Nathan Drake returns in November 2011 - Uncharted 3 is announced and available for preorder today!

In Uncharted 3 Nathan and his mentor Sully will follow the legendary archaeologist T.E. Lawrence's trail all the way to the vast and dangerous Arabian deserts. The Atlantis of the Sands is more real than anybody thought and clues about it are scattered across the globe. Travel around the world, visit the glamorous and exotic cities and find the land before the bad guys get there first.

Thugs will stop at nothing to get their hands on the treasure and this time Nathan gets to use new weapons, new moves and new skills. The stealth action and hand to hand combat has also been improved. Be ready to interact with the environment and learn to take advantage of what you have at hand to overcome the danger that may crop up any second.

Uncharted 3 offers exciting action, exotic locales and an exquisite plot. Currently we have the Asian and US regular editions in our database, more will be added once they are announced. Nathan Drake will return to his fans on the PlayStation3™ in November 2011.

Trapped, and facing impossible foes: ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection for PlayStation3™ is announced and available for preorder today!

Revisit the classics, Sony Computer Entertainment digitally remastered two award winning games on the PlayStation2™. What has been eerie in ICO's castle becomes downright creepy and the gigantic statues in Shadow of the Colossus look like deities on your HD screen. The games have PlayStation® Network Trophy Support, so collectors, think you have the gaming muscles to clear the stages and collect everything?

Become the sacrifice. ICO is a strange boy with horns. In the name of protecting the village, his people left him in a deserted castle where evil spirits dwell. Here, trapped within the cold stone walls of the impregnable fortress, the boy's sense of reality and fantasy blur, he begins dreaming about a girl whom he has to save, and the clues about his past and his fate.


If the castle in ICO is impregnable, the Colossi is right next to impossible. But they hold the key to revival, and unless all of them are defeated, your loved one will never wake. So set off on your horse, equip your sword and off you go on your adventures. All of the Colossi have but one weakness, find it in time before it crushes you like an ant.

ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection comes in April 2011. If you have not played them on the PlayStation2™, by all means, try them out on the PlayStation3™, for all veterans, get the game and be impressed once again.

Games waiting for your preorders! Tales of Graces F & The 3rd Birthday!

Two really hot games are announced and are waiting for preorders, they are are Tales of Graces F and The 3rd Birthday - a continuation in the Parasite Eve series.

Tales of Graces F is not a mere port of the original Nintendo™ Wii version, it expands the Efinea world and includes the epilogue of the game. This brand new branch of the plot takes place half a year after the great war, where Richard and Asbel become King and mayor respectively.

Everyone has found a place in the new system, yet, not all is good and well. A new mysterious force is threatening the world. Come again, even if you've saved the world once.

Monsters - the Twisted, that spawned in the far future devoured all the humans, and when they destroyed the whole earth, they spiral time backwards to the past to repeat the carnage. In 2012, the authorities created the Over Dive system, a weapon that could perhaps save the future and the past. However, there is only one person who's compatible with this technology - Aya Brea, the girl without a past.

Travel through time and eliminate the horde of Twisted. Take over the bodies of the people who inhabits the time frame to battle. The Over Dive system offers you one chance to turn the situation around when it reaches the full gauge, your attack power rises several times fold. But one mistake, you'll be gone, and the world will go with you.

Both Tales of Graces F and The 3rd Birthday come this December, you have a very busy holiday season before you indeed!



Here's a trailer of the 3rd Birthday, see if it matches your expectations of the game!

Wired Controller Fan

With the release of the PS3 and Xbox 360, Sony and Microsoft decided to bundle wireless controllers with their systems, probably to make them seem more "hi-tech". I'm sure many a geek had a sparkle in their eye and as they enthused over this new technology, while the casual gamer might have looked to see the cord missing and thought how convenient it is...at first.

In my opinion, there are more advantages in using wired controllers and I recently switched my wireless 360 controller for a wired one. I would have also done this with the Dual Shock 3 (DS3) if the cord was longer than the USB cable, so props to Microsoft for releasing both versions. "He's mad!" you say and maybe you're right, but first hear me out

A simple reason to start with, wired controllers are cheaper than their wireless counterparts. Now, moving on to the first big annoyance, which I'm sure everyone is aware of and that is power supply. If the wireless tech only required the console to be powered on, we'd be set, but it doesn't, so for the 360 we need to say hello once more to AA batteries while on the DS3 we have a Li-Ion rechargeable battery which is a better alternative. Whenever your AA batteries run dry, you'll need to put a fresh pair in. AA batteries aren't free, they cost money and every time you game, it'll cost you a bit extra. You'll need to pull them out of the controller and put new ones in. The alternative? Buy rechargeable AA batteries, which cost more to begin with, but quickly become the cheaper alternative. But of course, you'll need to recharge them, which is annoying too. And what if you want to game but have no batteries with power with them? Well, then you're screwed. That's wireless for you.

Oh, but I'm fibbing, there is another alternative. The play & charge kit will save your butt in such situations. Wait a minute, not only does this make your controller wired during the charging period, defeating the purpose of going wireless in the first place, it also costs you more money! Can you see what I'm getting at here? Hmm, let's move on.

The wired 360 controller will also work on your PC with no additional hardware (very cool), while the wireless one does not. Not without extra hardware, which again costs more money.

The inbuilt DS3 Li-ion battery is the better alternative, but isn't the big fix either. You'll still need to wire up your controller when charging, but at least you can keep playing without buying additional hardware. Pairing up controllers is a pain and sometimes you'll need to switch with your friend(s) or reassign which controller is the 1st player. Turning the controller on and off every time you turn on downloads and leave your PS3 alone is another annoyance. Like all batteries, Li-ion start to lose charge with age and need to be replaced after a few years, I haven't seen any spare batteries for Sony controllers for sale yet and I wonder when they will be available. This will require you to unscrew and open the controller and replace the battery. Finally, as I mentioned at the start, the USB cable could have been much longer and the battery easier to remove to provide for both the wired and wireless users.

To conclude, I'm very happy with my wired 360 controller and I never have to worry about charging or changing batteries or anything else! There are only two negatives I can think of. There's a cord (no big deal, put it back near the 360 when done) and it takes up one USB slot (only a problem on a PS3 if you've got a lot of accessories). However, I think the positives more than make up for its shortcomings.

Games to Own - #2

I admit, I have little to no postive feelings towards EA, with their large library of shovelware, yearly rehashes of sport titles and often bug-ridden or unpolished games. If it wasn't for the studios they have acquired such as Criterion (Burnout games) and Dice (Battlefield, Mirrors' Edge), I'm sure they wouldn't have such healthy profits. But things may change for the better now as EA is attempting to produce more quality titles and fix the crash and burn yearly titles such as Need for Speed.

Anyway, you're probably thinking why I'm talking about EA in this "games to own" post. That's because, dear readers, the next one on the list is (shock, horror) an EA game. The special edition is also available at a bargain price, so I've chosen the PS3 version, but the game is also available on Xbox 360. May I present Army of Two.

Now don't get me wrong, Army of Two is not a AAA title, but it is highly entertaining and fun shooter, especially with a friend. That's where the title of the game comes into play. You'll have control of one of the two foul mouthed Army Ranger veterans working as private military for hire, wearing some freaky death masks and spouting plenty of one-liners with attitude! The government gladly throws you into some dangerous missions where you and a buddy or AI will need to use strategy and cover to your advantage if you hope to survive.

From here, the game play similar to most third person shooters such as Gears of War, but includes some special tactics for two player teamwork. The AI is acceptable and does a decent job, but the fun lies in playing with a friend, which can be easily done over the PlayStation Network. You'll play through five missions, with additional missions available as downloadable content. Humorous dialogue and some great looking graphics round off the package. Customisable masks and weapons (including weapon bling!) make it worth earning as much cash as possible.

A word of warning, the game is one of the only ones to have a multiplayer region lock. However, this is easily bypassed. To play with a buddy from any country in the world, make sure to have the same version (region) of the game and you will be able to play together no problem. This lock was meant to be removed with a patch, but this still hasn't happened. I give Army of Two an 8 out of 10.

Play Asia Weekly Special: Siren: New Translation

"An American TV crew has arrived in Japan to film an expose on the legend of the “vanished village.” Controlling seven different playable characters, the player must uncover the mystery behind the curse that grips the eerie village of Hanuda. The unique “sight jack” system allows the player to see from the point of view of the Shibito, or living dead, to avoid their detection or watch as they close in on the player and companions. Intense graphics, realistic character animation, and a gritty film-like graphical presentation add to the horror of Siren: Blood Curse."


This week's Play-Asia Weekly Special is the Asian Version of Siren: New Translation. It contains all 12 epiodes on one Blu-ray disc release and is fully english.

Price point is US$24.90.

Shopping Guide: The Games to Own On PlayStation 3

Not sure what games to buy for the PS3 this Christmas? It's been quite a year, but there are three first party titles that really stand out and all of them were released recently.

1st Recommendation: Resistance 2
Better in every way? Hell yes. This is one of the most feature packed first person shooters around. Between the campaign, co-op and competitive mode, you'll be spending months playing it all.

The only complaint? Apart from some small issues, the game also plays differently to the original. It now feels more like Call of Duty 4 instead of the first game, which had a unique feel. You can always pick up the first game at a budget price.

2nd Recommendation: LittleBigPlanet
The idea was sound, but whether Media Molecule could pull it off was a different matter. And they did. LittleBigPlanet is a great game, the graphics, physics and of course Sackboy all come together to provide a unique experience. It's a platformer, but it's also highly challenging and fun to play for all ages. After completing the game, you can create your own levels with the very complex level editor. There's also four player online co-op for both the story and user created levels!

3rd Recommendation: Motorstorm: Pacific Rift 
Better in every way compared to the original Motorstorm, you can't go past Motorstorm: Pacific Rift for your racing needs. Now Motorstorm was a great game, but it was a very frustrating experience and many people gave up playing due to the obtuse learning curve and challenging AI.

The improvements in Pacific Rift are plenty. Stunning graphics, better handling, AI, physics, faster loading times and new inclusions such as 4 player splitscreen and trophies. And the graphics? Yeah, they're phenomenal.

The sequel is still quite challenging, but it's much more rewarding and fun this time around. Don't judge the game on the demo available on PSN, it's actually one of the worst tracks in the game. Motorstorm: Pacific Rift is definitely one of the best racing games this generation and probably the best off-road racing game ever.

Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer now available on North American PlayStation®Store

Shooter fans out there! Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer (AKA The Funny Umlaut Shooter) has made it's landing on the North American PlayStation®Store. We've been following this one closely, as you would have thought.

Not many reviews out there, but of course we'd give it a buy-recommendation nonetheless.

No (official) word yet about the Euro-Release and why do they never mention Japan? Well, anyhow, it seems the game is scheduled to reach the Asian (that means Asia w/out Japan, such as Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia et al) market the Thursday after this and the Euro release seems to be on 18th of December 2008. Yahoo!

As our friend Brandon put's it: "So if you were suckered into buying a PS3 by MGS4 or Senjou no Valkyria, now you can play a third game as well. If you're curious, the available PS3 trophies can be found here."

We wouldn't say it so harshly, but we certainly recommend you to head over to your nearest PS3, go to the PlayStation Store and play away.

And they even got hi-scores!

Update: Silly me, forgot to mention the video!