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For some reason the video for Sony’s long awaited pet project Afrika will not stream for me, so instead you will have to hit the link for GamerCyde where it was originally posted. It is totally worth it I promise you, and the picture of the Rhino above is the only hint I am giving you.

I am so wanting this game even more than before!

The PS3 exclusive Afrika is about as elusive as Big Foot and details regarding the game have popped up now and then, but nothing really specific has been given - other that it is very pretty and is set in Africa.

But here is what we DO know about it:

• You will be a photo journalist taking pictures on foot, by car or by air balloon
• You can unlock real non-CG pictures and rare research footage of the animals as you encounter more animals in game and build up your “Animal Library”
• The game will be out on 8/28 for 5980 yen in Japan

Afrika is expected to hit North America shores on December 31.

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PSP’s are an effective tool for marketing beer, at least in Australia. According to I believe in ADV, Fosters was looking for a way to market their lesser known Stella Artois. What they got was a custom designed PSP sporting a Stella Artois theme right down to the software.

Foster’s was expecting a brochure, or a folder with loose-leaf pages. They gave them 50 customised Sony PlayStation PSPs instead. The PSPs were delivered in hand-stitched black velvet drawstring bags. The machines were rebranded with a Stella Artois logo on the reverse of the case, and they also modified the operating systems and icon sets to reflect the brand. Then they installed the Stella Artois films and artwork, plus short presentations on the history of the brand. And because PSPs are wi-fi capable, Foster’s can load up new material quicker than new pages can be printed for a loose-leaf folder.

Fosters has found that every rep that got one of these PSPs has consistently met their sales targets. The PSP works so well as a sales platform, Fosters is ready to commission more.

Personally I find it hilarious that a country that kicked up such a fuss about Fallout 3 having drug use in it has no problem with PSPs advertising beer. The only question I have is where can I get one.

Sony has unveiled a new trailer for the upcoming expansion to Warhawk, called “Operation Fallen Star.” The video mostly highlights some of the new additions this will bring, such as new game modes and trophy support. But all that really pales in comparison to the jet packs. Now you’ll be able to hover over foes and deal out death from above. This just goes to prove the age old saying: Everything is cooler with jet packs.

The results for the Best of Games Convention 2008 are in. The list of winners should look familiar to anyone who paid attention to the winners of this year’s Game Critics Awards for E3.

Awards were given in nine categories with EA and Sony featuring prominently in the winners circle. Spore took Best PC game while EA Mythic walked away with Best Online Game for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Little Big Planet scored Best PS3 game while Mirror’s Edge took Best Xbox 360 title. Skate It rolled over competition for the Best new Wii title.

A full list of the Best of GC 2008 follows the break.
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Along with the free 1.5 update coming on Wednesday (bringing Trophies, training tutorials, and a number of other features), Warhawk will be getting its third expansion pack this Thursday. Entitled “Fallen Star,” the new expansion will add a new map, Tau Crater, which is set on an island centered around a crashed capital ship that provides a lot of vertical playing space — making it perfect for the other major new addition: the jetpack.

Jetpacks are equipped just as you enter a vehicles or mount a turret (the square button), with the one difference being that, once equipped, you’ll be able to use a jetpack along with another vehicle. That will allow you to pull off some fancy maneuvers like ejecting out of a Warhawk or Nemesis just before it explodes. Jetpacks should introduce some interesting new strategies, although you’ll unfortunately be unable to destroy an enemy’s jetpack-producing machine or move your own. Game director Dylan Jobe has posted up a deeper look at how the jetpack works at PlayStation.Blog.

There are ten layouts of Tau Crater along with 30 bonus layouts for other maps which will cater to the jetpack. It’s not a half-bad deal for $8, or the discounted price of $16 if you opt for the Booster Combo Pack which includes the Fallen Star expansion and the previous two expansions. Either way, when you combine the new expansion and all of the content that’s coming for free on Wednesday, it’s going to be a great week for Warhawk players.

Well, this is certainly the strangest piece of DLC I’ve seen in awhile. Sony has announced that Kratos, the scourge of the immortals in God of War, is coming to the PSN today as a downloadable character for Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds. Apparently, the team at Sony worked very closely with the God of War developers to get his animations and voice-work right, so he’ll act and sound like the god-kicking badass we all know. He also comes equipped with a special set of “chain drivers” and apparently a shrunken torso. Let’s just hope they don’t try and incorporate his golfing skills into God of War III, whenever that comes out.

Via Playstation Blog

There are a few reasons you should care about Heavy Rain. For one, it’s already looking to combine a very interactive storytelling experience. For another, this is a game Sony specifically sought out to secure as an exclusive for the PS3. But the main reason this game’s worth keeping an eye on is the mere fact that it’s being developed by Quantic Dream, the same team behind 2005’s phenomenal Indigo Prophecy. I Know I’ve personally been wanting them to create a new game for some time now, and from the looks of this trailer, they’re definitely on the right track.

Trophy whores (are there any of you out there?) rejoice! NOVASTRIKE is the latest game to announce Trophy support, which it will be adding through a sizable update coming in the next few weeks.

The sixteen Trophies are certain to be what attracts most people’s eyeballs to the update, there’s going to be a significant number of updates and changes made, which are laid out in a post on PlayStation.Blog. Custom soundtracks, customizable controls and different difficulty levels (both of which were inexcusable omissions in the first place, but better late than never), enhanced leaderboards, and numerous other additions.

NOVASTRIKE has yet to be released in Europe, but Kevin McCann, president of developer Tiki Games, says they’re working with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe to get the game out “as soon as possible.” Hopefully the Europeans won’t have to wait for the new update and will get Trophies and different difficulty settings out of the proverbial box.

There have been many game demos before that people spent hours on (God only knows how many times I played that Metal Gear Solid 2 demo packaged with ZOE). But how many demos have taken that long for just one playthrough? Apparently, that’s exactly what Square-Enix has planned for the Final Fantasy XIII demo, which will take PS3-owners through an early portion of the game. According to an upcoming issue of Famitsu, the demo will come packaged with the Blu-Ray release of the feature-length film, Final Fantasy: Advent Children Complete, which will feature new and deleted scenes for a much longer run-time than before. More impressive than that though is that the accompanying demo will apparently run even longer than the film; probably well over two hours.

That’s pretty gutsy of Square-Enix actually. I’ve encountered many demos that took less than five minutes for me to get tired of, so a two hour one would have to be pretty spectacular to hold peoples’ interest. You have to wonder if they’ll actually give you the option to save in the middle though, even if it is a demo. You also have to wonder what the cut-scene to gameplay ratio is for this portion of the game.

Via Playstation Universe

Sony Online Entertainment is spilling more details on Fan Faire 2008. For the second year running, SOE president John Smedley will kick off the event with the Community Address. There will be a simultaneous streaming video broadcast online as well as a live audio broadcast in EverQuest, EverQuest II and Star Wars Galaxies through Station Voice by Vivox.

WHEN
Friday, August 15th at 6:00pm PST.

WHERE
To view the live webcast, please go to:
http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=50659

To listen to audio broadcast in-game, please go to:
www.station.sony.com/stationvoice

According to the SOE press release, SOE will be featuring all its MMOs including a lineup including the hit titles EverQuest, EverQuest II, EverQuest Online Adventures, PlanetSide, Star Wars Galaxies and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes as well as upcoming titles Free Realms, The Agency and more. SOE’s Fan Faire runs from August 15-17th in Las Vegas. For further details on events check out the official Fan Faire 2008 website. Although online registration is officially closed, on-site registration is now open at the Hilton Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

We previously reported on Little Big Planet’s pre-order goodies, which include in-game costumes of Kratos and Nariko.  It seems 2 out of the 5 pre-order items were revealed this week.

If you want your Sackboy to resemble God of War’s badass main character Kratos, then it seems you’ll have to preorder with GameStop. The costume will come as a voucher with a promotional code that you can input on the Playstation Store.  It should be noted also that the costume consists of four seperate items, which you can interchange between other costume items: Kratos’ signature skin, goatee, Blades of Athena, and Kratos’ garments.

The other pre-order item is one that you folks who are planning to take the creation process in Little Big Planet very serious.  Amazon.com will be offering a digital mini-guide from Brady Games which will allow you to take your creations to another level by giving you tips and tricks for the tools you’ll be using in Little Big Planet.

There you have it folks.  As of now, those are the only pre-order details that have been released.  There’s still 3 more pre-order items, so if you have your eye on any one of the other ones, you’ll just have to sit back and wait a bit longer until those details are released.

[Via Little Big Planet News]

Amazon has posted a new trailer for LittleBigPlanet, and thanks to YouTube and VG247 we have it right here for your viewing pleasure.

I really do not know what else to say about LittleBigPlanet that has not already been said, so I will just let the video do the talking for me. Enjoy.

Burnout Paradise might be the current king of free downloadable content on consoles, Warhawk is certainly giving it a run for its money. After releasing the fairly significant v1.4 update last month, we learned last week of a new update coming on August 27 that would add, among other things, trophy support. Game director Dylan Jobe has posted on PlayStation.Blog detailing many of the new features the v1.5 update will be bringing later this month — provided there are no hitches during certification.

In addition to trophies (of which there will be 56, some of which will be retroactive as previously reported), custom soundtrack support will be added. New training tutorials will make it easier for new owners and returning vets like myself to get back in on the action. The four tutorials, all of which are offline, will focus on the game’s three modes of transport in the game: infantry, ground vehicles, and aircraft. Don’t expect anything advanced, but it should lay the groundwork for anyone.

Some other minor features will be added as well, including the ability to retract clan invites, new paint schemes and insignias to tag your aircraft with, a ceremonial knife for those who played in the recent GGL Warhawk tournament, and a server color-coding for “rookie” servers. It seems like a lot of what they’re trying to do is help ease new players in, which is a wise decision with the recent price drop. Besides, they want people to keep playing their game and check out all of that downloadable content that they don’t give away for free.

As if they hadn’t already implied it with all of the support they’ve thrown behind the game, Sony has proclaimed that LittleBigPlanet is going to be a system seller. The game hardly conforms to the style of game you normally would associate with “system sellers” like Halo, Gears of War, or Gran Turismo. But LBP has a benefit those games don’t share — it appeals to everyone.

Associate producer Eric Fong told GamesIndustry.biz at Comic-Con last month, “Our target audience is everyone.” With LBP’s mix of depth and easy-to-play gameplay, anyone and everyone can play the game and enjoy different aspects of it. Fong continued, “It’s got enough complexity that people can play it and enjoy it for many hours; at the same time, if you’re just a casual user you can run through and play the game and have fun with it. Everything you see in the developer levels, you can create as the player.”

Because of that, it’s going to attract eyes far and wide. “It’s going to be a hardware seller. Not only do you have the platforming experience that a lot of other games will have, you have this creativity that really is exclusive to LittleBigPlanet,” he claimed, although he did admit the explaining the game to someone represents a significant challenge. “How do you explain the game…without getting your hands on it? It’s a difficult thing to do.”

Star Wars Galaxies Producer Christopher Field has officially confirmed John Smedley’s accidental revelation of plans for vehicle combat for Sony Online Entertainment’s MMO.

Field made the announcement official on Station’s Star Wars Galaxies forum. He also lets gamers know what will be announced during the Galactic Assembly presentation at SOE’s Fan Faire 2008 next week in Las Vegas. Attendees will get hear which vehicles included in The Battle of Echo Base will be available for the battle on Hoth.

Gamers can read about vehicle combat, returning events such as “Life Day” and details on the Champions Of The Force: Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game in Field’s Star Wars Galaxies forum post.

An interesting little interactive tour guide has been released today on the PlayStation Store which should help make that PSP of yours indispensable when traveling — provided you don’t mind parting with $5.99 per city.

Each version of Talkman Travel comes with around 150 phrases you’ll likely find yourself needing to say in foreign languages, such as the all-important “Where is the restroom?” There are also pictures and descriptions of some of the more interesting locales, pick-up lines (although I’m not sure I consider “May I sit next to you?” to be a pick-up line), and mini-games.

It might not be the perfect, all-encompassing solution you need to travel abroad, but you can’t really go wrong for $6.

Downloadable Games

• Talkman Travel: Rome, Paris, Tokyo ($5.99 ea)

Game Videos (free)

• Hot Shots Golf Open Tee 2 Videos (x5)
• Home Video

It’s time for me to be reminded about how badly I was ripped off with an annual subscription — that’s right, it’s time for the third episode of Qore! This month’s is special in that it’ll guarantee you access to the Resistance 2 beta. Annual subscribers will get in on the “premiere” status beta, which is just a fancy way of saying you’ll get in earlier than those who opt to purchase this single episode of Qore.

In the world of downloadable content, there’s a new track ($3.99) and several skin packs ($2.49 each) for NASCAR 09, a team mode add-on for Snakeball ($1.99), and new tracks for both Rock Band and Guitar Hero III.

One other noteworthy release is the PlayStation Home theme which, as we informed you earlier, will automatically enter you for a slot in the Home beta. You’re not guaranteed a spot, but this is currently the only way to get into the beta as it expands in late August.

Hit the full break for the full list of content.

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Sony still isn’t ready to open PlayStation Home to the masses, but they will be expanding the closed beta test at the end of the month. All current beta testers will be included in the expanded beta, but this will give more gamers the opportunity to get in on the action (or inaction, since decorating your apartment and playing chess doesn’t seem very action-y).

As a part of today’s PlayStation Store update, a PlayStation Home theme will be released — download that theme and you’ll automatically submit an application to join the beta. According to Home director Jack Buser, the criteria used to choose from the new wave of applicants includes activity on PlayStation Network, among other things.

For those on the other side of the pond in Europe, SCEE will be expanding its beta test without the extra hurdle. People who have been most active on PSN and the PlayStation Store can be expecting an email from Sony “very shortly.”

Want to get in on the upcoming beta for SOCOM Confrontation? Of course you do, and there are two ways you can do that; though which method you choose will change how early you can play. To get started on the game on September 1st, right when the public beta starts, you’ll need to pre-order SOCOM through GameStop (cue flash of lightning followed by hollow, evil laughter). The other plus to this method is that your code can be shared with up to two friends who also want to check out the game. The other option is to download the June issue of QORE through the PSN. You’ll still get into the beta this way, but you won’t be able to access it until September 8th. Either way you choose though, we’ll still finally be able to try out this great-looking game in less than a month. Yay!

Via SOCOM Site

If you’re like me, you’ve always wondered what our favorite Metal Gear Solid 4 characters would look like if they were redone to resemble small, cute anime girls.  Thankfully, Konami is going to make our dreams finally come true on December 11th!

The production of the Fugimate Sweet Snake figurines are all being supervised by Hiroshi Arakawa, who is the original art director for the Metal Gear series.  They’ll come in four different flavors: Ocelot, Solid Snake, Raiden, & Otacon.  Each are 7cm (2.76 in.) tall and will cost 2,940 yen (approx. $27).

I think it goes without saying that this will only be available in Japan, which just shows that we never get anything good here in the states.  I guess the only way we’ll ever see these is during a local convention, but you better believe they’ll be selling this for more than $27 bucks since its production is going to be limited.

[Via DannyChoo]