PS3 Fanboy

'Tis the season to be jolly ... and get free costumes. This week's free LittleBigPlanet costume is themed for the holidays. Everyone, meet Santa Sackboy. He'll be available for download on the PlayStation Store -- in two parts. But that's not the only free costume you'll be finding this holiday season.

PAIN players will discover a new character unlocked in the next game patch: Reindeer Ed (see him after the break). The next PAIN update will not only add a free character, but it will offer YouTube integration as well (something the game always needed!). No date on the PAIN patch, but we doubt it'll take too long.

There's at least one PSN game which is universally loved: PixelJunk Monsters. We recently got a chance to play PJM at Q-Games' studios in Kyoto. However, it wasn't quite the same game we've grown to love: it's PixelJunk Monsters -- with an awesome patch.

The upcoming patch adds Trophy support, YouTube recording, new difficulty levels (Easy and Hard), and adjusts the strength of the towers a bit. For example, you'll have the ice tower available (no gems required!). Also, the Tesla tower's range has been increased.

We want to say more about the Trophy mode, but we're still awaiting approval from SCEA on how much we can divulge about that. We will give you one tease: you won't have to worry about these Trophies being retroactive. Update: So, the PlayStation.blog has just updated with the official details on the Trophy patch, which will be available on October 30th, in America and Europe. Watch Dylan Cuthbert talk about the details in this new video.

If you have Google Desktop, you may want to download the Google Media Server application. With it, you'll have an easy way of sending YouTube videos to your PS3. Once a computer on the same network as your PS3 is configured with Google Media Server, you'll be able to easily access the most viewed, top rated, and other featured YouTube videos instantly from the XMB. In fact, you'll not only see thumbnails, but you'll also be able to copy the videos directly to your PS3 hard drive, for easy replayability.

[Via thePSN]

[Update: This video is definitely fake. Details from a hands-on preview from Gamespot negate some of the information found in this listing. Sorry for the confusion; guess it was completely too good to be true after all.]

With news of Rock Band 2's rumored (and highly contested) set list out there for public viewing, someone thought it might be a good idea to put up a Youtube video of these tracks in in-game form. The video above shows a supposed menu for the game and all its tracks. Remember, this is nothing more than speculation at the moment; nothing has been announced and most likely all will be revealed at E3 next week.

We also think this list is too good to be true: Rock the Casbah? Seriously? Finally? Then there are songs with extreme explicit lyrics like A Perfect Circle's Judith which (while a great addition) doesn't seem like a likely candidate. Check out a full list of tracks, compiled courtesy of CVG.

Japanese site Watch Impress has a new batch of screenshots showing more of the gorgeous art style of upcoming PSN game PixelJunk Eden. Not only that, but they include a few exciting tid bits of info regarding the game. Specifically, they mention that the soundtrack consists of almost 100 minutes of specially recorded music by Kyoto-based artist Baiyon.

The game will also include 3-player co-op play (no online, presumbly) as well as trophies and remote play support. Perhaps most intriguing, however, is the mention of screen recording and YouTube uploading compatibility. This was recently added to the PS3 SDK but we didn't expect to see it integrated into new games so quickly. PixelJunk Eden comes out sometime this Summer and you can bet your bottom dollar we'll be grabbing it day one. Will you?

[Via Blu-ray.com forum]

Sometimes a feature is cooler than a game itself. That's exactly what's happening with a new update to Mainichi Issho, a free downloadable title for the Japanese PSN. The casual edutainment title has a new feature which Sony is proud to tout as the first of its kind. The game will allow you to record in-game footage and upload it directly to YouTube. We haven't heard of any other game ever including this functionality, but it does have us intrigued.

It would be great to see this feature incorporated into other titles. For example, wouldn't it be great if the SingStar community videos could go on YouTube? (Although this is unlikely due to copyright concerns.) Or, imagine being able to share some of your awesome sniping skills in Resistance 2 online? It would be awesome if our best Gran Turismo laps could be showcased to the world. There are a lot of possibilities with such a feature, and we can only hope that more titles will take advantage in the future.

[Thanks, Phoenix8387!]

As it says above, the line-waiting game is over. The initial PS3 shock has ended (just look at the falling PS3 prices on eBay) and everyone's gone home to recover. Some, few even, will actually play their PS3. This is the tale of one Joshua, who did all he could to get his PS3 but ultimately fell to a similar fate along with many, many, many others. There's a twist here, though. Not many of us get duped by Wal*Mart stock boys, taking pictures of the wrong system in the "back room"... anything to make a guy suffer, huh, Wal*Mart? We know the doorway to your heart is somewhere in the entertainment center. We can destroy you.

Check out Joshua's tragic tale. Anyone else got any YouTube's of your adventure? Go ahead and link them in our comments! I've no footage of my failure, but that's because mine ended before it began. Best of luck in the future, to all of us who were let down. Just give it a month or two and there may be plenty at stores.

[Thanks, Joshua!]