Thursday from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Pacific (that’s 11 a.m. Thursday to 2 a.m. Friday Eastern and 4 p.m. Thursday to 8 a.m. Friday BST), Sony will be working on the PlayStation Network, and it won’t be functioning. The silver lining? Though account management, the PlayStation Store and PS Home won’t be working, Sony says that online play shouldn’t be effected, as long as you’ve signed in to your PSN account within the last five days.

Don’t panic.

Your info is safe.

Again..don’t panic.

Sony pictures has announced that Chronicle director Josh Trank will be taking the director’s chair for Sony Picture’s adaptation of cult video game Shadow of the Colossus. Though no writer is currently attached, Sony is currently seeking one for the Kevin Mishner produced film.

Trank, an admitted fan of the game rose to fame last year by directing the sleeper hit Chronicle, which brought in more than $13 million dollars. As a result, he’s become one of the most sought after director’s in Hollywood, currently working on Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot and the Spiderman spin-off Venom.

Originally released for the Playstation 2 in October of 2005, Shadow of the Colossus was produced by Fumito Ueda and is widely regarded as one of the most important games in recent memory. The story follows a young man desperate to bring his lover back from the dead, and to do so he must defeat sixteen massive monsters, known as the Colossi. The story takes some interesting turns and the hero begins to question his motives. Check out our review of the recently released HD version of the game for the PS3 here.

Starhawk is one of those games where a lot could have gone wrong. The developers at Lightbox Interactive and Sony Santa Monica were quite ambitious and tried to incorporate a ton of different environments, genres and mechanics — normally a recipe for failure, but not here. Starhawk works — and it works well; even when it shouldn’t.

Dripping with style, Starhawk is an absolute joy to get and cause some chaos with. Of course, it does have its drawbacks like a short campaign and some slight graphical issues, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying one of this year’s first truly great games.

Starhawk places players in the futuristic boots of rifter, Emmet Graves. In the distant future, rifters are humans who scavenge a series of planets, known as The Frontier for a precious yet dangerous resource known as rift energy. Of course, things can’t be that easy — the rifter’s way of life is threatened by the Outcasts, a group of humans mutated by the same rift energy everyone else is searching for.

The first hour or so into Starhawk, I was trying to figure out why the game felt so familiar, then it hit me. I’m this rogue character, scrounging for resources and trying to get myself out of trouble with corporations and enemies, only to jump into my dodgy craft and try to avoid my pursuers in a dog fight — I’m practically Han Solo. I just need a wookie. Starhawk drips with style and the mix of wild west steampunk and space combat is a unique setting that’s incredibly cool and fun to explore.

One of the major reasons Starhawk works so well is just how seamlessly everything blends together. In a typical battle, you’re likely to shoot out a ton of enemies, and then jump into your mech which can instantly transform into a flying ship so you can dogfight in space. This all happens nearly seamlessly, and there’s hardly any slowdown. It becomes incredibly cool and rewarding to move so quickly in between sections of the game. It also makes a good portion of the battles a lot more epic, as you’re often chasing the same group of enemies from land into space.

Starhawk isn’t just another action game though, the game features a number of mechanics from other genres, including strategy and tower defense. The biggest example of this is the game’s structure building system, which plays an integral part in the game’s core structure. You create everything from simple walls, to gates and even entire armories. Once the game tells you how to build them, you’re free to use them practically anyway you want in battle. The best part of all this is that building these structures requires them to fall down from the sky, and it’s an incredibly cool moment when you time it just right and it falls directly onto enemies.

As well animated and voiced as it is, Starhawk’s campaign is simply a primer for the game’s intense 32-person multiplayer suite, and it’s a primer you’re going to want to take. The game’s multiplayer suite requires your knowledge of each of the game’s mechanics to be successful. It may be a bit stressful at first, but the payoff involves some of the coolest moments I’ve had with a game in a long time. There are so many ways to take out your opponents, and games end up getting personal and find you going from ground to space all in search of your rival.

The Blast Factor: There could have been a million ways to screw up Starhawk, but, thankfully, Sony Santa Monica did a great job avoiding many of these pitfalls. What they’ve created is a fun, chaotic mix of genres that’s easy to fall in love with and hard to put down. Starhawk is simply a must own for PS3 owners.

Last week we brought you news that Sony confirmed Kratos’ return in God of War: Ascension, a prequel to the popular PlayStation exclusive franchise. Now we’re getting our first look at the game’s multiplayer suite — a first for the franchise.

The announcement came earlier today via a live announcement on the PlayStation Blog. Though not many details were made available, it looks like the new modes will be an integral part of the new game.

Look for more info on God of War Ascension during E3, June 5-7 in L.A.

During tonight’s episode of GameTrailers TV, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale was officially revealed. As its lengthy name indicates, All-Stars will be a fighting game that might remind some of you Super Smash Bros. Just think Sony this time.

The game is being devleoped by SuperBot Entertainment and will include a roster of PlayStation favorites. Some of these characters include Fat Princess, Kratos, Radec, PaRappa the Rapper, Sly Cooper, and Sweet Tooth. Aside from Sony-exclusive characters, All-Stars will include third party characters too. Stages will represent different franchises and will even include special effects such as a Buzz! Quiz World pop quiz in the middle of battle.

The game will offer a single player mode that will culminate in a boss battle and an online multiplayer mode for up to four players.  Future DLC is also planned for the title.

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is expected to release this holiday season.

Sony has been teasing fans on Facebook about a big announcement coming on 4/19. It seems that the truth may have come early as a trailer has leaked for a new God of War game. Titled “Ascension,” the PS3 title will tell an origin story of our favorite God slayer. While Sony has not officially commented on the matter, the Amazon listing and official looking trailer seem to seal the deal.

The PlayStation 3 adds a new member to their video streaming family today with the addition of Amazon Instant Video. Joining Hulu, Netflix, Vudu. and others, Amazon’s streaming video service brings all your purchased movies and television shows right to your console.

Adding to the estimated 100,000 shows and films, if you are an Amazon Prime subscriber, your membership will carry over and let you to stream over 17,000 videos on your console right now. The app is available to download from your PlayStation 3.

"Our goal was to create a game that you could play from beginning to end and you would, literally, never hear the same piece of music played twice."

Following Sega’s proposed layoffs and cancellations, another game studio has had to close its doors.

Sony today confirmed the closure of their Seattle-based Zipper Interactive, the game studio that brought to us the SOCOM series.

A Sony representative told Game Informer that the closure was “a result of a normal cycle of resource re-alignment within SCE WWS.” SOCOM fans should be rest assured as its most recent project, Unit 13 for PlayStation Vita has been completed, and current titles MAG, SOCOM 4 and Unit 13 (including its DAily Challenges) will continue to be supported.

Warner Bros. Games and NetherRealm Studios have announced today that all you gore-loving Vita owners out there will finally get your hands on Mortal Kombat on May 1.

The fighting game that came out last year on consoles has been tailored fitted for Sony’s handheld and will include 150 new Challenge Tower missions, touchscreen fatalities and X-rays, and all previous DLC characters.

The PS Vita version of Mortal Kombat will be available next month, but if you’re headed to PAX East next week, be sure to visit Warner Bros.’s booth to practice all your killer combos!

A trusted source has revealed to Kotaku more details about the PlayStation 3′s successor, currently known as Orbis. It uses both an AMD CPU and GPU, and is planned for a holiday 2013 launch.

Whether Orbis is its actual name or just a codename, its Latin name meaning “circle” fits well alongside the Vita, which actually means “life.” This could hint at a unique future relationship between the console and handheld.

Further proof to its name is that the website orbis.scedevnet.com actually links to Sony’s Developer Network. If you swap out the name Orbis for PS4, the link does not work.

Its hardware specs consist of an AMD x64 CPU and AMD Southern Islands GPU capable of showing games at a resolution of 4096×2160. This backs up a previous Forbes report. While the current PS3 can only display 3D games at 720p, the new console will kick it up to 1080p.

“Select” developers have already received dev kits, Kotaku reports, and revised kits were sent out earlier this month around GDC.

Another interesting bit of information is that Orbis won’t be backwards compatible with PS3 games, and it will use the same anti-used game restrictions the new Xbox will have. Kotaku states that games will either be Blu-ray or downloadable. Blu-rays will actually be locked to your console, so if you decide to buy a used game from someone else, you may get a trial version of the game and will need to pay to unlock its full version.

These details are subject to change, of course. Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to E3.

Confirming the worst kept secret in gaming, Sony announced today that is will release Little Big Planet Karting later on this year. As you’d expect, the game will mix the series trademark creation systems, allowing players to create different characters, karts and tracks, with traditional go kart racing.

“Since the launch of LittleBigPlanet, our community has provided incredible support, which can be seen in the more than six million levels and games that have been created and shared online through PlayStation Network, a truly wonderful accomplishment,” said Guy Longworth, Senior Vice President, PlayStation Brand Marketing, SCEA. “Now, we’re thrilled to bring PlayStation 3 owners the next Play, Create, Share experience, LittleBigPlanet Karting, a brand new competitive karting adventure that is sure to move this genre forward, providing endless entertainment for fans and newcomers, while resonating with every member of the family, young and old.”

The game is being developed by United Front Games in conjunction with Media Molecule. Expect more on Little Big Planet Karting in the coming weeks.

Microsoft has announced that Phil Harrison, former President of Worldwide  Studios for PlayStation has joined the publisher and all around tech giant’s leadership team. Harrison will be the lead man for the brand in European countries, as well as taking over some  first party studios including Lionhead, Soho  and Rare.

“We are honored to have Phil join a team that boasts a wealth of talent from across the industry,” said Phil Spencer, corporate vice president at Microsoft Studios. “Phil is one of video gaming’s true visionaries, and his experience overseeing global studios and deep industry relationships make him the ideal person to lead our European efforts. Under his leadership, we look forward to continuing cultivating the best talent and growing our business in the region.”

The bulk of Harrison’s career has been spent at Sony, but he’s been a bit of a job hopper lately, with stops at several smaller game studios and a stint at Atari.”I am excited to be joining the senior team at Microsoft at a pivotal time for our industry,” said Harrison. “I am really impressed with the company’s long-term vision for growing the market for interactive entertainment globally and also with the incredible wealth of talent, technology and resources the company has available to succeed.”

Though Harrison’s new duties have a lot in common with those of the recently announced to be leaving Peter Molyneux, Microsoft assures that Harrison’s hiring and Molyneux’s departure are not related, and add that Molyneux’s role has already been filled. “Phil’s role on the IEB leadership team is completely unrelated to Peter’s departure. Phil will lead Microsoft Studios European organization, but will also influence the broader performance of IEB’s European business. We will continue to rely on our stable of first party developers as we determine if and when the Microsoft Studios Europe Creative Director vacancy should be filled. Peter’s previous role as Lionhead Studio Manager is being filled by Lionhead COO Mark Webley.”

Well, you can’t say that they’re not trying. Sony head Shuhei Yoshida said in an interview with Wired that Team Ico is soliciting help from other Sony studios   to finish their latest game, the long awaited The Last Guardian.  Yoshida specifically mentioned Sony Santa Monica as a studio pitching in, but also noted that they’re not the only ones.

“Well, you know, it’s not just Santa Monica, sid Yoshida. “We have great tech people in Worldwide Studios. We have a central tech group in the U.S. and the U.K. so we are giving them whatever help they need. Technically, we have the best engineers in the U.S. and Europe, so these teams are helping them, giving advice.”

Yoshida also took the interview as an opportunity to  quell rumors that recently departed studio head Fumito Ueda is no longer working on the game, adding that he’s as dedicated as he’s ever been to the project.”He’s on top of the game and coming into the office. He could be the person who’s in the office for the longest time. The difference is that he used to be a regular employee. But now we have a contract to define his role. It’s a very special contribution and role that he plays and we agreed, let’s make it more official, more special. That’s the only difference.”

True story, two years ago at E3, I was seconds away from buying a PSP. I had been watching friends play Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker all week, and we even went as far as to take a trip to a Hollywood Target. When we got there though, something stopped me — the thought that someday, something better was coming.

That day is February 22, when Sony launches it’s next handheld gaming system — the PlayStation Vita. Packed with features and a stellar launch lineup, The Vita aims to challenge the world’s notion of just what portable gaming can be, but should you jump in right away, or wait and let Sony work out the kinks?

The Hardware

There’s no debating that upon first look, The Vita looks an awful lot like the PSP, but looking closer, it’s a completely different handheld all together.

Featuring a 5′ multi-touch enabled OLED screen, two thumbsticks, two cameras (you know the drill, one front facing and one rear), a touch sensitive back panel and augmented reality capabilities, the Vita is not short of bells and whistles, but at this early stage, you’re really only going to use some of them.

The true standout of The Vita is the gorgeous OLED screen. Sony’s choice of using the OLED over the LCD works incredibly well, as it causes colors to pop and shadows to look incredibly deep. We booted up Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 when we first got our Vita, and the flashy attacks work incredibly well.

With the screens impressive size though, comes one of the devices major flaws — it’s really not all that portable. Portable gaming means something very different than it did when the PSP launched; everyone has an iPhone or tablet with them at all times, which are easy to pack with you wherever You go, the Vita seems a bit too big for that. Sure, you could make the point that the Vita can easily be stuffed into a hoodie pocket or briefcase or work bag for the morning commute, but you can’t help but feel like a good portion of potential users will want something a bit more portable.

The Vita comes with two camera, one facing the front and one facing the rear and they’re a bit underwhelming. Both cameras are capable of both stills and videos, and they’re about on par with the quality of your average smart phone, but fail in comparison to more top of the line phones, and fail even worse when compared to full fledged cameras. For example, we took two identical pictures of my desk, one with the Vita and the other with an iPhone 4. the iPhone did a great job reproducing the colors and came out pretty clear, while the Vita picture had a noticeable amount of noise and blurred edges.

So what about that trackpad like back portion of the Vita? For what it’s worth, it performs well, but it often seems like the developers squeezed the functionality into their games at the last second. One of the best examples of this is how in Uncharted: Golden Abyss, the back track pad is used to climb up ropes, it just doesn’t feel as smooth and natural as using the thumb sticks and face buttons. This as opposed to a game like Modnation Racers, which allows you to use the back trackpad to level terrain in track creation, and works extremely well.

My favorite feature of the Vita though is being able to keep up to seven screens open at a time regardless of what game card is in the system. Think about it, say you’re running to catch a flight and you’re in the middle of a game in Marvel Vs Capcom, about to win right before you have to turn it off. Since you can’t save mid fight, just minimize the screen and come back to it when you’re able to. With that though, there’s a downfall — it’ll kill your battery.

So, about that battery. It’ll last mostly between 3-4 hours of continuous playtime, which isn’t all that great, but it’s not terrible either. I can see it being a problem on long flights, but other than that, you shouldn’t have much of a problem if you just remember to charge it when you get wherever you’re going. More often than not, people are going to be using the Vita on trains, busses and in cabs in the middle of their busy commute, and the battery life of the Vita feels perfect for it.

The Games
Editor’s Note: This is section is a generalization of how the Vita works as gaming device. Watch for specific reviews throughout the week

By far though, the Vita’s biggest improvement over its predecessor is that it includes two thumb sticks, rather than the one found on the PSP. It may not seem like a major thing, but most games, especially those of major franchises are built around using both of the thumb sticks, and having a system that relies only on the one requires developers to create entire control schemes that don’t fit as well as the original, as well as requiring players to relearn almost everything they know about playing games in the modern day.

The Vita does a great job doing away with all that, and even the company’s biggest franchises feel like they should — to an extent. Uncharted Golden Abyss feels an awful lot like Uncharted, just on a smaller scale, but it’s damn impressive that they made a portable game feel like Uncharted at all.

On paper, the Vita’s launch lineup of games feels like the strongest ever, but whether it is or not is debatable. The system seller will easily be Uncharted, but there’s some strong titles that you should consider when you’re picking up your new handheld. Lumines: Electronic Symphony, the puzzle game from Q Entertainment is tough to put down, and games like Modnation Racers, Touch My Katamari and Little Deviants are fun to pick up and play with little investment.

Like most launches with new tech, a lot of the games often feel like mere tech demos. Escape Plan for instance feels like a way to show off the quality of the screen, while Little Deviants feels like a how-to for the suite of new features and Uncharted feels like Sony trying to prove that this new tech can work with its established franchises. Does it? Mostly yes, but there’s are definite kinks to work out in the process.

The Verdict: Should you buy a Vita?

It’s always risky to buy anything when it first releases as there’s bound to be issues, price drops, or in the long run, new and improved models. During my two weeks with the PlayStation Vita, I can tell you this, I haven’t used my 3DS, iPad or phone for gaming, it’s been all Sony’s new machine. The screen is amazing, the additional thumbstick does wonders for the Vita’s credibility as a gaming system and though it’s not as portable as it could be, The Vita is a great way to take your games with you.

Are there issues to work out? Of course, but like any other launch, they’ll be fixed with time as developers learn how to better harness the potential of the new hardware. If you’re a commuter or at all in need of a portable gaming system, Blast highly recommends the Vita.

The PlayStation Vita is available February 22 and comes in two different models, one with Wifi for $249.99, and another that runs on AT&T’s 3G network for $299, This review was based on a 3G model, provided by the Publisher, along with the launch lineup.

When the original Twisted Metal was released in November of 1995, I was 10, and just about to enter junior high. That whole next year, a small group of friends and I spent far too much time on the couch, chasing each other down and giggling as we took one another out with missile. Now,over sixteen years later, somethings have become very evident — I’ve grown up, but Twisted Metal has not.

But perhaps, that’s not an entirely bad thing. It may seem juvenile and a bit of the mechanics seem dated, but there’s something that’s got to be said for a game that’s as fun as ever, and refuses to change — even as the industry around it demands maturity.

A bit of a primer first for those who may have missed the franchise’s previous iterations, Twisted Metal revolves around you being placed in badass vehicles, armed with bad ass weapons and tasks you with taking them out at any cost. It’s all part of one crazy man, known as Calypso, and his deadly tournament where the winner gets any one wish granted.

This tournament is a bit different though, as unlike previous games, with a huge number of playable characters, here, we’ve only got three, Sweet Tooth, Mr. Grimm, and Doll Face. While that may seem a bit limiting, each of the three characters comes with their own gang of followers, but most importantly has the ability to drive any of the game’s vehicles. So yes, Mr. Grimm can drive Sweet tooth’s trademarked ice cream truck.

The three character campaign offers a big change to the game’s single player format. Each of the three characters gets a chapter and leads up to a boss fight (not to mention some questionable live action cut scenes) that offer a wide range of difficulty. If it sounds like the single player game is short, that’s because it is, and you’ll more than likely finish it in one sitting. One has to wonder why the developers didn’t include more characters and a longer campaign.

Does it really matter though? Who’s really buying Twisted Metal for the single player? No, you’re paying for the mutliplayer, be it online or on the couch, and I’m glad to say that Twisted Metal still feels exactly like it should, and is a blast to play with freinds. The action is frantic, the weapons are fun and there are plenty of moments where you’re going to get some serious trash talking with your pals. There’s always a mad rush to get some of each of the powerups scattered throughout the maps.

But is Twisted Metal too stuck in its ways for its own good? The game drips with 90s gaming charm — so much so that it may turn some gamers off. The controls for instance are very arcade-like and save for a few different ratings and weaponry, the cars are predominately the same. Those different weapons though are a big part of what makes Twisted Metal so much fun in the first place. Special weaponry ranges from everything from sniper riffles with long lock-ons, to exploding grannies on stretchers (no, really), and are a blast to use. Most Twisted Metal matches start off incredibly hectic, but towards the end, the novelty of this starts to wear off, and the game actually starts to rely on actual skill to win matches

Visually, Twisted Metal feels like a lot more than a cleaned up version of the classic, as the game takes on a bit of a comic book look, but the most impressive part is that even with all of the weapons going off and the buildingings crumbling, Twisted Metal holds up pretty impressively and doesn’t fall victim to some of the same slowdown issues that other games like it have. You can’t deny just how cool it looks to narrowly escape a missile as it takes out a building behind you.

The Blast Factor: It may seem a little dated, and the packaging may be a bit thin (it doesn’t hurt that you’ll get a free copy of Twisted Metal Black), but it still retains the same off the wall, in your face high octane fun that the series is known for. Fans of the franchise, and fans of fun gaming in general will want to get behind the wheel of Sweet Tooth’s truck.

Here’s a cool video showing how Naughty Dog, the studio behind Uncharted made the debut trailer for their newly revealed PS3 survival game, The Last of Us.

The game is rumored to ship later this year. Fingers crossed.

Here’s your first look at MLB 12: The Show, courtesy of our friends over at IGN. Featuring new broadcast style presentation and move controls, MLB 12: The Show hits the PS3 on March 6.

Earlier today GameStop sent out calls to a number of customers who had preordered The Last Guardian to inform them that the long awaited PS3 exclusive had officially been canceled. You can hear the call here.

While its far from an official announcement, the evidence seems to be adding up. Searching GameStop.com for the game’s title gives you no results, and several stores have confirmed to Blast that they no longer have a listing for the game. Add to this that fact that the game’s creator Fumitory Ueda has officially left Sony (word is that the game was said to be finished on a contract basis).

But don’t get too disappointed, as a Sony spokesperson tells Kotaku that the game is definitely not canceled.

Blast will have more on this developing story as it becomes available.

Sony’s PS Vita launched in Japan this past weekend, and while they sold over 300,000 of the handheld over two days – not all is well. Users have reported countless issues with the system’s touch screen along with crashes and unresponsive features.

Of course, technical issues with new consoles are not a new feature, but the sheer amount of posts regarding defective Vita units to social networking sites like Twitter and YouTube has prompted Sony to post a statement on the official PlayStation blog.

“Currently, our information centre regarding PlayStation Vita as well as our usual customer service centre are receiving many enquiries. We apologies if your phone isn’t connected straight away,” it said.

Sony has also issued a mandatory firmware update that the publisher says should fix a number of the console’s issues.

“Some issues regarding PlayStation Vita can be addressed by simple procedures at home,” it added, linking to a series of frequently asked questions.

I’m what you call a wallflower. Born with two left feet, it’s a hazard to many when I’m dragged on to the dance floor. Let me let you in on a little secret though; when the curtains are drawn, and mood is right — I’ve been known to cut a mean rug in front of games like Dance Central with the family. You’ll probably never see it, but it’s quite the strange site to see a grown 240 lb man shaking it to Poker Face. Dance Central and its sequel are easily the standard in the newly forming dancing genre, but Sony’s new entry Everybody Dance is a more than capable challenger to the throne. With a slick presentation and a few new bells and whistles, it could be the most surprisingly fun guilty pleasure you’ll have this year — be warned though, the more you play, the more you’ll start to pick apart its flaws.

By now you know Everybody Dance’s deal, hold the PlayStation Move controller, and shake it to a bunch of awesome music while diagrams on the screen show you what your next move will be. It’s a simple formula, but Everybody Dance may have found an incredibly simple way to improve upon it. The upper left hand corner of the screen features the song’s music video, and while it may sound distracting for the dance steps, it serves quite a useful purpose. Odds are that the majority of the people playing games like this and Dance Central aren’t the best dancers, but are looking to have a fun time. Adding in the music video seems to make those apprehensive to join in the fun a bit more since not everyone’s attention is focused directly on them. In general though, the presentation in Everybody Dance is top notch. The on-screen display is crisp and unlike games like Just Dance, they’re quite easy to follow.

Of course, any dancing game is built on just how good its track listing is, and Everybody Dance delivers here too. While other games in the genre clearly focus on one genre while throwing occasional love to others, Everybody Dance’s track list is an eclectic one to say the least. At one point you’re jamming to Rihanna, then the next you’re getting nostalgic with New Kids on the Block or even a bit romantic with Barry White.  Personally, I really enjoyed my time with Elton John’s “I’m still standing” and The Chemical Brothers, “Hey Boy, Hey Girl.”

In Everybody Dance, you can dance alone, compete against a friend or alongside them in co-op, but where the game really takes off is with its dance creator mode. Here, you can skip the game’s choreography for the game and record your own, then challenge others to dance it. This is extremely fun and novel in a number of different ways — first, people like me can record the strangest dances in the world and laugh as friends try to copy them, but it’s also great for those who can actually dance and want to show the world their choreography skills. If Everybody Dance has legs, it’ll be here.

Really, the only thing that bugged me with Everybody Dance isn’t an issue with the game itself, but the platform it’s on and its limitations. The PlayStation Move requires the controller and the Eye camera, so it begs the question — if I’m doing all of this work, trying to match up with the choreography perfectly, is it just monitoring the controller itself? Could I get by with just moving the controller somewhat similarly to the way the dancers are? Yes…and no. Most songs don’t allow you to cheat, but there were a few times when it felt like I was just able to take the easy way out. Take for instance a few cases where I was given good scores after I know I screwed up the majority of my body.

The Blast Factor: Everybody Dance is the perfect game to bring out at parties. Everyone is bound to have a good time since they’re not paying that close attention to the game’s mechanics. It’s bright, loud and so incredibly fun that even wallflowers like me are going to find it hard to resist. It may not be perfect, but Everybody Dance could be one of the biggest surprises of this holiday season.

Uncharted 3 doesn’t hit shelves until this Tuesday, but that hasn’t stopped Naughty Dog from talking about the eventual Uncharted 4.

“There are a ton of Drake adventures out there and we haven’t told all of them yet, and as long as fans want the games and as long as we find something that’s interesting and will push the medium forward, we’ll continue to make them,” director Justin Richmond told the Official UK PlayStation Magazine.

Though Richmond didn’t talk about where Drake’s next adventure may take him, he did joke about Drake going in to space….nahhhh…too far.

I’ve been playing an unhealthy amount of Uncharted 3 over the last few days. Look for our review soon.

I first started playing Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One late at night. Sitting in front of the big screen, the opening cinematic started — all the conditions were right for a superb Ratchet and Clank experience. Then something strange happened; I found myself not exploring the world, but lumbering around, almost falling asleep in my chair. The next morning I jumped back in to the game with a few others and had a completely different experience – this was more like the Ratchet and Clank I knew.

All 4 One is a rare change from Insomniac for one of their most well known franchises, both in terms of design and quality. It’s two different games, a bad – -almost terrible single player endeavor and a frantic and mostly fun multiplayer romp. Perhaps most dissapoitingly, with graphical hiccups and glitches, All 4 One doesn’t live up to the past pedigree of previous games with superb production values. That being said, there’s still some value in this off the wall title featuring some of gaming’s most underrated characters – especially if you’ve got the friends to fill in the ranks.

Things start off remarkably well in All 4 One. We open to Ratchet and Clank being interviewed and lamenting their adventurous lifestyle, talking about how they want to leave the heroics to a professional – Like newly elected President Captain Quark (or anyone else). Before long, Dr. Nefarious returns, but in the middle of his attempt at revenge, the four are face to face with a powerful new enemy and are transported to an alien planet, and most work together to get home. This leads to perhaps the game’s most endearing quality; there are plenty of heart-warming moments and in-jokes as the former enemies must find a way to work together. It’s hard not to crack a smile at some of the moments, especially when the voice work is done so incredibly well.

Much like previous Ratchet and Clank games, All 4 One attempts to blend a multitude of gaming mechanics and traditions to create one experience; unlike previous games, they aren’t widely successful here. The main draw of All 4 One as opposed to the previous games in the series is that here, you’ll be doing everything you normally do, from platforming to solving puzzles, but this time you’ll have up to three of your friends by your side. Right from the character select screen, I was instantly brought back to my days of bumming around in arcades playing classic coin-op coop’s like The Simpsons and X-Men. That vibe persists throughout the entire game, and the game proves to be a complete blast when it really starts to gain momentum. It becomes a fast and frantic smash and grab co-op beat ‘em up that is worth more than its fair share of beat-‘em-ups.

The downside too all of this is that some of what makes the Ratchet and Clank series so remarkable in the first place seems to have been compromised for this feeling. The previous games, especially the phenomenal  A Crack in Time weren’t exactly open world, but they did encourage exploration throughout its worlds, in that regard, All 4 One feels remarkably shoe-horned and linear. You and your motley bunch will follow very set paths as you smash through crates, and jump from platform to platform. I couldn’t help but think to myself; this is a Ratchet and Clank game, I should be able to see what’s behind that wall! It’s pretty disappointing, especially to long time fans of the series.

All 4 One also employs a pretty robust set of weapon upgrades you’ll obtain by playing through the game. Each character has their own set of weapons and each is fully upgradable by purchasing them at bolt machines scattered throughout All 4 One’s maps. It’s a lot of fun to go through and get these upgrades, but I constantly found myself pining for the system of old where you upgrade your weaponry would need to be used significantly before you could upgrade it. Sure the new way seems like a much more streamlined and easy to use, but the previous way almost demanded depth and experimentation with the game’s weaponry.

All 4 One is also missing the polish that Insomniac Games has made a staple of the Ratchet and Clank universe. There are occasional visual hiccups throughout the game, like mudded-out textures and boring color schemes (when compared to the bulk of the game), but by far the most frustrating presentation aspect is how crappy the camera system is. All 4 One employs a much more zoomed out camera to adapt to the new 4-player system, but it also locks at all the wrong times and frequently cuts off things like enemies and power-ups until everyone on the screen is ready to move on.

The Blast Factor: It’s a tough business being a console mascot; one wrong move and you’re doing starring roles on your former rival’s party games.  All 4 One may not be that wrong move (if anything, Secret Agent Clank takes that spot), but it’s still a step backward for the franchise. It can be frantic and fun when played with the right people, but just don’t let it be anyone’s introduction to the Ratchet and Clank franchise.

Japanese gamers may be getting the new Sony handheld; The PlayStation Vita under their Christmas trees, but don’t fret if you’re not in the far East, you won’t have much longer to wait. Sony has announced that the Vita will launch in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia on February 22.

The Vita, revealed last year will retail in two different models $249.99 for the Wi-Fi unit and $299.99 for 3G. By default, we now know the release date for a number of launch titles including Marvel VS Capcom 3 and Uncharted: Golden Abyss.

So…gettin’ one?

Naughty Dog released this new footage of Uncharted 3′s desert environment, and it’s downright gorgeous. Fair warning before you check it out, there’s one minor spoiler…sort of. Uncharted 3 launches for the PS3 on November 1, 2011. Enjoy!

Uncharted 3 comes out in just over a month, but if you’re really anxious, you’ll be able to experience the game’s full multiplayer suite this Saturday; and all it will cost you is a soda.

As announced at this year’s E3, Sony’s Uncharted 3 multiplayer giveaway will allow those who buy a specially marked 32 ounce sodas will receive a code to access the entire multiplayer portion of the game. The service will shutoff once the full product launches on November 1, but all saved data will transfer over to the final retail game.

If you’re hungry, subs and chips will also have codes for Uncharted themes, in-game cash and multiplayer skins.

In a move that’s going to surprise no one, it was confirmed at this year’s E3 that all Modern Warfare 3 DLC will be timed exclusives to the Xbox 360.  You didn’t expect Sony to take that lying down did you?

It was announced today that beginning with the already announced Road to Karkand,  all DLC for Modern Warfare 3′s closest competitor, EA’s Battlefield 3 will be exclusive to PS3 for one week before it hits Xbox Live.

Alright, stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The PlayStation Network, the online network that’s home to all of Sony’s PS3 and PSP downloads is down. The good news is that it seems that this doesn’t seem to be as big of a problem as the outage that took the network offline for months earlier this year.

“We’re aware that some of you are having issues trying to log into PSN. We’re working to resolve the issue, and we’ll update you here,” Sony Tweeted on it’s official PlayStation account. The Twitter account has been updated saying that the service should be back up and running in a matrer of hours.

Say, would you like to play Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One? What’s that you would? Then you’re in the right place.

We’ve got two beta codes that need a home, and want that home to be with you.  How do you win? Easy, just comment below and tell us who your favorite character from the game is, and why. Only one comment per user will be counted. Winners will be chosen September 16 at 5pm.

Good luck!

Sony has announced that effective today, the 160GB PlayStation 3 model will retail for $249, $50 cheaper than it’s previous price. The 320GB console will also drop $50, going for $299.

While the announcement will no doubt spark a firestorm of “OMG PS4 to be announced!” headlines, the price drop is likely done to compete more directly with the console’s direct competitors, the Xbox 360, which retails for $199 ($299 with Kinect) and the Wii, which goes for $150 with Mario Kart bundled in.

LOS ANGELES — Naughty Dog Game Director Justin Richmond knows that it would be easy to rest on the laurels of the massive success of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves when it comes to the franchise’s highly anticipated next chapter; Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, but refuses to.

“We always want to make a game that we’re interested in playing. We want to push ourselves,” Richmond said. “We never want to rest on the laurels of the last game. Uncharted 2, it was lightning in a bottle, and we know that. It was the right people in the right studio at the right time, but we’re really proud of what we’re doing with this one.”

So just how does Richmond plan on improving what many see as one of the most impressive and memorable games in recent years? Easy; adding pretty much more of everything fans love and improving what they didn’t.

Take the game’s melee combat system for example, Richmond said that while the system worked for Uncharted 2, the team knew they could do so much more this time around.

“One of the things we really tried to improve this time around was the melee system.  We were never really happy with it in the last game and we’re working on making it as much fun as the rest of the game. We’re really taking a look at all of these little things and seeing where we can tweak them to make the game that much better.”

During our interview, we were shown two sections of the Uncharted 3 campaign, and though it’s obvious that the tweaks Richmond talked about were implemented, it was even more apparent that the studio knew what gave Uncharted its identity, big over the top action sequences. The first sequence we saw was a slightly longer version of the cruise ship level from Sony’s E3 press conference (yeah, the one with the really cool water effects) and it was clear that the scope of the game has been made to be even more massive. The level (as seen below) features a ton of interior and exterior locations, completely dwarfing the scope of the last game.

The second section we saw found Drake and Elena sneaking into an airport runway and Drake literally climbing on to the plane’s landing gear to climb on board. Once on the plane, Drake found his way to main cargo area, where he met up with an awfully large Henchmen, and a very cool battle sequence ensued (where we got to see the new melee system with contextual cues and quick time events). While the demo did show the type of over the top Hollywood style action we’re accustomed to see in the franchise, the cinematic leading up to the sequence told a different story, one not usually associated with Drake’s adventures; the heart and believability of the characters, and according to Richmond, that’s something the team is really aiming to change.”We want to be true to our characters, what they’d do, how they’d act. We feel like we have a natural progression of where the characters were in the last game to where they are now.”

But what about the characters not from the last game? Richmond then introduced us to Katherine Marlowe, the game’s new antagonist and quickly became excited about what she brings to the Uncharted saga.

“This is where the Drake’s Deception title really starts to come in. Uncharted 3 finds Nathan Drake searching for an ancient 16 century treasure, but he ends up being pulled in to an even bigger mystery filled with deceit, pitting him against a shadowy clandestine organization and the occult treachery of its cunning and ruthless leader,” Richmond said. “Marlowe is always trying to undermine Drake and getting him to do things he doesn’t want to do, it adds a brand new dynamic to the franchise.”

Uncharted 3 launches on November 1 exclusively for the PlayStation 3. Check back with Blast for more previews and coverage until the game’s release, and be sure to check out our gallery below for a ton of cool Uncharted screenshots.

A Sony distribution warehouse in North London was destroyed by a fire as a result of the third night of riots in Great Britain.

The fire will impede the deliveries of CDs and DVDs throughout the United Kingdom, since it was the only place storing Sony products in the country, a Sony representative told Rolling Stone.

The warehouse was also home to the all of PIAS UK’s products, which is the main distribution company for over 150 labels in the area, meaning independent label will take a big hit.  Labels such as Beggars Group, Sub Pop, Rough Trade, Domino and 4AD lost all inventory.

Series co-director and creator David Jaffe has announced that the highly anticipated Twisted Metal revamp won’t be making it’s expected October release date and has been pushed back to sometime in 2012. But don’t worry, Jaffe says it’s a good thing.

” I know. A lot of dedicated, supportive, passionate Twisted Metal fans have been waiting for the return of Calypso’s demented contest for a long time but the truth is: we’re just not ready yet,” Jaffe wrote on the Official PlayStation Blog. “Anyway – it sucks bad when games miss their announced launch dates. We’re gamers too and we know how annoying it is. It’s disappointing and frustrating and it really takes the wind out of your sails if you’re a fan that has been looking forward to playing a title for a long time. Thing is, you gotta trust me when I tell you that – with this extra time for tuning and polish – the game is going to be so much better than it already is. And if you played Twisted Metal and liked it at E3 or Comic-Con, or if you get to play it (and you enjoy it) at one of the August shows, just imagine how much more fun the final game will be with some extra time, polish, and love”

Jaffe closed out the post with a quote from legendary game designer and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto; ‘A late game is only late until it ships. A bad game is bad until the end of time.’

Well, scratch another toy off my Christmas list, as Sony announced earlier today that though its new handheld, The PlayStation Vita will be released this fall in Japan;  gamers in both the USA and European territories will have to wait until sometime in 2012.

Sony warned all along that the device may not be ready for release this year, but it was widely suspected that a release date would come before the end of the year.

Sony also commented that they do not plan to lower the price of the Vita as a result of the 3DS price drop issued by Nintendo last month.

You’ll soon be able to get your Game of Thrones fix right on your Xbox or PS3, thanks to HBO and Time Warner’s announcement that the on demand service HBO GO will soon be hitting consoles.

The announcement was made via a conference call with investors, and shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as it was revealed earlier this week that over half of all Netflix instant stream users connect via a game console.

HBO GO is an on demand video service free for anyone with an HBO subscription.

We’ve been through this before with Sony’s movie-making software. I can’t list every feature — heck, I can’t even test every feature. Suffice to say, I’ve been a big fan of with the Vegas line of movie software and the Acid line of audio software for many years.

The word is usually “value.” Sony’s software is cheaper than it’s competitors, especially the Movie Studio line, which can be had for under $70 online.

If you are editing video on a PC, Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 is easier to use than Corel VideoStudio and just as good as Adobe Premiere Elements, both of which are more expensive than the Sony title.

You can import video directly from your camera, drag and drop everything into place, and export or burn the product onto a disc with full DVD or Blu-ray menus.

One feature that I found even more useful is the ability to upload your videos directly to YouTube. As you probably won’t be using $60 software to make a full-scale Hollywood motion picture, the rest of us, on YouTube, can be satisfied.

There are also intuitive tutorials built-in to the software, taking away some of the learning curve. The software is stable, streamlined, and powerful. Pound for pound, Movie Studio is a good buy.

You? How about you? I see a few hands there.

Blast Magazine is partnering with Sony to hand out a slew of beta invites for the upcoming Resistance 3 multiplayer beta kicking off August 4.  How do you win? Just enter a comment on this post and you’ll automatically be entered. You can post as many times as you want, but you’ll only be entered once.  Please note, these codes are for users with North American PSN accounts only.

Oh and be sure to follow me on Twitter @JoeSinicki. I’ll be slinging codes there every now and then as well.

Winners will be chosen sometime Monday! Good luck!

One of our favorite game’s from this year’s E3 was Starhawk. The PS3 exclusive quasi western-space shooter featured an original concept and more importantly was incredibly fun to play.  Now, here’s a new look at one of the game’s cinnematics, which introduces us to Mercenary Emmet Graves.

StarHawk is expected to launch later this year on the PS3.

Why an elephant? Because.

Probably not. But isn’t wild internet speculation fun?

The latest rumors come after the domain microsoft-sony.com was registered and traced back to Microsoft. It could be something, or it could be nothing as domain names are known to be wacky for ass covering reasons.  But hey, who knows.

Making the rumor even more interesting is the rumor that Kotaku reported that the two companies were in active discussion regarding their new consoles — to be released in 2014.

What does it mean? Probably nothing. But he stranger things have happened. Did you ever think Mario and Sonic would be in a game together?

Every year, I have a very distinct way that I play the NCAA Football series. At any time I have no less than two different dynasties going. I always start with the Wisconsin Badgers and continue my home state’s yearly dominance over winning countless national titles, but the other is a bit more interesting. I take a random small school and through recruiting and old fashioned coaching slowly turn them into a national powerhouse; then after a few years I change schools to see if I can do it again.  This usually means giving up my numbers and record and starting over, but thanks to the coaching carousel, a new feature in this year’s game, I’m able to play in one continuous game that allows me to think and more importantly react as an actual NCAA coach.

The coaching carousel mode is just one of many additions that makes NCAA Football one of the series premiere titles. Though it has its fair share of flaws and the majority of the gameplay hasn’t been changed much, there’s still much to like here.  From a slew of new presentation improvements to a notable amount of customization options, NCAA Football  2012 finally steps out from the shadow of its big brother, the Madden NFL series and it does so by celebrating the spectacle of college football and not just the product.

The addition of the coaching carousel to the Dynasty Mode is an interesting one. You start by creating your coach from style to alma matter and of course look (admittedly though there are some curious absences here. You mean I can make my coach wear a 3 piece suit but can’t give him a 60’s era hat?) and then you pick your first coaching job. Where you go and what role you take will have a massive impact on your experience: pick an offensive or defensive coordinator and you’ll only have control over that side of the ball; but if you pick a head coach you’ll have control over the entire team. At the beginning of each season you’re given a set of goals and these are how you’re judged at the end of the season. Once your contract runs out you’ll have the option to stay with your current team (if they don’t fire you) or testing the waters otherwise.  It’s an interesting twist and a brand new way to look at a mode that had become somewhat stale in recent years.

The mode isn’t without its flaws though. Key among them is the fact that regardless of what position you choose, you’re going to be responsible for the entire team’s recruitment process, thus giving you pretty much the same responsibilities and making the feat of getting a head coaching job seem that much more trivial. What’s more, it’s entirely too easy to pull of the game’s biggest feat – landing your “dream job.” Simply create your coach and set his alma matter to whatever team you want, then make him the head coach of that school, and you’re in (interestingly enough it’s also a way to get a 30 point achievement on the Xbox 360).

Coaching carousel isn’t the only notable addition to Dynasty mode as for the first time ever you’ll be able to change around divisions and NCAA rules to your liking. The impressive customization suite was included as an answer to last year’s talk of super conferences and a dramatic realigning and is a college football fans dream. Want Norte Dame to play in the Big Ten? Go for it. Want to move a small southern team into the SEC to play with the big boys? It’s all up to you.  What’s more, you can even change bowl bids and where the bowl games happen. For instance, you can make the winner of the SEC and the winner of the Big Ten play each other in the Orange Bowl if you’d like.

Another mode that’s grown stale in recent years but given an overhaul in the 2012 game is the Road to Glory mode.  The mode, which puts you in control of one single created player now starts you back at the beginning of your senior year of high school (teams are either automatically created or you can import them using the impressive team builder). Once you choose which school you’ll be playing for, the game becomes almost more like an RPG as you’ll earn experience points to level up your player through in game play and mini games like practice performance. While you’ll start as a simple backup, you’ll eventually work your way up to becoming a trusted starter that can call his own plays and audibles at the line.

As you’d probably expect, save for a few new animations and tweaks, not much of the game’s core gameplay has been changed from last year’s installment. Unfortunately, this includes a few key elements that desperately needed tweaking. Some of the game’s physics are still a bit strange (there were several times where the ball went directly through my receiver), and the AI still has a tendency to become unbelievably good towards the end of the game especially when trailing. Come on, it’s a bit strange when you’re dominating for three and a half quarters only to have the other team suddenly become experts at interceptions and sacks.

Not all of the game’s tweaks are of the gameplay variety though, as the game features an updated presentation aspect this year.  Key among the updates is the stadium specific introductions. While not all teams have big introductions, the key ones are here like Florida State’s Chief Osceola and Renegade running on to the field and the LSU Tiger. They’re great to watch the first few times, but what about the rest of the game? If you’re going to capture the true spirit of college football, why not do something special for the end of the game?  Why does it feel the same when I beat a no name opponent as it does when I upset a top ranked team? Also notable is the fact that the game’s crowd noise has been improved dramatically and you no longer get the feeling like you’re listening to 50 fans amplified to sound like 100,000 fans; you’re actually listening to the right amount.

Much like the gameplay however, the game still suffers from some of the same visual flaws that have haunted the series for years. At random times half of players will vanish and the ball will completely go through whole objects. The new presentation aspects are great, but I almost would have rather had them wait on those until they fixed these lingering problems.

Blast Factor: Though it has its fair share of flaws, NCAA Football 2012 is easily one of the best of the franchise. With its new customization suite and revamped modes, college football fans are sure to find enough to enjoy for some time to come – or at least until next year’s game releases.

At this year’s E3, we got a lot of new information on Sony’s new handheld, The PS Vita. One thing we didn’t get though was the system’s release date, which we could know now thanks to a UK retailer.

The website Shopto.net is currently taking pre-orders for both the WiFi and 3G enabled versions of the Vita, and they’re both tagged with the release date of November 4. Apparently, the retailer says the information is straight from Sony.

Sony has issued a statement regarding the date, but interestingly enough, they’re not denying it specifically. “No one has communicated any release dates to retail partners,” Sony UK told GameSpot UK. “That date is not official as we haven’t announced anything yet.”

Though these dates are placed by retailers all the time as placeholders, this one seems to have some meat to it, and it makes sense, as November is often a time companies choose to release systems, as it allows the device to be on the shelves for the busy Holiday shopping season.