Latest Features
First Impressions Binary Domain on PlayStation 3
Sometimes you go into a video game demonstration with remarkably low expectations
For us, Binary Domain was one of those games. Which is strange given that it's the latest project from the studio behind the Yakuza titles — one of our favourite PlayStation franchises of all time. While Binary Domain has shown flashes of brilliance in its underlying...
First Impressions Starhawk on PlayStation 3
Starhawk is a dense experience that demands more time than our demo allowed
By the end of our short hands-on, we were flying over a huge changing battlefield, tailing enemy Warhawks desperately trying to assume a lock-on. Unfortunately, we didn't get enough time with the game to truly get a grasp on how the gameplay will be structured. Playing as...
First Impressions House of the Dead: Overkill - Extended Cut
Goregasmic
It's no surprise to see House of the Dead: Overkill making the leap to PlayStation Move. Originally developed for Nintendo Wii, Headstrong Games' title seemed like an ideal candidate for a port from the second that PlayStation Move was announced, following similar arcade shooter efforts such as EA's Dead Space: Extraction. What is still...
First Impressions GoldenEye 007: Reloaded on PlayStation 3
After naming GoldenEye 007: Reloaded as one of our most anticipated PlayStation 3 games of the year, we couldn't help but feel disappointed by our time with the game's demo
It felt early. Really early. Borderline broken in fact. After restarting our demo — because a bit of geometry was obtruding our entry into a vent — we decided to restart the...
First Impressions HOTD: Overkill - Extended Cut on PS3
Consider this less of a preview and more of a confirmation; House Of The Dead: Overkill - Extended Cut is exactly what you'd expect it to be
We got to check out the game's Hospital stage and giggled our through the demo as the game's sheer stupidity resurfaced itself. The PlayStation Move controller works perfectly, and the experience is enhanced by...
Features Move's First Year - Part One
Its first four months
As PlayStation Move celebrates its first birthday this month, it is an apt time to look back at our year of content and share with you the news and reviews that were a highlight of Move’s year. Starting with Part One of this ‘Year in Review’, we look at the months from its September launch release through to Christmas...
Feature Competition: Win El Shaddai: Ascension Of The Metatron on PlayStation 3!
To celebrate the European release of El Shaddai: Ascension Of The Metatron, we've got five copies of Ignition's Biblical action game to give-away
Oooh, exciting. El Shaddai: Ascension Of The Metatron is a third-person action game with platforming elements. The game is defined by it's imaginitive art-style, and follows the narrative of Enoch — a...
Feature Tokyo Game Show 2011: The PlayStation Headlines So Far
The Tokyo Game Show is go, with Sony already holding its big coming out party
The general consensus from the video game community was one of disappointment — while Sony's been announcing PlayStation Vita titles left right and centre for the past couple of months, the lack of any real megatons was a real blow. Many were expecting Monster Hunter,...
There was a point in the Nintendo Wii's lifespan where the console was dominating the sales charts but disappointing hardcore gamers
Long-time Nintendo fans were tired of Wii Fit and Wii Play, they wanted something meatier to get their teeth into. But with developers ploughing the majority of their resources into the more traditional XBOX 360 and...
One of the few downsides of writing about PlayStation games day-in-day-out is that we rarely get time to experience the content on other platforms
While we keep up to date with the release schedule and details of competitive platforms, we never really get the time to play them any more. When your work includes knowing everything there is to know...
First Impressions Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One on PlayStation 3
Here's what we think.
Topping the brilliant Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time was always going to be a challenge for Insomniac Games. The developer's previous entry in its highly acclaimed platforming franchise neared perfection in terms of level variety, design, and combat. Short of sprucing up the graphics and adding more of the same, it's...
Featuring one of the most influential survival horror games of all time, it's hard not to include the Silent Hill HD Collection on our list of most anticipated overlooked Holiday games
There are a number of high-definition remakes coming to the PlayStation 3 this year; most of them from big-name franchises. But despite the popularity (and quality)...
It's curious isn't it: you long for a good co-operative platformer and two come along at once
We've only just finished championing Sony and Insomniac's four-player opus Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, and now we're moving directly onto Rayman Origins. Ubisoft's delightfully French platformer series was iconic on the original PlayStation, but has...
In at number five...
Earlier in the year we took a look at our top-five most anticipated PlayStation games of Holiday 2011. Since the beginning of time (sort of!) developers and publishers have used the run-up to Christmas to release their very best games. This year the charts are set to be dominated by some monstrous titles, such as Uncharted 3:...
Outperforming the Sharp Shooter?
Has there ever been a time in your life when you thought, ‘I could do or make that better’? But what do we normally do at this point? We go on with our lives, as the thought passes on and whatever it was we thought we could do better... well, it just never comes to be. But what would happen if you actually tried...
First Impressions Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest on PS3
Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest is Sports Champions
Make no mistake, this is a brand new PlayStation Move-exclusive title with its own characters and narrative, but at its core it's built upon the same fundamentals that developer Zindagi Games founded in last year's motion controlled sports compilation. Our demo opens in a vast training arena. It's...
Feature Sony Bullish After Another Promising GamesCom -- 'Twiggy' The Push Square Opinionator
Each year, the hardcore video game community ignites with debates over which platform holder 'won' E3
It's a topic that's been adopted by industry analysts and high-profile journalists, with fictional grades awarded to the manufacturers with the most surprises and best content. But GamesCom — now the world's largest video game event — has a very...
First Impressions Resistance 3 Multiplayer Beta on PlayStation 3
The most striking thing about Resistance 3 is the way it looks
Insomniac's poured love into every facet of the game's presentation; from the surprisingly minimalistic hand-drawn menu back-drops, to the slick and industrial user-interface — the game's presentation is lavish. We'd read some criticism of the game's visuals prior to going hands-on...
Talking Point Could Vita's Delay Have Beneficial Results?
Part three: The Plus Points
We’ve been discussing Vita’s delay here at VitaGamr with our previous Talking Points: Why PlayStation Push Vita to 2012? and How Much Will Missing Christmas Hurt Vita? articles, but there's another side of this debate: could there be any benefits to Vita being delayed to 2012? It’s quite obvious that Vita will miss...
Feature PlayStation At GamesCom 2011: The PushSquare Round-Up
Phew
Thus concludes another bonkers day in PlayStation land, and we're sure the announcements won't stop coming as GamesCom fever takes hold over the course of the week. Sony's GamesCom press conference was, all told, a fairly muted affair with not an enormous number of huge announcements to shout about. But despite the lack of mind-shattering...
Feature What Is Sony Going To Announce At GamesCom 2011? -- 'Twiggy' The Push Square Opinionator
Sony always has a big presence at GamesCom in Cologne
In 2009 it used the European show to reveal the PlayStation 3 Slim. And last year it made some huge software announcements: Virtua Tennis 4, Resistance 3 and Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One all got their debuts at the German event. But what can we expect from this year's show? Plenty of...
First Impressions Driver: San Francisco on PlayStation 3 Demo
It's the littlest things that make Driver: San Francisco fun
From the wah-pedal infused soundtrack, through to the rear-wheel camera angles, it's clear that Ubisoft Reflections has spent a lot of time analysing classic seventies car chases during the development of the game. Driver: San Francisco promises the "ultimate car chase...
Talking Point How Much Will Missing Christmas Hurt Vita?
Part two: The Risk
To say that Nintendo has pretty much dominated the portable gaming market for the better part of two decades would be a bit of an understatement. Its Game Boy line of systems sold millions upon millions of units, and Nintendo DS became the best-selling portable console of all time. So it would be easy to assume that the follow-up...
Talking Point Why Push PlayStation Vita to 2012?
Part one: Wii are watching U
The sound of thousands of shattered Christmas wishes echoed across the globe last week, as Sony revealed that PS Vita won't reach North America and Europe until 2012. The company maintained all along that the system would launch in the "global market" by the end of 2011, technically exonerating as PS Vita will release in...
We always knew it was a likely scenario, but we chose to believe otherwise
Sony never officially said the PlayStation Vita would get a worldwide launch this year, only ever really committing to a Japanese launch. "Phased global rollout" was the textbook buzzword Sony used. But we believed because it made sense. How could Sony not put the...
Feature PlayStation Vita Launching 2012 in Europe and North America
Japan in 2011
Bad news everyone — PlayStation Vita will miss 2011 in Europe and America. Sony Computer Entertainment vice president Kaz Hirai made the pronouncement minutes ago. The console will still make it to Japan this year, however. Hirai didn't go into much detail about the reason for the delay, but did say that it was to make sure the...
Talking Point Does PlayStation Vita Have Nintendo Worried?
The portable gaming war is about to heat up
Very seldom do you see a company like Nintendo drop the price of its brand new console by $80 less than 6 months after release, but with sales of the system lagging over the past few months Nintendo's taken the drastic measure. On 27th July, Nintendo announced that 3DS will drop to $169.99 in North...
Feature Learn All About Vita's Near, Party, LiveArea and Activity
Wireless functions explained
It's all well and good being able to play Vita games on your own, but the machine is designed to help you connect with other users too, whether you know it or not. Sony's R&D man Phil Rogers explained the machine's capabilities at the recent Develop conference, detailing the console's LiveArea, Party, Near and...
First Impressions Catherine on PlayStation 3 Demo
Video games can be quite immature
Even when they come attached with mature age ratings, the content inside can often feel like the opposite. Enormous guns, vats of gore and over-sized breasts are not necessarily indicative of what it means to be mature, in fact they are the antithesis. Few games capture the essence of adulthood. For all its faults,...
Feature Capcom COO: Monster Hunter Vita Has To Happen
Good news all around
One game made the PSP a success in Japan: Monster Hunter. With series sales in the tens of millions, it proved the system had a lot to offer and became a genuine phenomenon. Capcom would be foolish not to bring the series to Vita of course, and chief operating officer David Reeves knows it. Speaking to MEGamers, Reeves spoke of...
On paper it sounds like a dream scenario: a future where Sony and Microsoft work together to build the ultimate system
Sony's knowledge of hardware architecture coupled with Microsoft's dominance in the software sector. Sony's outstanding first-party output supported by Microsoft's (supposedly) superior networking talents. Combining both Sony and...
Rolling out the red carpet
Welcome one and all to VitaGamr, the newest site in the Nlife network. We'll be bringing you all the PlayStation Vita news you need, with previews, reviews, interviews and features all covered too. You can join in the discussion in our PlayStation Vita forums, keep up to date with PlayStation Vita games coming soon and...
First Impressions Resistance 3
Fight the opposition
If the third entry in the Killzone series wasn’t enough sci-fi shooter action to keep you busy, then the upcoming release of Insomniac’s Resistance 3 is shaping up to Move you back into action in just a few short months. We recently survived some hands-on time with the Resistance 3 demo and have returned to give you some...
Feature What Do You Mean You're Not Playing SuperSonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars?
The online communities of PlayStation Network titles tend to dwindle quickly
But despite being released in the hazy days of 2008, the obnoxiously titled SuperSonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars is still brimming with activity. Given a new lease of life via PlayStation Plus this month, we hopped into the part-racer, part-soccer title to find...
Feature Let's Give EA Some Credit -- 'Twiggy' The Push Square Opinionator
Over the last three weeks I've played two niche games which I thoroughly enjoyed
Neither of the games were particularly successful at retail, but both enhanced my appreciation of EA as a publisher. Alice: Madness Returns was scorned for being derivative and classical in design, while Shadows Of The Damned was dismissed because of some poor gameplay...
First Impressions Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Beta on PS3
If the Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta has taught us anything, it's that we're terrible at Uncharted multiplayer
After a spot of beginner's luck — winning our first game of Free For All with a deftly timed melee swipe to the face — we've lingered in the loser's half of every game we've played. We're even rubbish at co-op, consecutively getting less...
Feature Push Square's Most Anticipated PlayStation Games Of Holiday 2011: Let's Recap
We counted down our most anticipated PlayStation games of the holiday season this week, touching on what we think are the five most intriguing titles of this year's end
Some of the games were included out of curiosity — Battlefield 3 and Sonic Generations might not be the best games of the year, but they are titles that we can't wait to play...
What other game could top our most anticipated list?
Naughty Dog's adventure opus, Uncharted, has gradually become one of the biggest franchises in video games The original launched to muted praise, but got a second wind of enthusiasm when it was one of the first retail titles to boast trophy support. For many, that patch introduced them to the...
Feature Push Square's Most Anticipated PlayStation Games Of Holiday 2011: #2 - Batman: Arkham City
Rocksteady came out of nowhere
Batman: Arkham Asylum looked promising pre-release, but no-one really expected it to be quite the critical and commercial smash-hit that it was. We vividly remember spending a few moments with the demo before our review copy showed up the following weekend, and recall being blown away by the game's moody tone. But...
Feature What's The Sodium 2 Space In PlayStation Home About?
Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that Sony's tweaked the splash-image for PlayStation Home
Previously touted as a virtual world for PlayStation 3 owners, Sony now refers to the service as a "social gaming network". It's a transformation we've witnessed take place over the past several months, and it concludes with the implementation of...
Feature Push Square's Most Anticipated PlayStation Games Of Holiday 2011: #3 - Battlefield 3
Our anticipation for DICE's Battlefield 3 is a more a situation of curiosity
There's a venom in the gaming community that's wishing Call Of Duty would fail. The philosophy behind that sentiment is clear: Call Of Duty is a mainstream hit and people really dislike that. Battlefield is a popular alternative — an underdog if you will. Everything we've...
Feature Push Square's Most Anticipated PlayStation Games Of Holiday 2011: #4 - Sonic Generations
Sonic's been stuck in a loop for years
We often feel like the franchise's heritage is a detriment to the series going forward. Those original SEGA Mega Drive titles were so important that it almost feels like nothing the publisher can do will please its fanbase anymore. But there is always the nostalgia card. Celebrating Sonic's 20th anniversary,...
Feature Push Square's Most Anticipated PlayStation Games Of Holiday 2011: #5 - Team ICO Collection
Look: we get it
You've spent the past few years learning about how pivotal the Team ICO titles are, but you've never actually experienced them for yourself. You've looked on eBay, but the original PS2 titles fetch a packet. You've all but given up. Thankfully HD remasters do serve a purpose after all. With Sony readying a bundle of both ICO and...
First Impressions PlayStation Vita
We take Vita for a spin
After staring at photos of Sony's upcoming Playstation Vita system for the past few months, there was a certain level of excited anticipation at the prospect of actually getting some hands-on time with the unit at this year's E3 show in Los Angeles. And while I had a wealth of questions about how the unit would feel and...
Feature Competition: Win A Copy Of Open Emotion's Ninjamurai For PlayStation Minis
Ninjamurai is yet another showcase of Open Emotion's gothic visual style, and a gratifying platformer to boot
We've teamed up with the Irish studio to give away ten copies of the slick new PlayStation Mini, and all you need to do to be in with a chance of winning the game is fill in a simple form. In our review of Ninjamurai, we described the game...
First Impressions ModNation Racers on PlayStation Vita
One of our favourite games on PlayStation 3 last year was ModNation Racers
In our line of work, we're constantly moving on to the next thing. But ModNation Racers was one of those titles that never fell too low down our stack of PS3 games. We'd pull it out every rainy Sunday or slow afternoon, just to browse the game's latest creations, or race a...
Feature Why PlayStation Vita Changed Perceptions At E3 2011 -- 'Twiggy' The Push Square Opinionator
Nintendo might have announced a new platform at E3, but if you listen to the buzz bubbling beneath the Wii U, you'll notice the perception of Sony's PlayStation Vita has changed dramatically
The spiritual successor to the PlayStation Portable already convinced some when it was announced earlier in the year. With dual analogue sticks, a gorgeous...
Feature Opinion: Quit Dallying And Put The PlayStation Vita On Store Shelves Already
Like many others, we came away from Sony's press conference grinning from ear-to-ear
Not only had Sony demonstrated a substantially more capable handheld platform than its peers, it also seemed to show a reasonable understanding of the current market-place. Handheld platforms need to both accompany the home-console experience, and differentiate from...
E3 2011 Sony Press Conference Recap, Here's What You Missed
While a little rough in places, Sony's E3 press conference was clearly all about strength in depth
After a fairly lop-sided showing from Microsoft earlier in the afternoon, Sony's showing felt much more balanced and pointed firmly towards the traditional gamer. While PlayStation Move was in full attendance, demonstrations ranged from the...
First Impressions Hustle Kings on NGP
No-one in their right mind should get excited over a pool game
Considering the NGP's stunning line-up, Hustle Kings should be the game that gets easily overlooked. But with the promise of a new interface and intriguing new multiplayer options, Hustle Kings is an important component of the NGP's line-up in spite of its dry subject matter. Touch...
