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PS Plus in Europe adds Battlefield 3, Saints Row: The Third in July

Battlefield 3 and Saints Row: The Third go marching onto PlayStation Plus in Europe next month, joining the continent's Instant Game Collection along with three others. Yup, marching was the common link we could find between two very different headliners, although we suppose destruction and loud noises would have worked too. The other PS3 game coming to the subscription service next month is Payday: The Heist, while Unit 13 and Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus are the duo hopping onto Vita.

Thankfully, there are no complicated schedules to mull over with July's changeover: all five games are to be added to the service on July 3. As ever, that means five games make their way out, all on July 3 too. Waving their goodbyes are Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Lord of the Rings: War in the North, The Cave, Rayman Origins, and Coconut Dodge.

YU-NAMA: The Puzzle - Minion mayhem on PlayStation Mobile

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go.

Review Snapshot  YUNAMA The Puzzle
"Yu-WHAT NOW?"

If you own a PSP, you may already be familiar with Acquire's RTS-like YU-NAMA series. NIS America released the first two entries stateside as Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! After Bruce Wayne's lawyers stepped in, the games were retitled What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? Sony further complicated matters when it later localized the third entry in the series as No Heroes Allowed!

At this point, it might just be easier to refer to the series by its Japanese title, Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida. Sony apparently agrees, as a PlayStation Mobile-exclusive spinoff game was recently released in North America as YU-NAMA: The Puzzle. It's a shame that the series can't seem to hold on to a single consistent title, as it means that PS Vita owners might miss out on one of PlayStation Mobile's best releases to date.

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PSN Tuesday: Dungeons & Dragons, Giana Sisters, Jak & Daxters


The weekly PSN update is live, unlocking Capcom's collected quest classics, Dungeons and Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara. Joining the 2D beat-em-up is Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, which finally makes its way to PSN after its Xbox Live Arcade debut back in March.

The Jak and Daxter Collection – which includes all three original PS2 games, Jak and Daxter, Jak 2 and Jak 3 – steps up on PS Vita today, along with Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two. Rounding out this week's update are free PS Plus games Saints Row: The Third and Gods Eater Burst.

For the full list of this week's PlayStation Network content, hit up the PlayStation Blog.

Watch Brian Provinciano's Retro City Rampage talk from GDC

Brian Provinciano's GDC talk now in The Vault
One of our favorite talks from GDC was Brian Provinciano's session, in which the indie developer discussed bringing his game, Retro City Rampage, to just about every platform known to man. It's a valuable talk for many reasons, giving a clear picture of what it's like working with The Big Three™ and the types of hurdles a determined indie developer will inevitably hit.

Provinciano's determination to port Grand Theft Auto 3 to NES hardware escalated into a love letter to video games and pop culture. While Provinciano hasn't announced his next project yet, he says we should expect more humorous open-world games.

Now Playing: June 17-23, 2013

Now Playing June 1723, 2013
Jump into the ultimate retro-style meta RPG experience this week with The Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition...

Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list:

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PS Plus freebies this week: Saints Row: The Third, Gods Eater Burst

When the PlayStation Store updates tomorrow, both Saints Row: The Third and Gods Eater Burst will be available as free downloads. Saints Row is a PS3 game, while Gods Eater Burst initially launched on PSP but is also compatible with PS Vita.

Last week at E3, Sony detailed plans for PlayStation Plus moving forward. While it's required for online multiplayer on PS4, it won't be necessary for video services or certain free-to-play games, and won't see a price increase during its transition to next-gen.

E3 2013 wrap-up with Joystiq and Engadget

E3 2013 is officially at an end. There was a lot to take in, so join Joystiq Reviews Editor Richard Mitchell and Engadget Senior Associate Editor Ben Gilbert as they do their best to encapsulate everything that went down this year.

They talk about the showings from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, as well as some of the industry trends that are cropping up and the Oculus Rift's surprising ability to crack through the jaded, cynical shell of game journalists.

We'll have more E3 previews and coverage over the next few days, so be sure to stay tuned to Joystiq!

OlliOlli funded by Sony, but Roll7 retains rights

OlliOlli funded by Sony, but Roll7 retains rights
A single demo station for OlliOlli, a minimalist side-scrolling skateboarder with surprisingly deep systems at its core, was tucked in the corner of PlayStation's massive presence in E3's West Hall. The PS Vita game melds arcade-style gameplay with just a tinge of true skateboarding physics – not as ridiculous as the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, and not as much a simulation as the Skate series.

Thomas Hegarty, company director at developer Roll7, gave me a quick primer before my demo. "We're a small team in London, UK – there's about seven of us. We've got a team of about four working on this game," Hegarty said. OlliOlli, though being funded by Sony, isn't a Pub Fund game, and Roll7 will publish and retain all rights.

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Sony's 'Best of 2012' E3 sale now live on PlayStation Network

Sony's 'Best of 2012' E3 sale now live on PlayStation Network
In an effort to tide players over until the games shown at this year's E3 are ready to be released, Sony has kicked off a sale for a handful of last year's best-reviewed games on the PlayStation Network.

Through next week, PSN users can take advantage of steep price drops for a selection of PS3 retail and PSN-exclusive games, including Tomb Raider, The Walking Dead, and Sound Shapes, among others. PlayStation Plus members get an additional discount on top of Sony's announced sale prices.

A full list of discounted games is after the break below.

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Runner 2 Vita release window narrowed to 'between mid-July and mid-August'

The PlayStation Vita version of Gaijin Games' Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien will block, spring, slide and/or jump its way onto PlayStation Network sometime between mid-July and mid-August, Gaijin Games designer Danny Johnson told us during this week's E3 in Los Angeles.

"At least that's the plan," Johnson said. "The version we have here [at E3] has been in development for a couple weeks – less than a month I think – so it's something that's fairly recent. We don't have the kinks quite worked out yet, but we wanted to show people that it's a thing."

We spent time with the demo on-hand, and found that it was identical to the console/PC versions, save for some framerate issues on certain levels. Johnson added that the framerate problem is one of the kinks Gaijin has yet to work out, but that the release build will be on par with the existing versions on terms of performance.

Breezing through Flower on PlayStation Vita


Having indirectly announced the PlayStation Vita version of thatgamecompany's Flower, the Indiecade booth at this year's E3 went on to hosting a playable version of the game. Flower on the smaller PlayStation suffers no loss in its vibrancy or serenity (provided you have some headphones handy), and it offers a new control scheme suited to the platform's touch screen.

Assassin's Creed 4 exclusive PlayStation content continues Aveline's story


We cornered (literally) Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag single-player game director Ashraf Ismail and asked him to detail the special Aveline content coming to PS3 and PS4 consoles. Ismail says the bonus PlayStation content will resume Aveline's story at the end of Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation and explains how Animus upgrades make it all possible.

Free-to-play RPG Destiny of Spirits hits Vita this year


SCE Japan Studio and Lumines developer Q Entertainment are teaming up to deliver the free-to-play RPG Destiny of Spirits to PS Vita owners later this year.

In Destiny of Spirits, players command an army of upgradable creatures in a series of turn-based battles. Spirit types are assigned elemental strengths and weaknesses, and players must build their teams strategically in order to penetrate enemy defenses. It's all a bit Pokemon-ish, in other words, though gameplay seems to focus exclusively on combat.

Destiny of Spirits also lets players trade spirits with friends, and daily "blessings" can boost the power of certain unit types in battle. Destiny of Spirits will hit the PlayStation Network in 2013.

Hotline Miami 2 is in some kind of playable form at E3

Hotline Miami 2 is in some kind of playable form at E3
Hotline Miami 2 is well on its way through the brutal development process, and it's playable at E3, a tweet from Devolver press agent Stephanie Schopp revealed.

We spoke about Hotline Miami 2 with developers Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin at GDC this year, and they said the sequel will focus on the emotional aspects of life in the 90s, with parallel plots spawned from events in the first game. Söderström and Wedin said Hotline Miami 2 was in development for PC, though it could ship same-day on Vita.

The main character in Hotline Miami, "Jacket," has a minor role in the sequel but won't be playable. Wedin called Hotline Miami 2 "the grand finale."

The Walking Dead 400 Days: Dissecting one of its stories at E3

The Walking Dead 400 Days Dissecting the drama at E3
The Walking Dead's next episode, 400 Days, stars five different characters in five separate stories of survival during the zombie apocalypse, all tied together by a geographical locale: A truck stop. These newcomers offer a fresh perspective on the events in season one of The Walking Dead, but overall, Telltale's tone hasn't changed much.

"Aw, fuck."

Those are the first words that Vince, one of the five characters highlighted in 400 Days, says. He spits the phrase into a dark alley as he searches for a spot to stash his gun, police sirens blaring from down the street. The player gets to decide where Vince throws the pistol – the garbage, his pants, the roof – but it doesn't appear to affect where he ends up: chained to the floor of a prison bus, with a heartbroken statutory rapist in front of him and a white-collar, former millionaire behind, all latched on the same line.

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Drink in these PlayStation 4 hardware photos

Drink in these PlayStation 4 hardware photos
We snagged some photos of the PlayStation 4 hardware and accessories at E3 2013. Just try to look at that console without thinking of "Also Sprach Zarathustra." Also, try not to look too close – it's pointy.

The Walking Dead 400 Days due in July for $5, choices carry over

The Walking Dead 400 Days due in July for $5
The new episode for Telltale's The Walking Dead, 400 Days, is set to launch in July for $5 on PC, Mac, XBLA, PSN and iOS. It'll hit Vita one month later, in August. That version will be bundled with the entire first season, for the first time ever on Vita.

That bundle is a good deal for fans of continuity – the decisions players made in the first season of The Walking Dead will show up in 400 Days, and the choices in 400 Days will impact season two, Telltale marketing man Richard Iggo said at E3. Players can start 400 Days without having played any of season one, but Iggo warned against it for those who want the full effect.

The DLC features five new characters in five separate stories, with a truck stop as their connective tissue. The truck stop is near events in season one of The Walking Dead, making it easy, geographically at least, to include previous player choices in 400 Days and beyond.

"Who knows, some of the characters that you meet might end up in season two," Iggo teased.

Sony throws down new games, new footage, and the gauntlet at E3 2013

Sony throws down new games, new footage, and the gauntlet at E3 2013
Sony finished day 0 of E3 2013 with a bang, following up on its PlayStation 4 console announcement from earlier this year with some more game teases and reveals, and then laying down one of the most memorable E3 moments ever, with Jack Tretton taking full advantage of the public discontent with Microsoft's Xbox One licensing policies.

Here's a post-conference rundown of what exactly took place at the Sony event last night.

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The Walking Dead 400 Days DLC has five stories of (maybe) survival

Image The Walking Dead "400 Days" DLC is on its way to XBLA, PSN (including Vita!), Steam, and iOS this summer. This fresh (see: not rotting) DLC includes the stories of five new survivors in the zombie apocalypse. Five times the fun! And death, probably. ... Continue Reading

Sony E3 press briefing wrap-up live with Joystiq and Engadget

Our News Editor Alexander Sliwinski and Engadget Senior Associate Editor Ben Gilbert have a difficult task. They have to break down every bombshell dropped during Sony's gasp-filled E3 press briefing. No draconian always-online policy? Used games that work just like ... used games? That price?

It's going to be a loaded conversation. Watch it all live, right here, after the break!

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