Sony made good on its promise to develop the PSN Store this month by assuring UK gamers that future PSN games will be released on the same day here as on the US Store.
There'll be more PSone games too, to bring us more in line with the Japanese Store. Here are 10 new PSN downloads you have to try:
Continuing the story of Tools Of Destruction in a download game, Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest For Booty is a brave step forward. The game uses all the tricks you'll have learned in the original PS3 release and adds light-based gameplay while an add-on to Ratchet's wrench enables you to interact remotely with the environment. Read the full review on page 98.
If you're a fan of trippy, atmospheric games like Rez, LocoRoco and Ico then Flower will blossom in your games collection. The aim is to guide a petal around a field using Sixaxis, every time you float over a blade of grass more petals are added to your trail and the level begins to erupt with colour.
There's a story of sorts about merging the urban and natural worlds, and each level begins with your petal floating off an apartment window ledge. But that's not the point, Flower, like the dev's other PSN game flOw is about relaxation and experimentation.
You can buy each episode of Sony's horror romp seperately, or pick up the full game at a cheaper price. The concept is intriguing and should encourage other publishers to release games episodically over PSN at a cheaper cost. Luckily Siren is good too and will tide you over until Dead Space arrives. Reviewed page 94.
A hack 'n' slash strategy game that could overtake PixelJunk Monsters on PSN as the cute game of choice, Fat Princess has more going for it than the zesty name. The aim of each level is to rescue the princess, each team (the game supports 32 players) heads to the opposing castle - but her majesty is a bit of a porker, so at least four players must carry her.
Add in upgrades, perks and character classes (Builders can create watchtowers and Archers can fire from them) that offer tactical ways to prevent your Princess from being snatched, and Fat Princess is one cute and cuddly royal we'd like to see much more of.
The team behind LittleBigPlanet are stretching their legs with Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists Of Plastic - a novelty beat-'em-up that manages to mix Nintendo's Smash Brothers with the classic IK+ and come out looking good.
The draw is an art style that makes its characters look like action figures and sets them against one another on a 2D platform plain. The LBP comparisons are evident, but Rag Doll Kung Fu's wealth of combo moves and four-player online mode has an appeal and originality all of its own.
The PixelJunk brand is fast becoming a badge of quality on PSN, and PixelJunk Eden is quickly shaping into the label's best game yet. This beautiful platform-puzzler is a unique blend of LocoRoco and Xbox 360's ninja puzzler - N+.
Eden is a game that challenges you to navigate levels collecting pollen and zapping enemies. The twist is that you can swing from tree to tree and also grow branches to latch onto, ensuring tactical planning is needed to scoop up all the pollen. Eden is an imaginative puzzler that could prove addictive. Read the review on page 100.
Comments
27 comments so far...
MrClaws on 6 Sep '08 said:
its good to hear that we wont be forced to wait endless bloody months for the new stuff to hit the Euro store anymore. It would be great if Sony took the Nintendo Hanabi festival idea and put up rare or unreleased in this country PS1 games to download, Id love to get my mucky little hands on Strider 2, Chrono Cross and The Misadventures of Tron Bonne.
HAMMERS_UK on 6 Sep '08 said:
psn titles. another good thing about the ps3 that people don't talk about or refuse to talk about
Mark240473 on 6 Sep '08 said:
I do genuinely spend more time playing PSN games than full releases at the present time. I am currently enjoying Warhawk, Siren, The last guy, PJ:Eden and Bionic Commando - all top games in my book.
It is great news that Sony are now going to release new games at the same time worldwide. I am especially looking forward to WipeoutHD, Flower, Socom and HOME (Pitfall in the Uncharted lobby is inspired - and I'd love to know what's behind that secret door - and I'm fairly close to getting my platinum trophy!)
And can I just say that MS and Nintendo could learn something from Sony's pricing policy. That is one thing that Sony gets right.
Anonymous on 6 Sep '08 said:
Super Stardust HD is still the best PSN game, in my opinion anyway.
Some of those trophies are fecking hard!
PS, *waits for the inevitable "What? I got all the trophies withing five minutes, it's p**s-easy" reply*
SoLiDsNaKE on 6 Sep '08 said:
Microsoft spokeperson: "but...but..but....we have private chat"
Mark240473 on 6 Sep '08 said:
No, some of those SSHD trophies are real hard to get. Especially the bomb hoarder trophy - it must have taken me hours to get that one. But it does feel good to be in the 100% club!
DAEDALUS79 on 6 Sep '08 said:
Ive got more psn games than ps3 games, downloaded about 15 in total. Im very surprised that flower and home got mentioned above pixel junk minsters and the last guy. Both are excellent titles.
I really like the psn service, it may be lacking in content but overall I think it has more stuff on there that I like compared to xbla. PJ Monsters, the last guy, Tekken dark resurrection, PJ Eden are excellent. Im waiting for the blu ray version of siren, dont have the harddrive space.
blagger on 6 Sep '08 said:
And more games that are updated weekly
But it's good to see the psn network getting a lot better.
It was crap at the start but they seem to be getting their act together.
Now if only every game could support trophies from the start(like achievements on the 360), that would improve things further.
Super stardust hd and the last guy should be in that list as well.
Both fun titles.
Navid. on 6 Sep '08 said:
Playing the "limited" Socom demo right now, needs some work to fix some issues, (in terms of online lag/connection and menu/stats issues), but the core gameplay is solid and good fun.
Mark240473 on 6 Sep '08 said:
I wish that I had waited for the Blu-ray version of Siren as it does take up a lot of space - but it is a great horror game and well worth the money. I especially like the episodic nature of the game - allowing you to progress in nice bite-size chunks.
As for The Last Guy, I am thoroughly enjoying its 'old skool' gameplay, and it now stands as my favourite 'high score' PSN title. Unfortunately, nobody else on my friends list (30 in total) plays the game, so I don't have any potential bragging rights. Be nice to get some fans of the game on my list. Nudge, wink.
DAEDALUS79 on 6 Sep '08 said:
I generally dont play for scores (saves me the embarrassment of losing), however feel free to add me.
ChazG93 on 7 Sep '08 said:
what kind of reply is that?
roynluc on 7 Sep '08 said:
So you are happy paying 19p extra for the same content that is available on both the PSN and XBL platforms?
That increases to 52p extra for the same content on PSN, if someone buys a points card from an online retailer.
Sorry, but Sony's pricing policy seems to be making up for the fact that the service is free.
Mark240473 on 7 Sep '08 said:
Hey, fanboys can twist it whichever way they want. My argument is based on:
a) PSN allowing me to easily keep up with how many POUNDS that I spend, rather than POINTS.
b) That some of the best games can be bought for as little as £3.49 (i.e. PJ Monsters, Flow) and £4.99 (PJ:Eden and The Last Guy). Those are nearly half the price of what MS charge.
Regardless of the differences in a few (rare) instances, there is still better quality for your buck on PSN.
Though don't get me wrong, there are some fantastic games on LIVE Arcade, GW being my personal fave. However, I don't get to see the quality of games like Braid and Castle Crashers as I refuse to pay £10 or more on a 'play and throw away' title. Now if they were £5.00 to buy, I would be in download heaven, as would a lot more people, for sure. The sweetspot is definitely £5.00 or less in my opinion.
tam on 7 Sep '08 said:
i got into the public beta too (infact i have 2 keys)and i agree with the game play is fun but the lag is amazing i was waiting for a game for 3 hours and the sound barely ever works the servers are crap so i stopped playing it.
voodoo341 on 7 Sep '08 said:
One reason Microsoft set up the points system was to avoid handling charges from credit card companies. When buying something for £6.50 most credit card companies would add a typically 5% surcharge. It's the same reason shops have minimum amounts before they accept a card. You could argue as Microsoft avoid these charges they should be cheaper as well.
As for your other point about the pricing policy making up for the service being free. I'd be in favour of that. At the moment I'm paying £40 a year for a service that I would only use for a few hours a month. If Microsoft did make it a pay as you use/play service and past the costs onto the games you download I'd go for it. Especially as you don't have to download the games.
I'm not even going to go into the global cost variation in Microsoft points.
voodoo341 on 7 Sep '08 said:
good job it's a beta, make sure you tell them.
DAEDALUS79 on 7 Sep '08 said:
I do agree that sonys price mechanism is much better, paying in cash allows me to know exactly what im spending, i can work points out but its all a little annoying really. Biggest thing for me though is the ability to purchase using a debit card, i dont have a credit card and with the xbox you cant use debit, the ps3 allows me to which is really useful for me.
roynluc on 7 Sep '08 said:
While I agree that some games could do with being cheaper, I also disagree with your comment about there being more bang for your buck on PSN.
You are denying the fact that there is a lot of content available on XBLA for the 400 point price point, that's £3.40 to those that can't work it out.
Games like Geometry Wars, Jet Pac Refuelled, Marble Blast Ultra, Small Arms and Assault heroes to name a few on that £3.40 price point. Ok, some of those have been marked down permanantly from their original prices, but that is now their permanent prices.
Virtually every release of old arcade games also have the £3.40 price mark and let's not forget, a lot of these have online multiplayer added to them, something that seems to be lacking in a lot of the downloads on PSN.
About the only game I have bought off of PSN, is PAIN. Absolutely brilliant game with friends and family and an absolute steal at £4.99, well, until you realise that they charge you 69p for every character in the game. I have now spent about £10.20 in total on PAIN and I still haven't got all of the characters.
There is still more stuff coming, of which, most of it is going to be at a cost.
The price point that they are looking at for the Amusement Park download, is apparently going to cost about $5.99 which will translate to about £2.99 over here.
I personally think the pricing for the characters at 69p each is a bloody rip off, they should have been made as unlockables within the game.
roynluc on 7 Sep '08 said:
Wrong, plain and simple. I use a debit card for all my purchases on the 360. Always have done, as I do not have any credit cards and never will.
voodoo341 on 7 Sep '08 said:
I guess they'll keep on charging if people keep on buying. If you don't like it don't use it.
DAEDALUS79 on 7 Sep '08 said:
I tried setting up a 360 debit card payment and it wouldnt work, it only gave the option for credit card.
roynluc on 8 Sep '08 said:
I do believe it classes a debit card as a credit card. It just uses a general term for cards that can be used for payments of goods.
Cards with a Visa symbol are accepted, which is what I use.
Mark240473 on 8 Sep '08 said:
Must admit that I use a debit card on 360 as well.
voodoo341 on 8 Sep '08 said:
If your debit card is a Visa debit card then its more than just a debit card. You pay for something using it and you have the funds in your account to cover it then your account is debited accordingly. If you pay for something and don't have the funds in your account you get credit from Visa to cover that purchase and have to pay them back with interest if not paid back within a defined period (normally 28 days). If you have a Switch or Delta card without MasterCard or Visa etc on it you have just a debit card and if you buy something without the funds in your account your purchase is rejected.
ensabahnur on 9 Sep '08 said:
he's right. i couldn't use my maestro card on live but a visa or mastercard debit card will work. psn accepts all cards.
Valdon on 10 Sep '08 said:
Can't wait for home.
I desperately wanna see whats in the secret Uncharted room. I've got my platinum so I should be able to go in there.