On October 5, Konami Digital Entertainment, announced a playable demo for Silent Hill: Book of Memories that is now available via download on PlayStation Network. Created exclusively for the PlayStation Vita, this next installment brings all-new gameplay features not normally native to the Silent Hill universe, including Role Playing Game elements and online multiplayer functionality.

The free demo showcases the first two zones of the game, giving players access to some of the arsenal of weapons, power-ups and storylines throughout the game. In addition, players will also see some of the iconic enemies of Silent Hill past, including the nurses.

Silent Hill: Book of Memories is an all-new game in the Silent Hill series, with a unique premise and storyline.  The story begins with a strange book that is received, inside that book is your entire life story to this point, everything that’s ever happened to you; all of your memories. You discover that by altering what’s written… you can actually change the past and write your own ideal history.

Silent Hill Book of Memories will be available in retail stores nationwide on October 16, 2012.

The free demo is now available for download on PlayStation Network.

For more information, including screenshots, log on to www.konami.com/download.

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A group of game development students from Sheffield Hallam University have become the first student studio in the UK to publish a game for Sony’s PlayStation Network.

The Steel Minions studio at Sheffield Hallam is proud to announce the release of its first product for PlayStation minis. BounceBack is a charming puzzle/platform game for PlayStation minis which can be downloaded for PlayStation Portable (PSP), PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3 via the PSN Store.

The game won three top awards at the 2012 Game Republic student showcase and the team have since gone on to take up various industry opportunities.

The aim of Bounceback is to return Lanos home by getting him to ‘bounce back’ all the way to the moon. In order to achieve this he will need to use the unique abilities of four other characters in order to help him overcome the obstacles in his path. Puff the balloon, Boom the explosive, Splash the water bomb and a race of alien robots called the ‘Tri-hards’ all join Lanos on this enjoyably puzzling adventure.

The team are the first group of students from a UK University to publish a game for PlayStation consoles, with the game and engine being written from scratch by the students. Tom Sampson, the technology lead on the project and now a Programmer at Sumo Digital said: “It’s been fantastic to have the opportunity to work on a project to completion even before we graduate and I’ve gained masses of experience which I will take with me into my future career. It would really be the icing on the cake to get some positive feedback on the game now.”

Nick Abbott, the game’s designer said: “BounceBack is the culmination of four years of work and study for us, and the whole team have put a massive amount of energy and dedication into creating this game. We really hope players will enjoy playing the game as much as we enjoyed making it.”

The game will be available from the PSN store in UK and Ireland from September 12, 2012, priced at 3 Euros or £2.50 in the UK.

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At a time when entries into the Final Fantasy series are leaving fans disappointed, frustrated, or just apathetic, now might be the time to look back to the series’ roots, to the games that were able to build a 20+ year empire of Japanese RPGs in the first place.

Everyone has their opinions about VII, VIII, and IX, and most gamers out there are familiar with them. However, I-VI are games that you might not have played in a long time, if ever. With recent re-releases for modern platforms, such as the Nintendo DS and the iPhone, it might be time to rediscover where this series came from, and what made it great in the first place.

Final Fantasy

The game that saved Square. ‘Final Fantasy’ was the last hope of a floundering Japanese software company who left it up to their producer, Sakaguchi Hironobu, to save them from bankruptcy. This is the game that did the trick and made Square a powerhouse of JRPGs.

This first entry into the series founded the video game concept of a vast world, protected by a group of rag-tag adventurers, with noticeable use of elements from Dungeons & Dragons. Final Fantasy’s main rival at the time, Dragon Quest, on the other hand, featured a single hero and a less intuitive user interface, which might have led to FF’s initial superior popularity. This title is currently available on the Wii Virtual Console and for iOS.

Final Fantasy II

The second title in the series was never originally released outside of Japan until 2002 for the Playstation and is now available on the Playstation Network and iOS. This one comes highly recommended for its unique leveling system, which is based on how often a certain trait is used–if you use a sword most, your sword skills will go up; if you take a lot of damage, your health goes up.

Sound familiar? The wildly popular RPG Skyrim uses a similar system, and it adds a certain amount of personal customization to the leveling of your character. Final Fantasy II has a great story and is the first game in the series to feature Chocobos and the recurring character, Cid.

Final Fantasy III

First released outside of Japan in 2006 on the Nintendo DS, the original Famicon version is available through the Wii Virtual Console, and a port of the DS version is available with improved graphics for iOS. These first three games all feel like an intentional improvement on their predecessors, with a focus on character customization and control.

FFIII introduces the Job System, allowing players to customize their team of four Onion Knights with 23 different jobs, allowing 279,841 different party configurations to play through the game with. FFIII is a sort of archetypical Final Fantasy game, a touchstone for what “is” Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy IV

A considerably modified and censored version known as Final Fantasy II was released for the SNES in North America in 1991, and various versions are now available for the Nintendo DS, the Wii Virtual Console, and the PSP. Final Fantasy IV is a dramatic tale with twists and turns, a few weird moments, superb music,  and a rotating, but memorable cast of characters with predetermined Jobs.

This is the first FF where story is more important than character customization, but the sense of exploration is maintained, as is the series’ notorious level of difficulty and level grinding, except in the American ‘EasyType’ version. In fact, this is the title that arguably pioneered story-driven RPGs on any console, so for fans of strong plots in games, this is a must-play.

Final Fantasy V

Customization makes an improved return in Final Fantasy V with the Job system, and the Active Time Battle system carries over from FFIV, with an additional visible gauge allowing players to see when their next opportunity for attack is coming up. In this sense, FFV is a good example of a Final Fantasy game taking the best elements of its predecessors and building on them.

Only in November of last year did FFV become available on the Playstation Network in North America, and there are no other current generation systems  for which this title is available, unfortunately. The favorite game of series creator Sakaguchi Hironobu until FFIX, this is a rare gem worth playing if you can get your hands on it.

Final Fantasy VI

The grand poobah of retro Final Fantasy games and considered one of the best video games of all time, this game was originally known as Final Fantasy III in North America. Final Fantasy VI is in some ways a proto-Final Fantasy VII, in that players can swap out characters from a large cast to form a party and equip “magicite” and “relics” to teach and customize abilities, similar to materia in VII.

This game is also the origin of Biggs and Wedge (who, similar to FFVII, die early on), a Limit Break system of sorts, Ultima Weapons, and others. FFVI was just released on the Playstation Network in North America in December 2011, and on the Wii Virtual Console in June 2011.

Judging from these old games, it seems that it was only recently that Square forgot how to use all the best elements of previous FF games to make a new one. I-VI paved the way for the series’ popularity. Yet, in recent entries to the main series, the keystones that made these games great seem to be all, but absent.

The next Final Fantasy should respect its roots beyond just sticking a Chocobo in one of the characters’ hair. Free exploration of a huge world map, fully customizable characters, a deep and gripping plot, and  bits of the best gameplay elements from each game–that’s what the next FF should look like if Squeenix wants to put its main series back on track.

Hopefully, the awesome Final Fantasy Type-0 for PSP will get a release outside of Japan, and the next console entry will look something like it as well.

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An e-mail sent out by Sony has confirmed that all “PlayStation Network accounts” will be renamed to “Sony Entertainment Network account” or “SEN account.” However Sony assures users that it is simply a name change and a part of their effort to establish a single, unified platform where users can get video game, movie and music content all in one place.

The email also explains some of the changes that  that will be made to the Terms of Service and User Agreement and Privacy Policy:

• New terms for parents of minor, subaccount holders regarding the limitations of chat parental controls. Your reacceptance of the Terms of Service and User Agreement and Privacy Policy affirms your consent to the sharing of your child’s data that may occur if your child utilizes certain communication functionalities on PlayStation devices such as PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita systems.
• New terms that explain the location-based services offered through the PlayStation Vita system. For parents of minor, subaccount holders your reacceptance of the Terms of Service and User Agreement and Privacy Policy affirms your consent to your subaccount holder’s user of these services on the PlayStation Vita system.
• A description of our “What’s New” section, which provides topical information about our services and advertisements.
• Information about pre-ordering content.
• The name of your “PlayStation Network account” is changing to a “Sony Entertainment Network account.”

Dear (User)

On February 8, 2012, your “PlayStation®Network account” will be renamed a “Sony Entertainment Network account” or a “SEN account” in conjunction with Sony Computer Entertainment’s PlayStation®3 system software and PlayStation®Vita system software updates. (Note, this change will not be applied to the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system at this time.)

For general purposes, this account change is a change in name only. Your username or password will not change, nor are we asking you to change them. In accordance with this transition, some necessary naming changes will be made to the TOS and Privacy Policy.

This transition is based on Sony’s goal to enhance its unique digital entertainment offering. As a series of these activities Sony started last September, PlayStation®Network will be aligned with “Sony Entertainment Network.” This helps us get closer to our goal of establishing a global comprehensive network platform of services across games, movies, music and more, all accessible from one convenient account.

Thank you for your continued loyalty and support during this transition.

Sincerely,
The Sony Entertainment Network Team

Barone Firenze / Shutterstock.com

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Sony Computer Entertainment America today announced software launch details for the highly anticipated PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) handheld entertainment system, which will boast the biggest and best launch-lineup across the history of PlayStation platforms.

PS Vita will offer the most popular franchises in gaming along with entirely new titles – all built from the ground up to take advantage of PS Vita and the unique ways it enables gamers to play. The PS Vita platform has the full development support of the gaming industry, including SCE Worldwide Studios and all third-party publishers, who are combining to deliver 25 titles on day one.

First-party launch titles will include ‘Escape Plan,’ ‘Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational,’ ‘Little Deviants,’ ‘ModNation Racers: Road Trip,’ ‘Uncharted: Golden Abyss,’ and ‘wipEout 2048.’ Key launch-titles from third-party partners will include ‘EA Sports FIFA Soccer’ (Electronic Arts), ‘Lumines Electronic Symphony’ (Ubisoft), ‘Touch My Katamari’ (Namco Bandai Games America), ‘Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3’ (Capcom Entertainment) and ‘Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition’ (Sega of America).

Pricing for all software will range between $9.99- $49.99 (MSRP). Software titles will be available via PS Vita game-cards at retail stores or digitally via PlayStation Network. In addition, a select number of titles will be available exclusively on PlayStation Network.

“PlayStation Vita is the ultimate portable gaming device, offering all of the interface, controls and social connectivity that gamers have been dreaming about to deliver unsurpassed entertainment and completely new ways to play,” said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America. “PS Vita features the most extensive launch-lineup in PlayStation’s history, and there are more than 100 games in development, ensuring that PS Vita gamers will always have a steady stream of amazing titles at their fingertips.”

The gameplay experience on PS Vita is unmatched by any other mobile device in the market, providing new ways to interact through features such as its 5-inch OLED multi-touch screen and rear touch pad, dual analog sticks, dual cameras, and six-axis motion sensing system.

PS Vita will also interact with the PlayStation 3 (PS3) with compatible titles, offering multi-player gaming across both platforms and cloud-saving so consumers can play a game on one platform and pick up where they left off on the other.

PS Vita will draw consumers deeper into the gameplay experience by providing both 3G/Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi only models, enabling them to connect and play with the world around them, including their friends and other PS Vita owners. A variety of social networking and communications services such as Facebook, Flickr, foursquare, Skype and Twitter will be available on PS Vita.

PS Vita launches at major retailers in the United States and Canada on February 22, 2012. The Wi-Fi model will be available for $249.99 (MSRP), and the 3G/Wi-Fi model will be available in the United States for $299.99 (MSRP). Consumers who pre-order the PS Vita First Edition Bundle will be able to pick up their devices as early as February 15, 2012.

All first-party launch software-titles and a selection of peripherals and third-party games will be available that day to support the release of the pre-sale Bundle. Consumers who purchase PS Vita will also be able to experience Augmented Reality (AR) right out of the box. Included with every PS Vita system are six AR Play cards and one voucher to download a handful of augmented reality mini games via PlayStation Network.

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