The PSB.Europe weekly reading list (week commencing the 15th of February)

• Heavy Rain – Review | The Lost Gamer
• Heavy Rain – Wonderwallweb.com
• Win a PSP Go with Little Big Planet | The Lost Gamer
• ‘EU Qore’ – FirstPlay – launches in the UK this March | PS3 Attitude
• Destructoid – Preview: I want 3D Dot Game Heroes even more now
• Star Ocean: The Last Hope International Review – PlayStation 3 Review at IGN
• Managers not welcome at Sony’s hit studio | Games Industry | MCV
• Uncharted 2 wins 10 AIAS Awards News | PS3 | Eurogamer
• PlayStation LifeStyle » PSLS Presents – Adrian Workman, CEO of VidZone Digital Media
• PlayStation LifeStyle » PSLS Presents – Kevin Jenkins, Jenkins Software, RakNet
• PlayStation LifeStyle » PSLS Presents – Kevin Ng

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PlayStation.Blog.Europe Weekly Content Recap

Well, it’s finally the weekend. The Heavy Rain launch party feels like weeks ago, even though you’ll be able to get hold of the game yourselves in less than a week now. My round up of the event went live yesterday and you’ll be seeing plenty more Heavy Rain content coming next week, too. But Heavy Rain isn’t the only game in the world, and there’s news on lots of other titles in the list below. This includes some new DLC for Uncharted 2 which could make some of you nostalgic for December 2007.

• UK Video Store Update — This week’s new additions to the UK Video Store.
• Uncharted 2 – New DLC — Revisit Uncharted 1 locations in these Uncharted 2 multiplayer maps.
• From Bad To Lord — Badman changes his name.
• Submit Your Heavy Rain Interview Questions — These interviews are now done, but you’ll begin to see them start to appear next week.
• The UK Set For Heavy Rain — Next weekend various GAME stores will host live Heavy Rain demonstrations.
• LittleBigPlanet Contraption Challenge 10 – Amphibious Vehicle — The LittleBigPlanet Contraption Challenge continues.
• PlayStation Home: MotorStorm Carrier, Plus Loco Island And Mui Mui Ship! — New content arrives in Home.
• mini Obsession Confessions — Make your own mini-based obsession confessions in the official forums.
• ‘Heads-Up’ PlayStation Store Update (18th February 2010) — Lots of new content is now available directly from the PlayStation Store.
• Digital Comics Store Update (18th February 2010) — A whole bunch of new comics are now ready to be downloaded to your PSP.
• Digger HD Demo Now Available — Try out Creat’s retro-in-HD PSN game for free right now!
• More minis Now Have A Mini Price — The minis sale expands as part of minis month.
• Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Demo Out Now! — The Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing demo is now available to download from the PSN Store.
• Heavy Rain Paris Launch Event — A round up of what took place at the Heavy Rain launch party this week, including two great videos.

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I hope you’re ready for lots of Heavy Rain content, because while we were at the big Launch Party in Paris this week we managed to secure a nice amount of interview and video content which should tide you over until well after the game comes out next week. To kick things off we’ve got a short teaser video and some photos which should give you an idea of what the launch event was like. I would’ve loved for you all to have been there with us, but hopefully this is the next best thing.

The event took place at the Gaumont Cinema on the Champs Elysees in Paris, where David Cage (Writer/Director), Guillaume de Fondaumiere (Executive Producer), Pascal Langdale (Actor – Ethan Mars), Sam Douglas (Actor – Scott Shelby), Leon Ockenden (Actor – Norman Jayden) and Jacqui Ainsley (Actor – Madison Paige) met members of the film and game media and members of the public. After having played through the game last week, it was very surreal to see them walking around in the real world. The event involved much red carpet walking, hors d’oeuvre nibbling and industry mingling. Plus an ice sculpture in the shape of an origami. No, really.

A cut down video edit of the first section of the game was shown to media on one of the Gaumont’s many cinema screens. There aren’t many games which can be confidently displayed on the silver screen in front of dozens of members of the press but, if the applause was anything to go by, they seemed to love it. After this, director Neil LaBute stepped in to present a short film, which he had created specially for the event, based on Heavy Rain’s central premise: how far would you go for love? It’s a short eight minute talking heads piece involving a wide range of film industry members, such as Samuel L. Jackson, Hanif Kureishi, Nicolas Roeg, Stephen Frears, Ben Chaplin, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Bogdanovich and Jean Marc Barr. Check it out for yourself below.

This was followed by a Q&A panel involving Mr. LaBute alongside David Cage, Terry Gilliam, Martha Fiennes and Mathieu Kassovitz, during which they discussed how the film and game industries were merging. It was a pretty lively debate and we’re hoping to get you a video of that in the next week or so. It was great to see the enthusiastic responses from these respected industry veterans towards Heavy Rain.

The second day of the event was only slightly less glamorous, but no less interesting. Media had interviews with the actors, David Cage and Guillaume de Fondaumiere and you can see our interviews with them begin to appear next week. Thanks again for answering my request for interview questions. I’ll leave you with the teaser video taken at the red carpet event and you can look forward to plenty more Heavy Rain content on PlayStation.Blog in the coming weeks. Plus, you’ll be able to pick up the game and play it for yourself on Wednesday in mainland Europe and Friday in the UK.

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Hi everyone from a rather dreary part of London, where at the time of writing the skies are gray, overcast and rain is thumping down. Which is rather a pity really because what I’ve materialised to talk to you about is in fact blue skies. SEGA blue skies to be precise.

I’m pleased to confirm that the PSN demo of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing is now available for you to download. The SUMO Digital team have been working hard to provide a truly luscious visual experience and you’ll be able to get a taste of what All-Star Racing action is all about.

The PlayStation 3 has its own track not available on any other platform’s demo which is based off of Blizzard Castle from Billy Hatcher & The Giant Egg. The track called Rampart Road has you quite literally racing all over the castle itself as you avoid rolling eggs, heavy snow drifts and devious crows – they may look like cats but they are indeed crows!

You’ll have two characters to play in the demo, Sonic The Hedgehog (obviously) and Dr. Eggman, their vehicles have their own specific traits – try both of them and see.

As an FYI, you can alter the difficulty settings, the demo should be set to “Advanced” from the get go but you can reduce this to Basic if you find the action a little too intense.

Master drifting around corners and pull off aerial tricks to get a speed boost. Use the range of weapons available to batter, confuse and generally slow your rivals and take that chequered flag. There’s even a sneaky shortcut at one point, see if you can spot it and make it work to your advantage!

Ladies and Gentlemen – start your engines!

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Hello everyone

Hope you enjoyed the first minis sale because starting today we are discounting some of the best selling titles from the minis category from € 1.49 / £ 1.24. Check out below to see what is on offer:

Sudoku from Electronic Arts

€ 4.99 now € 3.99

£ 3.99 now £ 3.49

Engage your brain! The worldwide brain teasing phenomenon polished to perfection in this classic minis title.

Bowling 3D from Electronic Arts

€ 4.99 now € 3.99

£ 3.99 now £ 3.49

The classic 10-Pin sport now available in minis form!

Tetris from Electronic Arts

€ 4.99 now € 3.99

£ 3.99 now £ 3.49

Tetris. Anything more needed to be said? One of the most popular games ever arrives on PSP for the first time.

Yetisports from Xendex Holding

€ 2.99 now € 1.99

£ 2.49 now £ 1.74

This classic game arrives on the PSP for the first time. Give Pengu a whack and watch him fly.

Red Bull X-Fighters from Xendex Holding

€ 4.99 now € 3.99

£ 3.99 now £ 3.49

Pull some amazing stunts in this spectacular and gravity-defying FMX action game. Can you finish as the World Tour Champion?

Let’s Golf from Gameloft

€ 4.99 now € 2.99

£ 3.99 now £ 2.49

Play like a true pro in this lively, entertaining golf game! Choose from four customisable characters, each with their own personal strengths and weaknesses, and battle it out on the golf course.

Spot the Differences from Sanuk Games

€ 2.99 now € 1.49

£ 2.49 now £ 1.24

Spot the Differences! Spot the Differences! 240 scenes, 4 levels of difficulty, 3 game modes and 4800 differences to spot!

Stand O’Food from G5 Entertainment

€ 4.99 now € 3.99

£ 3.99 now £ 3.49

Manage your time and a restaurant in this non-stop cooking challenge and feed crowds of hungry customers as they pile into your restaurant for lunch.

Remember these minis titles are playable on both PSP and PS3. Pay only once for the title and you can play then play it on either your PS3 or PSP or both!

Respect to the snow-globe: you’re a mini-winter holiday for one to a small, plastic city. Good things come in small packages – enjoy minis month.

Thanks

Adam

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