PlayStation Network

[Ferine]

[Currently undergoing a rethink]

[Ferine]

PSN Highlights

A work in progress collection of the most interesting games on the service. Titles are listed alphabetically. Click on the name of a game to go to its designated discussion thread, if it has one.

Chime Super Deluxe

Music Puzzler | Zoe Mode | Up to 4 Player Co-Op/ Versus (Local Only) | Trial Available

The XBLA game, made better in every way; more songs, more boards and a completely rewritten game engine.Build Tetris-esque shapes into large "quads" to cover the play area and create music. Confused?

should help you out.

Contributed by: JohnTM

Critter Crunch

Puzzle | Capybara Games | 2-player local or online | Trial Available

A varied puzzle game packing numerous modes and glorious HD 2D artwork. Similar to

Magical Drop

in concept but still very much its own game; to earn bonus points you need to barf rainbows into the awaiting mouths of your children mid-game.

Flower

Exploration | thatgamecompany | 1-player | No Trial

By controlling a gust of wind you must whisk up petals and help bring back the equilibrium between nature and industry. Or at least use the SIXAXIS to fly about whilst making "Whoosh!"-ing noises.

Joe Danger

Stunt Racing Platformer | Hello Games | 4-player local | Trial Available

One part

Trials HD

mixed with two parts

Sonic

. Each level features multiple challenges — not all of which can be completed in a single run — but a bit of perseverance, and the forgiving elasticity of the controls, will see you through a suite of varied levels; there's also a track creator in case you run out!

Limbo

Puzzle Platformer | Playdead | 1-player | Trial Available

Dark both visually and thematically,

Limbo

tasks the player with varied physics-based navigation puzzles as they work their way through a stark, foreboding world. Not fond of leading the player by the hand or repeating itself, it bears some resemblance to early '90s title

Another World

.

Noby Noby Boy

Eat 'em Up? | Namco Bandai | 4-player local | No Trial

Bizarre sandbox from the mind that bought you

Katamari Damacy

. If the above screenshot intrigues you just buy it; trying to summarise this game is like explaining colour to someone without eyes.

Outland

Platform Adventure | Housemarque | 2-player online only | Trial Available

Mixing elements of

Metroid

and

Ikaruga

together with a distinctive art style,

Outland

has the player explore an open — but gated — 2D environment as they tackle numerous enemies, bullet patterns and large bosses.

PixelJunk Monsters

Tower Defence | Q-Games | 2-player local | Trial Available

One of the more beloved examples of the tower defence genre. Somewhat trial and error by nature, but the gorgeous soundtrack and direct control of a character add to the disarming charm of a rather challenging game.

PixelJunk Shooter

Twin-Stick | Q-Games | 2-player local | Trial Available

More about fluid dynamics than shooting, this game tasks one or two players with going spelunking in a spaceship, manipulating the interplay between the various elements — such as water and lava — to make it to the level exit, rescuing fellow cosmonauts en route.

There's also a follow up, the imaginatively named

PixelJunk Shooter 2

, which adds brand new environmental challenges alongside competitive online multiplayer.

Riff: Everyday Shooter

Twin Stick Shooter | Queasy Games | Single Player | No Trial

I think this is good? You're a tiny dot that can only shoot in 8 directions, and enemies drop dots and phat beats. Points can be used to unlock goodies, from more starting lives to various visual filters. The level pictured is actually impossible.

Contributed by: JohnTM

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Side-Scolling Beat-em-up | Ubisoft Montreal Studios | Up to 4 Player (Local Only) | Trial Available

Did you like River City Rampage? Then this is for you. Based more on the comic than the movie, this is a solid retro beat-em-up that plays super smoothly. Beautiful sprites, awesome chiptune music and a decent sense of humour, even if you're not familiar with the source material. Also hard as shit until you buy items to upgrade your stats; levelling up doesn't actually increase them

Contributed by: JohnTM

Shatter

Block Breaker | Sidhe Interactive | 1-player local | Trial Available

Doing for

Breakout

what

CE DX

did for

Pac-Man

,

Shatter

takes the basic tenants of your standard block breaker and then mixes in modern physics, an air control mechanic and one of the greatest game soundtracks in recent memory — you can give it a listen

here

.

Super Stardust HD

Twin Stick Shooter | House Marque | Up to 4 Player (Local Only) | Trial Available

Travel in orbit of a planet shooting meteors, upgrade weapons to deal with different types of meteors, and take out evil space nasties that come after you. Looks incredible and once you settle into it's rhythm plays just as well. Has an expansion pack with new modes that are kind of fun also? Protip: upgrade weapons to 100% in this order: Green, Red, Blue.

Contributed by: JohnTM

Wipeout HD

Sci-Fi Racer | SCEE Studio Liverpool | Up to 8 Player (Online) | Trial Available

Super slick futuristic racer, with a great soundtrack. Pretty much a "best of" previous games with old tracks redone in HD. 'Fury' expansion pack basically doubles the number of tracks and ships. Gets blindingly fast later on or at any time in Zone Mode. Pretty much the best thing on PSN (and also on a disc). BUY IT!

Contributed by: JohnTM

PSN FAQ

Q: It's Wednesday. How come the Store hasn't updated?

A: Whilst the exact time varies, Store updates tend to go live around mid-afternoon UK time. If there's no movement by 5PM then something's probably gone wrong, in which case someone will likely have mentioned it in this thread.

Q: What's the deal with PlayStation Plus content? Do I get to keep it?

A: Any discounted items you purchase are yours to keep, as are the more inconsequential freebies like avatars and themes. However, games and DLC that are entirely inclusive with your subscription — i.e. you downloaded them for free — will theoretically become inaccessible when your subscription lapses; think of it like a rental service.

You may have noticed the use of "theoretically" above. That is because not all inclusive content expires alongside your subscription, some titles you'll get to keep regardless. To see if a piece of content qualifies for this inconsistent exemption — it won't be mentioned in the Store description — press Triangle whilst highlighting the item in the XMB, then select the Information option from the pop-up menu. If there is a set date in the Expires field then that content is tied to your subscription, otherwise it is yours to keep indefinitely.

Q: My God, do I really have to sit through this update? I just want to play the game!

A: Nope, at least not so long as you don't mind playing offline. Just press Circle when the game prompts you to update, then it will boot as normal.

[Billy Brown]

I was going to suggest a list of recommended titles (for my own selfish reasons as I've not bought anything since PixelJunk Eden) so this is looking great.

[df0]

Good idea. I am not too keen on adding the price for the following reasons: different zones within Europe (GBP, euro), PS+ discounts, regular discounts. I, for one, can not keep my entries up to date when it comes to pricing. Perhaps we can all agree to use the day-1 price for non PS+ subscribers.

[Ferine]

Good idea. I am not too keen on adding the price for the following reasons: different zones within Europe (GBP, euro), PS+ discounts, regular discounts. I, for one, can not keep my entries up to date when it comes to pricing. Perhaps we can all agree to use the day-1 price for non PS+ subscribers.

Hmm, perhaps you're right and we simply shouldn't list a price at all. For instance I wanted to include the Euro pricing of Joe Danger in the example but a quick Google didn't give me anything. Hell, I'm not 100% about the Sterling cost without turning my PS3 on.

Speaking of prices, I've added the current Store deals into the first post. I did try to do some formatting to increase readability — the info itself is from the European PlayStation.Blog — but it's still rather horrible so I might have to give it another pass.

[Asura]

Online sources for PSN can be quite poor - apparently the lists on Wikipedia, particularly for the PSP stuff, are horrendously outdated.

[Uncle Mike]

Pretty sure there's already a PSN games thread. However, feel free to fill this one and I'll merge them when it gets dug up.

[Meatball]

Pretty sure there's already a PSN games thread. However, feel free to fill this one and I'll merge them when it gets dug up.

http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?showtopic=177394

[Harsin]

I just wish they'd just finally get around to releasing the last episode of Back to the Future. The EU store seems to get them a completely random amount of time after the US.

[Ferine]

I've added a few games to the highlight section to give people an idea of what I'm aiming for; I don't think any of them are contentious choices, although if you disagree feel free to say why. Likewise the blurbs are off the top of my head, so you're welcome to offer up corrections or rewrites.

As apparently I'm in the mood for making myself work by setting precedents, if you click on the title of a game it will take you to the corresponding dedicated thread if it has one.

[Cthulhu Steev]

Every time I think about Flower, or see Flower, I just want to play Flower

Excellent work on the Noby greeting

[SharkEnergy]

Looks like I'll be stumping up some more this week! PS+ 3 month top up, Limbo a discount rate, and then Peggle and Anarchy Rush Hour at those lowered prices! Must resist the Burnout DLC!!

[The Sarge]

Good work on the thread, Aimless.

Shark, avoid Anarchy at all costs. Terrible game, controls are terrible, layout is terrible, pretty much everything about the game is terrible.

[df0]

Excellent first post, keep em coming. I'll try my best to add some this weekend.

[The Sarge]

In celebration of the new thread, here's a look at few of the more interesting looking titles coming to PSN this year,

Sideway

Okabu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CE9A8q6t1w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEqezbPHstw

Payday: The Heist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eekEtuSeCl4

Journey

[Cheyenne]

I did not know Payday was going to be a PSN dealie. Nice.

[SharkEnergy]

Shark, avoid Anarchy at all costs. Terrible game, controls are terrible, layout is terrible, pretty much everything about the game is terrible.

Wow! Thanks for the tipoff. I'd seen it on so many players trophy lists that I thought it must be good but investigating after your comments it would appear its a whores platinum!

[Danster]

oooh, it'd be rude not to get some of those Burnout bits especially Big Sirf Island for £2.39

Cheers to the OP

[Jimmy Shedders]

Seems like a good place to put this!

Section 8: Prejudice is released next week (27th of July) on the PSN for £12.99 with two extra modes not included in the XBLA relase

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-07-13-section-8-prejudice-dated-for-psn

If you buy it within the first week of release you get Blitz Armor Pack and Overdrive Map Pack for free.

On top of that, the first 1,000 PSN+ users who buy the game will also get the exclusive Hunter Armor as well as a free copy of the original Section 8.

[The Sarge]

Hmm, Assault has been available in the LA version for a couple of months and Skirmish should be coming later this Summer.

[Jimmy Shedders]

Why must you always crush my hopes and dreams?

[jonnatar]

Here we go.

Wipeout HD

Sci-Fi Racer | SCEE Studio Liverpool | Up to 8 Player (Online) | Trial Available

Super slick futuristic racer, with a great soundtrack. Pretty much a "best of" previous games with old tracks redone in HD. 'Fury' expansion pack basically doubles the number of tracks and ships. Gets blindingly fast later on or at any time in Zone Mode. Pretty much the best thing on PSN (and also on a disc). BUY IT!

Super Stardust HD

Twin Stick Shooter | House Marque | Up to 4 Player (Local Only) | Trial Available

Travel in orbit of a planet shooting meteors, upgrade weapons to deal with different types of meteors, and take out evil space nasties that come after you. Looks incredible and once you settle into it's rhythm plays just as well. Has an expansion pack with new modes that are kind of fun also? Protip: upgrade weapons to 100% in this order: Green, Red, Blue.

Chime Super Deluxe

Music Puzzler | Zoe Mode | Up to 4 Player Co-Op/ Versus (Local Only) | Trial Available

The XBLA game, made better in every way; more songs, more boards and a completely rewritten game engine.Build Tetris-esque shapes into large "quads" to cover the play area and create music. Confused? This trailer should help you out:

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Side-Scolling Beat-em-up | Ubisoft Montreal Studios | Up to 4 Player (Local Only) | Trial Available

Did you like River City Rampage? Then this is for you. Based more on the comic than the movie, this is a solid retro beat-em-up that plays super smoothly. Beautiful sprites, awesome chiptune music and a decent sense of humour, even if you're not familiar with the source material. Also hard as shit until you buy items to upgrade your stats; levelling up doesn't actually increase them

Riff Everyday Shooter

Twin Stick Shooter | Queasy Games | Single Player | No Trial

I think this is good? You're a tiny dot that can only shoot in 8 directions, and enemies drop dots and phat beats. Points can be used to unlock goodies, from more starting lives to various visual filters. The level pictured is actually impossible.

[Ferine]

Here we go.

Thanks, I've added your entries and resized the images to 640x360 to keep things consistent; blame my OCD.

In other news I've moved the Highlights list to the second post and laid the groundwork for a FAQ beneath it, the idea being that the first post will host the newest info whilst the second is more for reference. It's also to try and make editing things a bit easier, as I was getting lost sifting through all the code.

Does anyone have suggestions for the FAQ?

[deKay]

Can I ask, as I have before but nobody seems to know the answer (which is bizarre since it is so popular), but does Super Stardust have the into-the-screen between level sections of the original? How similar to the original is it?

Because I loved that but hated the between level bits.

[SharkEnergy]

Nothing good can come of this topic - my wallet is going to eat itself.

[Uncle Mike]

Can I ask, as I have before but nobody seems to know the answer (which is bizarre since it is so popular), but does Super Stardust have the into-the-screen between level sections of the original? How similar to the original is it?

Because I loved that but hated the between level bits.

I've never seen you ask that. It's got none of the into the screen bits. It's a modern day twin-stick shooter version of Asteroids in 1080p, with nice mechanics.

[SharkEnergy]

Jellycar 2 mini - available this month for PS+ subscribers...doesn't seem to be available anymore. Any ideas anyone? I know its not exactly prime content, but still...

[deKay]

I've never seen you ask that. It's got none of the into the screen bits. It's a modern day twin-stick shooter version of Asteroids in 1080p, with nice mechanics.

Well, so was the original (well, the asteroids bit, anyway - it obviously wasn't HD and twin stick on the Amiga would have been a bit unusual), but I wondered how close to that this was.

[Cthulhu Steev]

Can I ask, as I have before but nobody seems to know the answer (which is bizarre since it is so popular), but does Super Stardust have the into-the-screen between level sections of the original? How similar to the original is it?

Because I loved that but hated the between level bits.

The gameplay is more Robotron:2084 than Asteroids/Stardust, you don't thrust and rotate your ship, it's a lot tighter and has a totally different feel. No into-the-screen bits either, just mayhem. It can take an age to play a game when you get good, but there are some timed/bomb only modes to tinker with. The bomb mode is like Every Extend Extra, it's ACEBEST (Possibly even SEXBEST when you hit the zone) mang.

[Tonald Drump]

Anyone encountered or know a fix for this problem.

Went to play Superstardust HD today, it says there is an update to 5.01, but before the update is applied it forces a complete reboot of the PS3. If I cancel then the game is only available as a demo. I've tried deleting and redownloading. I can access the full game when not connected to the network.