Happy 2012! We’re starting the year off with a fresh batch of UNCHARTED 3 DLC content and more in the pipeline that prophecies forbid us from fully portending quite yet. Hope you’ve all gotten 2012 off to a rocking start even with all the 2012 phenomenon chatter. If not, we’re about to make your end of days talk and your UNCHARTED gaming life much more awesome.

First off, today we’ll be releasing four maps we teased a couple of weeks after the UNCHARTED 3 launch.

You’ll be getting the Cave, Fort, Lost City, and Sanctuary maps in this download pack. Dynamic lighting effects, new particle effects and a slew of technical changes have been made to these maps. The lighting was reworked from scratch. New textures and weather effects are apparent and freshly decorate all maps. We poured hours of development time into these maps to make them be really fun in the UNCHARTED 3 multiplayer ecosystem. This map pack is a taste of how far we can go to remix some of your favourite maps into a completely new UNCHARTED 3 gameplay experience.

If you’re a member of the Fortune Hunters’ Club these maps will be available free to you. If not, you can gain access today by purchasing the FHC from the PS Store. It’s a fantastic deal at €24.99 / £19.99

Initially, the Fortune Hunters’ Club offered savings off the seven multiplayer packs (three character skin packs, four map packs) that will be released for Uncharted 3. We’ve kicked this deal up a few notches and are now offering 14 total packs, 7 new packs that we will be revealing as the year progresses! As a FHC member the savings for these 14 packs will be over 60%! Current membership and any new membership purchased will include all currently available and any upcoming DLC packs for Uncharted 3 as well as an exclusive Fortune Hunters’ Club theme that will let you know when new Uncharted 3 DLC hits right from the XMB of your PS3.

Besides the fun new maps you’ll be playing on today, we wanted to tell you about some future hits of DLC. We have three new character skins packs coming at you next. The Rogues Pack 1 and Rogues Pack 2 will let you play as some of the major thugs and minor characters from Uncharted 3. Donut Pack 1 will giant-size some of your favorite Uncharted 3 heroes and villains.

Details on how and when the three new skin packs will be available, and what DLC is coming after that, will follow in our next blog update. We have a lot more DLC coming at you. To whet your appetite, here’s a hint to as what it may be:

Any guesses to why Lazarević is holding half a Janus head?

As you see we are currently hard at work on completely new DLC for your UNCHARTED 3 online adventure. As soon as all the content is fully baked, tested through QA and we have locked release dates you’ll be the first to know. For now, let’s explore some new maps together. See you online!

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I’m really happy to announce that PlayStation Plus subscribers in Europe, South Africa, The Middle East, Australia and New Zealand will get a chance to play Uncharted 3‘s competitive multiplayer experience before the full game releases on November 2.

The Uncharted 3 competitive multiplayer experience will go online for PlayStation Plus subscribers on Wednesday, October 5, 2011.

PlayStation Plus subscription is the only way to guarantee access. However, If you’re not a subscriber to PlayStation Plus, there may be other ways to gain access throughout the month of October, keep an eye on your local PlayStation.Blog page or community forums for more details.

This is a great way to get a head start on leveling up your Uncharted 3 multiplayer profile – Naughty Dog have made sure that key aspects of your progress during the competitive multiplayer experience, will carry over into the final retail copy of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. We’ll have more details on how that works very, very soon.

Naughty Dog have been working really hard to blow you away with the Uncharted 3 multiplayer experience – they can’t wait to flip the switch for PlayStation Plus users in Europe, South Africa, The Middle East, Australia and New Zealand on October 5.

See you online!

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It’s almost here! With the release of ICO & Shadow of the Colossus HD Classics coming this week, I hope you guys are as excited as I am to be able to help Yorda escape the castle with ICO and, as Wanda, to take down some massive Colossi in full HD (and 3D for those of you lucky enough to have a 3D TV).

ICO & Shadow of the Colossus are two of my favourite games with some of the most innovative gameplay and beautiful art direction seen in gaming to this day. If you missed them first time around or if you don’t know anything about these games, don’t just take my word for how great they are; we’re currently running at a metacritic of 90% (at time of posting), based on 32 reviews. Some of which I’ve added below (please forgive me on the quote translation):

10/10 – VideoGamer.com

“You’ll be rewarded with an experience that will stay with you for a very long time. For under £30, you’ll be picking up two of the most important games ever made.”

9.5/10 – Vandal.net

“A must-buy for anyone with a passion for video games.”

9.5/10 – Multiplayer.it

“Two works of art for less than the price of one game”

9/10 – Eurogamer.net

“This HD collection is such a delight.”

9/10 – gameover.gr

“Two masterpieces / clear proof that games can be art”

9/10 – gamereactor.se

“Do yourself a favour now, and get this collection”

9/10 – CVG

“Two PS2 legends; one epic PS3 makeover”

9/10 – meristation.com

“Gaming poetry, now in HD and 3D”

ICO & Shadow of the Colossus are true gaming masterpieces created and developed by the amazing team headed up by gaming luminary Fumito Ueda. Along with the two dynamic themes (one for ICO and one for Shadow of the Colossus), for fans of Ueda-san we’ve also included two videos which are available via an in-pack voucher.

The first video is an original concept video for NICO. NICO was originally planned to be spiritual successor to ICO and was an online game where teams of Colossus hunters would track, battle and take down huge Colossi together. The core gaming experience and ideas ultimately became what we now know as Shadow of the Colossus.

There’s also a 12-minute behind-the-scenes video filmed on location by our US colleagues at the Sony Japan offices in Shinagawa. This video features interviews with key production staff members about the making of ICO, Shadow of the Colossus and, of course, The Last Guardian. The video includes the team’s thoughts on the HD Classics, as well as concept art and prototype footage of all three games. Plus you’ll get to see some exclusive never-before-seen footage from The Last Guardian.

Below is a short preview of the videos, to give you an idea of what to expect

Unfortunately, due to some technical issues, you will not be able to download this extra content using the in-pack voucher until Monday 10th October. Please accept our sincerest apologies.

Finally, thanks for reading this post and be sure to pick up your copy when it’s out in stores this week.

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It’s been a while since we’ve updated you on the remastered ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, but we did want to remind you about its upcoming launch on September 28th! As a special treat, we’re proud to unveil the final box art and inside packaging for the collection, depicting stylised artwork from both titles. In addition to full 1080p HD, stereoscopic 3D support, and 7.1 surround sound, we are also including some exclusive video content featuring gaming visionary Fumito Ueda available via an in-pack voucher to enable you to download from the PlayStation Store. Full details are available here.

Additionally, we wanted to confirm that The Last Guardian is not on the schedule for this year’s Tokyo Game Show. However we can assure you that Ueda-san and the rest of the development team are hard at work to bring his lofty vision to life and deliver the very best gaming experience possible.

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ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection is coming this September 28th and I wanted to take this opportunity to give you a little more detail on the bonus content we announced last month, as well as giving fanc a sneak peak at the trophies for both ICO & Shadow of the Colossus.

We will be including two dynamic themes for your PS3, designed by the team (one designed around ICO and Yorda and one designed around Shadow of the Colossus).

We are also including some exclusive video content featuring gaming visionary Fumito Ueda. All items will be available via an in-pack voucher enabling you to download the content from the PlayStation Store.

(more…)

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