Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and Vodafone have today announced a partnership that will see Vodafone as the preferred provider of 3G connectivity for PlayStation Vita initially in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands, and with Vodafone’s Partner in France (SFR).

The PS Vita 3G/Wi-Fi model sold in selected countries will come with a Vodafone SIM card so that users can immediately enjoy social gaming experiences on the go. Customers will also be able to buy PS Vita 3G/Wi-Fi model direct from Vodafone channels, both online and in store. In addition, customers connecting with Vodafone will receive a PlayStation Network voucher to download WipEout 2048 from PlayStation Store.

“With social gaming and connectivity at the heart of PlayStation Vita it is important that we partner with a market leading network provider, to ensure users have a high quality 3G experience.” said Jim Ryan, President & CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. “Partnering with Vodafone will enable PS Vita users in the selected countries to always be connected with their PlayStation life, friends and games, wherever they are.”

“We want our customers to have the best choice of devices and PlayStation Vita is a great addition to our range,” said Patrick Chomet, Vodafone’s Group Terminals Director. “We know from our application downloads that games are hugely popular with our customers, so we’re delighted to be SCEE’s preferred connectivity partner for 3G Vita devices sold across Europe and other selected regional markets. Using the device over Vodafone’s high-performance network with extensive 3G reach and market leading download speeds brings a reliable ‘anywhere anytime’ dimension to gaming.”

PS Vita will be launching in PAL regions from 22nd February 2012. For more information visit eu.playstation.com/psvita

Score:

• 90 Comments 9 Replies
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

More Skyrim this weekend. I’m kind of regretting being the cat.

What shall we talk about?

Here’s your recap:

• Where Is My Heart? Comes To PSN November 16 – See how the world is visually sliced into rectangular fragments which are placed on the screen at unexpected locations.
• Assassin’s Creed Revelations Multiplayer: Meet The Sentinel – Linking multiplayer and single-player experiences by including multiplayer characters in the single-player campaign!
• PlayStation Move TV Ad Showing Now – PS Move TV ad will be running across Europe up until Christmas.
• Step Right Up To Carnival Island – Taking some key ingredients and combining them into an endlessly entertaining package!
• What’s New In Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time? – Discover the NEW features that are coming to Sly Cooper.
• PlayStation Vita Pre-Order Goodies – Not only will pre-ordering guarantee a PS Vita on launch day, but you also get to take home an exclusive PS Vita Gift Pack!
• Rumble Trucks Rolls Onto PSN Today – Not your classic racing game. Playing it feels like a rollercoaster ride: high speed, steep hills, huge jumps!
• ‘Heads-Up’ Game Store Update 16th November 2011 – We have some great BD releases and launches that are now available at the PS Store.
• PlayStation Network Scheduled Maintenance – PSN is offline for scheduled maintenance from 16:00 on Thursday 17 November until 02:00 GMT on Friday November 2011.
• PlayStation Home: Living Life Without Limits – Take a left down Leisure Avenue, go right down Relaxation Boulevard… and see what PS Home holds for you this week!
• MUBI Update: 17 November 2011 – A tribute to Punk underground films turns into a melodrama.
• VidZone 2.0 Update: One Week In, Three New Zones! 80-s And 90-s -After a week of great feedback, here are three brand new zones for you!
• Access Episode 09 – Check out the latest episode of Access is now available for your online viewing pleasure.
• Watch The First 7 Minutes Of TEKKEN Blood Vengeance Here! – In a worldwide exclusive, the TEKKEN team have released the first 7 minutes of much anticipated 3D CG movie.
• The Weekend Debate – Have It Your Way – Do you think that console games should be more customisable?
• Win A Trip To Tokyo With PS Vita – Along with the trip, you have the chance to take home a PS Vita system as early as December 2011 in this exclusive competition.
• Starhawk Private Beta Will Be Live Tuesday, November 22nd! – Making a game is hard work, but it’s also a lot of fun! Check out this new Behind the Scenes video!

• Weekend Essentials 101 – Bid farewell to Ezio in Assassin’s Creed Revelations and experience PlayStation Move madness with PlayStation this weekend.
• Top Tips: Medieval Moves – Venture into a bone-rattling adventure with knowledge as your shield on PS3.
• Check out mypspworld.com – Find out everything about the PSP-E1000 series at mypspworld.com.
• Top Tips – Batman: Arkham City – Become the Dark Knight in Batman: Arkham City with some handy video advice on its Story mode and invaluable Challenge mode tips.

• The big story this week is the reported problems that some people appear to be encountering as save files increase. Are you suffering from lag in Skyrim?
• For the first time in OPM history we have a developer on the cover. Hideo Kojima appears on our Issue 65 historic cover issue.
• Ezio returns for his final chapter. Find out what we thought in our Assassin’s Creed: Revelations review.
• It’s all been about Darkling’s this week. Check out our Darkness 2 info hub.
• Once you’ve finished the Dark Knight’s latest, find out what the Easter Eggs might tell us about a sequel to Arkham City.

Score:

• 32 Comments 8 Replies
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

Starhawk Fans!

After many, many months of hard work we are happy to announce that the Starhawk Private Beta will be going live Tuesday, November 22nd! As you may have read in Dylan’s last PS blog post, a selected a number of loyal Warhawk players will be emailed Beta code so if you played Warhawk there’s a chance that you’ll have a voucher invitation in your email in the upcoming weeks! If you don’t get on day 1, don’t get discouraged, our Private Beta will be “slow rolled.” That means that we’ll slowly add more fans and features as the Private Beta progresses.

Making a game is hard work, but it’s also a lot of fun! To show you what I mean, check out this new Behind the Scenes video to give you an inside look at the SCEA Santa Monica/LightBox Interactive working life! We really, really appreciate the Warhawk faithful joining us in our Beta efforts. Hopefully this video will give you all some insight into our day to day lives.  You Warheads are always at the forefront of our thoughts, as you will see.

For those of you that get in very early, you can expect to play Capture the Flag on a couple of maps to your heart’s content.

You’ll be able to find games via our Matchmaker system or choose your own game server via our Game Lists. We’ve kept the initial roll out pretty tight as we exercise the systems, but we’ll open the kimono inch by inch so keep playing to see what we have in store for you.

How Else Can You Get a Private Beta Code?

A very limited numbers of beta codes will be available. However, one person that will have a few to share will be blog manager James Gallagher, so make sure you lookout for his posts and tweets!

So congratulations to those of you fans that got (or will get) an invite, we really appreciate your enthusiasm and loyalty. We don’t think of a Beta as a privilege for you. You’re doing us a favour and helping to create Starhawk…and we thank you.

Warheads….have fun! Everyone else, stay tuned to the blog and starhawkthegame.com! We’ve got a lot more in our bag o’ tricks!

Public Beta

As we’ve previously mentioned for PAL Uncharted 3 purchasers you will receive an email with your public beta code in early 2012. We’ll have even more features, game modes, guns, weapons, and general goodness to show during that next Beta phase.

Score:

• 32 Comments 5 Replies
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

Can’t wait for the next generation in portable entertainment? PlayStation Vita is due to launch in Europe on 22 February 2012, but you have the chance to take home a PS Vita system as early as December 2011 in this exclusive competition.

This revolutionary portable is launching in Japan on 17 December 2011 and you can be there for its spectacular arrival courtesy of Inside PS Vita. One lucky winner and their guest will receive:

• A flight out to Tokyo, Japan on 14 December 2011.
• Five nights accommodation in a central Tokyo hotel.
• Spending money.
• Entry to an exclusive PlayStation Vita launch event.
• A free PS Vita system.

What do you have to do to earn the chance of winning this incredible prize? Simply sign up for Inside PS Vita at eu.playstation.com/psvita before 1 December 2011. Not only will you be kept up to date with all of the latest PS Vita news, you’ll have an exclusive opportunity to enter the draw for this amazing event.

So, what are you waiting for – sign up for Inside PS Vita at eu.playstation.com/psvita now and be in with the chance of winning the trip of a lifetime.

Competition open to residents of Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, UAE and the United Kingdom

Score:

• 122 Comments
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

When you fire up a PlayStation game do you ever wonder what it would be like if you were running around as Elvis or that guy that screams Sparta? For most, the answer would be no, but those are just the kind of options available in PC games thanks to modding.

Some PlayStation games, such as LittleBigPlanet and ModNation Racers have embraced this notion and have UGC at their very core. At the other end of the scale, some titles opt for a more scripted approach. This week’s debate is:

Do you think that console games should be more customisable?

I’m afraid I haven’t been able to source any voucher codes this week but I’ll do my best to get hold of something juicy next week.

Enjoy!

Score:

• 72 Comments 5 Replies
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook