via Computer and Video Games


Sega's expansion to online lizard-basher Phantasy Star Universe, Ambition of the Illuminus is now available for purchase and download on Xbox Live Marketplace.

Sega says the PS2 and PC versions of the expansion will be released on January 11, 2008.

The 1600 Microsoft Point download (about 14 quid) adds both single-player and online content to the much-underrated action-RPG, including new missions and levels including the Granigs Mines and the Ruins of Old Rozenom City, which sounds quite moody.

It's a 1.92GB download, but at least you don't have to go to the shops. You can read our original write-up on Illuminus right here. ...

via Games Industry


The newly-launched PlayStation Store for PC does not spell the end of the road for Sony's Universal Media Disc format, according to Darren Cairns, head of online marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

He told GamesIndustry.biz: "The UMD business is still good for us and our publishers. It's still a burgeoning market, and we're still selling a large number of PSPs on a weekly basis, so there are a large number of new people coming into the market."

The potential to offer titles at a lower price point, because the costs of production and retail are cut, might seem like good news for gamers - but there are no plans to head down that path any time soon.

"I don't think that this would give us any cause for concern over UMD, I think they sit very well together. When you talk about the more casual games, pick-up-and-play games, you would definitely want to put them through the Store rather than have disc production, in to retail, and so on."

When asked if he felt that the Store could go on and offer a much wider selection of general entertainment media in the future - building on the current film trailers available and adding music tracks and video perhaps - he reiterated that the focus to begin with was on games.

"The PC Store is very much targeted at getting lots of really good game content at the start for the millions of PSP users that we've got. Longer term, the PlayStation Store is predominantly for game content for day one and we're working on the plans to build that out after.

"For us being able to deploy and push additional content, whether it's an additional overlay for a GPS or whatever, it's important going forward. But what we wanted to do was really establish the PlayStation Store on the PC, as it is already on the PS3."

The downloads themselves currently have no defined size limit, and they will vary according to game title. As an example the Bboy full game download weighs in at around 835MB, but full titles won't necessarily include all content found on the corresponding retail UMD. ...

via Eurogamer


The Sony PSP Store for the PC launched last night with a downloadable line-up headed up by a PSP version of PS3 titles Go! Puzzle and Go! Sudoku, downloadable versions of UMD games B-Boy and Fired up, and something else - a rhythm-action game called Beats. We had a quick play to see what it's like.

Once you go through the PSP Store download process (which involves logging in with your PSN account, making the purchase and then using a special PSN download manager program to transfer the game directly to your Memory Stick), and select it from the Game menu on the XMB, you're shown to nice orange title screen which lets you pick between the two main game modes - My Music Challenge and Jamming - or other set-up options.

Beats is a fairly straightforward button-matching music game, but the twist is that you can use your own music. When you go into the My Music Challenge, you're invited to pick a song from among any MP3s stored on your Memory Stick, and then select a difficulty level. You're then presented with a fairly simple screen with a trio of circle in the middle. As the music starts to play, little face-button icons (squares, circles, Xs, triangles) move towards these little circles, and it's your job to press them as they move over one.

If they're approaching the centre circle, you just press the corresponding button. However, if they are going towards the left one, you hold left on the d-pad at the same time, and so on for the right-hand circle. Vertical bars on either side of the play area tot up your points multiplier (which increases as you match more beats without missing any out) and collect "overdrive" power as you correctly match special flashing versions of the normal icons.

Naturally the idea is that the icons move across the screen in varying sequences and rhythms that match the tone and tempo of your chosen track, and the effect was pretty reasonable on our first few attempts. There's a slight amount of frame-rate drop as the beat-matching kicks off a minor firework display in the background, but it's not particularly intrusive.

Beats also includes a Jamming mode, where you can create songs using a selection of instrumental loops, and this mode supports up to four players. You can then also your compositions via Game sharing. Other options allow you to change the game's background theme - which incorporates either static or dynamic (so, wobbly) visual elements in addition to signature music - or the visualiser that goes along with the beat-matching. Again, there are quite a few provided with the game.

Anyway, whether it all amounts to GBP 4.99 worth of value over the long haul will be up to one of our reviewers to decide in due course, but for now that's Beats - an interesting little rhythm game and the sort of little project it's always nice to see Sony doodling around the margins. Works quite well with Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire, or you could just listen to your CDs and drum your fingers on the desk. You decide. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Talk of Sony making a PlayStation Phone has erupted on the internet once again as Sony Computer Entertainment's co-chief operating officer, Jim Ryan, states that such a gadget is "definitely plausible".

Speaking to the Economic Times, Ryan said, "The PlayStation is a proven success and so is Sony Ericsson. Convergence with the two arms working together is definitely plausible. It is hugely intellectually seductive to have a console oriented phone."

He goes on to comment: "What has been done is finding a match between a camera and a mobile phone, and that has been done wherein the mobile phone features are not reasonably inhibited and the camera is also a reasonably competitive product. It is hugely intellectually seductive to have a console-oriented phone".

Ryan later explains that, should such a device work well, the phone functionality would have to be built into a primarily game-playing machine, not the other way around like cameras in phones.

He makes no mention of when a so-called PlayStation Phone device may actually come into fruition.

This follows previous rumours sparked off by a patent filled by Sony Japan's Ericsson Mobile Communications dept. for a PSP-looking, phone-enabled device back in November last year. Check that out here, if you can be arsed to read through lines of repetitive, over-complicated jargon. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Talk of Sony making a PlayStation Phone has erupted on the internet once again as Sony Computer Entertainment's co-chief operating officer, Jim Ryan, states that such a gadget is "definitely plausible".

Speaking to the Economic Times, Ryan said, "The PlayStation is a proven success and so is Sony Ericsson. Convergence with the two arms working together is definitely plausible. It is hugely intellectually seductive to have a console oriented phone."

He goes on to comment: "What has been done is finding a match between a camera and a mobile phone, and that has been done wherein the mobile phone features are not reasonably inhibited and the camera is also a reasonably competitive product. It is hugely intellectually seductive to have a console-oriented phone".

Ryan later explains that, should such a device work well, the phone functionality would have to be built into a primarily game-playing machine, not the other way around like cameras in phones.

He makes no mention of when a so-called PlayStation Phone device may actually come into fruition.

This follows previous rumours sparked off by a patent filled by Sony Japan's Ericsson Mobile Communications dept. for a PSP-looking, phone-enabled device back in November last year. Check that out here, if you can be arsed to read through lines of repetitive, over-complicated jargon. ...

via Eurogamer


The US PlayStation 3 Store says hello to a pair of new PlayStation Eye games this week, and what with it being Thanksgiving Sony has also slashed the prices on four other downloadable games.

The two PS Eye games are called Operation Creature Feature (USD 4.99 / 135MB) and Aquatopia (USD 1.99 / 38.9MB). The former sounds like a sort of Lemmings game based on hand movements, while the latter is an interactive fish tank where "you can even feed them by dabbing your hands in the top of the water".

The four games undergoing cheapening, meanwhile, are Calling All Cars, flOw, PixelJunk Racers, Everyday Shooter. All are reduced to USD 4.99 until 29th November to celebrate when some pilgrims did something involving boats and crabs, or whatever nonsense it is that nets them this ludicrous auxiliary Christmas.

Also on the store this week in Americaland are an MX vs. ATV Untamed demo (714MB) to accompany yesterday's Xbox Live version, a downloadable pack for flOw which adds a new campaign and playable creature as well as "added Camera food" (for USD 2.99), a Need For Speed ProStreet Collector's Edition Upgrade (USD 9.99), which adds five exclusive cars and four additional career race-days, and the previously detailed Rock Band content including tracks by Metallica, The Police and Queens of the Stone Age.

For more on those two PlayStation Eye games, check out our Operation: Creature Feature and Aquatopia screenshots, stolen rather pathetically from the US Sony blog post revealing them. In fact, don't even click our links. We're ashamed. ...

via Computer and Video Games



Zampella was speaking to PSM3 magazine as part of a feature examining PS3 game delays. His words should give Sony fanboys some much-needed ammo. Grab a copy of the Christmas edition of PSM3, issue #95, on sale from tomorrow, for the full exploro-feature. ...

via Eurogamer


Harmonix says that it's not its fault if Guitar Hero controllers don't work with the PS3 version of Rock Band, which they don't.

The game, which is available in the US this week for PS3 and 360, comes as a bundle containing microphone, drums and one guitar, but in order to play four-player you need to source a second axe.

Harmonix has said in the past that Guitar Hero peripherals should be compatible, and while this is true on 360, PS3 owners are discovering it's not the case with the Guitar Hero III wireless Les Paul controller.


The developer also said that it welcomed third parties to support Rock Band hardware.

At a distance, you might question whether it's naive of Rock Band buyers to assume compatibility with a rival product, but positive responses during development certainly appear now to have been misleadingly confident, and the fact that the game is only available to US consumers as a multi-instrument bundle merely exacerbates things in the eyes of the many people rioting on the official forums.

With the bundle itself in short supply, it could be a while before anyone's placated.

Anyway, look out for our Rock Band review in the near future! ...

via Computer and Video Games


Finally, you should be able to turn on your PS3 today and shoot some faces online in Call of Duty 4 without any friggin' error message ruining the fun, as Infinity Ward has fixed the servers.

The game's online mode has been fraught with problems since release, first with a complete online failure when the servers were apparently "slammed" by legions of players, then further issues again yesterday, coincidentally just after Sony released PS3 firmware 2.01.

But everything should be fine now, as Infinity Ward's community relations manager, Robert Bowling, confirmed today: "You should no longer be receiving this error message or any other issues related to the firmware update in the game."

He added: "Thank you to everyone for giving us the heads up on this so we could start tracking down answers, and getting it resolved and please let us know if you have any additional issues."

We're sure you will. ...