PlayStation LifeStyle » StalkingSilence

U.S. SingStore Update for July 23, 2009

StalkingSilence — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:59:33 +0000

NOTE: The update is LIVE right now, check it out on SingStar!

On Tuesday, the PlayStation.Blog had a post from Nina Scherer (SCEE SingStar Content Manager) giving us a preview of this week’s SingStore update. Nina promised to bring us the full update list in the future, but this week we were again left wondering which songs would make the cut from the European releases.

PlayStation LifeStyle is pleased to bring you the full update list featuring 12 new videos, 4 songs previously only available in song packs, and 2 new SingStar Essentials song packs:

Songs from this week’s European update:
- The 4 Of Us – “Mary”
- Adam And The Ants – “Goody Two Shoes”
- Coldplay – “Life In Technicolor II”
- The Coral – “In The Morning”
- Gloria Estefan – “Dr. Beat”
- The Hold Steady – “Stay Positive”
- Kasabian – “Fire”
- Krezip – “Promise”
- Lou Bega – “Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of…)”
- P!nk – “Family Portrait”
- Roy Orbison – “I Drove All Night”
- Sade – “Smooth Operator”
Previously only available in song packs:
- The Bangles – “Eternal Flame”
- Frankie Goes To Hollywood – “The Power Of Love”
- The Fray – “You Found Me”
- Sara Bareilles – “Love Song”
“SingStar Essentials: For Boys” song pack:
- MC Hammer – “U Can’t Touch This”
- R.E.M – “Losing My Religion”
- Radiohead – “High And Dry”
- Scouting For Girls – “She’s So Lovely”
- Supergrass – “Pumping On My Stereo”
“SingStar Essentials: For Girls” song pack:
- All Saints – “Never Ever”
- Mel and Kim – “Respectable”
- Meredith Brooks – “B*tch”
- Sister Sledge – “We Are Family”
- Whitney Houston – “Greatest Love Of All”

Personally, I can’t wait to download “The 4 of Us – Mary” with its infectious, simple melodies and killer timpani drums. I’ll probably also pick up “The Fray – You Found Me” now that I can get it without the song pack. You can expect to see my performance video uploads after a few beers tonight (PSN ID: StalkingSilence). Anyone else excited about this update?

A special thanks to Tntnnbltn on the PlayStation.com forums for the tip and the YouTube links!

Source: SingStar Official Website [Unreleased in US]

The Summer of PSP is Here!

StalkingSilence — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:25:48 +0000

Summer is finally here and to celebrate, our friends at SCEE have launched yet another PSP campaign, aptly named “Summer of PSP.”

Prominently displayed on the campaign site are four major PSP releases for the summer – Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Buzz!: Brain of the UK, Petz, and Harry Potter. Each title seems to be sponsoring a giveaway. And if you’re a PlayStation LifeStyle reader from Europe, be sure complete the mini-games to qualify for the Mega Summer Super Prize!

And if you’re a reader from Florida, you’ll probably laugh at the Mega Summer Super Prize. But either way, this is a great marketing outreach with a catchy LittleBigPlanet-esque soundtrack. Check it out at the Summer of PSP website. And remember: “Your Summer. Your Colors. Your PSP. Your Whole World in Your Hands.”

Thanks to EU Community Team Leader MusterBuster for the tip!

The Flash Speeds into DC Universe Online

StalkingSilence — Fri, 22 May 2009 21:52:57 +0000

The Fastest Man Alive, Wally West easily runs at light speed, vibrates through objects, create explosions through friction – and, when at agonizing top capacity, can manipulate time and bridge dimensions.

The Flash is a time-honored member of the Justice League. The latest in a long line of Flashes, each with their own unique way of tapping into the primal “Speed Force,” Wally is determined to live up to the noble legacies of speedsters such as Barry Allen, Max Mercury, and Jay Garrick.

Flash’s enemies call themselves the Rogues Gallery. This deadly collection of brutal foes includes Captain Cold, Heatwave, Mirror Master, and the lethal speedster Zoom – villainous threats not just to Keystone City, but the world.

Virtua Tennis 2009 Delayed, Now Serving in June

StalkingSilence — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:57:41 +0000

Little-known fact: I played the pants off of Virtua Tennis 3. I really love the simple controls and the concept of winning by out-smarting your opponent and setting them up over several shots. Simplicity in a sports title is really rare these days and should never be a reason to write the game off as too casual. This year, we’ll see online play added and even more (sometimes better than the game itself) mini-games. What we won’t see, despite the official website’s now outdated banner, is Virtua Tennis 2009 released in May.

According to RubyEclipse, site administrator for the Sega of America forums, the multiplatform game is delayed and will have an early June ship date. Sega will update the game’s information pages accordingly. Although we’ve received no official word on the delay, RubyEclipse mentions they are probably polishing off the Wii version.

If you suck at this game, you'll truly have endless love.

We have seen three Virtua Tennis 2009 videos on the PlayStation Network, and I’ll admit – the game doesn’t look that much better than the first PS3 version. But it’s really never been about looks with this series. I’m excited about all of the new features and can’t wait to get my hands on the full game in June. In the meantime, maybe Sega will release an early demo on the PSN if we ask nicely. Their previous demo for Virtua Tennis 3 was stellar, so here’s to hoping we’ll see one soon.

[Source]

Sticky Situation: Will My Thumbs Be Able to Handle More Complex Madden NFL 10 Controls?

StalkingSilence — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:00:08 +0000

I’m excited to get my hands on the newest iteration of everyone’s favorite NFL video game – Madden NFL 10. I have added the release date to my calendar (and getting psyched for the early August PSN demo). I have dreamed of this year’s release, excited that a sports game that I really enjoy will include trophies. There’s only one thing I’m having a hard time grasping – the controls.

I’ll admit that I took two years off from the franchise (I was just that bitter about the E3 announcement that Madden NFL 08 would only be 30 fps on PS3, but 60 fps on Xbox 360). And now after being out of the game for so long, it’s not going to be easy to sort out all of the intricacies with the control scheme.

As EA Sports strives for more realism and expanded gameplay, they are running out of places to put the controls for it! It seems like too much is being stuffed into one place – the right analog stick (er, ONLY analog stick for PSP). This year we will find yet another new “stick” feature under our thumbs. Wait, how many sticks does that make now?

Madden NFL 04 introduced the Playmaker stick to make pre-snap route adjustments
Madden NFL 05 added the Hit Stick on defense for big fumble-inducing, stick-flickin’ hits
Madden NFL 06 brought us the Truck Stick which was basically an improved Hit Stick but for offense. Also new was QB Vision (using right analog) for precise cone-lit passing
Madden NFL 07 delivered with the Highlight Stick, a refined Truck Stick with more finesse
Madden NFL 08 and 09 didn’t have any new right analog functionality but I didn’t buy them (did you already forget?!)
Madden NFL 10 picks back up with the QB Avoidance Stick which you use to avoid pressure in the pocket. As our friends at PastaPadre describe, “By hitting the right analog stick the QB will make a quick move. Push up and he’ll step up in the pocket, right to shift right, and left to shift left.”

Quick hide these from EA Sports before they assign more complex controls!

I probably missed a few right analog controls in there (feel free to add them in the comments), but I think the continuously expanding controls create a serious barrier-to-entry that intimidates new players to the franchise. What do you guys think? Does anyone else have friends that won’t buy Madden because it’s just “too late” for them to start learning?

Oh and while I’m here - please, EA Sports, stop branding every new game engine enhancement as its own technology! Last year it was Madden IQ, the Adaptive Difficulty Engine (ADE), EA Sports BackTrack, EA Sports Rewind, and the all-new Total Control Animation System. This year it’s EA Sports Pro-Tak, Adaptive AI, Procedural Awareness, Madden NFL Your Way, and the aforementioned QB Avoidance Stick. While internally I’m glad the team is refining the game, each year these buzz words make it seem like the game is completely reinvented when much stays the same (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it). If you want a real insider’s look into the behind-the-scenes technology in the game, I recommend reading the posts from Sr. Producer Ian Cummings at the Madden Blog and ignore the marketing mumbo jumbo.

SingStar Sings to the Tune of Trophies on April 16th

StalkingSilence — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:30:03 +0000

According to information we translated from the french site jeuxvideo, SingStar will be receiving the long-awaited trophy patch on April 16th. April 16th will bring update 3.01 which includes not only the aforementioned trophy support, but also a new look for the SingStore. It seems the entire online portion of the game will be down for at least 8 hours on April 16th – so once your SingStore stops responding – you know it’s coming soon!

That’s not the only SingStar update in the pipeline. On April 22nd, SingStar will receive another update allowing Voice Control – which enables you to select a song by just saying the title – among other user interface enhancements.

Don’t forget to check out the (difficult-to-achieve) trophy list for SingStar on our Trophy Portal. That way, you’ll have a leg up on the competition when the patch drops on April 16.

[Source]

Media Molecule Announces Two New LBP Community Managers

StalkingSilence — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:14:30 +0000

This kind of news is always great to hear. Two of our friends from LittleBigPlanetoid have announced today that they have been appointed as community managers for LittleBigPlanet! That’s right, they now are full-time employees at Media Molecule and working hard to manage all of us – the LBP community. I’m sure it can be a tough job at times, but we’d be lying if we said we weren’t jealous.

Maybe Tom and Spaff can fill us in with the announcement of two new patches in the near future as well (say a deep-fried Mozzarella patch or a creamy Port Salut patch?). No news on what they’d include or if the patches exist, but those are their favorite cheeses. In the meantime, feel free to pop into our LittleBigCreations area of the forum where you can, ya know, heart my level and stuff.

Mmmm... deep fried mozzarella

They are already hard at work and MM_Spaff has posted information on an art battle that their designer Rex Crowle is taking part in. Seems like we’ll be seeing more regular updates to the Media Molecule blog starting… now.

[Source]

Penny-Arcade Blows Smoke at PS3 Firmware Announcement

StalkingSilence — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:47:40 +0000

It seems like getting grilled by the guys at Penny-Arcade is more of an honor than an embarassment these days (many victims of their comic strips order a framed copy to cherish). This time they take on Eric Lempel’s PS3 firmware 2.70 announcement and give us a peek at what’s to come in the PS3′s future.

StalkingSilence compares the cartoon to Eric

While it’s all in good fun, I personally think the firmware is a step in the right direction and I welcome any addition to the PS3′s capabilities. Do any of you think 2.70 was a major technological disappointment or are you excited to see where the firmware takes us next?

[Source]

Official SCEE Trophy Portal now LIVE!

StalkingSilence — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:05:35 +0000

Great news in today for those of you PSN trophy fans out there… SCEE has launched their trophy portal that is certainly an upgrade to the current SCEA portal. I was left wanting a little more from the SCEA portal (such as bandwidth to support sufficient load times) and I certainly wasn’t going to provide my credentials to PlayFire without proper authentication. Luckily for everyone, the SCEE portal works for anyone in any region.

The trophy cards come in all of your favorite colors, assuming your favorite color is purple. They feature minimal customization right now (favorite game and mood). But that’s not really the point of these trophy cards. They currently offer the most efficient way to show off your trophy completion. While the new SCEE portal is not perfect, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

One of my favorite additions in the enhanced friends list – My Friends - that shows trophy counts and a quick overview of all of your friends’ trophy completion. I am toying around with the “Quick Friends” functionality right now. Lastly, I want to mention that the SCEE’s My Trophies section is a bright, simple alternative to the darker scheme used on PlayStation.com (US).

What do you guys think of the setup? What else would you like to see? In the meantime, head to https://secure.eu.playstation.com/psn/mypsn/ to get started.

Red Baron Arcade flies to PlayStation Store today [Update]

StalkingSilence — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:52:40 +0000

What? You’ve never heard of this game? Actually, chances are you have heard of it; you just forgot. We expected Red Baron Arcade to be released back in September 2008. We had listed it in our rumored content posts for months, and then it just slipped away into obscurity.

Now it looks like Red Baron Arcade – which Joystiq said “looks fun, in spite of its antiquated graphics” – might be IS headed to the PlayStation Store as early as today! We’ll keep you posted with our sources’ latest information and try to confirm this with SCEA. We just wanted to get the news out to you as soon as possible.

Update: The release date has been confirmed by Scott Gordon of Sierra Online on the PlayStation.Blog. The game will feature a demo also hitting the PlayStation Store tonight. How much would you pay for this game (no price mentioned) if it indeed doesn’t have trophies?

Note: We haven’t seen this game on any trophy lists, so maybe it doesn’t include the feature since it was delayed from 2008? Will you still buy it?

Leprechaun Sackboy makes his way to PSN today [Update]

StalkingSilence — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:08:16 +0000

While we still have no word on the Killzone 2 LittleBigPlanet content (Sev/Helghast costumes and hopefully a level pack), at least the DLC for LittleBigPlanet resumes again today after taking a break for a few weeks. Today in the PlayStation Store update, we should see the free Leprechaun outfit for Sackboy to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. No word yet if we can expect four leaf clover stickers and Sackboy-sized pints of Guinness.

He should be arriving during Happy Hour tonight!

Again, it’s nice to see this content resuming, but I had higher hopes for this week. Something seems a little off and I’m not sure if some major content is being held up in Sony QA or whatnot. Each week we are teased that there is a big surge of content coming, and for the last several weeks it has left me wondering what the issue is.

In this past week’s “Sack It To Me” posting on the PlayStation.Blog, Mark Valledor of SCEA claimed, “Admittedly, this week’s update is a bit on the light side – mainly because we have some great stuff that we have to wait until next week’s post.” Hopefully this Leprechaun wasn’t the “great stuff” and I’d like to hear more about some of the other content on the way. Even our friends at LittleBigPlanetoid seem to be getting a little impatient, questioning where the Killzone 2 outfits are, along with those for Sepiroth, Kai & Nariko, Bumblebee, Buzz, Patapon, the Acient Monkey, etc. We’re with you guys and we’re listening.

UPDATE: There might be more LBP DLC coming (think Street Fighter costume pack).

PSN Greatest Hits Collection: What would be on your disc?

StalkingSilence — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:58:21 +0000

With news of the PixelJunk Pack headed to Asia as a retail disc, it refueled the burning question – will we ever see a similar retail disc of PSN titles? I’m not talking specifically about the PixelJunk series from Q-Games either. It’s been discussed before on our forums, but now that our PlayStation Store library is more diverse than ever – I think it’s time to bring this discussion front-and-center.

What I’m looking to do is arrange a few potential retail discs, chocked full of PSN goodness, and I will send the list to some of our contacts at SCEA. Even if nothing is ever done about it, at least we can say we tried. But I think we can make a decent sales pitch here.

That being said, what would be in your dream PSN Greatest Hits Collection? Here are a couple guidelines to follow when making your suggestions:

The hypothetical collection would be sold at retailers and so I’d keep it to less than $60 USD worth of content. If you want to recommend a smaller collection, keep it under $40 USD. If you want to get really fancy, you can factor in the cost of Blu-ray disc creation and materials so that Sony would turn a profit on the disc front as well.
The games must not be online-only games (Warhawk, SOCOM: Confrontation, Crash Commando, etc). The reason for this is if gamers already had their PS3 online and registered with a PSN ID, they would likely be aware of the games already and have had the opportunity to purchase. With the PSN Greatest Hits collection, the idea would be to reach out to those who still haven’t jumped online with their PS3 (surprisingly many) and can play the games without requiring a connection.
I imagine it would be easier to actually produce a retail disc with Sony-published PSN games only, but other suggestions are welcome.
DLC can be suggested as long as the full game corresponding to the DLC is listed.
To take advantage of the capacity of the Blu-ray disc, free game trailers (only the best) could be included as well as a few of your favorite PS3 themes.

My dream lists are forthcoming, look for them in the comments!

Opinion: Should Chris Brown’s music be removed from video games, too?

StalkingSilence — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:31:55 +0000

Written by stalkingsilence

What could Sony do to avoid a PR crisis?

“You got Chris Brown in my SingStar!” “You got my SingStar in Chris Brown!” No matter how you look at it, controversial pop star Chris Brown will have at least two songs in the upcoming SingStar Pop Edition (PS3) – his solo hit “Without You” and his duet with Jordin Sparks “No Air” are on the game’s tracklist and will be included on the disc. The game, sometimes referred to as SingStar Vol. 4 since it will be the fourth PS3 SingStar disc to come out in the UK, also includes the much-anticipated wireless microphones (wireless but still has a USB dongle for PS2-compatibility) and enhanced functionality to allow voice-controlled song selection.

SingStar Pop Vol. 2 (PS2)

The truth is, both Chris Brown (and Rihanna for that matter) have been featured in previous installments of the franchise. Rihanna’s hit single “S.O.S.” was a favorite on SingStar Pop (PS2), released worldwide. And we saw even more Rihanna in SingStar Pop Vol. 2 (PS2) with the song “Umbrella” - which has a great music video. What about Chris Brown? It was SingStar R&B (PS2) released in the UK that included Chris Brown’s “Yo (Excuse Me Miss)” and separately featured Rihanna’s “We Ride.” How many of Chris Brown’s songs are in the SingStore for PS3? To my knowledge, there are no songs from either artist available as DLC on the SingStore (for any region).

So what’s the problem? While the tracklist for the latest SingStar installment on PS3 is finalized for the SCEE region and the game is on schedule to launch in April 2009, I can’t help but think something should be done. With many radio stations worldwide still refraining from playing Chris Brown’s songs, the ”Got Milk” campaign and Wrigley’s dropping sponsorship, and other musicians backing out of planned duets – I’m not sure if many of us will want to sing alongside him in the game either. The royalties for the game and how much money the artist sees per song download are unknown, but what is clear is that the SingStore is a viable source of income. The Edge recently reported on Sony’s social success, with SingStar highlighted as the most successful franchise. In fact, the article states that “the SingStore sells one track every 10 seconds” which equates to over 60,000 songs per week. That’s a lotta guacamole.

My suggestion to Sony:

No need to put out a launch day patch or delay the game (a la LittleBigPlanet). I would just ask that you don’t offer Chris Brown’s tracks as DLC on the SingStore for the foreseeable future. And hey, while you’re at it, maybe throw a few Rihanna songs up there for those interested that haven’t picked up the legacy PS2 SingStar games. Let’s close this issue out before the mainstream media has to ask the “Chris Brown in video games” question so that you can free up time to answer our other pressing SingStar questions. Like, when can we expect trophies to be added?

PlayStation LifeStyle readers – what action, if any, do you think Sony should take on this issue?

Update: Microsoft’s Lips, their direct competitor to Sony’s SingStar, currently offers Chris Brown’s music. Should Sony take a stance and be proactive, leaving Microsoft in the open on this one?

Upcoming Skate 2 DLC information leaked

StalkingSilence — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:26:12 +0000

Written by stalkingsilence

EA continues their support of Skate 2 through more DLC

For those keeping an eye out for Skate 2 DLC, we saw Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Plaza pack released recently to the PlayStation Store. Based on the smooth flow of DLC for the well-received title (we rated it 4 out of 5), it’s safe to say everyone knew more DLC was on the way. The only question was – when?

Now, thanks to the Hong Kong PlayStation Store team’s proclivity for releasing information early – we know when that DLC is being released (in HK at least). Since the DLC is in English for Hong Kong, we could see it hitting here in North America at the same time as well. So, we’ll add it to our weekly rumors! One of the packs was offered as part of a limited pre-order special, but we don’t really know much about the pricing [Update: San Van Classic Pack will cost $4.99 USD]. Here is more info about the packs:

Skate 2 : San Van Classic Pack [February 27, 2009]

Skate the Community Center, Elementary School and Parkade locations from the original skate, but freshened up with skate 2 style!

Skate 2 : Throwback Pack [March 6, 2009]

Unlock the retro gear and celebrate the past with some short shorts, knee high socks, tie dyed shirts and crazy sunglasses. While you’re at it, play some air guitar and throw out the peace signs with our classic gestures.

Remember: If you don’t want to pay for DLC, you can always download our PlayStation LifeStyle custom graphic to use on your skateboard. That’s kind of DLC, right? Well – it is free.

[Source]

Finally: Warhawk Command Center game space goes live in Home this week

StalkingSilence — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:04:46 +0000

Written by stalkingsilence

Sev1512 of PSLS wanders around the Warhawk Command Center in Home

Today, amongst a TON of major news from the Destination PlayStation event for retailers, we got a great bit of information about Home. Warhawk’s game space will finally be hitting this week, after much anticipation. We previewed the game space back in July of 2008 and despite the long wait, we can’t help but get excited for more Warhawk action.

We covered Warhawk this week in our retro-review (5/5), as everyone at PSLS got excited for a new reason to jump into Home. Currently, until we are provided with some more specific information, we expect the new game space to go live on Thursday.

We’ll see you there, launching some Warhawk directly from Home in the game space.

All of these promises from the last few years really seem to be coming to fruition. Am I the only one who’s excited?