Sony has announced that the upcoming PS3 title, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, will also be heading to PlayStation Vita. It will be released at the same time, which is the third or fourth quarter of 2012.

The game will feature cross-play functionality, which means that you’ll be able to save on your PS3 and go portable with your Vita, picking up where you left off.

Check out the trailer and screens for the Vita version.

News has been scarce on Resistance: Burning Skies but we know enough to set you up for this here trailer. It’s a Vita title that takes a slightly different path by putting players in the boots of fireman Tom Riley on the first day of the Chimeran invasion of the USA and of course, the game will be set in NYC.

What makes this game special is that the Vita’s capabilities and dual analogues allow Burning Skies to be the first fully-fledged handheld shooter so it is certainly a leap forward for the genre in handheld terms.

The game is out on May 30 and if you’re so inclined, do check out the Trophies list here.

The release dates for the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection Vita version have been confirmed by Konami.

Initially only the Japan release date was set for June, while Europe simply had a “summer” ETA slapped on it.

However, it turns out that the game will also be out in June in North America and Europe. To be specific, the former will see the game released on June 12, and the latter, which includes us, will get the game on June 29.

The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection includes high-definition remakes of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, as well as an improved version of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

Though slower than many predicted, the PSP Vita is gaining in popularity. Until the inevitable price drop, coinciding with this year’s apocalypse (it is 2012 after all), there won’t really be enough of a user base to justify a mass catalogue of games. However, and until then, for those of you unable to decide whether to finally take the plunge, break the bank and buy a Vita, I made this little list of five games that might sway your decision into getting one. Some are more known than others, but all are more than capable of convincing me to get one.

Resistance: Burning Skies

Despite Insomniac Games having closed their chapter on Resistance, the resistance will continue on with Resistance: Burning Skies by Nihilistic Software. Taking place in August 1951, the date the Chimera invaded the eastern coast of America, you play as Tom Riley, a fire-fighter now protagonist determined to do what it takes to survive; though a bit of heroic shaping and character building is almost certainly part of the process. Planning to make full use of the Vita’s dual analog sticks, other touch features and online support; Resistance: Burning Skies looks to be a pretty epic little shooter, especially if it’s as good or better than Resistance: Retribution.

Gravity Rush

Think of Gravity Rush as a cross between Devil May Cry with gravity altering features akin to Inversion, only more open to manipulation. Your heroine character is set out to save her future in a world collapsing around her. A plot I know we’ve all heard before but when you introduce a great art style that really makes great use of the tech behind the Vita; gravity manipulation mechanics that allow for shifting from the walls of buildings to ceilings and back to good old dirt; and some solid fighting mechanics plus a bunch of Vita functionality tucked in for good measure, well you’ve got one hell of a game. The video I provided is a little slow in the beginning and is in Japanese for the most part, but I promise it’ll win many a Vita fan over.

Mortal Kombat

Do I really need to explain this? Mortal Kombat for the Vita will support all of its bigger brother’s features as well as all the downloadable content that was made available subsequent to its release, at no extra cost. This, in addition to the little Vita touch features like wiping the blood off of the screen with your finger, makes for a unique situation where the portable version of a fighter is superior to its home console counterpart. So I reiterate, need I say more?

Grand Knights History

Produced by Vanillaware and promising to deliver an aesthetically pleasing and thoroughly enjoyable JRPG to Sony’s little console that could, Grand Knights History looks to be another great Vita seller. Controlling 4 players of one of 3 classes, each with unique customisation routes of look, weapon, the potential for differing abilities and fighting formations makes Grand Knights History a nifty little game. Its story is slightly generic and involves the usual warring 3 (or so) states but also allows for one more interesting little feature. Multiplayer allows for groups of players to each represent one of the warring kingdoms and so compete against each other online. All-in-all, and if Japanese critics are anything to go buy, Grand Knights History is one fairly decent JRPG package.

Sound Shapes

It’s hard to describe Sound Shapes. With nothing more than the image provided you might pass it off as another aesthetically simple indie game for a portable console; though it would be a reasonable assumption. However, and this is why you need to pay attention, Sound Shapes is a fantastic idea that makes use of music and sound and uses it, in collaboration with the Vita’s many touch features, as the mechanic for creating some brilliant puzzle gameplay. Watch the trailer and you’ll see what I mean. Despite not having an absolute release date, and composing of only a limited colour palette, Sound Shapes has created quite the little hype storm.

The Conclusion

This is a mere taste of the variety and quality of some of the games you can expect. While games like Little Big Planet, Super Monkey Ball and a couple others were ignored, these 5 should do just fine in persuading those on the verge to make the leap. Alternatively, wait for a price drop and enjoy the many million triple A games planned for the bigger consoles. I know what I’m doing, see you on the other side.

These days JRPG’s have a very love/hate relationship with gamers. Some, like myself, can’t get enough of them, auctioning away our organs to afford them, and nothing will quell the hunger for more; others either do not get them or just despise them altogether. JRPG’s are a unique breed of gaming genre; they’re supposed to involve the weird, quirky and many of the mechanics gamers dislike about JRPG’s are a vital component of their DNA. That said, there exists the occasional JRPG that everyone and their mother will love, the best example of this would be Final Fantasy 7 through 9. Having finished Final Fantasy XIII-2 and now craving something more, I thought I’d make a list of the JRPG’s you can look forward to this year; games that hopefully entice even the stoutest disbeliever. There’s a variety here, one even on a portable console, and you can bet your bottom dollar (uhm, I mean Rand) that some of these will be properly good games.

Platform: PS3

With its release date still M.I.A, hopefully something to be amended at this year’s E3 or the TGS, Final Fantasy Versus XIII is possibly the most anticipated JRPG to grace the Earth and nerd side of the moon in a long time. Final Fantasy Versus XIII might be contained within the same universe as Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2, but it goes off on an extremely exciting tangent from there.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII focuses on Noctis Lucis, a complex and mysterious figure with a large burden to bear. Noctis is the heir to the last city-state controlling the crystals, crystals usually resembling some aspect of remarkable power in Final Fantasy lore. As is the nature of all things in Final Fantasy, an enemy has emerged to steal the crystals and their power. The story revolves around that plot point and Nomura has promised a much deeper tale than would usually expect from Final Fantasy. Let’s just say that I am keen to see where this plot is taken and I hope they don’t spoil it.

Gameplay wise, Versus XII is taking what Kingdom Hearts did, giving it a more realistic feel and building on that. It will maintain magic, items, summoning and all that chocolaty goodness Final Fantasy is known for, but will use real time battles and dynamic locations to extend Versus XIII into a more strategic and action orientated RPG combat system. This will work in unison with real time cinematic events that the player will play through; hopefully achieving a more fluid ‘Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children’ kind of feel. Add a traversable map, plenty of exploration, mix well and you get one hell of a Final Fantasy.

Platform: PSP

A game currently available in Japan, Final Fantasy Type 0, for the PSP, is a more action orientated Final Fantasy game. It maintains a turn base approach but in no way limits you to action-wait-action and instead provides gameplay similar to Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. You’ll have a group of diverse heroes that travel from town to town, discover missions and empty enemy strongholds of any adversary you come across. It sounds like a simplistic formula but Square Enix has given it a lot of attention and tried to make it as exciting as they can; something that has gone over well in Japan.

Being in the same universe as Final Fantsy XIII, XIII-2 and Versus XIII, Type 0 maintains a plot revolving around crystals and the struggle for the power they possess. More than that though, Type 0 places the player in the role of students who need to defend their nation from attack; an attack that has already overcome two other nations. It’s all rather meaningless until we get to experience it and see how well, or badly, it’s done; but from what I’ve seen so far, the game certainly seems to be brilliant for a PSP title.

Platform: PS3

And now for something completely different. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is, for all intensive purposes, a Studio Ghibli film in the form of an RPG game. This is an absolutely awesome premise to me, as huge a fan of Studio Ghibli as I am, and the art style has just blown me away. That’s because it was co-developed by Level-5 and Studio Ghibli and I can’t express how excited I am. Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbour Totoro, (technically) Nausicaa, Ponyo and many others; I love them and if you’ve seen any of these you’ll have an idea of what to expect. They’re sort of Alice in Wonderland cross Japanese lore and myth and don’t really have a Western equivalent. The art style goes hand in hand with this idea and is about as close to looking like an anime as I have seen.

The gameplay is as JRPG as you can get and as much as I appreciate the new styles Square Enix, and studios like them, are attempting; sometimes I like a JRPG to be exactly what it always was. There may be the unique oddity, aspect or approach that differs from a stock standard formula but it all generally boils down to that quirky system the fans can never get enough of.

As I said before, the story and plot are all straight from the minds of Studio Ghibli and involves a boy named Oliver who, and with the help of a fairy named Shizuku, travels to an alternate reality where his mother may still live; his mother who died after saving him from drowning. It seems to hold all the same fantastical creatures and places you can expect and I personally can’t wait. Its release date may fall into 2013 if we’re unlucky but is certainly worth the wait for.

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The Vita continues to struggle through disappointing sales figures but there’s a lot in the pipeline to entice prospective buyers. Vita owners will have Uncharted: Golden Abyss, a BioShock title, Monster Hunter, MotorStorm RC, a possible Assassin’s Creed title, Mortal Kombat and now there’s even Call of Duty. That’s a good bit of pedigree.

The game was previously announced but there were no further details or even a rough timeline until SCEA’s new SVP of PlayStation brand marketing, Guy Longworth (epic name is epic) spoke to GameTrailers and spoke about how his teenage son, an FPS fan, is amped for Call of Duty on the Vita in Autumn (Spring, down here).

“Of course in the autumn, they’re really looking forward to Call of Duty on Vita,” he said, adding, “and we think that’s going to be an absolute game-changer for the platform.”

The actual title of the game has yet to be revealed so it could be Black Ops 2 which pretty much seems like a reality now and November is in Spring, just. It could even be a completely new title exclusively for Vita.

So Mortal Kombat is one of the latest high profile titles to be confirmed for Vita alongside names such as BioShock, Monster Hunter and Uncharted (which was out on launch). It sounds like it will be great and NetherRealms’ pledge to make full use of the Vita’s touch functionality should differentiate the experience somewhat.

Here’s a good 100 seconds of gameplay action. It’s cam but decent quality and the Vita’s amazing AMOLED screen makes everything perfectly visible. The game looks like good fun but the wiping blood off the screen thing is almost definitely too gimmicky for its own good. Did we mention that the game will run at a silky 60fps?

Watch it up top. Mortal Kombat will be out for Vita sometime in autumn.

As excited as I am to eventually get my hands on a Vita, I’m just as excited for all the games that are coming its way. Not least of which is Mortal Kombat which is even being optimised to make the most of the Vita’s unique features.

For example, the Vita version of the game will have touchscreen fatalities. Speaking to PlayStation Blog, Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon spoke at length about bringing the title to Sony’s handheld so don’t think of this as just another cheap port.

“For fatalities, you can “slash” the screen with the appropriate inputs – say, away, away, up – to execute the fatality. It makes some of the more difficult fatalities easier and it’s fun to slash at your screen to fire off a fatality.”

In addition to these updates, there will also be Test Your Might-style mini-games in addition to tweaks made to the Challengeer Tower mode that should allow it to make use of Vita’s accelerometer and gyroscope. Sadly there won’t be any PS3-to-Vita cross-platform functionality as with Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Being able to simply swipe out the correct sequence for a fatality should be far simpler and possibly even result in a better game but it’s great to see developers trying to take full advantage of what the Vita has to offer.

Still not sold on the whole thing? Read Alessandro’s review of the new handheld, it made up my mind.

If there’s one thing that Alessandro’s PlayStation Vita unboxing skipped over, it’s the six cards that comes inclusive with all Vita consoles. To the uninformed eye, they’re nothing more than reject flash cards but they actually open the Vita up to some pretty novel and surprisingly cool augmented reality gaming.

Wide-area Augmented Reality (WAR) uses the cards and Vita’s built-in camera to create a dynamic playable environment out of the world around you. A great example of this is Table Football where the cards can be laid out on any sort of table and you effectively have an intermediary between FIFA and fooseball.

Check it out in the video above and be sure to let us know what you think.

It’s been teased on and off but it’s always great when you finally get confirmation of something. Warner Bros. Interactive has announced Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. In addition to Robin, Superman and Batman we’ll also get Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. Unforgettably, there’s no word yet about the inclusion of Flash or The Martian Man-Hunter.

The miniature guardians of Earth with painted-on expressions and 300-style abs will be teaming up to stop Lex Luthor and Joker from doing decidedly evil things to Gotham City.

The game will focus on the same co-op build & destroy gameplay that has characterised the series and made it so popular. The inclusion of all these characters could lend itself to a pretty interesting multiplayer component which developer Travelers’ Tales hasn’t implemented in any of their previous Lego games.

Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes will be coming to PS3, PC, Xbox 360, DS, Wii, 3DS and PS Vita this winter which coincides with, you guessed it, the release of The Dark Knight Rises.

This reeks of a movie cash-in but I have faith in Travelers’ Tales although I’ve never been a fan of mixing Batman with the Justice League. It should still be good fun irrespective.

Before you get too excited, this is going to be produced to co-incide with the release of Men In Black III in autumn next year. It’s being developed by Activision and despite being an obvious movie tie-in has been billed as an original title with “Hollywood production values”.

Behold, the official blurb:

True to the spirit of the franchise, the original title will feature action-packed, yet light-hearted gameplay mixed with edge-of-your-seat shooting excitement from the universe’s most elite peacekeeping force.

The films’ unique blend of action, humor, and eye-popping special effects will fuel the Men In Black’s gameplay experience. Utilizing the rich mythology of the Men In Black universe, the game’s original story will build on the history of the series to bring back familiar faces, while also introducing new foes. More details on gameplay features and characters will be revealed soon!

VP of licensing at Sony Pictures Entertainment Mark Caplan chimed in with: “With Activision bringing the Men In Black universe to life on next-gen consoles for the first time, the Men In Black video game will be both familiar to fans, an exciting beginning for the uninitiated, and revolutionary for the franchise.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any trailers for MIB III but let’s hope it makes a return to the greatness of the first movie. The game on the other hand, will have to a fair amount to prove itself anything more than a shameless movie license cash-in.

The MIB game is set to release on most consoles, including handheld.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from Spider-Man: Edge of Time, which is strange considering it releases in about 3 weeks in the US. Nonetheless, the latest news is that the new Ultimate Spider-Man will be a playable skin in Edge of Time.

If you haven’t heard by now, the Ultimate universe killed off Peter Parker but it’s not the real Peter Parker because he’s still going in the Amazing universe with his do-overs and deals with the devils. So, Parker’s replacement (but not the real Parker) was revealed to be a half Black/half Hispanic kid named Miles Morales. You see what they did there with the last name? He’s not just a Black Spider-Man because we already technically have that. And he’s certainly not just a Hispanic Spider-Man because well then he’d be plain lazy and useless we already have that too. In fact he’s one of the main characters of Edge of Time.

Players won’t actually play as Morales because people are only now finding out who he really is after the release of Ultimate Comics All-New Spider-Man #01 yesterday. Instead, you’ll just get to swing around in his duds which is rather ironic when you consider that Morales is first seen fighting crime in an imitation of Parker’s Spidey outfit and told it’s in bad taste.

Anyway, the suit’s pretty cool although the black just seems to be in bad taste when you consider ethnicity of the guy underneath. Why couldn’t they have made it white or something?

I must confess, the only reason I found this is because I was looking for the FIFA 12 gameplay video that was supposed to be officially released at Gamescom last week. However, I sat down, watched it and was quite surprised to see just what PES 2012 has been getting up to.

This trailer showcases the game’s standout features such as the improved player AI and addition of precision off the ball controls. These all go towards creating the hyper-realism that PES has been driven towards over the past few years. While the off the ball control seems like an innovative concept and will no doubt allow for players to construct some sublime plays, it does seem, to quote Clarkson, “a bit of a faff”.

An intriguing feature is the Training Challenge which allows players to hone their skills in various aspects of the beautiful game. It’s like FIFA’s arena but taken to the next level.

Watch and judge for thine self, PES 2012 is due out in October for PS3, PC, Xbox 360, PSP and PS2.

Ubisoft UK brand manager Matt Benson told OXM that previous entries in the Ghost Recon franchise were a “bit too demanding, and a bit too dry”, and that upcoming Future Soldier will change things around somewhat.

Benson deliberately distanced Ubisoft’s next Ghost Recon from Activision Call of Duty and EA’s Battlefield, but suggested that Ghost Recon had previously been too “dry”, and that with Future Soldier it has learnt to be more “intuitive and fun”.

“I still play Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, it’s still a great online experience with your mates, and we still want that to translate through to Future Soldier. The team have worked really hard to balance that out,” said Benson.

“We’re not competing directly with Call of Duty and Battlefield, we’re not. Let’s let those guys duke it out this side of Christmas. For me, post-Christmas, Future Soldier is the kind of game that changes the tempo slightly. It’s not a twitch shooter,” he added.

“That’s probably why the various 11 and 12 year olds who play Call of Duty are so good at it, because they have lightning-fast reflexes an old git like me doesn’t have. Whereas Future Soldier is all about teamwork, and building innovations on the battlefield, like the suppression system.

“It’s finding the balance between demanding war simulation and Hollywood movie blockbuster,” Benson went on. “I’ve seen the Modern Warfare 3 trailer – it has Michael Bay written all over it, it’s great. Huge, cinematic… but with all respect to them, I’d play Call of Duty anyway. We all do! For some people Ghost Recon was just that bit too demanding, and a bit too dry.”

Personally, I hope this means the game won’t be dumped down on a tactical level to make room for more repetitive shoot outs.

Either way, you’ll all get to give it a try when the beta launches in January of 2012, with the full game due to arrive soon after in February on PC, PS3, Xbox360, Wii, DS and PSP.

Capcom has revealed that the PS3 and PS Vita versions of its crossover fighter game Street Fighter X Tekken will feature InFamous’s Cole McGrath as a bonus character.

Capcom was in talks with Sony about an exclusive character and a decision was made to use Cole. If you’re thinking that a character such as Cole who relies mainly on ranged attacks and is used to expansive environments for him to destruct will feel boxed in and out of place in a fighting game such as this, don’t fear because Capcom have given this some thought and will work to make him feel at home in the game.

“Discussions between Sony and Capcom came to [the decision to feature Cole as an exclusive]. They were looking for a character and Capcom got excited about Cole,” Capcom’s Seth Killian told Siliconera.

“It seemed like the timing was about right with Infamous 2 coming out around this time and it seemed a character that had a lots of possibilities, in terms of gameplay.

“Obviously, there is a big range of moves and I think we fell in love with the electric tornado like everyone else should [have]. There was his shockwave in Infamous 2 and we liked that, as well.”

An Xbox-exclusive character is yet to be announced although there really aren’t many Xbox-exclusive characters that come to mind who could fill the role.

This is first trailer for LittleBigPlanet on the PlayStation Vita. It showcases the tilt controls, touch functionality and more. It does look rather good, fun even.

EA stepped up at their conference to talk about and showcase FIFA 12 and some of its new and exciting features. The game is being  labelled as the “most authentic FIFA ever”, and it’s looking pretty exciting.

To begin with we were shown the first part of a new trinity of gameplay features, namely the  “Tactical Defending” system, which is designed to make defending as skillful and meaningful as it is in the real world. Timing and tactics are key and positioning is now as important as the actual act of tackling.

This system goes hand in hand with the new “Precision Dribbling”, allowing players to “maintain control of the ball in close quarters”, and giving players a greater control of the ball and pace of the game, opening up new attacking possibilities.

However, the biggest gameplay innovation according to EA is the final part of the trinity, specifically their new “Player Impact Engine”, which has been in development for more than two years and allows the delivering of real world physicality to all interactions on the pitch. Players now take “dramatic falls, suffer true injuries, and maintain momentum to fight through tackles and challenges, and push and pull one another as they fight for the ball.”

A new social interaction system was also unveiled for FIFA 12, namely the EA Sports Football Club, which is about four big things and will be the heartbeat of FIFA. The first is a “Live Service”, which will be fresh and new all the time, and updated all year long, connecting players to the real world of football. Throughout the year the developers will be injecting challenges and story-lines that are taken right from the pitch’s biggest matches.

It will be a social service at its core, allowing fans to “Connect and Compete” with players around the world and allow players to have a deeper connection with their beloved clubs, creating “Persistence and Presence” across platforms. The system will be available at FIFA 12′s launch at no additional cost, and will connect you to your friends and show progression for all FIFA experiences in the future.

EA Sports Football Club works in that you choose your favourite team and are then instantly connected with millions of players around the world. Everything you do in the game will add to your experience points and level progression, and you will get to compete with your friends and track their progress via online leaderboards.

You’ll be able to take on challenges based on real world occurrences and match happenings. It was demonstrated by the EA spokesman, who chose Tottenham Hotspur as his club, that he could choose the challenge to change the result of Man City VS Tottenham which happened back on May 10, where Tottenham lost 1-0. By taking on this challenge and winning the match, he’d earn redemption and progress in his leaderboard. Furthermore, he’d be working together with other Spurs fans to push the team to the top of the virtual leaderboards through their triumphs.

Through the system you’ll be able to share your achievements and accomplishments and news, and keep track of friends and everything football.

That wrapped up FIFA 12′s demonstration, and more announcements, information and innovations will come throughout E3 and the year.

Konami has officially announced the next step in their popular Pro Evolution Soccer franchise, PES 2012.

As per usual, PES 2012 will release this Spring for Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii, PSP and PS2 with key improvements including a focus on “the instinctive way the game can be played and on teamwork in particular”.

The AI engine has apparently “undergone a major overhaul” which is welcome news since PES 2011 suffered from having not only ridiculously inhuman AI but at the same time AI that was as sluggish and dull as bread. PES 212 also promises an experience “akin to being part of a real team” which should be nice considering that although the current game plays well, it suffers the Japanese curse of being very good but feeling very mechanical and not really very exciting.

Below is the meat of the official press release from Konami or you can skip it and watch the trailer  which features an interview with PES 2012′s Creative Producer, Shingo ”Seabass” Takatsuka and tells you pretty much everything the press release says.

“For me, the ultimate aim in the ongoing PES series is to match what people see when they go to a match or watch a big game on TV with what they experience on their console,” explains Shingo ‘Seabass’ Takatsuka, the Creative Producer of the Pro Evolution Soccer series. “As such, in consultation with football fans across the globe, we have been working non-stop to isolate and determine how to make our game marry in with how real football is played. This is key to PES 2012, and key to providing the ultimate football experience within a console title.”

To this end, PES 2012 continues KONAMI’s determination to work with fans of both the PES series and football in general, to create a truly realistic, immersive and utterly playable take on the modern game. Thus, the focus in PES 2012 is the instinctive way the game can be played and on teamwork in particular. Seabass and his Tokyo team have worked to recreate the very essence of top-level football, ensuring the new game’s AI engine has undergone a major overhaul and provide an experience akin to being part of a real team.

Attacking play is a cornerstone of PES 2012, and the new game benefits from a more open approach that allows users to dictate the pace of movement, with all-new AI elements incorporated so team mates make runs and offer support in one-on-one situations. Players make useful dummy runs to draw defenders, and this offers users greater options to move the ball around when they are being closed down. Thus, the team works together a more cohesive unit, reacting to the movements of the player with the ball, and working to force the opposing team into mistakes.

Zonal marking and positional defending are also massively enhanced; ensuring players are forced to work harder to split the opposition defence. Meanwhile a new cursor switching system has been implemented using the right analogue stick to switch to any player on the field. This allows users to pick a team mate anywhere on the pitch, thereby allowing players to react to threats faster, and to shut down attacks more quickly. Hold up play is being tweaked to give even greater control. AI defenders are able to hold a much tighter defensive line, position themselves better and track opponents more efficiently. The off-the-ball switching also extends to key set pieces, such as goal kicks, corners, free kicks and throw-ins, and allows users to target a specific player and send them on runs or to drag defenders out of position, and allows for quick breaks and space to be exploited more easily.

“Team work is what separates the world’s greatest teams from their peers, and is the hub of everything within PES 2012,” added Takatsuka. “PES 2012 focuses on the core elements of top-level football: attacking play, freedom of movement, the creation of space, and working together as a unit both up field and in defence. These elements combine to create a game that flows and ebbs like a real match, with individual shows of brilliance changing a game, and more control over every aspect of play within a wide-ranging yet instinctive control system. PES 2012 will turn the heads of fans everywhere.”

EA Sports’ Madden series has a huge following, something I will, for the life of me, never understand.

The latest in the series, the upcoming Madden NFL 12, has got fans all giddy in anticipation, and what better to add to that hype than a fresh, new gameplay trailer. One with actual gameplay in it, this time, not more of that random cutscene stuff that nobody cares about.

Madden NFL 12 itself has had a dark moment or two, what with the upcoming NFL season threatened by strike action and the developer’s choice of putting onto the cover, a relatively unknown player, something that has confounded most internet users.

Not that it will matter much once the game releases on only every platform that isn’t a PC, ie. the PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, 3DS and Xbox360.

While I may not be a fan of the series, it is my job to bring excitement and bliss to those who are. So enjoy the trailer…

Unless you live in a hole, and even then, by now you’ve heard of Sony’s woes with its PlayStation Network being down for about a week, making it completely unavailable to its over seventy million registered users worldwide.

Here is a mega update, then, for all of your PSN news needs.

THE 411

Sony have mentioned that they don’t have an update or a timeframe to share, regarding the resumption of the service, but latest correspondence with users suggests that it may be up and running again “within a week”.

Positive news for those keeping tabs, but that’s about where it ends. The rest is all downhill.

Most importantly, the platform holder has admitted that some PSN users’ personal information, potentially including credit card details, has been stolen following the online service’s security breach.

Rumours were that they had waited a week to inform customers of their compromised personal data, however these have all been denied.

Senior Directer of Corporate Communications at SCEA, Patrick Seybold, said that the platform holder only realised the extent of the intrusion this week. He had the following to say on the PlayStation Blog:

“I wanted to take this opportunity to clarify a point and answer one of the most frequently asked questions today,” he said. “There’s a difference in timing between when we identified there was an intrusion and when we learned of consumer’s data being compromised.”

“We learned there was an intrusion April 19th and subsequently shut the services down. We then brought in outside experts to help us learn how the intrusion occurred and to conduct an investigation to determine the nature and scope of the incident.”

“It was necessary to conduct several days of forensic analysis, and it took our experts until yesterday to understand the scope of the breach. We then shared that information with our consumers and announced it publicly this afternoon.”

THE Q&A

Sony have since updated an official Q&A regarding the PSN outage, along with information pertaining to the illegal and unauthorized intrusion which occurred between April 17th and 19th.

In the Q&A, Sony speak of turning off service to both PSN and Qriocity in order to conduct an internal investigation into its network, with the help of an outside security firm brought in to conduct a “full and complete investigation into what happened.”

Sony then began to “enhance security and strengthen our network infrastructure by re-building our system,” in order to provide users with “greater protection,” of personal information.

The firm’s investigation into the matter indicated a quite alarming possibility that all PSN and Qriocity accounts “may have been affected,” by the security breach and there is the “possibility,” that all users’ information could have been compromised. Emails have since been sent out to inform users of said breach.

That said, so far Sony have not received any reports of users’ personal information being used in a nefarious manner.

The firm had the following to say: “We are taking the investigation seriously.” Well that’s enlightening… They went on to say, “We will keep the service down to allow us to conduct a thorough investigation and verify smooth operation of our network services but are working hard to resume the services as soon as we can be reasonably assured security concerns are addressed.”

Sony also claimed that it will assess the “correct course of action,” pertaining to monetary value of services not rendered while the outage was current, and once full services are restored and “the length of the outage is known,” it will have more information.

THE DEVELOPERS

It seems that it’s not just Sony and its customers who are suffering for it. Developers are hurting too.

Q-Games, better known for their PSN-exclusive PixelJunk series, has claimed that the downtime of PSN is starting to cost it some serious money. Head honcho, Dylan Cuthbert, had this to say: “PSN being out definitely affects our bottom line, but as long as the people who were going to be playing Shooter 2 and other PixelJunk titles will get right back in there playing them when it comes back up we’ll be happy and hopefully income won’t be dented too much.”

He added that his studio was just as much in the dark about when the service might be back online as everyone else in the world. “Sony has contacted us to let us know they are working as hard as they can 24 hours a day to fully correct and secure the breach,” he explained. “Apart from that we don’t know any other information. Fingers crossed they’ll get it up and running very soon.”

THE LEGAL STUFF

Sony is very much “unlikely” to face legal action from gamers upset over the PSN outage, but it is “probably” in breach of the Data Protection Act over the identity theft furore.

This according to Alex Chapman of Sheridans Solicitors, who states that Sony’s PSN terms and conditions – which all users must agree to before accessing the service – means legal complains are unlike to lead to compensation.

“Our applications are provided on an ‘as is’ basis,” reads the T&Cs. “At times, applications may not be available or may be affected by faults of maintenance work, or by circumstances outside our control. No warranty is given about the quality, functionality, availability or performance of our applications or any content accessed via our applications. We reserve the right to change, suspend or withdraw all or any part of any application and to suspend your access to the application, at any time without notice.”

“This is pretty self explanatory and probably protects Sony in respect of the outage,” Chapman said.

Users may, however, have a cause of action through the Unfair Contract Terms Acts. But to do so they would have to show a number of conditions including that Sony hasn’t provided the service with “reasonable care” as well as showing actual loss or damage, all rather unlikely.

It is however likely that Sony is in breach of the Data Protection Act of 1998, thanks to the huge security leak, and could face claims from those impacted. “One of the guiding principles of the Act is that personal data must be kept secure and the exposure of the data in this way would likely breach that principle,” Chapman explained.

That users’ passwords have been “obtained”, as Sony puts it, suggests that Sony stored user passwords as plain text without encryption. As a student who has taken an encryption course I can vouch for how important it is. Also, they would kill us with DRM but use plain text for passwords? Really, Sony…

Chapman added, “The Information Commissioner often fines companies for such breaches and affected consumers will also be entitled to bring a claim against Sony.

UK consumer rights group Which? (yes that is their name) says it’s very unlikely that PlayStation owners will have to pick up any costs in the event their credit cards are used for fraudulent activity. Reassuring, isn’t it?

“Unless you’ve been involved in the fraud or have been grossly negligent – for example, writing down your Pin and leaving it with your card – the most you can be liable for fraud on debit and credit cards is £50, and this is normally waived,” reads the FAQ on its site.

Speaking of the PSN outage, Satish Lele, vice president of business research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, had the following to say: “Sony is now an online entertainment company and more and more of its revenues are expected to come from its online business as it has moved away from being a product business quite some time ago when it lost this game to Samsung. So if it is not able to do that very quickly, I think [the PSN security breach] may have an impact in the long-term in terms of the overall business of Sony.”

On the potential damage to Sony’s image, he added: “It’s very difficult to quantify. It will have to invest a lot of rebuilding this entire infrastructure, it will have to invest a lot in marketing and telling everyone it is safe again to buy online from the services that they offer. All that will truly take time for Sony to rebuild again.”

Or they could just pimp out Uncharted 3 for like R100 on PSN once it’s back up… Tell me you wouldn’t hit that?

Visa, the global payments company, has said that customers need not automatically cancel their cards, but should remain vigilant, at least for the time being. “Concerned cardholders should keep a close eye on their accounts and report any unusual or unexpected activity to their issuing back,” a statement reads. “Cardholders who are innocent victims of fraud will get their money back, subject to terms and conditions of their bank.”

Other observers are however being more cautious. The aptly named Graham Cluely of analysts Sophos, had this to say: “If you’re a user of Sony’s PlayStation Network, now isn’t the time to sit back on your sofa and do nothing. The fraudsters won’t wait around – for them this is a treasure trove ripe for exploiting. You need to act now to minimise the chances that your identity and bank account become casualties following this hack.”

How much will all of this cost Sony? The financial ramifications of the “external intrusion” on Sony, PS developers and users won’t likely be known for a while, but a data-security research firm and Forbes mathematicians have put together a worst-case scenario price tag, for the breach: $24 billion. That’s US dollars, mind you…

Okay pick your jaw up, now.

How did they work it out? It was derived by multiplying the number of PSN accounts, approximately 77 million, by the “cost of a data breach involving a malicious or criminal act,” which according to the Ponemon Institute, averaged $318 last year. It needn’t be said that not every PSN account has current credit card date or accurate personal information attached to it, which of course makes the actual figure far, far less.

THE FIRST LAW SUIT

It didn’t take long for the lawyers to come out. Sony has its first law suit, filed against it by California-based practice Rothken Law Firm on behalf of Alabama resident Kristopher Johns, who is complaining that Sony didn’t take “reasonable care to protect, encrypt, and secure the private and sensitive date of its users.”

Johns also argues that Sony took too long to inform users of the breach, meaning they didn’t have enough time to “make an informed decision as to whether to change credit card numbers, close the exposed accounts, check their credit reports, or take other mitigating actions.”

The court document claimed that Sony “has failed to provide regular credit reports and credit monitoring at their own expense to those whose private data was exposed and left vulnerable. This has caused, and continues to case, millions of consumers fear, apprehension, and damages including extra time, effort, and costs for credit monitoring, and extra time, effort, and costs associated with replacing cards and account numbers, and burden, and is harming both the consumers’ and merchants’ ability to protect themselves from such fraud. This lawsuit seeks to remedy this reprehensible situation.”

Johns himself is seeking undefined compensatory damages and costs, however, potentially more damaging to Sony, Rothken wants the suit to gain class action status, which would allow other PSN account holders to jump on board for a share of the spoils.

Once again, actual confirmed reports of fraudulent activity as a result of the PSN hack, have yet to occur.

Head over to page two for Sony’s official statement regarding the PSN outage, and then to page three for their official Q&A.

This was a triumph! I’m making a note here, huge success…

Valve’s brand-shiny-new puzzly-based adventure Portal 2 has entered the UK Top 40 in top spot. As if that was ever in any doubt, once the game dropped. Aperture Science, they do what they must, because they can.

Mortal Kombat’s fatally grand and gory reboot was beaten into second, with the week’s other big new entry, Operation Flashpoint: Red River, coming it at a decent sixth.

Sony’s shooter (which has so many fanboys that I ever knew existed) SOCOM Special Forces was left well out of anything even remotely close to the top, ending up at a very meagre 28th place. Not even making the top 40, High Voltage’s Wii-exclusive FPS ended up at 26th on the Wii-specific chart, even further emphasizing the lack of care that housewives have, for anything that isn’t Wii Fit.

Zumba Fitness, twice a chart-topper, dropped down to fourth place as Call of Duty: Black Ops exploded (what, bad pun?) back up to third.

Pokemon Black seems to be edging out Pokemon White, having dropped down to eleventh and twelfth, respectively. And Dragon Age II aka my favourite game in the history of ever, is in at seventeenth, slowly and steadily rising to power.

Shift II: Unleashed seems to have taken it down a gear (loving these) dropping from tenth to nineteenth, with Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood succumbing to Borgia influence at twenty, down from fourteen.

LEGO Star Wars broke down a little, into fifth, with FIFA 11 and Crysis 2 filling out seventh and eighth, respectively. Maximum mediocrity…

The previously mentioned housewives’ favourite’s latest entry, Wii Fit Plus, stretched its way back up the charts and into ninth position, courtesy the massive new marketing campaign that Nintendo have undergone, some seventy eight weeks after its release.

THQ’s Homefront finishes up the top ten, battling off the horde of new releases and invading KPA.

Cake, for everyone!

That’s not much of a shocker really, but the interesting part is whether both handhelds will be out and swinging by the time FIFA 12 is actually released.

Either way, the story here is that, if you can trust the Linkedin profile of an EA employee, then FIFA 12 may just be coming to Sony’s NGP and Nintendo’s 3DS in addition to all its other platforms.

EA software engineer José Galera Pérez recently posted in his Linkedin profile, under the experience section, that he is right now working on “FIFA12 (X360, PS3, PS2, PSP, PSP2, PC, Wii, NDS, N3DS), European and Asian SKU.”

There you have it.

Oh, and seeing as how EA Sports recently announced that they will be revealing FIFA 12 next month, we’ll just have to wait until then to see what’s cracking with the NGP and 3DS.

Do you love announcements?

Well then you’ll be thrilled to read that this is an announcement of an announcement!

That’s right, Inception-styled announcements, now a reality!

EA Sports is set to reveal FIFA 12 next month.

How do we know this? Well the new Official Xbox Magazine UK has promised a full reveal in its next issue.

Don’t look at your screen like “Is that it?”, of course that’s it. What more were you expecting from an announcement, fluffy pink bunnies?

Needless to say, it will be the first time the public’s heard proper gameplay details of the new instalment following comments from the developer that suggest that AI and set-pieces will be two improved areas in FIFA 12.

There is also something called “player stories” and “match-day atmosphere” that has been mentioned to feature.

So basically nothing much.

The world awaits with baited breath! Pfft…

Square Enix will release the title for PSP in the Europe and PAL territories (that’s us) in Spring, which is our Autumn.

The Complete Collection unites the storylines and characters of the 1991 SNES classic Final Fantasy IV with those of WiiWare sequel FFIV: The After Years by offering both games and an all-new scenario linking the two together.

Previously the Complete Collection was only announced for Japan.It is also said to features enhanced visuals and a Gallery Mode with illustrations by artist Yoshitaka Amano.

Here is a list of game features:

- Definitive collection of one of the greatest RPGs of all time: First packaged release of THE AFTER YEARS
- An epic tale spanning nations, worlds, and generations: Brand new stories to further expand the revolutionary story line of FINAL FANTASY IV
- All new cast of friends family, and foes: Fall in love with Cecil, Rosa, Kain, Rydia, and Edge again while getting to know Ceodore and a whole new cast of characters
- Vibrant visuals and unforgettable melodies: Includes all new 2D graphics designed for PSP System’s 16×9 format, plus a new arrangement of one of the most acclaimed video game soundtracks of all time!

Naughty Dog and Insomniac Games won’t be working on the development of Uncharted and Resistance respectively for Sony’s NGP.

Rather, Sony’s Bend Studio will be developing Uncharted for the NGP. If you haven’t heard of them, they’re the guys responsible for the awesome Syphon Filter series on the PlayStation Portable and also for the Resistance: Retribution port.

As for the NGP’s Resistance game, it will be handled by Nihilistic Software, who are currently also working on PlayStation Move Heroes.

Be sure to check out how these two games are looking in our Sony NGP video collection. If you’re new to the NGP, read up on everything you’ll need to know right here.

That’s right. The cat is out of the bag, and the PSP2 is indeed real, as it was announced and unveiled at a Sony Press Conference. That’s the first thing you should know before we get into this whole huge mountain of information on the new handheld.

Codenamed NGP (Next Generation Portable) by Sony, the successor to the PlayStation Portable is looking to be an absolute monster of a machine.

But before we get into it, firstly and most importantly, the device is scheduled to release in ‘late 2011′, but we’ve yet to pinpoint an exact date.

Onto the PSP itself, the full specs list is further down below, but the highlights are definitely the dual analogue sticks, six axis controls, front and rear cameras, a five-inch OLED screen, a touch pad on the front and back, 3G and wi-fi functionality, three motion sensors, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, an electronic compass and Flash memory.

That last one is pretty important, so right off the bat, we’ll clear the air and confirm that the PSP2 will NOT be digital-only, like the PSP-Go. The PSP2 will still allow for physical media content, but it has done away with the UMD disc format, instead opting for a new flash memory-based card format, dedicated to PSP2 software titles.

Sony sent a statement to CVG on the matter, which read: “Taking advantage of the flash memory feature, this innovative card can store the full software titles plus add-on game content or the game save data directly on to the card.

“By adopting flash memory based card, SCE will be able to provide game cards with higher capacity in the future, allowing developers to store more game data to deliver rich and immersive games.”

High praise has been sung for the PSP2 so far, and the stuff they’re saying about it is mind-blowing.

Staring with the big guys, Sony has said that the PSP2 (a.k.a the NGP) blurs the line between entertainment and reality. Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton explains it all:

“With NGP we carry on this rich history of redefining industry standards and raising the bar for consumer expectations for what portable gaming can deliver,” he wrote on the PS Blog.

“Designed to blur the lines between interactive entertainment and reality, the NGP will offer Wi-Fi and 3G network connectivity. The 5-inch OLED front multi-touch display will bring brilliant images to life and the multi-touch pad on the rear will allow users to engage with the game and characters with a simple movement of their fingertips.

“Additionally, services created specifically for NGP will be available on PlayStation Network. These services are designed help users take their gameplay, as well as interaction with other gamers, to new levels.

“I think you will agree that the incredible momentum behind PlayStation continues to grow with each passing year. While 2010 was record breaking thanks to an unsurpassed line-up of award winning AAA software, the introduction of 3D entertainment into millions of homes and the launch of our incredibly successful PlayStation Move motion controller, 2011 is already shaping up to be one of our biggest years yet.”

Two giants also stepped in to praise Sony’s new handheld. The first was legendary games creator Hideo Kojima, who spoke at Sony’s Meeting event in Japan and said – get this – that the PSP2, known as the NGP, is as powerful as the PlayStation 3. If that didn’t blow your mind enough, then also know that Kojima said that he would like to create a game that you could play on your PS3 at home and then continue to play the same game on the move with the NGP handheld.

He gave no specifics, as usual, but Kojima did talk a little about E3, and said that he has plans for a new game.

“On NGP, we can enjoy the same quality as PS3.”

“When we launched Peace Walker for PSP, this is what I said: In the near future there will be a world of cloud computing… I really believe that you can have a portable MGS and Peace Walker was an experiment for the cloud computing future. NGP allows this cloud computing.”

“What I’d like to realize is playing on your PS3, and when you go out, you put the game on your NGP, and when you come back home, you can once again use your PS3 and large screen TV.”

“This dream is going to come true in the near future. And right now, I’m working on this project of the dream. I’m sorry, I can’t reveal this now. But we’d like to present what we’re doing at E3″

Awesome.

Next up was Gears of War creator and developer Epic Games’, who said that the graphical power of Sony’s NGP is a staggering four times more powerful than any other handheld currently on the market.

Tim Sweeney, the studio founder, stepped up today at a conference in Tokyo to put on display an Unreal Engine 3 tech demo for Sony’s NGP.

Sweeney commented on the fantastic visuals of the PSP2: “This is made possible by Sony’s multi-core GPU,” he said, “which is roughly four times as powerful as any portable we’ve previously seen.”

Sweeney concluded his stage demonstration, commenting: “We’re very excited and think you’ll be stunned at what’s possible on Sony’s next generation portable platform.”

The next thing that was confirmed were all the third party publishers and developers who have already signed themselves up to create games for the NGP. You’ll be happy to know that all the big names are present. Check out the full list below, courtesy of CVG:

Japan

• Acquire
• Alvion
• AQ Interactive
• Arc System Works
• Arika
• Artdink Corporation
• ASCII Media Works
• Capcom
• Chun Soft
• Codemasters Software Company
• Crafts & Meister
• CyberConnect2
• D3 Publisher
• Dimps Corporation
• Edia
• Enterbrain
• FromSoftware
• Gameloft
• Genki
• Grasshopper Manufacture
• GungHo Online Entertainment
• Gust
• Hamster Corporation
• Hudson Soft
• Idea FActory
• Index Corporation (Atlus)
• Irem Software Engineering
• Kadokawa Games
• Kadokawa Shoten Publishing
• Konami Digital Entertainment
• Level-5
• Marvelous Entertainment
• media5 Corporation
• Namco Bandai Games
• Nihon Falcom Corporation
• Nippon Ichi Software
• Now Production
• Q Entertainment
• Sega
• SNK Playmore
• Spike
• Square Enix
• SystemSoft Alpha
• Tecmo Koei Game
• Tomy Company
• Tose
• Ubisoft
• Yuke’s

North America

• Activision
• Capybara Games
• Demiurge Studios
• Epic Games
• Far Sight Studios
• Frima
• High Voltage Software
• Kung Fu Factory
• Paramount Digital Entertainment
• PopCap Games
• Powerhead Games
• Trendy Entertainment
• Ubisoft
• Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• 2K Games
• 2K Sport

Europe

• Avalanche Studios
• Climax Studios
• Codemasters Software Company
• Eurocom Developments
• Eutechnyx
• Exient
• Firemint
• Gameloft
• Gusto Games
• Home Entertainment Suppliers
• Impromptu Software
• Rebellion
• Rockstar Games
• Sidhe Interactive
• Sumo Digital
• Team 17 Software
• Ubisoft Entertainment
• Zen Studios

And as usual, we save the best for last. The full list of games and gaming franchises coming to the NGP were confirmed, and CVG provides a great list of them all, which you can see below:

• Killzone
• Call of Duty
• LittleBigPlanet
• Uncharted
• Resistance
• WipEout
• Monster Hunter Portable 3
• Hot Shots Golf
• Gravity Daze
• Reality Fighters
• Smart As
• Broken
• Little Deviants
• Dynasty Warriors

The Tokyo were treated to a couple of tech demos by various developers, including:

• Epic Citadel (Epic)
• Dungeon Defenders (Epic)
• Lost Planet 2 (Capcom)
• Metal Gear Solid 4 (Kojima)
• Yakuza 4 (Sega)

There is no confirmation yet regarding which of these titles will be available at the handheld’s launch, so we’ll keep you posted on release dates.

Finally, to end off, here are the known specs, so check them out below. It’s certainly very impressive.

CPU

ARM CortexTM-A9 core (4 core)

GPU

SGX543MP4+

External Dimensions

Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)

Screen

5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED

(Touch screen)

Multi-touch screen (capacitive type)

Rear touch pad

Multi-touch pad (capacitive type)

Cameras

Front camera, Rear camera

Sound

Built-in stereo speakers

Built-in microphone

Sensors

Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Three-axis electronic compass

Location

Built-in GPS

Wi-Fi location service support

Keys / Switches

PS button

Power button

Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)

Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)

Shoulder buttons (Right/Left)

Right stick, Left stick

START button, SELECT button

Volume buttons (+/-)

Wireless communications

Mobile network connectivity (3G)

IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1×1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode)

Bluetooth 2.1+EDR ?A2DP/AVRCP/HSP?

That’s everything about the PSP2 – codenamed NPG. We’ll post all the other juicy details as soon as we get our hands on them.

Ru Weerasuriya, the creative director at developers Ready At Dawn, the guys gearing up to release the new God of War: Ghost of Sparta on PSP, says that excessive piracy on the handheld platform is “getting to the point where it doesn’t make sense to make games on it.”

Chatting with VG247, Weerasuriya said: “I’m not very familiar with how it is on the DS, but on the PSP [piracy is] pretty rampant now all around the world.”

“It’s getting to the point where it doesn’t make sense to make games on it, if the piracy keeps on increasing. It’s a tough call right now to say what’s going to happen to it and where it’s going to go, but it definitely hurts a lot of developers out there who are trying to make great games.”

He continued on to say that piracy on handheld platforms is a larger problem now compared to on PC: “The PC market has had connectivity and multiplayer, which brings down the piracy, and a lot of the PC games right now, the big ones at least, require you to be logged into a specific network – like Battlenet, when I used to work at Blizzard – that controls it, and has made it easy to curb some of that,” he said.

“You can go to Hong Kong and get one cart for the DS with practically every single game that’s ever come out for it. It’s pretty scary to think that it’s got to this extent.”

Piracy on the PSP and Nintendo DS has been a long time danger for both platforms, in terms of it leading to their extinction.

And in other news, Weerasuriya is a whack name. Almost sounds like the name of a dinosaur.

Disney Interactive has confirmed that the exciting action racer Split/Second: Velocity will be heading to PSP in November this year.

The game will release on November 16 in North America and on November 19 in Europe and South Africa.

The PSP version of Split/Second will feature handling and a control scheme specifically designed for the handheld console, and will include an exclusive new track, extra challenges and four-player adhoc local multiplayer.

Be sure to check out our review of the original Split/Second: Velocity to see what it’s all about.

The first gameplay footage and screenshots for Sega and Next Level Games’ Captain America: Super Soldier have been released.

The game is based on the upcoming film Captain America: The First Avenger, and it will be a third person action game.

I’m game for another good super hero game, but it being a movie tie-in instantly gets me doubting.

Judging by the trailer and screenshots, the graphics look underpar and the combat reminds one of Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Either way, check out the gameplay trailer and screenshots below.

Captain America: Super Soldier will be released on PlayStation 3, Xbox360, Wii, DS and PSP in July 2011.

According to massive publisher EA, the newly released FIFA 11 has been recorded as the biggest opening week for a sports game in history.

From internal estimates, it was discovered that between September 28 and October 2, FIFA 11 sold over 2.6 million copies and generated $150 million – in excess – at retail.

The sell-through* rate is estimated to be up by 29 percent compared to FIFA 10′s launch. The game is currently enjoying a series best start in markets all over the world, including UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and North America.

Furthermore, it was reported that the busiest two-day period in EA Sports history for online gaming was the first two days after FIFA 11 released in Europe (October 1-2) and, to throw some figures your way, fans have registered over 18.6 million online sessions in total, with more than 11.3 million of those coming from FIFA 11.

“We’re thrilled at how fans embraced FIFA 11 last weekend, and we are excited to be able to offer one of our most popular game modes – FIFA 11 Ultimate Team – for free this November,” said EA Sports president Peter Moore.

“This is a landmark achievement for EA Sports – we’ve shattered sales records at retail, critics are praising FIFA 11 as being one of the most authentic and innovative titles ever, and fans are connecting and competing with other gamers around the world and have logged a record number of online connected game sessions.”

*Sell-Through: Basically, with regards to publishing, this refers to a percentage of units shipped that end up actually getting sold.

FIFA 11 is expected to be mind-blowingly astounding simply because of the pedigree that the series has garnered of late and if early reviews are anything to go by, EA has certainly delivered.

The game scored 95% from IGN UK which praised its refinement and polish. A 9.7 from CVG, 94% from GameMaster which called it “the best football game ever,” and saying that it’s “got the looks, the sounds, the depth and plays like a dream”. OPM gave it a perfect 10, calling it “footballing perfection” with “very few flaws.”

Check out the eGamer review of FIFA 11 which will be up next week.

PES 2010 was great but felt distractingly mechanical and stilted compared to FIFA 10. Those problems seem to have been addressed with PES 2011 which promises a far more involved, fluid and realistic and beautiful experience.

Here’s a list of the major changes that you can expect to see in PES 2011 over its predecessor. The contender from the East is certainly going to take the fight to FIFA 11 by the looks of things.

Total Control: PES Productions has enhanced the 360-degree passing ratio, offering unprecedented levels of control over every pass, shot, throw-in, through ball and lofted through balls. Users can pass the ball into space, and move their play with total freedom. Players must precisely weight their passes and second-guess the runs of their team-mates and exploit their movement. Players even can apply pressure on opponents to force them off the ball.

Shot & Stamina Gauge: In addition to the generic power gauge, the Shot & Stamina meter details the player’s exact level of fitness. Constantly sprinting will have an adverse affect on performance and statistics.

New Defender AI: Defenders now hold their positions naturally, instead of chasing balls that enter their area and work to close down the attacker to force mistakes.

Animation and Player Physics: PES Productions has totally reworked every element of in-game animation. These additions will become clear before even kick-off, with the players enjoying fluid, natural movements, with more realistic acceleration and inertia than ever before. The physicality between players is also improved, which was a priority requested in PES forums. Jostling and blocking now looks stunning, while there is a larger variety of convincing tackling styles. Ambient animation also adds immensely to the in-game atmosphere, as players behave realistically when off the ball, and walk and run with a variety of individual styles.

Speed of Play: The new level of control means that PES 2011 enjoys a more varied pace of play, which depends on the situation at hand. The game will burst into life as counter-attacks come into play, but players can dictate the pace via slow build up or exploiting available space to surge forward. It is harder to make long runs from midfield, and successful play will depend on making quick passes to create space.

Aesthetics: PES 2010 showcased the best likenesses in a football game, and PES 2011 ups the ante further. Facial animation has been enhanced, but the key advances are over 1000 all-new animations which have been recreated from the ground up using over 100 hours of motion captured footage yielding more organic runs, turns, throw-ins, tackles, and interaction.

Tactical and Strategy: The PES Productions team has implemented an all new ‘Drag and Drop’ mechanism that can be used in every aspect of team management. These settings are also animated to promote better understanding of the plays that have been altered.

Feint settings: PES has always offered a wide range of subtle skills, feints and turns, but PES 2011 allows users to map their favourite move sequences to the right stick, making them more accessible than ever before.

Master League Online: PES 2011 will mark the online debut for its much-loved Master League element, with players bidding against each other for the world’s best players, and attempting to build a squad that can compete with the best against online peers all over the globe.

Short and sweet: THQ has confirmed that Smackdown Vs. Raw 2011 will be released in the UK and Europe on October 29, 2010. The game should arrive in South Africa at the same time. It will be on PS3, Xbox360, Wii, PS2 and PSP.

Konami has turned up the heat in announcing that Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 will be releasing on 30 September 2010 in the UK and Europe, only one day before its grueling rival FIFA 11 is due.

Konami certainly seem very confident about their next entry in the PES series. When it arrives, it will be on PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox360, Wii, PSP and PS2. Except the game to be in South Africa the same day the UK and Europe get it.

LucasArts has stepped up to confirm that the PSP version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II has been cancelled.

Apparently, the studio spoke briefly with IGN and revealed this news, but didn’t give any further commentary on the matter. The Force Unleashed II is still on track for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox360, Nintendo DS and Wii.

It’s due to release in October of this year.

The month of July wasn’t an overly busy one, in terms of quantity, but we did see some really interesting games being released, and, of course, the monster that is Starcraft II. It’s now August and, well, it seems we’re in for a really quiet month this time. Still, you know what to do, check out the list of games for August, with the special discount prices included!

Remember the game discounts? Well, they’re still in full effect! For those who don’t know, we’ve setup discounts on various games where if you come to our site and click the supplied links in our game list (by the “Prices” section of the game’s page) you’ll receive a special price. This will only be available if you come through our site.

If you do not see the discount first time round, close your browser and come back to this article. Click on the link again and it should appear. You’ll also gain access to eGamer discounts if you click the “eDreams” picture on the right sidebar.

Note: The games listed here are not all games being released in August, but rather the more noticeable ones.

[Credit to IGN for the screenshots]

August 2010’s Game List

Index

• Madden NFL 11 – eGamer discount available!
• Mafia II (Reader’s MA title for August) – eGamer discount available!
• Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days
• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Browse through the pages below to see all of the games and their information in detail, or simply click the name of the game above to be taken straight to that specific game’s page.

Sega has revealed that it will be developing and publishing a Thor video game to tie in with Marvel’s upcoming Thor movie.

“Thor: The Video Game!” said in a booming voice from above! Will be a third-person adventure game with a narrative written by comic book author Matt Fraction.

Players will be able to beat down enemies using Thor’s legendary hammer Mjolnir and command the powers of the storm: wind, thunder and lightning. We wonder if mead will be involved?

The game is scheduled for release on the PS3, 360, Wii, DS and PSP in summer 2011.

“Oh Dear” because the majority of movie-to-game, games and game-to-movie, movies end up failing…and badly.

Marvel’s movies have been of high quality recently – hopefully its licensed movie games are given the same treatment.

Like fishing, hate the lake? Well, Activision might have something just for you — Rapala Pro Bass Fishing. And yes, you guessed it — it’s a fishing title for 360, PS2/3, PSP, Wii, and DS.

For the first time ever, the PS3 and 360 versions will be available with a Rapala Rod & Reed controller. Naturally, Wii owners will be able to purchase a Rapala Rod & Reel peripheral as well. The controls will feature full motion control, where players will be able to cast, reel, and do other things which you need to do when fishing.

The game will be set up in a professional tournament structure, and it offers everything you’d find at a tournament. This means, you’ll be fishing in some of the top freshwater lakes in North America.

“Pro tournament action is all about the intensity and adrenaline of live fishing competition,” said David Oxford, Activision Publishing. “Rapala Pro Bass Fishing captures every detail from the starting line to the championship trophy presentation.”

Game modes include simultaneous 2-player mode, challenge friend contests, solo-fishing and tournaments.

Not too sure about a local release, but it would be cool. Wouldn’t it?

Legendary Metal Gear Solid Creator Hideo Kojima has commented on the possibility of porting Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker to the PlayStation 3.

Kojima-sama made it clear that he wouldn’t do a direct port due to the challenges of developing the game specifically for the PSP.

Kojima-sama said:

“I can not say I’ll do a direct conversion of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on Playstation 3. However, this game was a challenge in terms of its development on the PSP for me and I probably will preserve the base of it.”

He went on to give hope to fans by saying that if he did port it, he would make story improvements.

His exact words were:

“And if I had to port it to another console, I would add even more depth to the story.”

This would be a great move since Kojima-sama himself has said that Peace Walker is the next mainline Metal Gear titles after MGS4. Gameplay, as well, would be aided by the might of the DualShock 3.

[Source: CVG]

EA has finally confirmed a release date for FIFA 11 after a number of rumors where going around the interwebz.

The EA title available for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii, PS2, DS, PSP and mobile on September 28 in North America and October 1 in Europe and Asia.

The Wii version will be available on October 1 in Europe and Asia and October 4 in North America.

I know the thumb has nothing to do with FIFA 11, but i just have to celebrate the Dutch victory! Hup Holland Hup!

[Source:CVG]

Square Enix has just announced a brand new exclusive action game for the (dead) PSP.

It’s called Lord of Arcana and is based in the “dark depths of the underworld,” where you’ll fight “creatures of legend” in a quest to obtain the power of Arcana.

The game’s monsters are claimed to be designed by a collaboration of world-renowned artists, which is never a bad thing.

It is said that the game will carry a strong emphasis on multiplayer, with up to four players creating avatars and choosing various weapons from thousands of different combination, before teaming up to slay demons.

There is no word on a release date at this time, but we here at eGamer will be sure to let you know.

Here are some screens from CVG.

[Source:CVG]

It has been one hell of a month with the holidays, world cup and, of course, the games. So, as per usual, here’s our list of games for July – fully equipped with all our special discount prices!

Remember the game discounts? Well, they’re still in full effect! For those who don’t know, we’ve setup discounts on various games where if you come to our site and click on the Buy Now link you’ll receive a special price. This will only be available if you come through our site.

If you do not see the discount first time round, close your browser and come back to this article. Click on the link again and it should appear.

Note: The games listed here are not all games being released in July, but rather the more noticeable ones.

[Credit to IGN for the screenshots]

June 2010’s Game List

Index

• BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
• Crackdown 2
• Disciples III: Renaissance
• Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge
• Need For Speed World
• StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (eGamer’s and Readers MA Title for July) – eGamer discount available!
• Other Discounted Games
  • Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 – All platforms
    
  • Shaun White Snowboarding for PSP
  • Surfs Up for PSP
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for PSP
  • Metal Gear Sold: Peace Walker for PSP
  • TNA Impact Cross The Line for PSP
  • Darksiders - All platforms
  • Everybody’s Tennis for PSP

Browse through the pages below to see all of the games and their information in detail, or simply click the name of the game above to be taken straight to that specific game’s page.

At least that’s what Sony Worldwide Studios’ VP, Scott Rohde, claims. he believes that Kratos’ latest outing of death and destruction is simply the best he’s ever seen on Sony’s aging handheld console.

“I don’t usually tout a single title, and say ‘It’s the best ever,’ but this really looks good.”

Not to throw doubt on the quality of a God of War game, which is always excellent, but it’s hard to believe what this guy says when he is actively involved with the game.

[Source: CVG]

A whole bunch of trailers were released recently, as a prelude, to up the excitement for the massive E3 gaming event – the biggest of them all. You can check them all out below to amp you up for the games you’re most looking forward to!

Just note that all of the trailers won’t be here, just the big ones. The list will also exclude trailers we’ve already posted, like the Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions Trailer and Gran Turismo 5 one.

E3 2010: Killzone 3 Exclusive Gameplay Trailer!

E3 2010: Devil’s Third Exclusive Debut Trailer

E3 2010: Dead Space 2 Debut Gameplay Trailer

E3 2010: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Betrayal Cinematic Trailer

E3 2010: Fallout: New Vegas Trailer

E3 2010: Bodycount Debut Gameplay Trailer

E3 2010: X-Com Debut Trailer

E3 2010: Naughty Bear First Gameplay Trailer

E3 2010: Mafia II Made Man Trailer

E3 2010: Rock Band 3 Debut Trailer

E3 2010: Quantum Theory Gotta Kill It Trailer

E3 2010: Splatterhouse Make A Wish Trailer

E3 2010: Sniper: Ghost Warrior Basic Tactics Trailer

E3 2010: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 Trailer

E3 2010: Marvel VS Capcom 3: New Characters Trailer E3 2010

Stay tuned, we’ll be covering all there is to E3!

Mafia II (PC, PS3, X360)
Sid Meier’s Civilization V (PC)
Spec Ops: The Line (PC, PS3, X360)
XCOM (PC, X360)

New Carnival Games (Wii) NEW!
Nickelodeon Fit (Wii) NEW!

NBA 2K11 (PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360) NEW!
NHL 2K11 (Wii) NEW!

Grease (DS, Wii)
Naughty Bear (PS3, X360)

Gray Matter (PC)

Frozenbyte 2011 Project [untitled] (tba) NEW!

Brink (PC, PS3, X360)
Fallout: New Vegas (PC, PS3, X360)
Hunted: The Demon’s Forge (PC, PS3, X360)
Rage (PC, PS3, X360)

Battlestar Galactica Online (Webgame)

1942 (iPhone)
Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 (PS3, X360)
Dead Rising 2 (PC, PS3, X360)
Dead Rising: Case Zero (X360)
Ghosts ‘N Goblins: Gold Knights (iPhone)
Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (PS3, X360)
MotoGP 09/10 (PS3, X360)
Okamiden: Chisaki Taiyou (DS)
Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes (PS3, Wii)
Street Fighter IV (iPhone)

Bodycount (PS3, X360)
F1 2010 (PC, PS3, X360)

Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction (DS, PSP, X360)
Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (Wii)
Despicable Me (DS, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360) NEW!
Family Party: Fitness Fun (Wii) NEW!
Kidz Bop Dance Party! The Video Game (Wii) NEW!
Puzzle Quest 2 (DS, PC, X360) NEW!

Drakensang: Phileasson’s Secret (PC)

Guilty Party (Wii)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned (PC, PS3, X360)
Toy Story 3: The Video Game (PC, PS3, X360)
Tron Evolution (PC, PS3)
Tron: Legacy (iPhone)

Arcania: Gothic IV (PC, PS3, X360)

APB (PC)
Bulletstorm (PC, PS3, X360)
Crysis 2 (PC, PS3, X360)
Dead Space 2 (PC, PS3, X360)
EA Sports Active 2.0 (Wii)
EA Sports MMA (PS3, X360)
FIFA Soccer 11 (DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360)
Madden NFL 11 (PS3, PSP, Wii, X360)
Medal of Honor (PC, PS3, X360)
NBA Elite 11 (PS3, X360)
NBA Jam (Wii)
NBA Live 11 (PSP)
NCAA Football 11 (PS2, PS3, X360)
NHL 11 (PS3, X360)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 (PS3, Wii, X360)

Tera (PC)

Bomberman Live: Battlefest (PS3, Wii, X360)
Bonk: Brink of Extinction (PS3, Wii, X360)
Deca Sports 3 (Wii)
Lost in Shadow (Wii)
Oops! Prank Party (Wii)

Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night (iPhone)
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (PS3, X360)
Def Jam Rapstar (PS3, Wii, X360)
Def Jam Rapstar (Bundle) (Wii)  NEW!
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP)
N3: Ninety-Nine Nights II (X360)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 (iPhone)
Rocket Knight (PC, PS3, X360)
Rush’N Attack Ex-Patriot (PS3, X360)
Saw II: The Videogame (PS3, X360)
The Cages: Pro Style Batting Practice (Wii)

Animal Color Cross (DSi, Webgame, iPhone)
Color Cross (Webgame)
Cosmicrew (Webgame)
DJ Mix Bob Sinclar (iPhone)
Sea Pong (iPad)

LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360)
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge — Special Edition (PC, PS3, X360, iPhone)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC)

Rock Band 3 (PS3, Wii, X360)

Babysitting Mama (Wii) NEW!
Crafting Mama (DS)
Greg Hastings Paintball 2 (PS3, Wii, X360)
Monster Tale (DS) NEW!
Swords (Wii)
Zumba Fitness (tba)

Fable III (PC, X360) NEW!
Gears of War 3 (X360)
Halo: Reach (X360)
Milo (X360) NEW!

Project Natal (X360)

Ace Combat: Joint Assault (PSP)
Clash of the Titans (PS3, X360)
Dragon Ball: Origins 2 (DS)
Enslaved (PS3, X360)
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (PS3, X360)
Splatterhouse (PS3, X360)

Harvest Moon Grand Bazaar (DS)
Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals (DS)

Dragon Nest (PC)
Dungeon Fighter Online (PC)
Vindictus (PC)

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light (DS) NEW!
Valhalla Game Studio Project [untitled] (tba) NEW!

Commander: Conquest of the Americas (PC)
Lionheart: Kings’ Crusade (PC)
Ship Simulator 2010: Extremes (PC)
Victoria 2 (PC)

Battle of the Immortals (PC)
Forsaken World (PC)
Heroes of Three Kingdoms (PC)

Conduit 2 (Wii)
Phantasy Star Portable 2 (PSP)
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I (PS3, Wii, X360, iPad, iPhone) NEW!
Tournament of Legends (Wii)
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP)
Yakuza 4 (PS3) NEW!

Power Gig: Rise of the SixString (PS3, X360)

Lucha Libre AAA: Heroes del Ring (DS, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360)

EyePet: Your Virtual Pet (PS3)
God of War: Ghost of Sparta (PSP)
Gran Turismo 5 (PS3)
Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip (PSP)
Invizimals (PSP)
Killzone 3 (PS3)
LittleBigPlanet 2 (PS3)
Move Party (PS3)
SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs (PS3)
Slider (PS3)
TV SuperStars (PS3)
The Fight: Lights Out (PS3)
The Shoot (PS3)

Free Realms (PC, PS3)

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC, PS3, X360) NEW!
Dungeon Siege III (PC, PS3, X360)  NEW!
Final Fantasy XIV Online (PC, PS3) NEW!
Front Mission Evolved (PC, PS3, X360) NEW!
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (PC, PS3, X360)
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP) NEW!
Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded (DS) NEW!
The 3rd Birthday (PSP) NEW!
The Tales of Bearsworth Manor: Chaotic Conflicts (Wii) NEW!
The Tales of Bearsworth Manor: Puzzling Pages (Wii) NEW!

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (PC, PS3, X360) NEW!

Homefront (PC, PS3, X360)
Red Faction: Armageddon (PC, PS3, X360)
The Last Airbender: The Movie (DS, Wii)
UFC Undisputed 2010 (PS3, PSP, X360)
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 (PS3, X360)
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw Online (PC)
Warhammer 40,000 MMO Project [untitled] (PC)
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (PS3, X360)

Quantum Theory (PS3, X360)
Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll (PS3)
Warriors: Legends of Troy (PS3, X360)

End of Nations (PC)
Rift: Planes of Telara (PC)

Monday Night Combat (X360)

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (PC, PS3, X360)
Shaun White Skateboarding (PC, PS3, X360)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (PC, PS3, X360)
Tom Clancy’s HAWX 2 (PC, PS3, X360)

Portal 2 (PC, X360)

Batman: The Brave and the Bold (DS, Wii)
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (DS)
F.E.A.R. 3 (PC, PS3, X360)
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360)
Super Scribblenauts (DS)
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest (DS, PS3, PSP, Wii)
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (PC, PS3, X360)

Color Cross (DS)

Divinity II: Ego Draconis (PC, X360)
Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance (PC, X360)

[Source:IGN]

In our recent review of ModNation Racers we commented on top rated Karts, Mods and Tracks. Taahir said that you’ll be able to view the top additions to the community as well, but is that all functionality you get?

No, until now — that is. The game developers have added a Community section to the site where you’ll be able to download everything you see. The community site will include everything from downloads to Hot Lap statistics.

Link: Community.ModNation