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'PSN Play' launches Sound Shapes, CS: GO, Papo & Yo, and The Expendables 2 across August [update: release dates!]
Sony is gearing up for its second annual big summer digital launch promotion, which we're dubbing "PSN Play 2: Digital Sale-a-roo." Between July 24 and August 27, the following four games will launch on the PlayStation Network: Papo & Yo, Sound Shapes, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and The Expendables 2 Videogame (yes, we recognize that one of those is potentially less thrilling than the other three).Moreover, if you buy any combination of those games, you'll get some virtual bucks back to spend on PSN. The more you buy, you the more you get back (two games gets $3, all the way up to all four getting $10 back). And if you're a PlayStation Plus member, things get even better – each game is reduced by 20 percent just because.Update: Sony announced the dates of all the PSN Play games in a press release (after the break). The promotion begins with The Expendables 2 on July 31. Sound Shapes follows on the previously announced date of August 7, then it's Papo & Yo on August 14 and Counter-Strike on August 21. Pre-orders for each game will be available before release, granting exclusive PS3 themes.
Payday: The Heist delayed to 'later this month'
Nobody likes to discover that Payday's been moved. The PSN release of Payday: The Heist, the co-op robbery game by Overkill Software, is the subject of a rare release-day delay, bumped from its original date of today to "later in October." According to Steam, the PC version is also due in "October." We suppose a game with this many masks just gravitates toward Halloween. Payday was to be the triumphant payoff of Sony's "PSN Play" promotion, and that offer is still in effect. If you've purchased all of the other PSN Play games, you'll still get your voucher for a free PS3 copy of the game.
BloodRayne Betrayal review: Re-animated
WayForward's BloodRayne: Betrayal doesn't just succeed as a game despite the baggage of the moribund BloodRayne license. WayForward took the franchise fully into "campy" mode, turning the characters and settings into something you're clearly not supposed to take seriously, presented in an incredibly sharp hand-drawn cartoon style. Rayne herself is even kind of uncharacteristically cute. That presentation is married to a combo-heavy brawler that you must take seriously at all times, at the risk of oft-repeated death. Just surviving the game requires near mastery of Rayne's repertoire; to actually earn a grade higher than "F" in the game's score-based rating system requires ... well, I still have to figure that out.
BloodRayne XBLA delayed until Oct. 5, SF3 still on time [update]
We wondered whether the "PSN Play" promotion would lead to timed PS3 exclusivity for any of the games within, and our official answer at this point is "yes and no." BloodRayne Betrayal was originally due at the end of August on both PSN and XBLA; it's now due September 6 on PSN. Majesco informed Joystiq that the XBLA version has been bumped to October 5, though the publisher didn't say outright that the Sony deal was the reason. Street Fighter III Third Strike Online Edition, however, won't have its release date bumped on either platform as a result of the promotion. Capcom confirmed on Unity that the game is still set for August 23 on PSN and August 24 on XBLA. We have inquiries in with the rest of the PSN Play publishers, and we'll update when we hear back. Update: Sega tells Joystiq that Renegade Ops is still due for a multiplatform release in September.
PlayStation Network PLAY is (a lot) like Summer of Arcade; starts later this month
Sony has just announced PlayStation Network PLAY, "a new program showcasing four of the season's hottest action titles." We'll just cut right to the quick here, guys: It's Summer of Arcade, but for PS3. Oh, and with a way dumber name. The four games on offer are Street Fighter III Third Strike Online Edition which will be available on August 23 for $15; the latest DeathSpank adventure The Baconing available August 30 for $15; the impressive BloodRayne: Betrayal, available for $15 on September 6 (a delay for PSN); and lastly Avalanche's Renegade Ops, available on September 15 for $15. There's one last game in this lineup of four: If you purchase all four of the above titles you'll be gifted Payday: The Heist by way of a voucher code "for redemption when the game releases." One caveat: You've got to be 18 or older (read: lie on your PSN account). If you don't want to bother with all that, you can pick it up solo for $20. So that separate free game also sounds a lot like Summer of Arcade, but since we already know how Summer of Arcade works, we've taken it upon ourselves to catalog the ways that PlayStation Network PLAY is, in fact, totally different than Microsoft's initiative: You can pre-order titles; each pre-order nets you a free PS3 theme "PLAY also offers gamers a separate gift with purchase for each order made throughout the duration of the program" – These mostly take the form of free in-game goodies, like a DLC fighter for Street Fighter III, a bonus co-op character for The Baconing, a PlayStation Home tchotchke for Bloodrayne: Betrayal, and some extra vehicles and weapons for Renegade Ops PlayStation Plus subscribers get "an automatic 20% off every PLAY program purchase" One final difference: Unlike Summer of Arcade, it doesn't appear any of these titles, short of Sony's own Payday: The Heist, have any exclusivity. We're following up with Sony and all of the individual publishers now. And that's about it. Get the full details at that Source link below.
