PS3 3D Firmware Next Week

UPDATE: This is for Japan only. Sony state that North American & PAL details are to come “shortly”.

Sony Japan have today announced Firmware 3.20 for PS3, which supports the option of going 3D, will be released on June 10. In other words next week.

The first games to support 3D are Wipeout HD, Super Stardust HD and Pain, all of which will receive and update some time soon. Motorstorm: Pacific Rift will also support the 3D feature, although only as a demo that will be included with sales of new PS3s and 3D Bravia TVs this summer.

Below is a Sony video commercial for the 3D feature:



Additionally, Sony says that it plans on updating the PlayStation 3 firmware to support 3DBD video playback. This will be available by the end of the year.

Is the 3D feature just a gimmick or is it the future? From early reports it seems to have potential, I guess we wont have to wait long to find out for ourselves.

Killzone 3 Leaked Images and Info!

Multiple planets, Space combat, Destructible environments, Arctic levels, New weapons - All you need to know on Killzone 3:

Killzone 2 released February last year already now has a successor to be released this year or next, Killzone 3.

The game was earlier confirmed by Sony this year but no details on the game or when we could expect to see it were given. However due to gaming magazine Gamepro and some inside sources we now have are first details and images of the highly anticipated sequel.

The game is going to have a heavy focus on 3D technology. Apparently the game will ship with two 3D glasses later this year. The 3D effects are said to be the best ever seen in a video game and even make the film Avatar look pale in comparison. 3D in this game is called a “Game Changer", it apparently provides an unparalleled 3-dimensional experience that no other game has seen.


The game uses the same engine as Killzone 2 but has been greatly updated with superior graphics. There will be many arctic levels were snow will land on guns and melt when they are fired in real time. The game will have many more varied locations than Killzone 2, with arctic levels playing a big role. The game will have a mixture of both linear and open levels.

It is rumoured that the game will take place on multiple planets, such as moons and even have space combat. Although majority of the game will take place on Helghan, this time showing Helghast culture and even a Helghast language. It will also show that the Helghast have some humanity in them.


The game will feature many new game play elements such as jetpacks which both you and your enemy will control. Jetpacks double as a weapon with a machine gun mounted on top of it. Jetpack missions will change the way the game is played as they resembles something you would do in a platform game such as Super Mario Bros. For example in one mission, you have to use the jetpack by “launching yourself from glacier to glacier”. To control the jetpack, you “have to activate bursts of speed in midair, propelling yourself across further distances.” The jetpacks are “surprisingly lightweight and agile, Killzone 3′s jetpack is easier to maneuver compared to the sluggish incarnations of the gadget found in other games.” Helghast with jetpacks will explode if shot “like roman candles”.


A new weapon called the Wasp will shoot a “flurry of rockets” at an enemy, similar to Unreal Tournament's rocket launchers secondary fire. A new hand to hand combat system will allow for a string of combos on enemies.

The entire environment will be fully destructible, unlike Killzone 2 which had destructible elements but not total destruction. This in turn opens up new ways of playing the game but will not change the core feel of the game which is going to feel like Killzone 2.

The game is going to feature intense action and be bigger in scale with everything being spread out more. The game will have a heavy focus on cinematics and will have an engaging plot full of twists and surprises.

Again with E3 around the corner, we can all expect many more details soon. Killzone 3 is set to release either in winter this year or early 2011.

Brand New Call of Duty: Black Ops Trailer

This new trailer is certainly not shy of game play footage, displaying an explosion of action. The gamplay shows new features to the franchise including destructibility, rappel breaching, explosive crossbows and the Vietnam war.

Call of Duty: Black Ops is set to real ease on 9th November this year. Expect many more details on the game at E3.

Tips N4G

Red Dead Redemption to Have PS3 Exclusive Content

Rockstar's next big open word action adventure game is multi platform Red Dead Redemption. However it seems as if the Playstation 3 version of the wild west game will contain Solomon's Folly Gang Hideout and Walton Gang Outfit exclusively. This info comes from images of the games box art. It is unclear at this point however if the Xbox 360 version will also boost some kind of exclusive content.

The game is due to be released next week and is certainly worth a purchase.

New Gran Turismo Details and Images

As announced yesterday the Nurburgring GP Course has been confirmed for Gran Turismo 5. All three configurations of the track (Nordschleife, GP, and the full VLN Circuit) will also be available.

However today new details about a new penalty system for anyone cutting corners has been revealed. This system is a tyre grip penalty which temporarily reduces grip if you go off the track and onto the grass or into the gravel. It will then take around three to four corners to retain full grip again. This is a realistic system that will only add the the authenticity of the game.

New screenshots of the game show amazing detail to both the cars and track. The game is set to release this year with a TBA fall 2010 date.

4 Player Coop Confirmed For New COD

More details have trickled out about Tryarch's Call Of Duty: Black Ops today. The worlds current biggest FPS game will feature 2-4 player co-op, with the game's main story focusing on two characters over "multiple covert international conflicts"

Players will be fighting their way through the jungles of Cuba and Vietnam and also Russia using not just guns but also crossbows!

The game will be available on the 9 November this year.

UPDATE:
Lots of new game play details have just been revealed over at GamesRadar
Make sure you check it out.

Why is there a sequal to LBP?

Over the last few days I have posted lots of news concerning LittleBigPlanet 2. However not that long ago Media Molecule were quoted in a Critical Gamer interview with producer Martin Lynagh and level designer Danny Leaver that LBP2 just wouldn't make any sense. "I think what you've seen so far from LittleBigPlanet, that's the way it's going to continue," said Lynagh. Leaver added: "We'd never do that. That'd be the most counterproductive thing you could do I think."

So why the sudden change of heart? Here is why:

Currently the content for LBP2 is around 4GB of data, way too much for an in game patch and for DLC it would cost way too much, especially for the amount of time put in. Co-founder Alex Evans has explained that publishing the game on Blu-ray is a better way at reaching a bigger audience of consumers.

Personally I am pleased Media Molecule is working on a sequel to one of this generations best games due to the shear amount of fun I had with the first. With the amount of new content they have talked about for LBP2 so far, winter cannot come sooner.

New IP From ModNation Developers

Today presents more news on the ModNation Racers developer United Front Games. They have listed for an "upcoming next gen, original IP title" and have stated that anyone interested must have "a special interest in open world games".

United Front Games is currently working on a new True Crime game, which is also an open world game, might it tie in somehow? Probably not seeing as its an "original IP" game.

ModNation Racer's Footage

Below is the first 10 minutes of Modnation Racers from XtremePS3. It shows the opening cutscene and the first race.


Modnation Racers is the next entry in the Play Create Share genre for Sony's Platform and is out 21/05/10

Early Reviews Suggest Greatness From Red Dead Redemption

So far only two magazines have reviewed Rockstar's sandbox western game Red Dead Redemption. Both reviews have praised and scored the game highly with Game Informer giving the game 97.5% and UK magazine GamesTM scoring the game 9/10 - showering it with superlatives.

The game is set to hit UK stores 21/05/2010

A Platform For Games

Little Big Planet 2 has now been official unrevealed by developers Media Molecule with a snazzy trailer. The trailer shows much of the features that i posted two days ago about the game, such as the grappling hook, the ability to create genres not just levels, Sackbots, cinematics - the list goes on.

Along with the trailer there is a new website with enough information and screenshots of the game to blow anyone’s mind. Check it out now!

LittleBigPlanet 2

Rumour - Playstation Move Priced

Sony's PlayStation Move motion controller won't be available till later this year and with no price confirmed by Sony its got some people guessing.

Tabloid news paper The Sun is the latest publication to make such a guess with a reasonable price tag of "about £45".

Obviously this has come from The Sun so it's validity is already arguable. £45 sounds like a potential price point, but with other rumours of the device costing up to £100 we will just have to wait and see.

LittleBigPlanet 2 Confirmed!

Its official LBP is going to have a sequel which is coming out later this year!

The new details for this game have been posted on neogaf, of which can be seen below:

- LBP 2 has less of a focus on platforming altogether and it’s more of a platform to actually create games with

- Fluffy High-Tech: Various high-end technology equipments like video walls are mixed with bunnies and fluffy sheep. It is a cold, futuristic environment populated by adorable creatures

- There is an all-new level creator and it is not just a tool to create platform games.

- Storyline is not country-based like last time, but is based in periods of time

- As examples, the game 100% encourages the player to create game types and wants you to make a shooter, a racer, puzzle games, Space Invaders clones, even RPGs

- There is a major overhaul to the story level as well. There’s the same 3-plane perspective for the story mode and the levels so far have a similar run-jump-grab platform style.

- A player can even customize a HUD. The example given is a health bar for a fighting game.

- All DLC from LBP1 transfers over to LBP2. Including downloaded content packs, costumes, etc.

- A Media Molecule developer has created a fully-functioning Command & Conquer Clone

- Media Molecule loves that a lot of user-created levels in LBP1 were homages to classic games and laments that so many manipulations of the creation tools were necessary to do them. Sackboy won’t need to be “hidden behind the curtain” when you make games with LBP2.

- There is a new gadget (like the MGS paintball gun). It is a big-ass grappling hook.

- There is a new super-important creator tool called “direct control seats”

- Sackbots can be controlled by direct control seats as well.

- (from previous point) In LBP1, lots of people made rudimentary “hold R1 to accelerate” vehicles. Mark Healy created a car out of rubber wheels and a bottle, then placed a direct control seat in it. He pulled up an interface that resembled a PS3 controller and assigned commands to buttons.

- Example given was assigning Sixaxis tilt for forward and reverse, horn on the X button.

- You are no longer limited to the game’s stock sound effects. You can record your own sounds and voices, attaching them to characters or objects. Magic Mouth from the original LBP is gone

- Direct control seat’s control scheme is instantly accessible and you can attach it only to the part of the vehicle you want it to control.

- Example was given about the 8/16-bit remakes/tributes having to use the signature gameplay mechanics of LBP. That is no longer true in LBP2. A creator can place a direct control seat on their own platforming protagonist and complete it with a customized control scheme.

- Example of the previous was Yoshi’s Island. If a player creates the perfect recreation of the SNES-era jump they can share it with anyone in the community.

- There is an in-game microchip that functions as a calculator and it is a direct response/homage to PSN user Upsilandre (seriously, he’s mentioned by name)

- Enemies in the original title could only be programmed with super-basic commands and most resembled marionettes.

- Users will be able to take a template for an enemy called a Sackbot, tweak the AI and dress it in any way they choose.

- Creators can choose the weak points on the Sackbot, determine if it is scared of heights, and even program acting routines.

- A disco scene was set up by Media Molecule and two employees recorded together on a single Sackbot. They moved its arms and bobbed its head in a dancing routine. JUST the AI was copied and pasted onto twenty different Sackbots. Each Sackbot was given its own unique look.

- There are now movie editing options as well.

- Every LBP2 player will receive their own profile on LBP.me. It will display your activity feed as well as previews of their own stages

- There will be user-created integration in QR codes as well. They can be printed on advertisements, business cards, and automatically load a level when held up to the PlayStation Eye.There is no special menu to do this. Any time the PS3 is turned on and running LBP 2, you can wave it in front of the Eye.

- If you are not near your PS3 you can take a quick photo with your smartphone to see an online preview of the level and add it directly to your level queue.

- For creators of multiple levels, you will be able to string your stages together so that they flow from one level to the next.

- Sackbots can be drastically increased or decreased in physical size.

- Media Molecule says explicitly there are multiple more gadgets coming.

Here is a list of levels and summaries so far:

- Techno Renaissance: Whimsical alternative take of the Renaissance period. Leonardo da Vinci-like character to guide him through a technology-based twist level

- Steam & Cake: Steampunk-style level based on a fucked-up tea and cake party

- Neon Propaganda: Cold-war era posters line a factory environment where Sackboy is liberating oppressed workers. There is a grim nature to the level that is totally opposed to the neon lights and signs.

- Creators can make full-on cutscenes. Camera angles and voice-overs included. Creators can even make little five-minute short films. These levels are clearly marked on the stage select screen so you can tell whether you’re watching or playing the level.

This game is sounding absolutely amazing and knowing how good the first game was I have no doubt this game will be nothing short of special. Keep posted for a full blowout of LBP 2 details this Monday.

Power On

Welcome to Playstation Xtreme UK! With this blog I hope to keep up and running all the hottest daily news about Sony's Playstion brand.

I will blog facts, rumours, and news from the industry, including leaked content. If you have any suggestions or contributions regarding the Blog then please let me know. I hope that this blog provides a useful insight into the world of Playstation.

Enjoy!