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Rubber duckies and trailers collide on PSN
At last! North Americans can now splash alongside Europeans in PSN's virtual tub. Anyone up for a game of Super Rub-a-Dub? ... Didn't think so. The tech demo turned 'bath-time nostalgia action-puzzler' has been tossed into the PlayStation Store pool today, treading water with (previously announced) Gauntlet II and some trailer filler. Here's a breakdown of the new content: Super Rub-a-Dub ($6.99); free trial also available Gauntlet II ($4.99) Super Stardust HD Trailer (free) Rampart Trailer (free) BlackSite: Area 51 Trailer (free) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Movie Trailer (free) [Via SCEA press release]
Factor 5 fidgets with two PS3 e-distribution titles
Factor 5 is working on two games to be released via PlayStation 3's e-distribution network. According to a Gamasutra interview with company president Julian Eggebrecht, Factor 5 is excited to return to tacking on smaller projects, noting that "people who work on these two and a half year, three year projects have a chance ... to work on something small again."The developer is currently working on the gorgeous PS3 title Lair, pictured, and has a long history of making technically gorgeous games, making the Rogue Squadron series for both Nintendo 64 and GameCube. Given Factor 5's expertise and beauty and Sony's 500MB cap on downloads, we're excited to see what they can conjure.See Also: Joystiq impressions -- Lair (PS3)
Sony talks up XBLA-killing E-Distribution initiative
Announced during Phil Harrison's GDC keynote, Sony's E-Distribution initiative promises to be an integral and revolutionary feature of their new console ... just like Xbox Live Arcade has for the Xbox 360. Kutaragi (like Bill Gates) even says it will be the future. Answering what Sony sees in digital distribution, Sony's John Hight outlined for Gamasutra the usual suspects: remote markets, cheaper distribution, inventory risk and, of course, piracy. Most telling is how Hight sees the service in relation to Microsoft's XBLA: "We're looking for fresh, new ideas that fully exploit the power of PlayStation 3. Our 1st party projects are all unique to PS3. Some of our games, by virtue of their design and hardware demands, simply couldn't work on Xbox 360." For starters, it's great to hear that Sony is supporting the service with first-party projects; we have yet to see anything on XBLA made internally by Microsoft Games Studios (just give us Marathon already) Microsoft's Carbonated Games has given us Hexic and UNO, but we're still waiting on something a little more AAA, size constraints be damned! Come to think of it, we've yet to see anything on XBLA in quite some time. Now, if you believe that the PS3 and Xbox 360 are fundamentally identical systems with a few minor technical differences (Blu-ray, 1080p, DualShake controller), then the design and hardware demands Hight alludes to suggest unique tilt-sensor gameplay. Yup, we're thinking Marble Blast with the DualShake also.[Thanks, Angelcurio][Update: Added Carbonated Games info. Thanks, Ben!]
