Eurogamer in blog format - PlayStation 3

War's road to redemption begins.

Croteam's high-def update of the PC blasting classic gets a formal release date.

Jumping from Modern Warfare 2 to Bad Company 2 isn't recommended. While both are broadly similar in concept - modern military shooters set in an imaginary land war between America and Russia - the difference in style couldn't be more pronounced. Infinity Ward's big-bollocked blockbuster has the bone-rattling volume and GRAAAAAGH KILLING SPREE! adrenaline rush, but try those bombastic Hollywood heroics over in DICE's theatre of war and you'll be shot to ribbons before you can say "danger close".

Currently titillating PS3 owners with an exclusive multiplayer beta, a whopping four months from release, Battlefield looks set to continue its conquest of the middle ground between Call of Duty's crowd-pleasing mayhem and Operation Flashpoint's brutal realism. Even more than its predecessor, which marked the series' debut on consoles, Bad Company 2 is undeniably part of the PC lineage. This is smart, savage war-gaming, where a cool head and a steady hand are rewarded over grenade-spamming and shooting from the hip.

The beta is virtually identical to the one that heralded the first Bad Company game. Rush is the game mode, and it sets out the game's stall in convincing style. The attacking team must push into enemy territory and destroy two communication arrays. The defenders must stop them. Whenever both arrays are destroyed, the defenders must fall back to the next section of the map. Victory for the attackers comes when there's nowhere left to run, while the defenders benefit from infinite respawns and must whittle down the enemy tickets until they're forced to withdraw. Read more...

First, the good news: Buzz! is back! A new instalment in the hit series of quiz games has been released just in time for Christmas. It features 5000 new questions, three more round types and three new characters. There has been a host of minor technical improvements which enhance the overall experience to a significant degree.

Now, the bad news: Buzz is back. The eponymous quiz show host is as bouncy, bolshy and full of irritating wisecracks as ever. Once again it will be just minutes before you want to grab him by his silly hair, yank the top of his giant head as far back as it will go, stuff your Buzz! controller into his gaping maw, push it so far down his gullet the flashing red button pops out the other end, stab the sharpened end of a tree branch into each buttock and call him Rudolph. Or perhaps that's just me.

So putting Buzz to one side for now, let's start with those round types. Buzz!: Quiz World features old favourites such as Fastest Finger, Pass the Bomb and Final Countdown but now there are extras like Over the Edge, where every question you get wrong tips you closer to a giant gunge tank. In On the Spot you get to bet your opponents' points on how likely they are to get questions right, which is a good twist. Read more...

Capcom has announced that the swathe of new downloadable content for Resident Evil 5, to be released early next year, will make its way onto a disc after all.

Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition for the PS3 and Xbox 360 - not the PC - will include the original game, two new episodes, new costumes, and eight new playable characters for a new version of Mercenaries Mode called The Mercenaries Reunion. It will be released on 9th March 2010 in North America at a standard retail price of $49.99, and 12th March in Europe.

The PS3 Gold Edition will pack it all onto a Blu-ray, while the 360 version will be the original game on DVD plus a DLC download token, so if your 360 is offline, then tough. Read more...

Rock Band gets light-hearted with the minifigs.

Dotnia experiences an expansion into an entirely new dimension.

Wheee! We're suckers for a bit of dog-fighting, especially with those crazy rear-prop driven Japanese planes.

Sneaky tactics and sharp headshots in the sequel to DICE's jolly battlefield romp.

Blood Bowl gets its first new race in the lithe and dangerous form of the Dark Elves.

As an ancient and powerful Umbra witch, Bayonetta has a few handy tricks up her tight sleeves. Here, learn about her flashy, demon-powered killer moves.

Sony appears to be considering a subscription model for PlayStation Network that would sit alongside the existing free membership.

Such a manouevre would bring PS3 in line with Xbox Live, which offers a premium Gold subscription and free Silver membership.

"SCE will further increase sales by offering users new entertainment through the combination of hardware, software, peripheral and PlayStation Network," said PlayStation head Kaz Hirai in a statement. Read more...

Sony has confirmed you will be able to play games while downloading content from the new Video PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service - providing you're playing offline.

"During online gameplay the background download of both games and videos may be slowed or paused. This is to ensure the user has enough bandwidth to seamlessly play online without interruption or have a poor gaming experience," a technical type explained.

"Once the gameplay doesn't require the additional bandwidth, the background download can be restarted or will continue normally." Read more...

Heavenly Sword developer Ninja Theory has recalled how being used as a pawn in a console war was both draining and, at times, unfairly abusive.

"When you are exclusive, sometimes the pressure to demonstrate technology can override other aspects of game development," studio co-fouder Tameem Antoniades told Eurogamer in an interview published today. "Being involved in one side of a format war as if it's the machines that make great games can also be draining.

"You get a lot of attention as an exclusive developer which is great, but on the flip side there was a lot of anti-Sony feeling going on which I felt was unfairly being directed at our team. Read more...

Video on demand streaming is coming to the PS3 very soon, with a massive wedge of entertainment waiting at your digital fingertips.

One day some brave developer is going to include a competitive multiplayer element in its game without using the word "Deathmatch". While running around and shooting strangers may be fun (in a strictly virtual sense, right kids?) it's a gaming trope that has long since slid into hopeless cliché. The margarita pizza of online gaming, it's something you consume almost without thinking - we multiplay, therefore we deathmatch.

Deathmatch is certainly the least interesting part of the multiplayer side of the sublime Uncharted 2, Naughty Dog's triumphant restoration of the unfashionable action-adventure genre, but look beyond the obvious and the obligatory and there's a subtle, occasionally brilliant side dish of internet gaming to be found. As promised in our justifiably lascivious review, consider this a longer look at how the online side of the game fares, especially now that Modern Warfare 2 has stomped all over the internet and lured the fair-weather multiplayer contingent away.

Many of the criticisms are sadly the same as those raised during the multiplayer beta back in June. Certainly where competitive online play is concerned, there's no getting away from the fact that this is a single-player game engine forced to pull double duty. Though they're superficially similar, the difference between great solo play and great multiplayer is significant enough, and what made Among Thieves so compelling by yourself can count against it when your foes are fellow human beings. Read more...

When you're heading into a life or death battle against uncaring robotic overlords, you want to be wearing the right dress.

Ever wanted a zebra-striped AK-47? Of course you have.

Following the launch of the new PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service, Sony has revealed at least 50 films will be added to the library each week.

European product marketing director Mark Hardy told Eurogamer, "There are over 2000 films available to start with. The plan is to update the store on a weekly basis and add a minimum of 50 movies every time we update."

As announced yesterday the new service allows users to rent movies in HD and SD. At present only SD films can be bought and stored on the PS3's hard drive. Read more...

The PSP title slips out, somewhat in the shadow of its big brother.

Meet the two opposing forces of the Avatar world, and choose which one you'll be fighting for.

The European PS3 video store opens on Thursday, 19th November, in France, Germany, Spain and the UK and presents over 2000 films for rent or purchase.

Hiring costs from €1.99 and buying costs from €7.99 per title, but initially HD films will only be available to rent.

There are special offers for early birds: buy Angels and Demons and you will receive a complimentary copy of The Da Vinci Code. Or don't bother. Alternatively, anyone registering a new PSN account tomorrow or Friday will be given a free copy of Transformers. Read more...

Series creator Chris Taylor discusses his sequel, and what improvements have been made over the original.

Two short CCTV vignettes with those lovable, psychopathic rogues, Kane and Lynch.

Tecmo KOEI offers a first look at Again, a DS game made by Hotel Dusk developer Cing. Story and contenxt are explained in this clip.

SEGA has admitted Bayonetta PS3 load times are "overwhelming" but says a patch is "under consideration" to iron the problems out.

"I can speak on [the developer's] behalf in saying that a patch to correct this issue is under consideration through development to address the matter of the overwhelming load times with Bayonetta," wrote a SEGA rep on the PlatinumGames forum (via 1UP).

"Something I cannot address directly is when this will occur. However, I will be tracking this directly on all sides (the Japanese, North American, and European versions) to ensure that we know exactly the status of each one. Provided that I am given full disclosure on this, I will be sure to keep you posted on what to expect." Read more...

A fantastic job of a sequel, building on strengths and addressing weaknesses - AC II hits the shops this Friday.

The perpetually confined simians return in their first balance board title, jonesing for bananas like the dirty little potassium junkies they are.

Konami is promoting Metal Gear Online with a monthly series of Survival Challenge events. Starting a week on Saturday - 28th November - players will be awarded Reward Points based on the length of their team's winning streak in Survival games over a 24-hour period.

The next events will be on 26th December, 23rd January, and 27th February. To be eligible you just need to join a Survival lobby in the PS3 multiplayer shooter and play at least one game during the 24 hours; numbers will be capped at around 3000 players. You'll get a Regain in-game T-shirt to prove you turned up on each day, and a Regain hat if you make all four.

"Players are not recommended to play for an extensive duration of time due to health risks," reminds the press release. Play safe, kids. Read more...

A PlayStation Network product manager has indicated that Sony is working on cross-game chat for PS3.

Thorpe was replying to reader comments asking after the feature on his PlayStation Blog post about the next, Facebook-packing firmware update. However, it seems he said too much, because his comment has subsequently been deleted.

"I wish I could just give you a date, I really do!! Trust me when I say that as soon as I hear from 'up top' I will be shouting about it and making myself the most popular person on the blog. I hope, like you all do, that its sooner rather than later," James Thorpe said, according to Kotaku. Read more...

With social network integration a hot topic, Sony pumps up its Facebook app.

The hub of all starship activity, the bridge is where the important stuff happens. That and engineering, but engineering is far less glamorous and doesn't have the comfy chairs.

"Nothing is true," said Al Mualim. "Everything is permitted." The point of Assassin's Creed - apart from establishing a hugely successful new IP for Ubisoft - was to avoid taking the old man's words literally, and to begin with you may wish you'd done the same with the pre-release hype for the sequel.

For months we've been told that Assassin's Creed II will be much better because, not unlike Desmond Miles strapped to the curvy Animus machine, it will be defined by the lessons of its ancestor. Yet the sequel begins as messily as anything I can remember, as friendly lab-tech Lucy helps Desmond escape from the Abstergo facility where he's being held.

Abstergo, of course, is a futuristic front for the Templar Knights (do keep up), and she's busting him out so they can no longer use the Animus to ransack his genetic memories for the location of super-powerful objects called Pieces of Eden (seriously, keep up). Lucy and Desmond escape by running down corridors, doing clunky stealth and having an awful fight in a carpark. When they get where they're going, it turns out Lucy's fellow Assassins are rejects from Scooby Doo, who live in a snazzy loft conversion at a warehouse. And then they strap Desmond in an Animus anyway. Read more...

From Software's quirky, retro-styled action-adventure 3D Dot Game Heroes is heading West under Atlus' banner.

The US can expect the PS3 game on 11th May 2010, and Europeans may freely import due to the region-free nature of the console.

3D Dot Heroes looks like a LEGO-built remake of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and is designed to nod to the great action-adventures of old. Plus, there's a character customisation tool that enables heroes to be built from scratch and traded with friends. Read more...

Peggle and Peggle Nights are galloping onto the American PlayStation Store this Thursday.

There are demo versions of both coming at the same time, while the full games will cost $9.99 for Peggle and $4.99 for Nights.

PS3 fans will also receive glitzy in-game video capture features. Clips of your best Peggle shots can be stored and stuffed on YouTube. Read more...

The next PlayStation 3 firmware update will allow you to post Trophy and PlayStation Store activity to your Facebook news feed.

With the advent of firmware 3.10, which is due "soon", developers will be able to code features in their games that post to the news feed as well.

However, the update stops short of full Facebook integration - you will still need to use the web browser to check out Facebook, Twitter and so on. Johnny. Read more...

Konami has announced the arrival of Metal Gear Solid on the PlayStation Store this Thursday, 19th November.

It was this PSone game that took the series 3D and established Hideo Kojima's creations as some of the best in the world. Metal Gear Solid will cost £7.99.

Following Metal Gear Solid will be MGS: Portable Ops, MGS: Portable: Ops+ and MGS: Digital Graphic Novel. Read more...

The FBI has found a new secret weapon in the war on paedophiles - the PlayStation 3.

As reported by AXcess News, investigators are using Sony's consoles to perform password-cracking calculations. "Bad guys are encrypting their stuff now, so we need a methodology of hacking on that to try to break passwords. The Playstation 3 - its processing component - is perfect for large-scale library attacks," said special agent Claude E. Davenport, who works for C3 - the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Cyber Crimes Center. Awesome.

Under US law, it's legal for federal agents to seize and search computers if they have a warrant. However, they can't force suspects to reveal their passwords because of the Fourth Amendment. Read more...

SingStar game director Dave Ranyard has apologised to fans of Sony's multi-million-selling karaoke series who have had to put up with the fallout of a disastrous patch.

Writing on the European PlayStation blog, Ranyard revealed that "several serious bugs" slipped through the "normally rigorous" testing procedure before update 4.2 was released.

These included "SingStore songs being deleted from the hard drive", "Game crashing in the middle of a song" and "Media file corruption". Whoops! Not what you want after eight pints. Read more...