PS3 Fanboy

You might have seen the awesome screenshots for Resistance 2, but you might not have seen the concept art and character renders that went into making such eye-popping visuals. While new and gorgeous, much of the artwork reveals little beyond what we already know. The American flags in some of the paintings point to the already revealed USA setting, and we've seen those grotesque Chimera enemies before. However, some concept artworks do raise questions -- like that tentacle creature in the picture above. What is that, a new boss perhaps?

In any case, it's nice of Insomniac to drop us little nuggets here and there. They're doing a good job in keeping us interested in this game. They've certainly got us thinking about this one, as it looks to be a step above the first Resistance in every respect.

[Via NeoGAF]

After numerous delays the Resistance: Fall of Man update is finally here. While the full patch notes are too long for us to put here, you will see them before you get updating. In order to update the game, simply load up the online multiplayer menu. The game will then offer to update (you have to do so in order to play online). Once this is done, you will be able to play against any other players anywhere in the world. You may also notice that the online multiplayer has changed. There is a new "purchase" button. From here you can buy the two new maps.

Interestingly, the game is able to access the PSN Store directly, switching from the Resistance purchase menu to the store checkout seamlessly. As well as this, there is now an option in the online multiplayer menu to access your friends list without leaving the game. This allows you to do anything you can do from the friends list section of the XMB, including messaging. While this can only be reached from the menu, so no in-match access, it is still one step closer to our dreams of having in-game XMB access.

So get updating. The wait is finally over!

The worry seems to be that people will assume that shooting a gun within the cathedral is "acceptable" and try to emulate it in real life. Or that it will act as a catalyst to increase the already present gun-crime problem in the city. The Church of England seems to have the idea that Resistance "shows a virtual shoot-out in the cathedral's nave in which hundreds of soldiers are killed". This is only true if you consider crawling Chimera beasties as "soldiers." The cathedral section is a very small fraction of the entire game, lasting only 20 minutes, if that. It contains only alien enemies, as the rest of the game does, and includes no cutscenes or story elements which show a single human death.

Sony have yet to officially respond to the Church but a spokesman told the Times newspaper that "It is entertainment, like Doctor Who or any other science fiction. It is not based on reality at all." He also states that permission was sought when necessary, throughout the entire development process. Funny that they mention Doctor Who, considering the recent episode which ended with a man transforming into a monster and chasing his victims through Southwark Cathedral before being killed. We wonder if we'll see a battle to get those DVDs removed from shelves, once they're released.

[Thanks to everyone who told us about this]

As if the feeling of deja vu wasn't overwhelming enough, we're running the same picture we used on Monday. Just to confuse you that little bit more.

[Thanks, Flava!]

It turns out that, while the content is all finished, tested and ready to go, SCEA is stalling in order to make sure the global servers are "locked in and ready." So if you're angry and want to start blaming someone then blame Sony, not Insomniac. It's disappointing, we know, but a week isn't all that long to wait. It's probably for the best that they get everything completely ready, rather than unveiling new servers which break within the first hour.

June 7th is the day to keep in mind for the release. Remember to tell your loved ones not to get worried if they don't see you for a day or two. We know you'll want to hide yourself away and show off your Chimera fragging prowess to people all over the world, now that you're able. Or Human fragging prowess, if you're that way inclined. Actually, we thought that a nice way to celebrate the new global servers might be to have you guys come kick our asses. Add our PSN ID to your friendslist - PSFanboy - and look out for us on Saturday the 9th of June from 1PM EST onwards.

The patch itself will contain some much-requested features from the Resistance community. Obviously, the full patch notes are unobtainable right now, but Gamespy have revealed a couple of more noteworthy additions. First and foremost, the currently regional servers are being opened up to allow worldwide play. So for those of us who imported a console to find that you could only play against people on the other side of the world, this comes as a welcome development. The patch will also allow you to access your PSN buddy list from inside the game, include a 'tell-the-teacher' feature in the mute menu and make enemies and allies easier to differentiate in online mode.

Sounds jam packed full of goodness to us. It should be out before the end of May in the US and Japan, with a European release shortly after that. Check out Gamespy's full account of their visit to Insomniac for more info.