DARKSIDERS 2

I recently started playing DARKSIDERS and found it to be a blast. Bought it at Gamestop, used, for just a couple dollars. Well worth it. I feel like I am playing a hybrid of GODS OF WAR and DEVIL MAY CRY. They even have a fun Website Darksiders. 
Now I am barely into the game, fought a couple Bosses and today I come across news for Daksiders 2.
Looks like it's been a rumor for over a year, but with E3 closing in, fresh info comes around for some of our favorite games and new titles.
Here's a little of what I found.


Darksiders 2 Info Probably On its Way

We may be getting an official Darksiders 2 announcement sometime between now and E3. Danny Bilson of THQ recently revealed that there is news on the game coming "in a big way". If there was any doubt that Vigil Games would be making a follow up to the 2010 Hack & Slash/Puzzle Platformer, you need not look further than the ending cut-scene to realize that the three other hor***** of the apocalypse have made their may to Earth.

Last November, Danny Bilson revealed that Darksiders 2 was definitely heading our way, when he made statements about the franchise at IGDA Leadership Forum.

QUOTED TEXT:  "“When we do the Darksiders sequel, it’ll be a different character and take place simultaneously to the other story. There’s only one apocalypse I couldn’t very well have four different apocalypses, one for each rider. It has some new mechanics and some very robust features that differentiate it a lot and grow it from the first game because you have to build on the first one, you can’t repeat it. I think that’s very important in franchise-building.”

The game which was said to be aiming for a 2012 release date could have a large prescence at E3.  The first game was recieved well as a first offering from Vigil games, and was thought to draw from The Legend of Zelda franchise as inspiration for the gameplay.  Coupled with the fantastic art behind the game, Darksiders was a great start to what could be a long running franchise.

New Releases for the Week of May 30 2011

New Releases for the Week of May 30 2011

• Hunted: The Demon's Forge (PlayStation 3)
• PS3 Call of Duty Black Ops - Bundle (PlayStation 3)
• Charge Base 3 (PlayStation 3)
• PS3 Versus Controller (PlayStation 3)

• Hunted: The Demon's Forge (Xbox 360)
• Kinect TV Mount Clip (Xbox 360)
• Perfect Range Game Mat for Xbox 360 Kinect (Xbox 360)
• Xbox 360 Kinect Steering Wheel (Xbox 360)

• Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters (Nintendo Wii)
• Maximum Racing: Sprint Cars (Nintendo Wii)
• Wicked Monster Blast Bundle with 4 Blasters (Nintendo Wii)
• Maximum Racing: Super Truck Racer (Nintendo Wii)

• BlazBlue Continuum Shift II (Nintendo 3DS)
• Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion (Nintendo 3DS)
• Pinball Hall of Fame: Williams Collection (Nintendo DS)
• DS Universal Cars 2 System Case (Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS)
• Duke Nukem: Critical Mass (Nintendo DS)BlazBlue Continuum Shift II

•  (Sony PSP)

• The Sims 3: Generations (Windows Vista / XP, Mac OS X Intel, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard)
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (Windows Vista / XP, Mac OS X)
• Hunted: The Demon's Forge (Windows Vista / XP)
• Rockin' Dead (Windows 7 / XP / Vista)

• ACCESSORIES

• Kinect TV Mount Clip ( Xbox 360)
• Perfect Range Game Mat for Xbox 360 Kinect (Xbox 360)
• PS3 Call of Duty Black Ops - Bundle (PlayStation 3)

Identity Theft Protection Offer for PlayStation Network and Qriocity Customers

Identity Theft Protection Offer for PlayStation®Network and Qriocity™ Customers Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Network Entertainment have made arrangements with Debix to offer AllClear ID PLUS to eligible PlayStation®Network and Qriocity account holders in the United States who are concerned about identity theft.  AllClear ID PLUS is a premium identity protection service that uses advanced technology to deliver alerts to help protect you from identity theft. The service also provides identity theft insurance coverage and hands-on help from expert fraud investigators.  Sony has arranged, at no charge to eligible PlayStation®Network and Qriocity account holders, for twelve months of this service to be provided by Debix to those who choose to enroll. In order to be eligible, account holders must be residents of the United States with active accounts as of April 20, 2011.  If interested, please submit your email address by June 28, 2011, at 11:59:59 PM CST at:us.playstation.com/news/consumeralerts/identity-theft-protection.  Please note, you must enter the same email address used to register your PlayStation®Network or Qriocity account. Once your email address is validated, you will be sent your AllClear ID PLUS activation code. Sincerely,  Sony Computer Entertainment & Sony Network Entertainment

inFamous 2: The Beast is Coming (with Video preview)

Get Early access to Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Beta.


**************


Posted by Nate Fox // Game Director, Sucker Punch Productions


Here at Sucker Punch we’re tired. We’re whipped. Game development is a sprint. You run as hard as you can, then keep running. The problem is the goal line sometimes move mid-race. When you set out to make a game you sort of have an idea of what it’ll ultimately be… but that’s not what it ends up being. You only know what you’ve made once it’s done. Like you guys we experience the game, the real game, for the first time at the end of the road. And it’s exciting. It’s crazy to be playing the game and forget that you made it because you’re busy ducking an RPG rocket. You know that feeling you get when you actually dodge in your seat? Get that all the time. Cole and his friends have stopped being polygons and actors and have become real people. And it’s this reality that makes today’s post cool. Now that we’re so, so close to being done we can finally really talk about the “Big Bad” that pushes the whole story forward.

What’s the Beast, you ask? Like a meteor from outer space it’s a force of destruction too powerful for humanity to contain. At the end of inFamous, Cole MacGrath was given a vision that the Beast would arrive into the world and that he alone could stop it. The safety of our species was put on his shoulders. No pressure right? As you might imagine Cole would do anything in his power to get ready for the fight. He’s desperate to win, to save the lives of his friends and neighbors.

But at the start of inFamous 2 he fails. The Beast arrives and Cole isn’t strong enough. He’s forced to run south to New Marais and prepare for a second, final encounter while his home, Empire City, is swallowed in flames.

Have you ever failed at anything? Ever been dumped or fired or beat up? Ever tried your hardest and still lost? It’s sucks, right? Makes you feel hollowed out, weak. Like you don’t matter. Of course it’s exactly those moments that forge you into in a stronger person. I believe that we are defined by our failure more than our successes. Once you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and OVERCOME the thing that beat you, that’s when you really win. That’s when you’ve surpassed your past self. In inFAMOUS 2 you, help Cole get there. You guide him through New Marais; searching for new, stronger powers. Along the way you’ll meet potential allies who could help in your fight against the Beast. And you’ll need the help… the monster is moving down the coast, burning the landscape, getting stronger as it centers in on New Marais. Your back is against the wall, with only a few days to prepare for that second chance. Soon it’ll be time to overcome the things that have beaten you in the past. Are you up for it? After all, the Beast is Coming.

PlayStation Network Scheduled Maintenance Today

+ Posted by Jeff Rubenstein // Social Media Manager

PlayStation Network is scheduled to undergo maintenance today, from about 8am until approximately 5pm Pacific time. During this time, registration and Account Management will be inaccessible, including the password reset process. While some users may experience difficulty signing in to PSN, the majority of consumers will be able to play online as well as sign in to external sites that require PSN authentication (like this one).

For those asking about the PlayStation Store, we’re still targeting restoration of all services by the end of this month. Contrary to reports, the Store will not be publishing today.

Stay tuned to the PlayStation Twitter feed for updates and a notice when maintenance has concluded.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

PlayStation Network Hack Attack to cost Sony $171 million

PlayStation Network hacker attack to cost Sony $171 million

• From correspondents in Tokyo, Japan
• From: NewsCore
• May 24, 2011 9:57AM

AS part of its revised earnings projections, published overnight, Sony said it estimates the April hacker attack on its PlayStation Network (PSN) will cost the company ¥14 billion, or $171 million. 

 

The cyberattacks, which kept the PSN offline for 23 days, involved the theft of personal data that included names, passwords and addresses from more than 100 million accounts on the online service.

The estimated cost to Sony includes the personal information theft protection program it launched after the attacks, the "Welcome Back" program to compensate customers for the outage, customer support, network security enhancement, legal experts and the impact on profits due to a possible future revenue decrease.

"So far, we have not received any confirmed reports of customer identity theft issues, nor confirmed any misuse of credit cards from the cyber-attack," the company said.

"Those are key variables, and if that changes, the costs could change."

Class action lawsuits have also been filed against Sony and some of its subsidiaries.

"However, those are all at a preliminary stage, so we are not able to include the possible outcome of any of them in our results forecast for the fiscal year," the company said.

The costs will be incurred during Sony's current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2012. The company will report results for fiscal year 2011 this Thursday.

The projections aren't good for the electronics giant, which today warned investors it would run some $3.2 billion in the red, the second consecutive year it has made a loss after a 13-year run of profits.

The projection of a net loss for the fiscal year ended March 2011 was largely due to writing off $4.4 billion related to a tax credit booked in the fourth quarter.

The company had earlier projected a $860 million profit.

Like many other Japanese manufacturers, Sony has been hampered by the production disruptions set off by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 25,000 people, destroyed many factories and sent the nation's economic recovery into reverse.

Sony has seen plunging sales of flat-panel TVs and other gadgets, and was likely to remain in the red in its TV business for the seventh year straight.

Sony has also taken a beating in music players and other portable devices to Apple's iPod, iPhone and iPad.

Latest on PlayStation recovery News for May 20 2011

UPDATE MAY 20th 2011 - Password reset functionality on PC is restored. If you received the email with a restoration link more than 24 hours ago, you will need to resubmit your request. We thank you again for your continued patience.

Barring any additional problems, Sony plans to bring the PlayStation Store back online next Tuesday, May 24, according to a memo sent to Sony's game developer and publishing partners.

The company has sent a tentative publishing schedule to partners detailing when their games, expansions and other releases will become available to players. In the memo, obtained by Gamasutra, Sony unveils plans to do two content pushes per week for the next two weeks to catch up with the backlog of content.

"We thank you for your patience as we work to resume service of the PlayStation Store," wrote PSN content manager Jack Osorno to developer partners.

The first push, set to coincide with the PlayStation Store's reopening, will distribute content that was originally scheduled to publish on April 26. Three days later on the 27th, another round of games will go live, which were originally scheduled for May 3.

The following week, pushes will take place on May 31 and June 3, using content that originally had been planned to be spread over three weeks. At that point, the company will be back on schedule and, presumably, return to a single content push per week.

While Sony is trying to maintain the queue that was already in place, the company says it is willing to move some titles around, depending on urgency. Seemingly, this would include DLC packs for existing titles that have already released expansions on other platforms.

"If there are concerns, we are willing to consider adjusting the release date of your content on this schedule," says Osorno. "Adjustments will be made on a case by case basis."

The launch of the PlayStation Store is one of the final steps to bringing the PlayStation Network back to full operation. Sony has said many times that it expected the network to be fully operational before the end of May. 

*******

And, News reported by Destructoid
Sony has told publishers to expect the PlayStation Store on May 24. That's according to a memo sent to various companies, which of course found its way to the proles of the Internet.
As previously revealed, Sony plans to update the Store multiple times per week. Content scheduled for April 26 will be included in the first update, followed by May 3's content three days later. The rest of the content will go live on May 31 and June 1.
Sony has told companies that they're willing to shift content around depending on urgency. 

New Game Releases for the Week of May 23 2011

New Game Releases for the week of May 23 2011

• Dirt 3 (PlayStation 3)
• Top Gun Hybrid (Game & Movie) (PlayStation 3)
• Dirt 3 with Ken Block Gymkhana RC Car Bundle - with Bonus (PlayStation 3)
• Kung Fu Panda 2 (PlayStation)

• Dirt 3 (Xbox 360)

• Kung Fu Panda 2 Kinect (Xbox 360)
• Dirt 3 with Ken Block Gymkhana RC Car Bundle - with Bonus (Xbox 360)
• Naughty Bear Gold Edition XBox 360 (Xbox 360)

• NASCAR The Game 2011 (Nintendo Wii)
• Kung Fu Panda 2 uDraw for uDraw GameTablet (Nintendo Wii)

• Dead or Alive Dimensions (Nintendo 3DS)

• Emily The Strange - Strangerous (Nintendo DS)
• Duke Nukem: Critical Mass (Nintendo DS)
• Kung Fu Panda 2 (Nintendo DS)
• Paws and Claws Pampered Pets 2 (Nintendo DS)

• Dungeons & Dragons Daggerdale (Windows Vista / XP)
• Disciples Undead Horses (Windows Vista / 7 / 2000 / XP)
• Kaptain Brawe (Windows Vista / 7 / XP)

what's the word on INFAMOUS 2?

When Infamous 2 was showcased last year at E3 2010, reviews were mixed. Cole had a new "Action Hero" look. A good looking dude with styled hair. Some viewers wanted hair. But Fans of the game expected the original look. Then there were complaints about the graphics not being up to par.


So Sucker Punch listened to Reviewers and Fans. The setting of New Orleans is a fun looking setting. Enemies look wicked and Cole looks more or less like Cole, he's younger and his voice has changed (Like backwards puberty).


I had a great time playing Infamous and I am looking forward to this sequel. But, since the release date is scheduled for June 7, 2011, I've Obviously not played it yet.
I had ease dropped on several Tweets that the ending was weak, by certain reviewers who had the chance to check out the game in advance.


I'm wondering and asking if anyone has any word on the game?
What is your opinion and who's had the chance to preview the game play?
And why so many purchase options? it seems that each retailer has a different promotional Skin or Weapon. Really?!

PSN Customer Appreciation Plan

Details for PlayStation Network and Qriocity Customer Appreciation Program in North America

+ Posted by Patrick Seybold // Sr. Director, Corporate Communications & Social Media

Now that some PlayStation Network and Qriocity services have been restored and you’re once again enjoying online gaming and entertainment, we’re happy to provide details about the “Welcome Back” appreciation program for customers in North America. We developed the program as an expression of our gratitude for your patience, support and continued loyalty during the service outage. From all of us at PlayStation, thank you and welcome back!

This package will be made available to all existing registered PlayStation Network and Qriocity users in North America (US and Canada), and will be made available shortly after we have fully restored the service. More specific details about these offers and eligibility requirements will be posted as the services go live.

All PlayStation Network customers can select two PS3 games from the following list. The games will be available for 30 days shortly after PlayStation Store is restored and can be kept forever.

• Dead Nation
• inFAMOUS
• LittleBigPlanet
• Super Stardust HD
• Wipeout HD + Fury

For PSP owners, you will be eligible to download two PSP games from the following list. The games will be available for 30 days shortly after PlayStation Store is restored and can be kept forever.

• LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
• ModNation Racers
• Pursuit Force
• Killzone Liberation

• A selection of “On Us” rental movie titles will be available to PlayStation Network customers over one weekend, where Video Service is available. Those titles will be announced soon.
• 30 days free PlayStation Plus membership for non PlayStation Plus subscribers.
• Existing PlayStation Plus subscribers will receive an additional 60 days of free subscription.
• Existing Music Unlimited Premium Trial subscription members will receive an additional 30 days of free premium subscription.
• Additional 30 days + time lost for existing members of Music Unlimited Premium/Basic subscription free of charge for existing Premium/Basic members.
• To welcome users Home, PlayStation Home will be offering 100 free virtual items. Additional free content will be released soon, including the next addition to the Home Mansion personal space, and Ooblag’s Alien Casino, an exclusive game.

We’d like to thank all of our publishing and development partners who’ve contributed to the Welcome Back program, including Bigbig Studios, Codeglue, Digital Leisure, Guerilla Games, Heavy Water, Housemarque, Lockwood, Loot, Mass Media, Media Molecule, SCE Cambridge Studios, SCE Studio Liverpool, SCE San Diego Studios, and Sucker Punch Productions. We couldn’t have created such a compelling package without them!

As a reminder, you will be able to access the above content shortly after services are fully restored. We are doing everything we can to make that happen as soon as possible. Please visit the following sites for more information about the Welcome Back program in Europe and Latin America.

Thank you again for your support!

PS3 System Software Update (V3.61)

PS3 System Software Update

+ Posted by Eric Lempel // VP, Sony Network Entertainment

We have been working on a new PS3 system software update that requires all PSN users to change their password once PlayStation Network is restored. The update (v3.61) is mandatory and is available now.

If using a PS3, your password can only be changed on your own PS3 (or a PS3 on which your PSN account was activated), as an added layer of security. If you have never downloaded any content using your account on the system, an email will be sent to the registered sign-in ID (email address) associated with your account when you first attempt to sign-in to PSN. This e-mail will contain a link that will enable you to change your password. In this email, click on the link and follow the instructions to change your password. Once you have changed your password you can sign-in to your account using your new password.

We strongly recommend that all PSN account holders with PS3s update their systems to prepare for when PlayStation Network is back online. The release of this update is a critical step as we work to make PlayStation Network significantly more secure. Thank you for your continued support and patience.

PlayStation Restoration Announcement with Video from Kazuo Hirai

Kazuo Hirai: PlayStation Network Restoration Announcement

+ Posted by Patrick Seybold // Sr. Director, Corporate Communications & Social Media