Sony has unveiled the much awaited premium subscription service for the PS 3, the PlayStation Network (PSN) Plus. Sony made the announcement at E3, the ongoing gaming Expo in Los Angeles.
As a part of the promotions, Sony is offering PSN Plus on a 3 month free trial. With PSN Plus, users can access exclusive content like demos and free content ranging from themes to Minis. Firmware updates will also be available.
The service will cost $49.99 for 12 months and $17.99 for 3 months. To popularize its new service, Sony has promised subscribers four free game downloads every month which include one PSN game, two PlayStation Minis and one classic PSOne game. The first sets of titles to be made available are Wipeout HD, Rally Cross, Age of Zombies and Fieldrunners.
The PSN Plus service will start from June 29th. PS3 users who subscribe before the 3rd of August will receive a free download of the popular title, LittleBigPlanet.
The only drawback is that users will be able to access the content only till the subscription lasts. After the subscription expires or is cancelled, users will not be able to access the downloaded content.
Sony also made an announcement regarding the PlayStation Move. The PS3 console along with the PS Move, PS Eye and Sports Champions software will cost $399.99
The first DLC for Modern Warfare 2 has now hit Xbox Live. The Stimulus Map pack gives you five new maps to play. Well, three are new anyway. Crash and Overgrown from the first Modern Warfare game are included in the pack, along with Salvage, Bailout and Storm.
The map pack costs 1200 points and is available to download for Xbox Live users now. PS3 and PC players of Modern Warfare 2, will have to wait a couple more weeks before the DLC hits those game versions. For those who download, Infinity Ward are offering players double XP this weekend (April 2nd – 4th) while playing.
Harmonix have officially announced the sequel to Rock Band 2 and The Beatles: Rock Band. Rock Band 3 will be released worldwide in time for Christmas 2010. The tracklist is expected to be shortened, due to royalties from certain music industry companies, being deemed too expensive by Harmonix. More details are due to follow shortly.
Sony have entered two new slim PS3 models into the FCC. Both the CECH-2101A and CECH-2101B appear to have the same specs as the current models available. The A and the B relate to hard drive size. Most reports indicate that there won’t be an exciting change, or bigger hard drive model released. Instead it’s likely that, the company have just found new manufacturers for some parts, forcing the PS3 slim to be put through the FCC again.
Those anxiously awaiting the release of Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing, will be pleased to know (myself included), that a demo has been released on the Xbox 360 Marketplace. At the moment the demo is only available to Gold subscribers, with it becoming available to everyone in the next few days. The demo is 1.3GB.
You can choose between Sonic or Banjo Kazooie in the demo, with one map open. While it may be great for Sonic fans, it is very much like Mario Kart and Crash Kart Racing, with power ups to collect which give you items to throw at other players, or power ups which give you a speed boost, or shield.
Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing will be released on the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii (with an optional wheel), DS/DSi and on PC. American release date is 23rd of February, while Europe will get the game on the 26th.
Due to release on March 16th, this will be the first major expansion for the game. Available for $29.99 on PC and $39.99 on Xbox 360 and PS3.
Allowing players to start fresh or transfer an existing character to an entirely new area in the world. Your job is to rebuild the Grey Warden order and discover the secrets of the darkspawn and why they still remain.
This expansion still incorporates the choice factor as prominent in the original game, as well as 5 all new characters to recruit into your party and one old favourite from the original.
New location and story requires further levelling, so new spells, abilities talents etc have been added and I’m going to assume the level cap has been raised.
This looks like a promising expansion for the best RPG of 2009, I’m sure I’ll be following this very closely and with the other DLC’s already out, plus rumours of more Dragon Age is in the makings of becoming a game that will always have something else to achieve.
Sonic is set to go back to his 2D roots in the next part of the Sonic saga. Following on from Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic 4 will see Sonic return to the 2D world, set after meeting Knuckles. Sonic will be the only playable character in the game, where the world and story is bigger than before. Sonic 4 is due to be released in chapters/episodes, where Episode 1 will be released this summer. It will be available as a downloadable game through Xbox Live Arcade, PSN and WiiWare. The Wii version will naturally make use of the motion control, while the PS3 version will make use of the SIXAXIS controller.
Brand manager Ken Balough had this to say on the episode content:
“I think the best way to view it is as a first part in a much larger adventure. When Sega released Sonic 3, ultimately it was the part 1 of a story that saw its conclusion in Sonic & Knuckles. In that same spirit, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is a bigger story, and this is that first chapter. I think it’s also safe to say that by the end of the episode one, fans will be very excited to see what’s in store for episode two!”
Yet another great game and game franchise is making it’s way to the iPhone and iPod Touch. This time around, it’ll be Final Fantasy that adds to the great iPhone/iPod Touch game collection. Square Enix have a page set up, saying that the game will be coming soon to the devices. When soon is however, isn’t known but, hopefully it won’t be too long away. Price information is also unknown at the moment.
An update on Square Enix’s Twitter also says that Final Fantasy II will also be coming to the iPhone/iPod Touch but, again there isn’t any more information on that, like date and pricing.
If you love your retro games and own an iPhone, you’ll be glad to know, the Ultimate Sega Genesis collection of games, will be hitting the App Store. The actual app is free, which includes Space Harrier II. Other titles however, will incur an additional cost. Sonic the Hedgehog is priced at $5.99, Golden Axe at $4.99, where as Ecco the Dolphin and Shining Force, will be $2.99.
Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 feature streaming video through Netflix and now the Wii is about to join them. The service is due to hit the Wii early Spring. Like the PS3, the Wii will require a special “Netflix instant streaming disc” to function. The only fee will be the usual Netflix monthly subscription. Of course though, the Wii version of Netflix, won’t feature HD streaming, so if you have a PS3 or 360, it’s best to stick with using that.
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