Shivering Isles Now Available, Download Coming November 29, 2007

For those Oblivion players who have been waiting to expand their gaming experience, Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles expansion pack was released today.

Or, if you prefer a download, Shivering Isles will be available for download at the end of this month, on November 29, 2007 during a regular Thursday update.

So, next Thursday, expect it. It would probably be out sooner if they didn't do Thursday updates only though.

[Via Bethesda Blog]

Famitsu Scores Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 Straight 9's

Winning Eleven 2008 (Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 in EU & US) is coming out this December in Japan, and Famitsu reviewed it and they were obviously amazed. They gave both the PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game 9,9, and 9. Did Konami fix the problems that were originally occuring in the PLAYSTATION 3 version?

I guess a United States release will tell.

[Via Ruliweb]

Square Enix Announces Lord of the Vermillion for the PLAYSTATION 3

In the latest issue of Famitsu or Dengeki Magazine (not sure which it is yet), they interview Square Enix's Yoshinori Kitase and Testusya Nomura.

Kitase: The Blue-Ray's disc space and the PS3 HDD's standards has helped us a lot in terminating (mostly, if not absolutely) loading times.

Kitase: Just like how 7 was a huge improvement from 6, the improvement between 12 and 13 may be big too.

Nomura: Our programmers were asking, "is it okay if we program it as a PS3 exclusive? If you're thinking of porting it to other consoles, we might have to change the specs to follow suit the others." And I answered, "PS3 exclusive, of course."

Nomura: The staff just showed me how it looks to fly with an airship while in the World Map. It's been awhile since I last saw something "FF-ish".

Nomura: We haven't announced who else are in the Versus team, but we've got some big names.

Nomura: Kazushige Nomura (scenario writer for Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Kingdom Hearts II) still doesn't want to part from Cloud so we might do something with him again. Something video-like like AC would be nice.

How about a PLAYSTATION 3 remake of Final Fantasy VII, how about that Nomura? Also in this new article, Square Enix announced a new title for PLAYSTATION 3 only called Lord of the Vermillion. It doesn't seem to be related to Final Fantasy, but we will tell you when we find out more.

[Via FFXIII.net]

Rock Band: Only One Guitar

There have been concerns over the PLAYSTATION 3 version of Rock Band. The Guitar Hero controller isn't recognized as a guitar by the game, it is recognized as a regular controller.

Harmonix offered an official response on the issue, saying:

"Harmonix develops and bases all of our games, guitars and other peripherals on open standards established by platform manufacturers such as Microsoft and Sony. Rock Band is no exception and supports an open controller standard. Guitar controllers are like any other standard game controllers--the controller sends a signal back to the game depending on the buttons you push. If a third party game controller is based on open standards, then it should work with Rock Band as well. If certain controllers do not work with Rock Band, questions about those controllers should be directed to the peripheral manufacturer. In addition, we welcome any 3rd party software that wishes to support Rock Band guitars. If a 3rd party guitar / music game does not support the Rock Band guitar controller, questions regarding this should be directed to the game manufacturer."

Pretty odd since there have been no reports of the controller not working with the Xbox 360 version of the game. Did the PLAYSTATION 3 get the short end of the stick once again?

[Via IGN]

Call of Duty 4: Behind the Scenes Multiplayer

Take a behind-the-scenes look at what Infinity Wardr put into creating the incredible multiplayer in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 Announced

Ubisoft Montreal announced today that it is developing Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, a sequel to the Las Vegas, Nevada tactical shooter released early 2007 for the PLAYSTATION 3.

The sequel to the highly successful first title will be releasing March 2008, lining up with the 10th anniversary of the Rainbow Six series.

Ubisoft only mentioned improved graphics, new gameplay features and new Vegas settings. The tactical solo campaign will return, and the sequel will build on its predecessor's popular multiplayer modes.

Co-op and adversarial multiplayer will return, and Vegas 2 will provide "unprecedented interaction between the solo and multiplayer modes," Ubisoft said.

[Via IGN]

HAZE Delayed to 2008

As if things couldn't get worse for us, Ubisoft & Free Radical's HAZE has been officially delayed to 2008.

In a recent financial release from Ubisoft, HAZE, which was originally displayed as a Q3 release, is now listed as a Q4 release, which ends March 31, 2008.

I wonder what that means for the demo we were supposed to receive.

[Via GI]

Turning Point Invasion Trailer

This new trailer shows an invasion of New York City and Ground Zero by the Nazis, your enemy in the upcoming Codemasters title, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty. Will you be able to stop them?

SingStar Features Sleek Menus

If your looking for a singing game with a great customizable interface, SingStar is the game. Though we will have to wait until next year to get it, our friends over in Europe can get the game this December. Enjoy the sexy sleek menus in this new video.

US PLAYSTATION Store Update: November 20, 2007

Well, we have a mighty fine Thanksgiving update for the PLAYSTATION Store this week, lets look at the content.

Games

• Aquatopia ($1.99)
  
• Operation: Creature Feature ($4.99)
  
• Price Reductions (Until November 29, 2007)
• Calling All Cars! ($4.99)
• flOw ($4.99)
• Everyday Shooter ($4.99)
• PixelJunk Racers ($4.99)
  

Demos

• MX vs ATV: Untamed Demo (free)
  

Add-Ons

• flOw Expansion Pack ($2.99)
  
• Need for Speed ProStreet Collector's Upgrade ($9.99)
  
• Rock Band Add-Ons
• Metallica Pack 1 ($5.49)
• Queens of the Stone Age Pack 1 ($5.49)
• The Police Pack 1 ($5.49)
• "...And Justice for All" Song ($1.99)
• "Blackened" Song ($1.99)
• "Ride the Lightning" Song ($1.99)
• "3's & 7's" Song ($1.99)
• "Little Sister" Song ($1.99)
• "Sick, Sick, Sick" Song ($1.99)
• "Can't Stand Losing You" Song ($1.99)
• "Roxanne" Song ($1.99)
• "Synchronicity II" Song ($1.99)
• "Bang a Gong" Song ($1.99)
• "Cherry Bomb" Song ($1.99)
• "Fortunate Son" Song ($1.99)
• "Joker & The Theif" Song ($1.99)

Game Videos

• Snakeball Trailer
• Ratchet & Clank Future: Behind The Scenes - Story
• Ratchet & Clank Future: Behind The Scenes - Design
• Battlefield: Bad Company Trailer 2

Blu-Ray Disc Trailers

• Superbad Trailer

Thats the update, which is live on the PLAYSTATION Store at this moment, so go and get your downloads.

PLAYSTATION Store Worldwide

• EU PLAYSTATION Store Update: November 22, 2007
  

PLAYSTATION Eye Games Arriving Today

Operation: Creature Feature and Aquatopia will be arriving on the PLAYSTATION Store today. For all you PLAYSTATION Eye owners wondering what else you can do with it, now you have something, with more to come as the weeks pass.

Operation: Creature Feature

"In Operation: Creature Feature, you control tiny creatures from another dimension through the motion of your hands. Help them navigate obstacles through earth, water, fire and ice to escape from captivity. The more you save, the happier these creatures will be. They’re completely attracted to motion so watch out for other objects blocking you through the mazes. Be sure to check it out on the PS Store and download it for $4.99."

Aquatopia

"Have you ever wanted an aquarium but didn’t want the hassle of cleaning the tank? Well show off the awesome power of your HD display with Aquatopia. Now, using your PS3 combined with the PSEye, you can have a virtual tank with both salt and freshwater fish. It’s virtual, so mix and match all you want. Remember when they said don’t tap on the glass? Well, feel free to with this tank. The action your PSEye captures will interact with the fish. You can even feed them by dabbing your hands in the top of the water. Get it from the PS Store for $1.99"

[Via PS.Blog]

PLAYSTATION Store for PSP Now PC Accessable

Yes people, today is the day people in the US, and everywhere else can access the PLAYSTATION Store online.

The store looks quite similar to the store on the PLAYSTATION Network, and they act similar as they are both accessed on a web page (sadly). Give it a visit it at the link below.

[Visit: PLAYSTATION Store]

Final Fantasy XIII & Versus XIII Will Use Full PS3 Specifications

Dengeki has interviewed Tetsuya Nomura on the future of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy XIII and he's revealed some more information on the development of the games.

Nomura says that with the help of the disc space on Blu-Ray and the Hard drive in each PLAYSTATION 3, The evolution of Final Fantasy XII to XIII will be as big as the evolution of Final Fantasy VI to VII.

[Via FFXII.net]

Quantic Dream Buys Mo-Cap Tech for PS3 Exclusive

Quantic Dream, developers of the unsure Heavy Rain, bought the latest motion capture technology from Vicon for its top secret PLAYSTATION 3 exclusive.

The studio has already been installed at Quantic Dream, with the developer hard at work on four month's worth of motion capture for the exclusive title.

"Our objective is to make this media a mainstream entertainment form with high creative expectations," commented Guillaume de Fondaumière, Co-CEO at Quantic Dream.

"To do so, we have invented our own format called 'interactive cinema' in which realistic, believable characters play a central role. To us, the only way to reach the level of quality we were targeting for the animation of our characters was to use Vicon motion capture," he said.

Sony announced the PLAYSTATION 3 project with Quantic Dream in July this year. The developer is also hiring out the new studio to other development teams.

"Demand has been immediate and we have actually already started to rent the system to high-profile video game and advertising clients. Our new studio is fully installed and is functioning almost every day either for complex full body or facial captures," added Fondaumière.

[Via GamesIndustry]

Surfer Girl: Crysis PS360, Skate Two, Driver 5 Not Exclusive

Surfer Girl updates us today with yet another bunch of predictions, including information about Crysis coming to consoles as well as Driver 5.

1) Crysis is coming to PS360, but not until Q3 of EA's fiscal 09 [October-December].
2) Also coming to PS360 next September is skate two., which, as previously mentioned, takes place outside of San Vanelona.
3) Also coming next fall is the Wii version of Spore from EA Montreal, which be the first home console version of the title to see release. The Wii version feature an online mode for content sharing akin to that found in the original version and the possibility of online gameplay for the Wii version is being looked into. The DS version of Spore (which Jenova Chen was working on prior to joining thatgamecompany), seeing release alongside the original version in April, will support the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for gameplay.
4) Driver 5 (working title) is not exclusive to the PS3 (nor was such ever the case), it will be hitting PC and 360 as well sometime next year.

Lets hope for the PLAYSTATION 3's sake, that last one is not true, but you never really know with Surfer Girl now do you?

[Via Surfer Girl]

Dusty PLAYSTATION 3 Featured on FOX News

FOX News recently did a report on dust PLAYSTATION 3's which is quite humerous due to an article over at Consumerist where the PLAYSTATION 3 was too dusty to be repaired due to health hazards. Give it a watch.

Unreal Tournament III: New HD Footage

Unreal Tournament III was released on the PC today, so to celebrate, there is some new footage of the title. Enjoy the HD action as it's most likely coming to the PLAYSTATION 3 this December 2007.