BitSnark

The worst kept secret the games industry was today blown wide open when Sony officially unveiled the long anticipated sucessor to their PSP handheld.

Codenamed Next Generation Portable or ‘NGP’ for short, Sony Japan head honcho Kaz Harai took the stage and declared that the handheld would ship ‘this holiday season’ and that it would include boast a revolutionary control system, location-based entertainment, social features and augmented reality features.

In terms of the nitty gritty details, we’ll start with how the thing looks.

Aesthetically, the handheld is far more conservative looking than the recent leaked photos would suggest; eschewing the PSPGo design almost entirely in favour of a design that has far more in common with the PSP-2000/3000 models.

Next up are the thumb sticks. There are two of them. /cheer. In addition to the fact that we now have two analogue control methods the devil is in the details here as they are described as “micro analogue sticks”, which are raised in a similar fashion to the DualShock pad, instead of the PSP-style nubs. As well as this, there are the usual smattering of the traditional face buttons you would expect to see on a piece of Playstation hardware; Start/Select buttons, Home buttons and so on and so forth.

The long rumoured rear touch panel also turned out to be true and is exactly the same size as the five-inch screen, allowing the location of your finger to be replicated exactly on the screen. As a result of this, through using both the front and rear panels in unison, it’s possible to create “pinching motion”, which apparently has useful gameplay applications. In addition to these control methods, the device also contains the exact same gyro sensor and accelerometers as the Playstation Move; widening gaming possibilities even further.

In regards to the screen, the internet rumour mill scores yet again with Sony confirming that the 5inch OLED screen would boast a resolution that would be four times that of the original PlayStation Portable and promises a pleasingly wide viewing angle “perfect for users who like to lie down while playing games”.

In terms of visuals and raw power, Sony again have confirmed the rumours; saying that the PSP2 can effortlessly display ‘PS3 quality visuals’ and to prove their point showed a video montage that included Uncharted, LittleBigPlanet and Killzone. Very nice indeed.

Onto storage. Like the PSPGo before it, NGP will invaribly interface completely with not just the PlayStation Store, but also with the PlayStation Suite – an Android-based store for PlayStation content which obviously allows for a massive bredath and choice of gaming applications. The machine has a physical media slot for New Game Media, which as far as I know, is a flash memory-based card with the potential for higher-capacity versions later on.

This thing looks like an absolute monster and Eurogamer have the first picture of the device that can be seen by clicking on the link below:

http://images.eurogamer.net/assets/articles//a/1/3/2/1/8/4/0/ss_preview_largo.JPG.jpg?slideshow=true

In addition to all of the above, the machine will also utilise 3G for mobile data download and streaming alongside traditional bluetooth and WiFi connectivity.

With the sequel to one of 2009’s best games finally getting a chance to shine at retail this Friday, EA are striking while the iron is hot so to speak with the announcement of the first DLC for Dead Space 2.

The official press release can be seen below:

“Visceral Games also announced today Dead Space 2: Severed, an all-new digital download pack that extends the Dead Space 2 story with the addition of two standalone chapters in the single-player game. Dead Space 2: Severed will see the return of Gabe Weller and Lexine Murdock, the two main characters from the award-winning 2009 game, Dead Space Extraction.

In Dead Space 2: Severed, the story of Weller and Lexine runs parallel to Isaac’s blood-curdling adventure in Dead Space 2, but this time players will take on the role of Gabe Weller. Working as a Sprawl Security Guard, Weller has to fight against his own onslaught of Necromorphs, as he attempts to get both him and Lexine to safety. Dead Space 2: Severed will be coming soon for purchase on Xbox LIVE™ Marketplace and the PlayStation®Network.”

Groovy.

As the heading suggests, the 360 exclusive multiplayer demo for Crysis 2 is available to download for Gold Live subscribers along with the previously promised Bulletstorm demo too.

PSN users should see the Bulletstorm demo hit their service either today or tomorrow at the latest.

Seemingly stuck in development hell since 2007 and only being confirmed as a multiplatform title last year, Rockstar has been quite forthcoming recently with media of their highly anticipated open world detective thriller title; L.A. Noire.

Billed as an investigative noir thriller, the game employs some fancy graphical wizardry so that when you are grilling a suspect for clues, the smallest change in the facial expression or body language, can give their true motives away.

Outside of the investigative side of things, very little has been shown which admittedly worries me a little. With that in mind however, I still do have some degree of faith that this title could be 2011’s Red Dead Redemption for Rockstar when it launches in Europe on May 20th on 360, PS3 and PC platforms.

Take a look at the newest trailer below:

Konami has today confirmed today that the Vatra developed Silent Hill title, now known as Silent Hill: Downpour, will be released for PS3 and 360 this autumn.

The story in the next Silent Hill title revolves around convict Murphy Pendleton who finds himself stranded in that lovely tourist hotspot Silent Hill.

I’m not sure how well received yet another Western developed Silent Hill title will be, but regardless, you can find the first screenies at the link below:

http://www.videogamer.com/ps3/silent_hill/screenshots.html

Warner has just now confirmed that the Netherealm developed reboot of the popular Mortal Kombat franchise, will make it’s bow in the UK on the groan-inducingly titled ‘Mortal Monday’.

Mortal Kombat will release on 360 and PS3 formats.

‘Mortal Monday’ though? I mean what the fuck is this? 1993?

Hot off the heels of the release date announcement for Duke Nukem Forever, comes over two minutes of in-game Duke goodness in the form of a trailer which you can see below:

Showing my immaturity I laughed my ass off throughout most of that. I’ll be off now to make up some ‘mum’ jokes or something now.

It looks like the Duke is sick and tired of being on the butt-end of over a decade’s worth of release date jokes and is finally putting his money where his oversized mouth is.

Developer Gearbox has today confirmed that the long and often delayed title, which has seen three generations of console hardware in the space of it’s development cycle, will at last arrive on May 3rd 2011 for the US and May 6th for everywhere else across PC, 360 and PS3 formats.

Always bet on Duke etc…

Even with the 3DS coming around the corner that is one seriously good offer.

The link to the offer is below:

http://www.game.co.uk//DSi-and-DS-Lite/Hardware/Console/~r335652/DS-Lite-Silver-with-Guitar-Hero-On-Tour-Grip-Controller-and-Stylus-Pack/

Go nuts 🙂

UPDATE: And just like that they are out of stock. Holy shit that was fast.

Quick, take a look before it gets taken down:

I’ll be providing impressions of each trailer as soon as Square Enix release the HD versions, this Thursday and on Jan 27th respectively.