Playstation Day. Tomorrow. London.  Be there or be round.  Sadly we weren’t invited, but much of the top tier European press will be getting a lucky look at Playstation’s exclusive 2008 titles.  Resistance 2 is confirmed, and the slight promise of a new Killzone 2 demo should make tomorrow a day to remember.

The potential was always there for a storm, with Sony’s new worldwide president Kaz Hirai flying into the capital to give a keynote speech.  Appearances of Playstation Home, Play TV and even LittleBigPlanet are expected, but further surprises might be waiting. 

Insomniac have confirmed the first playable demo of Resistance 2, but only excited press previews and screenshots will exit closed doors.  The first gameplay footage will have to wait until June 13th. However, everything appears to be set for Resistance 2 to impress tomorrow, as expressed by Insomniac’s James Stevenson on Neogaf:

We are off to dinner, but rehearsals went well, Resistance 2 is up and running on its three kiosks and we had a nice game going with the boys in Burbank.

It’s Insomniac’s podcast host who also lifts the curtains on a possible Killzone 2 showing.  In response to a pessimistic neogaffer who said Killzone 2 won’t make an appearance tomorrow, James Stevenson simply says:

Wrong.

Consider us intrigued. So what do we get out of all this?  Well, tomorrow will see an early European Playstation Store update, with a HAZE demo at top billing.  That’s not all.  Two more demo’s, The Bourne Conspiracy and Race Driver: GRid, will take their place on the store this Thursday, along with footage from tomorrow’s event. Interest rising…

*Update* - Here’s the list of content to be shown at Sony’s Playstation day held in London’s O2 venue (the failed Millennium Dome to you and me):

Music:
* Guitar Hero 3
* SingStar PS3 Vol. 2
* SingStar Summer Party
* Dancing Stage Supernova 2
* Movement

Film and Art:
* Blu-ray / BD Live – Sphe
* Lego Batman
* Wall-E
* Kung Fu Panda
* Ghostbusters
* Siren: Blood Curse
* Photo Application
* Movement
* Sponsorships – FWIC Video

Travel:
* Go! Explore
* PlayTV – PSP
* Buzz!: The Master Quiz
* Everybody’s Golf 2
* Secret Agent Clank
* Echochrome
* Crisis Core
* Space Invaders Extreme

Sports:
* MotorStorm Pacific Rift
* Everybody’s Golf: World Tour
* GT5 Prologue
* Euro 2008
* Beijing Olympics
* High Velocity Bowling
* WipEout HD

Friends and Family:
* Buzz!: Quiz TV
* Buzz!: Master Quiz
* EyeToy: Pom Pom Party
* EyeToy: Heroes
* PlayTV
* Echochrome
* Go! Messenger / Skype
* Buzz! Junior Jungle Party
* Elefunk
* PixelJunk Eden
* PlayStation Network
* Folding@Home

Creation:
* LittleBigPlanet
* My SingStar Online
* PlayStation Eye

Intense Action:
* Killzone 2
* Mirror’s Edge
* Super Stardust HD Team

Clan:
* Resistance 2
* SOCOM Confrontation
* Haze
* Warhawk Operation: Broken Mirror
* PlayStation Home

Source: Eurogamer

Available at Target!

Gaming website Playfuls.com reported earlier today that in light of Fox’s recent Mass Effect debacle, US retailer Target is pulling the game off of shelves. They didn’t cite any sources, so I decided to make a few phone calls to see what I could dig up.

I called two Target stores in California, one in Santa Rosa (near where I live) and one in Berkeley, and spoke to people in electronics who had heard nothing about it. I then phoned the other end of the country, a Miami, Florida Target, and the employees at that store hadn’t heard anything either. Finally, I checked Target.com and found that they still have the game available as well, with no mention of it going anywhere.

Unless somebody else can prove otherwise, I think it’s safe to say that this rumor is false. That’s good to hear, as the last thing we need is for Target to jump on board this misinformed Mass Effect Porno bandwagon.

Source: Playfuls.com

The origin of this rumor stems from a post on EvilAvatar.com by Dr. Finger, a prominent member of the community. Dr. Finger claims that he spoke to a “contact” of his at his local Target store. Apparently, an internal memo was released stating that all Target stores are to stop selling Manhunt 2, and that any copies the store has are to be returned to Take 2.

This announcement may have everything to do with the large amount of negative press given to the Rockstar title earlier this week. If the rumor is proven true, the question we all have on our minds is, will other department store chains follow?

With the game receiving mixed reviews, Target may have seen this an opportunity to increase publicity by stirring up the pot. It’s interesting to note that they have never pulled any title from the Grand Theft Auto series, even though publicity was markedly worse.

Below is the post by Dr. Fingers via EvilAvatar.com.

I just spoke to a contact at my local Target store, who informed me of an interesting internal memo. Apparently all Target stores are to stop selling Manhunt 2, going so far as to tell managers to refuse shipments of the title for all systems, with Take 2 agreeing to take back all unopened copies of the game.

Why is this action being taken? The extreme violence in the game is the given reason, but my contact (an employee but not a manager) was told that it was due in greater part to the unfavorable coverage the game got in the national press the last several days. Target stores had been selling the game since it’s launch, but it was only today that they were told to pull the product and refuse further shipments.

The listing for Manhunt 2 on the Target website shows that the item is “not available in stores.”

I’ve spoken to employees of several other large retailers (Best Buy, Gamestop and Circuit City) and none of them are, at this time, taking similar actions.

Source: EvilAvatar.com