NEWS: Basement Crawl Gets Release Date

PS4 exclusive title Basement Crawl will hit virtual shelves next week.

A recent press release has revealed the game will be available February 25 in North America and February 26 throughout Europe. An earlier date was originally planned but due to various delays, had to be pushed further back.

CEO of Bloober Team Piotr Babieno said "After our slight delay, we're truly excited to deliver a completed and enhanced Basement Crawl to the more than 5.3 million PlayStation 4 owners around the world."

Basement Crawl utilizes the core gameplay mechanics of the Bomberman franchise and adds "creepy characters and blood-curdling environments.", up to four players can play locally, whilst eight are able to compete online across nine maps using four different classes.

NEWS: PS3 RPG Sale On EU PS Store

Popular RPG titles have been given the discount treatment, along with an additional 10% for PS Plus subscribers.

Lasting until December 4, Sony are applying discounts to various RPG games on the European PS Store, including notable titles such as The Elder Scrolls V and Defiance.

PS Store Team member Jawad Ashraf describes the sale as a "treasure trove of savings" - an entire list of games participating in the sale can be listed below with their discounted prices.

Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk - £15.99

Dead Island (Game of the Year Edition) - £7.99

Defiance - £14.99

Defiance (Deluxe Edition) - £20.15

Demon's Souls - £7.99

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Complete Edition - £15.99

Deus Ex - £3.19

Dungeon Defenders - £3.99

Faery: Legends of Avalon - £3.24

Game of Thrones - £7.99

Of Orcs and Men - £7.99

Rainbow Moon - £3.79

RPG Classic Collection (PSP/Vita: Half Minute Hero and Blazing Souls Accelate) - £11.99

The Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard - £6.10

The Elder Scrolls V: Hearthfire - £1.99

The Elder Scrolls V: Dragonborn - £6.10

Two Worlds II (VELVET Game of the Year Edition + Defense DLC) - £16.23

NEWS: PSN Will Allow 2000 Friends

In preparation for the PS4 launch, PSN users can now add up to 2000 friends.

During the recent maintenance, Sony were busy expanding the amount of friends its users can have on the PSN service, increasing the limit to a massive 2000. The previous limit stood at just 100.

The PS3's friend limit will still be 100, with only PS4 and PS Vita being able to add up to 2000. Evinsager, Community Manager over at the EU Sony blog said:

"The PS3 system will continue to support up to 100 friends at one time. If you build a friend list bigger than 100 on PS4/Vita, network servers will automatically filter your friend's list when you play on a PS3 system. Additionally, you will be able to set and lock a pre-determined friends list to be used while you play on the PS3 system if you wish. Support for the ability to display all of your friends in most applications and games is planned, however, some titles will be limited to the current 100 Friends limit."

Do you think you need up to 2000 friends on your PSN list? Comment below.

NEWS: PlayStation Plus November 2013 EU - MGS Revengeance and Remember Me

Sony have released the schedule for November's PlayStation Plus EU update.

Starting October 23, European subscribers of the PS+ service will have full access to Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance and Remember Me on the PS3, whilst the PS Vita will be updated with Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD and Motorstorm RC.

NEWS: GTA V Claims Most Downloaded Game on PSN

Grand Theft Auto V makes its way to the most downloaded PSN game.

Both Sony Europe and Sony America has revealed that Grand Theft Auto V has become the most downloaded title through the PlayStation Network.

Fred Dutton posted on the EU blog that the game has taken over the previously most sold title; The Last of Us:

"Grand Theft Auto V dominated the PS3 chart, breaking The Last of Us' record to become the biggest ever digital release on the platform."

To echo the above statement, Justin Massongill over at the US blog said:

"I think we all saw this one coming."

Current European Top 10 (7 October 2013)

1. Grand Theft Auto V

2. FIFA 14

3. Grand Theft Auto IV

4. Diablo III

5. Payday 2

6. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier

7. Farming Simulator

8. Zone of the Enders HD Collection

9. PES 2014

10. Sniper Elite V2

Current US Top 10 (7 October 2013)

1. Grand Theft Auto V

2. Diablo III

3. FIFA 14

4. Madden NFL 25

5. Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse

6. NHL 14

7. One Piece Pirate Warriors 2

8. Journey

9. Payday 2

10. DuckTales: Remastered

You might notice Farming Simulator has got its way into the EU chart - for all we know, it could be the best ever. One day I'll play it, one day.

NEWS: PSN Maintenance 25th Sep - Could Impact Store Update

PlayStation EU has announced the PlayStation Network, including the store, account management, and the PS store will be completely unavailable from tomorrow starting from 3:00PM until 3:00AM the following day - a total of 12 hours. 

Online support coordinator SuperFastZombie said:

"For the duration of the maintenance you will be unable to log into the PlayStation Network, Account Management and the PS Store. PS Home will also be unavailable.

Some users may be able to sign in however, the services listed above will still be unavailable during the maintenance window.

There may be some additional downtime after the maintenance period for testing purposes."

Although nothing was said regarding the PlayStation Plus update coming to the store tomorrow, I'm sure the maintenance will delay that as users won't be able to access the store at all.

Sony have said the update will go live this week, but didn't say when. Initially, it was supposed to be tomorrow but that's not looking so good at the moment.

FEATURE: PlayStation Plus - Is It Worth It?

If you're struggling on deciding whether to subscribe to PlayStation Plus, look no further as I'll be giving a detailed breakdown of what the service has to offer and how much money you could potentially save. I became a member in October 2012 and since then I don't regret ever subscribing. I sound like a Sony salesman here, but I genuinely would like to share the benefits of this service.

1. The Price

There are currently two prices in the UK to pay for PS+, you can pay £11.99 every 3 months or can pay £39.99 for the whole year round. It may sound like a lot, or it could very well seem reasonable, whichever way you look at it, you will definitely be getting your money's worth. For any US readers, that comes to $17.99 every month or $49.99 each year.

2. The Games

Each month the store is updated with a generous amount of full retail games (including Vita) and a few PSN games here and there, these games are completely free and as long as you're a subscriber, you can delete them, re-download them - the reason I point this out is because recently all of the free content has taken it's toll on my HDD space, so I've had to delete games I no longer play in order to download the newer ones, but I never have to worry about deleting the games as I can get them back whenever I want with no hassle. 

This month's free content has included Spec Ops: The Line, Mafia II, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Lego Lord of the Rings (Vita), and When Vikings Attack (PSN and Vita). 

Now, you might notice the diversity in those games, each one is considerably different to the other, which shows that no matter what type of gamer you are, they'll probably be something for you each month to enjoy. This next bit relates back to the price, but I did a quick search of those games mentioned earlier on a popular gaming shop website, and found that to actually but all those games it would cost around £65-£70, and I'm not saying you would actually buy all those games but it's a good example of the money you can save. 

Of course, you will be getting the digital version and not the physical copy, so if you're a bit of a collector, you might want to spend the extra cash instead of subscribing. I'm a self-obsessed hoarder when it comes to video-games but I still do enjoy the benefits of PS+ - free random games each month, it's just something to look forward to and enjoy. 

3. The Games So Far

This is the complete list of games given away for free to PS+ members since the service started, this list is based on the European PlayStation store. However, please remember that past games are no longer available if you weren't a PS+ member at the time, but this is just here to give you an idea on what's being offered if you do decide on subscribing.

Full PS3/PSN Games

• Batman: Arkham City
• Battlefield 3
• Big Sky Infinite
• Binary Domain
• Bioshock 2
• Borderlands
• Bulletstorm
• Catherine
• Chime Super Deluxe
• Crysis 2
• Cubix HD
• Darksiders
• Dead or Alive 5
• Dead Space 2
• Demon's Souls
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• Double Dragon Neon
• Gotham City Imposters
• Guardians of Middle Each
• Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit
• Hitman Absolution
• ICO and Shadows of the Colossus HD Collection
• InFamous 2
• Joe Danger 2: The Movie
• Just Cause
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
• Knytt Underground
• Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light
• Limbo
• LittleBigPlanet 2
• LittleBigPlanet Karting
• Lord of the Rings: War in the North
• Machinarium
• Mafia II
• Magic Orbz
• Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom
• Malicious
• Mass Effect 3
• Mortal Kombat 9
• Motorstorm: Apocalypse
• Mushroom Wars
• Need For Speed: Most Wanted
• Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD
• Okami HD
• Payday: The Heist
• Quantum Conundrum
• Ratchet and Clank All 4 One
• Red Dead Redemption
• Renegade Ops
• Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition
• Retro/Grade 
• Rock of Ages
• Saints Row 2
• Saints Row: The Third
• Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
• Sky Fighter
• Sleeping Dogs
• Smash Cars
• Spec Ops: The Line
• Starhawk
• The Cave
• Thomas Was Alone
• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
• Vanquish
• Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown
• Wakeboarding HD
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
• XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Full PS Vita Games

• Big Sky Infinite
• Chronovolt
• Coconut Dodge Revitalised
• Gravity Rush
• Jet Set Radio HD
• Knytt Undeground
• Lego Batman: The Video Game
• Lego Lord of the Rings
• Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
• Mortal Kombat 9
• Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus
• Pinball Arcade
• Puddle
• Rayman Origins
• Sine Mora
• Super Stardust Portable
• Thomas Was Alone
• Uncharted: Golden Abyss
• Unit 13
• Velocity Ultra HD
• When Vikings Attack
• WipEout 2048
• Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

It's quite rare, but sometimes PlayStation 1 and 2 games are free too, examples of this are Resident Evil and Max Payne.

4. Other

There are other benefits of PS+ that include free themes, avatars, and opportunities to try out full retail games for 60 minutes long, in other words - an hour long demo of a fully finished game. Early beta access is also sometimes available for soon to be released games.

Cloud Storage also becomes instantly available when you subscribe, meaning you can store your save data files on a virtual server, so if by some horrible way your HDD becomes corrupted, your saves will still be safe. Discounts on games are offered to subscribers too.

Based on what you've read, I hope you can come to a decision. The benefits are huge and I'm extremely happy personally as a subscriber and as a gamer. Feature1

FEATURE: Digital Download of Video-Games

Whether you're a collector or not, it wouldn't be surprising to see games released only digitally in the not so distant future.

As a gamer, you'll probably know that digital gaming is becoming a huge part of the industry, you can pretty much find any game you want via a download whether it be PSN Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, or Steam. You'll be able to find what you want somewhere without having to physically move, except with your hands of course.

Personally, I do prefer having physical copies of a game as I'm a bit of a collector but there's no denying that a lot of money is being made via digital distribution. So, I think it's time I weigh out the pros and cons of digital gaming downloads to come to some sort of conclusion as to whether digital downloads will take over physical copies of video-games.

Pros

• Don't take up any physical space at all 
• The disc will never get scratched or damaged
• You can't 'lose' a digital copy of a game, it's always available to re-download with no extra charge
• Very easy way of obtaining games that are hard to get in their physical form
• It's convenient to simply find a digital download and play there and then
• There will never be a shortage of stock

Cons

• Often the pricing isn't completely accurate (Red Faction Armageddon was £50 on PSN Store)
• Lack of any physical attachments such as the manual or the case (Mainly for collector's, not a huge problem for gamers who just want to play games whether they keep them in their collection or not.)
• As games get bigger in size, the longer the download will take
• You cannot return a digitally downloaded game
• No pre-owned games - it's not possible. A lot of people buy games pre-owned because it can a really cheap way of gaming, this is not possible the digital way.

As you can see, there are a lot of points to both arguments - like I said earlier, I prefer having the physical copy because it's nice to have the game as part of a collection with the artwork and so on but I know a lot of gamers don't care about any of that stuff, they just want the game to play and that's it. Either way, please comment and tell me what you think! Feature1

FEATURE: The Games I'm Currently Playing - Volume 2!

Definitely a varied selection of games this time around, including the classic Wolfenstein 3D and more.

Hexen: Beyond Heretic

System: PC

I have fond memories of this game when I played it on my uncle's PlayStation back in the 90's but never actually played the original PC version so I thought I'd give it a shot since I loved the PlayStation port back in the day

Straight away, I knew this version would be better (in most cases, original games are usually better than the ports, although many people argue PlayStation DOOM is the best but that's another discussion all together).

I am currently only at the start of the second "hub" (or episode) and I have to say, this game is incredibly fun and also very addictive, it's nice to have some puzzle elements thrown into the first-person shooter mechanic. However, from what I've played so far, this is not as good as it's predecessor; Heretic. 

Wolfenstein 3-D

System: PSN (Originally on DOS/PC)

Fun Fact: Wolfenstein 3-D was made by ID, the guys
 responsible for cult classic DOOM

Now, this won't be the best version of Wolfenstein 3-D but for now I've had to settle for the PlayStation Network port, which to be fair isn't all that bad. The controls can be a bit awkward but I adjusted to them pretty easy within the second level or so, at the moment I'm almost at the end of episode 2 and whilst this is no DOOM, you have to give credit to the guys at ID back in the day for this game, for the time this would have been absolutely amazing - the graphics, the sense of '3D', and so on. Really fantastic game so far!

Joe Danger

System: PSN

With only a couple more stages left, I can safely say I have had a lot of fun playing. Joe Danger is one of those games that got under-looked - it's nothing special but at the core it's incredibly fun and it often reminds me of Excitebike on the Nintendo Entertainment System which is always a good thing, right?

I'm having a really hard time getting some the coin stars though....Still, very enjoyable game.

Bayonetta

System: PS3

Fun Fact: Bayonetta 2 will be released exclusively
 on the Nintendo Wii-U

This game has been on my shelf since last December so I just thought 'I should really finish that game sometime' and I'm definitely glad I picked it up - currently on chapter 6 out of 15.

I find myself wanting more and more due to the insanely fun gameplay, parts of me feel like this is just a Devil May Cry clone but other parts of me think that a lot of Bayonetta is completely original, the story for one is very unique in the sense I've never seen a story like it before.

Over the top fighting and a lot of cheesy one-liners - yup, this game is awesome. Feature1