Papo & Yo is a PSN exclusive game developed by Montreal-based studio Minority, and it is part of the “Pub Fund” program from Sony, which provides much needed funds to smaller studios that have great ideas. The studio has release a gameplay trailer that gives us an idea of what to expect from the completed product. I look forward to reviewing this game once it releases later in the year, since the concept and the gameplay mechanics intrigue me.

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Papo & Yo Gameplay Trailer

Help legendary star fighter pilot Ace Armstrong defeat the Scumbag invasion of earth in this modern take on classic old-school shoot-em-ups, with an added 50s Sci-Fi twist and plenty of Scumbag-bursting humour. Fly Ace through several action-packed levels, each featuring a huge boss with unique attack patterns to defeat! Use Ace’s mighty Recycl-o-Ray to suck up the essence of defeated Scumbags and use their own weapons against them. Can you turn back the Scumbags’ tentacled tide of terror?! Controls are very simple to understand. You can move Ace’s ship either with the D-Pad or the analog stick (I used the D-pad to get the proper old school feel), and shooting your standard cannons is handled by the X button. You can use the L or R button to vacuum in the weapon energy left behind by some of the Alien Scumbags, and you can shoot these extra weapons with the Square or Circle buttons. You can still shoot your standard cannons while you’re doing this, so be sure to never stop firing or the Aliens will get you! Also, when you suck in a new weapon, your current one is immediately discarded, so make sure you really want to get rid of it before hitting either shoulder button. What weapons can you take from your enemies? You have access to a laser, to a spread shot, to a 3-way shot, and exploding shot, and a veeery powerful shot that can quickly kill all enemies in 1 or 2 shots at most. The more powerful the weapon, the lower number of shots you have available, so be sure to plan accordingly. A strong weapon in your arsenal when facing a boss can be the difference between survival and defeat. Before you start the game, you are given the option of picking one of the three difficulty settings available (Rookie, Pro and Elite). You should start on Rookie to get an idea of how the game works, as diving right into Pro or Elite can prove to be too much for most. Picking a higher difficulty cuts down the number of extra ships you start with AND aliens are stronger, thus requiring to be shot more times in order to be destroyed. You must quickly understand how to differentiate the things that can kill you from those that are there just for show, especially since all that it takes to bring down your ship is one hit. You can crush against scenery, aliens, spaceships, etc., and it is easier to know what scenery is physically there, and which one is just for show, by constantly firing with X. You can also autofire when holding down X, but you can definitely fire faster by constantly pressing X, thus allowing you to destroy more enemies. When you reach the end of the level, you’ll fight against a huuuuge boss. Learning their pattern is a must, or you’ll never defeat them. Be prepared to lose several ships during this fights if you’re not careful. Luckily, if all your lives run out, you can choose to immediately go on, as long as you have any continues left. Ace Armstrong vs the Alien Scumbags provides us with a fun game that takes us back to simpler times when 2D sidecrollers were all the rage. The art-style and gameplay mechanics allow this minis release to set itself apart from the rest of the options available in the service. Review Pros Cons Easy to control Several weapons you can use Crashing into a building before being able to realize that structures are bad Rating 81% Cost – $3.99 Disclaimer Total amount of time played: 3 hours. Game was completed before writing this review. This review is based on a PS3/PSP copy of Ace Armstrong vs the Alien Scumbags provided by Laughing Jackal.

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[minis Review] Ace Armstrong vs The Alien Scumbags!

DICE released a gameplay trailer for ZIBA Tower , one of four indoors maps from the upcoming Battlefield 3 expansion pack, Close Quarters , scheduled for release in June . Close Quarters is one of three expansion packs DICE announced in GDC 2012 . For more information on the upcoming Battlefield 3 DLC visit our previous post .

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Battlefield 3 Close Quarters [ZIBA Tower Trailer]

This week brings us games for fans of the occult, for those that like to play sports games, for individuals that dream of becoming ninjas, and for those that want to survive the zombie apocalypse. And then, we have Journey, a game so special and innovative, that talking about how it works and what your goal is, would only end up spoiling the experience for everyone else. Vita gets a digital release on PSN thanks to Reality Fighters, an Augmented Reality (AR) fighting game that uses the Vita’s camera to drop your character right into the action. We also get 3 new releases on PSN that are sure to make all puzzle and action fans very happy, so be sure to check the full list of releases right after the break: PS3 Retail Releases You Can Buy Silent Hill: Downpour Right Here! You Can Buy FIFA Street Right Here! You Can Buy Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Storm Generations Right Here! You Can Buy Yakuza: Dead Souls Right Here! PSN Releases You Can Buy Bioshock 2 Right Here! You Can Buy Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension Right Here! You Can Buy James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game Right Here! VITA PSN Releases

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Releases for the Week (March 12th-18th)

Based on Nathan Jurevicius’ Scarygirl graphic novel – winner of the 2009 Aurealis Award for Best Illustrated Book/Graphic novel – Scarygirl presents a wondrous adventure into a distinctive and beautifully bizarre world. The titular character Scarygirl is an abandoned child with a tentacle arm who dresses like a pirate, and is haunted by a strange man in her dreams. She sets out into the world to discover the meaning behind her bad dreams, but Scarygirl is hardly helpless, as she has a tentacle-powered arsenal up her sleeve. . During her adventure, Scarygirl will be aided by her friends and guardians from the graphic novel, Blister the giant octopus and Bunniguru the mystical, kung-fu rabbit. Her friends and an ever-improving arsenal of combat moves will help her face down enemies like the adorably deadly hedgehogs of the Owl Woods, the violent Goat Clan along the Old Man Mountains, Hairclump spiders deep in the Stinky Swamp, and the most enemiest enemies of all: the clueless crossing guards around Bad Town! FEATURES . · Amazing Art and Design: Surreal landscape and creatures are beautifully fantastical, created by a critically-acclaimed, award-winning artist and true to the art style that Scarygirl fans have already fallen in love with . · A Curiously Wonderful Stand-Alone Chapter: The game features a new and exceptional storyline separate from the graphic novel and planned feature film, in which Scarygirl finally meets the mysterious man haunting her dreams . · New Moves, Weapons & Upgrades: The game’s upgrade and combat improvement system allows Scarygirl to grow beyond her basic attacks by purchasing new moves, like an the “Anaconda Squeeze” and “Morph Tendrils”, or attachments for her tentacle arm, such as the Rage Hook . · Co-Operative Play: While one player controls Scarygirl, a second can bring Bunniguru’s furious “Fists of Blurry” into the fray at any time. This offline feature allows the two characters to perform special moves together to overcome major challenges Scarygirl is a a 2.5D platforming adventure, with all action taking place in a single plane of movement. The Camera does shift around to change the overall perspective; focusing on a new enemy, a new element or just making it easier for you to judge how far away a jump really is. The game is very easy to control, and any mistakes made while playing are entirely and completely your fault. While traveling on each level, you can collect gems (which come in different colors and sizes) to purchase new moves for Scarygirl, as well as new items that she can use in place of her hook. You can also buy little vinyl figurines of all the enemies you run into. As soon as you defeat one, their vinyl figurine will be added to the shop, and you can add it to your collection to gaze upon it at your in game home. Sometimes, the path will split in two, and you must pick where you want to go. Do remember that both paths contain gems, and possibly some blackweeds or heart pieces, so do check all over the place! Doing this will allow you to obtain the best score possible for each level AND it will get you on your way to a nice Gold Trophy! Everything is fun and joy in this world… until level 3-2. That level will make you want to throw the controller at the screen. Why? Well, the only way to survive for more than 4 seconds is to roll like crazy right from the start… how are we supposed to know that? You are taught how to roll at one of the earlier levels, but it is never a must-use ability until said level. Do search for a video on how to get everything in that level, because having to play it twice because you missed a single gem is not fun. AT ALL. There is some nice voice acting in the game thanks to the narrator, and you get to hear plenty from him since every cutscene features that smooth voice. And we also get to hear him in-between levels, which is great since the story moves along while the game is loading, making you not even realize that there IS any loading taking place. Scarygirl is a fun and great looking platforming game that brings to life the universe created by Nathan Jurevicius. If you take out level 3-2, the rest of the game is very enjoyable and highly recommended. You will get at least 6 hours of fun out of your purchase, and going for all trophies will add 2-3 hours to that total. Review Pros Cons Very nice looking game Good Voice Over work Things go from easy to – redo this level 20 times – and then back to easy, for no reason Level 3-2 Rating 87% Cost – $9.99 Disclaimer Total amount of time played: 6 hours. Game was completed before writing this review. This review is based on a PS3 copy of ScaryGirl provided by Square Enix.

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[PSN Review] Scarygirl

Ever noticed how Journey’s protagonist is living in a lonely wooooorrllldd? Well Dog Food Films did and made this splendid Journey video, check it out! Don’t stop believing you can get to that glowing mountain when Journey is released on PSN the 14th March.

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Just A Small Town Journey Video

Oh, wow. March creeped up on us! This is a great month for fans of PS branded hardware since the 2012 Spring Fever event is just around the corner… and the GCA winners are about to be announced! Remember, you get them at a discount, and PS+ subcribers can get them for 50% off. What are the highlight releases for this week? Mass Effect 3 seems to be popular, baseball fans can decide between MLB 12: The show and Major League Baseball 2K12, and fighting fans will also get Street Fighter X Tekken. Vita contines its release onslaught with Unit 13, MLB 12: The Show and Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7. Full list of releases after the break. PS3 Retail Releases You Can Buy Mass Effect 3 Right Here! You Can Buy MLB 12: The Show (PS3) Right Here! You Can Buy Major League Baseball 2k12 Right Here! You Can Buy Street Fighter X Tekken Right Here! Or You Can Buy The Special Edition! You Can Buy Blades of Time Right Here! You Can Buy Top Gun: Hardlock Right Here! VITA Releases You Can Buy Unit 13 Right Here! You Can Buy MLB 12: The Show Right Here! You Can Buy Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 Right Here! PSN Releases PSP Releases

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Releases for the Week (March 5th-11th)

Just head on over to the Playstation Facebook page and follow the real simple instructions. You “Like” the page and click “Submit” for a free Journey PSN Avatar!!! Enjoy!

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Free PSN Journey Avatar for North American Facebookers!

Playstation has announced via its official Twitter that the scheduled maintenance for Thursday March 1st has been postponed. “‏@PlayStation Update: Tomorrow’s scheduled PSN maintenance has been postponed. We’ll update everyone once it’s rescheduled. Until then, game on.” No date has been announced for this postponement, but we will be sure to keep you posted.

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PSN Maintenance for Thursday March 1st Postponed

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