PS3 Fanboy

Yeah, it's July 16th in Europe right now, but we've been too busy to post the update until now. The fact we even know what's up on the store is a near miracle (thanks, Tom!), seeing as we're actually nowhere near a PS3 right now. With our excuses out of the way, we present to you today's update which, apart from a whole bunch of awesome E3 trailers, includes the SSHD Team Pack. Best thing about the Team Pack? Another potential trophy. Here's the full release list:

Playable Content

• Fatal Inertia EX demo (free)
• Fatal Inertia EX Full Game (£14.99)

Add-on Content

• Super Stardust HD "Team Pack" (£2.99)

Videos

• Buzz! Quiz TV advert
  
• Buzz! Quiz TV "Sofa vs Sofa" advert
• Resistance 2 E3 trailer
• PixelJunk Eden E3 trailer
• PAIN E3 trailer
• LittleBigPlanet E3 trailer
• MotorStorm Pacific Rift E3
• GT TV E3 trailer

A press release sent out by KOEI states that WipEout clone, Fatal Intertia, will be available to download from the PlayStation Store in Europe next week. Their exact release date is July 15th, which falls on a Tuesday. So either KOEI is wrong and their game will be released on Thursday the 17th, or Sony plans on pulling a PlayStation Day on us and having two PSN Store updates. This seems likely considering the E3 trade show will be taking place next week. As for what else we can expect to see during that week, we'll hopefully find out soon and will keep you posted.

[Via Press Release]

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.

If you have a Japanese PSN account, you can check out a downloadable demo of Fatal Inertia, which is completely in the English language. This PSN downloadable racing game is coming to PS3, but with vast improvements over the critically lampooned Xbox 360 original. The visuals, while not matching the fidelity of the upcoming WipEout HD, do look nice, especially at the higher speeds. What we're most impressed by, however, is the incredible amount of content that's being delivered in this digitally distributed title.

Co-op split-screen Career Mode sounds intriguing, as does eight player online races. What gets us most excited, though, are the number of tracks being delivered: 59 tracks total, across 7 different environment types. That's a lot of content for a game that will cost significantly less than a standard retail title.

A demo will be available on the US PLAYSTATION Store soon, and players will be able to unlock the full game from within the demo. Hopefully, the ambitions of the Fatal Inertia team will translate into something truly worthwhile.

Fatal Inertia EX is already out in Japan and there's also a demo available on the Japanese PSN (which just so happens to be completely in English). We advise you to check the demo out if you're interested in this title -- well, only after you watch this new trailer for the game.

As for the North American release date, as far as we know, the game was supposed to come out late last month. That obviously hasn't happened. Perhaps we'll be seeing it soon.

That WipEout HD is taking its sweet time, isn't it? While Fatal Inertia may have got pretty bad reviews when it came out on the 360, the fact that it is getting improvements made for the PS3 version makes it almost tempting. Not to mention the fact that it'll be made available via the PSN Store for only $30. A demo is available right now from the Japanese PSN Store, along with the full game.

MTV Multiplayer made it known that Fatal Inertia EX would be available by the end of the month, so don't be surprised to see it on the American PSN Store later today. With still no concrete release date for WipEout HD, will Fatal Inertia EX tempt you into a purchase? Probably not, we suspect.

It may not be Wipeout HD, but this new futuristic PSN racer has us strangely excited. Yeah, we know the original Xbox Fatal Inertia was a disaster. But can't we have hope that this PS3 revamp will do futuristic racing justice? The feel of Fatal Inertia certainly is different from Wipeout, as seen by this video. Instead of steel tracks in futuristic environments, we see a much more organic world to race through. This download will be rather pricey at $30, so it's far from an impulse buy. Hopefully, when we get our hands on it, we'll find it a suitable stop-gap until Studio Liverpool's futuristic racer drives on by.

Koei's upcoming futuristic racer, Fatal Inertia EX, is coming out next month. But don't look at retail store shelves. It'll be distributed exclusively via the PSN at the end of May. The downloadable title will cost $29.99, according to MTV Multiplayer.

"After the launch of the Xbox 360 version, we had a unique situation that allowed us to reflect on what could be done with the PlayStation 3 version," said lead producer Mike Bond in an e-mail interview with Multiplayer. "But having watched the growth of the PlayStation Network's user base and the game's multiplayer component, we felt the strength of this game would be in its online community."

Although originally planned as a PS3 launch title, development of this Unreal Engine 3 title took longer than expected. Although the original Xbox 360 version was a critical disaster, the team says it's learned from its experiences. However, will it be able to get the attention of racing fans that are waiting for the also-downloadable WipEout HD?

We thought we'd heard the last of Fatal Inertia after problems with the Unreal Engine 3 forced it to be delayed indefinitely for the PS3. Though it was originally pegged as a PS3 exclusive an Xbox 360 version was released to a fairly mediocre reception. It was assumed that that would be the last of the futuristic racing game, but we were wrong. A new entry has appeared on the ESRB website for Fatal Inertia EX for the PS3.

We guess the fact that the name has been updated (notice the extra "EX") that this will be an improved version of the game that shipped on the 360. Even so, we're not interested. Koei are insane if they think that this game is going to be able to compete with WipEout HD. Too little too late, Koei. Save yourself the effort and nip this in the bud right now. We don't want it.

[Via Joystiq]