Greetings all. I do hope you’re enjoying your weekend. Our guest contributor this week is Neil McPhilips from Sony’s XDev Studio, who’s the associate producer of the eminently wonderful When Vikings Attack!, which saw a brand new DLC pack – When Vikings Relax! – land this week. Take a look at his post from earlier this week for more details – it’s a great expansion. So, without further ado, here are this week’s picks. As ever, please let us know what you’re consuming this weekend in the comments!
Fred Dutton, SCEE Blog Manager
What was the last video game you played?
I finally made a start on Ni No Kuni. As ever with JRPGs, it takes a good hour or so to actually get to the gameplay, but now that it’s finally got going, I’m very much enjoying it. Yes, even Drippy’s accent.What was the last movie/TV show you watched?
Some mindless Netflix browsing last night led me to Headhunters – the film version of Jo Nesbo’s crime novel. Gripping stuff. I’m planning on getting stuck into the new season of Justified this weekend too.What was the best book or article you read this week?
A wonderful Eurogamer interview with a guy who’s selling his staggering video game collection on eBay for half a million dollars. Required reading.What tunes are soundtracking your weekend?
Been on a Springsteen kick this week. His great Nebraska record to be more precise, in keeping with the gloomy weather.
Jawad Ashraf, PlayStation Store Content Coordinator
What was the last video game you played?
No surprises here, it was Ni No Kuni. I think I’m on the final stretch in an area where one little critter (Tokotoko) nets me roughly 8000XP! I’ll spend some time here to level up. Poor Dragette. Whilst Oliver levels up two levels, Dragette doesn’t even manage one. *sigh* I’m sort of dreading getting the Tokotoko. I hear that one is a pain to level up!What was the last movie/TV show you watched?
The Big Bang Theory. Sometimes I wonder why I still watch it… I suppose it provides a little amusement.What was the best book or article you read this week?
I’ve a keen interest in figures and toys of franchises/characters I love and with Toy Fair going on there’s been some cool new reveals from Square Enix’ Play Arts Kai range! Metal Gear Rising’s Raiden will not only be in black and white, but red, blue AND yellow (which doesn’t exactly look yellow at all). It’s like Power Rangers! Hoping to nab the rarer colours if possible. Then there were new images of Kingdom Heart’s Sora and Riku in their Tron outfits. Oh and a samurai Batman! Swanky stuff. My bank balance will not be pleased though! :OWhat tunes are soundtracking your weekend?
Sort of obsessed with the Metal Gear Rising soundtrack samples so I’ve had that on repeat. Looking forward to get the soundtrack in the post (and the game!) Pretty much the game I’m hyped about this quater (Ni No Kuni aside).
Chris Howe, PS Store and Plus Content Manager
What was the last video game you played?
It’s been a busy week so not much time for gaming but I’ve managed to get a few hours in on Sleeping Dogs. With a free weekend coming up I plan on getting a lot of time in on it!What was the last movie/TV show you watched?
I saw Lawless last night – the true story of a family of illegal alcohol producers in Virginia in the 1920s. It’s an interesting watch with some old school violence thrown in for good measure.What was the best book or article you read this week?
I guess like many, the awful Oscar Pistorius story has caught my eye this week, but it has also been really interesting reading all the comments in my PlayStation Plus IGC Blog. Keep them coming in!What tunes are soundtracking your weekend?
I’m currently listening to a bit of Kings of Leon – hopefully that will get me in the mood for a good weekend.
Neil McPhilips, Associate Producer, XDev Studio
What was the last video game you played?
I just finished Far Cry 3 and loved every minute of it. It’s a game that effortlessly made it into my Platinum list too which is a rare thing for me these days. I love a game that lets you tackle situations your own way so discussing it with friends makes you feel like you’ve played a different game – “Oh, you released a tiger and let it do all the work for you? I got set on fire and fell off a bridge.” Great stuff.What was the last movie/TV show you watched?
I just saw a live screening of The Room and Q&A with Tommy Wiseau. You really haven’t seen that movie until you’ve seen it live with a fist full of plastic spoons. A legendary train wreck of a film that’s always better with friends – look it up online if you haven’t heard of it.What was the best book or article you read this week?
Nothing specific really but I have been reading a few articles about some of the talks that took place at DICE 13, specifically David Cage and Warren Spector talks about this generation of game creators evaluating what it is they want to create and what they want to leave behind as their legacy. Very interesting points of view that have sparked a lot of debate over what games are and what they can be.What tunes are soundtracking your weekend?
We Are The Physics – Your Friend, The Atom. I just missed seeing these guys live in Manchester this week so I’m making do with their last album.
33 CommentsAdd Yours
1
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 10:09 am by Dermado
Is the “weekend debate” only once every two weeks now?…
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 10:26 am by Fred Dutton
Full disclosure: I was on my sickbed yesterday so was unable to source you all a decent prize
It should return next week!
2
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 10:12 am by Osahi_be
Game: Still playing Ni No Kuni. 24 hours in, and taking it slow. Doing every errand or bounty before going further with the story. Now I’m close to obtaining my superdope flying dragon. Man. I. LOVE. This. Game.
Film: saw Silver Linings Playbook this week. Wonderfull quirky, but truthfull romance. I’ve got quite a soft heart for honest romantic movies, and altough SLP is at times plot heavy, the mental disorder angle makes up for that, and the chemistry feels genuine. Also, any film that postpones the big love moment as long as possible wins, because as an audiance you feel the same longing as the main characters. So, next week it’s probably Les Mis and I’ve seen all best film Oscar contenders. My favourite so far is Beasts of the Southern Wild!
Book: started A Storm of Swords (Game of Thrones 3) finally. One chapter in.
Music: still Eels
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 10:28 am by Fred Dutton
I’m keen to see SLP and Beasts. I’ve ticked off Django, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi and Argo and loved them all. Very strong field this year! I honestly couldn’t pick between those 4.
3
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 10:34 am by Nightmare966
So…
Game: One that I was wanting to get for a looooong time now and I finally have in my hands. It’s about a girl, one that dances, fights and flies higher.
Bayonetta!
It’s such a great game, I can’t understand how I didn’t even get it earlier. And that Highway stage has to be one of the most fun things I’ve ever played.
Movie: Heh, Fright Night, watched it yesterday with my friends. I was completely surprised at Tennant’s role, I didn’t know anything and didn’t recognize him until he took off the beard lol
Music: Jawad’s spoken for me. 2 days! 2 days and I’ll get that soundtrack in my hands finally! >_<
Heads-up for next week: Game…: Metal Gear Rising, Movie: Metal Gear Rising, Music: Bayo… Nope, Metal Gear Rising
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 4:59 pm by Fred Dutton
Loved Fright Night – best comedy horror in ages!
Posted on 18 February, 2013 at 9:47 am by Jawad Ashraf
My soundtrack is on its way to me – both the vocal tracks and the other one from the Japanese limited edition. Exciting times!
Time to leave them all behind! Indeed…
4
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 10:43 am by a7md1990
Well, I was planning on playing Skyrim DLC, but sadly it’s not available in our Saudi Store, an exclusion from our area wasn’t even provided, what’s wrong Fred?
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 5:01 pm by Fred Dutton
This decision is in the hands of Bethesda the game’s publisher I’m afraid – we don’t dictate what content is released in a particular region. Hopefully they’ll confirm a date for your area soon.
5
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 11:02 am by dark_angel69
@Jawad
Why is Dragette hard to level up? And is 8000xp good, bad or OK? Sounds boring having to keep fighting so many small battles just to level some of them up to be able to beat the bosses. Both Final Fantasy games we talked about done that with the 1st being the worse and felt like the longest. It delayed the cut scenes too much and felt like a waste of time.
What was the last video game you played?
I finished Sleeping Dogs a few days ago and got the platinum. WOOHOOO!! Now I just started Ratchet and Clank trilogy this morning so working away through it as fast as possible so I can get Ni No Kuni sooner. But then again it also depends on what next months PS+ content is. If I already have/played it then will get Ni No Kuni, if I don’t then it will be kept on wait until the following month.
What was the last movie/TV show you watched?
Same as last week, How I met Your Mother and Suits. Haven’t watched much TV this week.
What was the best book or article you read this week?
The usual blog stuff
What tunes are soundtracking your weekend?
Same songs over and over on Vidzone. lol
Posted on 18 February, 2013 at 9:53 am by Jawad Ashraf
Second form Draggle just requires a lot more XP to gain a level than most other familiars. Final form is better, or I felt it less thanks to Tokotoko/Tokocold.
You get a few hundred XP per fight on average, a little more if you trade in your errand tickets. Toko’s net you 2000XP, Tokotoko’s give you 8000XP and Tokocold an even better 20,000XP! Just by fighting Tokotokos all characters and most familiars will gain a level each (up until around lv70 or so) so it really speeds up the process. They’re rare spawns however, but at least for Tokotoko they’re quite easy to reset the spawns and they show up in battles in pairs, so that’s over 16k XP.
In other news, I did finish the game over the weekend so I’ve been doing left over/new errands.
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Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 11:38 am by Osahi_be
Fred: It’s indeed a strong field for the Oscars this year. If any of the films I saw (all, minus les mis) wins I won’t be dissapointed. Only Life of Pi didn’t really conect with me, though in should win cinematography and effects.
But Beasts truly went straight to my heart. It is probably to quirky, small and ‘Indie’ to win, not everybody will fall for it.
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 5:03 pm by Fred Dutton
If Pi loses the effects awards, it will be a robbery. There was some dark magic going on there…
7
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 12:16 pm by monoliet
ni no kuni =top game
.
+ dlc skyrim = very good
rest no books ore tv
music = al week when i work then wekend no music ore only music of games
stil very angry on psn store ( vikings special edition = free but u then charge me = never seen before , but nowh i take always picture before i buy ) + i hope to see fast refunds so i can buy games whith correct price !!!! absolute not amused whith u messy store + sing spam .
8
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 12:32 pm by Hexahedronaut
Game
Been playing dragonborn… It is amazing brings back a lot of happy memories of playing morrowind back in the day. And the new music is awsome! The other game I’ve been playing is ni no kuni… Man I’ve never liked jrpgs last one I played was ff10 on ps2 but this I’m 60hrs in ive tamed 207 monsters even trained my toko to a tokotoko to a Doctoko that’s a hell of a lot of xp everything about this game is outstanding! My GOTY.
Tv
Police 24/7 on BBC Iplayer.. It’s really weird seeing as its filmed around the area that I live.
Article
This one (does that count)
Music
The new my chemicle romance cd not much to say about this one just that’s its amazing!
9
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 2:16 pm by chrisboers
No Ni No Kuni for me yet, too much backlog I’m afraid. However, the sale DID convince me to buy the Sly Trilogy, and it immediately won my love. And that’s not because of the five trophies it gave me the very first five minutes of gameplay. Sly 1 looks great, and the other two are even better! Of course it won’t distract me from my game of the month: Borderlands 2, where I’m now halfway through the storyline. Love that game!
As for reads: I finally secured “A Memory of Light”, by Brandon Sanderson, which is part 14(!) and the last one of an epic story, that has unfolded over the last 20+ years, and was started by the late Robert Jordan. If anyone likes Lord of the Rings, try the ‘Wheel of Time’, it’s the Fantasy equivalent of that.
As I don’t watch much TV, so my last view is the finals of ‘The Voice -Kids edition’. Kinda fun, but just leasure…
No music to speak of.
10
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 2:24 pm by orton131
Alrighty….. lets go!
Game
Been meaning to play the Skyrim DLC this week, but I have been too busy spending quality time with my new girlfriend. I’ll get round to it this weekend.
TV
Been watching my wrestling, as always.
Article
PS4 Rumours!!!
Music
Some Black Veil Brides!
11
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 2:34 pm by hayzink
howdy fellow bloggers
this week i finished off sleeping dogs for the plat and also got the nightmare in north point dlc trophy’s done, fantastic game and it was my game of the year last year and i have no regrets in buying it befor it became free on plus.next up im toying with either starting darksiders 2 which was a steal at 7.99 or finishing hitman absolution.
last thing i watched with the tv show chuck, some how this gem passed me by and im now just watching it, season one is in the bag and im 4 episodes into season 2 and im really enjoying it.
last 2 weeks i watched the league and community which really are some of the funniest american tv i have seen in years has anyone else watched them yet? the first 3 seasons of the league are on netflix so get on it you wont regret it.
last thing i read was an article on Brock lenser in the wwe and what his match will most likely be at wrestlemania.
i have been listening to a some random video games live stuff on youtube which is always good, video games music by an orchestra is always good
12
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 3:03 pm by S-o-h-a-i-l
You sure do get ill a lot Fred, take care of yourself !
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 5:04 pm by Fred Dutton
I never got ill until I moved back to London!! I blame the tube. And my wife. Primary school teachers are plague vessels.
13
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 3:04 pm by Stonesthrow
I finished Ni no kuni
Over 80 hours in. Still have to do most of the post-finish stuff though. Been playing BF3 too. Now I’m thinking about installing Skyrim and playing the dlc, or just wait it out and play some BF3 untill Rising arrives.
Rewatched Inglorious basterds a while ago. The beginning of the movie still grabs me by the collar. Would love to see some of the newer ones but I don’t get out much.
Not much for reading besides the internet. Leaked (whether fake or not) Dualshock 4 news cought most of my attention, as any change to my beloved and iconic Dualshock is blasphemy, but I’ll get into that some other time :p
As for music, the lovely reggae of Augustus Pablo has been bumping my speakers mostly this week. East of the river Nile ftw!
14
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 3:34 pm by tiago-kun
I’ve been playing Wipeout 2048, I don’t like racing games that much, but Wipeout is one of the exceptions. It’s a lot of fun.
I’ve been catching the TV Shows I’ve missed this past week, but I watched Lincoln, great movie!
Still reading Storm of Swords (I read only a few pages a day on the Bus), but next week or the week after and I should jump to Vol. 4. Other than that, there’s been a bunch of great articles I’ve read this week about DICE.
On the music side, I’ve been listening to the old albums of Smashing Pumpkins. I still think it’s great stuff
15
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 4:14 pm by dogwalker4000
Hardly touched my games this week, been sorting out the new flat with the missus. Managed to get some Ni No Kuni in this morning and just got Tengri…then my kid wanted to fly it so I haven’t seen it since.
After reading what a botched job Gearbox did with Aliens it put me in the mood to watch the film again, can’t beat a bit of William Hudson to improve your mood this week if you’re an Aliens fan.
Read an article about EVE Online this week, I’ve never played the game but always read the articles about it. It’s amazing how serious it is taken and how intricate the workings of the players is.
Nothing much regarding music this week, other than the Grammys live stuff I saw. Never thought I’d say this but Bruno Mars was the highlight.
16
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 5:33 pm by L21KDY
Game: DMC which by the way is such an amazing game ninja theory done themselves proud
Tv series is supernatural seasn 8 such a brill tv show
Movie: pulp fiction tonight as me girlfriend aint seen it such an amazing film.
Music.iron maiden at mo us other rock
17
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 5:51 pm by Nightmare966
@Fred: Indeed it is! Had quite a few good laughs, specially towrads the end
Also, a bit of a note: I just finished Bayonetta. Seriosuly guys, if you like action/Hack and Slash games and cheesy stuff… The game will make you laugh pretty hard. Specially towards the end. After the credits, and saving, and all that stuff
Posted on 18 February, 2013 at 9:56 am by Jawad Ashraf
Here, here! Bayonetta is easily one of the must own/need to play games in the last few years.
18
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 6:17 pm by theJJ88
Playing: Singstar with my wife. She can sing and I can not – so we are pretty balanced.
I still want it gone though, I hate it being first thing I see when I open my PS3.
(this is meant as sincere compliment 
)
Watching: “My Lovely Monster” -anime with my wife. She had birthday, so she has decided what we do.
Reading: Monoliet’s comments. At first I thought he was annoying, but now I think he’s entertaining. Keep it up, monoliet!
Music: Singstar songs. That’s enough music for today, only game music rest of this day. Might try to finish Among Thieves tonight, it’s been a busy week and haven’t got time to play until today.
19
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 6:43 pm by cooldudematt
Here’s my weekend playlist:
Last Game played – Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes. Decided to revisit this game to finally get my 18th platinum. Very fun game aswell.=)
Last Movie Watched – The Bourne Ultimatum. Watched this for the first time and I have to say I am highly impressed. The Action was amazing and the story had me gripped.
Last TV Show watched – The Walking Dead. This is an easy one, Last nights Walking Dead was brilliant. Really happy its back.
Last Article Read – Obviously, I have been reading the articles on the net covering the prototype PS4 controller. I think it looks cool. Can’t wait to see it in action on Wednesday.
Last Song(s) heard – I’ve basically just been listening to my Spotify playlist. Songs like Too Close by Alex Clare, Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas, Finale by Madeon, The Next Door by Exile & more. =)
20
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 10:42 pm by spikkle
Well I have been playing Sleeping Dogs. Free for PS+, WHICH I got for christmas so im going to download at least one Instant Game Collection per month!Its a GREAT game, but has some glitches, and it crashes sometimes.
I also got the US demo of Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires. Do we get it next week?
21
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 10:55 pm by israel996
Wwe13
22
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 11:46 pm by mellan_Konsten
@Fred
Hi Fred, i don’t know if you are the right person to ask, but i have tried to get an answer to my question two times earlyer this week (in the when vikings relax article and this weeks ps store update)
I downloaded the full when vikings attack bundle and it works flawless on my ps3, but refuses to even install on my Vita (15% then it stops and gives me an error).
I have surfed around on the net and it seems like my problem is simular to the motorstorm RC dlc problem a couple of weeks ago.
as i recall the solution to the motorstorm problem was to first download the trial and then the dlc. The only problem is that there is no vita demo of when vikings attack.
any tip?
keep up the good work
23
Posted on 17 February, 2013 at 12:47 am by Project2insanity
Last video game: PS3- Dead Space 2. Finally got round to it since it went to Plus back in August… Been enjoying it so far. On chapter 8, I think. Chapter 7 was great. Wasn’t really enthralled with the original so I’m suitably impressed.
Vita- Wipeout 2048. Why hadn’t I been shown the opening FMV before!? Wipeout being typically Wipeout as usual, very solid game. Always a showcase for Playstation.
Last movie/TV show: Bullet to the Head! I care not what the critics say! I wanted to see Sly putting bullets in heads and put bullets in heads, he did!
Best book or article: I’m just gonna heckle hayzink here ’cause I’ve only read last week’s results… What about Sunday!? Brrrrrock Lesssssnaaarrr has a nasty habit of causing trouble. And The Rock has a nasty habit of getting screwed over…
Soundtracking: inFamous 2 Blue soundtrack mostly. Plight, The Beast and Empire are top picks.
24
Posted on 17 February, 2013 at 8:53 am by baggy12
Game: believe it or have been playing LittleBigPlanet 1. Yes i know everyone but is part ofmy backlog! Haha but they are not all this old. Brilliant game!
Movie: watched joy ride last night withthe missus and it was ok but nothing special.
Article: the future of playstation;-)
Music: wedding songs a plenty as getting marriednext year
25
Posted on 17 February, 2013 at 9:34 am by vicheous
No time for anything else than Crysis 3 and MGS: Rising
My Postman is so nice he came with both yesterday 
Posted on 18 February, 2013 at 9:57 am by Jawad Ashraf
Colour me jealous *sigh*
26
Posted on 17 February, 2013 at 10:59 am by Pyromobster
Game: Sleeping Dogs. Its amazing, and I already have 80 percent trophy completion! :O
Watching: The Walking Dead Book: The Walking Dead comic
I think you can see Im a TWD fan!
27
Posted on 17 February, 2013 at 12:38 pm by MissDreamer
Game: I’ve been playing on Ni No kuni all week. Such a top game. I’m actually taking my time with the game and really enjoying it.
Tv: Watched Avenegers Assemble last night and quite enjoyed it.
Book. I’m reading Uncharted:The Fourth Labyrinth which is actually quite good.
Music: I just bought the Elder Scrolls albums off itunes yesterday at a reasonable price. The Morrowind and Skyrim soundtracks are amazing.
28
Posted on 17 February, 2013 at 1:47 pm by mazegami
Game: Ni No Kuni still, finished the main story (frustrating final boss!) now just polishing off the rest. Determined to get 100% on EVERYTHING
but gonna have to go fight some more tokos first… probably aim for lvl99 and just breeze through the return of the bosses (like the dark aeons in ffx)
Tv: re-watching malcolm in the middle, forgot how young they all were in the beginning!
Book: Onto Spice & Wolf novella vol 6, got 7 to read then a bit of a wait for the next to be translated so probably catch up on Robin Hobb City Of Dragons before the next one for that series comes out.
Music: Same as last week
Wonderfalls soundtrack, new Fall Out Boy, Old eminem and some Stone Sour and Slipknot. (get to listen while cleaning at work, gotta be some perks)
29
Posted on 17 February, 2013 at 2:22 pm by bap10
Hi.
Game wise I have been playing Wipeout and Superdust on the Vita on my way home on the bus. Im sure the people on the bus think I’m mental due to the faces these games make me pull.
And on the PS3, finally getting round to playing Dead Space what a great and scary game.
Made all the more scary while playing with headphones on and having our crazy Budgie Eddie landing on my head out of nowhere. I swear he is picking the perfect moment to do it.
Movie wise I watched Taking Woodstock on Netflix which is worth a watch. And via the PS store I watched Shadow Dancer which is a dark reminder of the troubles in N- Ireland.
Never got a chance to ask last week Fred, what is your high score on Super Crate Box?
30
Posted on 18 February, 2013 at 7:55 am by KevinTran87
Hi, this is a very interesting web page and I have enjoyed reading many of the articles and posts contained on the website, keep up the good work and hope to read some more interesting content in the future. Thank you so much .
31
Posted on 18 February, 2013 at 7:56 am by KevinTran87
Nice post!
32
Posted on 18 February, 2013 at 11:29 am by vicheous
What colour you want Jawad
Posted on 18 February, 2013 at 12:00 pm by Jawad Ashraf
Don’t you have a game to play!
The music of the game will have to tide me over for a few days.
33
Posted on 18 February, 2013 at 12:17 pm by vicheous
Nah watching Top Gear atm
Then going back on Crysis, Metal Gear was not really my cup of tea…
34
Posted on 16 February, 2013 at 5:12 pm by Fred Dutton
For the record, there have been 157 responses from Blog authors in the past 5 days. We really do try to answer as many as possible. Clearly you want a very specific question answered, but I’m afraid we have no new news to impart there.
We close the comments for posts after 30 days. If you would still like to comment on this post, please use our contact form.