Sony announced today that Killzone Mercenary for the PS Vita will now release in North America on September 10th and September 6th in the UK instead of the original release date of September 17th. That means everyone can get their hands on the game a week early and allows the game to get the heck out of the way of Grand Theft Auto V’s release on September 17th.

In addition to that news, it was also announced that Killzone Mercenary will recieve some pre-order bonuses.

Blackjack’s Briefcase:

• 48 hour Double XP booster 
• In-Game Cash Bonus, which will let you grab some weapons and upgrades immediately. 

GameStop(US) Exclusive(also includes Blackjack’s Briefcase):

•  ISA M224-A1, usable in both the single player campaign and multiplayer.

Source: US and EU PlayStation Blog

It’s finally official, and not surprising, it’s coming to PlayStation 3. With promises of all-new physics, a “more compact engine” to speed things up in terms of load times and flexibility, 200 more cars on the disc, 7 new tracks in 17 variations, and now even using adaptive tessellation in the visuals, it probably still won’t seem like too big of an update on the surface. From the looks of it though, there’s a lot of “new and shiny” under the hood. Also, they’re definitely expanding Gran Turismo’s reach outside the confines of the PS3, with interactivity with not only the website, but with portable devices like phones and tablets.

Check out the trailer:

and the PR Speak:
“Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. today announced Gran Turismo®6 (GT6™), the latest version of PlayStation®’s best-selling franchise, will be released in Holiday, 2013. The news was revealed today by legendary Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi at an event held to celebrate 15 years of the 70-million-selling series.

GT6 for PlayStation®3 will bring new levels of authenticity to ‘the Real Driving Simulator’ as well as introducing stunning new tracks and cars and a revised user interface. A new compact game engine will improve operation and increase the flexibility to expand it with downloadable content. Meanwhile, the game is also set for expanded connectivity with other devices such as smart phones and tablets and increased social and community functions.

All of the cars and tracks from Gran Turismo®5, which has sold over 10 million copies since launching in 2010, will be retained in GT6. But notable new additions to the already impressive line-up of historic cars, road cars and the latest race cars, brings the total car list to 1,200 at launch, with new cars set to be continually added online. Several thousand aerodynamic parts and custom wheels will be available for almost all cars, and players can personalize their own custom cars in game to the greatest ever level possible.

The UK’s famous Silverstone Circuit will be just one of seven new locations in Gran Turismo 6, taking the total to 33, with 71 different layouts available, 19 of them brand new. There will also be regular additions of new tracks set to be made available online. The improved course maker function will provide gorgeous scenery spanning several tens of square kilometers including the magnificent backdrop of Andalucia.

The theme of Gran Turismo’s innovative collaborations with partner companies will increase with the inception of GT6. A number of exciting new projects that blur the line between the virtual and real will be announced in the run up to the game’s launch. Not least of these is GT Academy, a collaboration with Nissan to unearth real racing driver talent that first ran in 2008. It was announced during the event that the competition returns for its biggest ever year in 2013, with the entry mechanic set to take place on an exclusive GT6 demo in July.

Other notable partnerships in the development of GT6 have been with tire manufacturer Yokohama Rubber and suspension company KW Automotive. Both companies are active in the commercial car industry and in racing, and they have acted as technical development partners for the game’s new physics engine, for its tire and suspension kinematic modeling, creating an even more realistic experience for GT fans.

“It is amazing to think that it is 15 years since we first released Gran Turismo,” explained Kazunori Yamauchi, during the announcement at Silverstone Circuit. “Things have changed a lot since then and now Gran Turismo 6 is a further evolution of my dream. We’re pleased to deliver GT6 to PlayStation 3 as we have a very loyal community on that platform. However, we have refactored the game to make it very flexible and expandable, with a view to making many future developments. I am very pleased with everything about the new game and the new additions, but the launch will be only the beginning for GT6. The game will continue to develop throughout its life. I already have many ideas for things I want to achieve in the next 15 years of Gran Turismo!”

The celebration of 15 years of Gran Turismo event at Silverstone included a demo of GT6 featuring the famous circuit. Guests were able to play the game in the familiar circular Gran Turismo race pods before having a chance to take to the real track in cars provided by Audi, Ford, Jaguar, KTM, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Toyota.

Further news about Gran Turismo 6 will be revealed at the forthcoming E3 and Gamescom events and on http://www.gran-turismo.com/”

Summary of new Gran Turismo 6 features announced by Kazunori Yamauchi:

New Game Engine:
Refactoring
Compact, nimble operation
Flexible expandability
A new rendering engine that pushes the limits of the PS3
New Physics Engine
New suspension and kinematics model
New tyre model
New aerodynamics model
Technical partnership with Yokohama Rubber and KW Automotive

1,200 Cars, abundant custom parts, and on-going DLC

From historic cars to the latest racing cars, the game contains a total of 1200 cars.
Multiple aerodynamic parts and custom wheels will be available for almost all cars.
Players can create their own personalised custom car in the game.
Cars will be continually added online

33 locations, 71 layouts

33 Locations and 71 layouts will be provided from day 1 (7 more locations and 19 more layouts than GT5)
More new tracks will continue to be provided online
New Course Maker

Massive scenery spanning several tens of square kilometers
A new course generation algorithm

Community/Club/Race Organizer:
Players can form their own communities
Various community levels from local and domestic to global
Players themselves can create and manage their own online events
New User Interface

Balancing directional key operation and touch operation
Quick response
Shortening of loading times

Multi Device Compatibility:
PlayStation
Smart Phone
Tablet
PC

At the same time as the PS3 version of GT6 the “Real Driving Simulator” launches, a mobile version and web application version of GT6, will be created to enjoy Gran Turismo’s massive community space.

Real/Virtual “Edge Effect” Activity:
A variety of “Edge Effects”, the chemical reactions between the real world and the virtual world for which the Gran Turismo series is famous, are also planned for GT6. Exciting collaborations between various automotive manufacturers and collaborations with brands crossing different industries will be revealed gradually across the next six months.

Screenshots!:

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

SCEE have just confirmed the PS+ offering for June.

As always, subscribers are in for a treat thanks to some fantastic free games. Rayman Origins, which is perhaps the most beautiful looking game so far on the Vita‘s OLED screen, arrives on June 5th. Another title for Sony‘s latest handheld – Coconut Dodge Revitalised, from renowned PSN developer FuturLab – also hits on the same day. Meanwhile, the PS3 selection will be updated with 3 full retail releases on May 29th. The PS Blog also teases that Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is set for a 70% discount on PS+.

Check out the full list below:

Leaving PS Plus in June:

• 29th May: Hitman Absolution
• 29th May: Joe Danger 2
• 29th May: Dead or Alive 5
• 5th June: Sine Mora
• 12th June: Velocity Ultra

Entering PS Plus in June:

• 29th May: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
• 29th May: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection
• 29th May: Demon’s Souls
• 5th June: Rayman Origins
• 5th June: Coconut Dodge Revitalised

Sony have trademarked the slogan ‘Greatness Awaits’, in preparation for their initial PlayStation 4 marketing campaign.

Siliconera spotted the trademark, which fits in with leaks which appeared online last week. The leaks suggested a TV advert – which featured nods to Destiny and Killzone: Shadow Fall – would be centred around the theme of ‘Greatness Awaits’.

Indeed, the commercial is said to end with the quote; “Who are you to deny greatness? If you would deny it to yourself, you deny it to the entire world.” (also via Siliconera).

Now while the overall promotional campaign should still be treated as rumour, there is no denying the trademark. This could be just one of the ideas SCEA are toying around with, but taking into account the apparent leaks, ‘Greatness Awaits’ looks likely to be the first slogan for the latest PlayStation console.

Namco Bandai announced today that PAC-MAN and the Ghostly Adventures is coming to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and WiiU this Fall.

PAC-MAN and the Ghostly Adventures is based on the upcoming Disney XD show by Avi Arad. The story follows PAC-MAN on his home world, Pac-World, when Netherworld ghosts, led by the evil Betrayus, break free of their ghoulish domain and start taking over Pac-World.

PAC-MAN and the Ghostly Adventures features a revamped universe that will stay true to PAC-MAN origins and classic elements. Such as the Ghost-chomping mechanic that now features power-ups and variations.

The sun is shining and summer is here and to celebrate that we are getting new Sound Shapes DLC. Below is a video showing off the awesome sound packs, ’80s and Dubstep.

The ’80s pack from the times when the world was saying goodbye to disco and hello to pop. Or Dubstep, a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London.

Both packs each include new notes, loops, five new Beat School levels, and five trophies.

And later this month there will be a special installment of the Milkcrate, our carefully curated collection of Community levels. What’s so special? Well, they asked some of their favorite people to hand-pick their favorite levels, write up liner notes, design custom album artwork, and send them your way – people like:

• Japanese media artist Baiyon
• Indie music label Ghostly International
• Game site Gamespot
• The kings of digital cool at TheVerge.com
• And the fifth is Queasy-curated (we’re still special, right?)

Pretty rad if we say so ourselves, and there are many more guest-curated Milkcrate albums coming soon. Stay tuned.

Both Sound Packs are available tomorrow, 15^th May, for £0.79/€0.99 (today in the US for $0.99) each on the PlayStation Store (PS3 and PS Vita) and the Milkcrate albums are coming on 28th May as a free update (they’ll appear like magic when you log in).

Some information was taken from the PlayStation Blog

Krieg is coming to Borderlands 2 today! The sixth playable character, which we previewed last week, has a wild launch trailer available here:

The Psycho Bandit will be available to tear up Pandora when the PlayStation Store updates later today for $9.99.

It’s coming this Summer to PSN and PCs everywhere! It’s no longer trying to be sneaky. As a matter of fact, our until-recently-stealthy friends from Lille, France, Seaven Studio, are laying their baby wide open to the elements!

Ethan: Meteor Hunter is a platforming puzzler which revolves around our hero, a mouse who became exposed to fragments of this interstellar interloper. Unlike Stephen King in Creepshow who turns into a plant-man, Ethan becomes telekinetic like Stephen King’s Carrie without the specter of spontaneous gym-shower sanguination. Ethan travels through three different worlds and 50 levels as he tries to reconstitute the pulverized meteor.

When Seaven announced their existence they talked about involving their fans in the process of development. They weren’t kidding. Have a look at the video below and become involved in the development by downloading the Alpha Demo onto your computer and sending the studio your feedback.

Announced during PAX East, the sixth playable character for Borderlands 2, Krieg, is upon us. A few weeks back, I got to sit down with Ryan Heaton, Lead Level Designer and Adam Fletcher, PR and Marketing Manager at Gearbox Software and we took a long look at all that Krieg has to offer.

Coming to us straight from the twisted mind of Paul Hellquist, Creative Director for Borderlands 2, the Psycho Bandit, Krieg, is literally a game changer. Seriously, take everything you know about combat in Borderlands and throw it right out the window because it won’t work here. Hellquist has been wanting to make this character class for some time now and he finally got his chance.

All the expected humor is present in Krieg with his actions and of course, dialogue. As a psycho, he’ll often have fights with himself as his calmer side can and will argue with his more aggressive side at any time during gameplay. It’s quite hilarious and a lot of fun to play.

Krieg’s main Action Skill is Buzz Axe Rampage and every time he strikes with his over-sized bad ass buzz axe, he gets full health. In the Bloodlust Skill Tree, when you fire your weapon and it does damage to anyone, you build a stack and every single hit continues to build the stack. The result of this then alters all the skills in this Tree. For example, your Buzz Axe Rampage will last 10-15 seconds with a 120 second cool down period, but when you have Blood Trance, for every stack, the Rampage time gets increased.

Buzz Axe Bombardier will add dynamite to your Buzz Axe when you throw it, so even if you don’t quite hit your target you’ll still be able to do a lot of splash damage, increased of course by the number of stacks you have at the time. The big daddy at the bottom of the Tree is the Bloodsplosion. When you kill an enemy with say, 10,000 Damage but they only needed maybe 7,000 Damage to die, the extra 3,000 gets funneled into an Elemental Nova from the body of the dearly deceased which, again, increases with the number of stacks you have at the time, great stuff.

The Mania Tree is probably the nuttiest of the bunch because everything here increases when you’re just about to die. With Empty The Rage, your melee damage gets increased but you get additional bonuses if your shield is down and even more if you’ve already emptied the clip in your gun. Feed The Meat increases your maximum health but also increases your shield recharge delay. Pull The Pin will drop a grenade automatically when you die and if you happen to kill an enemy, you’ll get double XP from it.

Another fun skill, Field Of Rampage, lets you take more damage while decreasing the 120 second cool down period of your Action Skill. It also allows teammates to damage you which decreases the cool down period even more. Silence The Voices increases melee damage but increases the chance that you’ll attack yourself because, hey, he’s a psycho after all. Release The Beast will turn you into a Badass Psycho when you activate your Action Skill while at 33% health or less. This actually physically transforms Krieg’s arms, one tiny, one huge, and increases your melee damage exponentially and allows you to use your Action Skill again immediately when it ends allowing you to chain it again and again as long as you’re still at 33% health or less.

The biggest effect on gameplay however comes from Light The Fuse. With this skill equipped, when you get into a Fight For Life situation, Krieg is able to continue moving at full speed, dynamite in hand, throwing it at every enemy you can find. You can, alternatively, get close to an enemy and hold down X to detonate the dynamite in a suicidal blaze of glory and if you happen to kill that enemy, you’re instantly revived.

The Hellborn Tree revolves entirely around you being on fire. Yup, you need to be on fire so this one is seriously insane (and fun). Your first skill increases your chances to catch on fire when you ignite an enemy and all subsequent skills rely on you being on fire. For instance, the Numb Nerves Skill will decrease all damage while you’re on fire. So not only does it decrease the fire damage (yes, you’re still taking damage from being on fire, even though it’s required here) but it’ll also decrease any gun or melee damage you receive.

Delusional Damage will let you catch on fire with any element gun, while Hellfire Halitosis turns your melee swing into you breathing fire. However, the last skill in this Tree is one of my favorites, Raving Retribution. With it, when you take damage, your body will automatically shoot out homing fireballs once per second, it’s absolutely insane.

Krieg will be available this Tuesday, May 14 on the PlayStation Store for $9.99 and I can assure you, it’ll be worth every penny.

]]> http://www.psnation.org/2013/05/10/borderlands-2-psycho-pack-holy/feed/ 0 http://www.psnation.org/2013/05/09/saints-row-iv-gameplay-walkthru-from-pax-east-2013/ http://www.psnation.org/2013/05/09/saints-row-iv-gameplay-walkthru-from-pax-east-2013/#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 13:30:42 +0000 Glenn Percival http://www.psnation.org/?p=30123

Ok, the series has always been pretty crazy, but with the 4th iteration, Volition looks to take the throne as they best Crackdown with some awesome powers and over-the-top weapons. Just watch…

PR Talk:
“Today Deep Silver and Volition released an in-game walkthrough from the pre-alpha version of Saints Row IV based on the demo shown during the latest PAX East.

Senior Producer Jim Boone from Volition will lead you through the urban chaos of virtual Steelport. In the upcoming Saints Row IV for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC, not only will you greet your citizens as President of the USA with friendly… punches, but you’ll also have some mind-boggling weapons will also be at your disposal. Make your people dance to the funky beats of your Dubstep Gun and literally kill them with music! Weapons now not only can be upgraded; this time you will be also able to change their looks.
In Saints Row IV you will encounter enemies that are certainly…out of this world! Blast them to pieces… either with your super Mech… or your superpowers!”

Saints Row IV launches August 20th, 2013 across North and Latin America and August 23rd worldwide.