God of War III, the final instalment of the multi-million unit-selling trilogy, is released on Friday 19th March. Take on the role of the ex-Spartan warrior, Kratos, as he ferociously carves through the massive army of Olympus, and scales through the dark depths of hell to seek revenge on those who have betrayed him.

Head down to one of the following stores on Friday 19th, Saturday 20th, or Sunday 21st March for an exclusive opportunity to demo the game before you buy. Take part in our in-store competition for your chance to win exclusive prizes!

• HMV Edinburgh
• HMV Manchester
• HMV Leeds
• Gamestation Edinburgh
• Gamestation Birmingham
• GAME Nottingham

*Please note this is an 18+ title, all consumers wishing to demo must be 18, you may be asked for ID as proof of age.

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Hi All,

This week, on the 18th of March sees the release of Patchwork Heroes! To introduce the Japanese team and the game, I’ve got a short Q&A (which SCEA kindly put together) for you. Enjoy!

1) Please state your names and roles on the development teams. And what other games have you worked on?

My name is Yuki Ikeda, and I am part of “PlayStation C.A.M.P.!” I am the director of Patchwork Heroes. This was the first game I was ever involved in the production of, and before joining Sony Computer Entertainment, I worked making special designs and models for amusement parks, live theatres, etc.

2) Where did the idea for the game come from?

I wanted to make an action game that was sort of like cutting up paper with scissors, and I ended up pairing that with something very dynamic, giant aircraft and battleships.

3) What is the inspiration behind the art style and unique graphics of Patchwork Heroes?　

I guess the art style for the game is a almost just a melting pot of movies I’ve seen, so it ended up with sort of a retro anime look to it.

The designer on Patchwork Heroes, Seiichi Terashima, said that he was also inspired by the animated films of Yuriy Borisovich Norshteyn, who used cut out paper.

4) What type of game is Patchwork Heroes? How would you describe the game and the gameplay?

The basic premise of the game is to use a big saw to cut giant flying battleships into pieces before they come and destroy your town. It’s full of thrills from when you cut big chunks off the flying gunships, lots of action fighting and dodging enemies, and also collecting friends and items in the game.

Here is a trailer so you can see the gameplay better:

5) Do you have a message for the readers?

The whole game is a blast from top to bottom, from the gameplay and art style to the music and storyline. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it!

We also have some concept art for you all:

This concept art portrays the world setting of the game. It shows the main character, his town, and the giant airships he’s knocked out of the sky, all done in watercolour paint.

This illustration was a concept to show what kind of battles would take place on the airships.

All of the characters aboard the air transport, done in coloured pencil.

Titori and his ally scaling an airship, done in miniature with clay, coloured with paint afterwards.

Finally, here’s the team!

The people are (from right to left):
Yuki Ikeda, Director
Miwako Ikeda, Character design assistant
Seiichi Terashima, Character and World design
Kenta Nakatsuka, UI design and Animation

Thanks guys,
Flo

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Hi all

As you know, God of War III will be hitting the PAL shelves this week… the wait is finally over guys!

You’ve probably read the great reviews the game has received so far and everyone here at SCEE and Santa Monica Studios is delighted by the media and consumer reception so far!

To get you even more excited and in case you haven’t seen it, here’s the latest trailer for you to look at.

Enjoy the game guys and for those of you who are still unsure about it, go and download the demo now, it’s on PlayStation Store for you to try it out!

Thach

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VidZone has the online premiere of the first Meat Loaf video in four years for his new single Los Angeloser.

This is the first release from his upcoming album Hang Cool Teddy Bear, which features star studded collaborations with Brian May, Jack Black, Justin Hawkins, Jon Bon Jovi and Hugh Laurie (yes the one from House M.D). Meat Loaf has been hard at work with Green Day’s American Idiot producer Rob Cavallo for the past year working on bringing Meat Loaf’s classic rock sound to the 21st Century.

“I wanted it big, I wanted it dramatic, I wanted a rock record” says Meat Loaf. “Yes, it sounds like a Meat Loaf record. But it sounds different too – it sounds new, it sounds fresh. It speaks to you in a different way.”

Video will be live on Tuesday 16th March at 12pm GMT in all VidZone Territories.

New album Hang Cool Teddy Bear is out on 19th April 2010. Pre-order the album here:

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Hi Guys,

You may have read that ModNation Racers U.S. release date has been confirmed today as the 25th May 2010. Whilst I can’t confirm the exact date for PAL, I wanted to let you know say that we are aiming to release ModNation Racers across PAL regions during the same week. I will confirm this as soon as I can so watch this space…

For those of you who haven’t yet seen the European packshots take a look below.

Some of you might spot a couple of Mod that look familiar… That’s because they were made by you in the European beta. Did your Mod make it?

That’s it for now, stay tuned, more ModNation news to follow as we’re getting closer and closer to launch! Oh Exciting!

Be Good
LQ

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