The Tester Episode 4 Available Today

Hey The Tester fans. It’s Thursday, which means the wait is over for the next episode of The Tester. Game developers know that the ability to thrive in almost any situation and use creativity to problem-solve are key qualities necessary to work in quality assurance. Testers must be able to adapt and create scenarios to fully analyze a game. So, what better way to take people out of their comfort zone and assess their creativity than with a surprise live-action role play? That’s right, things definitely get dramatic this week as the remaining 7 gamers use random props, their wits and sheer guts to entertain and impress the panel. And to help evaluate the performances, PlayStation Home ’s Katherine de Leon joins Brent Gocke and Hal Sparks on this week’s panel. Katherine oversees the creation of environments and virtual merchandise for the platform. An RPG veteran and former US Marine, she brings strong opinions and her d20 to this challenge. Don’t miss Episode 4. Thanks again for downloading and watching. Enjoy the show !

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The Tester Episode 4 Available Today

PlayStation Network Service Restored

We are aware that the internal clock functionality in the PS3 units other than the slim model, recognized the year 2010 as a leap year. Having the internal clock date change from February 29 to March 1 (both GMT), we have verified that the symptoms are now resolved and that users are able to use their PS3 normally. If the time displayed on the XMB is still incorrect, users are able to adjust time settings manually or via the internet. If we have new information, we will update you through the PlayStation.Blog or PlayStation.com . We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

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PlayStation Network Service Restored

Blade Kitten Coming to PSN this Spring

Hi I’m Steve Stamatiadis; you may know me as Creative Director and the guy behind some of our biggest titles like TY the Tasmanian Tiger series and the PS2 and PSP versions of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed . I’m also the creator and director of Krome Studios ’ new game, Blade Kitten , a brand new hi-def, high-action PS3 game coming to the PlayStation Network in the Spring. I’m sure all of you often get asked “WTF is a Blade Kitten?” I know I do all the time. No? Then I guess I should tell you the tale of a catgirl, her sword and a blobby alien critter thing. A sordid past. Sometime in the latter part of the 20th Century I was working on a bunch of ideas for comics and games. I’d start reusing elements that I thought were really cool, like alien species, characters, mecha, weapons, until eventually realizing I was creating a universe that they all shared. Then around 2001 – not long after we had started work on TY the Tasmanian Tiger — I found I had three different ideas that each had elements I liked but none had ALL the elements I wanted. One was too cartoony (a super powered anime schoolgirl), the other was too serious (Space Gladiators with guns) and the third was an aborted game project (a 60s stealth thief). What to do? Take all the best bits out and mix them all together into a series that I could have fun working on. Problem solved. So project “Kit-10” was born. It was a story about a female bounty hunter that had 10 different robot sidekicks to help her. One of the robots was a blade, the rest were just a bunch of dumb gimmicks that quickly fell by the wayside. But the cute girl with the big sword stuck and the title “Blade Kitten” came soon after. I was after something that was descriptive and rolled off the tongue like “Gun Ballet” but minus the gun… and the dancing. For me it harkens back to the era of comics, movies and games from when I was a kid; “Star Wars”, “Spider Man”, “Speed Racer”, “Space Invaders” – you have a fair idea what you’re in for. The “sounds-dumb-the-first-time-you-hear-them” kind of names that get stuck in your head. It was almost called “Blade Kitty” instead but that just sounded way too cutesy. Why is she a Kitty? Kit Ballard – I really wanted to make sure the stories screamed fantasy science fiction the first time you see them. The main character had to be some sort of alien, but not the bumpy forehead kind or the too weird to relate to kind. That’s why I decided on a cat girl (or Felion, as they’re known in the comic’s universe) because they’re still relatively normal looking, but you get odd ears on their head, right where everyone notices and you also get a cool tail bonus! Her hair is bright pink so that it stands out and echoes her vivacious attitude. We don’t get enough of that in games – things are usually “too beige” and grim. Most importantly, she’s a woman because its way, way cooler to see a girl beating up giant robots than it is to see a bald space marine beating up on robots. And so Kit Ballard, the Blade Kitten was born. As to her “pet” Skiffy – I wanted to give Kit some kind of cute mascot sidekick so that there’s always someone for her to interact with. Space is a big place and if you’ve ever done any travelling, you know it’s always more fun to have someone with you to talk about your shared experiences. Again to emphasize the science fiction aspect, the mascot had to be some kind of alien, also something that looked cute and cuddly when you glance at it, but when you get up close, it’s actually kind of icky. So Skiffy is a bunch of nice comforting shapes with odd proportions, like a giant head with far-apart eyes. The Blade – As they say on the internets: “Big sword is big.” It also free floats and has enough AI to be about as smart and aggressive as a pit bull. It’s there to be the tough edge to Kit’s character, the bite to her bark – wait, that’s a dog metaphor. Oops! Why does it float? Why not? We’ve had over 30 years of “laser swords,” so we felt it was time to bring on the free floating smart blades! The game that was a comic that was going to be a game. I always knew that I wanted to make a game out of the Blade Kitten stories when I started, but as we’d just found out, it’s really hard to launch a new game series. My cunning plan was to have something to back it up. I figured that comics would be a good way to build up the universe and show off the key features to potential game publishers later on. A webcomic turned out to be the path of least resistance to getting the story in front of people. And so I started the weekly job of writing and drawing a webcomic to sell a game. You can view it here . The comic was well received and ended up giving me a hundred-plus pages of comics, which meant hundreds of designs for world building when it came time to start the game. Ironically, I ended up telling a brand new part of the story for the game – one that adds to the mythos and fills in extra details in the comic storyline. That way you get some big surprises. Over the years, we’ve tried to start a Blade Kitten game project at Krome a few times, but as fate would have it, we were victims of our own success when bigger projects kept popping up. First in 2002, when TY the Tasmanian Tiger did well enough to spawn a sequel, then another. The second time we stopped because we had the opportunity to work on a cool Star Wars project. With that successfully completed, we decided to return to original game creation and to develop and publish Blade Kitten ourselves. Something big and bright like the comic and also really fun and accessible – so we took the path of a classic action side-scroller with the addition of all the cool HD bells and whistles we could add. It’s been a really amazing ride working with a cool team to bring at all together and finally see years of imagination and effort finally become a real game. It has also been an amazing amount of hard work on the part of the whole team. But that’s a whole different story, one I’ll share with you guys in my next post. In the meantime, please enjoy these screens we’ve captured just for the awesome community here on the PlayStation.Blog , and take a look at our trailer. Blade Kitten will be hitting PSN in the spring, which is just right around the corner!

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Blade Kitten Coming to PSN this Spring

Flower Dynamic Theme Now Available, Original Soundtrack Announced

Hey Everyone. Randall Lowe here with a lot of really exciting Flower news and announcements. It is my honor to be posting on behalf of Jenova Chen or Kellee Santiago , the creative geniuses at thatgamecompany behind Flower. Today, February 12, we’re all very proud to be celebrating the one year anniversary of Flower’s release on the PSN ! Before I get onto the news, perhaps I should recap for those of you who aren’t familiar with Flower . Flower is a completely new experience in gaming that takes you on an emotional journey through vivid and beautiful landscapes. In it, you guide the wind to collect flower petals, float above grassy hills, and paint the world with color and light. Since its debut, it has won a ton of awards and recognitions , from critics and fans alike, as a truly unique experience and ground-breaking game. If you missed it, here’s Jenova and Kellee accepting the award for Best Indie Game at the Spike VGAs in December. If you haven’t tried the game out yet, now’s the perfect chance! Even better than reading my words about how unique and beautiful Flower really is, please take a moment and watch this developer diary video featuring Kellee from TGC , and my boss here at Santa Monica, Eric Koch . So, back to the anniversary. To celebrate Flower turning one year young, and all the success the game has enjoyed since its release, we’ve put together a beautiful and serene dynamic theme, complete with day and night cycles, for all the fans who want to bring the Flower experience to their XMB. This went live on the PlayStation Store yesterday for the low price of $2.99. Go check it out! Want more than just the dynamic theme? Then you’re in luck! Coming soon, we’ll be releasing the original soundtrack for Flower composed by Vincent Diamante . This soundtrack has been remastered and mixed specifically for this release, and more details will be announced in the near future. So check back on the blog for a release date and pricing! Speaking of fans, here’s a great fan-made trailer that the developers liked so much, they contacted the creators so we could release it officially on PSN ! Finally, I just wanted to take a moment on behalf of thatgamecompany and SCEA Santa Monica Studio to express the sincere gratitude and appreciation to all the fans of Flower; for the longevity of your support and your level of interest in this project that has meant so much to so many people.

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Flower Dynamic Theme Now Available, Original Soundtrack Announced

PlayStation Store Update

Hi Everyone – it’s Thursday. And that means it’s time for the weekly PlayStation Store Update . Updates PlayStation Network 10 for ’10 Game Sale If you scored a PS3 or PSP system this holiday season, PlayStation Store is making it easy to load up on great games to kick off 2010. For one week only, get HALF OFF 10 handpicked titles during the PlayStation Network 10 for ’10 Game Sale. It’s a perfect start to getting the most out of your gift. Offer valid through 1/27. PS3 Games: Gravity Crash (now $4.99, original price $9.99) ZEN Pinball (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Critter Crunch (now $3.49, original price $6.99) Braid (now $7.49, original price $14.99) Burn Zombie Burn (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Tank Battles (now $3.49, original price $6.99) Uno (now $3.99, original price $7.99) PSP Games: Savage Moon: The Hera Campaign (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Crystal Defenders PSP (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Creature Defense (now $3.99, original price $7.99) Kurulin Fusion (now $2.49, original price $4.99) Thexder Neo (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Downloadable Games Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment ($14.99) Konami’s legendary tactical RPG series returns! On the continent of Sostegaria, two rival kingdoms stand on the brink of war. Caught in the tide of battle is young orphan Tobias Martin. Driven to defend his homeland, and to avenge those already fallen, Tobias enlists with his comrades to fight for peace. But all is not what it seems, and they face a threat far deadlier – and closer – than they know. ESRB Rated T File size: 581 MB PS one Classics Championship Bass ($5.99) Hit the lakes in this realistic bass simulation. You have many tricks in your arsenal, but do you have what it takes to reel in the big one? ESRB Rated E File size: 151 MB Add-on Game Content SingStar Viewer (free) Download the SingStar Viewer today and get access to the best interactive online SingStar content straight from the XMB Menu. Check out hot new tracks at the SingStore, the best performances from the SingStar community at My SingStar Online and everything in between – only on PlayStation 3. File size: 93 MB Dragon Ball: Raging Blast Warriors of Justice (free) “Dragon Ball: Raging Blast” Character Pack #5 is now available! The fifth release is the “Warriors of Justice Pack!” This pack contains Kid Gohan, Gohan, Kid Trunks, Goten and Videl! They fight, in the name of justice! The power of justice will conquer it all! File size: 116 KB WWE SmackDown vs RAW 2010 Stone Cold Steve Austin DLC ($0.99) Download this pack and play as WWE Legend, Stone Cold Steve Austin. File size: 5.02 MB Guitar Hero 5 For all song credits please visit www.guitarhero.com . “Broken Man” by Scott McKeon ($1.99) “Lonesome Road Blues” by Joe Bonamassa ($1.99) “Who I Am” by Tyler Bryant ($1.99) New Blues Masters Track Pack ($5.49) – Downloadable Track Pack featuring “Who I Am” by Tyler Bryant, “Lonesome Road Blues” by Joe Bonamassa, and “Broken Man” by Scott McKeon. Please Note: Many songs are available both as singles and as part of a Track Pack, so please carefully consider your purchases before downloading. “Laser Cannon Deth Sentence” by Dethklok ($1.99) “Still I Rise” by Shadows Fall ($1.99) “Twilight of the Thunder God” by Amon Amarth ($1.99) Metal Track Pack ($5.49) – Downloadable Track Pack featuring “Still I Rise” by Shadows Fall, “Twilight of the Thunder God” by Amon Amarth, and “Laser Cannon Deth Sentence” by Dethklok. Please Note: Many songs are available both as singles and as part of a Track Pack, so please carefully consider your purchases before downloading. File sizes: 32 MB – 67 MB (singles), 128 MB – 136 MB (track packs) Rock Band Build your Rock Band library by purchasing these song game tracks. For song credits, visit www.RockBand.com . “1901″— Phoenix ($1.99) “Lisztomania”— Phoenix ($1.99) “Blue Jeans”— Silvertide ($1.99) “A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me) (Live)”— Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ($1.99) “Breakdown (Live)”— Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ($1.99) “Century City (Live)”— Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ($1.99) “Jammin’ Me (Live)”— Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ($1.99) “Nightwatchman (Live)”— Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ($1.99) “The Waiting (Live)”— Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ($1.99) Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Live Anthology Pack 2 ($9.99) – Build your Rock Band library by purchasing this song game track pack: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Live Anthology Pack 2. This pack includes: “A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me) (Live),” “Breakdown (Live),” “Century City (Live),” “Jammin’ Me (Live),” “Nightwatchman (Live),” and “The Waiting (Live)” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. File sizes: 24 MB – 37 MB (singles), 180 MB (track pack) Game Videos (free) Pulse 1/21 Edition Join host Christina Lee for PULSE presented by the PlayStation Network. This edition features the massive action of MAG, the new billiards simulator Hustle Kings, add-ons for Assassin’s Creed II and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw, new video releases, and a taste of PlayStation Network’s new reality series, The Tester. File size: 260 MB (HD) 451 MB (1080) Dante’s Inferno Developer Diary – Fraud File size: 185 MB (HD) Dante’s Inferno Developer Diary – Violence File size: 136 MB (HD) Army of Two: The 40th Day “Demo Trailer” File size: 49 MB (HD) Fairytale Fights Trailer File size: 58 MB (HD) Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Happy Holidays Trailer File size: 62 MB (HD) Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Adrenaline Trailer File size: 50 MB (HD) Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Gameplay Trailer 2 File size: 42 MB (HD) Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Gameplay Trailer 3 File size: 43 MB (HD) Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Gameplay Trailer 4 File size: 62 MB (HD) Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Gameplay Trailer 5 File size: 38 MB (HD) Hasbro Family Game Night Trailer File size: 37 MB (HD) Darksiders Mayhem Trailer File size: 44 MB (HD) Darksiders Launch Trailer File size: 60 MB (HD) Darksiders Heads Will Roll Trailer File size: 46 MB (HD) Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Announcement Trailer File size: 38 MB (HD) Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce Trailer File size: 58 MB (HD) Medal of Honor Announce Trailer File size: 41 MB (HD) PS3 Themes Banana Girl Hook-Ups Theme ($1.99) File size: 3.27 MB Devil Vixen Hook-Ups Theme ($1.99) File size: 3.87 MB School Girl Hook-Ups Theme ($1.99) File size: 4.31 MB Liquid Metal 2 Theme ($1.49) File size: 6.18 MB PlayStation Store for PSP Downloadable Games (also available from PS3 storefront) METAL GEAR SOLID PSP Bundle ($29.99) The METAL GEAR SOLID PSP Bundle features three PSP titles from Hideo Kojima’s legendary series that redefined the stealth action genre. Included within this extraordinary bundle are METAL GEAR SOLID PORTABLE OPS, METAL GEAR SOLID PORTABLE OPS PLUS, and METAL GEAR SOLID DIGITAL GRAPHIC NOVEL. ESRB Rated T- M File size: 2.01 GB DJ Max Fever ($19.99) The beat jamming sensation that started the music game craze comes to the PSP system in its most complete form ever. ESRB Rated T File size: 1.38 GB Valhalla Knights 2: Battle Stance ($29.99) An enhanced version of the original Valhalla Knights 2, “Battle Stance” streamlines gameplay by reducing battle parties from six to four members for more party control, as well as adding warp points in various locations for expedited travel. Combine this with added customization options, new weapons, armor, quests and monsters, and this becomes the most complete Valhalla Knights experience yet. ESRB Rated E10+ File size: 696 MB Game Videos (free) Pulse 1/21 Edition File size: 50 MB Army of Two: The 40th Day PSP Trailer File size: 10 MB Dante’s Inferno Game Trailer File size: 25 MB PSP Themes (also available from PS3 Storefront) Liquid Metal 2 PSP Theme ($1.49) File size: 606 KB Dita Von Teese PSP Theme 3 ($1.49) File size: 588 KB Dita Von Teese PSP Theme 4 ($1.49) File size: 556 KB Banana Girl Hook-Ups PSP Theme ($1.99) File size: 380 KB Devil Vixen Hook-Ups PSP Theme ($1.99) File size: 415 KB School Girl Hook-Ups PSP Theme ($1.99) File size: 367 KB

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PlayStation Store Update