Time to clear out some of those old demos again folks. Next week sees a host of new titles arrive for PS Plus members on PS3, PS Vita and for the first time, PS4.
On November 27th, PS3 gamers will get one of the best racers out there in the form of Grid 2 and the mad mexican platformer beat’em up, Guacamelle. The Vita is getting Guacamelle too, Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed and the former PSP title GTA: Liberty City Stories. When the PS4 launches on the 29th, next-gen owners will be able to help themselves to the jazz noir platformer Contrast and the retro (but oh so shiny) shooter, Resogun. Continue reading Grid 2, Contrast, Resogun, Sonic Racing and More Coming to PS Plus Next Week →
The YLOD. The Yellow Light of Death. This is the dreaded sickness that PlayStation 3 owners fear. With my PS3 nearing its sixth birthday, it finally happened to me. While hardly as prevalent as the Red Ring of Death in the Xbox 360’s early days, the flashing yellow light is still cautiously feared amongst the PS3 community.
In order to cope with this grim occurrence I’ve incorporated the experience into my regular feature, The Sunday Seven. This isn’t a guide on how to fix the problem yourself, no, no, that’s a different fire hazard for a different day and for someone else to tell. This is what was running through my mind as I tried to come to terms with it and ultimately how to bring it back to life.
Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Coming to Terms with PS3’s YLOD →
Sony are releasing two new versions of their 500GB Super Slim console on February 15th. Consumers will have the option of picking up red or blue versions, both of which will come with two DualShock 3 controllers for £249.99.
Both the red and blue models are currently available to pre-order at Game, with the red one being an exclusive to the store. If the white slim PS3 is anything to go by, these will only see a limited release and will be much more expensive on eBay at a later date, so act fast if they take your fancy.
While the black model released late last year appeared to look a bit cheap and tacky, I think these versions look much better, or maybe I’ve just become indifferent to my original 60GB version. Only kidding, I get to play PS2 games in HD after all. Continue reading Red and Blue PS3 Super Slim Consoles Coming Soon →
The recent 4.30 PlayStation 3 patch included a complete overhaul for the PSN Store, which now resembles the clunky setup on the Xbox 360. I’ve been waiting for a few days, just in case any tweaks were made, but now it seems this is what Sony are happy with. So how does it compare with the old store?
Well, I’ve logged on a few times since the re-launch, at different times of the day, and I’ve waited on average about 40 seconds each time to get the store to load up. The previous version usually took under ten.
Continue reading New PSN Store Makes a Mess of Things →
The Ape Escape games on PS1 and PS2 utilised the dual-analogue sticks of the controller to masterful effect, so it felt natural to be excited about how the PlayStation Move motion controller would add to the game’s experience.
The original games were action-packed platformers where you had to capture cheeky monkeys. The right stick controlled gadgets like nets, catapults and monkey detectors with fantastic efficiency. The logical step for the Move would have been to use the navigation stick or Dualshock to run around and the Move controller to swing your net and other gadgets.
Continue reading Ape Escape (Review) →
A new compulsory firmware update greeted PS3 gamers today. The US PlayStation blog said: “With this minor update, system stability during use of PS3 format software and network services has been improved.”
Continue reading PS3 Firmware Update 3.66 Out Now →
PSN will be back online any day now (well… fingers crossed), but we need a back up plan for how to cope in-case this happens again. Ten important steps to safeguard us from making crazy decisions like going outside, getting sunburnt, or even staying home pressing the ’sign-in’ button, hoping it works for so long that you forget to get your girlfriend an Easter egg and end up getting a kitten from the farm down the road because it’s closer than Sainsbury’s. Her name’s Kairi by the way.
Continue reading Top 10: Ways To Cope With Your Offline PS3 →
It can be a bit of a tough sell trying to get pumped up for Yakuza 4, seeing as it’s been out in Japan for a year and they’re getting close to the release of the zombie-packed sequel Yakuza of the End. But hell, Yakuza 3 was a pretty damn awesome beat em’ up adventure game and we won’t be seeing the Kamurocho walking dead anytime soon so let’s just try and enjoy it.
Unlike the past games you’ll be playing as four different characters, each of whom has their own storylines although their paths occasionally cross. Each of them also has a different fighting style and access to some exclusive character-specific minigames and side-quests.
Continue reading Yakuza 4 (Review) →
After smashing vehicles and racers to bits across deserts, tropical islands and Arctic tundras, where else in the world is there left to race for MotorStorm? How about the end of it? Or more specifically a city that is absolutely not (it is) San Francisco, during a series of earthquakes and storms.
The setting might be a little close to the bone in regards to the recent tragedies in Japan, but in fairness the game was almost shipping when that happened and Sony sensibly decided to delay the release.
Continue reading MotorStorm Apocalypse (Review) →
A brave mission indeed releasing this PSN first-person-shooter less than a week before Call of Duty: Black Ops. It would have fared much better on PSN a few months back, when it was originally released on XBLA. So does Blacklight have the game to back up this ballsy approach? Well…
The main focus of the game are the online matches. There are a few single player levels but the one-life approach means you’ll only bother until you have a grasp of the controls. You can play them co-operatively but the only way I got this to happen was when trying to get into a deathmatch, it seemed to default to it when there were only two of us in the match lobby. Continue reading Blacklight: Tango Down (Review) →
The Last Chapter is the expansion pack to Soldner-X 2: The Final Prototype which I found to be an enjoyable, if over-priced blast. It packs in three new levels, 11 Trophies and 13 new Challenges. The challenges though, in true Soldner-style,require you to actually earn the right to play them. There’s even a new difficulty mode, Massive Attack, to unlock. When you get around to unlocking Extra Hard that is.
The extra levels can be played through straight away, you don’t have to replay anything for hours on end in a similar way to the way levels were unlocked in the main game. The levels themselves are excellent to play and outpace the original game’s content immediately. Enemy numbers and their attacking fire patterns are perfectly balanced between manic and fair. Continue reading Soldner-X 2: The Final Prototype – The Last Chapter (DLC Review) →
This adaptation of an old Chinese novel has been written by Alex ’28 Days Later’ Garland and Tameen Antoniades. Set 150 years into the future, many wars have taken place and the human race is almost nothing than a memory to the wastelands. People are outnumbered by the mechs; leftover robots from a forgotten war, still running the same programmes of kill anyone that they come across.
You play as the brutish Monkey who is forced to escort the slender young woman Trip back to her home after they escape from a slaver ship. He’s forced because she slipped a slave headband on him that forces him to obey her and comes with the other downside of killing him if her heart stops beating. Continue reading Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (PS3 Review) →
These are the final three episodes of the murder mystery / puzzle game. Solving random puzzles involving maths, logic and common sense helps bring you one step closer to finding the perpetrator of that episodes crime, with the episodes linking together for the grand finale.
For those of you not familiar with the series you can pick up a bundle with all six episodes for £19.99 on the PSN. You play as one of four detectives (another three people can play along too) from the Blue Toad Agency. As you interview villagers and suspects you have to complete a puzzle before they’ll talk. Most of them have very little to do with your investigation. Continue reading Blue Toad Murder Files: Episodes 4-6 (Review) →
It’s all about the Spring Sale this week as Matt explained in the first part of this week’s Roundup. The obvious PSP deals to go for there would be the excellent God of War: Chains of Olympus which is a prequel to the first PS2 game. Go on; go through all four games in a long, blood-soaked weekend. The three GTA reductions are pretty good looking too. The rest of them can be found cheaper on UMD though to be honest, not necessarily second hand either.
There are some permanent reductions too. There’s only one PSN game in there, Inferno Pool which might be worth a gamble at the price. The PSP title reductions are typically a waste of time for anyone happy to buy UMDs still. Continue reading PSN Roundup Part II →
Compared to Casino Royale, the Quantum of Solace film was a big let down, so there’s not much hope for the game of the film right? Movie tie-ins are usually average at best.
So it’s a big surprise to find out that the game is actually rather good. Actually it’s very good. The missions take scenes from the last two bond films, not just Quantum. But not in order, as the game plays through Quantum to after the desert sinkhole shootout, then through Casino Royale, then finishing with the remainder of the second film. Yep me neither. Continue reading James Bond: Quantum of Solace (Review) →
Gaming reviews, previews and features by Brendan Griffiths
The No Sleep Gamer 