157w ago - As previously rumored, at E3 2010 Sony PlayStation Network Product Manager James Thorpe has confirmed that a paid-for PlayStation Plus service is indeed on the way with the official PlayStation Plus site going live, but reassured fans that the normal PSN will also remain free.

Additionally, he stated that those who subscribe in time will receive a free copy of LittleBigPlanet for PlayStation 3!

To quote: You may have heard in all the E3 hype that we are launching a new premium subscription service called PlayStation Plus, so I just wanted to give you all a quick heads up on what you can expect to get from this great new service so you have all the info before launch on the 29th June.

The first thing to note is that PlayStation Network is still free to join and all the current features will remain free.  PlayStation Plus will be offering you a service above and beyond this, including loads of content and exclusive, member-only, PSN features.





From 29th June you'll be able to purchase a 1 year or 90-day membership from PlayStation Store and instantly get your hands on...

157w ago - The Game Director for Sucker Punch Productions, Nate Fox, has announced today the new game Sucker Punch has been working on is infact inFAMOUS 2, and with it, the first trailer for their new game.

To quote: E3! It's finally here, and those of us from Sucker Punch couldn't be more excited. Today we're getting a chance to show off the first trailer for our new game (you guessed it) inFAMOUS 2.

In inFAMOUS we told the story of Cole MacGrath, an ordinary guy who gets superpowers. This time around in inFAMOUS 2, Cole starts out as a full on superhero and only gets more and more powerful.

It's more visceral, brutal and personal experience that commands you attention, making you feel the part of the superhero in every decision you make... be it for good or evil.

Get ready for the hell of a fight right off the bat. At the beginning of the game Cole meets a civilization ending villain who's too powerful to beat.

Looking to get stronger powers for a rematch Cole is forced to head south to New Marais, the town where the Ray Sphere was designed and built. Like I said, Cole starts out the game as a superhero over the course of inFAMOUS 2 he's going to become a super super hero (that's right double super).

158w ago - Today Sega of America's Assistant Community Manager Aaron Webber has confirmed that Yakuza 4 is coming exclusively to PS3 in Spring, 2011.

To quote: After some amazing passion seen across the board from fans regarding the release of Yakuza 3, SEGA is proud to announce that the fourth installment of the Yakuza series is heading West, and will be releasing exclusively on the PlayStation 3 in the spring of 2011!

Yakuza 4 also builds on the style of the original Yakuza foundation by adding three new playable characters, each with a distinct personality and fighting style.

They all have connections to the Tojo clan -- but what those connections are, and what they mean with regard to a man named Kazuma Kiryu, is just one part of what will truly make things interesting.

We'd also like to confirm what we feel is important news for our fans: the Hostess Clubs will be returning in Yakuza 4!

Finally, we'd like to let you guys field questions to the man whose name goes hand in hand with the Yakuza (or Ryu Ga Gotoku in Japan) series himself: Nagoshi-san!...

158w ago - Today Housemarque CEO and Co Founder Ilari Kuittinen has detailed his thoughts and concerns about Super Stardust HD 3D Story for Sony's PS3 entertainment system.

To quote: We first heard of Sony's 3D plans when our producer, Phil Gaskell, asked us to think about a stereoscopic 3D version of our PSN hit Super Stardust HD (SSHD) in summer 2009.

Our first reaction was that it sounded interesting, but we were doubtful whether 3D would ever work or be even possible to do for SSHD for a couple of main reasons. The first one was that we were really concerned over whether we would be able to develop a proper 3D version of the game without compromising full 60 frames per second gameplay.

Also, we hadn't personally seen proper 3D images in action and the premier of Avatar was half a year away. So, we got to work and thought about how on earth we are going to be able to render TWICE the amount of stuff than before as now we basically needed to get the refresh rate from 60fps to 120fps to produce stereoscopic pictures.

For the more technologically inclined people reading this blog, here's some insight on what we had to do.

We had been working on our next version of our game engine for over a year and replaced the core engine with a newer one. As the engine is highly...

158w ago - Update: Sony has officially announced the ITV Player will be heading to PS3 today at GamesCom 2010, and will offer new channels including Yahoo 7 (Australia), ITV, Animax and NOS YLE Areena.

Today Made2Game.com (linked above) reports that the ITV Player may be coming to PS3, and ITV are currently in discussions with Sony about the possible launch.

For those unaware, ITV is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC.

ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK, having begun broadcasting in 1955.

To quote from Telegraph.co.uk:

"ITV is also understood to be in discussions with Sony about launching ITV Player on the PS3 games console, according to the same source. The service would be streamed and advertising supported. It is hoping to launch on this platform also by the beginning of September.

Nintendo's Wii platform will not allow advertising and Microsoft's Xbox does not allow free content as it charges for all web content via its Xbox Live platform."