…and a happy New Year. We do, I’m not lying! 2010 has been so fantastic for all of us at VidZone with over 3.5 million users, EMI videos, TV channels, loads more exclusives and features to name just a few things that have kept us frantically busy over the course of the year. Of course, and I am getting soppy now, this would not be possible without you guys watching, loving, tweeting, blogging and dancing manically along with us in front of the VidZone service. So thank you for enabling VidZone to be a continued success and may it go from strength to strength in 2011 and beyond.

Now to business…

Firstly, we have a Christmas present in the shape of an exclusive Tinie Tempah Behind The Scenes Exclusive from his new video ‘Invincible’ featuring Kelly Rowland. See, I bet you never had a Tinie Tempah shaped Christmas present, have you? You have? Is that a lie?

Secondly I have a new feature for the new year that I’m gonna test before the new year just in case you all hate it. It’s called…

VIDZONE TOP TIP
If you are having trouble thinking of videos to watch, why not trying browsing over 100 of our TV channels for inspiration?

FEATURED CHANNELS
Xmas Hits

Of course! Newly refreshed with all your favourite Christmas songs, as well as some that although they do get on your nerves, it wouldn’t be Christmas without…including Mud ‘Lonely This Christmas’, Coldplay ‘Christmas Lights’, Mariah Carey ‘Oh Santa’ and George Michael ‘December Song.’

ON DEMAND
Ones To Watch 2011
Our predictions for the artists that are going to be big in 2011 including Jessie J, The Japanese Popstars, Jamie Woon and Mohombi. Why should you listen to what we think? Because we are never wrong…fact!*

VidZone Favourites 2010

Featuring the VidZone staff favourite videos of the year, including Katy Perry ‘Fireworks’, Two Door Cinema Club ‘I Can Talk’, Enter Shikari ‘Destabilize’, Kanye West ‘Runaway’ and Duck Sauce ‘Barbara Streisand.’ Remember…we are never wrong.*

Artist Of The Week – 30 Seconds To Mars

We have a game in the office to see who can run to the shop and get a Mars bar and bring it back in less than 30 seconds. We call it 30 Seconds To Mars…so we thought it would be fitting to have them as our artist of the week, featuring the new video ‘Hurricane’ to accompany the new addition of their album ‘This Is War.’

NEXT WEEK
Artist of the Year – Eminem
One of this year’s biggest comebacks, Eminem released ‘No Love,’ ‘Not Afraid’ and ‘Love The Way You Lie,’ featuring this year’s biggest female, Rihanna. So we are presenting him with the coveted “VidZone Artist of The Year” award. Remember, never wrong*

Most Watched 2010
According to you, these are your favourite videos. How do we know? Because you watched them the most on VidZone…Featuring Ke$ha ‘Tik Tok’, Lady Gaga ‘Alejandro’, Katy Perry “California Gurls”, David Guetta ‘Memories’ and AC/DC ‘Shoot To Thrill.’

Party Tunes
Instead of hiring “Dave’s Dodgy DJ’s,” use VidZone for your NYE party; it just makes sense. Create your own playlist or use ours! Including MC Hammer ‘Can’t Touch This,’ Justice ‘Dance,’ Black Eyed Peas ‘I Gotta Feelin’ and Vanilla Ice ‘Ice Ice Baby.’

OTHER STUFF
Don’t forget our “have your playlist featured on the VidZone Homepage competition.” Catchy, heh? Send in your selected 20 videos to playstation@vidzone.tv (have to be on VidZone) and we will feature the best one on our homepage in January. Closing date: 3rd January.

Remember to check out our ever-changing Video Of The Day which you will see as soon as you open VidZone and as ever, if you want to contact us about anything then use the following channels below:

Twitter – http://twitter.com/vidzone
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/vidzoneofficial
Website – http://www.vidzone.tv
Video Requests – playstation@vidzone.tv
Customer Support – ps-problems@vidzone.tv

I’m off to redecorate the Christmas tree…apparently pink is not a popular colour scheme.
Until next year!
Ben

*this might be a bit of a lie…but we are right most of the time

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Hello there, PlayStation fans! This is Brad Borne, and I’m crazy excited to be here to talk about The Fancy Pants Adventures with you. I created the first game in flash while I was in college and now, many years later, the series is making the jump to console. It’s a dream come true for me, I really couldn’t be more excited to give you guys the best game that EA, Over The Top and I could possibly create.

I grew up playing video games, and I love knowing that players are finally going to experience The Fancy Pants Adventures in that classic video gaming zen: on a comfy sofa, with a controller in their hands. One of the most fun aspects of creating the flash game was engaging the community and the fans. That is incredibly important to me and something I absolutely want to be able to continue in the move to console.

What’s also awesome today is that instead of just talking about the game, I’m able to let everyone who’s interested CHECK OUT the Fancy Pants Man’s latest adventure before release! Check out www.FancyPantsAdventures.com and PLAY a tiny slice of The Fancy Pants Adventures, hitting PSN in Spring of 2011! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

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Hello Gran Turismo Fans,

As a very special Christmas present to all of you have been enjoying the pleasures of the real driving simulator over the last few weeks, I can confirm today that a new functionality update has been made available for GT5. The update features the following new functionality.

Seasonal Events
[Seasonal Events] has been added to the upper left of the [GT Mode] – [GT Life] screen. From here you can participate in official events being held for a limited time.

In these events, all participants are under the same regulations, and if you complete the event you will win rewards and experience. Compete on the leader boards with players around the world, in Time Trials and Drift Trials!

Hot Car Dealer
A [Hot Car Dealer] has been added to the left center of the [GT Mode]-[GT Life] screen. In the Hot Car Dealer you’ll find popular and rare used cars.

You might just come across that one car you’ve always been looking for, that you haven’t been able to find in the [Used Car Dealer]

Online Race Rewards and Experience
When you complete a race in the [Open Lobby] or [My Lounge], you will now gain rewards and experience.

Even if you are focused more on playing online, you’ll still be able to gain rewards and levels that you need to progress in [GT Life].

Driving Distance and Number of Wins in Online Races
The driving distance and the number of wins you achieve when you complete a race in [Open Lobby] or [My Lounge] will now affect your stats in [Profile] and the [Garage].

Here again the results from your online play will cumulate within [GT Life].

Improved Rewards
The rewards for winning races in both A-Spec and B-Spec in [GT Mode]-[GT Life] have been increased for a limited time. (Until the end of January, 2011).

This is a great chance for those who were previously having difficulty getting ahead in the game, due to a lack of funds for tuning and purchasing required cars.

There will be further enhancements and updates to come in the future, so until then enjoy the great new functions and keep a check on the PlayStation Blog and gran-turismo.com for more news.

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In DC Universe Online, the next legend is you…and Character Create is where you start your journey.

Building your custom super hero (or villain) is no easy task with all the choices on offer, from your stature to your suit, powers, movement type and weapons – this is your chance to become the ultimate superhero.

Your vision may be inspired by one of the legendary DC Universe superheroes or villains, but it is the choices you make along the way and the storyline that you follow that ultimately shapes your look and builds your legend.

Check out the below trailer of Character Create in action:

The DCUO BETA is available now to download for all PlayStation Plus subscribers. Click here to find out more.

DC Universe Online will be available on PS3 and PC in early 2011.

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Happy holiday wishes from all of us at SCEE!

I’ve hopped on the blog a couple of days early to give you the chance to prepare your wallets for the Festive Sale, which will run from 22nd December to the 5th January.

We’ve got loads of fantastic offers for you, new titles and old, to help you swell your games collection this holiday, spanning both PS3 and PSP from a wide selection of publishers. You may have noticed that some publishers are not involved in this sale – while I won’t go into details yet, I’m sure you can figure out what’s going on and if not, all will be revealed in the new year.

But enough about what’s not here – let’s focus on what is. There’s a great selection of PSN titles on offer at some great prices, including around 50% off Joe Danger, Worms 2: Armageddon and Lead and Gold. We’ve also got half-off on episodic titles with Blue Toad Murder Files and Tales of Monkey Island – perfect if you’ve passed on them so far. We’ve also got a couple of classic PSN titles in the form of Bomberman Ultra and Burn Zombie Burn! And at these prices you have the perfect excuse to revisit them. minis are also in on the action with six great titles available for only £1.74/€1.99

We’ve also got a selection of titles from some of the biggest publishers in the gaming world who have gone out of their way to offer you some early Christmas presents in the form of some fantastic discounts.

Disney has slashed the price on Toy Story 3 for PSP and are offering you 50% off all the expansion packs too. They’ve also gone all Christmassy with half-off The Nightmare Before Christmas Premium XMB theme.

EA has gone all out by bringing you discounts on their incredibly awesome DeathSpank titles, as well as massive reductions on Dante’s Inferno and Need for Speed: Shift for PSP. Theme Park and Theme Hospital? One word – Fantastic.

Namco Bandai have done us proud with 25% reductions on two almost new titles: DeadStorm Pirates for all you rails-shooter fans, and the mighty Pac-Man Championship Edition DX. If that weren’t enough they’ve dropped four of their classic PSP titles by 50% – including Tekken 6 and everyone’s favourite handheld driving game…it’s RIIIIIDGE RACER!

SEGA are not to be outdone either (everyone say thank you to Mike) because they’re bringing us Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode One at almost half-off, Sonic Adventure and After Burner: Climax at 50% off and even Valkyria Chronicles 2 gets the half-price treatment.

Square-Enix have dropped the prices on all their Tomb Raider content, including Underworld for PS3, Legends and Anniversary for PSP and the original Tomb Raider for PSone. If you missed the frankly fantastic Space Invaders: Infinity Gene when it released, it comes highly recommended at 30% off.

Ubisoft have bundled together some of the best PSN titles, old and new, at compelling prices and have cut the costs of PSP racing to round off the new year with price drops on Asphalt Urban GT2, Driver ’76 and Street Riders.

There’s also a few classic PSN titles of our very own on offer – take a look at the full list below.

I’m out of space but I’ll be back on Wednesday with the final PSN Store update of the year. See you all then!

PlayStation Store (via PS3, PSP and Media Go)

Festive Offers (available on PS3 and PSP where applicable)

(Offer prices available until the 5th January)

• Alien Breed: Impact (was – £14.99/€11.99 now – £8.99/€7.19)
• Blue Toad Murder Files: Episodes 1-6 (was – £17.49/€21.99 now – £9.99/€12.99)
• Bomberman Ultra (was – £7.99/€9.99 now – £3.99/€4.99)
• Burn Zombie Burn! (was – £6.29/€7.99 now – £3.19/€3.99)
• Burn Zombie Burn…In Space! (was – £2.39/€2.99 now – £1.19/€1.49)
• Ferrari: The Race Experience (was – £2.39/€2.99 now – £1.19/€1.49)
• Flight Control HD (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.19/€3.99)
• Gottlieb Pinball Classics (PSP) (was – £8.79/€10.99 now – £3.99/€4.99)
• Joe Danger (was – £9.99/€12.99 now – £4.99/€6.19)
• Lead and Gold: Gangs of the West (was – £11.99/€14.99 now – £6.29/€7.99)
• Tales of Monkey Island: Complete Season (was – £13.99/€17.99 now – £7.19/€8.99)
• Worms 2: Armageddon (was – £11.99/€14.99 now – £6.29/€7.99)

Festive minis Offers

• Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter (was – £3.49/€3.99 now – £1.74/€1.99)
• Rocks n’ Rockets (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £1.74/€1.99)
• Freekscape: Escape from Hell (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £1.74/€1.99)
• Arctic Adventures: Polar’s Puzzles (was – £3.49/€3.99 now – £1.74/€1.99)
• Vibes (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £1.74/€1.99)
• Stellar Attack (was – £3.49/€3.99 now – £1.74/€1.99)

Festive Offers from Disney

• Toy Story 3 (PSP) (was – £27.99/€34.99 now – £15.99/€19.99)
• Alien Escapades Add-on (PSP) (was – £1.59/€1.99 now – £0.79/€0.99)
• Buzz’s Adventures Add-on (PSP) (was – £1.59/€1.99 now – £0.79/€0.99)
• Woody’s Round Up Add-on (PSP) (was – £1.59/€1.99 now – £0.79/€0.99)
• The Nightmare Before Christmas Premium Theme (was – £1.19/€1.49 now – £0.59/€0.75)
• Lilo and Stitch: Trouble in Paradise (PSone)

Festive Offers from EA

• DeathSpank (was – £9.99/€12.99 now – £6.29/€7.99)
• DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue (was – £9.99/€12.99 now – £6.29/€7.99)
• Need for Speed: Shift (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £9.99/€12.99)
• Dante’s Inferno (PSP) (was – £31.99/€39.99 now – £15.99/€19.99)
• Theme Park (PSone) (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £2.39/€2.99)
• Theme Hospital (PSone) (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £2.39/€2.99)

Festive Offers from Namco Bandai

• Deadstorm Pirates (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £11.99/€14.99)
• Pac-Man Championship Edition DX (was – £7.99/€9.99 now – £5.49/€6.99)
• Me and My Katamari (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
• Ridge Racer (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
• Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny (PSP) (was – £23.99/€29.99 now – £11.99/€14.99)
• Tekken 6 (PSP) (was – £31.99/€39.99 now – £15.99/€19.99)

Festive Offers from SCEE

• Fat Princess (was – £7.99/€9.99 now – £3.99/€4.99)
• PixelJunk Shooter (was – £6.29/€7.99 now – £3.19/€3.99)
• LBP Pirates of the Caribbean Level Kit (was – £4.79/€5.99 now – £2.39/€2.99)
• LBP Pirates of the Caribbean Costume Kit (was – £4.79/€5.99 now – £2.39/€2.99)
• echoshift (PSP) (was – £14.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
• Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake (PSP) (was – £19.99/€29.99 now – £11.99/€14.99)
• Gravity Crash (PSP) (was – £6.29/€7.99 now – £3.19/€3.99)

Festive Offers from SEGA

• Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode One(was – £9.99/€12.99 now – £5.49/€6.99)
• Sonic Adventure (was – £6.29/€7.99 now – £3.19/€3.99)
• Sonic Adventure DX Add-on Pack (was – £3.19/€3.99 now – £1.19/€1.49)
• After Burner: Climax (was – £7.99/€9.99 now – £3.99/€4.99)
• Valkyria Chronicles 2 (PSP) (was – £27.99/€34.99 now – £13.99/€17.99)
• Phantasy Star Portable 2 (PSP) (was – £19.99/€34.99 now – £13.99/€17.99)

Festive Offers from Square-Enix

• Space Invaders: Infinity Gene (was – £7.99/€9.99 now – £5.49/€6.99)
• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (was – £9.99/€12.99 now – £7.19/€8.99)
• Tomb Raider: Underworld (was – £16.99/€20.99 now – £8.79/€10.99)
• Tomb Raider Anniversary (PSP) (was – £11.99/€14.99 now – £6.29/€7.99)
• Tomb Raider: Legend (PSP) (was – £11.99/€14.99 now – £6.29/€7.99)
• Tomb Raider (PSone) (was – £7.99/€9.99 now – £3.99/€4.99)

Festive Offers from Ubisoft

• Prince of Persia Classic + Cell Factor Bundle (£7.99/€9.99)
• Scott Pilgrim + Turtles in Time Reshelled + Voodoo Dice Bundle (£11.99/€14.99)
• Asphalt: Urban GT 2 (PSP) (was – £11.99/€14.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
• Driver ’76 (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
• Street Rider (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)

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