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Sleeping Dogs, Wipeout 2048 feature in Europe's PS Plus February freebies
PlayStation Plus is bringing a new slew of freely available games to its European subscriber base next month. Top of the bill is the Eastern standard crime of Sleeping Dogs, which comes into the Instant Game Collection's harbor on February 6. It's joined on the same day by Airtight Games' Quantum Conundrum and Codemasters' F1 Race Stars. Following in the PS3 trio's footsteps are two Vita games, with Wipeout 2048 gliding in on February 13, and Lumines Electronic Symphony lighting things up on February 20.If you've not yet signed up to PS Plus, Sony Europe wants to tempt you by knocking 30 percent off the 90 day membership. The subscription costs £7.99/€9.99 if bought between February 6 and 20. If you wait until then, however, you'll likely lose your chance to pick up BioShock 2, Ratchet and Clank All 4 One, and Cubixx HD, which all depart the Instant Game Collection on February 6. Jet Set Radio also skates on after February 13, while Pinball Arcade drops into the abyss on February 20.
Wipeout HD and Fury come to Vita as 2048 DLC, free if you already have them on PS3
Wipeout HD and its Fury expansion are moving (at futuristically high speeds, we assure you) from PS3 to Vita today, in the form of two DLC packs for Wipeout 2048.The $7.99 "Wipeout HD Add-On Pack" adds the single-player mode from that game along with all the online tracks, 12 new ships, and PS3/Vita cross-play for 12 tracks not previously included in 2048. The $7.99 "Wipeout HD Fury Add-On Pack" adds 12 more tracks, another campaign, and 24 more ships.If you want to buy them both together, you can do so in a $12.99 bundle. Or, if you already happen to own one or both games on PS3, you can just download the Vita DLC for free. Conversely, if you buy one or both of these, you can get the PS3 versions for free.
PS Vita software update 1.65 adjusts sleep timer
If you've been troubled by your Vita going into sleep mode prematurely while you wait to connect with opponents in Wipeout 2048, listen up. Firmware version 1.65 -- to be released "soon" adds a new option to the Power Saver settings tab, extending the time before the PS Vita goes into sleep mode to 10 minutes.In addition to the new Power Saver option, a notification alert will be added to the settings area, allowing users to toggle notifications on and off. Oh, and CAPS LOCK is being added to the on-screen keyboard for those times when telling somebody gg kthxbye just doesn't properly convey your appreciation and enthusiasm.The last addition is an arrow icon that will be displayed when your PS Vita "finds new activities in the LiveArea."
Sony incentivizes Vita Cross Play with free PS3 DLC, and vice versa
In the expensive, devious world of advertising, a successful word of mouth campaign is worth its weight in gold. Building something into your product that's fun to show off and talk about makes the purchase feel justified to the buyer, and instills a sense of "Dude, I want this" in the buyer's friends. You've got to give them something to talk about, though, which is why Sony is making the Vita's Cross Play functionality easier to jump into via free DLC for two of its titles.Well, free with purchase, we should say. Anyone who buys Hustle Kings for the Vita will be able to download the PS3 version of the game for free, and vice versa. Wipeout 2048 pilots that already own Wipeout HD and its "HD Fury" pack will receive the Vita DLC versions of both at no charge when they're released this spring. Sony describes this as "promotional" pricing, so we doubt free cross-platform transference will always be the norm. For now though, it's a good step towards establishing Cross Play as more than a gimmick in the minds of Vita owners and their friends.
Online Pass makes it into North American Vita titles
Last month, word came out that the Japanese version of Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational for the PlayStation Vita included an online pass. With the embargo on North American Vita coverage lifted, we can now confirm that the American version does indeed feature an online pass. Of the Vita games we've acquired so far, Wipeout 2048 is the only other title to feature an online pass.Those are currently the only titles with passes available on the US PlayStation Store, so it would seem that the rest of the launch lineup is free of the online pass's ten-dollar grip -- for now.
UK: Buy a 3G Vita from Vodafone, get free memory card, Wipeout 2048
Vodafone's got a quite a deal for UK customers looking to pick up a 3G PlayStation Vita. The store is currently offering a free 4GB Vita memory card with the £280 purchase of a 3G Vita. Furthermore, if customers "top off" their 3G sim card for £5, Vodafone will throw in a copy of Wipeout 2048 and 250MB of mobile data for a month.The memory card is bound to come in handy, given that the proprietary cards are required for all PSN downloads and many Vita titles -- like Wipeout 2048, for example.
First-party Vita games now available at GameStop
Not only can you download Vita games early, you can buy boxed copies of first-party titles early as well. GameStop currently has copies of Little Deviants, Uncharted, Hot Shots, Wipeout 2048, and ModNation Racers in stock online right now. They ship within 24 hours, the site notes, or you can use the site to check for stock at your local store.The Vita hardware will officially be available February 15 in the First Edition bundle, but it's possible you already have a Japanese unit, in which case you should be able to play these cartridges.
Playable Vita demo units now at Gamestop
If you're just dying to get your hot little hands on a PlayStation Vita, you may want to hit up your local GameStop. Keep in mind that said unit will be securely bolted down, because its a demo unit, of course!The retailer has announced that it now has demo units at over 3,300 of it's locations, allowing customers to try out several games, including Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Little Deviants, Modnation Racers: Road Trip, WipeOut: 2048 and more.Just remember: Wash your hands. It's flu season, after all.
Wipeout 2048's intro cinematic takes us through our future past
According to this intro cinematic for Wipeout 2048, which chronicles the evolution of the game's racing world and its technology, we've only got 36 years to get from out current Formula 1 racers to flying angular death rockets. Challenge accepted.
Wipeout 2048's canned Zombie mode detailed
Liverpool Studios game director Stuart Tilley wrote about a proposed almost-a-mode for the Vita's Wipeout 2048 on the PlayStation Blog today. The Zombie mode experience sounds like the usual apocalyptic scenario -- they keep coming, you try to survive as long as possible, but die inevitably. Players start alone, in the dark. As the race kicks off, zombie ships eventually emerge on the player's tail, trying to ram and incapacitate. Occasional Quake and Cannons powerups aid players in this survival mode, but ultimately the zombies win. The zombies always win. "In the final reckoning, we made the call to put Zombie mode on the back burner. That said, like a real-life Zombie, ZOMBIE mode is dead, but it's not completely dead," Tilley teased in his post. While's it's been scrapped for launch, we imagine Liverpool might eventually find time to release the mode as DLC.
Get in touch with Vita launch titles with ten new trailers
Sony sent out a bunch of trailers for first-party launch Vita games, focusing on the Vita-specific features each game uses. The good news: we see clever combinations of controls here, like Escape Plan's "pinch" of both the front and back touch panels. And Gravity Rush looks really neat regardless of how it's controlled. The bad news: we're not nearly mature enough to see ten references to "front touch" and "rear touch" without giggling. If that's how Sony is going to refer to those features permanently, we're going to have a problem at press events.
Sony bringing 12 first party Vita launch titles to Europe, including Uncharted and Wipeout
Sony kinda has a thing for Europe, as evidenced by today's PlayStation Vita event in London. SCEE worldwide studios SVP Michael Denny took to the stage to reveal the February 22, 2012 first party launch lineup for the PlayStation Vita, which includes titles like Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Wipeout 2048. The list of 12 games adds to the two from Namco we already expected by February 22 -- namely Ridge Racer and Touch My Katamari -- and reveals a cadre of "in development" titles, even outing a couple we'd yet to hear about. Presumably the EU's first party launch lineup isn't far off from North America's, but we'll assuredly find out more definitively in the near future.
Sony signs Vodafone as main Vita 3G carrier in majority of EU, Australia, and New Zealand
We don't really have a working knowledge of cell phone carriers in Europe. Whenever a company announces it's working with AT&T, we can say "oh man, AT&T, right?" and groan together. But with this morning's announcement of Vodafone acting as the PlayStation Vita's primary 3G carrier in Europe, the best we can offer is, "Wait, isn't that a soccer team?" (Apparently those logos on the jerseys are just sponsors -- who knew?) But yes, joining the ranks of NTT Docomo in Japan and AT&T in the US, Vodafone will provide folks in "the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands, and with Vodafone's Partner in France (SFR)" with 3G on the Vita. To help incentivize the 3G model, Vodafone's even throwing in a voucher for Wipeout 2048 – hot dog! Apparently 3G models of the Vita in said territories will come packed with a Vodafone SIM card. No pricing has been announced just yet, but we expect to hear more soon, as the Vita launches just four months from now in February 2012.
