If you have any heart at all, then you will have spent the last few months giddy with excitement over the coming release of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. I know he’s hurt us all in the past, but now we can officially move on, because this new game hurtles us straight back into the old-school action you know and love.

If you did not play the Sonic games back in the day on a Master System or Mega Drive then you won’t have the same fuzzy nostalgic feeling that I (and many others) have, but I played this new version to completion the other day and it was everything I wanted. If you’ve never played a Sonic game before, then prepare yourself for…well, I’ll just let the mighty blue one speak for himself.

That’s not all this week though, EA release the animated comic/meta game/mini games/unlock mechanism that is Dead Space Ignition. This is a glimpse into the world between the two main games, and you’ll receive unlockable content for use in Dead Space 2 when it releases.

Continuing the sci-fi theme, The Force Unleashed 2 is now available in demo form, so you can practice your lightsaber and force skills on pretty much everything you’ll see. So you can fling, push, smash and combo to your hearts content!

Petrolheads are catered for with a host of DLC for Split/Second, WRC (World Rally Championship) and Moto GP 10. As for the rest, surely I don’t need to mention this anymore…but the full list is below.

Enjoy.
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If you’re a film fan then we have some exciting news: LOVEFiLM is coming to PS3!

Film Fans on LOVEFiLM subscription packages of £5.99 or above will be able to stream thousands of titles via their PS3. You’ll also be able to scroll through titles on the page and search through categories including ‘Pick of the Week’, ‘Most Watched’ and ‘Highest Rated’, so you will never be short of a great film to watch.

Don’t worry if you’re not a member because you will benefit from exclusive incentives to join the service, including free trials. We’ll be back with more information on the service nearer to launch.

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It is finally time to take that step; a step so critical that it will elevate you to a new level of gamer. It’s time to step up to Tier 1! Medal of Honor for the PlayStation 3 is now on retail store shelves in the US and will be making its debut in Europe on the 15th of October.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Medal of Honor, it’s a modern reboot of the venerable franchise that has existed for ten years. Operating directly under the National Command Authority, a relatively unknown entity of handpicked warriors are called on when the mission must not fail. They are the Tier 1 Operators.

Over two million Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines wear the uniform. Of those, approximately 50 thousand fall under the direct control of the Special Operations Command. The Tier 1 Operator functions on a plane of existence above and beyond even the most highly trained Special Operations Forces. Their exact numbers, while classified, hover in the low hundreds.

They are living, breathing, precision instruments of war. They are experts in the application of violence. The new Medal of Honor is inspired by and has been developed with Tier 1 Operators from this elite community. Players will step into the boots of these warriors and apply their unique skill sets to a new enemy in the most unforgiving and hostile battlefield conditions of present day Afghanistan.

The single-player, created by Danger Close, is an authentic, emotional and exhilarating look at the war in Afghanistan through the lens of a band of fictional characters. The multiplayer, created by world-class studio DICE, is an adrenaline-fuelled experience that will put your first-person shooter gaming skills to the ultimate test.

For those of you familiar with the franchise, you’ll be excited to know that the PlayStation 3 edition of the game comes with the re-mastered Medal of Honor Frontline. For the first time ever, you’ll be able to storm the shores of Normandy in full HD! Medal of Honor Frontline was a landmark title for the PlayStation 2 platform when it was released in 2002. It helped pave the way for first-person shooter titles and defined and established Medal of Honor as a franchise to be reckoned with.

When we started to talk with Sony about the possibility of releasing an HD version, everyone familiar with the franchise was extremely excited and considered it a no-brainer; it had to be done! Visual aesthetics wasn’t the only thing to get improved, however. The team also managed to implement the “aim down the sight” mechanic into the game. Get ready to suit up as Lt. Jimmy Patterson once again and head back behind enemy lines for 15 missions based on real events that occurred during WWII.

Make sure you follow us on Twitter, fan us on Facebook, and visit us at the official website for up-to-the-date Medal of Honor news and information.

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With James Thorpe still on holiday, I’m here, once again, to update you on what we have planned for PlayStation Plus subscribers.

First, we owe you an apology. Last Wednesday, I promised that the Hustle Kings Full Game Trial would be available from the Plus section of PlayStation Store by the following day and it didn’t happen. However, we haven’t forgotten and it will be included in tomorrow’s PlayStation Store update.

Moving on, many of you have been asking what time you will be able to download the Killzone 3 theme that grants access to the Killzone 3 beta to the first 10,000 SCEE Plus subscribers who download it. We have been discussing which time is best for everyone and we can now confirm that it will go live in the EU PlayStation Store at 8pm in the UK and 9pm CET on 13 October, and 6am in Sydney, Australia on 14 October.

*We would like to point out that, at this very early stage in the game’s development, the Killzone 3 beta will only support the English language. Let us assure you that the final game will be fully localised and there will be opportunities for non-English speakers to experience it in their mother tongue as we get closer to release. Fortunately, the headshot is an international language.

Another common piece of feedback is that you were unhappy with the lack of game add-on packs provided in the last PlayStation Plus update. In response, we have teamed up with Bethesda Softworks to make all of the Fallout 3 DLC available to Plus subscribers for free, as the release of Fallout: New Vegas draws tantalisingly near. Please be aware that these packs will be in the Plus section of PlayStation Store for one week only, from the following dates:

13 October
Fallout 3: Point Lookout
Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta
Fallout 3: Operation: Anchorage

20 October
Fallout 3: Broken Steel
Fallout 3: The Pitt

We’ll keep you updated on any PlayStation Plus developments as and when they happen.

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In what some people were comparing to shaking hands with Bigfoot and riding the Loch Ness monster, I can now confirm (as if you didn’t know already) that Duke Nukem Forever is very real, it is coming to PS3 and I have played it.

I also grabbed this interview with the President and CEO of Gearbox Software, Randy Pitchford.

How does it feel to have this iconic character in the Gearbox stable?

It’s kind of surreal but I really have to forget about that and focus on the mission of finally releasing Duke Nukem Forever. I’m trying not to worry about pressure or expectations.

In what state was the code in when Gearbox first got its hands on Duke Nukem Forever?

The vision was certainly evident and there were several moments of brilliance scattered throughout the game. When 3D Realms shut down, there were eight guys that managed to take everything that had been worked on and stitch it together; they went through war to get it even to this stage. They now call themselves Triptych and they’re up on the 10th floor of our offices. They did an amazing job and they deserve a lot of respect.

Right now there’s a team based in Vancouver called Piranha and they’re working on some amazing optimisations for PlayStation 3. It was almost inconceivable, when we first received the code, that we could bring it to PS3 but we refused to accept that and have put in a huge amount of work to ensure that the software comes to that audience.

The nature of the project and the level of goodwill that surrounds it in the industry mean that we’ve had plenty of people willing to jump in and help.

Have you removed or adding anything?

A lot! It’s a complex piece of software and it would go well beyond the scope of this interview to detail the additions and omissions. Today, there are 70 people involved in the project, yet when 3D Realms closed its doors, there were 30.

In terms of the story, the design and the experience, it’s a 3D Realms game through and through.

Is the level of expectation around the game a blessing or a curse?

I don’t know yet. With Borderlands, the challenge was getting everyone’s attention. With Duke, we have the opposite problem.

Is there a sense of poetic justice in once again working with Duke?

Not justice at all – I was with Duke for a few years and there are so many people involved for longer than me. One thing I am pleased about is that Allen [Blum] is still involved. Allen created Duke; I feel honoured and privileged to be carrying the Duke Nukem torch but only because I’m carrying it with Allen and he is involved every day.

Are you including multiplayer?

Of course – I can’t imagine a Duke Nukem game without multiplayer. When 3D Realms was working on the game, they never got around to that side of things so Gearbox has enabled a huge effort on that front.

Do you see any discrepancies between the flavour of gaming of 12 years ago, when Duke Nukem Forever was conceived, and the tastes of modern gamers?

Sure, games have evolved in some ways but there are some areas where they’ve stagnated. For example, Duke Nukem 3D was really innovative, at the time, with its mix of combat and environmental puzzle solving. It was rich with interactive environments and plenty of secrets to discover if you veered off the natural path.

Not so many games bother with those any more. Half-Life does a good job with its pacing, I suppose, but hardly anything has the level of interactivity of Duke or does the hidden Easter eggs thing any more. Duke Nukem Forever does all of that.

When’s the sequel coming out?

I have spent zero mind share on anything beyond Duke Nukem Forever!

Finally and slightly off-topic, how is Aliens: Colonial Marines doing?

It’s looking great! We’ve been radio silent but we’re very excited. It’s funny you should mention it because if you go back and look at Duke Nukem 3D, we included facehuggers and there’s Aliens stuff up on the walls. I’ve been stealing from Aliens my entire career so it feels great to finally be involved in the canon.

Truthfully, the game was announced too early – the ink wasn’t dry on the contract and we hadn’t even written the first line of code, but we’re really committed and so is SEGA, and I’m sure that pretty soon we’ll be in a position to start talking again.

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