Assassin's Creed Brotherhood PS3 Beta Opens to PS Plus Today

PlayStation Store Senior Manager Grace Chen has announced that the Assassin's Creed Brotherhood PS3 Beta opens to PS Plus subscribers today. 

To quote: In late September, we announced that select PlayStation Plus subscribers would be invited to participate in the PlayStation-exclusive Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood beta. 

Today, we are happy to announce that we have worked with Ubisoft to open this opportunity to all PlayStation Plus subscribers! Gamers interested in getting a first glimpse at the Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood multiplayer mode can access the beta from the PlayStation Plus category on the PlayStation Store. 

We would also like to thank you for your continued feedback on PlayStation Plus. Your comments and submissions to PlayStation.Blog Share truly do get taken under consideration and help shape the offering as we move forward. 

Be sure to visit Ubisoft’s forum page to submit feedback on the Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood beta. Enjoy the beta!

Stay tuned for more PS3 Hacks news. Also be sure to drop by the PS3 Hacks Forum for updates!

Read more: http://www.ps3news.com/PS3-Online/assassins-creed-brotherhood-ps3-beta-opens-to-ps-plus-today/#ixzz11nwPa48i

Killzone 3 PS3 Beta Starts October 25, How to Get In Detailed!

Update: According to Gamersmint.com via Aryeh Loeb on the US PS Blog, the Killzone 3 Beta won't support PlayStation Move nor 3D. 

To quote: "Will the Beta be in 3D as well? Nope, this is a gameplay test for us. we need to make it as good as it can be. 

Move support in beta? Nope, this Beta is all about gameplay. Move and 3D are not supported here." 

Guerrilla Games Producer Aryeh Loeb has revealed today that the Killzone 3 PS3 Beta starts on October 25, and shared details on how fans can get in it! 

To quote: Yes, the Killzone 3 Public Beta Trial really is coming! 

Just like its predecessor, the multiplayer mode for Killzone 3 will be put through rigorous testing at the hands of the toughest, most demanding critics in existence: you, the fans. 

The Trial starts on the 25th of October and access is limited, so please read the following instructions carefully if you want to know how to secure a spot in the Public Beta: 

Step 1: Be(come) a Plus subscriber 
With the exception of a handful of key media partners, access to the Killzone 3 Public Beta Trial is exclusive to PlayStation Plus subscribers. If you’re not enjoying the many benefits of Plus membership yet, now’s the time to sign up! 

Step 2: Download the theme 
On October 13th an exclusive Killzone 3 XMB Theme will hit the Plus section of the PlayStation Store. Only the first 10,000 PlayStation Plus subscribers to download this theme will receive access to the Public Beta Trial. 

Step 3: Check your email 
If you’re among the first 10,000 to download the Killzone 3 XMB Theme, you will receive an email on October 25th containing the Public Beta Trial promotion code and further instructions. The email will be sent to the address you registered as your PSN Sign-In ID, so make sure you’ve set your notification preferences to accept emails from SCEE. 

Those of you who make it into the Public Beta Trial are expected to provide honest gameplay feedback, report bugs and glitches, and help test our network code in real-world scenarios. In short, we’re counting on you to help us improve Killzone 3! In return you’ll get a good taste of the multiplayer mode, including its brand-new ‘Operations’ game type, party system, and jetpack and exoskeleton vehicles. 

And if that doesn’t convince you to take a shot at the Public Beta Trial, maybe this new trailer will: 

Read more: http://www.ps3news.com/PS3-Online/killzone-3-ps3-beta-starts-october-25-how-to-get-in-detailed/#ixzz11nwEecFW

Sony Announces a Free Update for Premier Manager via PSN

Urbanscan Product Manager Jon Hughes has announced today that a free patch update is available today for Premier Manager via PSN. 

To quote: While you’ve been enjoying or enduring the start of the season, here at Urbanscan, home of the PSN exclusive football management game Premier Manager, we’ve been more than a little busy! 

We’ve put our emotions to one side and have been working hard to bring you a brand new update patch, which we are delighted to announce, is now available! 

We’ve taken on board all your feedback from our forum and Facebook page and have created an update which not only contains all the player movement from the recent transfer window, but also a load of new features and enhancements including; 

• Club, player and manager database up to date as of 1st September 
• Enhancements to the match engine to provide even more accurate results 
• Improvements to player transfer logic, player valuations and contract demands 
• Brand new player searching functionality with advanced filtering 

If you’ve not experienced Premier Manager already then head over to the PlayStation Store and download it now for just £13.99 / €17.99. 

As of today it is also available to download in Australia, New Zealand, India, Turkey and Croatia. If you already own the game, then just accept the update patch when you load the game and we’re sure you’ll be delighted with the results. 

Of course we forgot to mention the best thing: the update is completely free, so what are you waiting for!

Stay tuned for more PS3 Hacks news. Also be sure to drop by the PS3 Hacks Forum for updates!

Read more: http://www.ps3news.com/PS3-Online/sony-announces-a-free-update-for-premier-manager-via-psn/#ixzz11nvr2rCN

PS Samurai PS JailBreak Clone Arrives with Custom Upgrader

Today we received word from Kevin that the PS Samurai PS JailBreak clone USB modchip has arrived, and similar to a few others it includes a custom upgrader PC and MAC application. 

From the e-mail, to quote: PS SAMURAI has now been released. 

• Unlike others, PS SAMURAI uses its own, custom programming software for PC and MAC. 

• Unlike others, PS SAMURAI has a recovery function, very useful after a bad flash. 

• Unlike others, PS SAMURAI uses 32KB on-board flash (majority uses 16KB) 

• Unlike others, PS SAMURAI is delivered with no code inside which means it is 100% legal. 

• Unlike others, PS SAMURAI device is rubbercoated and designed to enchance protection and grip. 

• Unlike others, PS SAMURAI can be afforded by ordinary people 

From the official site (linked above): 

PSSamurai Features: 

• USB Plug and Play solution that installs in seconds without any need to open up the PS3. 

• Does not break your warranty seal. 

• Compatible with all PS3 models*, both Fat and Slim. 

• Supports all regions: USA, JAP, PAL and KOREA. 

• Fully updatable via USB on your PC using an encrypted bootloader 

• 32KB onboard flash (most competing products only have 16KB flash) 

• Disables forced software updates and will never brick your console. 

• Supports most games and homebrew applications. 

• Easy-to-use software for backing up, managing, and playing games from external USB Hard Drive. 

• Playing games from HDD is much more enjoyable, benefiting from greatly enhanced seek and loading times. 

• Supports installing homebrew application on PS3 and external USB media. 

• Optionally PS Sanurai can be supplied with an “open” firmware which does not support backup loading. Users would then have to download a firmware update for PS Samurai to get full functionality. 

* Currently not compatible with 3.42 firmware 

PSSamurai FAQ: 

Is PS Samurai easy to install? 

- Yes, it is a plug and play solution and does not require modifying or opening your console. 

Does it permanently modify my console? 

- No, once you unplug it from the usb port it is completely disabled. 

How do we install PS Samurai? 

- Please look at our support page for information on how to install and upgrade PS Samurai. 

PS Samurai updateable? 

- Yes, it can be upgraded via PC (or mac) by using the PS Samurai stand-alone software provided by our distributors and resellers. 

What is the PS Samurai Software? What functions does it have? 

- Our own developed PS Samurai Software is a stand-alone program that can be used on PC or Mac. With this software you can easily upgrade your product. You can install open-source code like PSGroove. And also it have a recovery function that enables you to erase the on-board flash.

Stay tuned for more PS3 Hacks news. Also be sure to drop by the PS3 Hacks Forum for updates!

Read more: http://www.ps3news.com/PS3-Hacks/ps-samurai-ps-jailbreak-clone-arrives-with-custom-upgrader/#ixzz11nvJl3j3

Killzone 3: Headshots with Move

This year Sony showed up to the New York Comic-Con in a big way. Bringing almost all of their big-name hits, the company was showing off new builds and slightly improved versions of the games that we last saw at Gamescom in Germany. Killzone 3 was in attendance with Sony Move support and jet packs ready to go. 

The level we sunk our teeth into took place on a series of floating platforms and ships floating just off shore of a frozen coastline. The elements beatdown on environment with swirling snow and wind-blown particles filling the screen. At points it appeared as though there couldn't possibly be more visual effects fit onto one screen. 

Watch Killzone 3 with PlayStation Move for yourself.

As we plowed through Helghan troops in the tight corridors of the ships the hallways swayed with the choppy water below us. It was reminiscent of first level of the original Modern Warfare, where the level seems to bob rotate around the player. You can get motion sick just watching it play out, so imagine what its like with Move drawing you further into the experience. 

The rollercoster ride continued when we picked up one of the claw like jet packs worn by one of the Helghast. It doesn't so much allow players to torpedo through the air, as it boosts them upwards for short periods of time. The vertical platforms of the structures popping out of the water were the perfect setting to use this new toy. 

As platforms exploded and collapsed in the heat of battle, we had to boost up and over the wreckage to the next firefight while somehow avoiding incoming fire all levels of the structure. The jet pack had claw like mandibles that hang down in front of the player, and these are equipped with jets. This means you can see when the jet pack is firing, giving players something to visual focus and helping them to keep their bearings. 

We already know that Move works, but its inclusion in Killzone 3 gives it a draw not unlike seeing a racing game in 3D. The screen bounces and twists with the action, and as you gesture and point at the screens feelings of vertigo and excitement are all the more palpable.

Read more: http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/112/1126681p1.html#ixzz11mfSFAIt

Gran Turismo 5: One Last Lap Before Launch

Gran Turismo 5 was announced in 2006, a few months before the PlayStation 3 was even released. It was before I worked in the videogame business. I've moved three times since then, fallen in love twice, had five different jobs, grown my hair halfway down my back, and then shaved it all off again. I've been to seven weddings, including my brother's, witnessed two funerals, and got to explain my Metroid Prime opus theory to Shigeru Miyamoto in a top floor suite in a Manhattan skyscraper. And that's the short version.

After all that time Gran Turismo 5 is almost here. If it hasn't already been certified and sent off to the disc-pressing factories, it will be imminently. As the November 4 launch date nears Sony came to New York with a demo build to show off GT5. For old time's sake. The demo was lovingly setup in a sturdy bucket seat with Logitech's officially licensed Gran Turismo wheel and 3D mode enabled. The demo was limited to two modes: Arcade, and Time Trial. There were two other options available in the menu—Drift Battle and 2 Player Battle—but both were crossed out with a forbidding red line. There was nothing in the demo that hasn't been shown before, but it provided one last look at the product of Kazunori Yamauchi's half-decade of love, labor, and car parts.

More Gran Turismo 5 - (PlayStation 3) Videos

The most exciting thing I experienced was driving in Toscana, a dusty rally track set against the orange sky of a setting sun. I was racing with the traction control turned on but the feeling of sliding on the loose sand with the rumbling wheel pulling one way and then the other was fantastic. Completing a lap on this track in my Ford Focus RS WRC 07 '08 was a genuinely physical experience. My shoulders were tense the whole time and my forearm muscles were constantly trying to counterbalance the unbridled steering wheel. As I made it into the second lap, the sun dipped below the horizon, turning the sky dark blue and adding a small touch of eeriness to the race. The atmosphere was dramatic, a driver cutting through the desert in the middle of the night, relying on his headlights to keep him from catastrophe. 

For the next race I took a tiny Fiat 500 1.2 8V Lounge SS 08 onto a city track, Tokyo R246. The aesthetic contrast with Toscana was immediate; the shifting desert sky traded for a changeless blue Tokyo afternoon, and long shadows crossing the asphalt. The feedback from the wheel provides a great sense of speed, pulling more as the speedometer climbs higher, while rumbling at different intensities when I drifted onto a patch of grass or one of the red and white safety runners. The car accelerated slowly and lost even more acceleration ability in higher gears, which felt about right for a small two-dour coupe shaped like a lunchbox from the future. 

I've come back for you.

The last track I tried was the Super Speedway in Indiana, home of the Indy 500. I took a Zonda R '09 onto the track and got to let the engine roar into 6th gear with the accelerator floored for a few exciting seconds on the long straightaways. On a couple turns I'd let my speedy thrillseeker override caution and consequently went slamming into the barrier walls. This experience was disappointingly muted. After playing Need for Speed: Shift last year, I'd grown attached to the violent sense of disorientation and full body shake in that game's collisions. Going 110 miles per hour and slamming into a cement barrier only produced a small rumble and no real visual disruption. Yamauchi has reluctantly included a damage system in Gran Turismo 5, but it doesn't feel damaging. It's mechanical and detached, the product of a man more interested in the small differences of peak performance than the visceral consequence of failure. 

It's easy to forget that games are built for our benefit, to give us experiences we couldn't have had on our own. The hype cycle of announcements, first trailers, and first hands-on sometimes give me the opposite impression: that we exist first as servants of the videogame industry, and as self-sacrificing buyers who funnel money into the ever-increasing pyre of visual splendor that remains so cherished in the game world. 

A lot has changed since Gran Turismo 4 came out. I'm far removed from where I was the last time I sat down to tinker in Yamauchi's garage, pushing myself forward by half-second increments, fueled by millimetric tweaks. Playing Gran Turismo 5 one last time before it jumps the nest, everything felt remarkably familiar. The game has an exceptional physics simulation, bright and photorealistic visuals, a genuine cockpit view, and, at long last, car damage. Yet, it still feels the same. Or rather, the part of me that this kind of simulation appeals to feels the same. I haven't given it much attention over the last several years. GT5 reminded me it's still there. You could call that a lot of things, but one of them would have to be a gift.

Read more: http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/112/1126663p1.html#ixzz11lvqktwx

Infamous 2: Simply Electrifying

If you played the first game, you already know Infamous 2 is going to be a lot of fun. The premise hasn't changed, and Cole's superpowers have only grown in strength. What's different about the sequel is a whole new level of presentation that makes combat throughout the city feel that much more intense.

The demo I got my hands on was the same as what was shown off at PAX, except this time I got to take hold of the controller for myself. Set among trees and a swamp, I was thrust into combat against foes armed with rocket launchers and turrets that were popping shots at me from wooden towers.

A few lightning grenades blasted these raised encampments to splinters. The rain of debris was impressive, but not as attention grabbing as a truck that I completely demolished. Clearly there has been a lot more work put into making the environments destructible. 

But what really caught my eye was the new look of melee combat. Getting in close to an enemy draws the camera in close for a cinematic view of Cole's handiwork. With a touch of slow motion and the right angles, it really shows off the new animations. It's clear that while the first Infamous had a cartoony comic feel to it, this one is going for gritty action based more on film. 

The end of the demo was a battle against a burrowing monster that put up much more of a fight than the human enemies. It charged, dug through the ground, and spewed bile at Cole from a distance making quick dodges very necessary. It was definitely more challenging for the hero, but in the end I triumphed. Clearly Infamous 2 is upping the ante in every way possible.

Read more: http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/112/1126682p1.html#ixzz11lvALfg6