When I originally drafted this post it consisted of just the following eight words “Sonic – What else do you need to know?” As it turns out, Sony are really pushing the boat out with a whole host of other quality content so it’s probably best that I report in full.
This week’s headline act is of course Sonic 4, the modern day re-imagining of the finest platforming action. Earlier on today we reviewed Sonic 4 and you can check out our definitive review here. It may be fair to say that the Sonic franchise has seen more misses than hits since the halcyon days of the 16-bit era, but Sonic 4 looks to be a massive return to form and proves SEGA’s old ad campaign that to be this good takes AGES.
Before we get on with meat and bones of the full update, it’s worth checking in on today’s fantastic update for the PlayStation Plus service, first up is the fantastic news that all the DLC for Fallout 3 will be available this month, this week it’s the turn of Point Lookout, Mothership Zeta and Operation Anchorage, with the remaining Broken Steel and The Pitt following next week. Each batch of DLC will be available on the store for one week only, so if you want it, get it! Alongside Fallout 3’s DLC is a full game trial for Hustle Kings.
Elsewhere, we have the demo for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II which sees Darth Vaders secret apprentice continue along his quest to search for answers, the very fact you can now wield two lightsabres at once should be enough to ensure sales success.
The warm up for next year’s mega-release of Dead Space 2 begins now with the release of a trial and unlock for Dead Space Ignition. Set inbetween Dead Space and the forthcoming sequel, Ignition gives gamers the chance to complete a variety of mini-games which will unlock features in next year’s game, including an exclusive suit.
Finally, a reminder that PlayStation Plus subscribers get the chance to download a Killzone 3 beta theme from 8pm (UK) 9pm (EU) tonight, the first 10,000 to do so will receive a code for access to the Killzone 3 beta.
Special Offers
(Offer prices available until the 27th of October)
- Topatoi: The Great Tree Story (was – £4.79/€5.99 now – £2.39/€2.99)
- Topatoi Bundle (Contains full game, Pillar of Skies and Arcade Style Packs) (was – £7.99/€9.99 now – £4.79/€5.99)
- Blue Toad Murder Files – Episodes 4-6 (was – £9.99/€12.99 now – £4.99/€6.19)
- Smash Cars – Virus Run (was – £2.39/€2.99 now – £0.79/€0.99)
- Hyperballoid – Original World Pack (was – £1.59/€1.99 now – £1.25/€1.59)
- Metal Gear Solid – Portable Ops (PSP) (was – £8.79/€10.99 now – £5.19/€6.59)
- Disney’s Tarzan (PSone) (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.19/€3.99)
Permanent Price Reductions
- Section 8 (was – £19.99/€24.99 now – £9.99/€12.99)
- Blade Kitten (was – £9.99/€12.99 now – £7.19/€8.99)
- Half Minute Hero (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £11.99/€14.99)
- R-Type Tactics (PSP) (was – £11.99/€14.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
PlayStation Plus
- Full Game Trial Hustle Kings
- Game Add-ons Fallout 3 Packs – Point Lookout, Mothership Zeta and Operation Anchorage
- Theme Killzone 3 Beta (goes live at 8pm in the UK, 9pm CET and 6am tomorrow in Sydney, Australia)
Downloadable Games (PS3)
- Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (£9.99/€12.99)
Downloadable Games – Trial and Unlock (PS3)
- Dead Space Ignition (Trial free, Unlock Key £3.99/€4.99)
Downloadable Games (PSP)
- Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Predator (£23.99/€29.99)
PSP Essentials
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (£7.99/€9.99)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (£7.99/€9.99)
minis (PS3/PSP)
- Crime Spree (£2.49/€2.99)
Demos (PS3)
- Star Wars The Force Unleashed II
- Dragon Ball Raging Blast 2
- Sky Fighter
- Legend of the Guardians
Add-On Game Content (PS3)
- Dead Rising 2 – Skills Pack Psycho (£1.59/€1.99)
- Red Dead Redemption – Hunting & Trading Outfits Pack (free)
- Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2
- Cold War Pack (£3.19/€3.99)
- MIG Alley Pack (£3.19/€3.99)
- Split/Second – Survival at the Rock Pack (£5.49/€6.99)
- WRC – Group B Cars (£3.99/€4.99)
- Moto GP 10 – Twin Track Pack (£3.99/€4.99)
- PAIN – Alpine Ski Slope (£3.99/€4.99)
- EyePet
- Halloween Styling Pack (£2.39/€2.99)
- Soccer Fan Styling Pack (£2.39/€2.99)
- Rock Band
- Are You Experienced: Rock Band Edition (Album) (£9.99/€14.99) (contains all the tracks listed below)
- ’3rd Stone From the Sun’ (£0.99/€1.49)
- ‘Fire (Live)’ (£0.99/€1.49)
- ‘Foxy Lady’ (£0.99/€1.49)
- ‘Hey Joe (Live)’ (£0.99/€1.49)
- ‘Highway Chile’ (£0.99/€1.49)
- ‘Love or Confusion’ (£0.99/€1.49)
- ‘Manic Depression’ (£0.99/€1.49)
- ‘May This Be Love’ (£0.99/€1.49)
- ‘Purple Haze’ (£0.99/€1.49)
- ‘Stone Free’ (£0.99/€1.49)
- ‘The Wind Cries Mary’ (£0.99/€1.49)
- Rock Band Network
- ‘America Underwater’ by LoveHateHero (£0.99/€1.49)
- ‘Death Metal Guys’ by Reverend Horton Heat (£0.99/€1.49)
- ‘Incubus’ by Amberian Dawn (£0.99/€1.49)
- ‘No One’s Gonna Love You’ by Band of Horses (£0.99/€1.49)
- ‘Parhelia’ by Heaven Ablaze (£0.59/€0.79)
Add-On Game Content (PSP)
- LittleBigPlanet – Uncharted Costume (£0.79/€0.99)
FirstPlay (PS3)
- FirstPlay Episode 028 (£0.99/€1.20)
Avatars (PS3)
- Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype
- Cyclops (£.40/€0.49)
- EDF Marine (£.40/€0.49)
- Nyx (£.40/€0.49)
- Vielkopf (£.40/€0.49)
- EyePet
- Logo (£.20/€0.25)
- Pet Shocked (£.20/€0.25)
- Police Pet (£.20/€0.25)
- Pet Face Icon Blue (£.20/€0.25)
- Pet Stretch (£.20/€0.25)
Premium Themes (PS3)
- Disruptive
- Aquarium (£1.19/€1.49)
- Soaring Toasters (£1.19/€1.49)
- Von Chrono
- Liquid (£1.19/€1.49)
Themes (PS3)
- Premier Manager Generic Theme 1 (free)
- Sky Fighter Theme (free)
Videos (PS3)
- Asura’s Wrath Announcement Trailer
Source: EU Blog
hazelam
sonic inexplicably has no demo for the eu region on ps3, where everywhere else it has.
why is it when those two things eu and playstation combine you can pretty much guarantee a shoddy service?
Lymmusic
cos they know everyone also has a dodgy US account…
its an awful demo too.. glad i tried it as it saved me a tenner
hazelam
yeah, it just seems to handle a little off to me, sonic takes way too long to get moving and when he is moving he doesn’t handle like previous games, he doesn’t seem to have the same momentum he used to.
TSBonyman
I thought the same about Sonic’s control/movement, i was glad when i got to the end of the demo and deleted it.
DrOf1337
It’s nothing to do with us. SEGA chose not to submit a demo to the EU. We asked them for it. We ALWAYS ask for demos. Short of going over to the SEGA offices and holding a gun to their head, what can we do?
BrendanCalls
I have to wait until next week’s payday before I can get Sonic, gutted but I’ll live……just!!!
justboy
Its surprising to see Blade Kitten go down in price so quickly, no one must be buying it!
Loads of demos that I’m going to try, still waiting on castlevania to finish downloading from the last update though! :(
Lymmusic
how long do your downloads take? u got dial up?
cc_star
No, but Sony has
Lymmusic
really? i never have to wait more than 30 – 60 mins for a 2 or 3 gig demo… unless i try to download between 5pm and 8pm as virgin throttle my connection then..
justboy
Nah, no dial up.
Its on its fifth download as I keep getting a corrupt data message when I try to install it!
Rising Force
I guess it needs to be £3.99 heh-heh
Dexter17
Good update this week – Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 demo is a nice surprise. And of course the Killzone 3 theme!
moshi
Is R-Type any good people
gazzagb
May try the Star Wars demo if I’ve got enough space on my HDD.
tobo_56
Thank god i never bought all the fallout dlcs im so happy great from ps plus im very happy that i got it recently :)
jikomanzoku
They’re really good, but when playing the Point Lookout area make sure to save even more regularly than you would usually. That place takes the PS3 version of F3’s tendency to crash and times’s it by about 5. Also save your game just before going to the UFO for zeta too as that often crashes during the intro – took me 4 attempts to get in.
Quinlank
That’s one of the best updates in ages, some ace stuff.
I hope the poor effers that bought Blade Kitten are going to complain about wanting reparations for paying full price onlt for a price cut to hit two weeks later though.
mcduff1979
i may have to get the fallout 3 dlc off ps plus and re buy the original game as i traded it in