We’ve also a new video of Ryu, Frank West and Rocket Raccoon teaming together to overcome Felicia, Arthur and She-Hulk. Which side are you, Marvel or Capcom? You decide.

Big Tease

Many moons ago we ran a mystery puzzle teaser here on the blog, the reveal of which invited you to suggest names for the game.* We can now reveal that there are FOUR winners who now have their names immortalised in the game, and each will win a promo code to download the game for free, or to share with a friend!

We had hundreds of entries, for which we were very grateful, and settled on ‘VELOCITY’, as it described the concept and gameplay very well – and is a cool word!

Competition Winners

The winners are:

• Alan Eldredge / retrotekn0
• Jason Griffin / Ehud_Alefti
• Spider Mann / spidersparlor (this is Mr. Mann’s actual, real name)
• Dan Stephens / sesameseed

Congratulations, your names have been included in the game – but we’re not telling you where to find them, you’ll have to do that bit yourselves! Thanks also to everyone else that took part and made it a very hard decision for us.

Killzone Composer Brings Maximum Sound to minis

Here at FuturLab we don’t think it is good enough to churn out cloned games. We wanted to do justice to the nostalgia of early games in the shoot-’em-up genre, so that people can pick up Velocity and feel right at home, but also feel the excitement of playing something completely new!

After many months prototyping, we knew we had something special with Velocity – the teleporting mechanics had never been done before – so we wanted a big sound to complement the gameplay experience.

We are therefore incredibly excited that Joris de Man, the award-winning composer who wrote and produced the music for Killzone 2 & 3, has co-written and co-produced the music for Velocity!

So it sounds incredible and is a genuine, high-quality homage to the classic games we older folk remember fondly. Check out the trailer below:

Velocity is a portable-friendly shooter that is packed full of innovative ideas, designs, sounds and gameplay – and it’s really addictive!

We wanted to use the minis platform to do something nobody had seen before, so we really hope you enjoy playing on your PSP, PS Vita and PS3!**

Velocity is due for release in March in Europe and the US, and will be FREE to download for PlayStation Plus subscribers!

Where are the Screenshots?!

If you want to find out more about the game, check out the screenshots, or stay in touch with me and the rest of the team, here’s a bunch of useful links:

• Official Velocity Website: http://www.velocitygame.co.uk – Info on the game, and screenshots!
• Velocity on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/VelocityGame/ – Come and ‘Like’ Velocity!
• FuturLab Website/Blog: http://www.futurlab.co.uk/ – Stay in touch through our website and blog!
• FuturLab on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FuturLab – Come and ‘Like’ us too!
• FuturLab on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/FuturLab – Follow us for the latest info

–
*Some of you may be wondering what happened to the pilot’s name, as we asked people to name her too. Unfortunately we didn’t receive any suggestions that did it for us, so we named her ourselves: Kai Tana.

**If you like what we’ve done with Velocity, please show your support. There’s a powerful, shiny new handheld on the scene now, and we’d love to give Velocity the HD treatment! With your support we can do it!

We know your appetites for destruction are growing as we draw closer to Twisted Metal’s release, so we’re pleased to announce that the Twisted Metal Multiplayer Beta goes live on the PlayStation Store this afternoon! Once the beta hits the Store, you’ll get a taste of Twisted Metal’s online play with:

• 8 vehicles to choose from, each with their own unique special weapons.
• 2 multiplayer modes: Classic free-for-all Death Match, and team-based Nuke mode—a Twisted take on Capture the Flag that’s brand new to the series.
• Challenge mode, where you can practice with each vehicle to hone your destructive skills.

Be sure to try out all the vehicles and modes available in the multiplayer beta and let us know your favourites. Servers will be up today and until February 7th, so you’ve got a week to practice – Get killin’!

SPEED CREATE by Mnniska

A new fan-created video series called SpeedCreate. Love the new approach and helpful tips/ideas passed along to the rest of us.

Thanks!

LittleBigPodcast – Episode 156 and Muppets DLC

Thanks for keeping us updated on the latest!

Speaking of the Muppets, the new DLC is available NOW! Here’s a look at the trailer…

Make sure to pick up the level pack to gain access to new levels, stickers, sounds and a cool new tool! Also it includes the Rowlf the Dog costume, my personal favourite Muppet… who’s yours?

The 2011 Sackies – Nominations Needed!

With the Golden Globes behind us and the Oscars coming up soon, awards season now here in full force, so it’s time for our own special LBP awards, called The Sackies – and we need your help. Check out how you can help nominate the best levels out there via LBP.me – just find the level and look for the special Sackies nomination feature at the top of each level. Nominations will be closed on Feb 6th, and then voting will begin and go until Feb 20th with winners scheduled to be announced the week after. So, nominate your favourite levels now!

Sackboy takes an award Home

Speaking of awards, last month Sackboy won the best PlayStation Home Companion of 2011 award over at Alphazone4. Almost 1000 people voted and Sackboy came out top so we just want to thank everyone who took the time, we hope he continues to entertain.

Other LBP News…

LBPCentral Community Spotlight Episode 76

Thanks for the round-up. This episode highlights a handful of new games uploaded recently:

• InterKinetic
• The Hollows of Thronwood Thicket
• Super Special Awesome Christmas Level
• A Christmas Tale: Santa ClaWs is Jelly
• Escape from the Mines!
• Sealed Fate – Chapter 1
• Aeon Quest
• El Guero’s Disembodied Genius
• The Cillian Saga part 2
• The Ruins of Kalahr

Exciting Times at Media Molecule

• Happy belated Birthday to Mm (Jan 4th) – click on over to the Communities’ B-DAY card and add your own special message to Mm

• Mm Podcast 15 – New Year’s Resolutions

…More Thank Yous…

And a special thanks to everyone in the community that act as our eyes and ears on the interwebs for the rest of the community to enjoy, including LittleBigLand, LBP2Blog, LittleBigPicks, RocketCheetah, and many many more!

Vita Rooms

With the PlayStation Vita launching next month we’ll be holding an event in London from the 17th through to the 23rd to allow everyone a chance to get some hands-on time with the lovely new device. Oh yeah and LBP will be there! Sign up on the PlayStation Access Facebook page to keep up to date and apply for an invite to the VIP night.

We’ve been running similar events in Manchester and Glasgow over the last couple of weeks and they’ve been great, we’ve really enjoyed meeting everyone and showing off the game. Hope to see even more fans at the London event.

Hungry Giraffe is our first foray into the endless climbing genre and is based on the experiences* of one particular giraffe who – bored of the foliage of the acacia tree – decided to stretch out his neck to reach the burgers floating in the sky.  Using the calories from the burgers to make his neck even longer, he moved from burger to french fries, taco to sandwich, on a desperate quest to stuff his face.

Of course our giraffe friend had to be wary of several hazards floating in the sky. After all, an anvil to the head seldom does anyone any good and as for poison, well, would you want clean up when a 1200 kg giraffe loses its lunch?  Unprescribed drugs are also best avoided, as human medicine tends to have strange hallucinogenic properties when taken by giraffes.

Of course this is a game and not a documentary, so we’ve added a few special touches to this real life story**.  Hungry Giraffe features some touches of our own, such as stat tracking and achievements.  Even more amazingly, the technical wizards (hello Paul!) here at Laughing Jackal have come up with a clever system allowing the PS3 version of the game to run at a higher resolution than the PSP allows, so those of you who like to play your games on a nice big shiny screen are in for a visual treat!

Join us!

You can find out more about Laughing Jackal, or subscribe to our weekly Blog’s RSS feed at our website: www.laughingjackal.co.uk

You can also find us under @LaughingJackal on Twitter, under Laughing Jackal Ltd. on Facebook, under Laughing Jackal on Google + and watch cool vids on our LaughingJackalGames Youtube Channel.

*These experiences may not have occurred.
** This really, really didn’t happen.

Many of our games are true Japanese imports. When we first released Arc on the EU PlayStation, the game was in Japanese. But a game of Arc’s complexity needs to be in English. Working Design’s wonderfully localized version is still one of the most appreciated tactical RPGs of all time. So we can now present the full depth of story in English that was needed to enjoy this game.

Players follow the young adventurer Arc, who sets out to save a world teetering on the edge of oblivion. But he’s not alone; seven different party members will join the quest over the course of the game, each one bursting with dozens of hand-drawn frames of animation that immerse players in the surreal fantasy landscape.

Arc the Lad introduced gameplay features like jumping and body blocking that extended the tactical strategy element. Further enhancing the game’s presentation, the epic soundtrack is widely remembered for its excellence. Players can also choose to plumb the depths of an optional 50-level dungeon that, if conquered, will influence future events in Arc the Lad II, unlocking a key character and a separate side quest.

If you haven’t already, make sure to follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/monkeypawgames.

Thanks again for your support and expect even more classics returning on MonkeyPaw Games soon!

One reason retro gaming is enjoying its recent renaissance is because gamers want to go back to their roots. Today’s games, with their mesmerizing graphics, sometimes lack a simple hook. Graphics can become a form of marketing, which can distort the mechanics and gameplay. Retro games didn’t have that luxury.

MonkeyPaw is all about the chance to relive some of those great games that made you a gaming junkie. So today we present a title that reminds us of our fighting game foundations. Galaxy Fight is a classic SunSoft title that strangely never found its way West.

You’ll see the first time an “endless” platform was used in a fighting game and how well it influenced other games. Galaxy Fight has a rhythm that just flows into fun. Retro gaming is where you’ll see today’s games in their infancy… and you might even hear a little blues humming inside your head.

Galaxy Fight is available from PlayStation Store from 10 January, 2012.

With Christmas just around the corner, ’tis the season to be jolly! And now you have 12 extra special reasons to be jolly as the 12 Deals of Christmas come to PlayStation Store.

During the month of December – up until Christmas Day – PlayStation Store will feature 12 amazing deals for you to unwrap. However, each deal will only be available to redeem from PlayStation Store for 48 hours, before – like Santa on Christmas morning – it vanishes…

Each of the 12 Deals of Christmas will start and stop at 12:00pm (GMT) on the following dates:

• Christmas Deal 1 – 1st to 3rd December

LittleBigPlanet 2 + 10 free DLC packs (Jak and Daxter Costume Kit, Festive Goodies Level Kit, God of War Level Kit, Heavenly Sword Level Kit, inFAMOUS Costume, Killzone Costume Kit, Kratos Costume, Sackboy On The Run Dynamic Theme, MotorStorm Costume, Animals Costume) – €34.99/£24.99 (extra 10% discount for PlayStation Plus members)

• Christmas Deal 2 – 3rd to 5th December

Up to 50% Driver: San Francisco with an additional 10% discount for PlayStation Plus subscribers.

• Christmas Deal 3 – 5th to 7th December

Get up to 50% off Child of Eden in PlayStation Store.

• Christmas Deal 4 – 7th to 9th December

Up to 31% off Section 8: Prejudice + free DLC.

• Christmas Deal 5 – 9th to 11th December

Up to 55% off Warhammer 40k: Space Marines

• Christmas Deal 6 – 11th to 13th December

Up to 55% off Payday: The Heist

• Christmas Deal 7 – 13th to 15th December

Up to 33% off Micky’s Wild Adventure

• Christmas Deal 8 – 15th to 17th December

Up to 42% off Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition

• Christmas Deal 9 – 17th to 19th December

Up to 31% off Deus EX: Human Revolution Complete Edition (Including the full game and the Explosive mission, Tactical Enhancement and Missing Link DLC packs)

• Christmas Deal 10 – 19th to 21st December

Up to 55% off Renegade Ops

• Christmas Deal 11 – 21st to 23rd December

• Christmas Deal 12 – 23rd to 25th December

So don’t miss out on some great one time offers – take a sleigh ride over to PlayStation Store for the 12 Deals of Christmas.

In this demo, you will be able to play 3 of the 60+ levels created for the game, each in a different one of the 6 totally different environments of Rayman Origins. There are so many great things in the game that it was quite hard to choose which levels to put in the demo, but this should give you a glimpse of what you can expect from the game. You’ll find incredibly fun old-school 2D side-scrolling platforming adventures, gorgeous hand-drawn art in full HD (1080p, exclusively for the PlayStation3!) running at 60 fps, and, last but not least, you can play in crazy 4 players co-op.

Of course Rayman Origins can still be played alone, but the game and this demo are also fully playable in jump-in jump-out anytime 4 players co-op. Anyone can join whenever they want, give a few slaps, and leave without even having to pause the game! Well, that’s assuming they’d want to leave, which is pretty unlikely… but I guess sometimes nature calls.

Also, because we know you guys are skilled gamers, don’t be fooled by the bright and happy appearance: the game is not easy, in fact it’s pretty damn challenging if you want to complete it (and I assume some of you like platinum, don’t you? . Of course beginners are welcome in co-op, but you’ll definitely need talent to see the end of the 20+ hours of gameplay the game has to offer!

The countdown is on! We’re really excited to deliver this game 2 weeks from now on November 24th – save the date! But we’re not the only ones who are excited – the first reviews of the game call it (and I’m quoting) “a Platforming Masterpiece” and “Living, Breathing, Perfection”. Wait, it gets better! The Official PlayStation Magazine gave a 9/10 score + gold award to the game!

But enough reading, it’s time to play the game and decide for yourself! Download it when PlayStation Store updates later today and we really hope you’ll have as much fun with the game as we had making it!!

Oh, and one last thing you might not know: the game is also coming to the PS Vita for the European release, and I can tell you it looks amazing, so stay tuned!

More info on the game on our official Facebook page – thanks for reading and enjoy the demo!

Since the release of Fighting Fantasy: Talisman of Death we’ve been keeping a close eye on our fans’ thoughts on the game to see what we could be doing better, and that’s why Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain will include the following features and improvements:

• The Log Book now remembers which book you were in (Character, Item or Page)
• The user can now return to the top of the page by pressing the up button when the first option is highlighted
• A ‘Good’ generic alignment portrait has been added to Character Bios
• A new mini game has been added to the end of the quest

As in Fighting Fantasy: Talisman of Death, the game features new combat, skill and luck systems for those who want a more interactive experience, while allowing everyone who wants the original gamebook experience on their PlayStation to play with the original dice based system.

So why are we doing The Warlock of Firetop Mountain now? Well, back when we first acquired the rights to convert the Fighting Fantasy books to the PlayStation Mini format, each of us had their own personal wish list of books we’d like to convert. The book that introduced the world to Fighting Fantasy back in 1982 – The Warlock of Firetop Mountain – featured on everyone’s list. So, while in the end we chose to start off with Talisman of Death, we promised ourselves that – if we got the chance – the next book we did would be Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

Before I sign off, I’d like to say thank you to everyone who supported the release of Fighting Fantasy: Talisman of Death, therefore giving us the opportunity to convert more of this fantastic series. Growing up, the Fighting Fantasy series were a massive part of my childhood and if you had told the younger me that I would get the chance to work on them it would have seemed unbelievable. Coming back to them as an adult (well, sort of J) I’ve found they hold up remarkably well and it has been a pleasure to work on them.

Join us!

You can find out more about Laughing Jackal, or subscribe to our weekly Blog’s RSS feed at our website: www.laughingjackal.co.uk

You can also find us under @LaughingJackal on Twitter, under Laughing Jackal Ltd. on Facebook and watch cool vids on our LaughingJackalGames Youtube Channel.

GaiaSeed is for the pure shooter enthusiast. When you get your hands on this one, you’ll be taken back to that era. Supremely smooth with a silky techo backbeat, GaiaSeed is one of those lost gems that should have become a classic. The game is guaranteed to satisfy, again and again.

This horizontal scrolling shooter from Techno Soleil has solid control, precise bullet collision, and a simple power-up system. With six stages, it’s not the longest game on the block, but the massively scaling 2D backgrounds and variable difficulty make up for that.

But the real beauty of GaiaSeed lies in its subtlety. The technique and effects used will give shooter aficionados a work of art to go back to for multiple exposure. The soundtrack stands out for its techno/ambiance mood and adds to the subliminal nature of the work. The effects and twists in the game will have you on edge. Thoughtfully presented and wonderfully executed, GaiaSeed is a gem in a haystack. The game is very rare and can be found on eBay in the $150 range so at €4.99/£3.99 this is a great game.

MonkeyPaw will continue to bring you closer to your Japanese gaming roots. We want to deliver all those lost classics from a far-away land that you never thought you’d get your trigger finger on. We hope you’ll continue to browse our catalogue and pick up a game or two in the Import section.

Yet by the same token, horror has become so passe that we barely even react when we encounter imagery of skeletons, zombies, witches, bats, vampires and ghouls. True primal fear is hard to come by in the modern world, and this applies to video games as well. When you hear the term “horror game,” what’s the first thing that pops into your mind? Probably “zombies” since that seems to characterize much of the horror genre nowadays. Most modern horror games assault you with wave after wave of zombies, and you can typically one-shot them back to their graves. They may look scary, but when’s the last time you were actually frightened in a zombie shooter game? Maybe you had an exciting time playing one, and jumped at a handful of startling moments, but the mere fact that you’re able to defend yourself – that you have a means of fighting back – makes just about every entry in the genre less horror than action.

In many ways, classic Japanese horror is much purer. For movies, think The Ring or The Grudge. For games, think Clock Tower or Haunting Ground. They’re all about unavoidable, inevitable death. You can run, but you can’t not die. You have no weapons. Your foes are immortal. All you can do is struggle in vain to survive, and pray that each door you open – each corridor you traverse – isn’t your last.

Most of each of the aforementioned movies and games achieve true terror through sheer anticipation. You know something horrible is lurking nearby… but you have no idea when or where it will strike. When nothing happens for an extended period of time, your anxiety grows until you reach that point where you begin to think you’re out of the woods. And then — BAM! — that’s when it hits you.

Corpse Party is one such horror experience. It plays out like the best of Japanese horror films, locking your nine main protagonists in an inescapable, otherworldly school building where vengeful spirits seek to end their lives in the most grisly, inhuman ways imaginable – all the while directly infiltrating their minds to drive them to paranoia, madness and suicide. The longer your characters stay in Heavenly Host Elementary School, the more utterly exhausted, certifiably insane and ravenously hungry they become, causing students to turn against one another, resort to cannibalism, hang themselves or simply suffer nervous breakdowns.
Death is inevitable.

Any hope of rescue becomes less and less likely with each passing second, causing some to resign themselves to their fates and simply accept the first chances at sweet release that come their way – which usually take very unpleasant and deeply disturbing forms.

Make no mistake, there is a way out – for some, anyway. But finding it takes more time than you have, and more effort than you can reasonably expect most high schoolers to muster under such ludicrously taxing circumstances. There will be casualties, no matter what choices you make. The question is, how many will live, and how many will die? With over 20 endings (most of which are aptly-named “wrong ends”), you can expect to see (and hear) every single character in the game suffer greater cruelty than you’d ever considered possible… and try as you might to be disgusted, you will be morbidly intrigued. These deaths are so creatively sadistic, so drawn-out and convincingly acted, that you’ll hang on your unfortunate protagonists’ every knell – and will never forget the horrors to which you are subjected.

Oddly enough, Corpse Party’s 16-bit-style 2D visuals contribute to the terror. This visual style provides a sense of distance between you and the characters under your control, which has a rather chilling consequence. Effectively, you’re given more than adequate visual feedback to comprehend the exact situation that’s occurring, but since most everything is shown through animated character sprites, you’re left with the task of envisioning the gory minutiae on your own. And as any true horror fan can tell you, the human mind is capable of imagining pain and torment far more potent than anything a screen can display.

Sound plays a major role in this as well. Every line of dialogue is expertly voice-acted in Japanese, and many of these lines were recorded binaurally – using two microphones instead of one, to create the illusion of a 3D soundscape. Play with headphones, and you may suddenly hear the spirits of long-dead children whispering directly into your ear. Some scenes relish in killing the lights, too, playing out entirely through squishy, unsettling noises and screams of indescribable agony that sound all too believable.

Corpse Party is scheduled for release on the PlayStation Store later this year as a PSP download. We’re sorry to have missed Halloween, but we wanted to make certain everything was perfect before unleashing this demon upon the English-speaking world.

If you’re a fan of true horror, Corpse Party will most definitely be worth the wait. But do prepare yourself: This is no hayride.

We got a slightly carried away during development, and the game ended up quite a bit bigger than we’d originally imagined. Personally I blame Shane (OKABU’s level designer), who kept on suggesting awesome new ideas that we felt we really couldn’t cut. As a result the four worlds are pretty huge, so big that OKABU features a Platinum Trophy, earned through tracking down all the medals throughout the story campaign, finding the numerous secrets tucked away throughout the world, as well as besting the four minigames.

Following on from last week’s post about the Heroes of OKABU, we really wanted to demonstrate how their different skills fit together, so we’ve got a fresh video below that shows longer sections of gameplay. It also shows how two players can work together when playing in Co-op mode.

In the video above, you can see clips from three of the four different worlds from the game. Each of the environments is totally unique, featuring a whole new set of elements to interact with, from giant magnifying glasses and railways, to charging goats and drivable bulldozers.

Lake Waka

The homeworld of the peaceful Yorubo tribe, bursting with exotic vegetation, inquisitive creatures and tropical shores. Its here that the adventure begins, as the Doza’s destructive march finally reaches the borders of the peaceful Yorubo.

Karibu Valley

Karibu Valley used to be a lush river delta, filled with a huge amount of marine life and surrounded by fertile fields. As the Doza stormed through the valley, they constructed an enormous dam, which stopped the flow of the Karibu river. As a result, the lands in the valley have almost dried up completely.

Noko Woods

Noko woods has been visited very little by the Yorubo since a party of adventurers disappeared there many generations ago. There have been rumours of Doza activity deep in the woods, and some strange creatures have been spotted nearby.

Doza Fortress

The homeworld of the Doza, the Fortress was constructed on a huge island. Filled with giant machinery, smog-belching factories, and a near-bottomless quarry, its here that the enslaved Yorubo are rumoured to have been transported.

There’s only a few more days until release, so not long to wait now! Don’t forget to check out the PlayStation Store on 19th October and try out the free demo on launch day. If you’d like to find out more about Okabu, you can follow us onTwitter and Facebook.

With launch coming up, let’s meet each hero and a taste of what they’ll bring to the table.

Its been a couple of months since we were last here talking about OKABU, our upcoming PSN-exclusive action-adventure, sitting alongside such awesome titles as Pixeljunk Sidescroller, Eufloria and Rochard.

So the big news is that we finally have a release date! OKABU will be hitting PSN on October 18th, and there’ll be a demo available on launch day that’ll let you take our cloud-flying heroes for a test flight. With launch only a couple of weeks away, we wanted to share a few more details about the game, and what you’ll be doing as you guide Kumulo and Nimbe through the four worlds that make up the story campaign.

Since we started development one of our biggest goals has been to pack a ton of gameplay variety in the game, from physics-play and drivable vehicles to the ability to control the creatures that fill the world. These powers come from the cloud-flying heroes in the game, which you can pick up and drop off to swap abilities on the fly.

With our previous trailers we’ve been keen to show off everything that you can do in the game, but I realise that there is a lot to take in such a short amount of video! With launch coming up, we thought it would be good to go into a bit more detail with each hero and give you a taste of what each of them brings to the table. Without further ado, here’s a video showing each of the characters in action:

The four guys you see surfing on the backs of the cloud-whales are Okabu’s cloud-flying heroes: Captain Monkfish, Picolo, Roki and Kat. Each provides a unique set of abilities to the player: need to pull down a drawbridge? Pick up Captain Monkfish and fire his harpoon. Need to charm a bull to smash through a wooden barricade? Pick up Picolo and get charming!

The puzzles and action challenges that make up each level center around the skills of these heroes, and its up to you to work out how best to use them together. If you’re playing single player, you can swap between the two clouds by pressing Triangle (so you can always have two heroes handy). If you’re playing with a friend, each of you can take control of a cloud-whale as you work together to progress through each level.

We can’t wait to get OKABU into your hands, and can’t believe we are so close to launch! Next week we’re going to delve a little more into the puzzles and co-op mode, so join us back here on the PS Blog, or follow us on Twitter for more details as we get closer to October 18th.

MonkeyPaw Games is also proud to release the first game in the Arc the Lad series, one of the longest-selling RPGs of the PS one era. This classic is in English only and will be the start of many RPGs to come to the PlayStation Network Classic section. Join us as we bring you a taste of Japanese gaming that you’ve never experienced.

Relive the Origins of Tactical RPGs with Arc the Lad.

Japanese RPGs are on a level by themselves. One that is sure to steal your sleep is Arc the Lad. The game stormed onto the RPG scene with a compelling world that served as a prologue to one of the longest-running tactical RPG series in history. Arc the Lad, Arc the Lad II, Arc Arena: Monster Tournament and Arc the Lad III will all be coming to the PlayStation Network.

To this day, many of your favorite RPG features were first displayed in this epic series. Arc the Lad introduced gameplay fideas like jumping and body blocking that extended the tactical strategy element.
Players follow the young adventurer Arc, set to save a world teetering on the edge of oblivion. Seven different party members will join the quest, each one bursting with dozens of hand-drawn frames of animation that immerse players in a surreal fantasy landscape.
Further enhancing the game’s presentation is an epic soundtrack. Players can also choose to plumb the depths of an optional 50-level dungeon that, if conquered, will influence future events in Arc the Lad II, unlocking a key character and a separate side quest.

Cho Aniki reigns down on the PlayStation Network

Just when you thought you’ve seen it all in a video game, now you get a chance to see how wacky the Japanese import world can be. MonkeyPaw Games proudly presents Cho Aniki.

Cho Aniki has been a favorite of those with knowledge of the Japanese domestic game market. This classic icon of the shooter era created a special place as one of the most outrageous titles in the parody shooter legacy. Deemed too daring for Western markets, in reality, the game is a comic display of homo-erotic, over-the-top graphics and Japanese wackiness on every level.

As you blast your way through multitudes of erotic bodybuilders, spinning corpses and head holes, you’ll find humor and challenge in completing every emphatic level. The game consists of an unending spiral of the weird and wonderful.

Cho Aniki is tough and will challenge your shooting skills. But in return, you’ll get a constant flow of humor and irony that will make you laugh as you blast your way through.

Arcade Hits: Sonic Wings Special

The Sonic Wings Special brings you to fore of the great era of Japanese shoot’em-ups. This vertical scroller combines features of previous versions (I-III) and delivers a mind-bending, finger-happy splurge through shooter heaven.

Sonic Wings features 2-player same-screen simultaneous play and a choice of multiple jet fighters. Pick from 7 teams and fourteen pilots flying high in twenty-six different jets. Each captain is detailed out in anime graphics so you get a real feel for your co-pilot. There are 17 stages with multiple paths in which to choose while levels can be randomly served.

Who wouldn’t want to play Captain Blaster Keaton while battling the enemy Fat Morgana? This is a quintessential fighter from a great era of gaming history. Take a spin on your P-61 Black Widow and feel the power of Sonic Wings Special.

For more information about MonkeyPaw Games, see our site MonkeyPawGames.com, follow us on Twitter @Monkeypawgames, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

Ever run into a person annoying enough to make you want to launch a two-ton cargo container in their face? Well, it turns out the future is crawling with these guys. And plenty of containers to boot! If you happen to be an astro miner, this means you have a good reason to rev up your trusty G-Lifter for some serious action, now that Rochard has appeared on PSN!

So what is a lone astro miner to do against an invading force of Wild Boy thugs? Well, the two-ton cargo containers are just a start. The intruders find themselves on a mined out asteroid, aka home turf, filled with giant machines built to crush, cut and smash things. And then there’s your G-Lifter, which is able to casually grab objects the size of a small car and hurl them across the room. Nifty little upgrades also allow it to fire off deadly lasers and a variety of highly explosive grenade rounds. Add all this to your ability to thrash around gravity with the press of a button, and you can look forward to putting these Wild Boys in a whole new extra-terrestrial world of hurt!

While these and many other gameplay elements seem to blend together seamlessly when you’re out making short work of your opposition in Rochard, most of them started out as far more disconnected features in their early stages. Our previous PlayStation Blog post, Enter the Astro Miner, revealed that our main character John Rochard started out as a guy floating in space, propelling himself using the recoil of his laser gun. The resulting gameplay turned out to be less exciting than we hoped for, so the gun evolved into the G-Lifter, which then became the guideline for all the interaction mechanics in the game.

Once the G-Lifter’s ability to grab and launch objects had been implemented, the sheer fun everyone at Recoil Games had just throwing things around soon led to some creative new prototypes. A basic in-game volleyball court was set up, allowing two players to serve and smash giant cargo crates towards each other. More than just a funny game for lunch breaks, the time spent catching and shooting objects eventually lead to countless improvements in the handling of the G-Lifter. These opened up the ability to grab and launch consecutive objects in mid-air, allowing players to string together such “G-Lifter combos”. It turned out this had a very big impact for high-skill players, as a sequence of well-placed objects now allowed them to literally fly through sections of a level, without even touching the ground. And rest assured, we left all that in the game for you to get insanely good at!

As the last few months saw the game creep ever closer to its final form, a steadily increasing number of people from outside of the studio were given a chance to play it. Their gaze firmly directed towards the large screen on which they had just taken the role of John Rochard, the journalists and visitors often remained oblivious to the dozens of eyes carefully observing them from the surrounding office spaces. The looks expressed both excitement and concern about the reception of the team’s hard work, as everyone tried to interpret the body language and facial expressions of the person that just entered our carefully crafted adventure. But the response was more than we could have hoped for. No questions about how to handle a G-lifter or low gravity environments. No frowning at repeated deaths or requests for assistance in confusing challenges. Nothing but a silent focus and a determined grin, insisting on making it through the challenge in each consecutive room.

Time and again, people sat down in our office for a solid 6 to 8 hour play through, often forsaking their lunch or even a toilet break in order to finish the game. Soaring through the air in low-G, launching heavy crates at unsuspecting enemies, inverting gravity at will and blowing up large chunks of the scenery with explosives and mining lasers became second nature the instant a big smirk revealed they had just discovered a new trick. Even after repeatedly dissecting and rebuilding each minute detail over the past years, the experience still proved to be as intuitive and captivating as our concept set out to be.

So lo and behold here we are, proud to present Rochard, our game. The past month already saw the game receiving several awards and glowing reviews, lauding its gameplay, flow and style. More than ever there is reason for us to look forward to its reception by our most esteemed critics. You– the Gamer.

So go download the game or the demo and let us know what you think! We want to hear from you!

Now’s your chance to relive one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time. Resident Evil 4 HD will be released via PlayStation Network on Wednesday, September 21st. Five years after the Raccoon City outbreak, Leon S. Kennedy is back in action and on a new assignment. The President’s daughter has been kidnapped by a mysterious cult in Europe and it’s your mission to rescue her and make it out alive. The entire Resident Evil 4 experience (including all bonus content from previous versions) has been remastered in high definition and will be a treat for both new fans and RE veterans.

The Resident Evil franchise had its beginnings on PlayStation 15 years ago and to help celebrate we’re offering some sweet Resident Evil deals for PlayStation fans. At launch we’re going to be giving everyone five free RE4 avatars to anyone who purchases Resident Evil 4 HD. On top of that, all PlayStation Plus subscribers will get 50 percent off the price of Resident Evil 4 HD, bringing it down to just €9.99/£7.99. We’re also offering the PSone version of Resident Evil 1 Director’s Cut FREE to PlayStation Plus subscribers.

That’s a ton of Resident Evil content coming your way on the cheap, but it doesn’t stop there … check back next week for more details on Resident Evil Code Veronica X HD!

The wait to experience Eric Chahi’s award winning strategy game, From Dust is almost over. We’re happy to announce that From Dust will be coming to the PlayStation Network on September 14th . In a little less than a week , players will get a chance to experience the winner of Game Critic’s Awards Best Strategy Game of E3 and what GameInformer called “a breath of fresh air”.

From Dust puts players in control of The Breath, a mysterious power used by a primitive tribe to battle against the forces of nature. Players will use this power to help the tribe regain the knowledge of their ancestors. However, regaining this knowledge won’t be an easy task for players as the world of From Dust hosts volatile natural elements, including volcano eruptions and tsunamis.

From Dust will be available on the PlayStation Network on September 14th for 14.99€ / £11.99

In Persona 3 Portable you play the part of an orphan who is returning to his home town for the first time in many years to attend high school.  As you travel between the train station and the dorms you are horrified at the sinister change that affects the town.

Upon your arrival at the dorm things only get weirder, as a strange boy offers you a contract to sign before you meet the first of the other inhabitants of the dorm – two girls – one of whom appears to be holding a gun.  Not only that, but neither of them appear to be aware of the strange boy’s existence.

From this beginning Persona 3 Portable creates a strange unsettling atmosphere and as the game advances the contrast between your everyday life and your time exploring the mysterious Dark Hour, and encountering the denizens of this hidden hour grows ever stranger.  As a member of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, you have the power to cross over to the Dark Hour where you can wield the power of your Persona.

It is this balance between your character’s ‘normal’ life and the need to explore the Dark Hour that drives P3P’s gameplay. Exploring Tartarus to find more of its secrets is crucial; but ignore your friends and you won’t have the power to protect yourself when the full moon gathers the most dangerous of the denizens of this shadowy realm.

During the Dark Hour everything takes on a more sinister aspect. Your school transforms into a menacing tower known as Tartarus and the luckiest of the inhabitants of Iwatodai transmogrify into coffins whilst the evil Shadow creatures prey on those who stumble into their realm. Using your unique power, you must find the cause of the Dark Hour and put a stop to it before its strange and terrible power grows.

I’ve really enjoyed my time working on Persona 3 Portable, the PSP version of one of the finest PlayStation 2 games, and it has been amazing seeing everyone’s reactions to this new and improved version. I am delighted that those of you who prefer to get your games digitally will now have the chance to see the massive improvements and great new features, including:

• The option to play the story as a new female protagonist, giving rise to new dialogue, special events and opportunities
• An improved turn-based battle system, which now allows direct control of your teammates in battle
• Five difficulty settings (from “beginner” to the hard-core choice of “maniac!”)
• The addition of rewards from new NPCs when they’re rescued from Tartarus.
• Part time jobs to raise player stats and earn wages
• New social links, new Persona, Skill Cards, new characters as well as a completely new dungeon to explore
• Improved system dynamics – one button menu short-cuts, quick equipment changes, and a whole lot more!

The Impossible Game is a pure indie game. Developed by a small team, it quickly found its audience and successfully moved from one platform to another. Destructoid called it “Insanely addictive”. We are now bringing The Impossible Game to the PlayStation Store as a minis, so the game can be enjoyed by PSP players, as well as the PS3 players.

So, what makes The Impossible Game so special? It is known for two things – its addictiveness and threatening the sanity of anyone who comes near it. The Impossible Game is a rhythm-based platformer. You control an orange square and you have to jump your way through a level full of obstacles, like spikes and gaps. The game’s soundtrack helps you keep the rhythm. No complicated controls, no graphical gimmicks – just one button, your skill and the music is all you need.

Why is it “impossible”? It is unforgiving. Make a single mistake and you are back to the beginning of the level. It may take hundreds of attempts, several rage attacks and maybe even your PS3 or PSP flying out of the window before you complete a level. But none of that will matter, because once you start, you won’t be able to put it down. This game will irritate you and offend you and you won’t stop until you repay it back.

But don’t worry, if you are looking for a less impossible experience, you can switch to a Practice Mode at any time. In this mode, you can place flags (checkpoints) and if you fail, you are back right at the last placed flag. This will help you to practice the track and it will also help you regain your sanity

This version of The Impossible Game contains all the levels from various other versions and level packs, plus an exclusive level Phazd that you won’t find anywhere else, which makes the minis version of The Impossible Game the best of them all. There are many awards to unlock and the game also keeps record of you progress (so you’ll know just how many times you have died )

The Impossible Game will be released on September 7 via the PlayStation Store and will cost you only 1.99 Euro. If you are a Plus subscriber you will receive an additional 25% discount.