Less than a month ago, DC Universe Online decided to go free-to-pla. Soon thereafter, it was reported that it had seen a huge influx of over 330,000 new users.  However, even more recent reports put those previous numbers to shame.

Sony has sent out a press release stating, that DC Universe Online has seen more than a million new users since it went free-to-play. This is across both PC and the PS3, with the numbers being evenly split between the two.

Lorin Jameson, Executive Director of Development at SOE Austin, had this to say about their free-to-play model:

Our business model philosophy of Free to Play Your Way makes DCUO accessible to every type of player so they can choose to play the game in a way that suits them best. We have a lot of exciting things coming up for players to enjoy in the game and are thrilled at the initial enthusiasm for the game’s free-to-play transition.

How many of you have taken advantage of the now free-to-play DC Universe Online, and if you haven’t yet, are you planning on doing so soon?

Pick up your free copy of DC Universe Online on the PSN now.

© Adam Wolfe for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us

The PlayStation Network has become a home to unique titles in all shapes and sizes since it opened its doors. The latest one to claim the title of unique and PSN exclusivity is Sideway: New York, a graffiti-puzzler from Sony Online Entertainment. Armed with a few cans of spray paint and a boombox full of shoulder-moving tunes, Sideway: New York is primed and ready to take you on an exciting training exercise on proper graffiti work. Read on below to find out if this is a course worth spending your $10 on.

Sideway: New York presents you with a fairly straightforward premise – save your friend Cass from turf leader Spray. To do this, you must enter his world, which just happens to be inhabited by his paintings that have come to life and want nothing more than to stop you. Thankfully, your character Nox has been taught the mystical arts of Spray-Fu (my term), and you are ready to take the fight to any wall you can find.

In the game, your character sticks to whatever wall he is on, allowing you to move from wall to wall, or turn everything crazy when you leap from a wall onto the roof. To try to explain this further, when you get on the roof, that now becomes your background. The movement between buildings and from building sides to rooftops is seamless, with the game playing much like any other platform out there, as you jump from platform to platform, making your way through the level. There will also be areas of the world where you will have to spray in platform’s so you can stand on them, making your way up a building while spraying the one ahead of you. Just be careful though, as after a few seconds the spray will fade away and the platform will disappear. The biggest issue with the platforming come with the double jump, which can be frustrating to nail every time, leaving you frustrated as you miss the easy jump and die.

As you make your way through the levels, you will come across enemies trying to block your path. These enemies shoot eyes at you, make copies of themselves, or run at you like a bull. Each one takes a different method to defeat and when they do fall, they do so in a splash of paint. You will have a full move set to deal with these baddies, such as your paint kick or paint bombs that you can throw at them. All of these moves are extremely colorful and satisfying, as big fights turn into a collage of sorts, with paint flying everywhere. Playbrains does a good job of providing enough variety in the enemies you face, promising that you will use your entire move set to take down levels. There is some amazing about being able to approach a corner and throw your paintball around the corner of the wall and hit an enemy on the adjacent wall.

Sideway can be played as co-op locally with a friend but isn’t as great as you would think. As you try to make your way quickly through levels with your friend, it will focus only on the person playing as Nox, so if the 2nd player falls behind or gets too far ahead, they will disappear and re-paint themselves next to Nox. This can be helpful if your friend can’t get past a part, but becomes a hindrance when the person riding shotgun finally makes it through a section, only to be brought back to Nox. Sadly, the only real benefit to co-op is when one person dies, the 2nd player can get to a checkpoint and spawn them back in. They can also come in handy during boss battle, which are a fairly weak aspect of the game. Boss battles break up the freedom and rhythm of the game, forcing players into a single way to defeat a boss, which you usually repeat three times.

Presentation is where this game really shines, with a beautiful art style and soundtrack. The world is extremely vibrant, with a rainbow of colors and everything on the screen practically oozing with colorful detail. With every kick or jump of your character, paint sprays out in each direction, leaving a trail of beautiful destruction in your wake. The soundtrack adds even more style to the game, as the beats might have you setting down your controller and start dancing, even if they do repeat far too often.

Sideway: New York is an extremely vibrant and unique experience that is well worth spending the $10 on. Yes the game is too short, clocking in at around 4 hours to complete, but sometimes it is not about length and instead about the pure fun you have. I found myself sitting there with a friend and just raving over and over about how beautiful and fun this game was, as we were moving from wall, to roof, to bridge, as only a piece of graffiti could do. The boss battles are a let down and playing co-op isn’t as interesting as it should be, but this is one of those games you need to experience. Your first kick full of paint will suck you in and once you slide down a wall, leaving a trail of paint behind you, there will be no way to walk away without a big grin on your face.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score + Sexy and Fun Experience, Full of Color. + Unique Platforming Brings Game to Life, Along with Killer Soundtrack - Coop and Boss Battles are Disappointing

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© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us

After a slight delay early this month, Sony Online Entertainment have finally nailed down a solid release date for PAYDAY: The Heist. Get your guns and masks ready, and make sure you have a steady driver in wait, because PAYDAY will be releasing on the PlayStation Network next Tuesday, the 18th of October.

To celebrate the new launch date, SOE and developer Overkill have released a new ‘slaughterhouse’ trailer, which showcases one of the more difficult heist in the game.

Click here to view the embedded video.

PAYDAY: The Heist is a game that puts players in the shoes of Neil McCauley, Chris Shiherlis, and Michael Cheritto… wait, I just started naming the characters of the movie Heat, but I think you get my point. The game tasks you with completing a number of heist, such as bank robberies or freeing convicts from a police escort. You won’t be alone though, as you as 3 friends will form a top-notch crew to take on these jobs.

PAYDAY: The Heist is now releasing October 18th for the PlayStation Network.

[Source]

© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us

A mixture of platforming, sidescrolling shooting, and a unique gravity-warping twist, is Recoil Games’ PSN-exclusive creation Rochard worth your time and hard-earned money? Find out right now in our review.

Meet John Rochard. He’s the protagonist of this PSN adventure, and sounds like a trucker for some reason. He’s a miner, working for “the lowest-producing team in the solar system.” You control him as he utilizes his G-lifter gun to solve numerous puzzles and save the day. Rochard is full of one-liners, though many of those fall flat. The whole game’s comedy is largely hit-or-miss, and whether you will find this game funny or not really depends on your sense of humor. There are a few supporting characters who are fairly predictable, and the overall plot is incredibly easy to follow. It’s a good thing the gameplay of Rochard is actually really solid, because the story would not carry it too far.

The game’s main device, the G-lifter, is quite the versatile tool. While the multi-tool begins with only one ability, lifting certain objects much like the Zero Point Energy gun from the Half-Life series, you soon upgrade it to shoot bullets, grenades, and more. Towards the end of the game you combine all the G-lifter’s abilities to perform some impressive feats of acrobatics. Throughout much of the game you have the ability to alter your environment’s gravity, toggling between regular and low at the press of the L1 button. This makes for an interesting twist on puzzles involving lasers, platforming, enemies, turrets, fuses, and more elements that all combine to challenge your noggin. Answers to a given area will usually come to you within a few minutes of toying around with things. When you finish some of the later levels there is a rewarding feeling of satisfaction when you have that “aha!” moment and figure out the puzzle.

In terms of audio, Rochard has plenty of sci-fi, futuristic sound effects that fit right in. The game is fully voiced, and the delivery of each character is actually top-notch for a title at this price point. The game is presented in basic stereo, which is fine given that this is a PSN title. Music comes and goes as you enter and exit battle, and unfortunately there is no custom soundtrack support. Now sure, this game doesn’t really need that feature, but if you are going to go for a speed run to obtain a gold trophy tied to beating the game in under three hours, rushing through it to the tune of your own soundtrack would be welcome. This is definitely not a deal-breaker, though.

There are a few things about Rochard that may annoy some gamers. Those who prefer to figure things out on their own will want to ensure hints are off by default. With these on, the game throws hints at you within 20 seconds of beginning to solve a puzzle. The story is pretty shallow, and the enemies are not too bright. Once they find you, they just stand and fire, becoming sitting ducks in the process. The excellent puzzles and fun platforming more than make up for these flaws, however, and you have a solid title overall.

The PlayStation Network is no stranger to unique, innovative titles, and I can safely say that Rochard now stands among them. Sure, the story is predictable and the humor is definitely not for everyone, but when the platforming and puzzle solving is this fun you won’t really mind. This game is a nice length given the price, and replayability comes in the form of collecting all the hidden trophies and beating the game as quickly as you can. If developer Recoil Games has a sequel or expansion planned, I would love to see it as the world they have created has just enough uniqueness that it could easily be explored some more.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score + Excellent platforming and puzzles to test your skill. + G-lifter tool is extremely versatile, control over gravity is useful and not gimmicky. - Story is predictable, humor is hit-or-miss.

© Paulmichael Contreras for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Sony Online Entertainment and Overkill Entertainment have released a new trailer for PAYDAY: The Heist titled The Green Bridge trailer, which shows off a new level where you have to storm a bridge to rescue a convict in transport.

This trailer comes just after Sony Online Entertainment announced that the game would be delayed until late October. It is unfortunate to see a game delayed a day before release but if it is to take out serious bugs, I think most gamers can forgive and forget.

PAYDAY: The Heist will be releasing later this month for $19.99. You can still head over to the PlayStation Store and pre-order the game if you choose, which will net you a free theme. Let us know in the comments what you think of the new trailer and if you still plan on picking up the game whenever it releases later this month.

© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us

Following the exciting revelation that Sony Online Entertainment’s DC Universe Online is going free-to-play, a second expansion pack has been revealed, this time with more bang than ever before.

The second DCUO downloadable content pack will feature none other than the The Flash. Even more exciting, the Cosmic Treadmill will be added, and will be used to transport players into the distant past. Flash’s origin will also be unlocked, accompanied by some sweet new armor to earn and show off.

Below are two images from the upcoming DLC, which highlight the Cosmic Treadmill and Central City.

Since there was a new subscription model announced for DCUO, this DLC will be available in two different ways. Those who are on the free-to-play or Premium models will need to pay to unlock the content, and it will likely be priced at $9.99 as with the first DLC. However, those with a Legendary subscription, which is $14.99 a month, will receive everything as part of the subscription. Not a bad deal, especially for those who just can’t get enough of the DC Universe.

© jleack for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Yesterday it was announced that, within a year of release, DC Universe Online is moving towards a free-to-play model. However, fans were shocked to learn that those who choose to avoid the optional premium membership won’t be able to unlock trophies. While many have been questioning why, Sony has quickly interjected their rationale.

Lorin Jameson, Executive Director of Development at Sony Online Entertainment, has explained why only Legendary Access members of DCUO will have the ability to unlock and earn trophies. She posted the following comment:

PS3 requires that only paid games reward trophies. Legendary access players will still be able to earn trophies though.

Legendary Access will cost $14.99 a month, which is what players have been paying since the game’s launch in January. While the membership will include DLC packs, extra character slots, and a few other benefits, it’s a hefty price tag for trophy hunters. With that said, there isn’t much to complain about when all things are considered, and DCUO is likely to become one of the most competitive subscription-less MMOs on the market.

© jleack for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | 38 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Sony Online Entertainment has used gamescom to announce release dates for three of their upcoming PlayStation Network games. PAYDAY: The Heist, Sideway: New York and Rochard will all be releasing early this fall for download and offer a wide variety of gameplay from Robert DeNiro type robberies to adventures with graffiti. Check out the release dates below, along with details on each title.

Title: Rochard
Release Date: 9/27
Price: $9.99

Rochard has gamers playing as a space miner named John Rochard who uses wits and tools to fight off the space pirates. Missing miners and an ancient artifact cause John to use his tools and gravity to fight back.

Title: PAYDAY: The Heist
Release Date: 10/4
Price: $19.99

PAYDAY: The Heist is a game that many are calling “Left 4 Dead” with banks, and that description really fits. Grab a bunch of your friends and take down banks, hijack armored cars, and break into safe houses in this action packed game. If you feel inclined, you can take part in the PSN PLAY Program that is currently going on, where, when you buy 4 games, you get PAYDAY for free. DLC expansions for this game will also be released later this year.

Title: Sideway: New York
Release Date: 10/11
Price: $9.99

Sideway: New York is a 2D platformer that is set in a 3D world, where players control a graffiti artist named Nox. Use not only drainpipes and windows ledges to navigate through the backstreets, but also graffiti tags. Tag your way through the levels while listening to an underground hip-hop inspired soundtrack, all while trying to defeat your nemesis Spray.

Now gamers have three very solid and different looking games to look forward to in the coming months. Will you be picking up any of these titles when they release?

© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Developed by Overkill Software, Payday: The Heist made a big splash at this year’s E3, providing gamers with a well-rounded first-person shooter based on the fine art of bank robbing. At the San Diego Comic Con, Sony Online Entertainment has released a new trailer and some screenshots to whet your appetite.

Payday: The Heist is a first-person shooter that will be releasing on the PlayStation Network and PC. In the game you are tasked with staging and robbing a bank with your AI or human controlled friends. The game has been described by many as Left 4 Dead with banks and you can see some of this in the new video.

The trailer and screens focus on the ‘panic room’, where hostages are all around you and the SWAT team is fast on your tail. The only thing missing is Robert DeNiro and Val Kilmer to make your crew complete. Enjoy the video and screens below and stay tuned for more information on this game.

© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us

For months, Sony Online Entertainment has offered a single subscription service, called Station Access, for all of their games. Station Access allows users to play as many SOE games as they want with only one fee to pay. Yesterday, SOE hosted a live stream where they revealed some great news.

SOE announced that the fee for Station Access will be lowered from $29.99 to $19.99. As stated above, Station Access lets you play all of SOE games including DC Universe Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Vanguard, and EverQuest II. Saving $10 dollars a month is definitely a lot of money when you are talking about subscription fees. With all that money you saved, you can buy even more SOE games. Sony Online Entertainment hasn’t confirmed when this price discount will take effect, or if it was a response to the hack of SOE.

Will you be taking advantage of the SOE discount? Let us know below.

© Josh Fernandes for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Only just announced for the PSN, the exclusive title Papo & Yo is set to release on the PS3 next year as a Sony Pub Fund game. To find out more about the game, the story behind the plot and the growth of surrealism in the games industry, we talked to Vander Cabellero, founder and Creative Director of Minority in an exclusive first interview.

Hi, could you start by introducing yourself and telling us about your work at Minority?

My name is Vander Cabellero. I am the creative director and founder of Minority. My job is to inspire a group of talented, experienced game developers and film producers (who have recently converted to games) to make the most entertaining and honest experiences possible with our products.

Can you tell us a bit about the story of Papo & Yo?

The game is about a young boy, Quico, and his best friend, Monster. Monster is a huge beast with razor-sharp teeth, but that doesn’t scare Quico away from playing with him. That said, Monster does have a very dangerous problem: an addiction to poisonous frogs. The minute he sees one hop by, he’ll scarf it down and fly into a violent, frog-induced rage where no one, including Quico, is safe. And yet, Quico loves his Monster and wants to save him.

This story, the interaction between Quico and the monster he loves, is an allegory for my relationship with my father as a child.

If the game is centered about the story of Quico, his robot and Monster, why is it called Papo & Yo?

Papo refers back to my father. It’s a mash up of papa and babo, the Spanish and Italian words for father.

Is Monster the only monster in the world, or are there others?

My father was the only monster in my childhood and he is the only monster in this game. Rather than a game in which the goal is to slay as many monsters as you can, in Papo & Yo the goal is to explore the characters’ relationship, solve puzzles and, ultimately, save Monster.

From the trailer we can see that the game includes rocket boots – will it have platforming elements as well as puzzle ones?

Yes, it will have platforming elements that you will need to solve the puzzles. For instance, when Quico has the robot on his back he’ll be able to perform a double jump and reach heights he wouldn’t be able to otherwise.

The game seems to have a cartoony and childish vibe, but drug addiction is quite an adult theme – what is the game’s target audience?

This a human story that touches everyone. The experience is not so much about the metaphor of addiction, but the moral of it. The adult world is something really scary for a kid. Adults can flip between good and bad in a second – and as children we learn to cope with the varying craziness of human beings. That is part of growing up. And in this game, you experience that. Through this process of coping with this unstable monster, the boy becomes an independent being,  detached from the monster, and then able to save him. Addiction is just a catalyst to drive us into that human story.

Is the frog addiction simply a plot and gameplay element, or are you trying to send a message about the problems of substance abuse?

Addiction is a catalyst to drive us to the human story we are telling. I don’t want to send a moral message about substance abuse in this game, but I do want us to think about our addictions, our everyday addictions -  like appearance, consumption and overworking  — and the impact these have on our families, especially our relationship with our kids.

Most developers refrain from surrealist games as publishers worry that consumers prefer realism over style – are you at all concerned?

Publishers lose so much when thinking that way. It limits the stories we can tell as designers and artists. Just think of Brazil by Terry Gillam or Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton – where would we be without those excellent, surreal movies? It is so exciting that we are starting to drive that way in games.

How has the PSN downtime affected the announcement of your new title?

It didn’t really affect us because the game is still in development. PSN is a great platform for distribution and has excellent content you can’t find anywhere else – we’re happy to be a part of it.

Why did you decide to have Sony Online Entertainment as your publisher, restricting you to one platform?

Sony really liked Papo & Yo the first time they saw it and we ended up partnering with the Sony Pub Fund – it’s a great deal. Sony gives us support while we can focus on what we do best – develop games.

Is the game scheduled for early or late 2012?

Early 2012.

Are you planning on integrating multiplayer, 3D or Move support?

Multiplayer or Move doesn’t really suit the spirit of this game. That said, we do love the Move controller… but we’re not talking about that yet!

© Sebastian Moss for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us

With the PlayStation Network finally back on its feet, and gamers once again able to download games on the PlayStation Store, we can put the whole nasty business behind us and look to the future. Reminding you why the PSN is still the best downloadable platform around, a new PSN exclusive has been announced: Papo & Yo.

Minority, an independent Canadian developer in has announced its first title, Papo & Yo, exclusively for the PSN. Published by Sony Online Entertainment, the game is developed through a partnership with Sony’s Pub Fund. The story follows a boy named Quico and his new best friend Monster. Unfortunately, Monster has a rather terrible addiction to poisonous frogs, and when he eats the frogs he turns bad, and tries to tear Quico limb from limb.

Players will lead Quico though a vibrant, surreal, 3D adventure, solving puzzles with Monster’s help – players will need to use Monster’s good and bad emotions to their advantage as they search for a cure to save Monster.

Justin Cooney, Senior Account Manager for Developer Relations, Sony Online Entertainment said:

Papo & Yo is a perfect match for the Sony Pub Fund. Our entire game analysis team absolutely loved the title and unanimously declared ‘We want to work with these people.’ The Minority team and its debut title is a representation of the kind of industry innovators we’re looking for, and we’re all very excited to see the final product in action!

Minority will be demoing Papo & Yo at E3 next week LA at the Sony booth, where we’ll be sure to get our hands on the title. To learn more about the game, stay tuned for our exclusive interview that will be published later today can be read here.

© Sebastian Moss for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Unless you have been living under a rock, or just don’t use online features regularly, the PSN being down the past month has likely affected you. Gamers around the world have been waiting in anticipation ever since the network was taken down on April 21st. As things were updated via the blog, we came to find out upon the first login, once services were restored, that we would be required to change our PSN password. Now we’ve learned that Sony Online Entertainment is requiring this from their services as well.

The PSN was not the only thing affected by the criminal attacks in April, as SOE completely shut down their servers due to being “hacked” as well. As of right now SOE is bringing their services back online, but not their game servers, those will slowly be restored just as the PlayStation Network was. Upon returning, just as with the PSN, SOE users will find that they must change their passwords to their accounts. While this might seem like an obstacle, Sony is simply doing everything in their power to make sure the information compromised causes the least damage possible.

It is great to see things finally returning to normal for all of Sony’s services. Stay tuned to PlayStation LifeStyle for more updates on the Sony Online Entertainment services.

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© Joseph Peterson for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Sony‘s restoration of their PlayStation Network, Qriocity and other online services are now in full swing, with the network coming back online in chunks around the globe. Sony Online Entertainment, the group behind many MMOs including DC Universe Online and Free Realms, had stated earlier they were creating a “make good” plan for subscribers to make up for all this lost play time. The plan has now been detailed, and is available after the jump.

Recently spotted on the security update page on SOE’s official site, the entire plan consists of these goodies:

• DC Universe™ Online: Batman™ and Two-Face™ Inspired Masks and 30 Marks of Distinction
• Free Realms®: Free daily items (7 to collect)
• Clone Wars Adventures™: Count Dooku v2 Outfit
• EverQuest®: A series of events, including Double XP, Double Rare Mob Spawns and Double Faction Gains
• EverQuest II and EverQuest II Extended: A series of events, including Double XP, Double Guild XP, Loot Bonanza, and City Festivals
• Vanguard: Saga of Heroes®: A series of Double XP events
• Star Wars Galaxies™: Bounty Hunter Statue, a miniature model of Boba Fett’s ship, the Slave I™
• Magic: The Gathering – Tactics™: Four of each of these spells: “Ivory Mask”, “Duress” and “Angelheart Vial”, plus 500 Station Cash
• PoxNora®: Limited edition Carrionling, Welcome Back 5K Gold Award Tournaments and two Draft Tournaments, plus 500 Station Cash

While most of that concerns PC players, the benefits for DC Universe Online and Free Realms are going to be extended to PlayStation 3 gamers as well. In addition, lifetime members will receive 20,000 coins for Free Realms, and 10 Marks of Distinction for DC Universe Online. Perhaps the biggest freebie is one that is not listed above – “all impacted players will receive 30 days of game time added to the end of the current billing cycle in addition to one day for each day the system is down.” SOE customers will also have the same identity theft protection enrollment offered to them as was detailed on the PS.Blog. No word on when the system will be up, exactly, but considering SOE’s network has been down since May 2nd, that is 43 days of free online play accumulated so far.

Normal PlayStation users will also be treated to a “Welcome Back” package filled with free games and a PS+ subscription once the PlayStation Store is back.

© Paulmichael Contreras for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | 20 comments | Add to del.icio.us

John Blakely, an eight-plus year veteran over at Sony Online Entertainment, has officially left the company to pursue work at Zynga, a smaller developer located in northern California. Blakely’s role at SOE was particularly large, as he was “responsible for building and leading the team in Austin that recently launched DC Universe Online for the PS3 and PC in 5 languages in 22 countries simultaneously”, one of many objectives he was responsible for as the Vice President of Development as stated in his Linkedin profile.

This comes as a particularly large move following the advent of several eye-opening developments at Sony in the past few weeks. As with the PlayStation Network, SOE’s database was also compromised at an alarming level, and only weeks prior to that, a large portion of their workforce was laid-off.

It’s apparent at this point that Sony is in a very tough spot, with several branches of operation being affected by what the company highlighted as “criminal attacks against our networks”. With E3 just around the corner, the next few weeks will be incredibly important if redemption is a goal.

© jleack for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2011. | Permalink | 19 comments | Add to del.icio.us