Sony has scheduled maintenance planned for this Thursday, beginning in the afternoon and lasting for 12 hours – well into most people’s gaming time. During the maintenance window, the PSN and other related services will be offline, but you will be able to continue to play online if you sign-on before maintenance begins.
Sony has released a new patch for the PlayStation Store app on the PS3, updating it to version v1.02. The patch is 26 MB in size but no official changelog was available. In our tests, the Store appears to be visibly faster to load and quicker to navigate, making it more responsive and easier to use.
This week, PlayStation Plus subscribers in North America get access to another free title as Darksiders joins the Instant Game Collection. The game joins NBA JAM: On Fire Edition and Mega Man 9 and 10, which were added to the Instant Game Collection earlier this month.
Sony executive Hiroshi Sakamoto has let slip that a PS4 announcement could happen as early as May. Sakamoto revealed, during an interview at CES earlier this week, that Sony are focusing on a major PlayStation announcement for E3 in June, before adding “an announcement can be by then, or even before, in May.”
Team17 have announced that top-down shooter Alien Breed is coming to the PS3 and PS Vita this February. The game will support cross-save and cross-platform co-op multiplayer. The game’s story mode will include 30 levels and enhanced visuals. Better still, the game will also include unlockable trophies.
Sony has announced another version of LittleBigPlanet 2 for the PS3 launching next month. Dubbed LittleBigPlanet 2: Extras Edition, the updated version of the game will include the original game and additional DLC content to help you get started, including the recently released LittleBigPlanet 2: Cross-Controller Pack.
The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, not to be confused with Telltale Game’s The Walking Dead series, has been given an official release date. The game will be launching this March in North America and Europe, according to the release data trailer revealed today.
A new report from IDC, which forecasts the computer games industry for 2012-2016 and published last month, indicated that the PS3 has shifted more units than the Xbox 360 as of December 2012. The report highlights that Sony has shipped 77 million consoles to date, compared to 76 million Xbox 360 consoles.
Sony has released the top 10 chart for the PlayStation Store in North America, revealing a number of re-entries to the chart, namely Journey taking the top spot once again. On the PS Vita, LittleBigPlanet PS Vita took the top stot, beating new comer Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD.
Sony has released a new trailer for upcoming PS3 and PS Vita title Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. The new trailer shows off new gameplay, specifically Sly and the team pulling off a heist on the “Turning Japanese” level in the game. The game will be releasing in February 5th 2013 in North America, and on March 27th 2013 in Europe.
