can’t have black zombies. There was a lot of imagery in that trailer that dovetailed with classic racist imagery [...] There was stuff like even before the point in the trailer where the crowd turned into zombies. They’re sort of being, in sort of post-modern parlance, they’re sort of ‘othered.’ They’re hidden in shadows, you can barely see their eyes, and the perspective of the trailer is not even someone who’s coming to help the people. It’s like they’re all dangerous; they all need to be killed [...] And given the history, given the not so distant post-colonial history [in Africa], you would say to yourself, why would you uncritically put up those images?”

Check out 1UP’s article about the translated video.

More information is to be released this Thursday in a podcast. James Stevenson, Community Relations Manager for Insomniac Games has broke the news and promises new information regarding their upcoming PS3 exclusive sci-fi shooter, Resistance 2.

James concluded with:

“The next trailer and worldwide gameplay footage debut will be on the June 13th episode of Gametrailers TV with Geoff Keighley (it’s a full episode covering R2),” said Stevenson. “In the meantime, check out the teaser, and don’t worry, you’ll be hearing more from us before June.”

Be sure to check in to the podcast Thursday April 17 on the official Insomniac website.

Check out the debut teaser trailer by clicking here.

Source: Official Playstation Blog.

The Playstation Store is now back online with a new look as well as new content! The below has been added to the Playstation Store:

US

Game add-ons:

• Super Stardust HD Solo Add-on Pack ($4.99)
• Lair Dragons and Control Pack (free)

Videos:

• Gran Turismo 5 Prologue “Beyond the Apex” trailer (free)
• Gran Turismo 5 Prologue “Friendly Fires” video (free)

Europe

Demos:

• SEGA Superstars Tennis demo (free)

Game add-ons:

• Super Stardust HD Solo Add-on Pack (£2.99)
• Guitar Hero III Dropkick Murphys pack (free)

Videos:

• Bionic Commando Rearmed trailer (free)
• Lost Planet trailer 2 (free)
• SEGA Superstars Tennis trailer (free)

A special thanks to PS3FANBOY for the list.

The Official Playstation Blog has new information regarding Metal Gear Online. They have started their “Metal Gear Mondays” which is basically every Monday, they will feed us with new articles, content, guest post, announcements and more.

Today, they explain that you have to attain a “free pre-order bonus gift” in order to participate in Metal Gear Online Beta.

You must attain a free pre-order bonus gift “Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2″ DVD with MGO Beta Unique Product Voucher Code (UPVC) insert to participate in the MGO Beta as explained in our post last week.

Once you have attained a MGO Beta UPVC, you will be able to download the Beta through the Playstation Store on the 17th of April. To get your UPVC go to this page and fill in the registration details.

Check out the Official Playstation Blog for more information.

Eight Days was first shown at E3 2006 an probably took the show. Eight Days looks to be like a third person action game, something similar to Uncharted Drakes Fortune. But what the hell has happened to the game? There has been no news or talk about the game and i want to find out as much information as possible.

I’ve looked on the net to try and find any information regarding Eight Days and where its currently up to in development. I couldn’t find much apart from game information from IGN:

Originally known only for its breathtaking demo of an exploding gas station shown in video form at E3 2005(and later, a demo of a car being shot up in a different CES 2006 presentation) , this game eventually was revealed as Eight Days, a crime epic from SCE Studios London. Set in the desert of Arizona, the game features eight days in the bad times of the criminal element. The game features open environments that you can run in, with fully-modeled buildings that you can exploit when the action gets too heavy on the streets and outskirts.

Source: IGN

To be honest i don’t think this game is cancelled, i think the game is still in development but is probably at the bottom of the list. It could be released in 2009 and more news maybe at E3 2008. There is not really a lot of information about this game at all, i might contact Sony myself and see what they say. We can only wait.

Here is the Wikipedia article.

Do you think the game is still in development?

Lets have a look and see what Playstation 3 has to offer exclusively this year. There are a lot of AAA titles that are coming out, but which ones are exclusive to PS3?

In no particular order:

• Metal Gear Solid 4
• LittleBigPlanet
• Resistance 2
• Killzone 2
• Haze
• Disagae 3
• White Knight Chronicles
• SOCOM: Confrontation
• MotorStorm 2
• Tekken 6
• Final Fantasy XIII (probably 2009)
• Buzz Quiz TV
• Infamous
• Metal Gear Online
• Time Crisis 4

If there are any i’ve missed let me know and i’ll add to the list, keep in mind they must be coming out this year or have an indication they might be coming out this year.

Which PS3 exlusive titles are you looking forwards to most?

Dengeki, a Japanese gaming magazine has published a scan of Square Enix’s upcoming anticipated RPG, Star Ocean 4. The scan shows screenshots of in-game environments and landscapes.

Click to enlarge the scan.

Star Ocean 4 looks very promising indeed. The visuals look outstanding, but will the gameplay live up to it? I think so.

Source: PSU

This is a Playstation 3 theme. Resistance Fall of Man theme by Nightfall24.
 

If you don’t know how to install a theme on to your Playstation 3, click here for a step-by-step guide on how to do so.

Click here to download theme.

Provided by: allps3themes

The Playstation Store will down on April 14th for a for a scheduled maintenance at the following times:

Start: April 14, 2008, beginning at 8:00 a.m., Pacific Time
End: April 14, 2008, ending at 11:00 p.m., Pacific Time

The Playstation Store update will be taking progress during the above times and Playstation Network will be restricted including no access to the Playstation Store. Once the update has taken place, a new Firmware Update will be available to download.

Check out the Playstation support section for more information.

Here are some new screenshots of Sony’s upcoming online tactical shooter, Socom Confrontation. The new screenshots show off some of the urban maps that are available in the game. Socom Confrontation will feature a massive 32 player battle over the Playstation Network. Every time i see new screenshots for Confrontation, the game is looking better and better.

Check out the screens.

For more screenshots, head over to Pro-Gamers.

Claxiux, a maxconsole forum member has put together a list of 50 features that he thinks the current Cross Media Bar should have.

Below if a few of things i thought were good choices:

• In-game XMB
• More codec’s support
• Content Search bar in the PlayStation Store
• RSS Feeds
• Add downloadable PS2 games to the Store and let them be playable in Remote Play (just like we can do now with PS1 games)

Check out Claxiux maxconsole’s forum post by clicking here.

Well i bet you would never had imagined this. A Playstation 3 laptop! Ben Heck has created the worlds first ever Playstation 3 laptop and it is to be auctioned off and the money will go towards charity.

The stats according to maxconsole are:

Specifications for the laptop are: Original backwards compatible 60GB model, 17-inch LCD HDTV screen: 720p, HDMI-DVI connection (same as last Xbox 360 laptop), Built-in keyboard, USB ports, stereo speakers, headphone jack, Size: 17 x 13.75 x 3-inches and Weight: 16 pounds.

Want more than pictures?
Here is a video: