Codemasters has just released a new demo on the Playstation Network for the upcoming Overlord: Raising Hell, an expansion to the hit RPG. The demo will give PS3 owners a taste of some of the new features for the expansion. As always, you’ll play the Overlord who wreaks havoc throughout the land with the help of your swarms of minions. The expansion will take place after the first game and offer additional game levels, online co-op and versus play, and extra armor upgrades for minions. The full game is set to be released for the PS3 on June 24th.

Via Press Release

Today, folks over here in the States will be able to get their hands on a playable demo of echochrome via the PlayStation Store and the PSP’s version. Unfortunately for some of our PAL territory brethren this is not the case. Eurogamer was told by Sony that the demo won’t be part of today’s PAL Store update.

Like Chris told you yesterday, the demo offers a tutorial and is just like the Japanese version only in English. The full game will have 56 levels on the PS3 and 56 on the PSP, a level creator tool on both systems, with downloadable content and user created content.

For more information on echochrome, check out our previous posts.

Thanks: Eurogamer

Finally, it has arrived. Rockstar has just unveiled the fourth and final trailer for the sure-to-be-a-smash-hit game, Grand Theft Auto IV. This video is titled “Good Lord, What are You Doing?” or “Everyone’s a Rat,” depending on your preference I guess. The video also features the song “Real McKoy” by Mavado, which will appear in the actual game. I don’t like to call games before they’re released, but I think it’s safe to say this is going to be at least a “Game of the Year” competitor. That April 29th release date just can’t come soon enough.

Via Press Release

For those of us who stay on top of current gaming news, it seems pretty obvious which version of GTA IV is the better buy. Let’s face it, the Xbox 360 version is the one getting exclusive downloadable content — not to mention the fact that you can get free Microsoft points for pre-ordering the game at HMV and GAME stores. But it’s important to remember one thing: the majority of gamers don’t keep up-to-date on gaming news.

In a recent editorial, Gameplayer brought up one point I hadn’t considered; namely, the fact that the Grand Theft Auto brand is so closely associated with Playstation’s. It’s not hard to see why, considering each previous GTA has been a timed Playstation exclusive. In fact, of the 14 million copies of GTA: San Andreas that have been sold, 12 million were for the PS2. And the more casual gamer, who doesn’t stay on top of current gaming news and comprises most of the game-buying audience, would probably be more inclined to think this new GTA were exclusive to the Playstation as well. It kind of makes these efforts to net exclusive downloadable content and offer cashback incentives seem more like acts of desperation on Microsoft’s part. Sony, on the other hand, hasn’t lifted a finger to promote their console above Microsoft’s in terms of GTA IV.

Considering this may be the biggest title to be released this year, GTA IV very well could indicate the direction of the console war in the coming months. We’ll have to keep out eyes on sales figures (when we’re not too busy rampaging through Liberty City, that is). You can read the full editorial from Gameplayer by clicking the link below. I certainly found it an interesting read, and I only own a 360.

Via Gameplayer

Every one of us who was around in the 80’s has learned to fear the word ‘montage.’ In an attempt to clear the good name of montages everywhere, this week’s 1UP Show features a montage of all of the following:

• A visit from Tony “Gimpyfish” Dennis, Hugo “HugS” Gonzales and Neal “Nealdt” Terrell of Smashboards and AllIsBrawl.com discussing the pros and cons of the US release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• A exclusive first-look at the upcoming Live Arcade title Braid. Jonathan and David Hellman speak to 1UP about the platform/puzzle game.
• A look at Dark Sector and all the unique twists it entails. Was it worth the wait? Ryan O’Donnell, Nick Suttner, and Greg Ford seem to agree that it was.

Check out the montage, which features original music from 1UP’s own Nelson Laut, at the links below.

• QT M4V (Podcast)
• WMV 640×360
• QT 640×360

A huge collective “meh” has made its way through the gaming community in the UK today. News of Manhunt 2 finally being released with an “18″ rating even after the BBFC’s refusal to give the game any sort of UK classification. Now, thanks to the High Court’s ruling allowing the release with said rating, the BBFC has now decided against vetoing the release and will wait until it hits the public before pursuing any further action.

I suppose if the game was not so crappy I would be thrilled for gamers in the UK dying to get their hands on it, but considering the fact that it was nothing but a big fat steaming pile of disappointment, I feel sorry for them instead. Its one thing to be waiting patiently for a controversial game if it is worth the wait, but when its quite the opposite, it all just becomes rather anticlimactic.

To catch up on all the drama surrounding the UK vs Manhunt 2 debacle, check out our previous posts.

Source: Gamesindustry.biz

I don’t personally know anyone who owns SingStar, but if they did they would be happy to know that Sony’s SingStore has 48 new tracks coming on March 7th to give fans more of what they crave – Britney Spears, Spice Girls, and A-Ha.
Here is the list:

• Aha “The Sun Always Shines On TV”
• Alice Cooper “Poison ”
• Big Brovaz “Nu-Flow”
• Bill Joel “Uptown Girl”
• Blu Cantrell “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)”
• Blur “End of a Century”
• Britney Spears “Baby One More Time”
• Coldplay “Speed Of Sound”
• Crash Test Dummies “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm”
• David Bowie “Heroes”
• Dragon “April Sun In Cuba”
• Elvira Nickolaisen “Egypt Song”
• End Of Fashion “Oh Yeah ”
• Fairground Attraction “Perfect”
• Feeder “Buck Rogers”
• Five “Keep On Movin’”
• Jamelia “Superstar”
• Jamelia “Stop”
• Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
• Lemar “It’s Not That Easy”
• Lordi “Hard Rock Hallelujah”
• Maria Mena “My Lullaby”
• Maxïmo Park “Graffiti”
• Maxïmo Park “Going Missing”
• Natalie Imbruglia “Torn”
• opus X “loving you girl”
• Paddy Casey “Saints and Sinners”
• Paddy Casey “Whatever Gets You True”
• Reamonn “Supergirl”
• Roachford “Only To Be With You”
• Rooster “Come Get Some”
• Roxy Music “Love Is The Drug”
• Shannon Noll “What About Me”
• Spice Girls “Wannabe ”
• Spice Girls “Who Do You Think You Are? ”
• Steps “Deeper Shade of Blue”
• Stereophonics “Dakota”
• Stereophonics “The Bartender And The Thief”
• The Darkness “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”
• The Hoosiers “Goodbye Mr A”
• The Screaming Jets “Better”
• The Thrills “One Horse Town”
• The Thrills “Santa Cruz (You’re Not That Far)”
• The Undertones “Teenage Kicks”
• Trio Rio “New York, Rio, Tokyo”
• Whitney Houston “I Want To Dance With Somebody”

Uptown Girl? Seriously? I could think of many different Billy Joel songs to include instead, and the only time I EVER liked that song in the first place was when Homer and the Hippies used it as their song of protest against the establishment and to “blow some minds”. To bad Homer didn’t have the discipline to be a hippie.

Thanks: Dark Zero

Wednesday is quickly becoming my favorite day of the week aside from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Partly it’s because of the usual XBLA updates, which can provide a distraction for at least ten minutes (unless it’s another Tron game). But mostly it’s because a new Zero Punctuation review comes out…which provides only a five minute distraction, but it’s certainly a high-quality one. This week, Yahtzee Croshaw tackles the PS3 action adventure game, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. As usual, he spares few punches in his review, though he does have some kind words for the game’s noteworthy water effects.

Via The Escapist

Ron Festejo, the creative director of PlayStation Home, has stated that he believes the PS3 virtual world is the “best-looking” and most “user-friendly” multiplayer experience he’s seen so far.

“From my point of view, looking at Second Life – because it has been mentioned a lot in the same paragraph as Home, and people make that comparison – I’m amazed at how many people go on there….. I think what we’ve done with Home is have the best-looking multiplayer world – and actually the most user-friendly that I’ve seen as well. We don’t have anything in there that’s appealing to that kind of geeky audience that you might find in Second Life.”

PlayStation Home will serve as an introduction to new content as well as a place for members to network and socialize with one another. It is a free download and for those of you lucky enough to be part of the beta, I am sure you can verify that it is nothing like Second Life. I am also pretty sure that PlayStation Home will not have S&M stores, sex-clubs, and job openings for strippers.

Via: GamesIndustry.biz

New gameplay of Dragonball Z Burst Limit surfaced today on YouTube showing Goku and Krillin fighting. The game is releasing for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on July 15, 2008 for Japan and the US. I haven’t actually played any Dragonball Z games since the PS2 and can’t help but notice that the game really doesn’t look all that “next-generation”. I’m looking forward to checking out the game and hope it has more to offer than what I have seen so far.