Announced by Sony at Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, is a new PS3 configuration. The limited edition Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune PS3 Bundle will include a 160 GB PS3, a copy of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, a voucher to download PAIN from the PSN, and a DUALSHOCK 3 wireless controller. The 160 GB PS3 is taking the same route as the current 80 GB model, and will not include PS2 backwards compatibility. The Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune PS3 Bundle is set to be released in November for a retail price of $499.99.
Also announced is a Wireless Keypad attachment, similar to the Chatpad for Microsoft’s Xbox 360. The new accessory will attach to the top of PS3 controllers and feature a full QWERTY keypad as well as a feature that turns the key area into a touch pad for cursor navigation. The accessory also has shortcut keys for quick access to your friends list and messages. The Wireless Keypad makes use of Bluetooth, so you will not only have the ability to use it with the PS3, but also with mobile phones or other devices with Bluetooth that support it. A price has not been announced, but the Wireless Keypad will be sold starting in late November.
Today at Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, Sony announced a new PSP model. Set to replace the current Slim & Lite PSP (PSP-2000), the PSP-3000 will include a built-in microphone, an enhanced screen designed to reduce glare outdoors, and enhanced video out with support for interlaced TVs. Other notable changes include a slimmer metal ring on the back of the unit (probably to reduce scratches), as well as a PlayStation logo button which replaces the Home button (probably to match the PS3 and lessen confusion with Sony’s upcoming Home service). The PSP-3000 will go on sale October 14th in North America, and October 15th in Europe.
With the next iteration of the Battlefield franchise, EA and DICE have decided to take on a completely different approach. Unlike previous games in the Battlefield series, Battlefield Heroes is a cartoon-styled third person online shooter. Set to be released for the PC, the biggest change of all is that this game will be free to download and free to play. I got a chance to try it out at EA’s 2008 Studio Showcase, and it looks to be a promising game!
Criterion Games and EA have announced that Burnout Paradise will be available as an exclusive download from the PlayStation Network. Priced at just $29.99, PS3 owners will be able to purchase and download the full game this coming fall. The download will include everything the retail version of the game has, as well as all the free update packs that have been released so far. We hear the download will be under 2 GB. An exact release date will be announced soon.
Also coming this fall is another free update pack which will add bikes to Burnout Paradise. Keep reading for details and screenshots.
Today EA and Maxis have announced that the highly anticipated game Spore has gone gold! Spore is an innovative new open-ended game that lets you take control of a species and watch it evolve from a mere single-celled organism all the way to an advanced, intellectual space-exploring creature. In development for over five years, this game will finally be hitting store shelves. Both PC and Mac versions of the game are scheduled to go on sale September 7th for North America and Asia Pacific, and September 5th in Europe. Also available on September 7th will be Spore Creatures for Nintendo DS, and Spore Origins for mobile phones (including the iPhone).
If you haven’t seen it already, view the trailer after the break.
PC gamers without a next generation console will only have to wait a bit more to get their hands on Grand Theft Auto IV. Rockstar Games announced today that their widely successful game will officially be coming to the PC. You can expect to see the game on store shelves November 18th in North America, and November 21st in Europe.
According to Sam Houser, the founder of Rockstar Games, “The whole team is dedicated to bringing an amazing gaming experience to the PC. The game looks and plays beautifully on PC and we can’t wait for people to play it.” The PC version of the game will include expanded multiplayer features not seen on consoles.
As this year’s E3 comes to a close, let’s take a look at the bigger new announcements and see who came out on top. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft all had press conferences that gave us a few surprises. There were hardware announcements that ranged from new bundles from Sony, to new accessories from Nintendo. Lots of talk about video content took place as Microsoft announced deals with Netflix and other studios, and Sony announced their own video download service. New games were announced for all systems, including God of War III, Wii Sports Resort, and Lips. Casual games were big this year, with announcements of games like You’re in the Movies and Animal Crossing: City Folk. Perhaps the biggest surprise came from Microsoft and Square Enix as they revealed that Final Fantasy XIII will be heading to the Xbox 360. All in all, it felt like a very eventful E3 for every platform.
Which console company do you think did the best this year in terms of new announcements? View a recap list of major announcements after the break!
PlayStation’s upcoming community service Home was not a big topic of discussion during Sony’s E3 press conference yesterday, but they did show a trailer which gave us a quick glimpse of what to expect. GameTrailers was also lucky enough to get a personal developer walkthrough of the current beta state of Home, including footage of game-specific rooms for Warhawk and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune by third party developers. An extended beta of PlayStation Home is planned, but a date has not yet been set.
GameTrailers has posted a direct-feed video walkthrough of the recently announced dashboard redesign for the Xbox 360. View the video after the break, or check out the HD version here.
If you missed today’s press conferences by Sony and Nintendo, you can still catch the replays online. IGN has videos of the entire press conferences for both Sony and Nintendo. Sony’s official blog reports that they are in the process of converting a video of their press conference for download from the PlayStation Store. Additionally, G4TV also has streams of all press conferences so far from all companies.