This weeks PSN update for Europe is a bit of a drag. The good news is you all finally get the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database to test your encyclopedic knowledge of the twenty year franchise. The bad news is… that’s probably the biggest thing on the list. All you Guitar Hero III players will be able to download the free World of Warcraft song. While you’re at it, the first Pursuit Force game for PSP can be downloaded in case you missed it.

Pursuit Force is about an elite police agency that specializes in vehicular combat. The games selling point lies in you jumping from one car to another taking out bad guys. Think of each mission being like a Hollywood chase scene from the 90’s.  It can get a bit challenging, but it’s by no means a bad game.

There’s no wallpaper or themes this week either. Hopefully the trailers can tide you over until next week.

The grass is hardly greener on the other side for North American users. It’s really more of the same with the exception of a couple demos and a large amount of video content. Oh well, it can’t always be a great update. Continue reading this story..

Another week, another PSN update worth checking out. Oddly missing from the European store is the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database free download. The database is your tool for understanding the highly convoluted story lines that surround the Metal Gear Solid universe. The best thing about it is you don’t have to worry about spoilers ruining the experience if you haven’t completed Snake’s final mission yet. The database includes a feature that blacks out anything that appears spoilerific until you beat the game. In addition to that, Konami is also releasing a new camouflage outfit for Snake and a new tune for your in-game iPod. You could attempt to get it from the Japanese or North American store, but some have reported it does not work if you’re not based in those regions. Maybe next week.

The Warhawk bundle that contains both Operation Omega Dawn and Operation Broken Mirror is now available for one thrifty price tag. If you’ve been holding out to buy at least one of these expansions, this deal may be what you need to put you over the top. These expansions include new maps and vehicles that weren’t available in the original retail or downloadable version of Warhawk.

North American PS3 users have quite a bit to be excited about. There’s a bunch of content to help swallow up hard drive space. Fatal Inertia EX is now available for roughly 30 green backs. The game is a futuristic racer in the vain of WipeOut or F-Zero. There’s a demo also available so you can try it out before slamming down the dough. The other add-on content, demos and videos are delivered in spades this week.

Continue reading this story..

It’s finally here, June 17. If that doesn’t mean anything to you then you’re not among the many of us who have been waiting for the Spore Creature Creator demo since we heard about it in April. What’s more to get excited about? It’s free!

As of today gamers can go to Spore.com and download the 205MB demo of the Creature Creator featuring about 25% of the creature making fun of the full version. Still, that is enough to really go hands on for the first time and see what this part of the game is really about, like the above video shows.

The demo version is meant to really get the creativity going allowing gamers to share ideas easily. Besides sharing pictures and videos of your creations with friends, you can also put those same pictures and video online by uploading to the Sporepedia at Spore.com or to the special Spore channel on YouTube. Continue reading this story..

Alright everyone I’ve put my sneaking mission on hold to bring you the complete list of PLAYSTATION Network updates for each of our respective continents. Despite the fact that mostly everyone is busy playing Metal Gear Solid 4, Sony did not pull any punches this week. There are some big differences in terms on video content as it seems those in North America got twice as many. We both did get a demo for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars though. As usual there are some tracks for both Guitar Hero III and Rock Band. Of course, I’ll leave the Rock Band content off this list because that’s Jason’s territory and I am not worthy. Enjoy this weeks update! Continue reading this story..

The point and click adventurer Dracula: Origin is due out on June 6, but you can sink your teeth into the action right now (sorry for the pun…couldn’t be helped) — Ascaron Entertainment has released a playable demo for the “fearsome” PC game.

Not to be confused with Double Helix’s home console survival horror Harker, which has been put on permanent hiatus, Origin was developed by Frogware Studio and is a Gothic retelling of Bram Stoker’s original masterpiece. The game uses 2D environments with 3D characters, pulling off the creepy vibe very well. Players take on the role of Dr. Abraham Van Helsing as he tracks the great vampire through London, Egypt, Austria and finally Transylvania.

The storyline does deviate from Stoker’s a bit though. Dracula isn’t just trying to move into London and brave the modern world, here he’s seeking a mysterious manuscript that will give him the power to raise the dead. As Van Helsing you need to stop him, take on his minions and protect the lovely Mina from Dracula’s affectionate embrace.

For the brave, the ~600MB demo for Origin can be downloaded here: Direct link

Available on PLAYSTATION Store from today is the demo for Codemasters’ Overlord Raising Hell. Originally an Xbox 360 title, the PlayStation 3 now gets what is being referred to as the ‘definitive’ version of the tactical pillage-em-up — next to additional levels that promise to take the player deeper into the crazy world of Overlord, Raising Hell will also offer online cooperative as well as split-screen head-to-head modes, plus enhanced visuals and full 7.1 surround sound. Damn it, now I have to go and buy two more speakers.

The game will arrive on store shelves on June 20.

With its questionably lengthy development time, Silicon Knights’s ambitious action RPG Too Human has left many gamers cautious as to whether or not the game will actually deliver on all the things it’s been promising for many years now. And it seems Silicon Knights fully realizes that — while speaking to Eurogamer, president Denis Dyack has confirmed that gamers will be getting a sampling of the game, saying that releasing a demo is critical for the game.

“We haven’t announced a date yet. Our goal is to try to get it out obviously before the game releases, and we’ll announce the specific timing of that shortly,” Dyack said. “But a demo is absolutely planned. We think it’s critical for the game. If things go as planned, gamers should get a demo well in advance before the game’s released.” Continue reading this story..

I am a total sucker for the Wii’s calming, blue disc drive light. Every time that thing flashes, signaling that I have a new message, the little kid inside me starts jumping for joy and I rush over and turn my Wii on. Usually it’s a stupid message from a friend but every once in a while it is something awesome. Like today for instance. I roll out of bed, walk into my living room, see the blinking light, turn on my Wii and what do I see? The Nintendo Channel is ready for me to download! Sweeeeet.

So about four minutes later I’ve got the brand spanking new (unless you live in Japan, then it is a couple months old) Nintendo Channel downloaded to my Wii. The Nintendo Channel, at it’s most basic, is a way for Nintendo and other third party companies to advertise to you. Sign in and you can watch videos of upcoming Wii and DS games, get info on all of them and even purchase them with the click of a few buttons. Nintendo will also track what games you play, if you wish, and recommend others you might like. Most excitingly though is the ability to download DS game demos straight from your Wii. Sounds like some pretty great stuff, especially for Nintendo, but how does it all work? I spent the morning messing around with the new Channel and I have to say other than a few odd choices I’m pretty impressed. Continue reading this story..

Haze has finally emerged from under its development rock as the recently announced demo has arrived on the European PLAYSTATION Network, in line with Sony’s PlayStation Day event. Not only does the 1.5 GBish demo offer access to the single-player campaign, but also brings 4-player ‘drop-in drop-out’ cooperative play via online or LAN, as well as the option of 2-player split screen.

The demo is set in the Salva Region jungle level, which I assume, has been selected to showcase the level of environmental detail. As a press release announcing the demo puts it: “The green-orange vegetation teams with primary-coloured, unthreatening wildlife for the marines to trample all over. The sunshine beats down in comforting waves as you merrily murder your fellow man.” This statement also reveals the tongue-in-cheek humor that has become a trademark of developer Free Radical. Continue reading this story..

If you own a PS3 then there’s a pretty good chance that you’re aware of Insomniac’s popular FPS Resistance: Fall of Man. And the odds are you’re also aware of the fact that there is a sequel in the works: Resistance 2.

Bar a cruelly brief teaser and a handful of screenshots, promotional material for the game has been pretty thin on the ground. Considering that it’s slated for a late 2008 release, information about it is long overdue.

Well, our prayers have been answered as news has recently come straight from Insomniac that we can look forward to more information and images in the coming month. Whether it’ll be the usual screenshots accompanied by the chattering developers telling us how “intense” the gameplay is or whether it’ll be something a little more interesting is unknown at this point, we’ll just have to wait and see.

On top of that, the word on the underground grapevine is that Resistance 2 may be given the demo treatment in the run up to its release. Both Resistance: Fall of Man and Insomniac’s other big PS3 title, Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction have had demos featured on the PLAYSTATION Store so it’s certainly a promotional tool Insomniac have experience and are comfortable with.

Continue reading this story..

Basing games on movies is a tricky business. The news that a favourite film is going to be recreated in interactive format can raise suspicions as to whether a serious game is in development or if it’s just the merchandise machine pumping out another factory pressed, formulaic piece of software.

The problem lies in business big wigs wanting to recreate the movie experience in the safest way possible. Simply the same product in a different medium, rather than something unique that uses the universe or aesthetic of an existing film as a creative framework.

High Moon studios want to change that. They have been charged with the task of creating a videogame to sit alongside the Bourne trilogy. Rather than simply cloning the story, they have spun off the universe and are using that as a basis on which to build a unique experience that captures the essence of the Bourne universe while retaining its individuality as a standalone game. Continue reading this story..

Yes, that’s how you spell echochrome. With a lower case “e”. Interesting, no? With such blatant disregard for common English practices in the title alone, it’s no wonder the game goes on to break every law of videogaming you’ve ever known to exist. Color, for example, is strangely absent in the world of echochrome, as is fancy 3D environments and real-time light sourcing. Bump mapping, normal mapping and Unreal engines? No, no, and definitely not. echochrome is proof that all you need is a little imagination to make a stellar game that will addict players from the very start. The demo is now live and this little gem is making a big splash on the interwebs. The main premise behind the title is to manipulate your perspective in order to get your character from one point in the level to the other. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong, because there are so many styles and nuances to the gameplay that you’ll spend a good 20 minutes studying a puzzle and end up wanting to pull your hair out because the answer was so blatantly obvious. It’s a game that truly makes you think outside of your normal comfort zone, and for that I commend it.

This is not the first game that has made a name for itself with simple, yet endlessly complex gameplay mechanics. Games like Portal have paved the way for such a niche in the industry and these titles are always a welcome breathe of fresh air in a world of AAA games with multi-million dollar budgets. The echochrome demo is available right now on the PSN so be sure to check it out, and leave your own impressions below.

A lovely press release from Capcom just arrived in our inbox, bringing word that Devil May Cry 4 will be heading on over to the ever fading gaming world of the PC. Capcom will be brining the game out, proceeded by a demo, some time this summer. This makes plenty of sense since the console versions were massive hits and I’m sure some PC gamers out there wanted to play this one. It turns out that if, for whatever reason, they waited to play the game on the PC that patience is really going to pay off since, much like the PC version of Gears of War, DMC4 is going to have some extra content you don’t find in the consoles versions.

To begin with Capcom is taking advantage of your computers (hopefully) more powerful processing power to up the graphics and resolution throughout the game. That isn’t all though as the game will feature two new modes to play through. The first being a Turbo Mode which will “turn-up the action to insane speeds” and the second being Legendary Dark Knight Mode which “will harness advanced PC processing power and fill the screen with an unbelievable number of enemies for extra difficulty.” Sounds like fun…really, really hard fun. Also of note is that enemies players already know will be showing up in different places throughout the game, giving the levels a bit of a change. Devil May Cry 4 for the PC will have both DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 modes, and will also be compliant with the Games For Windows program.

If this is anything like the Gears PC port you’ll get extra content but lose the controls the game was designed for. Console designed games often just aren’t as much fun on the PC since they weren’t made for them. But, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Hop over to out Devil May Cry 4 gallery to see the 10 screenshots Capcom also sent out with the announcement.

[See also: Devil May Cry 4 gallery]

Fans of Gears of War are already counting down the days until the games release this November. With a game of that status dropping you’d figure that a demo would be a done deal right? Well, no. Tanya Jessen, the associate produceer on Gears 2 says the reasoning for scratching the demo is because it would cut too much into the time it takes to develop the game itself.

The decision to do away with a demo is becoming an increasingly controversial topic in the industry as of late. In some ways a demo can be seen as a way to attract customers to your product that might not have otherwise been interested. On the other hand, it often backfires and the demo itself is enough to satisfy gamer’s hunger for a specific title, preventing them from buying the full retail version when it finally hits store shelves. I’m sure with a title like Gears 2, there is no question that the game will sell like crazy either way, so I’m not sure it makes much of a difference from a sales perspective. It should also be noted that the first Gears of War lacked a demo as well, but I’m sure that’s no consolation to gamers itching to pump lead into hordes of Locust on their 360 a little early.