The EU PlayStation Network Store will get an update this coming Wednesday night, instead of the usual Thursday afternoon update. Why you ask? Because that is when Sony is having their Press Conference at the Leipzig Games Convention. The update will contain a number of new trailers from the Games Convention, as well as the Folklore Demo, however, the demo will only be available for a limited time only.

The Folklore demo will only be available on the PSN Store for a limited time only, so be quick about downloading it. We are not entirely sure why it’s limited, but you have been warned. If you haven’t got a EU PlayStation Network account set up, then now is the time to do it.

[Via: PS3FanBoy]

According to PlayFrance, Sony is planning to release a second starter pack for the PlayStation 3 in Europe. The original starter pack comes with the PlayStation 3 Console, two SIXAXIS controllers, Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm. The new starter pack will contain the same content, however, the two free games will be replaced with Heavenly Sword and Formular 1. The second starter pack is scheduled for launch on September 19th 2007, retailing for EUR 599 (GBP 407).

Althought the news has not been confirmed by Sony, we antisipate more details to be revealed at next weeks Leipzig Games Convention in Germany.

[Via: PlayFrance]

The Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction demo has been completed for some time now, however, it will not see the light of day until closer to the launch of the game, which is on October 27th 2007. According to Jennifer Clark, Senior PR Manager, the demo will be available to download from the PlayStation Network Store just before the game launches. This is despite many complaints about the lack of content and playable demos on the PSN Store.

The release date for the demo has not been confirmed, but more details should be available soon.

[Via: PlayStation.Blog]

Three Speech has managed to get a hold of the UK release dates for Heavenly Sword, Folklore, Warhawk and Lair. The European release dates were announced earlier during the week, but do not reflect the new dates by Three Speech. According to Three Speech, the PlayStation Network version of Warhawk will be released on August 28th 2007, while the retail version will hit shops a month later on September 21st 2007.

Heavenly Sword will launch on September 14th 2007, while Lair will launch on October 26th 2007. The release date for Lair is not yet official to expect some changes. The same goes for Folklore, which is expected to launch on October 12th 2007. The PSN version of Warhawk will cost GBP 19.99, while the retail version together with the bluetooth headset will retail for GBP 39.99.

[Via: Three Speech]

Team M33 have updated their Custom Firmware to version 3. This time, a significant number of features have been added to the firmware including access to flash2 and flash3, as well as the use of popsloader from firmware 3.30. Check out the full change log below.

Changes:

• Added more speeds: 75 and 133.
• Added flash2 and flash3 access via USB to recovery
• Added a setting in recovery to change the USB device to which XMB will connect.
• Added "vshmenu", which is a menu that will appear when HOME is pressed in the XMB.
• Added UMD video ISO support.

Changes in popsloader:

• Support for 3.30 firmware. Instructions are same as in previous release, except 3.30
  firmware did not have libpspvmc.prx, so just ignore that file.
  • Warning: There is an incompatibility between 3.30 savedata and later ones. If a savedata exists from 3.40+, the emulator will freeze.

Some notes about the usage of vshmenu, and umd video isos:

• vshmenu cannot be loaded when the browser is active. If you exit the browser, the firmware will
  still keep it in memory until you enter other area of xmb, until you do so, you will not be able
  to access vshmenu again either.
• video isos and the game isos show in xmb use the same core. Due to this, when you enter in game
  menu and there is some iso, if a video iso was currently mounted, it will automatically be unmounted.
• CSO format is not supported for video ISOS.
• UMD audio ISOs are theoretically supported, but not tested.

[Download Custom Firmware 3.53 M33 v3]

If you are looking forward to getting your hands on Jeanne D’Arc, the upcoming RPG about Joan of Arc, then you may be happy to hear that Sony is giving away a demo UMD of the game for free. Sony did a similar promotion in Japan before Jeanne D’Arc was released. If you are interested in getting your hands on the demo, you will find the link below.

Follow the link below and click on the “Get a free UMD Demo” link. Jeanne D’Arc is a tactical RPG, with similar gameplay to Final Fantasy Tactics.

[Get Jeanne D’Arc Demo]

[Via: Jeanne D’Arc Website]

Ubisoft’s upcoming shooter Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 has finally gone “gold” for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, and are now locked and loaded for their anticipated August 21 release date. The game was originally slated for a spring 2007 release, but was delayed by Ubisoft back in January.

Both the PS3 and PSP versions of GRAW2 was developed by Red Storm Entertainment. The PS3 version willr retail for $59.99 (GBP 30, EUR 45) and the PSP version will retail for $39.99 (GBP 20, EUR 30). The demo is available on the PlayStation Network Store so why not check it out until the game hits the shops.

[Via: GameSpot]

This week’s set of updates for the UK PlayStation Store is even smaller than that of last week, but thankfully a new demo has been added. The second installment to the “making of” and “animation” videos for Heavenly Sword has also been uploaded. A playable demo of Armored Core 4 has been added, which has already been available on the US PSN store for sometime. The US, on the other had, has several new additions to the PlayStation Store including two new playable demos.

UK Update List:

• Playable Demos
  • Armored Core 4
• Game Videos/Trailers
  • Heavenly Sword Anime No. 2
  • Heavenly Sword “Making Of” No.

US Update List:

• Playable Demos
  • DIRT
  • NCAA Football 2008
• Game Videos/Trailers
  • Heavenly Sword Anime No. 2
  • Heavenly Sword “Making Of” No. 2
  • Folklore “A Tale of Two Strangers” Trailer
  • Timeshift Trailer
• Movie Trailers
  • The Brothers Solomon Red Band
  • WALL-E
  • The Lives of Others
• Wallpaper
  • Heavenly Sword Anime No. 2 Wallpaper
  • Blast Factir Advanced Research Wallpaper 1 and 2

[Originally Posted On: 16/08/07 06:53 PM]

The release dates for several exclusive first-party PlayStation 3 titles have been revealed for Europe. The release dates for Lair, Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, Eye of Judgement, Folklore have all been confirmed by Sony. Warhawk will not be released on the same date as the US, but will instead launch on September 12th as reported earlier.See the list of release dates below.

• September 12th 2007 – Warhawk (Incl. Headset Bundle)
• September 19th 2007 – Heavenly Sword
• October 10th 2007 – Folklore
• October 24th 2007 – Lair
• October 24th 2007 – The Eye of Judgement
• October – SingStar