Another week, another PS3 game announced; I trust you all caught the announcement of PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale and are now wildly speculating about which characters should and will be included. I’m not going to tell you if you’re right or not (I’ll get locked in the SCEE dungeon if I do) but I’d love to read your dream match-ups.

Next week’s posts are taking shape nicely, including an unusual piece on Monday for which the likes of Jawad, Ross McGrath and I have had to dust off our pencil cases. You have been warned.

Here’s your recap.

• The Walking Dead Game Series Lurches To PSN on Wednesday – The first episode of The Walking Dead, ‘A New Day,’ arrived on PSN on Wednesday, April 25th. Each episode will cost €4.99/£3.99 on the PS Store.
• Resistance: Burning Skies Reveals Survival Mode – Pits the players against each other in a race to the finish where only the strong survive!
• ModNation Racers: Fun Never Goes Out Of Style – ModNation Racers Two-Year Anniversary Celebration Coming Soon!
• Sonic 4 Episode II Brings Metal Sonic To PSN From 16 May – Not only is Metal Sonic returning to wreak havoc in the boss battles of Sonic 4 Episode II, but he’s making a star appearance in exclusive content for owners of both Episodes I and II!
• Skype Coming To PlayStation Vita On 25 April – Now you can keep in touch with gamers around the globe while you’re on-the-go as Skype video calling is available for both the 3G and Wi-Fi models.
• ‘Heads-Up’ PlayStation Plus Update – 2nd May 2012 – If brand-new PSN title’s not enough for you, the lovely folks at TikGames and Creat Studios have awesome upcoming content!
• Gravity Rush Pre-order DLC Revealed – DLC will be available, at no extra cost, to those people who purchase the game from PlayStation Store for a limited time after launch.
• Awesomenauts is PS Plus Game of the Month for May – Blasting on to PS Store for PS3 on May 2nd and it will be PlayStation Plus game of the month!
• PlayStation Home 1.65 Update Arrives – 1.65 update is here, bringing improvements to speed and ease of use on the menu screen, graphical UI tweaks, clearer representation of furniture limits, and much more.
• MUD – FIM Motocross World Championship Demo launches Today – The demo packs up some of the best stuff you’ll find in the game… like a Quick Race on the Glen Helen track.
• ‘Heads-Up’ Game Store Update Wednesday 25th April 2012 – This week’s front runner is The Walking Dead, courtesy of Telltale Games, who previously brought you the much loved Back to the Future: The Game.
• Starhawk: It’s Got A Story, Baby – A tale of a game with hot multiplayer action yet, unbeknownst to most players, a fun-as-hell solo campaign as well.
• Ghostlight To Release Fate/EXTRA – An epic PSP title set in a parallel universe to that of the hugely popular Japanese visual novel Fate/Stay Night.
• How Dynamic Battlefields Take Shape In DUST 514 – Because of its sandbox nature, players have the freedom to change the battlefield through choices!
• Dishonored Preview: Cloak And Dagger – Some games have problems with bugs, but Dishonored has trouble with rats!
• PixelJunk 4am Beta Goes Live – Beta is now LIVE on PS Store!
• See PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale In Action – A celebration of a storied history of great characters and rich worlds brought together in one game.
• Your DiRT Showdown Questions Answered – With the release inching ever closer, we turned to twitter to find out what you guys need to know about the game!

• Weekend Essentials 123 – Leap into a terrifying fight in PROTOTYPE 2 and survive the zombie apocalypse in The Walking Dead this weekend on PS3.
• Game On - Unleash your wild side this week with the epic PS3 trio of God of War: Ascension, Dishonored and Max Payne 3.
• The evolution of stereoscopic 3D on PS3 – Discover how a small team at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is making huge strides in stereoscopic 3D gaming.
• Hands on: Max Payne 3 – Discover why an angry ex-cop’s trip to Brazil will make you wish you were there on PlayStation 3.
• Hands on with DmC – Style, swords and a devil may care attitude – it can only be DmC. Take a look at the demon hunting action adventure which is blasting its way onto PS3.

• Here’s our Dishonored PS3 preview. We see the game in action and chat to creators Harvey Smith &Raphael Colantonio.
• Find out more about the Battlefield 3 Close Quarters DLC in this interivew with DICE’s Patrick Bach.
• Here are 8 vital survival tips guide for Prototype 2 to help you stay alive.
• Read out Crysis 3 PS3 preview to find out all about the nano-powered sequel.
• Here’s reasons Assassin’s Creed 3 will be amazing.

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PlayStation Home will be offline from 8AM BST on Wednesday 25th April for routine maintenance. Here is what to expect after the update…

The big news this week is that the PlayStation Home 1.65 update is here, bringing improvements to speed and ease of use on the menu screen, graphical UI tweaks, clearer representation of furniture limits, and much more.

Some of the highlights include:

(more…)

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The door closes on another week, one that is dominated by one piece of news. Yes, Kratos is returning to PS3 in a brand new game from Santa Monica Studios, and judging from the comments, many of you are getting excited. This is just the start and we’re looking forward to sharing more with you as the development process rages on. We think you’re going to be very happy with what the dev team is working on.

Here’s your recap.

• PlayStation Network Scheduled Maintenance – PSN was offline for scheduled maintenance from 14:00 on Monday 16 April 2012 until 02:00 on Tuesday 17 April 2012, BST.
• On Starters Orders For GT Academy 2012 – In just a few short weeks (May 1, to be precise), we will see the return of GT Academy!
• ModNation Racers Road Trip: Do You Mod? – Fingers crossed the term above has no impending underground or urban double-meaning.
• A Magical Tale Begins With This New Sorcery Trailer – Join legendary wizard Dash in a magical tale from deep within the Faerie Kingdom!
• LittleBigPlanet 2: Update 1.12! – Out this week, and it introduced a few nifty features to the game.
• The SingStore On April 18: Lana, Rihanna, Leona And More… – This week we have some brilliant tracks by equally brilliant women!
• PSP Price Drops In PlayStation Store – We have some more price dropped PSP games for your enjoyment.
• Bringing Collaborative Play To Sonic 4 Episode II – Sonic can now team up at any point in the game with Tails, by utilising one of three combo moves!
• Paint Park, Treasure Park And Wake-up Club Coming To PS Vita For Free – PlayStation Vita owners can look forward to a trio of free applications!
• PlayStation Home: Go Safari – Novus Prime gets its newest shipment of game-enhancing outfits and virtual items this week!
• FIFA Interactive World Cup Final Set For Dubai – The world’s largest online gaming tournament, has beaten its own Guinness World Record.
• ‘Heads-Up’ Game Store Update 18th April – Loads of new content, special offers and updates!
• Learn The Secrets Of PSN’s Dyad – Each of the game’s 27 different levels touch upon a variety of mechanics and goals.
• MUBI Update: 19 April 2012 – As we teased in our last update, we have an exciting, exclusive premiere run to announce…
• God of War: Ascension Announced – God of War: Ascension will be coming exclusively to PS 3!
• VIDZONE UPDATE: It’s Spring Cleaning Time, NEW PATCH ALERT! – The patch is available now so see here exactly what to look out for!
• Access Round Up – Episode 30! Win A PS Vita! – Mixed this up a bit this week to cover more of the stuff that PlayStation Access gets up to.
• Get Your Design in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time – How would you like to see your design become part of a real video game?
• PixelJunk 4am: A New Music Visualizer For Your PS3 – PixelJunk 4am and the free PixelJunk 4am – Viewer will be released and available for download on the PlayStation Store from May 15th.
• The Weekend Debate – Music To Your Thumbs – What does music add to the game experience and what does the future hold for game composition?

• Weekend Essentials 122 – Become a chess master on PS Vita, try your hand at rewriting sporting history and take to the skies on PS3 this weekend.
• Design the target of Sly Cooper’s greatest heist yet – Create a treasure and it could be brought to life in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, winning you a PS Vita system.
• Hands on with DmC – Style, swords and a devil may care attitude – it can only be DmC. Take a look at the demon hunting action adventure which is blasting its way onto PS3.

• Here’s a Dishonored PS3 trailer analysis packed full of interesting info.
• We’ve been thinking about E3 2012 PS3 games and here’s our wish list.
• So what is in the Skyrim PS3 DLC? We’ve been examining the evidence to date.
• We built a PS4 based on the rumored specs. What’s it capable of?
• PS3 gets Nasne, a 500GB TV tuner and recorder.

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Music. Where would we be if our ancestors had never learned to master sound, silence, pitch and rhythm? Sweet, life-affirming music permeates almost every aspect of our lives; not least the games we play. Is there a piece of game music that particularly stands out for you, be it on its own merits or for the way it enhances the overall concept?

Some games have beautiful soundtracks and some games, like PixelJunk 4am (which has an upcoming beta you can find out about in the post directly beneath this one) and the upcoming Sound/Shapes on PS Vita have music at the very core of their mechanics.

What does music add to the game experience and what does the future hold for game composition?

Come forth and speak: your views are food to my eyes and ears.

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PlayStation Home will be offline from 8AM BST on Wednesday 18th April for routine maintenance. Here is what to expect after the update…

Novus Prime gets its newest shipment of game-enhancing outfits and virtual items this week! Suit up as the new Obsidian Bladewalker foot soldier with four custom animations, holographic weapon, and a 5% experience boost in Novus Prime!

Gain the golden touch with the new gold-plated Midas Reactive Defense System and get a 25% Nebulon collection bonus when you own the entire outfit! Power up your avatar with the sleek new Ion Stream Power Armour, and don’t forget to show off your deadly side with the newest Obsidian technology available to the Earth Fleet: the Obsidian Throwing Star. Warp to the Novus Prime space station today to check out all the new gear and Join the Fight!

Very few Safaris give you the opportunity to get up close and personal with elephants, hippos and gorillas in one trip, but that’s exactly what a trip to the Lockwood store can do for you today!

Tembo returns and this time he’s brought some friends along. Kubwa is an impressively huge gorilla. He’ll pound his chest and the ground to show his dominance, and when he thinks no one’s watching, he has some rather unsavoury habits… Kiboko is an unbelievably cute baby hippo who sometimes gets tired out playing all day. He’ll follow you around as much as his little legs can carry him, but when he gets too tired, he’ll plop down on the floor and yawn! Open up your home and your heart to some exotic wildlife!

Two racers have returned to Sodium’s Project Velocity, forgotten heroes of this high octane sport, intending to regain notoriety once more. Already it’s happening – these Legendary Racers are gaining a following of keen young sportsmen and women eager to follow in their death-defying footsteps by racing and dressing just like them. Only the finest racers can expect to don the Legendary Pilot outfit though. The Legendary Racers don’t let just anyone copy their style. If you want to dress like a winner, you have to BE a winner. Reach level 40 to unlock the complete Legendary Pilot Outfit.

Granzella bring us more Edo-themed content this week with Feudal Lord clothing and armour to help battle the evil spirits besieging the city. There’s also some new furniture to help deck out your Edo Row Houses in the finest classical Japanese style.

In the Shopping Centre, the Furniture store has a new range of bright, animated furniture; or head to Threads to choose from the Hollywood Celebrity or Pop Diva outfits to show off your star status.

Konami brings the Raver line of clothing to PlayStation Home. You will stick out in the crowds with this brightly coloured and often glowing collection. Support Peace, Love, Unity and Respect with these new pieces of clothing.

Due in no small part to the actions of the armed fruit militia, Diesel Island will be sinking from sight in PlayStation Home on Wednesday the 25th of April. You’ve got one week left to rescue some of the Island stock from the Diesel store – such as The Luxurious Tropical Paradise Beach Crib, A.I.- B.O.T. or Aunt Mildred. Coming soon – more news on what’s next in PS Home for Diesel.

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