April 23rd, 2008

Burnout Paradise ‘Cagney Update’ Details Revealed

burnout-paradise-cageny-upd.jpg

Criterion Games have revealed some new details for their upcoming Cagney software update for Burnout Paradise with their main goal of improving the ranked races.Here’s a list of the changes / improvements that will be made when the Cagney software update becomes available for download:

  • Custom Routes are no longer featured in competition races
    You can choose from 40 predefined Paradise Drives that we’ve sanctioned – 7 came from fans, 10 more came from the team. They’re all great routes – we hope you enjoy them!
  • Sanctioned Routes have their own Time Leaderboards
    The new routes each have their own leaderboard, so you can all see who’s the fastest per route. Now, it’s now not just about winning a race, you can now measure your finish time against everyone else’s.
  • Traffic can no longer be switched off in competition races
    For the sanctioned routes, we’ve optimized the traffic density for great racing, so there’s no need to switch it off.
  • No more ‘rounds’ in competition racing
    Most 5-round races don’t end with the same number of players that started. Many players disconnect, when they feel like there’s no chance of winning, so we’ve got rid of the concept of rounds.Now, you can’t get locked into a 5 round race without knowing where the races are going and you can select a car that suits the race and your driving style. It also means the scoring system reacts after every race, so it’s quicker and if you do disconnect, you only lose your results for the race you were on.
  • Cars can be grouped by Boost Rating
    If you’re hosting, you can limit the cars available based on the Boost Speed of the car. Limiting to Boost Level 3 cars, for example, still gives you 10 massively varied cars but they’ll all be pretty closely matched for great racing. (We’ve also fixed a few anomalies in the car groupings and changed the order so it’s easier to check out the cars in the select screen). This adds a ton of variety to the racing and we’ll see a much wider range of cars used – not just the PCPD!
  • Car Select now appears after the Race Route has been selected
    Switching to single races also allows us to make sure everyone gets to see the route before the car select. The host can’t make sure they’re the only one who knows the route, and now everyone gets a chance to choose an appropriate car.
  • The host can’t kick other players any more
    Hosts are kicking players in ranked games to ensure they can win. Pointless and irritating. So we’ve stopped it. The downside to this is that there’s no way to kick an abusive player, although if you’re hosting, you can just quit the session. In the future we’ll have a simple vote system that allows the host to vote to kick someone - they’ll still need a majority decision from the remaining players for the kick to activate.
  • Grid position is based on player ranking
    In the past, the very first grid was set randomly – clearly this doesn’t make sense. Now, the grid’s based on ranking with the highest ranked player at the back.

[via Criterion Games]

Post filed under:
PS3 Gaming

Playstation 3 Forums Discuss this PS3 news and more in the Playstation 3 News Forums!
April 22nd, 2008

Home Open Beta Delayed Until Fall

ps3-home-beta.jpg

Sadly it seems we’re going to have a bit longer for Home. According to a new joint press release from SCEA and SCEE, the closed beta testing will continue on through Summer with the proposed open beta not made available until Fall.

It is believed that more users will be invited to the closed beta during this period however. Here’s what the press release had to say:

We understand that we are asking PS3 and prospective PS3 users to wait a bit longer, but we have come to the conclusion that we need more time to refine the service to ensure a more focused gaming entertainment experience than what it is today,” said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Our overarching objective is to provide users with new gaming experiences that are available only on PLAYSTATION Home. Spending more time on the development and on the Closed Beta testing reaffirms our commitment to bringing a quality service, maintaining the PlayStation tradition.

Post filed under:
PS3 Network

Playstation 3 Forums Discuss this PS3 news and more in the Playstation 3 News Forums!
April 17th, 2008

Call Of Duty 4 Variety Map Pack Release Date Announced

call-of-duty-4-map-pack.jpg

Infinity Ward have finally confirmed the release dates for The CoD4 Variety Map Pack for April 24th on the North American PSN and May 1st for the European Store.

To celebrate the release of the map pack Infinitey wards are hosting a Double XP weekend, datedfrom April 25 to 27 for North American players and from May 2 to 4 for European players. Over these weekends players will also have the oppurtunity to play against some of the developers.

Post filed under:
PS3 Gaming

Playstation 3 Forums Discuss this PS3 news and more in the Playstation 3 News Forums!
April 15th, 2008

Playstation Store Updates For April 15th

lair-psn-update.jpg

Thanks to today’s release of the new Firmware 2.30 and the re-launch of the PSN Store, there’s a number of new downloads available to North American and European PS3 owners.

North America

Super Stardust HD Solo Add-on Pack
Lair Dragons and Control Pack

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue “Beyond the Apex” trailer (free)
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue “Friendly Fires” video (free)

Europe

SEGA Superstars Tennis demo (free)
Super Stardust HD Solo Add-on Pack (£2.99)
Guitar Hero III Dropkick Murphys pack (free)

Bionic Commando Rearmed trailer (free)
Lost Planet trailer 2 (free)
SEGA Superstars Tennis trailer (free)

More PSN updates will be available on Thursday including the European Metal Gear Online beta. Konami have confirmed that the Beta will be will last between April 21st and May 6th. After May 6th the beta client will be removed from the PSN Store.

Post filed under:
PS3 Gaming

Playstation 3 Forums Discuss this PS3 news and more in the Playstation 3 News Forums!
April 15th, 2008

New Playstation Store And Firmware 2.30 Released

psn-store-redesign-launch.jpg

After a few weeks of waiting the newly re-designed Playstation Store is now up and running.

It seems that the store is still somewhat underconstruction as we’ve noticed a few images are still broken and there’s a couple of placeholders. But on the whole we love the new layout and theme, and you’ll be pleased to hear the store is now much quicker to navigate.

Also available for download is the newly release Firmware 2.30 along with a new Super Stardust HD update and a new patch for Lair.

Post filed under:
PS3 Online

Playstation 3 Forums Discuss this PS3 news and more in the Playstation 3 News Forums!
April 12th, 2008

Resistance 2 Teaser Trailer

resistance-2-trailer.jpg

Here’s a brand new teaser trailer for Resistance 2, little is known about this upcoming sequel to Resistance: Fall of Man. Scheduled for release later this year , Resistance 2 will be a continuation of the original storyline taking Sgt. Nathan Hale to the United States where he must once again help stop a Chimeran invasion.

Resistance 2, the much awaited sequel to the popular Resistance: Fall of Man is scheduled for release later this year. Resistance 2 (working title) is a continuation of the original plot which see’s Sgt. Nathan Hale defending the United States from an impending Chimeran invasion.

Resistance 2 is sceduled for European release in November 2008 and a North American release in Fall 2008.

Post filed under:
PS3 Gaming

Playstation 3 Forums Discuss this PS3 news and more in the Playstation 3 News Forums!
April 12th, 2008

Rockstar Update Grand Theft Auto IV Website

gta-iv.jpg

With the Grand Theft Auto IV release only weeks away, Rockstar have updated the official GTAIV website with a ton of fresh new content and media.

New updates include, videos, new radio stations to listen to, media and new screenshots.

Here’s one of the new videos added:

[via RockstarGames.com]

Post filed under:
PS3 Gaming

Playstation 3 Forums Discuss this PS3 news and more in the Playstation 3 News Forums!
April 12th, 2008

Playstation Store Opening And Firmware 2.30 Release April 15th

playstation-store-april-15.jpg

Finally the wait for the new PSN Store re-opening is finally coming to and end. Along with a brand new store, Sony will also be releasing a new firmware 2.30 upgrade for the PS3.

According to Sony’s press release this new firmware update will be of perticular importanceto audiophiles due to the addition of two new audio output streams supported by Blu-Ray discs.

One of the new streams, ‘DTS-HD Master Audio’, will apparently bring even higher quality audio sound to your living with the second ‘DTS-HD High Resolution being quite similar to the first only that it requires less HDD space. Please note thatthese new audio streams aren’t supported by everyBlu-Ray title.

DTS-HD Master Audio is literally bit-for-bit identical to the studio master recording and makes movie soundtracks and sound effects truly come to life. The technology delivers audio at the incredibly high rate of 24.5 mega-bits per second (Mbps) on Blu-ray disc, which is significantly higher than standard DVDs. DTS-HD Master Audio also offers 7.1 audio channels at 96k sampling frequency/24 bit depths, so you’ll be totally immersed in the sound. The firmware update will add DTS-HD High Resolution Audio as well, which is a similar output technology that requires less disc space.

Here’s an accompanying video fromGrace Chen, Senior Manager of Playstation demonstrating the new Playstation Store and it’s features:

Post filed under:
PS3 Network

Playstation 3 Forums Discuss this PS3 news and more in the Playstation 3 News Forums!
April 9th, 2008

New Call Of Duty 4 Maps Expected April 18th

call-of-duty-4-new-maps.jpg

The European PlayStation Network Store is still this week as per the upgrades, but it is expected that the new CoD4 maps will have arrived on the PSN Store in time for it’s re-opening probably on April 18th. Activision have recently confirmed that those long awaited maps for Call of Duty 4 have been submitted to Sony for certification.

The new Map Pack includes four new multiplayer maps:

  • Creek - A wide-open village ravaged by combat where concealment is the difference between life and death.
  • Broadcast - Fight through an enemy communications building with confined corridors and wide-open parking lots.
  • Chinatown - A foggy downtown district, lit only by a full moon and the neon glow of the city.
  • Killhouse - features a desolate training warehouse filled with a variety of building mock-ups and soft and hard cover points.

Post filed under:
PS3 Gaming

Playstation 3 Forums Discuss this PS3 news and more in the Playstation 3 News Forums!
April 9th, 2008

Haze Release Date Confirmed For May 23 European Release

haze-europe-release.jpg

The release date surrounding Haze has been in limbo for some time now. Only last month Ubisoft announced a May 22 release date before immediately retracting the announcement.

Well CVG have today received confirmation that Ubisoft that Haze will be hitting stores across Europe on May 23rd. A North american release date is as of yet still unknown.

[via CVG]

Post filed under:
PS3 Gaming

Playstation 3 Forums Discuss this PS3 news and more in the Playstation 3 News Forums!
  • PS3 News - Categories

  • PS3 Chat - Playstation 3 Forums

  • PS3 Chat Nav