PS3 Fanboy

Trophy Guide: Super Stardust HD

Andrew Yoon — 2008-07-02T22:00:00+00:00

Filed under: e-Distribution Games, Trophies

We finally unlocked all the Trophies for Super Stardust HD. As the first game available with Trophy support, many are jumping online to boost their PlayStation level. With 9 Bronze, 6 Silver and 2 Gold Trophies, we're sure this is going to keep many occupied for quite some time. Here's our guide to unlock all the Trophies. Good luck!

Hero of Lave - Complete planet Lave
Bronze | Difficulty: Very Easy
All Arcade mode Trophies can be earned in Easy mode. We recommend that you play on that difficulty to make it easier to get the Trophies you want. For this Trophy, simply beat the first level. Having trouble with the boss? Make sure you focus on only one weak point at a time. You should be able to destroy one weak point before he does his spin attack. His spin will vacuum space debris, so you may want to keep your distance in the early parts of this battle. The Trophy will unlock once you start the next level.

Hero of Coventina - Complete planet Coventina
Bronze | Difficulty: Very Easy
You will want to power up your Gold Melter beam. Once you get 100% upgrades for your Rock Crusher in the first level, focus exclusively on getting upgrades for your Gold Melter. A trick for when red bomb enemies drop from the sky: rotate your analog stick so that your ship spins fire all around you. If you're at 100% and you spin quickly enough, this will create a psuedo-shield that will make you nearly invincible against any exploding enemies. The key for the boss is to remember it has two phases. In the first phase, it will shoot bullets. Stay moderately away, so you can dodge the bullets and use your Gold Melter to focus on its weak point. Then, it will turn around. Do not get close yet. Once it stops, it has entered phase two. Go directly in front of its red weak point, and its arms will close around you. Keep on firing at its weak point, and move slightly whenever you see a dotted green line. You will do massive damage here. Once it retracts, it will repeat this cycle. The Trophy unlocks at the start of the next level.

Hero of Nemain - Complete planet Nemain
Bronze | Difficulty: Very Easy
You will want to power up your Ice Splitter beam. Once you get 100% upgrades for both your Rock Crusher and Gold Melter in the first two levels, focus exclusively on getting upgrades for your Ice Splitter. The Ice Splitter has an incredible range, so if you find yourself having difficulty with the ships that shoot back at you, go far away from them and use your Ice Splitter on them. Don't forget that Boost makes you invulernable. Use the same technique on these two bosses as you did on the first level. The Trophy unlocks at the start of the next level.

Hero of Taranis - Complete planet Taranis
Bronze | Difficulty: Easy
Remember, you can unlock Trophies by starting at later levels. If you're running low on lives, simply starting a new game at the last level may help. When surrounded by enemies, it helps to deploy a bomb. For the bosses, you will want to alternate between one and the other. You want to have it so that you are always trapped inside the arms of one of the bosses. This is the best way to protect yourself, and maximize damage. The Trophy unlocks at the start of the next level.

Hero of Segomo - Complete planet Segomo
Bronze | Difficulty: Easy
This is a very easy level, so long as you remember to use the right beams and remember the techniques mentioned earlier. You'll want to save at least three bombs for the final boss, so make sure you collect bombs from drop ships as often as possible. They are most easily destroyed by using your Gold Melter. When you reach the boss, look for a new kind of tower you haven't seen before, one that has red dots surrounding it. Simply deploy a bomb, and it will start launching missles at the core. Wait a little bit and another one will appear. Your bombs will make this boss a cakewalk. The Trophy unlocks when you're back at the main menu (on Easy).

The Tokenizer - Collect 5 tokens with a single boost in Arcade
Bronze | Difficulty: Very Easy
See Token Hoarder.

Scrooge MacBoom - Get 10 bombs in Arcade
Bronze | Difficulty: Easy
See Well Prepared.

Token Hoarder - Collect 15 tokens with a single boost in Arcade
Silver | Difficulty: Moderate
You will get 15 tokens in one boost if you boost into a bonus asteroid directly in the middle. To get a bonus asteroid, go to the beggining of any level. For this Trophy, we used level 2 because it appears very quickly. You will see a red icon appear with a green number. A rock will come down, and you must destroy it. As you destroy these rocks, the countdown will continue. When you destroy all the rocks, a bonus asteroid will fall down to the stage. Carefully aim your ship at the center of the green rock, and boost into it. If you did it correctly, you will get all 15 tokens you need. If you fail, simply press START and restart. You can tell how many you boosted into by looking at the text on the screen. If you see x15 somewhere, you got it. Note that it takes a few seconds for the Trophy to be unlocked. If you're getting close, but can't get all 15, you may want to try level 4. Align one or more tokens between your ship and the bonus asteroid and boost.

Well Prepared - Get 20 bombs in Arcade
Silver | Difficulty: Easy
Avoid using bombs in Arcade mode and you'll get this in no time. Remember, two bombs are found in drop ships that hold green containers. Use your Gold Melter, and you'll easily grab the bombs. Once your bomb total reaches 20, you'll unlock the Trophy.

Shield Blaster - Collect 5 shield tokens while already having a shield
Silver | Difficulty: Moderate
See Multiplier Hero.

Scenic Route - Complete a planet without using boost
Silver | Difficulty: Very Easy
Simply pick the first level on Easy, and avoid hitting the boost button. Pretty easy.

Multiplier Hero - Get 10x multiplier
Gold | Difficulty: Moderate
Your mutlplier increases the longer you play (and destroy things) without dying. Use all the tricks you've learned so far. You will essentially need to play the entire game without dying. Once again, play on Easy and simply restart if you die once. A key thing to remember is Shields are far more valuable than extra lives. If you see an Extra Ship token, avoid it and wait for it to transform into a Shield token. Getting hit while having a Shield won't reset your multiplier, so it's essential to achieving this Trophy. When you already have a Shield, touching a Shield token will act as an instant bomb. If you are unshielded, boosting towards a Shield token, even in a crowded area, is worth the risk.

The following trophies require the purchase of additional game content.

Extra Ships Optional - Survive 7 minutes without dying in Endless
Bronze | Difficulty: Hard
See Shock and Awe.

Close Encounters - Survive 45 seconds without shooting or using bombs in Survival
Bronze | Difficulty: Moderate
Survival mode has an endless stream of enemies, and not being able to shoot or bomb will feel overwhelming. Remember to make very small movements with your controller, and stay focused on your ships at all time. You should be able to boost, although we've heard reports from some that say boosting is not allowed. You should be able to unlock this Trophy without boosting. Remember: small, controlled movements are key.

Late Boomer - Get 15 bombs in Bomber
Silver | Difficulty: Very Hard
This is the hardest Trophy in the game. The point of this Trophy is not to collect 15 bombs, but to have 15 bombs total. There are many reasons why this is so difficult. Firstly, you must be frugal with your bombs. You can ONLY use them to get more bombs. You spend one bomb to earn two, which means you cannot use your bombs on enemies. The general strategy will be to trail bomb ships when you see them, and only explode them when you absolutely must. DO NOT use bombs against enemies and rocks. You will simply have to dodge them. You'll want to follow bomb ships for as long as possible, because if you're lucky, you'll be fortunate enough to have another one spawn next to it. If you can destroy two ships with one bomb, you'll be making this much easier on yourself. Just like in Close Encounters, you'll want to make very small, deliberate movements.

Shock and Awe - Destroy 10 nukes in Endless
Silver | Difficulty: Very Hard
This is the second hardest Trophy in the game. When you get far into Endless, the screen will fill with enemies at a rate faster than you can boost and bomb away from. That's why you must save all your bombs until the latter half of this Trophy run. There's no real reason to save the nukes that appear on the planet, as you'll want them to trigger as quickly as possible. A good tactic for triggering the nukes is to boost into them. But judge the distance correctly: you do not want to boost past the nuke, as you may end up hitting an enemy. After surviving 7 minutes and unlocking Extra Ships Optional, that is when you'll want to consider using bombs. Other than that, use smart weapons changing and liberal amounts of boost. When things are dire, try to die close to a nuke: the explosion caused by your death will still be good enough to trigger the nuke and unlock the Trophy.

Split screen Co-op - Get 3 minutes of continuous Co-Op weapon boost on Segomo
Gold | Difficulty: Very Easy
Quite possibly the easiest Trophy in the game, and it's a Gold one too. You won't need an extra friend, just an extra controller. Start split screen co-op (not standard co-op) and choose Segomo. When you start the level, stay close to each other, so that you see a stream between the both ships. Simply wait for three minutes and the Trophy will unlock. DO NOT SHOOT ANYTHING. Enemies will not be triggered so long as all the asteroids are intact. If need be, move both your ships in the same direction to avoid getting hit.

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PixelJunk Eden: 'kinda like Bionic Commando and Ninja Five-O meets Peggle ... with co-op'

Andrew Yoon — 2008-07-02T20:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Videos and Screenshots, e-Distribution Games

1UP's preview of the upcoming PixelJunk Eden is most curious. The strange title may be hard to grasp from videos, but according to their preview, all is clear within minutes of picking up the controller. With the wildly successful PixelJunk Monsters under its belt, all eyes must be on Q-Games' latest. It being the first new title to support Trophies will undoubtedly make it even more addictive. The combination of alluring visuals, yet another fantastic soundtrack, and simple and addictive gameplay make us want to download PixelJunk Eden as soon as possible.

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Trophies: Super Stardust HD

Andrew Yoon — 2008-07-02T00:25:00+00:00

Filed under: e-Distribution Games, Game Patches, Trophies

The popular PSN arcade shooter now includes trophies. Download the free 4.00 patch and you'll be able to acquire these 17 trophies:

Bronze Trophies

Hero of Lave - Complete planet Lave
Hero of Coventina - Complete planet Coventina
Hero of Nemain - Complete planet Nemain
Hero of Taranis - Complete planet Taranis
Hero of Segomo - Complete planet Segomo
The Tokenizer - Collect 5 tokens with a single boost in Arcade
Scrooge MacBoom - Get 10 bombs in Arcade
Extra Ships Optional - Survive 7 minutes without dying in Endless*
Close Encounters - Survive 45 seconds without shooting or using bombs in Survival*

Silver Trophies

Token Hoarder - Collect 15 tokens with a single boost in Arcade
Well Prepared - Get 20 bombs in Arcade
Shield Blaster - Collect 5 shield tokens while already having a shield
Scenic Route - Complete a planet without using boost
Late Boomer - Get 15 bombs in Bomber*
Shock and Awe - Destroy 10 nukes in Endless*

Gold Trophies

Multiplier Hero - Get 10x multiplier
Split screen Co-op - Get 3 minutes of continuous Co-Op weapon boost on Segomo*

* These trophies require the purchase of additional expansion content.

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Warhawk trophies and patches detailed, new booster hinted

Majed Athab — 2008-07-01T22:07:00+00:00

Filed under: e-Distribution Games, Game Patches

Passed on to us by Sony's Harvard Bonin, we found out some interesting notes on Warhawk trophies from game director Dylan Jobe: "there has been some talk about Warhawk trophies super-auto-magically going LIVE late tonight when the firmware is released. This is not the case." This all means, in a nut shell, trophies for Warhawk won't be ready upon 2.40's release and, in fact, for quite awhile -- read on.

As we've mentioned previously in our firmware 2.40 guide, games released prior to 2.40 (such as Warhawk) will have to be patched. So, the big question is: when will the Warhawk v1.4 patch hit? Now here is where things get a little funny; trophy support will not be found in v1.4 but, as Jobe states, will be found in the v1.5 patch. Neither v1.4 nor v1.5 have fixed released dates, but Jobe sounds very sure that both will be seen "very very very" soon.

To give us something to look forward to, Jobe details that Warhawk will have 56 trophies set up in v1.5. Ten will be based off "current stats/rank/awards system" and can be retroactively attained. 34 trophies are entirely new and based off the core gameplay, which ultimately means happy hunting for you. The last 12 are set aside as booster pack-specific awards. With four per booster, and only two booster packs currently released (Omega Dawn and Broken Mirror), it sounds like to us that a third booster will be ready in time for v1.5.

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Confirmed: SOCOM Confrontation gets one month delay

Andrew Yoon — 2008-07-01T17:00:00+00:00

Filed under: e-Distribution Games

Our impressions of SOCOM Confrontation made it clear: the game needed some extra work. The hotly anticipated PSN game looked great in the alpha build that we played, but nagging issues like a stuttering framerate and random network problems, made us think a delay was for the best. Well, looks like the SOCOM team agrees.

In a recent post on SOCOM.com, Seth Luisi notes that "Unfortunately, even working late into the nights and every weekend, we've had to re-evaluate our schedule. Our top priority is delivering the best SOCOM online experience possible. Tough decisions had to be made and we've decided to push back the release date to October 14th, 2008. We just had to face the facts and do what is best for the title. Rather than sacrifice features, quality and stability, we had to do the right thing and re-adjust our schedule.

Obviously, this means those that are eagerly awaiting the beta (in addition to the final game) will have to be a little bit more patient. In the case of SOCOM Confrontation, we're confident that the delay will be worth it.

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Siren: Blood Curse episodes will average around 600 MB each

Majed Athab — 2008-06-30T21:00:00+00:00

Filed under: e-Distribution Games

In a preview from ThreeSpeech, there's a coy mention of file size for Siren: Blood Curse and its episodic content. It appears each episode will average around 600 MB each. As stated in the preview, the episodes will obviously have varying range but shouldn't be too far from the average.

Considering that there are 12 episodes in total, expect to set aside a good 7.2 GB if you want to keep them all on your system. However, ThreeSpeech reminds you in the article that it is completely possible to delete an episode and then redownload it whenever you feel like. So space shouldn't be that much of an issue. Siren: Blood Curse is still set for release this summer for both North America and Europe.

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Retail hints at one-month SOCOM Confrontation delay

Andrew Yoon — 2008-06-30T18:00:00+00:00

Filed under: e-Distribution Games, News

Could it be? Is another anticipated PS3 game getting a delay? Maybe. But don't sweat this one! Gamestop customers have been notified that their upcoming pre-orders for SOCOM Confrontation may be delayed a month. Originally scheduled for a September release, it appears that the Slant Six team is getting an extra month to polish the title. The new release date? October 14th.

While this date has yet to be confirmed, we're told that the official SOCOM blog at SOCOM.com will update tomorrow with an official response. Stay tuned.

[Thanks to everyone that sent this in!]

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SOCOM Confrontation: new videos [Update]

Andrew Yoon — 2008-06-27T12:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Videos and Screenshots, e-Distribution Games

Our friends at GameTrailers are furiously uploading new video content from SOCOM: Confrontation. So far, we have two on display. The first (seen above), showcases the great Crossroads map, one of the five maps that can support full 32 player matches. Check after the jump to see more of SOCOM.

More gameplay footage added.

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PS3 Fanboy hands-on: SOCOM Confrontation

Andrew Yoon — 2008-06-27T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Videos and Screenshots, e-Distribution Games, Hands-on

Click for high-resolution image.

This is SOCOM. On the PS3. That's SOCOM Confrontation, put simply. It's somewhat strange to think that the team that brought us the incredibly innovative SOCOM Tactical Strike (PSP) is bringing us a game that feels so by-the-numbers. But for the hardcore SOCOM community, this is the game they've been waiting for. It's been years since the last major console SOCOM game, and Slant Six must offer a product that delivers all the thrills that fans of the franchise have come to expect. Rest assured, Confrontation delivers everything SOCOM fans have come to expect from the series, and expands upon the formula by adding massive 32-player matches and a fully-fleshed online community component.

Many criticized the game when it made its public debut last year for having dated graphics. But, Slant Six had only worked on the game for 5 months when the initial screens were shown to the public. Since then, the game has made remarkable progress, and looks rather stunning. The lighting, heat blur, and smoke effects are all beautifully rendered -- and the scope of each of the game's seven levels is massive.

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Although SOCOM Confrontation will be available as a downloadable title off the PSN, don't expect this to be a bite-sized SOCOM experience. This is the real deal; this is the sequel everyone has been waiting for. The seven maps include five original maps and two remastered levels from the PS2 games. Each of the maps have both day and night modes, and each of the five new maps can be scaled to support 8, 16 or 32 players (the classic maps only support 16 players). The 32-player maps are absolutely massive, stretching out far into the distance. Take a look at some of our new screens, and you'll be able to appreciate the sheer scope of Confrontation. Take into consideration that almost everything you can see, you can get to. More importantly, note that almost every building in the game can be entered as well, maximizing the playable area within each territory.

All of the maps take place in the African area of operations, but that doesn't mean everything will look the same. Each map has a unique theme that encourages different strategies and approaches. For example, Crossroads is a massive city, which encourages players to use rooftops to their advantage. We were able to take down a few guys by climbing to a rooftop, looking over an alley, where enemies were bound to come from. Quarantine, which takes place in a viral lab, is a smaller map, with a lot of verticality. The symmetrical design of Quarantine, all leading to one central location, gives it a very arcadey-feel, with superior gunplay being key to pushing forward. The level also features a moat, which allows players to swim towards alternate paths. Finally, our favorite level: Kazbah (working title). This connecting series of fortresses looks unlike anything we've seen in SOCOM so far, and it offers snipers a great challenge, with various towers scattered throughout. Being in a 32 player game, it really felt like we were trying to break through an impenetrable stronghold. Wow.

The Kazbah level will undoubtedly offer some spectacular gunfights.

For the most part, the gameplay found in Confrontation never surprises. It's incredibly easy to pick up the controller and start playing, especially if you've played previous games in the franchise. However, there was one new feature that we absolutely adored. We didn't think we'd ever say this, but the SIXAXIS controls really work. By tilting to the left, your in-game character will do the same. Tilt to the right, and your character follows. This will give your player the ability to peek around corners and cover, and get a shot which may have been impossible otherwise. Tilt your controller upwards, and your character will lean up and above cover, giving the player some sniping possibilities. And, if you're spotted by the enemy, thrusting the controller down can make your character duck. It may take some time to get used to, but we found it incredible intuitive, and it adds a subtle layer of depth to the controls that's much appreciated.

The online community features being built into this new SOCOM have us really impressed, even though we couldn't use them quite yet. They are ambitious, to say the least. Players can customize their own characters and create and join their own clans. Each clan can have its own unique emblem, which will appear on the player's outfit. Clans can then try to climb up a ladder, scheduling challenges with other clans. Scheduled battles and tournaments will then appear in the in-game calendar, which shows all upcoming SOCOM events a player is signed up for. Slant Six is trying to make this even more of a lifestyle, and with stats-tracking and achievement progress viewable online at SOCOM.com, we can see dedicated players staying in the SOCOM universe, even when they're not connected to a PS3.

Not only will the game offer detailed stats tracking, but there will also be a number of medals to earn in game ... and yep, there's going to be trophies as well. (Unfortunately, we didn't play on a system that was eqipped with firmware 2.40).

The new engine made by Slant Six for Confrontation has a few key features that we're impressed by. For example, each bullet is an individually rendered object in the world, and it will behave realistically. If it can puncture through a wall, it will. Players will have to think about their cover choices rather carefully. Even more cool: shells will be left behind and can be kicked around by players. In a no-spawn match, players can look for bullets left behind after a busy firefight to see where the action is taking place.

There are a few issues to be found in this early alpha build, though. Throughout the various matches we played, the framerate struggled to hit 30 fps. Oftentimes, the game hovered in the 20s, especially during the larger matches. Developers noted that they're aiming for 30, locked. In addition, there still appeared to be some lag in matches, which created some awkward moments for us, when someone we were firing at magically appeared behind us. Ouch. Finally, a network issued caused every linked PS3 in the room to crash simultaneously .... more than once. Trying to play Crossroads with 32 players was an effort in futility.

So, do we see a beta happening any time soon? Not really. While we had a blast with SOCOM Confrontation in its alpha stage, it's clear that there is still a lot of work to be done before it can be released to the public en mass. Slant Six can work some magic on the PS3 -- there's no doubt about that. In a year's time, since it was shown at last year's E3, Confrontation has improved significantly. Once the team can fix the various hang-up issues and steady the framerate, we're certain that the enthusiastic SOCOM community will get their hands on this much-needed PS3 sequel -- and they will be more than pleased.

Want even more? Stay tuned to this week's PS Nation podcast to hear an extended preview of SOCOM Confrontation. Have any questions? Post them in the comments!

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Novastrike to get significant update (and European release) in August

Andrew Yoon — 2008-06-25T19:30:00+00:00

Filed under: e-Distribution Games, Game Patches

Did you download Novastrike? It's PSN's first self-published game from independent studio Tiki Games. The game got a rough start when it released a few weeks ago, but after listening to player feedback, the developers are going to adjust the game and make it even more accessible to the masses. The biggest complaint with the title appears to be the relentless difficulty: "These modes were meant to be along the lines of casual, normal, and hard difficulty. Based on responses we've seen so far it looks like we ended up with something more like hard, harder, and hardest. Umm, oops?"

A new update, planned for August, will not only rebalance the difficulty to make it feasible for mortals, it will also give fully customizable controls, a new fine-aim mode for weapons, and a larger player ship to make it easier to see the action. Most excitingly, PSN trophies will also be supported (with fifteen being added to the game).

Once these tweaks are done, the patch will be made available for all that purchased the game already. In addition, this newly updated version of Novastrike will be made available for European gamers as well. We're rooting for you, Tiki Games -- as an independent developer exclusively supporting PlayStation, we certainly commend your efforts.

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American gamers show off their echochrome level creations

Andrew Yoon — 2008-06-25T11:30:00+00:00

Filed under: e-Distribution Games

Japanese gamers aren't the only ones that can create some devious echochrome creations. Starting this Thursday, the innovative PSN downloadable title will be updated with new puzzles, created by American gamers. Thirty new puzzles, featuring the best from the user community of echochrome, will be downloadable for free once players launch the game. The PlayStation.blog's Flickr has images of all the levels for your viewing pleasure.

With so much free user generated content, echochrome really is an incredible value. It's a never-ending mind-bending puzzler.

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Square Enix to release PS1 classics, begins with Xenogears

Andrew Yoon — 2008-06-25T00:45:00+00:00

Filed under: e-Distribution Games

According to a NeoGAF posting, this month's Dengeki PlayStation reveals the very first PS1 games Square Enix will revive on the Japanese PSN. The titles will be available for 600 yen each, and will begin releasing in Japan today. There are twelve titles planned, starting with Xenogears. However, there are a number of other titles to be released today, such as Einhander, Astronoka, Rakugaki Showtime, Raystorm and Fighters Impact. While none of these titles feature the words "Final" or "Fantasy" in them, many are considered classics of the PS1 era. Titles like Xenogears can be pretty rare, so these re-releases are of great convenience to those that missed them at first. At only 600 yen each, this is an incredible bargain, especially when one considers the ability to play these downloadables on both the PS3 and on the go with the PSP.

Unfortunately, SCEA and Square Enix USA haven't announced any similar plans to release English language versions of these classics. We hope that they follow suit soon.

[Thanks, Noshino!]

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PAIN patch is ... well, a pain [Update]

Andrew Yoon — 2008-06-20T13:05:00+00:00

Filed under: e-Distribution Games, Game Patches

Yesterday's free patch to the popular PSN title PAIN has done more harm than good, it seems. According to IGN, the patch breaks all online functionality of the title, preventing players from accessing the in-game store or any other online features. Sony has acknowledged the problem, and is promising an update rather quickly. "We are aware that some users are receiving a network error message and are working to rectify this as soon as possible," a Sony rep said. "We expect this situation to be resolved withing the next 12 hours." For those that haven't downloaded the patch yet, we recommend waiting a day before attempting to play the game.

Update: The patch has been, well, patched.

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Charts reveal slowing PSN release schedule

Andrew Yoon — 2008-06-17T12:20:00+00:00

Filed under: e-Distribution Games

Does it feel like the PSN is providing us with less digitally distributed games than before? It does to us, and it appears that the feeling is not unwarranted. Gamasutra compiled a few charts, analyzing the PSN, and revealed that the PS3 is offering far less playable content before. 2007 offered 17 PS1 games for download and 28 downloadable titles, which included classics like Super Stardust HD and Everyday Shooter. To date, the first half of 2008 has only featured 4 PS1 games and 8 downloadable games for the PS3 (two of which are multiplatform Capcom releases).

PSN games are coming, and the ones we know about look enticing. On the radar, we have WipEout HD, SIREN: Blood Curse, Elefunk, flOwer, SOCOM: Confrontation and PixelJunk Eden. This week will mark the release of Fatal Inertia EX. The PSN is still alive and kicking, but we can't help but want even more games to download.

[Via NeoGAF]

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New screenshots of Siren: Blood Curse

Andrew Yoon — 2008-06-16T11:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Videos and Screenshots, e-Distribution Games

Click for high-resolution image.

Sony is trying to redefine the scope of a digitally distributed game. Warhawk and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue are both great PSN offerings that combine high production values and a low retail cost. The upcoming episodic survival horror game, SIREN: Blood Curse, looks to continue this trend.

A new batch of screenshots were released by SCEA, and they look stunning. With WipEout HD and SOCOM Confrontation also in the works, it looks like PSN will have some truly big heavy-hitters this year.

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PixelJunk Eden gets demo in July, Monsters may get free patch

Nick Doerr — 2008-06-13T17:00:00+00:00

Filed under: e-Distribution Games

If you're curious about what's going on with Q-Games and the PixelJunk franchise, we've located a little bit of news to satisfy your 2D urges. First up -- PixelJunk Eden is to get a playable demo in July. This is coming from Dylan Cuthbert's mouth (well, technically, keyboard), so take it as official. Cuthbert wants everyone to experience the game before its final release, which is a nice gesture.

A second piece of information was the YouTube uploading feature, which isn't anything new, but still very cool. Finally, Cuthbert wants to do one more small, free patch to PixelJunk Monsters. He's requesting what you would like to see in the patch, so let him know. Our idea? A hint on how to best approach each level would be dandy.

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Atlus considering downloadable games

Andrew Yoon — 2008-06-13T13:00:00+00:00

Filed under: e-Distribution Games

Fan-favorite RPG publisher Atlus may be looking to expand into the digital distribution market. Siliconera discovered a survey sent to the "Atlus Faithful" asked how much players will pay for a digitally distributed game, based on the length of its gameplay. The platforms in question inclue both Xbox 360 and PS3.

Considering Atlus' ability to pick out cult winners (Persona is a good example), we'd love to see what kind of original games they'd place on the PSN.

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Sakamoto describes his inspirations for echochrome's music

Andrew Yoon — 2008-06-12T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Interviews, e-Distribution Games

How does one craft the music for a game like echochrome? It must have been a challenge to create the ambiance necessary for such an abstract puzzle game, but Hideki Sakamoto was up to the challenge. Speaking with Siliconera, the musician noted the need for simplicity to match the game's visual style. echochrome is a game that needs no language, and Sakamoto wanted to convey that through a sound that's universally appealing. "Considering that the visual aspect of the game is strikingly simple, I had it in mind not to let the music overpower the overall design. I wanted to avoid distracting the player by using unusual sound effects or unfamiliar instruments. Classical music seemed to me the best choice because it is universal."

One of the challenges of crafting the musical landscape for echochrome was creating a sound that doesn't necessarily move the player in a particular way. "In Echochrome, the important thing was for the player to have such feelings, just for their own sake. There was no sense of striving to manipulate the player's emotions, and that was something of a realization for me as a musician."

Please read the entire interview at Siliconera for more. It really is quite fascinating. Samples of the soundtrack can be heard here. The soundtrack is available for import at Play-Asia.

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Fatal Inertia EX crashes into PSN next Thursday

Andrew Yoon — 2008-06-11T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: e-Distribution Games

Koei's WipEout competitor strikes the PSN in next Thursday's update with both a free demo and the full game. The futuristic racer promises a massive amount of content, with over 50 tracks to race through. Originally an Xbox 360 racer, the PS3 version is a completely changed game, with new graphics and gameplay tweaks. With extensive multiplayer and online options, Fatal Inertia EX looks great on paper. Soon, we'll see if it's worth the $30 asking price.

For more on Fatal Inertia, check out the official 1UP blog.

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What? Qore grants late access to SOCOM beta? [Update]

Andrew Yoon — 2008-06-06T14:30:00+00:00

Filed under: PlayStation Network, e-Distribution Games

Did you buy Qore solely for access to the SOCOM Confrontation beta? Well, looks like you might've bitten too early. A small comment on the SOCOM official website shows that Qore guarantees access into the beta ... but two weeks after the public beta launches. Wha? According to a comment by David Brothers, "Qore gives access to the public SOCOM beta two weeks after the public beta launches."

Why would they delay beta access to Qore members? We're not entirely sure. However, there are other ways to go about getting access into the beta: "There are other ways to get into the public beta beforehand, like the upcoming preorder program, so don't worry about the ratio of non-SOCOM fans to SOCOM fanatics."

These comments were made three days ago, so it's unclear if the beta's policies have changed since then. We're going to try and find out the latest word -- stay tuned.

Update: Veronica Belmont has updated us: "If you buy the pre-order for SOCOM with the headset, and put $5 down for the beta, you'll get it a bit before ours (and that's depending on if everything ships as planned, too). They're not the same beta. Otherwise, our beta is still before anyone else will get it."

[Thanks, Mike!]

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