PS3 Fanboy

PS3 racer Ferrari Challenge was supposed to have DLC in the form of new cars. However, licensing issues may prevent the already-completed DLC from ever releasing. "Unfortunately the realities and dead end streets of making licensed content available as a download, and then making it available in different territories have bitten us on the backside," System 3 told CVG.

"We apologize that we haven't been able to give fans of the game more in recent months," they added. The content that was in development as Ferrari Challenge DLC will now appear in SuperCar Challenge, a PS3 exclusive.

For years (literally) Final Fantasy XIII has seemed like an ethereal, heavenly destination. Like the Golden Fleece or a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Only recently, with actual in-game screenshots, does it feel like Final Fantasy XIII is actually a game. One for us mere mortals, not just reserved for the gods. The latest issue of Famitsu not only has more screenshots, but actually gives us some details about the combat system. Yes, actual gameplay stuff.

Random-battle haters will love the fact that, just like in FFXII, enemies will be visible on the world map and there will be no transitions into combat. The combat itself looks quite complicated. The familiar ATB (Active Time Battle) system seems to be present, but multiple actions can be chosen per turn, according to how many points each action has assigned to it. For example, Fire costs 1 point and Firaga costs 3. So far there appears to be a 3-point limit per turn. Hopefully this indicates a rich combo system, much like in White Knight Chronicles.

Enemy names and HP are visible during battle and there appear to be "chain" and "bonus" systems, though what exactly these do is still unknown. With a demo being released in Japan in three months, we should know more by then. Don't get too excited, though. You almost certainly won't get to play it in 2009.

[Via Kotaku]

Sometimes when Sony refuses to comment on something, there are others who will be happy to do so. In the case of release dates, retailers are the best people to turn to and, as Eurogamer have found out, tend to know when high profile games are likely to be released. Like Killzone 2 hitting the UK on February 27th, two days after certain other European territories. It's unconfirmed by SCEE, but these are the dates certain retailers have been "advised to expect" the launch.

This falls in line with the American release date, which is also February 27th. A demo is also expected to hit sometime before the game launches.

Sony and Electronic Arts have just announced a partnership to provide the EA SPORTS Complex within PS3's PlayStation Home community. In this exclusive game space, gamers will be able to play new EA SPORTS multiplayer games, view leaderboards and interact with other fans while watching trailers and content from EA SPORTS games.

"We're proud to support the PlayStation Home Beta with a very robust offering from EA SPORTS," said Peter Moore, president of EA SPORTS. "As part of our continued commitment to the connected experience and the digitization of our business, the EA SPORTS Complex is a rich new online environment that presents a compelling and immersive social gaming experience for the global sports audience."

EA also announced plans to introduce other EA brands to PlayStation Home in the future. This announcement, in conjunction with today's Red Bull space, shows that Home is rapidly becoming a much more engaging experience than what it was at launch.

Update: Video trailer, after the break.

Home gets its first real piece of content today as the Red Bull Air Race space is now open to all Home users. You can access the area from your world map within your menu pad. Once there you'll see lots of other people standing around a fence, which is where you can begin playing the plane-flying mini-game. There's no leaderboard support yet, but that doesn't stop you shouting about your best time to everyone in the area.

Americans also get their hands on Diesel clothing and Ligne Roset furniture in the Mall from today. Still no sign of any game spaces being released in Europe, but the Red Bull Air Race should give you something to do once you get bored of wandering round the Home Square for the billionth time.

[Thanks heavenssniper]

Orochi games have been making the rounds on PS2, 360 and even the PSP; however, there were no titles on the PS3. Well, until now that is. Musou Orochi Z was just recently announced for Japan. It's not a new game but actually a compilation of both Orochi 1 & 2 beat'em ups on Blu-ray. This new release supposedly will have upgraded graphics, more enemies on screen at once, four new playable characters and 12 fresh Story Mode chapters.

The game is expected to hit Japan on March 12. Though a release in other territories has yet to be confirmed, StrategyInformer -- who has contacted Koei -- reports that a European version is very likely. Said a Koei rep to SI: "No definite plans yet but the Warriors Orochi games proved really popular over here [in Europe] so I'm sure it will." It's a very informal answer, but at least there are some signs of interest internally.

Source 1 - PS3 Hyper
Source 2 - StrategyInformer

Boston Red Sox player Dustin Pedroia will grace the cover of MLB 09, appearing exclusively on PS2, PS3 and PSP. The 2007 American League Rookie of the Year helped the Red Sox win their seventh World Series Title that year.

"Dustin Pedroia has made a tremendous impact on an already storied Boston Red Sox organization and was an integral part to their 2007 World Series victory," said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President, Product Marketing, SCEA. "We are excited to have him become part of our MLB franchise, represent MLB 09 The Show, and join the impressive roster of MLB stars who have served as previous cover athletes."

This is the first video game to don Pedroia. Previous MLB cover stars include Vladimir Guerrero, David Wright, Eric Chavez, Troy Glaus, Shawn Green, Adam Dunn and teammate David Ortiz.

Thought playing Gran Turismo 5 in 2160p wasn't insane enough? Then how about playing it in 3D? How about combining the two ... er, we're getting a little too excited about the future here -- let's get back on track. At CES in Las Vegas, Sony had been showing off some 3D tech tie-ins for the PS3, displaying WipEout HD and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue running in true 3D.

Ars Technica went through the whole orgasmic experience recounting it as "one of the best demos of 3D technology [they] have ever seen." But hold your horses, folks; Sony says it's all for show ... for now. "We're not going to talk about specifications," said a Sony rep. "This is just a look at what 3D could look like if Sony decided to move in this direction."

The black shades the gent is wearing in the picture is the 3D goggles for gameplay. It's not as dorky as Ars thinks it is ... imagine wearing those horrid red/blue specs, ew! The blur screen is no doubt an effect of the 3D and, well, we're dying (as much as you are) to know what it actually was like. Guess we'll never know for quite some time.

[Thanks Julian A. and Erico316!]

We're quite glad to hear that Harmonix has opted not to pursue more disc-based Rock Band content this year. The business model that Harmonix has built for the rhythm game genre is -- at the moment -- close to perfection, and we wouldn't want to see another entry into the series disrupt this hegemony.

Harmonix co-founder and CEO Alex Rigopolous revealed the news at this week's Consumer Electronics Show. "We've actually made a choice to break out of the annual release cycle for Rock Band this year," said Rigopolous. "[This is] partly because the annual cycle places limits on the choices you can make as a developer. We're trying to take a long term view."

Instead of having Rock Band 3 this year, the company is putting focus on its Beatles game, which supposedly will have all-new gameplay previously unseen from Harmonix. That title is still due for a late 2009 release.

[Via MTV Multiplayer]

Sure, LittleBigPlanet may have had a rough start at first, but it seems the wrinkles are smoothing out and things are on the up-and-up. In the UK, total sales for the awwww-inducing Sackboy sim have hit well over 200,000 copies prompting ELSPA (Electronic Leisure Software Publishers Association) to award the title with prestigeous gold status.

Edge notes that the healthy sales figure was due to a strong TV campaign which ran throughout the holidays -- such as commercial spots like the one embedded above. Sources also tell Edge that LBP is due any time now to receive Platinum status (300K copies sold and onward). Hometown heroes Media Molecule must be grinning ear-to-ear.

Ready for another episode of Qore? This one is not to be missed as it will have footage and info from two of 2009's biggest PS3 exclusives, Killzone 2 and Heavy Rain. Veronica does some globetrotting as she visits the developers from these games (situated in Amsterdam and Paris, respectively). There's also some info on FEAR 2 and a look at what Street Fighter fans do to each other behind closed doors.

If you enjoyed your free Christmas episode last month you can pick up the latest episode on Thursday when it releases on the American PSN Store. It will cost you $2.99 for a single episode or $24.99 for an annual subscription (13 episodes). Check out the trailer for episode 8 above for some more footage of Veronica Belmont in a motion capture suit.

SCEA has just sent out a press release detailing what readers of this blog already know. Although PS3 is an expensive machine, it's a better value than the other competing systems. In a press release called "Keeping Entertainment Simple," the company showed this chart showing all the things you get in the PS3 that you can't in other systems. Yes, it's a biased chart, but it's the kind of information that SCEA should spread in the first place. Imagine if they put this info in a retail store? Perhaps more consumers would think kindly of Sony's black box.

Nominations for the Independent Games Festival Awards 2009 have been announced today and one of our favorite PSN titles, PixelJunk Eden, has been nominated for three categories. The categories are: Excellence in Visual Art, Excellence in Audio and Technical Excellence. Eden is one of few console games to be nominated in this year's awards, and the only PlayStation Network title to get recognition.

The winners will be revealed at the Independent Games Festival which takes place in San Francisco between March 23rd and 27th. If you want to learn more about all the games on the list be sure to check out Joystiq's IGF nominee run-down. Good luck to PixelJunk Eden, there's some strong competition there.

The official sales figures for White Knight Chronicles' Japanese debut are finally out. Media Create shows that the game sold just under 207,000 units during the week of December 22nd to the 28th. Bearing in mind that White Knight Chronicles is a new IP and that this figure accounts for only three days of sales, we're impressed. To put it into perspective, White Knight Chronicles now has the third best opening week PS3 sales ranking for the region, after MGS4 (476K) and Devil May Cry 4 (212K). Both of which are long-running and very popular franchises.

White Knight Chronicles also had an impact on PS3 hardware sales, keeping the upward momentum going by increasing sales from 39,136 units the previous week to 45,989 units. This is the highest number of units sold in a single week since Metal Gear Solid 4 was released in June (which shifted 75,311 units). We're intrigued to see how both the game and the PS3 itself continue to sell in the following weeks.

Cristoph Hartmann, President of 2K Games, has said in an interview with MCV that Bioshock could potentially be spun into a six-game series. Hartmann promises that they won't "cash in" on the game, but that the title's story and universe has potential to be expanded on almost indefinitely. "For Bioshock, because it's so story driven, the question obviously arises: how long can you do it without turning into The Matrix?"

Hartmann goes on to say that "if we spin it the right way and get the right twist of innovation, we can make six parts of it, as Star Wars did. It's a fight between good and evil, just like Bioshock." So who knows, maybe Bioshock will continue to evolve and become a long running video game series. It's a strong brand with an excellent story and premise, but we're holding out to see how Bioshock 2 goes later this year before asking for four more.