April 20th marks the one year anniversary of the malicious attack on Sony’s PlayStation Network that forced the service offline for several weeks. No PS3 owner in any part of the word can forget that day in history. In North America PSN was down for 23 days, much longer for Asian gamers. When it was all said and done the event cost Sony $171 million. Fortunately for the Japanese electronics conglomerate dedicated PlayStation 3 owners returned in full force once it was all over. However the days when players would nonchalantly purchase items and goods through the PlayStation Store with their credit cards became a thing of the past. Despite the fact there have been no confirmed reports of credit card fraud due to the infamous PSN outage of 2011 consumers have demonstrated discipline when it comes to using plastic on the service. As recently as November 2011 PlayStation Network cards reportedly experienced a boost in sales , six months after the event. As the one year anniversary draws near we’d like to know how have your buying habits been effected by the PSN outage of 2011? Are you confident in the measures taken by Sony after the hacking to use your credit cards again or are PSN cards your only means of making purchases?

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Nearly A Year After Hackers Forced PSN Offline How Have Your Online Spending Habits Changed?

Some new info on the pre-order bonus for Anarchy Reigns has found its way here… the Japanese players will be able to play with the famous Bayonetta character in the online multiplayer modes of ANARCHY REIGNS! EU and US gamers will definitely get to plas as Bayonetta as well, but we have yet to hear if she will be in disc, included with all copies as a DLC code, or, as is the case with Japan, as a pre-order bonus. Two new great features have been added to ANARCHY REIGNS: – Added to the campaign mode in which you will be able to play Jack and Leo’s stories, the game has many multiplayer modes. Four of them have already been revealed (Deathmatch, Battle Royale, Survival and Death Ball), but now the total has been confirmed as 11 very different multiplayer modes available in ANARCHY REIGNS! – As usual with PlatinumGames, a new threshold is crossed when they move into a new genre, and this is the time for online multiplayer brawlers to take a step forward. Depending on the players mode you don’t only have 2, 4 or 8 players fighting each-other online, no way, you will have to up to 16 (that’s sixteen!) players confronting one another at any one time. So be ready for a new scale in the Melee Combat! ANARCHY REIGNS will be available July 3rd 2012 for PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360™ in the USA and July 6th in the European territories.

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Anarchy Reigns Pre-Order Bonus: Play as Bayonetta!

Sony has formally announced Little Big Planet Karting for the PS3. While the surprise may have been spoiled a few weeks early when Canadian retailer Future Shop leaked a poster for the game during the PlayStation Destination event, today we get our first look at gameplay for the new title. In the capable hands of the studio that brought us ModNation Racers, LBPK will feature four player multiplayer, gadgets from previous installments of the platformer plus new ones and a whole lot more. Without revealing too much about the racer developers United Front Games promise that players will be able to “modify the rules of the game itself to create completely new modes and challenges.” Sackboy takes to the races later this year. Source: US PS Blog

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LittleBigPlanet Karting Officially Announced

Thousands expected to succumb by year’s end! Regional Office of the International Disease Organization, Washington D.C. – February 28, 2012 – IDO agents working in California report that preliminary findings indicate the exceedingly dangerous Japanese adventure game known as “Zennin Shiboudesu” has somehow crossed the Pacific. Attempts were made to contain it, but some carriers seem to have escaped the quarantine and are now at large. This game is extremely virulent and can be transmitted through physical contact (via the dual “Nintendo 3DS™” and “PlayStation®Vita” retail vectors) as well as through the air (via the “PSN” vector), which has prompted the IDO to declare this a level 6 pandemic. All uninfected persons are advised to remain indoors and avoid contact with others. If you suspect you have been infected, or suspect a friend or family member of being infected, report, or have them report, to the nearest IDO quarantine facility. Similarity to an earlier strain known as “Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors” has lead to a reclassification: Both strains will now be considered members of the “Zero Escape” game series. Exposure to North America also seems to have caused Zennin Shiboudesu to mutate, and after much deliberation it has been determined that it will be referred to in all future literature as “Virtue’s Last Reward” (see forthcoming department memo re: choice of strain name). Virtue’s Last Reward—or, alternatively, “VLR”—has been known to exhibit the following symptoms. If you begin to display any of these, distance yourself from friends and loved ones immediately, and proceed at once to the nearest IDO center. Dual Language Support – Early cases show that VLR allows communication in both English and Japanese, with dialog playable in both languages. Whether or not this indicates damage to the languages centers of the brain is under investigation. Puzzles and Story – Preliminary investigations show that this game progresses rapidly through a repeating cycle of two distinct stages, which have been termed the “Novel” and “Escape” stages. During the Novel stage, subjects find themselves engaged by a complex and mysterious story. During the Escape stage, subjects have been observed solving numerous puzzles. Fully-Voiced Novel Sections – One of the indicators of the Novel stage is reportedly fully-voiced dialog: All characters except for the protagonist can be heard speaking during this stage. Numerous Endings – VLR has been shown to exhibit numerous paths of infection, most of which are lethal. At press time, 24 different “endings” have been observed, each unique. Immersive Three-Dimensional Environment – Many infected patients have reported a feeling of increased immersion in their surroundings, often manifested in the ability to rotate the camera around a 3D room rendered in-game and select and manipulate objects in three-dimensional space. Introduces New Characters, Brings Back Old Ones – Our files on 999 indicate that a number of the characters featured there appear again in VLR, although in what capacity is still unclear. This strain also introduces several new characters, all of whom merit additional investigation. Source: All the above is a direct quote from an Aksys Games Press Release.

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EPIDEMIC ALERT: Japanese Adventure Game Strain Identified in North America

You may remember a little game named Journey. It was initially anticipated to release sometime last year but was ultimately given a Spring 2012 launch window. Today thatgamecompany announced that Journey will arrive in North America in just under a month from now on March 13th for $14.99. European and Japanese PS3 owners get the game on the 14th and 15th, respectively. Not quite a Spring release since Winter doesn’t officially end until March 20th, but hey, who’s complaining? Source

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Date Set For Journey

Welcome to the abandoned and (reportedly) demolished halls of Heavenly Host Elementary School, where vengeful spirits dwell and the fires of corporeal existence are repeatedly and mercilessly snuffed. We hope you enjoy the tour, as it’s not about to end anytime soon. It may even last an eternity… At this accursed school, a series of incidents occurred in which, ultimately, four students were kidnapped… and murdered. And though this ocurred 30 years ago, the corpse party still continues to this very day. Now the site if a perfectly ordinary high school, one unlucky class representative with a penchant for telling ghost stories makes the mistake of invoking a forbidden charm know as “Sachiko Ever After”, a charm that unknowlingly serves as the invitation to another space — a shifting, almost sentient echo of the long-closed school wherein these horrific mutilations occurred so long ago. And once you’ve been invited to this party, you have no choice but to attend. Willingly or no, all who find themselves in the dilapidated halls of Heavenly Host must persevere, fort their only companions along the way are the mournful spirits of the dead and forgotten… along with a few who consider themselves the very arbiters of lie and death. Will you remain a guest here forevermore? Or will you have the power to defy the saddest and strongest fate of all? Corpse Party is not your average scary game. It does have some strong images, and the content is sure to make you feel a little woozy, but there are no cheap scares in some dark corridors here. Instead, the excellent story is what sets the tone for the whole thing. At the very start of the game, a tale is told with just a handful of images lit by candlelight and from there, things just get spookier. Just watching the first 30 minutes of the game will give you nightmares about those damned children. Yes my friends, even the bravest of us will squeal at the sight of this game. This game was actually created in RPG Maker several years ago, and it was later ported to the PSP last year. Here’s some insight into this, directly from XSEEED Games: Believe it or not, Corpse Party has actually existed since 1996! The very first appearance of Corpse Party was as an independently-developed freeware game for the popular Japanese NEC PC-9800 series of computers, created by a small software startup who call themselves “Team GrisGris.” The title was put together using the popular game creation software RPG Maker (specifically, a PC98 adaption of it called RPG Tsukuuru Dante98), and billed itself as a no-holds-barred horror adventure reminiscent of Japanese 8- and 16-bit classics such as Capcom’s Sweet Home and Human’s Clock Tower. In 2008, perhaps spurred by the runaway success of similarly-themed horror titles like Higurashi: When They Cry, Team GrisGris released a Windows-based reimagining of their original opus titled Corpse Party: BloodCovered. This was not a mere port, but an upgrade in every sense: the graphics, the music, the gameplay and even the story itself were all changed, improved and expanded upon (and the initially unnamed side characters who later starred in Corpse Party Zero had their names retroactively applied to them, as a nod to the dedicated fans who kept the series alive during Team GrisGris’ long hiatus). The title was split into five chapters which were sold episodically at conventions, fan events and through an online store. This updated remake was also ported to cell phones, allowing Japanese gamers to horrify themselves on the go. Corpse Party was officially a hit. Novels, drama CDs and soundtrack albums were released one after another. Then, in 2010, popular Japanese visual novel publisher 5pb took notice and Corpse Party: BloodCovered: …Repeated Fear was born. This PSP title is an enhanced remake of Corpse Party: BloodCovered featuring further updated graphics and music, additional story elements and full voice-acting recorded via binaural audio technology for simulated three-dimensional surround sound. XSEED Games fell in love with Corpse Party: BloodCovered: …Repeated Fear just after Halloween 2010, and negotiated a license with 5pb to release it in the English-speaking world. Since no other version of the game has ever been officially published outside of Japan, we felt it prudent to drop the dual subtitles and release this game under the name that started it all: Corpse Party. Short, simple and catchy! It is, after all, the beginning of the story. While it was a full PSP release in Japan, it’s a PSN-only release over here. Honestly though, I’m just glad we got the game at all. It has some pretty meaty content with 5 main chapters to play and up to 10 extra ones that can be unlocked depending on your actions (you gotta to love multiple endings!). Each extra chapter is a small insight into other characters and their journey from here to the other side, and take about 1-5 minutes each at most. Bringing new information and perspective to the whole story is what they’re all about. Some of them you don’t even play, since you just read about the interactions and conversations. In this unusual experience you’ll do a LOT of reading, but we embrace that change with open arms. It’s good to actually read something instead of button mashing my way across yet another action game. Every line of dialogue is voiced (in Japanese) with English subtitles added for those of us that can’t really tell one word from the other. The gameplay is simple, you use the D-Pad to move (analog doesn’t work), use the triangle button to open the menu, and use X to interact with everything else. Since it’s a digital release, loading times are down to a minimum and won’t break your experience. There is a lot of revisiting the same spaces over and over, which might sound boring, but since you’re actually trapped inside a school, but each group is in a different dimensions, and every time you revisit places they change! How you interact with the (dead) people is what defines your actions and the story outcome. It isn’t about surviving, but rather about choosing how you’ll die. No one is safe, and all will eventually meet their end in this macabre journey. Or is there still a small ray of hope in all this twisted and macabre darkness? You’ll find the decaying remains of those that were trapped before you, and that could never find their way home. You can collect their name tags to add their information to your list. You’ll be surprised to learn how many have already seen their flame disappear, suffocated by this crazy place that slowly eats away at your mind and your soul. Sound plays a huge part in this game. Be sure to use your headphones and set volume as high as possible. Playing at 12 am with the lights off will also get you in the right mindset, though nightmares may wake you up in the middle of the night. You see, imagination is a veeeeery powerful thing. Not being able to see what is going on, but being told about it and listening to screams, blood splatter, breaking glass… that is certain to mess with your head. Graphics are simple (16-bit goodness!) and the illustrative images that pop out every once in a while are horror manga at its prime. Corpse Party is a must buy for every PSP owner. Visual Novels are hard to find, and when we’re given one of such high quality as Corpse Party, it is our duty to support them by buying ASAP. You’ll play for 15+ hours in order to see everything the game has to offer which, for a $19.99, is really a great value. XSEED Games wants us to join the party, and the dead want to lead us into the afterlife… Review Pros Cons Visual Novel Gaming at its Finest Great story A release for the sequel hasn’t been confirmed yet Rating 95% Published by XSEED Games Cost – $19.99 (PSN-Only PSP Digital Release) Disclaimer Total amount of time played: 15 hours This review is based on a copy of Corpse Party provided by XSEED Games.

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[Review] Corpse Party (PSP)

Socom series creator Zipper Interactive formally announced a Japanese release date for the third person PlayStation Vita game Unit 13. The game will be released March 8 priced ¥4,980 at retail and ¥3,900 in download form. Visit the official Unit 13 site here .

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Zipper Interactive’s Unit 13 Set for a March 2012 release

A video released today by the Japanese site Adriasang confirms what Kojima told us during our interview at Spike TV’s VGA awards about the release of Metal Gear Solid HD collection for the upcoming PlayStation Vita handheld. For those of you who missed our interview you can watch it after the jump. Kojima also told us directly that you will be able to play the same exact game in the Vita and your PS3 console seamlessly presumably via “transffaring”. The PlayStation Vita will be released in North America in February 22, 2012.

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Video Confirms Metal Gear Solid HD Collection Will be Available on PS Vita

Welcome back to another week with the podcast. This one is light on the news, with FooBear and yours truly. We don’t get into a whole lot, beside the basics of new releases and a few bits on the Japanese Vita launch. For those of you who don’t feel like taking a trip to Spoilerville, FooBear and I talk about the ending to Assassin’s Creed Revelations. We do the code giveaway and the secret word before hand, but if you want to skip over it stop the podcast at 51:30 and you can pick it back up at about 1:02:43. We also won’t be having a podcast next week, so we’ll see you all next year! At least…in the podcast. Stay active on the site! Enter the secret word(s) mentioned in the PS3BlogCast to earn 75 points. The first 10 people to enter it correctly get double points! As always, we want to remind you that the PS3BlogCast is listed on iTunes! So please subscribe and rate/review us there. You can also leave a voicemail for us by calling PS3-888-BLOG or if you want to contact us via email for us you can do so here . We have a dedicated forum for the PS3BlogCast so you can leave your questions and feedback there as well. Here’s a list of some things (or everything) we discussed: Vita Launch Issues New Releases Code Giveaways! Secret Words Assassin’s Creed Revelations Spoilers

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PS3BlogCast Episode 30

There’s a LOT of content on sale right now at the PSN store. So much that I’ve had to place it all after the break AND in quotes to really make the list pop-out. My PS3 is set to be back by friday morning and I’ll be getting the L.A. Noire Complete Bundle (even cheaper at only $24.99 thanks to my PS+ sub), Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X, Age of Booty, Breath of Fire IV, Dino Crisis 2, Cyberbots and Earthworm Jim HD. What are YOU buying? Resident Evil 5: Untold Stories Bundle (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $12.49) Alpha Protocol Gear Pack (Sale) (now $5.99, original price $14.99) Section 8: Prejudice Blitz Pack (Sale) (now $2.09, original price $ 2.99) Section 8: Prejudice Overdrive Map Pack (Sale) (now $2.79, original price $3.99) Section 8: Prejudice: Frontier Colonies Map Pack (Sale) (now $2.79, original price $3.99) 1942: Joint Strike (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Age Of Booty (Sale) (now $2.99, original price $4.99) Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $14.99) Bionic Commando: Rearmed (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Final Fight/Double Impact (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Flock (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition (Digital) (Sale) (now $19.99, original price $29.99) Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Wolf Of The Battlefield: Commando 3 (Sale) (now $2.99, original price $4.99) Grandia (Sale) (now $5.99, original price $9.99) Blokus (Sale) (now $1.99, original price $4.99) Earthworm Jim HD (Sale) (now $2.99, original price $9.99) Modern Combat: Domination (Sale) (now $2.99, original price $7.99) Bomberman Ultra (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Trine (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) L.A. Noire (PS3) (Sale) (now $31.99, original price $39.99) L.A. Noire Complete Edition Bundle (Sale) (now $34.99, original price $49.99) Red Dead Redemption Digital And Undead Nightmare Collection Bundle (Sale) (now $34.99, original price $49.99) Daytona USA (Sale) (now $6.99, original price $9.99) Renegade Ops (Sale) (now $11.99, original price $14.99) Sega Bass Fishing (Sale) (now $6.99, original price $9.99) Sega Rally Online Arcade (Sale) (now $5.99, original price $9.99) Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode I (Sale) (now $6.99, original price $9.99) Space Channel 5 Part 2 (Sale) (now $6.99, original price $9.99) Armageddon Riders (Sale) (now $6.99, original price $9.99) Homefront (Sale) (now $19.99, original price $29.99) Cuboid (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Interpol: The Trail Of Dr. Chaos (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Magic Orbz (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $6.99) Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Wakeboarding HD (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Hamsterball (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Ricochet HD (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Far Cry 2 – Digital (Price Change) (now $19.99, original price $29.99) Activision Hits Remixed (Sale) (now $7.49, original price $14.99) Bakugan: Defenders Of The Core (Sale) (now $9.99, original price $19.99) Cabela’s African Safari (Sale) (now $7.49, original price $14.99) Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts Ultimate Challenge (Sale) (now $7.49, original price $14.99) Cabela’s North American Adventures (Sale) (now $9.99, original price $19.99) Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant (Sale) (now $9.99, original price $29.99) Crash Of The Titans (Sale) (now $9.99, original price $19.99) Crash Tag Team Racing (Sale) (now $7.49, original price $14.99) Gun: Showdown (Sale) (now $7.49, original price $14.99) Monster Jam: Path Of Destruction (Sale) (now $9.99, original price $19.99) Rapala Pro Bass Fishing (Sale) (now $9.99, original price $19.99) Rapala Trophies (Sale) (now $7.49, original price $14.99) Swat: Target Liberty (Sale) (now $9.99, original price $19.99) Doodle Pool (Price Change) (now $0.99, original price $4.99) Retro Cave Flyer (Price Change) (now $0.99, original price $4.99) Zombie Racers (Price Change) (now $0.99, original price $6.99) Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Capcom Classics Collection Remixed Umd Legacy (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Capcom Puzzle World Umd Legacy (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Darkstalkers: Chaos Towers Umd Legacy (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Fate Unlimited Codes (Sale) (now $9.99, original price $19.99) Mega Man Maverick Hunter X Umd Legacy (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Monster Hunter Freedom Unite Digital (Sale) (now $9.99, original price $19.99) Power Stone Collection Legacy (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max Legacy (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $5.99) Ultimate Ghosts N Goblins Umd Legacy (Sale) (now $4.99, original price $9.99) 5-In-1 Arcade Hits (Sale) (now $0.99, original price $3.99) Blimp: The Flying Adventures (Sale) (now $0.99, original price $1.99) Minisquadron (Sale) (now $0.99, original price $1.99) One Epic Game (Sale) (now $0.99, original price $1.99) The Impossible Game (Sale) (now $0.99, original price $2.99)

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Huge Savings Part 2: PSN Store Edition