Joystiq has your stash of criminally complete GTA IV news!
Posts with tag europe

COD4 Map Pack pulled forward for Europe

Posted Apr 22nd 2008 9:00AM by Jem Alexander
Filed under: PlayStation Store, News

Here's some good news for Europe for a change. The Variety Map Pack for Call of Duty 4 has been pulled forward to give it a simultaneous release worldwide. COD4 fans will be able to get their hands on it this Thursday, April 24th. As a result, the double XP weekend has also been brought forward and will commence at 12:01am GMT on Friday and finishing at 11:59pm PDT on Sunday. Because of the time difference, this means an extra 8 hours of double experience.

"Play with Infinity Ward" day is now Friday April 25th and members of the team will be playing between the hours of 11am and 2pm PDT as well as between 5pm and 8pm PDT. Sounds like fun to us, we'll almost certainly be playing. Our only question is, if Konami finally gets their act together and begins the MGO beta on Friday, how do we choose between them? It's going to be a busy weekend.

[Thanks Marc and Wilboss]

PlayTV priced and dated, but not really

Posted Apr 21st 2008 6:15PM by Jem Alexander
Filed under: News

Amazon.co.uk has caused some confusion today when it listed a release date and price for the Digital TV recording peripheral, PlayTV. With a date of July 31st and a price of £59.99, it was looking like a good deal for UK PS3 owners. Until Sony refused to confirm both details and Amazon pulled all the information on their site, that is. Instead, the release date is now set for October and there's not a price in sight. Weird.

We're sure you're as excited as us about PlayTV, so we'll be sure to keep you up to date with any developments.

[Via Eurogamer]

European PS3 owners are up in arms once again [Update]

Posted Apr 17th 2008 8:30AM by Jem Alexander
Filed under: PlayStation Store

The list of grievances Europe is holding against SCEE seems to be growing by the week. A new thread on the official European PlayStation forums demonstrates the various areas in which SCEE is underachieving in comparison to SCEA. While everyone seems happy with the design of the new PSN Store, which went live recently, European PS3 owners seem annoyed at the weird categorisation system used on the EU version. There's no "demos" section, requiring you to search through each game in turn to see whether it has a demo available or not.

Not only that, but there's no "preview" button on the European Store, which means that there are no video previews of games. Other annoyances include a lack of decent content, games appearing late (or never at all) compared to their US releases and the lack of a real European PlayStation.Blog. It looks like the members of the official forums aren't going to take it anymore. But will SCEE listen? Sadly, we doubt it.

[UPDATE] The thread has been moved to the feedback section of the official European PlayStation forums.

[Thanks, madrabbit!]

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue continues to dominate European charts

Posted Apr 14th 2008 1:45PM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: Business

Even with a million pre-orders sold, Gran Tursimo 5 Prologue continues to light up the European sales charts. In both Spain and Germany, the PS3 exclusive rests as the top selling game, beating out strong competition from a variety of Wii, DS and PSP titles. In Sweden, GT5P was only beat out by the PS2 version of Guitar Hero III.

It goes to show how different each territory is when it comes to gaming preferences. The US version of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue comes out this week on Blu-ray and on the PSN. Will it match the insatiable European demand for Polyphony's racer? We'll have to wait and see.

SCEE announces next PSN Store update, including MGO beta [Update]

Posted Apr 11th 2008 6:15AM by Jem Alexander
Filed under: PlayStation Store, News

SCEE has confirmed that the PSN Store redesign will be going live on April 15th. It has also been revealed that the European Store won't get updated until Thursday the 17th, but it should be worth the wait. A list of upcoming content was included in the press release, including the European Metal Gear Online beta. From the looks of things, it'll be an open beta for anyone who wants to take part, unlike in the US or Japan where beta keys were handed out with Metal Gear Solid 4 preorders. Here's what we can expect to see next Thursday:
  • Metal Gear Online Premiere Beta
  • Warhawk: Operation Broken Mirror expansion
  • Lair "Diabolical Dragons" pack
  • Lair "Skyguard Upgrade" pack
  • "A collection of trailers including the latest for GTA IV"
  • Sega Superstar Tennis demo
Looks like that "special update" we were promised was pointing towards the MGO beta. Nice to see Europe not getting shafted in the end -- in fact, they get the best deal. A seemingly open beta. We're not sure whether the content listed above is exhaustive, but assume for now that it is. We'll let you know if we find out otherwise.

[Update] Konami has confirmed that the beta will be completely open and will last between April 21st and May 6th. After May 6th the beta client will be removed from the PSN Store.

Gallery: PLAYSTATION Store redesign

US Store frontpage

Gallery: Metal Gear Online

European Rock Band info released; no PS3 date yet

Posted Apr 8th 2008 9:15AM by Jem Alexander
Filed under: News

We're not sure what's worse, here. Whether it's the fact that Rock Band isn't arriving in Europe until 6+ months after its US release, whether the pricing structure is as ridiculous as it is, or whether there's still no solid release date for the PS3 version. EA have really dropped the ball on this one.

A solid release date of May 23rd has been announced for the Xbox 360 version, after which it will remain exclusive to the console until "later this Summer" when the PS3 version is released. The price for the PS3 version will most likely be the same as the 360 version, but we hope it's not. The instruments (a drum set, a guitar and a mic) will retail in its own bundle without the game for £130/€170. The game will be sold separately for the normal £50/€60.

The only good news to come out of this announcement is that Europe will receive some exclusive songs (listed after the break) and that all of the DLC up to this point will be released on the XBLM on May 27th, with all future updates occurring simultaneously for the US and Europe. If SCEE can pull off something similar without encountering technical difficulties, we'll be very surprised.

The fact of the matter is: import the bundle from America and play the songs on the disc for a wee while, then buy the European disc in order to get your hands on the exclusive songs and DLC. Sure, you'll be buying the game twice, but it'll still be cheaper than buying the EU instrument bundle and the game. Madness.

Continue reading European Rock Band info released; no PS3 date yet

PS3 continues European sales momentum after release of GT5

Posted Apr 1st 2008 8:15PM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: News


The European gaming community really, really loves Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. After a platinum pre-order and a stellar launch, the PS3 has been gaining quite a bit of traction. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Chart-Track's Dorian Bloch said: "PlayStation 3 sales went up by 14 per cent for week 13, after going up 73 per cent the week before."

We're certain that we can expect a similar sales boom after the release of Metal Gear Solid 4 as well. In comparison, Chart-Track noted that "Xbox 360 sales were down by 11 per cent." The effects of Microsoft's price drop were strong, but looks like the power of GT overshadowed the efforts of Microsoft's bargain pricing.

For those in love with sales and numbers, this generation of consoles is proving rather interesting. It'll be fascinating to see the effect GT has on the American market, when it launches in a few weeks time.

Rumor: Dualshock 3s available in Europe on May 2nd

Posted Mar 28th 2008 4:10PM by Jem Alexander
Filed under: Rumors

Dutch site PlayStation Only has heard from a "reliable source" that Dualshock 3 controllers will finally be made available in Europe on the 2nd of May this year. There's no word on pricing and the date hasn't been confirmed by Sony, so this is firmly a rumor for now. With America's April release date fast approaching, Europeans are itchy to find out when they'll finally be able to get their hands on them. Most games (certainly, all high profile and first party titles) all support rumble out of the box, or via a mandatory patch so the earlier the controllers are released, the better.

European PSN update coming sometime today - we hope

Posted Mar 28th 2008 10:30AM by Jem Alexander
Filed under: PlayStation Store, News

Sony has released a statement regarding yesterday's European PSN update-that-never-was. "Due to last minute technical difficulties" the Store wasn't able to be updated (and still hasn't been), but they "are working to resolve these issues and will let you know as soon as new content is posted." Normally, this wouldn't really be an issue, considering the European updates are so poor, but yesterday was meant to be the PSN release of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. Considering the game has already gone platinum on European pre-releases alone, we expect there are quite a few annoyed people out there who were planning on grabbing the download a day early.

Other expected releases include the Eye of Judgment expansion. Obviously, we'll let you know as soon as we hear anything. If you're feeling really impatient, however, feel free to go pick up the Blu-Ray version. With no idea about when the store update is coming, It could be a long day of waiting.

Sony confirms European platinum range but keeps schtum on details

Posted Mar 26th 2008 1:45AM by Jem Alexander
Filed under: News

While Jeux-France is reporting that a European platinum range will be arriving this Autumn, Sony refuses to say much about it. Jeux-France has suggested that MotorStorm, Heavenly Sword, Resistance: Fall of Man, Formula One Championship Edition, Lair, Folklore, Ridge Racer 7 and Genji: Days of the Blade will all be made available within the platinum range and will sell for €40 each (probably closer to £30 for the UK). A number of games have been re-released in Japan recently under a budget price in the "The Best" range which includes a few of the games listed above as well as Ninja Gaiden: Sigma and Gundam: Target in Sight.

Sony refuses to comment on the specifics of a platinum range for Europe but continues to state that it will definitely happen one day. We just hope the box art won't look as disgusting as the Japanese budget range. Since when has the PS3 ever been associated with the color yellow? Bizarre design choice, that one.

European PS3 owners want an official Sony blog

Posted Mar 21st 2008 8:00PM by Jem Alexander
Filed under: News

We were incredibly pleased when SCEA started the PlayStation.Blog last June. Having a transparent method of communication between Sony and its consumers is invaluable. Since then we've seen the blog being used as both an up-front marketing tool and as a way for prominent members of the game development (and public relations) industry to communicate with the readers via the comments section. After almost a year of watching the site grow, it seems European PS3 owners are getting jealous of the service and want an equivalent site set up for PAL users.

A poll has been set up by a user of the official European PlayStation forums asking whether people would like to see an official PlayStation Blog for Europe. The overwhelming majority say that yes, they would like to see one while a tiny proportion (3% at the time of writing) claim that "ThreeSpeech is good enough" for them. While we respect ThreeSpeech, it's a flawed website which people seem to be wary or suspicious of due to the "semi-official" label. A fully transparent blog for Europe could only be a good thing and we would love to see it happen.

European PSN forums still up; PSN linking delayed a month

Posted Mar 18th 2008 5:30PM by Jem Alexander
Filed under: PlayStation Network, News

The official European PlayStation forums are supposed to be down right now, in order for them to be linked together with the PlayStation Network. Unfortunately it seems this has been delayed until late April. This is in order to "get everything ship-shape" and improve the look and feel of the service. Strange, then, that this is announced the day the forums are meant to go down. They didn't know there was another month of work to do until now?

There's still no word on what exactly the reason is for the whole PSN forum linkage. Not even our Sony contact knows what's going on, so we may as well forget about it for another month or so. If you're a member of the official European forums, however, this means you've got a much longer time to link your profile to your PSN. Check the forum post for instructions.

Next European PSN update to be the most PAINful yet

Posted Mar 16th 2008 11:00AM by Jem Alexander
Filed under: PlayStation Store, News

It has been confirmed to us that the wait is finally over. Europeans can get their hands on PAIN, as well as a few add on packs (probably the character packs already released in the US) this coming Thursday. With last week being described as "the last bad update for a while", things should pick up from now on. Yeah. How many times have we heard that one?

The localisation issues that cause these ridiculous delays (it's been four months since PAIN was released in America) are due to be addressed at some point in the near future. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, something needs to be done, so we'll look forward to these discussions with cautious anticipation.

Xbox 360 price drops may force Sony to follow suit

Posted Mar 11th 2008 4:00PM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: Business

Yesterday, Microsoft surprised the games industry with a significant price cut in the European territories. Our own UK-based writer, Jem Alexander, noted that the price drop was "tempting." (However, he still hasn't given in to buying a 360!)

Strategy Analysts' principal analyst, David Mercer, commented on the situation. He believes that this will force Sony to play a price cut of its own in the territory: "Sony will be nervous that the PS3's recent sales surge may fizzle out now that the premium Xbox 360 undercuts the PS3 by £40, and the cheapest Xbox model is almost half the price of a PS3."

The PlayStation brand is exceedingly strong in Europe, and is one of the most crucial territories for Sony in this generation of the console war. We believe that Sony's not going to take Microsoft's price drop lightly.

GT5 Prologue priced and dated for Europe

Posted Mar 11th 2008 12:15PM by Jem Alexander
Filed under: e-Distribution Games, News

Don't be put off by the fact that Sony America announced their release information for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Sony Europe have come through today and confirmed the European release date and price. With just over two weeks to go, the wait is almost over - Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be available on Blu-ray on March 26th (or, for some reason, March 28th in the UK) and on the PlayStation Store on March 27th. Price of admission is a very reasonable £24.99 or €39.99.

A hardware bundle will also be released at the same time containing a 40GB PS3, SIXAXIS controller and a copy of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue for £299 or €399. Expect this price to be dropped slightly by retailers. The European release of the game will feature all the extras found in the American version, including split-screen multiplayer. Considering the amount of content in the game, not to mention features such as Gran Turismo TV and Gran Turismo Museum, this will be a must-buy bargain for any fan of racing games.

Gallery: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue

Next Page >

Advertisement

RESOURCES

Features
Contests and Giveaways (21)
Community (172)
Galleries (38)
Guides (9)
Hands-on (40)
Interviews (270)
Podcasts (21)
Polls and Surveys (74)
Rants (26)
Reviews (44)
Wallpapers (19)
News
Blu-ray (265)
Business (106)
Deals and Bargains (112)
Demos (67)
Downloads (89)
e-Distribution Games (160)
Firmware Updates (53)
Game Patches (88)
Hacks and Homebrew (25)
Hardware (61)
Multimedia (45)
New Releases (182)
News (982)
Peripherals (87)
PlayStation Network (244)
PlayStation Store (299)
Previews (511)
Rumors (389)
Videos and Screenshots (744)

RSS NEWSFEEDS

Powered by Blogsmith

Sponsored Links

Featured Galleries

Mirror's Edge
Siren Blood Curse
PlayStation Day 2008
Buzz! Junior Jungle Party
MotorStorm Pacific Rift
Movement
World in Conflict
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
Bourne Conspiracy

 

Most Commented On (14 days)

Recent Comments

Weblogs, Inc. Network

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in:

PS3 Fanboy
WOW Insider
Xbox 360 Fanboy
Nintendo Wii Fanboy
DS Fanboy
PSP Fanboy