Update: Sadly, we are now unable to publish The Simpsons Arcade until next week, Wednesday 8 February, and not today as listed. We apologise for getting you excited about playing it too early but, rest assured, it will still be available to PS Plus members at no extra cost for a full four weeks. By way of small compensation, we will extend the 100% discount on Back to the Future: The Game for an additional week, for those who might have missed it last month.

And so by popular demand, we update at the beginning of the month and bring you one of the best months yet for PlayStation Plus.

First of all, we have a brand new PSN title for you at no extra cost, The Simpsons Arcade. The year – 1991. Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to chase down the nefarious Smithers, who has kidnapped Maggie! Play as either Homer, Bart, Marge or Lisa and track him down before it’s “too late”, (too late for what I’m not entirely sure…) and save the day! The Simpsons Arcade will be available until the 29th February, so make sure you grab it in the first 4 weeks of this refresh.

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This past November/December we conducted the Private Beta for Starhawk. It has incredibly valuable to the team at LightBox and SCEA Santa Monica. We really appreciate all of the time that players spent finding bugs and glitches; we would have never been able to find many of them without real world gameplay. The Beta effort has been a true partnership with our community so we humbly thank you all. Without your help, we wouldn’t be able to progress to the next chapter in the development of the game, the Starhawk Public Beta!

We’re now happy to announce that the Starhawk Public Beta begins this coming Wednesday, January 18th for PlayStation Plus Subscribers in Europe. This is a crucial step for us as we’ll be testing all sorts of things, including game balance, server traffic, and general bugs. This is also a chance for more players to finally see what we’ve been working so hard on. As we’ve been getting so much support and encouragement from fans and press alike, we’re excited to spread the love and get more input to make the best game possible.

So the Public Beta schedule is as follows:

Who gets in and when?

January 18: All PlayStation Plus subscribers and all Private Beta participants (who haven’t erased their original Beta files).

February 1st: Uncharted 3 guys, you will receive an email on how to access the beta. In order to get this email you’ll have had to redeemed your Online Network Pass found inside the boxed copy and made sure you’ve opted into receiving marketing emails.

February 22: Everyone with a PlayStation Network account… in other words, everyone who wants in, gets in!

Make sure you keep a look out for other ways to access the Public Beta and remember to stay tuned to the blog and starhawkthegame.com for the very latest updates on Starhawk!

Beta FAQ

If I was in the Private Beta, am I in the Public Beta?
If you were in the Private Beta, you are in the Public Beta for the duration. DO NOT delete the Private Beta file from your PS3 or else you won’t have access. Worse…you will be…unhappy.

Is this a demo?
This is NOT a demo. You can expect to find bugs and the vast majority of the game features planned for the final game will not be implemented. Of course, many of you will not read this sentence and will expect the Beta to be final quality. We ask that the community help itself and remind players that this is a test. It happens to be a pretty fun test, but it is a test regardless. Keep an open mind and we’ll continue to regularly update the Beta with changes based directly on your feedback. Remember when you were a kid and you wanted to help make games? This is your chance!!!

When does the Public Beta end?
When the game is good and ready! Honestly, when we’ve learned all we can and feel we can deliver the best product to you. BUT it’s our recommendation that you do not delay joining or you might find your window of opportunity passing you by.

What’s different from the Private Beta?
We’re going to reveal more about the content updates soon enough. Patience, Padawan…

Will you test out the solo campaign?
Nope! The Public Beta is solely based around the multiplayer experience. While we have a robust solo story campaign in the final game, we can get our testing done elsewhere for that.

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Happy New Year to all the PlayStation community – I hope 2012 brings you everything you all are wanting. Of course, if what you’re wanting is a copy of Back to the Future: The Game as part of your Plus subscription, we’re off to a fine start.

Marty McFly and Doc Brown return in a completely new Back to the Future adventure. Six months after the events of the third film, the DeLorean Time Machine mysteriously returns to Hill Valley – driverless! Marty must go back in time and get aid from a resistant teenage Emmett Brown, or else the space time continuum will forever be unraveled!

And to kick-start the year there’s an extra free game for you all courtesy of Ubisoft in the shape of Voodoo Dice. Roll the dice in a mystical world filled with exploration, puzzle-solving, and adventure. Voodoo Dice is an innovative, challenging puzzler that plays with your mind as you solve puzzles in unique and interesting ways. With 60 single player levels and multiplayer for up to 4 players it should help keep your mind of those New Year’s resolutions that you’ve selectively forgotten to keep up!

Add to that two new Plus themes, of course, including a rather swanky cuckoo clock, two brand new minis which are both exclusive to Plus for the next couple of weeks, Rally Cross on PSone and to celebrate the 50% off of Festival of Blood promotion running until 11^th January, a couple of free inFamous 2 avatars – Good Cole and Zeke.

And the discounts this month start with After Burner Climax at 75% off this week and starting next week, more to come throughout the month, including a buy-one-get-one-free offer from Capcom, additional discounts for Plus members on an upcoming EA sale with some huge savings, 75% off a SEGA Dreamcast classic and a day-one discount for a brand new PSN title to hint at a few. Keep an eye on the weekly PlayStation Store updates for more information.

Enjoy your content guys, I’m out this week but feel free to leave your comments – Andy will be looking them over to help with any pressing issues and I’ll be back on Monday to provide some more feedback.

Once again, a very Happy New Year from PlayStationPlus.

PlayStationPlus Content

Content and offers available until February 1^st 2012 unless otherwise stated:

From January 4^th:

• Back to the Future: The Game, Episodes 1 to 5 – 100% off
• Voodoo Dice (PS3 version) – 100% off
• Rally Cross (PSone Classic) – 100% off
• Arc the Lad (English language version) (PSone Classic) – 100% off
• TrailBlazer (minis) – 100% off
• Stick Man Rescue (minis) – 100% off
• AfterBurner: Climax – 75% off
• Cuckoo Clock Dynamic Theme – 100% off
• Robot Dynamic Theme – 100% off
• infamous 2: Good Cole Avatar – 100% off
• infamous 2: Zeke Avatar – 100% off

Please note: additional offers may become available throughout the month. Keep an eye on the Plus section of the PlayStationStore and the weekly Store update posts for more information.

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Hello everyone, I hope you’re all gearing up for the end of the year.

As promised some time ago, I’m here to let you know that there’s a limited time subscription bundle that will not only get you one year of PlayStation Plus, but also includes a free download of Jurassic Park: The Game – Full Series (Episodes 1-4), the new PSN adventure from the masters of episodic gaming: Telltale Games. This is a great chance to get in on all those games you receive as part of your subscription, great discounts on new and classic titles, and access to exclusive features and game content.

Jurassic Park: The Game releases mid-December on PSN in SCEE territories. Launching in four separate episodes, or available as one bundle, this journey brings you dangerously close to the prehistoric inhabitants of Isla Nublar while exploring stories of mankind visiting some of nature’s most powerful and fearsome creatures. The result is an unforgettable journey that manages to capture the spirit of what made the films so special.

Due to the delay in the launch of this title in SCEE we’ve taken it upon ourselves to reward our newest subscribers retroactively as an early Christmas gift.

Anyone who has purchased a one-year subscription to PlayStation Plus since the 23rd November 2011, congratulations to you because you’re now eligible to receive a free download of Jurassic Park: The Game – Full Series (Episodes 1-4), worth €19.99, when it releases on PSN in SCEE. Existing subscribers can also purchase a one-year subscription to Plus, which will stack upon your existing subscription. You’ll be guaranteed access to all the benefits of PlayStation Plus, and get an amazing game that’s yours to keep even after your subscription expires.

And more good news – if you haven’t purchased yet, there’s still some time. You have until midnight 00:00 GMT on December 12th (to clarify, this means as December 11th becomes December 12th) to grab a 12-month subscription and take us up on the offer.

Eligible subscribers will receive an email with a voucher code to your registered PSN email address once the game has released, so make sure communications from us are not hitting your spam folders and make sure your registered email addresses are active.

And if you’re fully stocked up with Plus and don’t feel like taking up this particular offer, all Plus subscribers can purchase Jurassic Park for 25% off during its first week of release, at a cost of €14.99 and equivalents.

A note for our Australia and New Zealand consumers – the game will not be releasing in your territories alongside the main store release as Telltale Games are still working on organising the age ratings in your markets. You can still take part in this promotion, as once the game is released in your territory we’ll send your voucher code, and those who don’t take part in this offer will have the opportunity to pick the game up at 25% off for the first week as with all other territories.

See you later guys and enjoy your free game!

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December comes to end the year and a PlayStation Plus content refresh is in order. This update will take place on Wednesday, 7th December and you’ll have the opportunity to grab all the current content until then.

This month we have Tomb Raider: Underworld as our main title included with your subscription. In an ancient ruin on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea, Lara Croft uncovers proof of the Norse underworld and Thor’s mythical hammer. As she attempts to unravel the secrets behind these myths, Lara’s perilous journey leads her toward a forgotten power that, if unleashed, could lay waste to all civilization. Serious business, no?
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