Square Enix Ltd today announces 0 DAY ATTACK ON EARTH®, a brand new title for Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, will be available from 23rd December, priced 1200 points.

The Fight to Protect Earth Begins. High-tech Tokyo is in rubble. The once vibrant New York is ground to a halt. And the City of Light, Paris, is enveloped by darkness and despair.

Hordes of humongous life forms have suddenly and brutally converged on the world's metropolitan areas, overwhelming the defenceless Earth and paralyzing humanity with unprecedented fear. Those that remain after the initial assault, which would later be known as the 0 Day Attack On Earth, take to the skies in a seven day battle fighting for the survival of all humanity.

Experience exhilarating gameplay as you dodge endless waves of bullets to destroy the enemy. Enter into awesome multiplayer action with up to 4 players in online co-op play and 8 players in VS mode! ...

Hothead Games today announced that Jonathan Blow’s Braid is now available for download via the PlayStation®Network in Europe. Already recognized by Metacritic as one of “The Best Games of 2009” for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, European gamers can fill their virtual stockings with this amazing indie title for only €9.99.

Players explore the human condition and manipulate time with our hero Tim in the lush, painterly world of Braid. The game takes you from a house in the city on a journey through a series of worlds to solve puzzles and rescue the princess. In each world, you have a different power to affect the way time behaves, including the ability to rewind, create parallel realities and utilize time dilation to overcome the many obstacles in your path. There is no filler in this game; every puzzle shows you something new and interesting about the game world. ...

Sony Computer Entertainment America exec John Koller has said the company is confident in the power of the PS3's new magic wand.

"We look at motion control as being that much more than what exists on the market," he told GamePro. "The Holy Grail of gaming is placing you as a consumer into the game physically. When we provide further details, people will see exactly where we're going."

According to Koller, the PS3 wand will work with games from "a real wide variety" of genres. "The areas that are going to be really critical to our success will be family games, as well as shooters and sports games," he said.

"Those are going to be the areas that will really define success, because they're areas that quite honestly, I think Project Natal and the Wii are going to have trouble matching, from a differentiation standpoint."

Sony's "three big pillars" for 2010 are motion control, 3D gaming and PlayStation Network. You can also expect plenty of firmware updates, excitingly. "A lot of what you'll see in terms of changes to the PS3 are going to be done through firmware for the foreseeable future. There's a lot features and functions we have planned there. I think that 2010 will be a big year for that," predicted Koller.

Then there are the games, of course. "Going into the back half of the year, we have a number of key launches. We haven't really announced all of them yet, but the titles that will be launching at the time are going to be very exciting," Koller said.

"Some of the big franchises, as well as new IPs have new ways to game, not motion control gaming, but in other ways. It's going to be a really strong lineup."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/so...s-for-ps3-wand ...

Platform holder insists there’s life left yet in the age-old but still popular console
PS3 may at last be finding its feet in the international marketplace, but Sony insists that it will continue to wholeheartedly back its PS2 console throughout 2010.
“We have a very firm stance – we're going to continue to support the PS2 wholeheartedly,” SCEA’s head of PlayStation marketing John Koller told GamePro.
“The PS2 obviously had a price drop this year, which gets forgotten because of the PS3 noise, but it's still selling exceedingly well. It's a new demographic, a consumer that's maybe a ‘lost gamer’ or a consumer that's new to gaming.
“With this economy, coming in at $99, a lot of these consumers are choosing between a PlayStation 2 and a Wii, and you're looking at a PS2, which is $99 and carries 2000 games.
“It's been a very, very strong year with the PS2, and we're going on our tenth year. It's pretty unprecedented, and we're not looking to slow down anytime soon. Next year will be another year where the PS2's going to be fully supported. A lot of key games and titles are coming, both first and third-party. It's going to be another big year for the PlayStation 2.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/36932/Sony...tment-for-2010 ...

Sony has claimed that its PSPgo has sold more than it had expected at this early stage in its lifecycle.
This is despite the company's controversial decision to ditch UMD disc functionality in favour of purely digital content distribution, leading some to tout PSPgo as a competitor to iPod Touch.
“We are over-forecast on what we thought we'd be selling on PSP Go, so we've been very pleased,” Sony America’s PlayStation marketing boss John Koller told GamePro.
Koller went on to say that retail’s attitude towards the machine has been a complication, but one that Sony intends to overcome in 2010 by ensuring that new PSP titles are available on PSN at the same time they arrive at detail.

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/35437...ut-PSPgo-sales ...

Sony’s recently released range of downloadable bite-sized games Minis are now available to play on both PSP and PS3 thanks to the release of a new firmware update for the home console.
Any Minis title purchased from this point on will be playable on both machines. Those who have already downloaded a Minis title for the PSP can re-download their games on their home consoles at no extra cost.
There are a couple of exceptions, however – both Tetris and the upcoming Bowling remain PSP-only titles for the time being.

Here’s the complete list of Minis titles now available:
Alien Havoc
Beam’Em Up
Blast Off
Bloons
Brainpipe
Breakquest
Bubble Trubble
Circles, Circles, Circles
D-Cube Planet
Dracula – Undead Awakening
Dynogems
Echoes
Fieldrunners
Fortix
Funky Punch
Heracles Chariot Racing
Hero of Sparta
Kahoots
Let’s Golf
Mahjongg Artifacts: Chapter 2
Pachisi
Pinball Dreams
Pinball Fantasies
Puzzlescape mini
Red Bull X-Fighters
Route 66
Spot the Differences!
Stand O’Food
Suduko
Telegraph Crosswords
Tiger Trouble
Vempire
Yetisports
Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam
Zombie Tycoon

http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/296...-arrive-on-PS3 ...

A new survey has revealed a rise in console ownership in US households over the last three years, despite game revenues being down in 2009.

According to consulting firm Deloitte's State of the Media Democracy Survey, Fourth Edition, reported on by Gamasutra, nearly 60 per cent of households own a games console in 2009, up from 44 per cent three years ago.

The survey attributes the surge primarily to two age groups of gamers it dubs the Generation X-ers (ages 27-43) and the Baby Boomers (ages 44-62). Nearly 70 percent of the former and 44 per cent of the latter now own a games console, it revealed, up from 53 per cent and 31 per cent in 2006.

And over the last six months, 54 per cent of Generation X-ers and 31 per cent of Baby Boomers were found to have played a newly released game - up from 37 per cent and 12 per cent respectively in 2008.

Rises in console usage were also seen in other age groups, including ages 63-75, which rose to 8 per cent in 2009, up from 3 per cent the year prior.

Deloitte attributed the increase to the tough economy which, it said, has forced more people to find lower-cost entertainment within their own homes.

"The last year has posed serious financial challenges for American families and their media consumption habits have changed as a result," said Phil Asmundson, Deloitte's vice chairman and technology, media & telecommunications leader.

"The dramatically increased appeal of the gaming console is noteworthy on two levels. It is further proof of the renewed focus on the television as the home entertainment hub, and it also raises the possibility of the console becoming a significant content distribution channel into the home."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...eholds-in-2009 ...

Sony has launched its first microtransaction based MMO in Home, Sodium One, developed by Nottingham-based studio Outso.

Sodium One offers smaller games within a larger framework, with the first five levels of mini-game Salt Shooter available for free, and additional content unlockable after purchasing virtual items, priced between 99 cents and USD 4.99.

"The launch of PlayStation Home in 2008 pioneered new ground in interactive entertainment and, since then, increasing support and enthusiasm from our PS3 user and game publisher communities have helped to make this a tremendous first year for the platform," said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing and PlayStation Network, SCEA.

"Today we further push the envelope with the launch of PlayStation Home's Sodium, an evolving space that leverages the incredible computing power of PS3 to deliver truly unique, and visually stunning social gaming experiences that you won't find on any other platform."

Sodium One also offers socialising areas, such as a bar, where players can interact and chat freely.

According to Sony, over 10 million PlayStation 3 users have visited Home averaging 60 minutes per visit. Launched a year ago, over 250 community events have been held in Home

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ransaction-mmo ...

Sony's PlayStation 3 has sold over 4 million units in Japan – 4,020,563 to be exact – since the system was first launched.

And as of December 13 2009, Nintendo's Wii has sold 9,048,012 units to date in the region, according to Enterbrain, as translated by Kotaku.

The PlayStation 3 was first launched in Japan on November 11, 2006, and the Wii on December 2, 2006.

In December last year, sales of the PlayStation 3 stood at 2.6 million units, and the Wii at 7.5 million in the region.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...units-in-japan ...