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Sony talked about their future plans for the PlayStation Network in their latest investor meeting, with the biggest news undoubtedly being the company’s intention to put a “new revenue stream from subscription” into effect.

A subscription model. That sounds familiar now doesn’t it? Is it the end of the world for free loading PSN hippies? I don’t think so, but while I firmly believe that PlayStation Network users will still get more for free than Microsoft’s Xbox Live Silver members, I’m willing to bet that certain currently enjoyed free features will eventually phase themselves into the “premium” package right before our eyes. Read more…

Just one day after the Sony next-gen console celebrates it’s third birthday, the PlayStation 3 gets firmware update v3.10, a perfect compliment to half eaten ice cream cake.

The latest update contains the features we reported on just a few days ago, most notably the addition of Facebook and a new gamercard customization option. Feel free to examine the full press release below. Read more…

Several leaked interface images surfaced one the web a few days ago depicting new gamercard customization and Facebook integration for the PlayStation 3 console. Without official word from Sony, it was easy to believe that they were nothing more than well done Photoshop job. Well, that official word came today. As part of an announcement on their Official PlayStation blog, Sony confirmed that the features listed above will be a part of their upcoming v3.10 update.

Feature fanatics may be a tad upset to find that the Facebook integration won’t have all the bells and whistles out the gate, as the blog explains that its initial push will allow PlayStation owners to share trophy achievements as well as their recent PlayStation Network purchases with other Facebook friends, with future updates allowing for a more complete Facebook experience down the road.

No release date information has been announced for the v3.10 update, but we’ll keep you posted as soon as we know more. In the mean time, check out the walkthrough video below for a first look at these new features. Read more…

Some may knock the cartoony style of Madden NFL Arcade, but as a kid that grew up playing NBA Jam in the arcades, I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on Madden Arcade. The game looks fun as hell and I welcome a break from the “just how realistic can we make things look” next gen graphics conga line. Read more…

Fans of Activision’s Action/RPG Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 will be happy to know that new DLC content is out today on both the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Sony PlayStation 3. The download will unlock five new characters; Magneto, Carnage, Cable, Black Panther and Juggernaut (previously only available with pre-orders). It will also open up a new Civil War storyline with four challenge missions.

The cost of the update will run 800 MS points (about $10) on Xbox LIVE and $9.99 on the PlayStation Network. Full press release available below. Read more…

Destructoid have noticed this post on NeoGaf detailing a leaked document from SEGA. The document was leaked and includes a lot of goodies. The biggest piece of gossip is that “SCEA wants to sell all PS2 titles on PSN (GTA Vice City/Sonic/etc)”. Similarly, “If [SEGA] provide a list of DC (Dreamcast) titles SCEA will let us know which ones they’re interested in having exclusively.”

Yes, you may now say “wow, I hope this is real”. Journalist Jim Sterling notes that he “tried the download link and it certainly comes from Sega’s own PR site,” so this could be legit. I certainly hope so. Go to the links to see the full list, or hit the jump. Your choice.

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There have been rumors abound about some sort of Ghostbusters content in LittleBigPlanet ever since the jerks over at the Playstation.blog started tugging at our heart strings and teasing potential Ghostbusters content in the game. While I don’t actually own LittleBigPlanet (or for that matter, a Playstation 3) I’ve been waiting to see what Media Molecule and Sony have been holding back in the game. Today, the Playstation.blog finally revealed what we knew the entire time- that Ghostbusters costumes were indeed coming to LittleBigPlanet.

Some of you will be disappointed to learn that there aren’t any special levels or packs with this DLC, other than the costumes themselves. You can grab each costume individually for $1.99 off of the Playstation Network, or if bundlin’ makes you feel good, you can go for the full 4-pack of costumes for $5.99, and save yourself a Jefferson.

[via Destructoid]

DICE is currently performing maintenance on the soldier profiles in the recently released Battlefield 1943, so you may have noticed that your stats have been reset. Not to worry, my friends, as this is temporary. Read more…

Battlefield 1943 hit XBLA and PSN this past Wednesday with three maps – Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, and Wake Island. When the global kill count on one of the services reaches 43 million, a fourth map, Coral Sea, will be unlocked for that service. While 43 million is quite a bit of kills, it’s coming faster than you think. Read more…

In an interview with Kombo, PopCap Games’ PR director Garth Chouteau has noted that the highly acclaimed Plants vs. Zombies will follow its cousin Peggle onto other platforms: XBLA, PSN- even the DS and iPhone. Chouteau is quoted by Kombo on the matter:

…Peggle for XBLA is a good example of a game that we took that was popular on the PC and we spent probably twice as long as anyone else would have figuring how to make that game really good for Xbox and Xbox Live Arcade, and I think you will see that with Plants Vs. Zombies–I don’t know the exact order in which that game will make its way onto other platforms, but it’s certainly been successful enough, quickly enough, that we’re looking at other platforms and deciding where we’ll take that game next…

Since PvZ was such a success, both commercially and critically, it can only be good news that it can come to a bigger audience. I only hope that they make a DS version as good as Peggle DS.

Destructoid reports that the full XBLA release of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 will happen on none other than July 29, 2009. The PSN release is not known at this point, although it is likely to be a very similar date. The game is also set to be sold at a price of 1200 MS Funbux™, and likely a similar price on the PSN but in actual Dollars/Pounds/Euros/Yen/Your currency.

I remember seeing this game in the shops when I was a kid. At the time, I wanted to buy it because it had Marvel characters in it. Now, I want to buy MvC2 because it has Capcom characters in it. Time changes things, especially the relative coolness of Ryu in my mind.

The Punisher: No Mercy will be available on the PlayStation Store on July 2nd for $10. I really hope there’s a demo. I’m interested because of my love for The Punisher, but I also have a love/hate relationship with first-person shooters. When done right, it’s one of my favorite genres, but more often than not it’s done wrong.

*gasp* Man, that title is a mouthful.

The second Call of Duty: World at War (seriously, I refuse to call it Call of Duty 5.) map pack just hit, and while presumably thousands of people are having fun with it right now, you might’ve just hoped it would hit the proverbial online bargain bin soon enough, even though it’s a measly $10. Well, now you don’t have to, because we at Ripten are giving away 5 PS3 codes and 5 Xbox 360 codes for the map pack.

Of course, we can’t just give them to you. That would be crazy! No siree- but you can hit the jump to see what you can do to win a code.

(header image by AgentMOO. Play his game, yo!)
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Joystiq reports that the classic PS1 title Metal Gear Solid is coming to the PlayStation Network as a downloadable title. The game will be coming to the North American PSN on June 18 for just $9.99, but there’s no word on the European release just yet. Since Metal Gear Solid is pretty much the best game that was ever released for the PS1, this is a great chance for those of us who foolishly sold their MGS1 disc in their naive youth. Of course, that doesn’t apply to me. I live in Europe.

After news that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was being released on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network, resale values of the original game for PS2, Dreamcast, and Xbox plummeted. The original release is one of the most expensive and sought-after games for collectors and is hailed by many to be one of the best fighting games ever released.

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For a couple of years now, we’ve been hearing rumors of Capcom and Marvel rereleasing Marvel vs. Capcom 2 online, but had never heard anything substantial, due to Capcom keeping a tight leash on any info they had. Well too bad, Capcom- an hour ago, in one fell swoop, Marvel announced Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes for XBLA and PSN, and even post a trailer to go with it.

While the original Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for the Xbox and Dreamcast are considered rare because of their extremely limited print- even used copies in stores can run you upwards of $80- fans have been waiting for a reprint of the game for five years. As one of the most popular crossover fighting series of all time, people have even been holding their breath for a MvC3 announcement, even though Capcom has promptly shot down those dreams. Well they can’t shoot down this one- Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is back this summer, with the same menus, characters, fighting styles, that so many of us maybe a few of us know and love.

You’ve probably already seen the Killzone 2 commercial, whether it’s on the internet or on TV, where the course of a bullet is followed closely throughout a warzone. If you haven’t, you can see it after the jump. Guerilla Games released a brand new trailer for the game on the PSN that allows you to move the camera around as the bullet moves, allowing you to see new angles of the trailer in gorgeous high-def.

This is all done easily because the trailer was made in 3D using the Killzone 2 engine. The “4D” trailer is also much longer than the normal Behind The Bullet trailer that airs on television, and it allows you to actually unlock audio commentary from the Killzone 2 team and screw around with visual filters that affect the way the video plays. You can see the brand new 4D commercial on the Playstation Network now. Read more…

I often lay awake at night, wishing that some independent developer would make a HD 3D platformer with a main character that looks like a mix between Mega Man, Astroboy, and Viewtiful Joe, and also explodes.True story. Thanks to Curve Studios’s Explodemon!, I’ll be able to get those 8 hours of sleep a day I so desperately need.

Explodemon! is a platformer by the guys that made the Buzz! Quiz series, and from the looks of it, there is definitely some Mega Man inspiration going on here. Though the game looks like another 3D platformer, it clearly has some boss fights, which are set up in the same way that the Mega Man X series’s fights are. It seems weird that this game is releasing on WiiWare, PC, and PSN, but not XBLA. If I can recall, this is the first time XBLA has been shunned in favor of both WiiWare and PSN.

Explodemon! is definately a game I’m going to be following, because it looks really interesting, in a retro, Japanese homage kind of way. The game has no set date, but Curve Studios has assured us it will be released this year.

Source: Joystiq

Killzone 2 has a wonderful online multiplayer experience and like most popular online shooters, there are always going to be those who want to cheat and glitch. Well, according to Official Killzone 2 Twitter page, developer Guerrilla Games is fed up with all the cheating. Read more…

Shacknews reports that Insomniac have announced a new addition to the Ratchet and Clank series on the PS3, entitled “A Crack in Time”. The title will pick up where Quest for Booty left off. There are no further details at the moment, but assume that it will launch on the PSN for about $15 in the US, and that it will answer some questions you might have been left with at the end of the previous game.

Likely to be another outstanding game, but if it follows the PS3 original closely enough, it might be ruined for me by a spawn-point famine. It’s increasingly frustrating getting three-quarters of the way through a level, only to die, and have to do the whole thing again. It might have been acceptable back in the day, but it’s just archaic now. Let’s hope they fix it, eh?