Commander Fury

This past November and December we conducted our <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/11/18/starhawk-private-beta-begins-rolling-out-tuesday/">Private Beta</a> for <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/starhawk/">Starhawk</a>. It was incredibly valuable to our team at <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/lightbox-interactive/">LightBox</a> and <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/santa-monica-studios/">SCEA Santa Monica</a>. We really appreciate all of the time that players have spent uncovering bugs and glitches, we would have never been able to find this many of them without real-world gameplay. The Beta effort has been a true partnership with our community so we humbly thank you all. Without your help, we wouldn't be able to progress to the next chapter in the development of the game: the <strong>Public Beta!</strong> We're now happy to announce that the <strong>Starhawk Public Beta begins this Tuesday, January 17th.</strong> This is a crucial step for us as we'll be testing all sorts of things, including game balance, server traffic, and general bugs. This is also a chance for more players to finally see what we've been working so hard on. As we've been getting so much support and encouragement from fans and press alike, we're excited to spread the love and get more input to make the best game possible. More...

Back in September, we previewed StarHawk for the first time on UFreqTV in PlayStation Home*for our fans. Even before this, right away Jack (UFreqTV’s Host) pointed out at E3 that we need to keep an eye on this game. He talked about how the “Build & Battle” would bring a whole new element to our tournaments when the time comes. Then came the Private Beta in November, and boy Jack was not kidding. Right out of the gate we were*ecstatic when we saw that a user could create a Sever/Lobby with a custom title. We had not seen this in a game since Socom: Confrontation. Though many will say, so what, that is not any thing new or special. Well they are correct *it isn’t anything new, the ability to create a custom lobby was all but a tail from the past until now. Clans putting up Recruiting Rooms, Practice Rooms and Tournament Communities having the Room labeled “UF Blue RVN vs 101″ showing the world the clans were battling in a tournament. And though the Private Beta is a very slim view of what is yet to come, it already has all that is needed for Urgent Fury to launch a full Tournament Offering. The tactical requirements that a team will have to use in this game will make for some nail-biting matches. Throw in the Urgent Fury TacMap element where clans are competing over territories for 13 to 24 weeks to become the champion and you have a recipe for “EPIC”! We are pleased to present the 2012 Tournament Title of the Year to StarHawk, exclusively on PlayStation 3. Be sure to stay tuned as we begin to announce tournament details and how to sign up. On top of all the great tactical play LightBox Interactive and Sony Santa Monica Studios are actually involved with the community responding to bugs, suggestions, gripes and praises. Not only that as one fan pointed out, there were more updates in the Private Beta than in the entire Call of Duty Series. Now we cannot confirm if that is correct, but I will say we saw updates daily and even multiple updates in a day when there was an issue. The public beta will being on*January*17th, 2012 and you can find all the details on the PlayStation Blog. And rest assured you will see at least one UrgentFury.com server up and running almost daily. Also keep your eye out for Episode 93 of Urgent Frequency as Commander Fury is joined by Sr. Producer Harvard Bonin as they sit down via SatCom and discuss StarHawk and what Harvard’s job really is in the grand scheme of things. This episode is due to release on January 15th. More...

<strong>Paranormal Activity: The Chronology</strong> hits <em>New Releases</em> this week, uniting all three Paranormal Activity films in the proper chronological sequence. This is your chance to see all three films about strange hauntings and happenings in a suburban house as they are meant to be watched. Catch all three at a hot low price before the DVD/Blu-ray release of Paranormal Activity 3 on January 24th. We’ve got the perfect movie for your next date night with <strong>What’s Your Number?</strong> now available in <em>Movies</em>. Chris Evans (Captain America: The First Avenger), Anna Faris (Take Me Home Tonight), Joel McHale (Community) and Martin Freeman (Sherlock) star in this comedy abouta woman tracking down the number of guys she’s slept with in her life. Own it today in SD or 1080p HD! More...

<blockquote><strong>Subscription Links:</strong> <ul><li>Subscribe via <a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=483223024">iTunes</a> <em></em></li> <li>Subscribe via <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheOfficialPlaystationBlogcast">RSS here</a></li> <li>Download the <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/playstation/07_Episode_007__Journey_to_the_Cente.mp3 ">MP3 here</a> </li></ul></blockquote> Even with Nick and I on death's doorstep (::cough cough: and Jeff and Rey at CES in Las Vegas, the <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/playstation-blogcast/">PlayStation Blogcast</a> marches on with another jam-packed new show! A <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/journey/">Journey</a> interview with thatgamecompany CEO <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/author/ksantiago/">Kellee Santiago</a>? Done. An Origin Story for SCE President and Group CEO Andrew House? Confirmed. <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/starhawk/">Starhawk</a> Public Beta details and dates? Oh yes. More...

We’re back again with more video from our lineup of <a href="https://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/'>https://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PS Vita </a> titles hitting on February 22nd in North America and Europe. This time I’m bringing you a sneak peak at a fresh new trailer that shows off the epic story of betrayal, assassination, and intrigue in this action-thriller from the pedigreed team at Aquire Corp. Check the video above for a look at the slice-and-dice action, as well as a glimpse at my favorite new mode of transportation: the glider suit! Sound off in the comments below with your thoughts on the latest trailer, and stay tuned right here to the <a href="https://blog.us.playstation.com/">PlayStation.Blog</a> for more sneak peeks and updates on all of the PS Vita titles from Namco Bandai Games through launch next month. Until then, watch your back for the blades of your enemies -- they’re everywhere! More...

Before you stands a tower, and upon that tower stands an angry bowman, shooting wave upon wave of arrows in your direction. He’s far out of reach, and the tower completely blocks your path, so you’re forced to deal with this situation in order to proceed – but how do you go about it? You could always hack at the tower’s support structure with your sword, wearing it away bit by bit until the whole thing comes tumbling to the ground...but that might take a while, and the bowman would be shooting you in the head repeatedly the whole time. Maybe you’d be better off taking out your paintbrush and drawing a sloped platform up, over and around the tower, creating a bridge to guide you past it safely. Or perhaps you could set the tower (and its occupant) ablaze, or spawn a lightning-spewing thundercloud above it and let Mother Nature handle the rest. Or, if you’re feeling particularly frisky, how about summoning a phoenix or a sacred lion and directing it to spew waves of holy energy at the tower, instantly reducing it and any threats beyond it to ashes? More...

We are at <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/ces12/'>http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/ces12/">CES</a> this week showing off the latest, near-final build of <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/unit-13/'>http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/unit-13/">Unit 13</a> and we have something special in store for the <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/">PlayStation.Blog</a> community. First, in case you missed the announcement from the <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PS Vita</a> CES keynote yesterday afternoon, Unit 13 is scheduled for release on Tuesday, March 6th. We are quite excited to bring this new title to <a href="http://us.playstation.com/psvita/">PS Vita</a>. Thanks to the excellent dual analogs sticks on the Vita, Unit 13 represents the first full shooter experience on a portable gaming device. But don’t take our word for it: the press have been playing it and really like what they see. Check out the recent coverage from <a href="http://kotaku.com/unit-13/">Kotaku</a>, <a href="http://www.destructoid.com/hands-on-with-zipper-s-unit-13-on-the-playstation-vita-217959.phtml">Destructoid</a>, and <a href="http://vita.ign.com/articles/121/1214642p1.html">IGN</a>. More...

How goes it, friends? We’re almost one month away from the <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PS Vita</a> launch here in North America, and Namco Bandai Games is nearly ready to launch the next chapter in the <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/touch-my-katamari/">Katamari</a> saga on February 22nd in North America and Europe. We’ve already been over how the new core gameplay mechanics will work: You’ll stretch and squeeze your katamari using the rear touchscreen, changing the shape of your rolly ball of fun to better maneuver around each level. What we <em>haven’t</em> yet shared is the story! Watch the prologue video below to get a look at the terrifying revelation uncovered by the King of All Cosmos at the beginning of our stretchy tale. Once the greatest in the universe, the king finds out that his level of cool is now only on par with something he simply won’t stand for… thus beginning a redemption tale for the ages! More...

Hey, GT fans! I’m happy to announce our third batch of premium downloadable content coming to <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/gran-turismo-5/">Gran Turismo 5</a> next Tuesday, January 17, along with some updates to the game itself. The first piece of content is Car Pack 3 for $5.99, featuring six new cars from both past and present. Download Car Pack 3 to get your hands on Lamborghini's latest flagship model, the Aventador, along with the Jaguar XJR-9 LM racecar, Aston Martin V12 Vantage, the 66' Volkswagen 1200, Mini Cooper S Countryman, and the new Nissan Leaf. More...

A couple of months ago, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/psvita#p/u/14/X_cZQp9yqos">a video surfaced</a> that showed off some cool-looking augmented reality apps running on <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PS Vita</a>. Since then, it’s <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/12/22/playstation-vita-launch-lineup-and-details/">been confirmed</a> that Vita will come with six AR Play Cards and a voucher to download a handful of free augmented reality mini games via the <a href="http://us.playstation.com/psn/">PSN</a>. Today at <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/ces12/">CES</a>, we were able to see one of these games in action: Table Football (it will be called Table Soccer in the US, <em>because we already have football</em>). More...

Happy birthday, <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/dc-universe-online/">DC Universe Online</a>! Yes, today is the first anniversary of the launch of DCUO, and what a great year it has been. I want to take this chance to thank all of our players for always keeping us on our toes and helping make this game better every day. From our launch as the first action MMO on the <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps3/">PlayStation 3</a> computer entertainment system to our incredible Free-to-Play transition, so much has happened in the past year that it’s hard to even keep up. I’ll throw some fun facts out there so you can see just how much can be crammed in to 365 days. Since launch… More...

PlayStation and Taco Bell just dished out some exciting news live at <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/ces12/">CES</a>! While the US launch of PlayStation Vita is still more than a month away, PlayStation and Taco Bell have teamed up to give you the chance to win yours before they go on sale in stores. Starting January 26th through March 11th, one winner will be selected <em>EVERY 15 MINUTES</em>! The folks at Taco Bell are eager to give you three ways to win your very own PS Vita: Unlock, Battle or Boast. Here’s a quick breakdown: <strong>UNLOCK THE BOX</strong>: Beginning January 26th, Taco Bell’s specially marked $5 Buck Box – which includes a Cheesy Gordita Crunch, Crunchy Taco, Burrito Supreme and medium fountain drink – will also provide a code that can be entered online for an instant chance to “unlock†and win a PS Vita. More...

Last month, we threw open the doors to a <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/11/28/san-francisco-ps-vita-meet-ups-kick-off-this-week/">San Francisco location</a> where gamers could just walk right in and go hands on with <a href="https://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PlayStation Vita</a>. The <a href=" ">reaction was rapturous</a>, but why should California get all the love? Frankly, I think the Golden State is starting to get a little spoiled. Starting next week, Vita Hill Social Clubs are opening in <strong>five</strong> of <a href="http://us.playstation.com/psn/events/vitahillsocialclub.html">America’s great cities</a>, and we’ll be holding grand opening meetups in all of them: <blockquote> <h4>Tuesday, January 17th</h4> <strong>Chicago</strong> (<a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/196827067079548/">click here to RSVP</a>) <a href="http://g.co/maps/asvqn">1444 N. Milwaukee Ave</a> Your host: Jeff Rubenstein from PlayStation.Blog </blockquote> More...

It’s a release of great new content on PlayStation Store, including new games and some amazing first looks at some of 2012’s most anticipated titles! Today, we complete the Final Fantasy PS one Classics presence with the release of Final Fantasy Origins. See the roots of the Final Fantasy series with this collection, which includes Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II. These versions sport updated presentations from their original 8-bit debuts but retain the same gameplay that launched this venerable franchise. Additional games headlining the New Releases include Crazy Machines Elements and <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/01/09/choplifter-hd-hits-psn-tuesday-zombies-included/">Choplifter HD</a>. Create series of chain reactions in the latest addition to the award-winning Crazy Machines series or jump into a classic arcade adventure reimagined in HD with Choplifter HD! Both also have demos available for download. More...

This Wednesday, January 11th will see yet another enormous update to <a href="https://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/playstation-home/">PlayStation Home</a>, with new games to play, a massive expansion to one of our most popular titles, and tons of collectible items. For starters, our friends over at Digital Leisure are opening the doors to their all-new Casino game space. Many of you have been asking for more casino-styled games since the launch of PlayStation Home Hold ‘Em and we’re proud to serve up an extremely elegant game space plucked straight from the Strip with all of the fun of a Vegas vacation without the high cost of admission. More...

If you’re a fan of college sports like I am, you’ll be excited to hear that we are launching two college sports applications on <a href="http://us.playstation.com/psn/">PlayStation Network</a> today to complement your sports entertainment experience. Through the <a href="http://www.xossports.com/">XOS College Sports</a> and <a href="http://secondemand.com/">SEC Digital Network</a> applications, PS3 users now have access to a customizable college sports platform to stream current and classic content on-demand, and make the PS3 the first and only gaming console to offer these applications. The new applications give fans multi-sport, multi-conference access to full games and historic documentaries along with the ability to play, pause and replay your favorite moments from some of the most watched games in history. More...

A major outcry by PS3 Modern Warfare 3 players as Activision announced that the first maps for Call of Duty Elite members would launch on January 24th to XBox 360. They did not mention any release information for PlayStation 3 as of this post. The common outcry is why did we pay full price for Elite but we are not getting the map paks at the same time as XBox… This may be a rude awakening for Activision… We will update this as we hear more. More...

Last week, <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/01/05/meet-the-complete-season-3-cast-of-the-tester/">we introduced the twelve gamers</a> who will compete against one another for a coveted Production Associate position at SCEA’s Santa Monica Studio. If you watched the <a href="http://thetester.com/index.html">cast</a> introduction video, you met the eclectic group: from ninjanomyx’s freestyle rapping skills to Suzkaiden’s passionate desire to work at PlayStation. We also introduced our returning panelists from last season: reality TV star Adrianne Curry is back with Brent Gocke, senior release manager from SCEA, and host <a href="http://www.meredithmolinari.com/">Meredith Molinari</a>. In addition to our returning panelists, we’re bringing in a star-studded list of game industry professionals, who will test the contestants over a broad range of skills necessary to make it in the business and, most of all, whether they deserve a shot at the grand prize. We have a great line-up of panelists and special guests, including: • <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/author/jgarvin/">John Garvin</a> – Game Director, Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Director, Product Development, Sony Bend Studio • <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/author/djaffe/">David Jaffe</a> – Co-Director “Twisted Metal†and Co-Founder of Eat Sleep Play More...

We're still recovering from a massive 2011 year in games. And, now, only 10 days into the new year, <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/qore/">Qore</a>'s looking into 2012 and things are already looking very strong...again. Jesse Blaze Snider gears up for an extensive ride (and preview) through <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/twisted-metal/">Twisted Metal</a>. Sweet Tooth and company have lots of new tricks (and weapons) ready to bust out on PS3 and Jesse gets his hands all over them. He also gets his hands on the <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PS Vita</a> for a sweet preview on how upcoming games are taking advantage of the front and rear touch screens, dual cameras, motion sensors, and cross-platform play. With so little snow here in California and a warm winter over much of the US, the only way to make some tracks this year might be with <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/ssx/">SSX</a>. With insane new tricks and environments crafted from actual NASA data, the Qore preview travels to the highest summits of this extreme sports world to experience this thrilling new version. More...

As you may have heard during today’s Sony Electronics press conference at the <a href="http://www.cesweb.org/">Consumer Electronics Show</a> in Las Vegas, PlayStation and <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/netflix/">Netflix</a> are teaming up again to bring tens of thousands of hours of movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PS Vita</a> for US customers. The <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps3/">PlayStation 3</a> is of one the most popular devices for watching movies and TV shows streamed over the internet from Netflix. Now all those movies and TV episodes can be watched on PS Vita’s stunning high-def OLED front touch screen. The addition of Netflix streaming to PS Vita’s unique, powerful gameplay experiences gives users even more access and flexibility to the content they want, when they want it and where they want it. More...

One of the things that I like about working for <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/playstation/">PlayStation</a> is that immediately following the holiday break, we’re right back into the action with the <a href="http://www.cesweb.org/">International Consumer Electronics Show</a>. While CES isn’t a huge gaming show, there is always a gaming component - <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PlayStation Vita</a> is our focus on the show floor this year. And since many gamers are technophiles, many of us have more than a passing interest in the tech on display at this mega-conference. For instance, I first laid eyes on the XBR HX929 HDTV that’s currently hanging on my living room wall at last year’s CES...and now I lay eyes on it every night as it hangs on my living room wall. More...

<a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/hellfire-games/">Hellfire Games</a> is proud to announce that Novus Prime: Vindication, the newest expansion for our multiplayer space shooter <a href="http://www.facebook.com/NovusPrime">Novus Prime</a>, is coming to <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/playstation-home/">PlayStation Home</a> this Wednesday, January 11th. We’ve been hard at work on Vindication for several months, and we’re looking forward to hearing what you all think! Here’s a preview of what to expect with the newest expansion. More...

I speak for the whole team when I say that we are incredibly excited about our latest game to hit <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/psn/">PSN</a>, the minis title Mecho Wars for $4.99. Based on the characters, world, and distinctive visual style crafted by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Bernard">Luc Bernard</a>, Mecho Wars is a turn-based strategy game where you command your troops to expand into enemy territory, control and collect resources, and conquer your enemy’s structures. The story of Mecho Wars details the rise of the Winged Crusade in the distant land of Divination Deserts, in a war between the Winged Crusade and the Landians. This is not your typical desert: there is plenty of water that separates land masses. To sustain your army, you’ll need to capture factories to expand your maximum army support, take over cities to earn gold from the rich economic hubs, and defeat the enemy by capturing their HQ building while simultaneously defending your own. Don’t forget strategic unit composition and troop positioning as each unit type has its own strengths and weaknesses. Mecho Wars features a day/night cycle where the water that normally restricts your movement paths during the day freezes at night, allowing for unexpected skirmishes and ambushes. In addition to the rich, story-driven campaign, the Mecho Wars minis title features a new and extended soundtrack, a special set of individual challenge maps, and local multiplayer support on a single device for both the PS3 and PSP. More...

I really get a kick out of the fact that I am now considered an "indie" again after all these years. I have been making games for nearly 30 years, having built a top-five PC publishing house called Interplay around such major franchises as The Bard's Tale, Wasteland, Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Descent and more. In the early days, I developed games for other companies and moved up the food chain to become a publisher so that I could make games "my way.†And here I sit, again readying our first major release in <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/choplifter-hd/">Choplifter HD</a> as a digital publisher and having created the game the way I wanted. Our company tagline at Interplay was "By Gamers. For Gamers" and it are those same values we used in creating <a href="http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/choplifter-hd-ps3.html">Choplifter HD</a>. Choplifter was a very important game when it was originally released back in 1982 and achieved #1 status at the time. Dan Gorlin, the original creator, really understood the humanness of saving little people from tough situations. It was a great action game for sure, but there was something about saving those little guys. And certainly it just never gets dull blowing things up in a big way! I felt that Choplifter would be a perfect game style to bring back, but fully realized with all the modern gameplay expectations. More...

<a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/modnation-racers-road-trip/">ModNation Racers: Road Trip</a> features a brand spankin’ new set of 25+ tracks in an all-new career mode. No resting on your laurels from <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/modnation-racers/">ModNation Racers</a> for <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps3/">PS3</a>. This is a completely new experience with a new set of challenges to enjoy. <strong>1. New Career Tours</strong> The 25+ ALL NEW tracks in ModNation Racers: Road Trip are divided in five tours of five races each in an effort to claim victory in the Mod Championship! Initial tours introduce the basics of racing like drifting and boosting <a href=" http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/12/12/modnation-racers-road-trip-new-racing-features/">(See Here)</a>, track layouts, the exciting new weapons <a href=" http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/12/19/modnation-racers-road-trip-recipe-for-fun-big-bad-weapons/">(See Here)</a> and how to use (or avoid) props or attacks on tracks. More...