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#PS3 New Releases
- Disney Sing It: Family Hits $39.99
- Superstars V8 Racing $39.99

#News
- Socom 4 is moved to 2011
http://www.socom.com/en-us/Blog/Post?id=340
- Firmware 3.41 added store recommendations but not yet http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/07/26/next-ps3-firmware-update-adds-playstation-store-recommendations/
- PSP firmware 6.31 improves “software stability”
- LBP2 release 11/16 with lots of retail goodies http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/07/23/littlebigplanet-2-updates-official-date-and-retail-goodness/
- Critter Crunch free to PS+ users
- MAG’s August update making Supression mode faction neutral http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/27/mag-update-deploying-in-august-making-suppression-mode-faction/

#What We’re Playing
#Review of Trinity Universe
#Review of NieR
#Review of Hexyz Force
#Impressions of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
#Impressions of Madden 11 Demo
#Impressions of the PSP Digital Comics

#Emails
#Comedian is Eugene Mirman

#Theme Music provided by ‘It Is Written’
http://www.myspace.com/itiswrittenband
http://www.facebook.com/pages/It-Is-Written/44757816299

Time travel has long been a concept that has intrigued and eluded even the most scientific of minds.  It is an idea most often associated with fiction but may one day be based on fact.  The creative works of H.G. Wells and his fantastic time machine, Steven Spielberg’s DeLorean and, most recently, the therapeutic waters of a hot tub, time, and time travel, conjure images of near limitless possibilities.

Jumping back in time to right a wrong, change your past or corrupt with prejudice or to thrust forward in time to answer the simple question: what happens next; traveling through time is an ability best preserved for the imagination of children and not willful disregard of men in power.

Still, the ability to be swept back in time, emotionally, is not so unusual; nor is it only reserved for the next iteration of Star Trek movies (seriously, what was the last Star Trek movie that didn’t involve some time/space rift of some sort).

But the time travel I refer to doesn’t involve any moving parts or well-oiled machinery.  All that is required are ones memories and, more often than not, an unexpected shot of the human sense – be it smell, sight or sound.

On July 10, 2010 I was transported back in time to the summer of 1977 when I was a young boy of 6.  This act of time travel occurred while surrounded by hundreds of spectators in an auditorium filled to near capacity.  It happened when the first orchestral note was struck and a 3-story High Definition screen cut through the darkness with 2 words that have affected generations of fans:

Star Wars In Concert is a touring sight and sound spectacle that has, for reasons I can attest to, been receiving wonderfully rave reviews.  The iconic composition of the entire 6-film saga, originally composed by the legendary John Williams, was performed (flawlessly I might add) by a full symphony and choir.

Accented by an occasional laser light show the music, performed in chronological order of the saga, was seamlessly edited to play in synch with some of the most memorable scenes from the Star Wars movies.  These movie clips (some with audio dialogue) were beautifully displayed on an amazingly clear, 3-story tall High Definition screen.

The icing on this proverbial cake came in the form of none other than Anthony Daniels (C3PO to you non-Star Wars nerds out there).  Mr. Daniels’ experience as a London stage performer was evidenced by his grace and enunciation as he eloquently prefaced each symphonic story with a brief, storybook-like narration of the events and characters from the Star Wars universe.

Unless you’ve been stranded on a desert island most of your life the Star Wars epic should be intimately familiar to everyone reading this article; some, perhaps more so than others.  I grew up with Star Wars.  I was fortunate enough to see the original trilogy (Episodes IV, V & VI) in the theaters (some at a drive-in).  My childhood birthdays were filled with the latest and greatest Star Wars action figures, toys, posters and books.  At one point I even had a vinyl copy of The Empire Strikes Back.  The majority of my youthful collection has since been lovingly passed down to my son for his 5^th birthday.  Still, after countless viewings of the Star Wars saga it wasn’t until the Star Wars In Concert experience that I truly understood and fully appreciated the John Williams’ compositions as stories in and of themselves.

Each of the main characters, some of the droids and even Han Solo’s ship, the Millennium Falcon, were provided their own musical score.  The notes played were the equivalent of the words used to tell that character’s story: tragic, adventurous or romantic.  They revealed an additional layer of the story’s complexity and stirred emotions in me that raised the hairs along my arms and plastered an uncontrollable smile on my face throughout the 2-hour performance.

It was these emotions that resulted in my euphoric travels back in time.  My childhood memories were shocked awake from their long slumber and I was instantly transported to a theater in Fond du Lac, WI during the summer of 1977.  I was vacationing with my family.  We were renting a cottage on Lake Winnebago.  After several parental debates about the appropriateness of my attending the matinee showing of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope I found myself wedged in- between my mother and a close family friend.  The theater lights dimmed, A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far, Far Away . . . appeared briefly on the screen only to be replaced by the main title accompanied by that now iconic musical score.

Star Wars In Concert was a wonderful event and I was fortunate enough to share this experience with my now 10-year-old son who was just as enthusiastic.  Perhaps it was the awe and wonder of seeing Star Wars on a giant screen.  Maybe he was still riding the high from getting up close and personal with some of the authentic props and costumes on display in the auditorium’s lobby.  I was expecting some sort of display.  A few movie posters or hired actors dressed up in various Star Wars costumes.  What we were given was so much more:

Star Wars In Concert won’t be touring forever.  The schedule appears to be very much limited from one city to the next.  Milwaukee, WI was only provided with 2 showings for the same day.  It’s quite possible larger cities may be allotted a greater number of showings while other cities might be skipped over entirely.  My point being, if you have an opportunity to participate in this experience – with a friend, family member or child of your own – take it!  Do not let this concert pass you by.  It was the most entertaining event of the past few years and is one that I anticipate will resonate with me for many years to come.

LONDON, ENGLAND: PlayStation 3 owners! Hide your treasured possessions and cover your pets in bubble wrap, because Explodemon! will be hitting PlayStation Network with a bang this Q4.

Explodemon! is a 2.5D platform action game brought kicking and screaming into the HD era. Influenced by classic Japanese games from the golden era of the SNES, players use Explodemon’s self-destructive nature to combat enemies and fly through the air, all the while solving a huge variety of physics-based puzzles (and, naturally, causing incalculable collateral damage).

When the peaceful planet of Nibia is attacked by the malicious Vortex forces, the fate of the star system is thrust into the one pair of hands it shouldn’t be: the malfunctioning Guardian robot Explodemon. His comic quest to repel the onslaught and restore peace will take him across three distinct planets over twelve levels, with new abilities and gameplay mechanics introduced throughout.

“We’re really excited to finally be able to reveal Explodemon! to the world,” explains design director Jonathan Biddle, from a blast-proof bunker somewhere below the surface of Nibia. “The game is chock full of gameplay nuggets carefully mined from the greatest titles ever to grace our joysticks. Whether you’re experiencing its intense combat, head-scratching puzzles, or classic platforming, you’ll find we’ve combined all of these elements into an addictive and elegantly balanced package.”

Explodemon! is unrelenting, hard-core brain-tickling action for those who grew up playing platformers, as well as those who’ll discover just how awesome they were.

THE SKINNY (OR TL;DR)

Explodemon! is a 2.5D-styled platform game with a physics-puzzle twist
It’s out Q4 2010
It’s influenced by the classic Japanese games of old
It’s more than a little bit funny, or so our mums said
It’s really rather special and you want to write nice things about it
Follow us on Twitter! Exclusive things! News! Codes! @curvestudios

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News Release:  2K Games announced on July 22nd that its upcoming epic action crime game, Mafia® II, will have a downloadable demo available worldwide on August 10 for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system.  Set in the fully realized and immersive 1940’s and 1950’s American urban cityscape of Empire Bay, soon all gamers will be able to experience the decadent and meticulously crafted atmosphere, intense shooting and driving gameplay, and character narrative in Mafia II that is set to be released on August 24 in North America, August 26 in Australia and August 27 internationally.

 
The Mafia II demo invites gamers to dive into the “Buzzsaw” level, where Vito and his buddies, Joe and Henry, are sent to take out a mobster known as “The Fat Man”. While the epic game spans two decades, the Buzzsaw demo takes place during the summer of the ‘50s – a time considered the “Birth of Cool”, and with it, rock ‘n’ roll, hot rods, and rebellious attitudes. The demo showcases the type of vibrant edge-of-your-seat action, as well as a slice of the expansive city of Empire Bay in the colorful era.

THE HEAVYWEIGHTS OF THE FIGHTING WORLD COLLIDE AS CAPCOM ANNOUNCES STREET FIGHTER X TEKKEN

SAN DIEGO, CA — July 24, 2010 — Capcom, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games today announced that Street Fighter X Tekken is in development for the PlayStation^®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360^® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft^®. The title will make history as fighters from these two bastions of the fighting genre come together for the very first time. 

As in Street Fighter IV, 2D gameplay will feature fully realized 3D character models battling for domination in both new and familiar highly detailed environments that are brought to life with engaging animations. In addition to modes such as Versus and Training that will feature new enhancements to make the fighting experience more in-depth and enjoyable, Street Fighter X Tekken will include Tag Team combat where players select two fighters to deliver knockout assist attacks and special combos. 

The announcement, which took place at Comic-Con in San Diego in front of thousands of Street Fighter fans, was made by the Producer of Street Fighter X Tekken, Yoshinori Ono, and Tekken series Director, Katsuhiro Harada. Commenting on the origins of this project Yoshinori Ono said: “This is history we’re making.  Two fighting games that have rivalled each other are finally standing on the same stage.  This isn’t just a showdown between Tekken and Street Fighter, but a decisive battle for Capcom and Namco Bandai Games.  So I’m going to give it my all.”

A month or so ago we put out a request asking for a couple volunteers to do some writing for the PS Nation website.  The response we’ve received has been humbling and we’d like to thank all of those who have expressed interest!

PS Nation will be setting up two different types of site writers; editorial/feature and daily news/reviews.  At this time we’d like to formally announce two editorial/feature writers whom we’ve chosen from the many interested parties.  Please join us in welcoming Paul Nash and Bill Braun to the PS Nation team.

Bill was born, raised and continues to reside in Southeastern Wisconsin.  He’s married with 3 children and insists on wasting his Bachelor Degree in English as an IT Business Analyst.  His previous writing experience can be found within the pages of the Hugo Award winning and World Fantasy Award nominated speculative fiction magazine, Electric Velocipede.  Bill has been a life-long video game enthusiast but did not begin his gaming addiction until obtaining the original PlayStation and a copy of Metal Gear Solid.  Since then his appreciation of the design and technological advances of the home gaming console has flourished and he is currently the proud owner of “The Big 3”.

Paul is originally from New York City but now lives in South Florida (A former New Yorker now living in Florida? That NEVER happens…). Paul has been playing video games for a long time. He started playing games during the days of the Sega Master System and NES, and hasn’t really stopped since.  He’s owned just about all of the major consoles since then, and quite honestly, doesn’t see the sense in stopping now. Some of his favorite games include Revenge of Shinobi, Final Fantasy Tactics, and The Mark of Kri.

In the coming weeks we will be choosing a few more writers specifically daily news/reviews writers.  We plan to get Bill and Paul up and running and hope to learn more from their involvement which will help smooth out any rough edges (so to speak).

Madden 11 Demo Impressions (PS3)
Publisher: EA Sports
Release Date: August 10, 2010

The demo clocks-in at just around 1.7GB, and allows you to play a full game (5 minute quarters) using the Jets and the Colts. The venue this year is Jets Stadium, in East Rutherford, NJ, and so far I haven’t seen anything but a single weather condition, sunny and nice with very little wind. All 4 skill levels are available, and a couple of the other options (like run-off time) are selectable, but of course with almost any demo, options are pretty limited. One other option that is quite welcome for a demo is the ability to custom-build both an offensive and defensive gameplan, so there’s actually quite a lot of depth for a demo. If you use this feature in the demo, it will actually unlock a trophy in the full game, which kind-of a neat incentive to try new features like this out.

The biggest addition for features this year is the ‘Gameflow’ system, which allows you to let your virtual coach call your plays for you. It’s selectable in real-time throughout the game, so you can actually switch back-and-forth depending on the play. I’ve played 3 full games using this mode only, and so far it seems to be very well done. The coach will talk to you after the play is called to explain his intentions, and even though he can get pretty wordy, the explanations actually help quite a bit. The great part is that if you don’t like the play that’s called, you can still audible out or even hit the playbook if there’s enough time on the clock. Also available is selectable coverage options, all accessible via the d-pad. Again, very streamlined this year and very easy to use once you learn where things are.

The other change this year is in the announcing team, which this year consists of Chris Collinsworth for commentary and play-by-play from Gus Johnson. Even though the audio seems a bit glitchy in the demo, the announcing is great this year (if you like Collinsworth.) They seem to be a more cohesive team this time around, but who knows how everyone will feel after playing through a season or ten.

Gameplay seems much more streamlined this year, as a lot of the functions have been moved from button presses to the right stick. The controls feel very natural, and especially the running game seems a lot more realistic. Tackling this year is better for the most part, but I had a couple of instances on kickoffs when I barreled straight at the guy returning the ball, and when I dove at him, I merely bounced off. Other than that though, the game feels a lot tighter than last year, and the new kicking mechanic is a very welcome change.

The presentation overall is very similar to what we’ve seen the last few years, but one improvement that really stands-out to me is that the random hitches that we were getting in Madden 10 seem to have been eliminated, at least in the demo. The flow of the game is great, and the fact that you get to play a full game in the demo is pretty sweet.

The demo hits the PSN on Tuesday, July 27th, and I encourage everyone to give it a try. It’s pretty solid overall, and after seeing the full game at E3, I’d say that it’s a good representation of the full game. It would have been nice to try online, but other than that, if the sound issues are fixed in the full game, Madden 11 is looking like it’ll be a winner.

ps I’ll try to post some video tonight

Email us at Podcast@PSNation.org

Voicemail line is: 715-502-9773
Or if you have Skype, use wdt-torgo
http://furiousgamer.com/
http://twitter.com/PS3Nation
**Playstation Nation Merch! http://zazzle.com/psnation

Check out our SPONSOR! Sign-up for the free trial and get a FREE Audio book (Only valid in the US and Canada)-
http://AudiblePodcast.com/PSNation

#PS3 New Releases
- BlazBlue: Continuum Shift $39.99
- Clash of the Titans $59.99

#News
- Sony reports PS3 shortages resolved http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/16/sony-ps3-retail-shortages-have-been-resolved/
- Red Faction Movie Coming to SyFy, Bridges the gap between games
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/19/red-faction-origins-movie-to-debut-on-syfy-in-march-2011/
- New Sony Patent Suggests Another Use for Stereoscopic 3D
http://www.destructoid.com/new-sony-patents-suggest-another-use-for-stereoscopic-3d-179115.phtml (this could be bad ass if someone really takes advantage of it)
- Monkey Paw Games Bringing Over a Bunch of PSOne Classics to the US
http://www.gamerbytes.com/2010/07/monkeypaw_games_bringing_over.php
- Social games coming to Home http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/07/19/new-social-games-coming-to-playstation-home.aspx
- New Zen Pinball Table
http://www.gamerbytes.com/2010/07/mars_table_for_zen_pinball_inb.php

#What We’re Playing

#Writers Update
#Winner of the Dragon Age DLC contest

#Review of Landit Bandit
#Review of Young Thor
#Review of Gravity Crash PSP
#Emails
#Comedian is Patton Oswalt

#It Is Written
http://www.myspace.com/itiswrittenband
http://www.facebook.com/pages/It-Is-Written/44757816299

Email us at Podcast@PSNation.org

Voicemail line is: 715-502-9773
Or if you have Skype, use wdt-torgo
http://furiousgamer.com/
http://twitter.com/PS3Nation

**Playstation Nation Merch! http://zazzle.com/psnation

Check out our SPONSOR! Sign-up for the free trial and get a FREE Audio book (Only valid in the US and Canada)-
http://AudiblePodcast.com/PSNation

#PS3 New Releases
- LIttle League World Series 2010 $39.99

#Interview with Stewart Gilray of Just Add Water for Gravity Crash PSP (and he reveals a new Oddworld project)

#News
- 3D Blu-ray update dated for September http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/12/3d-blu-ray-ps3-update-dated-for-september-youtube-3d-support-pl/
- WipeOut Museum in Home in honor of franchise’s 15th birthday http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/09/playstation-home-wipeout-museum-preserves-futuristic-racing-hi/
- Quantic Dream Working on Two New Projects
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/29406/Heavy_Rain_Dev_Quantic_Dream_Working_On_Two_New_Projects.php
- PS3 Exclusive Mafia II Content is “Jimmy’s Vendetta”
http://www.destructoid.com/ps3-exclusive-mafia-ii-content-is-jimmy-s-vendetta–178877.phtml

#What We’re Playing

#Contest for the new Add-on for Dragon Age: Origins – Leliana’s Song
What’s your favorite movie about Dragons and why?

#Winners of the E3 Items in Home
-Question 1:
Q: What personal space did Home users get in Closed Beta?
A: Summer House

-Question 2:
Q: What color is the Staff jacket that officials wear?
A: Red

#Review of Transformers: War for Cybertron
#Review of Joe Danger
#Emails

#It Is Written
http://www.myspace.com/itiswrittenband
http://www.facebook.com/pages/It-Is-Written/44757816299