Hello everyone,

I’m back to tell you about episode 41 of FirstPlay, on the Store this Wednesday, and I’m armed with an exclusive set of Landit Bandit-themed avatars. Well, episode 41 is, anyway – download the ep if you fancy giving yourself a PSN makeover.

Aside from that we’ve got our first hands-on preview with universe clashing fist-disco Marvel Vs Capcom 3: Fate Of Two Worlds, which is frantic and colourful like a brain aneurism, only with more wolf-shaped nature goddesses. We’re also going hands-on with Codemasters’ upcoming shooter Bodycount, going behind the scenes to talk to the developers, and best of all, reviewing huge create ‘em up sequel LittleBigPlanet 2.

And that’s not all by a long shot. We’ve also got a Blu-ray review of the awesome How To Train Your Dragon, an online review of the tyre-shredding Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, and a personal take on the seductiveness of Gran Turismo 5 from our Sunday driver and soon-to-be-moving-on editor-in-chief Tim Clark. We also filter through the latest downloadable movies and PSP minis, and peer super-close at another batch of screenshot galleries, this week including Portal 2 and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.

As always this comes for just 99p, or you can buy a 12 week subscription for £8.99 and get it for, like, less.

We’re always very eager hear your thoughts and feedback, so if you have anything to say please get in touch: on Twitter at @firstplay_uk, via email at FirstPlay@futurenet.com, or the official EU forums. And don’t forget you can sign up for the FirstPlay newsletter at http://www.firstplay.co.uk/register to have regular news and content updates delivered directly.

See the Future of PS3. First.

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This January, you could spend your time in bustling to the shops, queuing out the door in the torrential wind and rain to get that elusive bargain. But why not stay at home, put your feet up and take a look at the fantabulous price reductions we’ve got for you on the PlayStation Store?

These price reductions will start from the 19th January during the regular update and run until the 2nd February, so get them while they’re hot!

Once again, hopefully we have plenty to offer you on PS3 and PSP from some of the greatest publishers in the business.

2K Games have bundled together two packages of all the DLC content from two of their big hits – Mafia II and BioShock 2 – if you’ve been holding off on purchasing the DLC and waiting for a bundle, these are for you.

Rockstar are at it too, bringing us a discounted bundle of both their critically acclaimed Episodes from Liberty City, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. On PSP, we have two for the price of one on Midnight Club and a massive reduction on GTA Chinatown Wars.

Konami have graciously taken the very best titles they have to offer on PSN and slashed them in half – 50% off four brilliant PS3 titles, Vandal Hearts, Rocket Knight, GTI Club+ and Zombie Apocalypse – but the star of the show here has got to be the long awaited discount on Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. So grab three friends, four cardboard boxes and a whole mess of ammo, but don’t be surprised when you find the game stealing your life away – Outer Heaven wasn’t built in a day.

Capcom have brought us some top notch PS3 deals to complement their tremendous PSP Plus offering this month – all the Dead Rising 2 skill packs in one bundle, discounts on Bionic Commando Rearmed and Final Fight: Double Impact, but if the retro gamer in you is itching for action you better pick yourself up the Mega Man complete bundles – Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10 complete with all their DLC at knocked down prices.

THQ bring out the big guns too with reductions on their two sports entertainment franchises on PSP, Smackdown vs. Raw and UFC Undisputed, along with another big reduction on Red Faction: Guerrilla – if that’s not enough reason to get to Mars and start blowing things up then I’m afraid I’m very disappointed in you.

There’s also some other great deals, like the Warhawk Complete bundle, a third-off Assassin’s Creed and loads of discounted PSP titles from Rising Star Games, including the inspired Half-Minute Hero and the brilliant Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Valley.

So yes, a smaller affair than Christmas but there are a few real gems on offer to round off January. No minis this time though, eh? I wonder why that is…

See you Wednesday!
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Spare Parts is a game we made about these two robots – Mar-T and Chip – who find themselves dropped out with the garbage on an alien planet. To be honest, we cast robots as the main characters because we all love robots. Robots are awesome template for characters for a number of reasons, and you can apply so many things to their character, personality and abilities. I am a massive sci-fi fan and the basic story elements dealing with two buddy robots, cast out with the garbage and forced to survive on an alien planet appealed to me a lot. Very early in the game our two robots meet Con-Rad (voiced by Simon Pegg) in an abandoned space ship and he becomes their guide and mentor. Con-Rad explains that the evil race know as the “Krofax” are in orbit and if they detect that the robots are operational, will come after them with a vengeance. Their only hope is to collect enough spare ship parts that have been littered all over the planet by the Krofax in an attempt to repair the ship and escape.

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Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a great start into 2011 and a relaxing holiday season before that? Apologies for not posting the first update of the year two weeks ago but it was all a bit hectic round here! You can still see what was released on 5 January on the website if you like.

It feels like I’ve been away for months but some of you might have ventured on here on or after New Year’s Eve and found a few posts from us which went up as part of the SingStar team blog takeover. If you’ve missed them it’s certainly not too late to check them out and you might just find out a few things you never knew (or never dared to ask ) about us.

In the update this week I can’t wait to get my hands on ‘Pump Up The Jam’, Pearl Jam’s ‘Even Flow’, Poison’s classic power ballad ‘Every Rose Has It’s Thorn’ and, although I cannot quite believe I am admitting this, ‘Reach’ by S Club 7. Bring it on!

Also in the update, five fun dance add-ons and three guitar add-ons to get your fingers movin’and don’t forget to follow us on twitter.com/SingStarHQ for fun and frolicks every day of the week. Come on, you know you can’t resist!

Until next time…

Nina x

In English

All of the above are released worldwide apart from Tauski – Sinä Vain

In green: previously released on a disc

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Calling all gamers! How would you like to play DiRT 3 before anyone else?

We’re looking for people of all different ages and gaming experience to visit the Codemasters HQ for a day of focus testing. ‘What’s focus testing?’ I hear you ask. A focus tester plays the game and gives us their fresh perspective on what we’ve done so far. We want to hear what you liked and what you disliked so we can make it even better. (Obviously we’re hoping you like it!)

DiRT 3 has more cars, more locations, more routes, more events and more fun than any other game in the series. This is your chance to be one of the first people to play DiRT 3 outside of Codemasters. You’ll also be grabbing a unique chance to meet the developers behind the game. So are you interested?

Before you jump up at the chance, we’ve got a few small requirements we need you to look over first:

• You need to be free on the Thursday 3rd of February. If you have work or go to school, you’ll need to arrange some time off.
• You need to be able to get yourself to the Codemasters HQ in Southam, UK (near Leamington Spa). We promise it will be worthwhile!
• If you’re under 18 we will need your parents’ consent.

Still waving your hand in the air? Great! Then head over to our facebook page and just answer the five questions we’ve listed so that we can get to know you a bit better.

We’ll be contacting the lucky individuals next week, so don’t miss out: apply today.

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