This BurgerTime experience evolves the arcade classic and enhances it with a unique 3D rotating environment. Platform Nation’s Rich Montalvo has reviewed the Xbox 360 version of the game and it looks like he really enjoyed it, even if the difficulty drove him insane. Check out his review here. Also another article to check out is this really interesting interview that Rich had with John Greiner, Head of the BurgerTime development studio, Monkeypaw Games.

BurgerTime World Tour hits WiiWare on February 9 and will cost 1000 Wii Points.

Yesterdays upgrade to the PS3 firmware provides a speed improvement on the web-browser and new Terms of Service. Released on the PS blog today, Sony Network Entertainment VP, Eric Lempel outlined the few changes.

“First off, once you download the new system software, you will be asked to accept a change to our Terms of Service. In an effort for more unity between PlayStation Network (PSN) and other Sony Entertainment Network services, your “PSN Account” will now be named “Sony Entertainment Network Account.” Please note that this change is one in name only and will not change the PSN that you know and love. You’ll still play games online, still have access to the latest downloadable games and add-ons, and still experience a wide variety of movies, sports and music across PSN.
With this system software update (v4.10), we’ll also be updating the PS3 Internet Browser with improved display speed.”

I’m not sure who uses the web-browser on the PS3 for their main browser; but good news, it’s faster and will now display some pages that it previously could not.
The main confusion lies with the changes and unifications going on at Sony right now. To clarify, the account name is all that is changing, NOT the PSN itself. The account and the service are separate.

Here’s my take on this: Up until today there was the PSN “service” with games and movies and content, and to access it a user needed to create a PSN “account” (gamertag associated with an email). As Sony has rolls out more “services” like movies and other media, they desire to have a more unified (and service independent) “account” name. So, yesterday we logged into the PSN “service” with our PSN “account”; but tomorrow we’ll login to the PSN “service” with our SEN “account”.

So, while it is technically true the PSN had a name change it was only the account that changed, and not the beloved PSN.

Source PS Blog

The original Sanctum game was a really fun game, it was a great tower defense game which featured a twist giving you the ability to jump down onto the map and actually take down the enemies yourself. With plenty of different enemy types including tank-like enemies and flying enemies, you have to place your turrets strategically, upgrade them and kick some alien butt.

Not much is known about what Sanctum 2 will be bringing, but you can assume it will be more of the insane tower defense fun that the original featured. I’m glad that it will be available on Xbox Live, PSN and PC as the original was only out on PC which obviously limited the amount of gamers that were exposed to it, which was a shame as the game has some great co-op gameplay too.

Keep your eye out for more Sanctum 2 info on Platform Nation as it comes out.

Most gamers feel that DLC, at times, could have been implemented in the games without making them DLC. Others feel DLC are a blessing to continue the life cycle of a beloved game.  Personally, I have no reaction either way.

Notable games released so far with Season passes include:  Saints Row: The Third, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, and Gears of War 3 just to name a few.  Mass Effect 3, releasing in March this year, is rumored to include a season pass.

So as a community of gamers, what do you think?  Is it better to bundle DLC, prices ranging, and try to come off cheap or fight off huge DLC packages.  I’ve never actually purchased DLC that wasn’t included free for pre-ordering a game or some kind of promotion, but I can definitely see both sides of the argument.  Bundling allows me the option, if I choose, to not make a life altering decision between eating that day or buying Microsoft/PSN points.  I can just hop on and get to downloading.

On the other half, it does seem like an easy cop-out for developers at times to release huge DLC outside of additional maps or add-ons.  Characters that could have been included probably should have, so why pay for that. With that being said, we’re the consumers, those that will determine whether this will become a new industry standard. Let your voice be heard and chime in on this debate that is destined to be discussed. As gamers, we have a voice somewhere, so why not use it before we’re muted by “Well why didn’t you speak up?”

Space is the place. Starhawk, the spiritual successor to Warhawk, has entered public beta. Sony has announced that all preorders at GameStop are automatically updated to the Limited Edition. The store-exclusive bundle (which, in all honesty, would likely be available to other users at a cost) runs the standard price of $60.

Sony has confirmed a list of special content exclusive to the Limited Edition.

Starhawk Limited Edition Contents

• Maw of Despair Outcast Pack: Includes the Maw of Despair Co-op Map and Shade Warrior MP Skin
  This challenging co-op mission takes place deep beneath the planet’s surface in a particularly dangerous Rift mine. The Maw of Despair is home to the oldest Outcast tribe, the Shade Warriors. The heart of each Shade Warrior blazes with pure Rift energy, granting them extra toughness and combat ability. The firefights you’ll encounter in the Maw of Despair co-op mission will push your shooting skills to the edge!
• Echo Scrapyard Rifter Pack: Includes the Scrapyard Homeworld and Huxley Ardin MP Skin
  An exclusive player Homeworld, the Echo Scrapyard features Huxley’s mechanics shop and junkyard — known throughout the Frontier as the best place in the Frontier for Rifters to get spare parts for their Razorbacks and Sidewinders. And in the canyon basin below, Huxley’s shop is a network of roads and trails for players to hone their own Razorback 4×4 and Sidewinder Jetbike driving skills.
• Starhawk Concept Art PS3 Theme: Decorate your PS3 with the amazing concept art that help bring the Starhawk Universe to life. Only available through the Starhawk Limited Edition.
• Copy of the Original Warhawk (PSone): Download and play the title that started it all!
• Official Starhawk Soundtrack: Christopher Lennertz’s sweeping original score available as a PSN download.

Are you going to go to GameStop for this title? I remember playing Warhawk as a test of the original PlayStation, but only picked up the modern Warhawk title for the bundled bluetooth headset.

Source: Sony

After a rough week for Game Group Plc the inevitable has happened and GAME has confirmed job losses at its Basingstoke headquarters.

A total of 46 roles roughly 10% of the workforce at the head office in Basingstoke have been cut. A spokesperon for GAME said:

“The proposed restructure will result in around 46 fewer roles at our central support centre in Basingstoke..Our proposed new structure will change the way that we operate and will enable us to be significantly more efficient in our relationships with suppliers and customers.

Amongst the layoffs,  there is a also a corporate restructure with several people taking new positions within the company. Former commercial strategy director Tricia Brennan became chief commercial officer, while the new channel director is the former managing director Tom Devine. The man who was in charge of the recent relaunch of www.game.co.uk Dave Hughes will leave the company in March.

GAME recently dodged a bullet after it was able to renegotiate credit agreements with major lenders and publishers allowing for it to get stock of the newest titles. However as rumoured it is selling it’s overseas business as has set a deadline of this Friday for companies to make an offer.

Source: DigitalSpy, MCV

First off, let me just say: I make no apologies for that title.

Nearly three years after the release of Flower, thatgamecompany has finished development on their newest game, Journey. Jenova Chen, co-founder and creative director of thatgamecompany, posted the good news on Twitter earlier today:

3 years is a long time when you finally finished something and look back, “What have I done in the past 3 years?” Hope it’s worth it.

There’s still no word on a release date — that ball is in Sony’s court.

Journey is a PSN title that, like Flower, is more of an experience than a game. Players will find themselves exploring a desert wasteland, discovering the remnants of ancient civilizations.

Source: GiantBomb

Game Group Plc has been in the news everyday this week. For those not keeping track click here and here to get up to speed.

Today Game Group Plc released a press statement:

Having received support from its stakeholders and lenders, the Board now believes that GAME will meet its covenant tests for the period to 31 January 2012 when tested on 27 February 2012. The Board now expects that the loss before tax and non recurring items will be around £18m for the year to 31 January 2012.

Financing update:

Further to the announcement earlier today, the Board of GAME is pleased to announce that it has now concluded discussions with its lending syndicate and agreed revised terms for its facilities.

Under the terms of the revised facilities, the Group has agreed to operate within lower limits of its existing facilities than was previously available. These revised facilities will allow the company to continue to trade. The Group has also agreed to provide an updated strategic plan for review, and approval in part, by the lenders. This plan will cover all aspects of the business’s activities and strategy, including its overseas operations.

Ian Shepherd, CEO of GAME said “We’re pleased to reach agreement with our lenders, but should be under no illusions about the challenges in our market or the hard work that is required to deliver our strategic plan.”

So the saga of Game Group Plc hasn’t ended yet, but its future is far from secure. In the short-term for people (like me) who have an existing order with GAME for the Mass Effect 3 Collectors Edition, BioWare’s Community Coordinator Chris Priestly offers some reassurances:

Nothing is going to happen to Game before March.

They also now have the ME3 DLC listed on their site, so take that as a good sign.

While it’s hardly a ringing endorsement for the future of GAME, it is at least something.

Source: Game Group Plc, Bioware

This next piece of DLC for the game seems to take what you can do on a pinball table to the next level. Coming this month at some point, the Epic Quest pinball table will be available for download to play in Pinball FX2 on XBLA and PSN. You will also be able to play the DLC within Zen Pinball on Android and iOS. You can expect to be taken on a.. well.. an epic quest of course.

An RPG themed table will involve you grabbing extra armor, getting loot, rescuing the princess and defeating evil monsters. I am not an avid virtual pinball player, but I think it’s pretty impressive that all this can be placed onto a pinball table. Check out the full description of the DLC below and keep your eye out for the DLC at some point this month.

Zen Studios, the definitive leader in videogame pinball, today announced Epic Quest, a brand new, original pinball experience for Pinball FX2 on Xbox LIVE® Arcade and Zen Pinballon PlayStation®Network, Android Marketplace™ and the Apple App®Store. The table will be available for download in February 2012.

It is the sworn duty of every knight to seek out evil, defeat it, and take its stuff. One such knight is Max, whose enthusiasm for combat is surpassed only by his love of rare and valuable loot. Join Max as he battles hordes of evil (or just evil-looking) monsters, rescues a wealthy princess, and accumulates the loot and XP that make good worth doing.   If Max suffers a defeat, never fear! He will return in the next game with all of his hard-won loot and experience levels intact.

“It is our quest to deliver the most entertaining and original pinball tables, and Epic Quest delivers on both fronts,” said Mel Kirk, Zen Studios Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations. “With a wink and a nudge towards classic RPG tropes, Epic Quest blends frantic pinball action, obsessive character building, and liberally applied tongue-in-cheek humor.”

As players complete missions and table objectives, Max earns loot, which is essential for defeating monsters and impressing n00bs.  Put together a set of “epic” gear and become the envy of all your frenemies! Supposedly, it helps you fight better, too.  And if a game ends, experience and loot carry over to the next game.

Epic Quest will seamlessly integrate into Zen Pinball on PlayStation®Network, the Apple App®Store and Android Marketplace™, and the Pinball FX2 platform on Xbox LIVE® Arcade. Epic Quest will feature new Achievements and Trophies.

After much speculation yesterday about GAME and their current financial troubles, Game Group Plc - The Owners of GAME and Gamestation issued a statement this morning:

In response to press speculation the GAME Group plc confirms that it is in ongoing dialogue with its lending syndicate to reach agreement on revised terms for its facilities. As part of these discussions, the lending syndicate is reviewing a strategic plan of the company which includes a review of its overseas operations.

A further announcement will be provided once discussions with its lending syndicate have concluded.

It’s also worth noting that yesterday EA boss John Riccitiello told investors,

“We are concerned with the financial condition of one of our major European retail partners, which could lead to both increased bad debt and lost sales.”

John Riccitiello isn’t the only concerned person at EA with CFO Eric Brown stating,

“We are focused on some isolated European retailer issues that have recently been announced. A negative outcome could adversely affect our Q4 results.”

On a personal note, I have had my up and downs with GAME but they are the exclusive retailer of the Mass Effect 3 collectors edition here in the UK, and I wouldn’t be happy if my pre-order which is about 6 months old was cancelled.

Source: GAME, MCV, CVG