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Infamous: Second Son pre-orders get some pretty vests
Sony has teamed up with select artists to offer some exclusive vests for Infamous: Second Son protagonist Delsin Rowe. All those who pre-order the game through select retailers will get four vests in total, each designed by Penny Arcade, iam8bit, San Diego street artist Exist 1981 and artist and designer, Jos. Watch the video above for a closer look at each vest. Infamous: Second Son, set seven years after the events of Infamous 2, takes place in Seattle, Washington. The open-world superhero game from Sucker Punch launches for PS4 early next year.
Report: PS4 to support voice commands, recognition with camera
The PlayStation 4 will support "navigational voice commands" and "facial recognition" through the PlayStation Camera, according to YouTube user lex1020's recording of a slide from Sony's presentation at GameStop Expo 2013. At the GameStop Expo, SCEA's Group Manager of Retail Training and Advocacy Sean Coleman described the camera's ability to "track your body movements in games or even recognize your face for easier system navigation." A Sony Computer Entertainment spokesperson confirmed with Polygon that the PlayStation Camera "allows for voice recognition" and that more details will be shared "in the lead up to the launch of the PlayStation 4."
Driveclub revs up pre-order bonuses
If the stripped-down, free PlayStation Plus version of Driveclub doesn't work for you, these pre-order bonuses for the game just might. By pre-ordering the game at varying retailers, players will be granted access to one of three different car packs for the game: the McLaren 12c pack for GameStop customers, Mercedes Benz SLS AMG Coupe Black Series Pack for Amazon customers and the RUF RT 12 R Pack for those buying the game elsewhere. Those placing a pre-order at any retailer or via the PlayStation Store will also receive a three-month PlayStation Plus subscription. We have trailers for all three car packs, two of which can be found after the break, which may help you decide where you'll be pre-ordering Driveclub. The game will launch with the PS4, which was given a November 15 release date yesterday.
Shadow of the Beast reimagined for PS4 [Update: Trailer!]
Shadow of the Beast was announced for PS4 during Sony's Gamescom press conference today. The game is a "reimagined" version of Psygnosis' 1989 side-scroller for Amiga in development by Heavy Spectrum. No release date was given for the game, which was accompanied by a trailer that showed a gruesome-looking beast with long claws.
Killzone Mercenary multiplayer open beta starts August 20
Killzone: Mercenary's open beta program is right around the corner, opening August 20 for PlayStation Plus subscribers. Vita owners without a PlayStation Plus subscription will have to wait until August 27 for their turn with the game's multiplayer mode. The beta program closes on September 3, ahead of the game's September 10 launch. Killzone: Mercenary's multiplayer offerings allow up to eight players to do battle in three modes and six maps. It also features a "valor card" system that ranks players on a daily basis, with each card representing a player's "earning ability." Players drop their valor cards upon dying in the game, offering greater rewards to the victor if the card is of a higher valor level.
Sound Shapes celebrates first birthday with sale, free DLC
Tomorrow will mark one full year of existence for Sound Shapes and to celebrate this milestone, the game and all its DLC will be half-off until August 13. If you already own the cross-buy enabled PS3 and PS Vita game, you can grab some free DLC – the Car Mini-Album and Entity Pack – by posting in this special thread. Sound Shapes is a quirky platformer with a distinct musical hook, where players can create and share their own custom levels online. It's a game we absolutely enjoyed, an experience a few of us found to be among the best of 2012.
Free quests and bosses arrive on Soul Sacrifice
As has become a trend with Soul Sacrifice, the game has another set of free additional content available now via PSN. Players that download the DLC's unlock key will receive eight new quests and two bosses, Cat Sith and Beelzebub. In true fashion for the game, the bosses are pretty creepy. PlayStation Blog notes that more content for Soul Sacrifice is on the way, with The Cobbler Triplets and the Old Master arriving on August 20, The Iron Lady's Tears of Red coming September 3 and The Fall of the Gods landing on September 17, though each release date may change.
Soak up the world of Rain in new developer diary
This developer diary video for Rain explores the ways players will interact with and affect the game's wet environments when it launches this fall on PS3.
PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD introduced to Vita in video
Tikiman's poor choice of region for raising children continues on the Vita in PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD, as seen in this announcement trailer. The tower defense game originally launched on the PS3 in 2008.
Beyond: Two Souls behind the scenes video covers gameplay, crying at payphones
This latest look into the Quantic Dream's development process for Beyond: Two Souls gives insight into how different departments plan, communicate and coordinate their efforts to produce the World's Most-Psychic Ellen Page and a gameplay system befitting her purposes.
The Last of Us patch 1.02 removes sex hotline numbers, includes multiplayer fixes
Naughty Dog has wasted no time in removing the completely unintentional sex hotline telephone number it inadvertently plastered on a bulletin board inside of The Last of Us. The game's first patch, version 1.02, changes the "texture of a phone number on a bulletin board" as its only modification to the single-player experience. Multiplayer mode, on the other hand, has received a handful of technical corrections and gameplay adjustments, including improved host migration and fixes for miscellaneous crashing, camera and connectivity issues. The full patch notes can be found here, but what we really want to find out is: Who was answering those telephones after the apocalypse? Clickers? We're betting it was Clickers.
The sound and music of The Last of Us dissected in developer video
This video, produced by SoundWorks Collection's Michael Coleman, shows the audio team from The Last of Us discussing the sound effects and music from the game. Specifically, the game's audio designers discuss the challenges involved in creating a soundtrack for the more desolate points in the game. Game Director Bruce Straley explains the "less is more" approach to The Last of Us' development, as heard through the game's audio tracks. It's a fascinating look (or listen?) into the ways Naughty Dog's sound and music team did their part in creating the game's environments.
Soul Sacrifice gets more free DLC next week, includes ... this thing
One round of free DLC just isn't enough for Soul Sacrifice, it seems. Come June 11 (the first day of E3!), fresh DLC will add eight new quests and two new bosses, including an ogre and the thing seen above. It's labeled "dwarf," as you can see, but that can't be right. Just like last time, the DLC will be free, requiring you to sacrifice nothing but your spare time.
The Last of Us review: Humans, conditioned
There was a moment in The Last of Us that was so serene I could have watched it forever. Protagonists Joel and Ellie were finally afforded a breath – a stitch of peace – and I hesitated to nudge them forward. The moment was so starkly different from all the violence that preceded it, so beautiful that it was painful. I could have let them stand there until the disc drive in my PS3 broke down, until the power went out or the world came to an end. The pair had been through so much, it seemed cruel to make them move on. The Last of Us has a curious inertia though – the stumbling, inevitable momentum of a man off balance – and I couldn't deny it. Whatever laid ahead, I knew that their slow, torturous tumble was far from over.%Gallery-188659%
Watch The Last of Us' Outskirts level demo right here
Those that don't have a copy of God of War: Ascension won't be able to play the free Outskirts level demo from The Last of Us until the game launches on June 14. To alleviate the pains of said folks, YouTuber HystericalGamez uploaded a full 14-minute video of their playthrough of the demo. While watching the Outskirts level isn't the same as playing it, we recommend clicking the full-screen option and holding a PS3 controller while the demo video plays. Be wary of your boss believing that you're playing games at work, though. [Thanks, Fabian!]
Killzone: Mercenary deployment moved up to September 10, pre-order goods revealed
Killzone: Mercenary, the upcoming PS Vita installment in Sony's shooter series from Guerrilla Cambridge, has had its release bumped up a week. Previously pegged for a September 17 launch in North America, Killzone: Mercenary is now due on September 10. In addition to moving up the date, Sony has revealed some pre-order incentives for Killzone: Mercenary over on the PlayStation Blog. The first perk is a 48-hour double XP boost, which spans all in-game contracts, bonuses and payouts. Joining that is additional in-game cash at the outset and a pre-order exclusive machine gun, the M224-A1.
It's a sabotage: CounterSpy set to infiltrate PS3, PS Vita
Sony will publish CounterSpy, the first game from developer Dynamighty, a San Francisco outfit comprised of former LucasArts and Pixar talent, on PS3 and PS Vita. CounterSpy (working title) is a 2D action and stealth game set during the Cold War, in which you infiltrate Soviet and US military installations and sabotage war efforts to prevent the destruction of mankind. And just maybe set it straight, this Watergate. Lead designer David Nottingham calls CounterSpy "primarily" a single-player game in the PlayStation Blog announcement, though he adds Dynamighty is "working on some interesting ways to let you compete with friends that go a little beyond traditional high scores." In an interview with Game Informer, Nottingham says an endless mode with procedurally generated levels is also in the works for the extended replay crowd. There is no launch timeframe for CounterSpy at the moment. All we know is that the game will launch on PS3, PS Vita and mobile platforms – no mention of PS4.
IGF finalist Hohokum launching next year for PS4, PS3, PS Vita
Sony Santa Monica is working with artist Richard Hogg and Frobisher Says! developer Honeyslug to produce Hohokum, an upcoming title for the PlayStation 4, PS3, and PS Vita. Hogg describes Hohokum as a "whimsical colorful game with an emphasis on playful exploration and creativity." Players control a wormish, kite-like flying creature as they navigate a virtual playground and ferry around its inhabitants. It resembles Keita Takahashi's Noby Noby Boy in premise, and Hogg notes that the experience is free from the "usual pressures" common to video games, such as persistent hand-holding and failure states. Hohokum was named as a finalist in the Excellence in Visual Arts category of 2011's Independent Games Festival. Hogg expects the game to launch in 2014.%Gallery-187737%
Soul Sacrifice review: Escapism encapsulated
Soul Sacrifice is a steady ascent to superiority over your captor, a mad sorcerer named Magusar. You can provoke and challenge him from within your fetid cage at any time, but ultimate victory requires toil, repetition and mastery of the same magic that imprisons you. You'll have to play the game to get out, which makes you wonder what the real trap is. Freedom through power is your goal in the game's fiction and function, with progression framed in a living, speaking journal covered by a contorted face. The cheeky diary, named Librom, recalls the inner turmoil and exploits of Magusar's former partner, from whom you acquire magic and memories packaged as short, perfect-for-portable quests. Discovering the author's identity and exploits is an intriguing, incremental accompaniment to your own gestation as a powerful conjurer. Soul Sacrifice is a game you play more for the beach than for the sand. Like other sagas that spin around the aggressive acquisition of beastie bits, there is less reward in the act of fighting than the result – and in the case of bigger battles, "epicness" is often conflated with "duration." Soul Sacrifice has no pretense of exploration or towns, just a distilled drip-feed of enclosed arenas and creature extermination that enables new spells, augmented magical prowess or a greater life expectancy for the next challenge.%Gallery-177521%
ESRB rates 'Sly Collection' for Vita
The Entertainment Software Ratings Board has issued an "E" classification to the PlayStation Vita version of The Sly Collection, which is interesting since that game hasn't been announced for that platform – insert dramatic musical sting here.As is typically the case with these sorts of ESRB leaks, the rating summary gives very little pertinent information beyond the fact that the port exists, and that one of the games briefly shows a barrel marked "ale." We've reached out to Sony for more information and will update with any official word we receive. In the meantime, we're going to follow the ESRB's lead and see if anything in our fridge is also marked "ale."
