Sony's Social Media Manager Jeff Rubenstein passed along some news he received from EA today as follows:
Mirror’s Edge developer DICE is planning a special treat for PLAYSTATION 3 owners. When downloadable content for the game is released in late January, they’ll make an exclusive Time Trial map available free, only for PS3.
More info on the DLC from EA:
Players will be challenged to achieve the fastest times possible on nine races across seven all-new and totally redesigned Time Trial maps. No guns, no cops, and no city: this is true aesthetics, agility and flow that will challenge any runner.
I think the video says it best:
This special DLC pack will be available for $10. Look for an update on the PlayStation.Blog right before it hits the PlayStation Store.
Various video game publishers have spoke out recently to either condone or criticize second-hand video game sales for eating into their profits.
Atari president Phil Harrison isn't worried though, as he says their future strategy is to make games that people will want to keep hold of stating: "it's no coincidence that the most valuable games, the one's that have the most lifetime as a game experience, are the one's that don't get resold, that don't get traded.
The games that have the embedded community, the embedded commerce, the extended, expandable experiences, are the one's that you would never want to trade, the one's you want to keep hold of. And that's perfectly in line with our future strategy so we're not that concerned about it," he said.
To quote: Speaking at the Atari Live event in London yesterday, the publisher said t... More »
Capcom USA has unveiled their delivery of a real Bionic Arm from Japan. Check it out below, modeled by Capcom's resident babe Marisol.
To quote: Today, we got the Bionic Arm. It came in a crate with some mysterious Japanese writing (probably a warning of the pure awesome inside), and a dead give-a-way in english as it says "Bionic Arm" in big letters.
Marisol was kind enough to strap on this prop for some pics to show off how cool this thing is. It would have been cooler if I could have found the button for the lights. But there's no obvious switch on there that says "lights."
Instead I spent a good five minutes pressing things that looked like they could be buttons while it was sitting on my desk(I was guarding it from the droolers). As I was looking, I realized just how much detail went into this piece of equipment.
Every rivet, bolt, screw, the hosing... It's all hand painted down to the most minute detail. The arm is an e... More »
IGN has gone through Famitsu's 11-page feature on Final Fantasy: Dissidia and translated several new details recently.
Square Enix apparently considered putting a FFXII character in the game, but were concerned it would solidify "the character's image and skills in players' minds and thus affecting the main FFXIII".
Famitsu also revealed that gamers will be able to choose a Memory Stick installation of 245, 373, or 528 megabytes. Finally, Ikeda, the main programmer for the game, says that the 245MB install will allow "smooth battles."
To quote: If all that isn't enough to make you wonder how Square Enix is fitting Dissidia on one UMD, here's something that should do the trick. Famitsu also reveals that Dissidia has a "Command Battle" mode of play.
Here, the normal action-based battle system is replaced with a menu system, allowing players who aren't so hot on action games to still engage in combat.
Empire: Total War, is the new installment in The Creative Assembly’s Total War RTS franchise and will maintain the series 3D battles, grand turn based campaign map and rich historical flavor; while for the first time introducing 3D naval combat into the series.
Below is an interview with one of the game's developers:
WP: Who has the honor to speak with us? State your name, rank, and occupation!
Kieran Brigden, studio communications manager for Creative Assembly.
WP: Empire Total War marks the first time that the Total War series has had really intricate naval battles. Why have them now?
KB: Well, it's a combination of factors. One, we've wanted to do it for a while but the technology was ready now. Two, it's the period that's right for it. When you add naval battles to the game, you have to do it when it's interesting, enjoyable, and fun. The 18th century was the absolute height of cool naval warfare. You had thi... More »
Are Sony and Blockbuster looking to form an alliance to bring Blockbuster's streaming video offer to the PlayStation 3? We'll know by 'early next year' says Blockbuster Video.
Sony and Blockbuster have some history together already. You may recall that Blockbuster was one of the first retailers in North America that they were going to be supporting Blu-ray on a much bigger scale than HD DVD. That announcement really got the ball rolling in Blu-ray's favor at the time.
Fast forward a year and we have Netflix signing streaming deals with every manufacturer they can find including an exclusive game console deal with Microsoft. Netflix has signed deals with TiVo Inc, Samsung, LG Electronics.
Now comes word from Blockbuster that, in the wake of their launch of Blockbuster OnDemand, they are actively seeking a partnership with Blu-ray player manufacturers. With Samsung and LG already in Netflix's corner, could this lead Blockbuster to seek out Sony as a... More »
Andrew Weymes (aka MrWeymes) says Nintendo obviously went in another direction, deviating from what gamers expect from a next generation console.
I'm sure most gamers assumed that every 5 or 6 years, we would get an upgrade of our current console with a slightly reworked controller, better graphics, and more features such as online capabilities, and Blu Ray.
Sony, and Microsoft knew what was expected of them, and delivered. I don't think that many people thought that the Nintendo "Revolution" (as was the Wii's code name) wouldn't have a standard controller, but in fact make use of motion controls, and that it would have a small emphasis on graphics.
Technically, both the Xbox 360, and the Playstation 3 are superior machines. Both support HD resolutions up to 1080p, both have a more robust online community, both are able to rip music off of CDs, both are able to play DVDs, and the Playstation 3 is able to play Blu Rays.
GameStop CEO Dan DeMatteo has warned video game publishers that measures they maybe considering to discourage the sale of used games will "eventually get the consumer upset, as well as GameStop."
DeMatteo says that when a consumer decides to buy a game, they take into account that it will have a "residual value" of $20 which they can retrieve with a trade-in.
DeMatteo then says that gamers will then use their trade-in credits on new games which leads to better sales for publishers anyway.
To quote: "Also, we will give out approximately $800 million in credits this year -- trade-in credits that will go toward the purchase of new video games.
The consumer, oftentimes and especially now, needs that residual value from those games as a trade-in to be able to afford a new video game."
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