169w ago - SCEE's Partner Marketing Executive Mikel Arrien has made available a video racap of the 2009 FIFA Interactive World Cup Champion gala event.

To quote: Back in December 2009 Lionel Messi was named FIFA World Player of the Year 2009 at the FIFA World Player Gala.

Along with the likes of Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka. Bruce Grannec, FIFA Interactive World Cup Champion 2009, attended the gala and we wanted to share his experience with all of you.

If you think you can beat Bruce and be the next FIFA Interactive World Cup Champion, grab a copy of EA SPORTS FIFA 10 and register for the On-line competition or attend any of the qualifier events. Visit fifa.com/interactiveworldcup to find out more.

At about 8:00 am, my guest and I took off on our flight from Paris to Zurich for what was going to be one of the best, if not the best, days of our lives.

About 2 hours later, we arrived in Zurich, where we were met by some people from FIFA and a television crew that would film every one of my movements throughout the day.

Once introduced, we took a taxi to the FIFA headquarters. The first thing I noticed when I entered was the display case containing all the FIFA trophies, with, in the foreground, the world...

171w ago - Sony's President & CEO Jack Tretton has thanked PS3 fans today for a great 2009, and stated that today's NPD numbers show a 36% sales increase on PS3 hardware when compared to last January.

To quote: 2009 was a great success for the PlayStation brand in a market that continues to be impacted by a down economy. I wanted to thank you for making this past year the best yet for the PS3.

According to NPD's recent Top Global Markets report, PlayStation was the only company to see consumers in three territories (UK, US and Japan) spending 15% more on PS3 software in 2009 than they did in 2008 - this is while the category as a whole experienced a 9% decline in software sales.

The PS3 was also the only console in the U.S. to see double-digit growth in sales this past quarter. December also marked the best sales month in the platform's history, breaking one million hardware units and 7.3 million software units.

We're nowhere near slowing down in the new year as today's NPD numbers show a 36% sales increase on PS3 hardware when compared to last January. This is...

178w ago - Below is a video from GTPlanet that was released on Christmas Day at the Asia Game Show 2009, which features a first look at two awesome new tracks, a plane and a helicopter in Gran Turismo 5 for PS3.

In one of the slides (below), Kazunori Yamauchi confirmed previous details adding that GT5 owners will indeed be able to record and upload their high-octane races straight to YouTube.

For those curious, the video game is slated for release next March in Japan, and Summer 2010 for North America and Europe.

To quote: "We first heard about the brand-new Madrid circuit back in April of 2008, and now we finally get to take a look at it.

We also get to see a new section of track from GT's infamous digital version of Rome.

There's new footage of NASCAR and WRC events, a helicopter, and what appears to be a Gulfstream Jet (?!!?!) on a runway with a Mazda 787B and Audi R10."

178w ago - Sony PlayStation Store Senior Manager Grace Chen is here with this week's US PSN update today, as follows:

Hi Everyone - It's time for the weekly PlayStation Store Update.

PSN Game Sale
In addition to the SEGA game sale detailed earlier, the following games are on sale until January 7, 2010 unless otherwise noted.

• Bomberman Ultra - $4.99 (revert to regular price on 1/7/10)
• Worms - $9.99
• Topatoi - $4.99
• Armored Core 3 Portable - $9.99 (revert to regular price on 1/21/10)
• Scrabble - $13.99
• NFS Underground Rivals - $10.49
• NFS Carbon - $13.99
• NFS Most Wanted - $13.99
• NFS ProStreet - $13.99
• GI Joe - $27.99
• Sims 2 - $10.49
• Commander's Challenge - $6.99
• Battlefield 1943 - $10.49
• Hasbro Family Game Night - $29.99
• Burnout Paradise Ultimate Bundle - $20.99

Downloadable Games

Battle Fantasia ($19.99)
Battle Fantasia immerses you into a fantasy world of 12 unique and fun to play characters!
ESRB Rated T
File size: 1.17 GB

Polar Panic ($9.99)
Play through 50 challenging levels and battle Mr. Big in Story Mode. Work your way through...

178w ago - PlayStation Network Executive Producer Kevin Furuichi has shared a video on the PS Blog today showcasing the PULSE PSN Edition for December 22, 2009.

To quote: For those of you wondering what happened to last week's edition of PULSE, it's available today as part of the final PlayStation Store publish of the decade. We delayed the usual Thursday release so we could get you the latest news just before the holidays.

Join Christina Lee for a look at the exclusive Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker PSP demo as well as the first Dante's Inferno demo that's hitting the PS3. The staff also put together 10 Gotta See Movies from 2009 that are still available from PlayStation Store and the list has some surprises. Remember, it's the most wonderful time of the year, right?

You also don't want to miss the Top 10 Game Downloads for 2009. Actually, no surprises, except for the order in the list.





We've had a terrific year bringing you this biweekly program. Hard to believe a year has gone by since PULSE made it's premiere on PlayStation Network. I mean, it feels like we just recovered from our E3 coverage! Thanks for supporting the show and we look forward to an exciting 2010.