Sony back in PSN Thursday routine

By Robert Purchese Published 17 April, 2008

Adds MGO beta, Warhawk expansion, more.

Sony has decorated its freshly relaunched PlayStation Store with the Metal Gear Online beta client, the Broken Mirror expansion for Warhawk, and a Deadly Dragons pack for Lair, marking a return to its usual schedule of Thursday updates.

There's also an "Everyone's a Rat" Grand Theft Auto IV trailer, which you can see over on Eurogamer TV right now if you can't be bothered to go home and download it.

All of these are free apart, from the Warhawk expansion, which costs GBP 3.99.

Remember, the Metal Gear Online beta doesn't start until Monday; the Lair content is accompanied by a title update adding analog controls; and Broken Mirror has several fresh maps and an armoured vehicle to ferry troops around in.

The PlayStation Store was recently refurbished to be quicker and easier to navigate, with the fresh look released on Tuesday along with some bits and pieces of content.

Some of you have since complained that it is actually slower than it used to be, but Sony assured everyone this was only because hordes of you were rushing to use it.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (35) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Beano #1 4 years ago

    So are the thumbnails loading faster now?

  • Kittinger #2 4 years ago

    Where's Wipeout HD?

  • quantumsheep #3 4 years ago

    It's gonna be even slower if everyone starts downloading MGO :(

  • Prodigy_BE #4 4 years ago

    Faking seizure to quit work..... NOW!

  • Beano #5 4 years ago

    "It's gonna be even slower if everyone starts downloading MGO :( "

    No but if everybody enter the Store and loads the thumbnails, it does... ;)


    "Faking seizure to quit work..... NOW!"

    No rush - the MGO beta can only be played from next monday ;)
    Edited by 1 at 17/04/08 @ 14:49

  • bad09 #6 4 years ago

    MGS Online beta? ah man why can't my PS3 turn up now I'd like to play around with that. Is there a limit on people on the beta? Will I still be able to sign up in a week? (should have my console by then)

  • Widge #7 4 years ago

    No point rushing for MGO anyway, doesn't go live until.... what, the 21st is it?

    Don't think you can run about offline.

    I think just about everyone is hitting PSN for it now, so would advise avoiding for now!

    Got no cash, shame, want that Warhawk expansion. That game gives much joy.
    Edited by 1 at 17/04/08 @ 14:52

  • bad09 #8 4 years ago

    Oh yeah missed the start date, doh!

  • Stormflood #9 4 years ago

    Thumbnails are definitely quicker now. The large images weren't even loading before, but they pop up almost instantly. For me anyway.

  • JayeM #10 4 years ago

    Nice fast download. :)

  • afgavinstan #11 4 years ago

    Good to see the PSN Store swinging back into action.

    Downloaded the MGO beta, but Im not gonna install it until Monday.

    Broken Mirror was purchased, so t'Hawk will be getting spanked, soon enough.

    On another note, the store performed exceptionally well, in regards to thumbnail loading and general speed, compared to Tuesday's clusterf*ck... And I was on Remote Play, too...

  • menage #12 4 years ago

    Yesterday the store was still slow as fuck. I wonder if Home will have better server capacity if they even can't stream a couple of pics.
    Edited by 1 at 17/04/08 @ 15:07

  • ChaK #13 4 years ago

    MGO has to be patched (~750mo), and it's a fucking pain in the add, can't even connect to patch server :/

  • JDub #14 4 years ago

    After the initial slowness, the store seems to be a lot snappier for me today - All worky very nicely!!

  • Beano #15 4 years ago

    Also faster for me now... could be better but at least very useable now :)

  • Darren #16 4 years ago

    If the Lair update is anything like the US one I downloaded on Tuesday it does NOT require a title update at all, you just download the 246 MB *free* Dragons and Upgrade pack from the store and that's it. I only have the US version though but I wouldn't have thought the UK version would be any different... is it?

  • Prodigy_BE #17 4 years ago

    Okay, I'm faking a seizure for about 15 minutes now. Nobody noticed. What should I do?

  • Warex #18 4 years ago

    Prodigy_BE
    17-Apr-08 14:45:11

    Faking seizure to quit work..... NOW!

    Okay, I'm faking a seizure for about 15 minutes now. Nobody noticed. What should I do?

    WORRY! They obviously cant tell the difference between you faking seizure and your normal work....my advice look for a new job ;)

  • ozzit #19 4 years ago

    To be honest I think faking a seizure would probably go unnoticed here too - though if they did they'd be unlikely to let me drive home afterwards.

    Noones noticed my manflu either... yet, they will once they catch it too, bwahaha!

  • mcwildcard #20 4 years ago

    Can we have an updated review of Lair with the analogue controls please?

  • Buggs #21 4 years ago

    Any news on COD4 map pack release date?

  • afgavinstan #22 4 years ago

    May 1st, kid.

  • Darren #23 4 years ago

    @mcwildcard - Trust me, there's no point in re-reviewing Lair with the analogue controls because at most they'd add a mark to the score. The game's many problems including the poor framerate and badly explained objectives are still there. ;)

    Also I only had a brief play of the game with the analogue stick but the game stupidly tells you to tilt the controller to fly the dragon and pull it back to do a 180 degree turn even though there's also instructions on how to use the analogue controls too and they're what I was using. Very confusing. Oh and your old save game isn't compatible with the update so you have to start the game from scratch.

    IMO the old 6/10 game is now a 6.5/10 one at best, the analogue controls surprisingly don't make that much difference to the game, probably because I found them mostly fine before. Still it is nice to have a choice if you didn't...

  • Tyedyed #24 4 years ago

    Afgavinstan>

    "Good to see the PSN Store swinging back into action.

    Downloaded the MGO beta, but Im not gonna install it until Monday"

    I beleive the beta has a huge patch once its installed so I wouldnt wait till Monday if I were you!

  • JediMasterMalik #25 4 years ago

    The MGO beta has nice menus.

  • Widge #26 4 years ago

    Menu Gear Online


    and yeah, there is a patch. Its a bit unstable at the moment:

    [link url=http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=744 808&page=3
    ]http://ww w.avforums.com/forums/showthrea...[/link]

    someone has said that they found the P2P update hassle free and rapid though.
    Edited by 1 at 17/04/08 @ 16:53

  • monty2k #27 4 years ago

    Has anyone noticed that the MGO beta only runs in 720p according to the PSN?

    I'm downloading it now but does this mean that MGS4 will only run in 720p? Not that I'm a graphics whore or anything - my TV only does 720p/1080i anyway.

  • rodge020679 #28 4 years ago

    'network error'.
    is there a reason we cant download the 1.1. software updtae fro MG?

  • Widge #29 4 years ago

    Mine is fine, its the konami site that is the pain!

  • Les #30 4 years ago

    "WORRY! They obviously cant tell the difference between you faking seizure and your normal work....my advice look for a new job ;)"

    Why? Sounds like easy money... ;)

  • Drumstix #31 4 years ago

    I couldn't get the patch going either ... will try again another day.
    Flaw on the first page of the store ... there's a tab to click that seems to redirect you to the page you start on anyway. Also found a game demo in the trailers catagory ?%#?

  • 3william56 #32 4 years ago

    The WarHawk expansion is excellent, much better than the last. The new map is so-so - good enough, and nice weather effects. But the APC transforms the game. Makes it much easier to mount team assaults on flags and zones, and the ability to respawn with a weapon in the APC makes reinforcing an attack much easier. Instead of one or two folks attacking a flag and getting nailed by mines and respawning enemies, you get sustained mad ar$e battles. The sheild works well too. Ram is a bit meh, would have preferred a gun.

    Only concern is that it might make spawn camping a problem. Sending campers back to base was the only way to stop it. But time will tell.

    Anyone know how to tell which servers are running which expansion packs? And what's the yellow circle with a slash that now appears on the end game scores table?

  • Drumstix #33 4 years ago

    That reminds me, I have Warhawk loaned to a friend that I need to get back!

  • Widge #34 4 years ago

    JESUS christ, registering on Konami's site is a nightmare. Its totally jammed.

    I recommend getting:

    firefox
    iMacro
    turning images off

    and repeat the macro until WIN

  • Stuz359 #35 4 years ago

    Christ, 750mb patch and then trying to register for an ID? Why not just be able to use my existing PSN account name, details etc...
    No wonder Xbox live is king cos this is ridiculous