No change at the top this week as Heavy Rain holds on to the no. 1 spot - as well as climbing to the top of the all-format charts this week , which that hasn’t happened to a PS3 exclusive for some time. Final Fantasy XIII drops down to 6 this week for some reason, while God of War III rockets up the charts to no. 2. With only 9 days until Final Fantasy XIII is released, it will be interesting to see how quickly it rises back up the charts; there’s almost no doubt that it will reach no. 1 at some stage.

FIFA 10 continues to hang around in the middle of the chart, while Battlefield: Bad Company 2 leaps over FIFA and is now sitting just behind Modern Warfare 2. Will it gain enough sales to finally overtake MW2 as the release date gets nearer? With only 5 days to go, we should find out next week! Read more

PLATFORM: PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (Digital Download Only)

RELEASE DATE: 28th January 2010

RATING: N/A

DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER: Ubisoft Montreal/ Ubisoft

PRICE: £3.19/€3.99 (PSN), 320 MS Points (Xbox Live)

So, Ubisoft have released their first missing sequence (Memory 12), but is the expansion essential to the game’s storyline, and does it give you good value for money? Well, let’s just say that I’ve gotten better value from other things….

Read more

PLATFORM(S): PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC

RELEASE DATE(S): 19th Nov 2009 (PS3/X360), 5th March 2010 (PC)

RATING: 15 (BBFC), 18 (PEGI)

DEVELOPER: Ubisoft Montreal

PUBLISHER: Ubisoft

The long anticipated sequel to Assassin’s Creed is finally here, but has it fixed its predecessor’s faults? And does it keep its level of exploration?

Read more

Currently scheduled for release in the UK on 12th March, Yakuza 3 has just received a new promo trailer from SEGA. Entitled ‘Locations’, the trailer shows you a selection of the environments in which the game is set including local bars, a shopping centre and the local beach. See it for yourself below: Read more

Another good update for the PSN Store this week, in particular some cool DLC for Borderlands and Little Big Planet, a new costume and map pack for Uncharted 2 and the third episode in the quirky Blue Toad Murder Files – which is actually free if you own either of the previous episodes.

The special offers on Capcom games are continuing until the 4th March so if you’re interested in Street Fighter II or Marvel Vs Capcom, now’s the time to get them! Read more

mudmonster7:

From what I’ve played so far, Heavy Rain will suite the taste of many but not all gamers. Quantic Dream would have you believe that this is a totally new way to play games; critics say that it’s nothing new. In truth, they’re both right. It is unlike anything else from this generation of games yet it clearly takes inspiration from other, less mainstream, games.

Read more

Some new rentals and purchases on the PSN Video Store this week – if you’re a Michael Jackson fan then you can finally get your hands on the download version of ‘This is It’. Not much else of note outside that however.

To Rent

• The Night We Called It a Day
• Wanted Dead or Alive
• Young Guns
• War
• Slap Her She’s French
• Evil Aliens
• Scotland PA
• The Man Who Sued God
• Crimson Wing: The Mystery of the Flamingos
• Strength & Honour Read more

 This week’s PS3 top 10 shows Heavy Rain’s steady ascent up the charts finally paying off with the top spot, with Final Fantasy XIII just behind. David Cage, the creator of Heavy Rain, has recently commented on how important it is for gaming Heavy Rain is a success – I’m not sure whether he’s just hyping sales for his own game or he is actually right, but it looks like he’s going to be very happy.

 The Final Fantasy PR bandwagon is now starting and it’s pretty much certain that Final Fantasy XIII will be taking the top spot sooner or later. Modern Warfare 2 is still going strong, as is Uncharted 2. God of War III finally makes an appearance in the Top 10 – no doubt it will continue rising in the coming weeks as the release date approaches.

Read more

In all honesty, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 demo came as a bit of a shock to me. Having only recently started playing PC games, my only other experience of Battlefield was the PSN/XBL title Battlefield: 1943, which I found slightly disappointing. While fun for a while, it comes with only four maps and the gameplay eventually became slow and boring. After the first game of  Bad Company 2 it was clear that this game is on another level altogether.

Read more

Straight from the Official EU PS3 Blog, here’s this week’s PSN Store update in full. Some decent special offers on this week, as well as the full game ‘Revenge of the Wounded Dragons’, which is basically Double Dragon HD in all but name.

Also of note is the long-awaited arrival of the Hoth DLC for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed as well as demos for Yakuza 3 and Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing.

Finally, Burnout Paradise fans who don’t already own the DLC can now buy it all in one bundle, and if you’ve never played Burnout Paradise you can pick up the game and all the DLC in the new ‘Complete Edition’.

Read more