Hey everyone, I hope you’re having a good weekend so far.

First up, a quick introduction. As you’ll no doubt have noticed, our much-loved blog manager James Gallagher has moved on to pastures new. Since a few of you wanted to know who was behind last week’s mysterious ‘Contributing Editors’ recap post, we thought we’d make things a little more personalised this week. So, I’m Katie and, along with a few colleagues here, we’re working hard to bring you the biggest stories and breaking news until James’ successor joins us.

Without further ado, here’s this week’s recap.

Have a great weekend!

• Derrick The Deathfin Swims Onto PSN This Summer – The world’s very first underwater papercraft game.
• Sack It To Me: Meet The Men In Black’s New Recruit – Agent S! – The Men in Black have a brand new member joining their elite secret agency and there’s nobody better for the job than Agent S!
• Step Into The TARDIS From May 23rd With Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock – The wait is over! Check out the trailer.
• The SingStore On 16th May: Evanescence, Rihanna And Emeli Sandé – This week’s SingStore boasts new songs from the artists above but of course, that’s not all…
• BBC Sports Application Coming To PlayStation 3! – Exciting news for lovers of all things sports!
• Outlaws Of The Lost Dynasty Fights Its Way Onto The Network – A classic fighter from the era of when beat’em-ups ruled the consoles.
• The Apocalyptic Sale Is Nigh On PlayStation Store! – Here’s some awesome games with an apocalyptic theme to get you in training for our impending doom.
• PlayStation.Blog EU Disruption Today - Process of moving the blog to a new server and our IP address changed.
• PixelJunk 4am Goes Live On PSN Around The World! – Do you have a PlayStation Move? Do you like music? Are waffles delicious?
• The Last Of Us – The Sky Has Turned Grey – Joel and Ellie won’t have an easy road ahead on their journey across the U.S.
• PlayStation Home: Crazy Carnival – The Midway 3 is a collection of crazy carnival midway games and excitement!
• ‘Heads-Up’ Game Store Update 16 May 2012 – Speeding his way back onto the scene is everyone’s favourite blue hedgehog!
• Smart As Brings Next-Gen Brain Training to PS Vita This Fall – A social brain-training experience that will put your brain to the test with 20 unique, engaging, tactile and highly interactive puzzle games.
• VIDZONE UPDATE: Exclusive Dubstep And A Whole Lotta Hip Hop – Word to your grandmother people, it’s a distinctly urban post this week.
• Explosive AR On PlayStation Vita With The Launch Of Table Top Tanks – Who doesn’t like blowing stuff up with Tanks?
• The Making Of Sorcery: Creatures – This is the final installment in our four-part series detailing the making of Sorcery.
• Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time Coming To PS Vita – Picks up the relationship where Sly 3 left off…
• Access Episode 34 – This week’s focus is on Rockstar’s long-awaited threequel Max Payne 3.
• Foosball 2012 Developer Diary #1 – PlayStation Move Controls – Check out Foosball 2012 and PlayStation Move controllers in action!
• The Weekend Debate – Would You Dine With Daxter Or Cook For Kratos – If you could invite five game characters to a dinner party who would they be?
• Superbrothers + Jim Guthrie X Sound Shapes – A message from a representative at Superbrothers, written in the midst of a spring thunderstorm in the hill country at the Quebec/Vermont border.
• Mastering Mortal Kombat For PS Vita – Tips, tricks, and unique features to master with the PS Vita.

• Weekend Essentials 126 – Wow the world in PixelJunk 4am, help Max Payne rise again and play the original Deus Ex with PlayStation this weekend.
• New Portable IDs from the PlayStation Community – Give your Portable ID a new look with these brand new themes inspired by PlayStation Vita and designed by the PlayStation Community.
• Top Tips: Reality Fighters – Become the ultimate Reality Fighter with these handy hints from the game’s producer, Mitsuo Hirakawa.
• “Trophy Cabinet: Dead Space 2″ – Escape the horrors of The Sprawl with a platinum trophy courtesy of this advice from the PlayStation Community.

• Find out if Rockstar have another hit on their hands with our Max Payne 3 PS3 review.
• Fancy a change from the usual action? Here are 10 of the best PS3 RPGs.
• Capom’s new adventure is a challenge but well worth it. Read our Dragon’s Dogma PS3 review to find out why.
• We interview Treyarch boss Mark Lamia to find out about Black Ops 2′s multiple endings.
• It’s wish list time with 25 PS2 games we want in HD. Any of your favorites in there?

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Well, here we are at the end of another week – and what a whirlwind it’s been. News has been coming in thick and fast, and from assassins to aliens, Starhawk to Sackboy we’ve had a stack of stories to share with you over the past seven days. Missed anything? Just fancy another look at what went down? It’s all here for you in this week’s recap.

• Sack It To Me: Sackboy Starts In Pole Position! – Check out this video to see just what IGN.com have to say about Sackboy’s leap into the racing arena!
• Arc Fans Get Ready To Battle – Arc Arena: Monster Tournament Out Tomorrow – There is something special about this genre that can’t be replicated.
• Datura Available To Download From Tomorrow – In the world of Datura you will find yourself placed in a variety of scenarios which will require you to make a quick judgement call.
• PlayStation Home: Mansion Living – Step onto the first floor of the PlayStation Home Mansion and experience the frills of a life lived in luxury.
• Starhawk…Welcome To The New Frontier – Starhawk is available in PAL regions from this week!
• Reality Fighters DLC Incoming – Hope you had enough practice to challenge Mr. Miyagi to become a worthy master…
• ‘Heads-Up’ Game Store Update 9 May 2012 – This week starts off with Sega’s Binary Domain, which is now available to download!
• The LittleBigPlanet Beta Is Coming Soon To PS Vita – Register Now! – The LittleBigPlanet Community is about to get a very special treat!
• Aliens: Colonial Marines – Your Multiplayer Questions Answered – We took to Twitter and posed @PlayStation followers a simple question — what do you want to know about the multiplayer mode in Aliens: Colonial Marines?
• MUBI Update: 10 May 2012 – Two movie passions have infected us over at MUBI: Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper, and the 2012 Festival de Cannes.
• PlayStation.Blog EU Disruption On 14 May – The European PlayStation.Blog will be down for maintenance from approximately 5pm on Monday, 14 May.
• Resistance: Burning Skies Trophy List And PS Vita Features Trailer Revealed! – A lot of “firsts” to the PS Vita – first-ever dual-analog FPS control on a portable device and the first competitive multiplayer shooter experience on the PS Vita.
• World Premiere: Assassin’s Creed III Gameplay Footage – What you’ve been waiting for this since the initial announcement back in March, so go ahead and watch it right now!
• Access Episode 33 – Episode’s Game Of The Week, Sorcery, includes mixing potions (don’t do fairytale herbs, kids), moving big rocks out of the way and sort of having a cat as a girlfriend.
• Moving On From PlayStation.Blog -James posted this short note to let you know that this will be my last post as PlayStation.Blog Manager…
• Get Ready For Mass Effect 3 Operation Silencer MP Event This Weekend – It’s time to make our enemies scream.
• The Making Of Sorcery: Sound – we turn our attention to the music and sound design for Sorcery.

• Weekend Essentials 125 – Build and battle your way to victory as Starhawk lands on PS3 and discover the intriguing Datura this weekend.
• Top Tips: Starhawk – Survive the new frontier in Starhawk on PlayStation 3 with these handy hints from developer LightBox Interactive.
• Game Talk: Mortal Kombat – Ed Boon, creative director at developer NetherRealm, talks about finishing moves and his favourite brawlers exclusively with eu.playstation.com.
• Game On – Find out how you can meet Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima in London tomorrow.

• Treyarch have promised it’ll be bigger but here are the Black Ops 2 zombie modes we want to see.
• Get the latest on this year’s game with these FIFA 13 screens and info.
• Feeling evil? Here are the 10 best PlayStation games that make being bad good.
• Find out what it’s like to win GT Academy with this film following the first ever winnner, Lucas Ordonez.
• What matters more review scores or sales? We ask ten developers.

Here’s a new review for the Blog, it can happily replace Battleships:

http://www.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/review/starhawk-psn-review/

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It’s time to sit back and enjoy the weekend – a Bank Holiday one for those of us living in the UK – and I hope you all find the time to get some games in. I’m going to be playing Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (going for the last few gold medals) and watching a lot of sport. How about you?

Here’s your recap.

• SCEE Staff Designs For The Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time Competition – PlayStation people show you that you really don’t need to be Picasso to win this competition.
• God of War: Ascension Live Stream; Online Multiplayer Confirmed – More info on Kratos’ next PS3 epic and the news that the game will include online multiplayer for the first time in the series’ history.
• The SingStore On 2nd May 2012 With Lana, Matt Cardle And More… – Featuring two more tracks by the fantastic Lana Del Rey and another Essentials song pack from Blur.
• Sack It To Me: LittleBigPlanet – A Community Across The Globe! – Celebrate! The Mariachi Costume Returns!
• Free Realms Is Three – Join In The Celebrations – Yes, that’s right folks – Free Realms officially turned three this weekend. Time flies when you’re having fun!
• ModNation Racers: Two Year Anniversary Palooza! – Wow! Two years? Really? Celebrate with us…
• Mortal Kombat Hits PS Vita On 4th May, Our Favorite New Missions – Long-awaited opportunity to create challenges based around the DLC characters that released after the launch of the PS3 version.
• PlayStation Store Royale Contenders Sale – Great discounts on games and downloadable content for characters featured in this game!
• PlayStation Home: Good Guys Dress In Black – On May 2nd, 2012, the Men in Black are coming to PS Home!
• All Starhawk Beta Players Will Receive Free Gifts – Gone gold and will be on store shelves in PAL regions from 9th May.
• The Unfinished Swan Is Coming To PSN – If you’ve been wondering “whatever happened to that weird black and white painting game?” Thanks for waiting…
• Frobisher Says! Now Available To Everyone For Free – A surreal party game, where players must obey the whims of a strange little man called Frobisher.
• ‘Heads-Up’ PlayStation Plus Update – 2nd May 2012 – You will find naught but awesome in May’s PS Plus update!
• ‘Heads-Up’ Game Store Update 2 May 2012 – Gran Turismo fans, start your engines!
• The Art Of Gravity Rush On PS Vita – See how the artwork of this game came together.
• Designing Charismatic Characters For Alien Spidy, Coming To PSN In June – A key factor for a game to be successful revolves around the charisma and empathy of the lead character… in this case a spider!
• VIDZONE UPDATE: March On May, The Month Of Metal Madness – Iron, Copper, Zinc?… or Slayer, Marilyn Manson and Demon Hunter?
• Access Episode 32 – If you’re into your shooters, you’re in for a treat with this week’s episode of Access TV.
• Sony Entertainment Network Sponsors Sundance Festival In London – All the latest highlights from the Sony Entertainment Network Sundance Festival in London.
• The Making Of Sorcery: Technology – This is the first post in a four-part series from the development team about the making of Sorcery.
• Rainbow Moon: Watch The New Trailer Now – Be one of the first to watch the new Rainbow Moon trailer!

• Weekend Essentials 124
• The Characters of Gravity Rush
• First look: Lost Planet 3
• The best downloadable soundtracks on PlayStation
• Go from gamer to racer in GT Academy 2012

• Get all the Black Ops 2 info there is here.
• Ten developers offer their advice on how to get into the games industry.
• Bethesda have finally revealed the first Skyrim DLC info and release date.
• Find all about God Of War Ascension’s multiplayer.
• Boost your library with the 10 best PS3 games of 2012. So far…

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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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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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