Weekend Essentials - Issue 13

Return to Rapture, unleash hell, some juicy store downloads and a whole lot more in this edition of Weekend Essentials.

Latest releases

Take a journey into the depths of Hell with Dante's Inferno on PlayStation®3, the blockbuster adaptation of part one of Dante Alighieri's epic poem "The Divine Comedy". Assume the role of Dante as he travels on an epic descent through Dante Alighieri's nine circles of Hell – limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery.

The underwater city of Rapture awaits you once more in BioShock 2, out on PS3™ this coming Tuesday. This time you jump into the heavily armoured guise of the series' iconic man-monsters, Big Daddy. As one of Rapture's most feared denizens, you take on an army of deadly Big Sisters to stop the corrupted Dr. Sofia Lamb.

What's in Store?

Here's a fantasy worth returning to! PlayStation Network is home to many classic titles, and now that huge catalogue has been joined by another much loved title, Final Fantasy VIII, playable on both PlayStation 3 and PSP. Originally released in 1999, FFVIII tells the story of mercenary Squall Leonheart as he embarks on an epic journey love and fierce rivalry. Start another Final Fantasy journey at PlayStation Store now.

Also this week, get early access to the best-in-class online war experience in the Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2 demo. The demo features Port Valdez, a new vehicle focused map where up to 24 players will compete against each other as either the US or Russian armies in the game's Rush multiplayer mode. Players will have access to five land and three air vehicles where the Russian side can use everything in their arsenal including Main Battle Tanks as well as the fast-moving Quad Bikes and Mobile Armored AA. The fight will also be packed with plenty of infantry combat fought alongside the waterline towards a great oil industrial landscape in the Alaskan mountains.

Enjoyed the graphic novel style action adventure, inFamous? Want a new superpower for protagonist Cole MacGrath to use in the crime infested Empire City? Then the Gigawatt Blades Pack is just the thing for you. A free download from PlayStation Store, this pack forms blades of pure energy around each of Cole's hands for massive damage. Download the pack and find out for yourself.

The rain continues to fall

How far have you got in the Heavy Rain Four Days Challenge? The interactive game which starts at heavyrain.com lets you engage in the hunt for the Origami Killer and uncover some surprises which will tease you all the way up to the release of the game on 25th February 2010. If you've been hunting along the right lines so far, this week may yield a rather engaging revelation that will keep you glued to your PS3 for more than just the weekend. If you've not registered already to the Heavy Rain Four Days Challenge, now is the perfect time to jump on board at heavyrain.com - don't miss out.

GT Academy Aussie winner announced

25 year old student, Daniel Holland has been crowned the Australian winner of Nissan GT Academy 2010 at an event held in Melbourne on 3rd February 2010. This is the first time an Australian will be represented in the competition which will see him go head-to-head against other finalists across 17 countries.

From the 16 Australian finalists flown in from around the nation, only Daniel Holland will take his PlayStation®3 lounge room racing dream literally to the race track. He will now be participating on the international stage of Nissan GT Academy at Silverstone, UK, undergoing a rigorous training program against other competitors for the chance to become a real world race car driver.
 
Latest announcements

Bethesda has announced that Fallout®: New Vegas™, the next chapter in the critically-acclaimed Fallout franchise, will be available in Spring 2010. The game is currently in development at Obsidian Entertainment for PlayStation®3. The follow-up to Fallout® 3 brings this beloved franchise to a location only Fallout could do justice: Vegas, and takes all the action, humour and post-apocalyptic grime and grit of this legendary series, and raises the stakes.

Experience the last two thrilling chapters of the Grand Theft Auto IV saga as Rockstar Games announce Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City for PlayStation®3. The two action packed episodes - The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony - will be available together on a single disc, and will also be available for download as individual episodes from PlayStation®Network from 30th March 2010.

SEGA announced the first game developed specifically for download from the world's fastest hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I will be available for download from PlayStation®Network in Winter 2010, bringing with it the addictive classic 2D side scrolling action that Sonic fans have been waiting for.

Platinum Games, the makers of BAYONETTA, has announced that VANQUISH is currently being developed by Shinji Mikami, who is best known for creating the Resident Evil survival horror series. Head to Platinum Games' website to view the VANQUISH announcement trailer and stay tuned for more info on this exciting game over the coming months. The team has also announced that an online update is available now for the PlayStation®3 version of BAYONETTA which will allow the game to be installed onto the PlayStation®3 system's hard drive and will significantly decrease the loading times for the game. The update will be automatically downloaded by PS3™ users when they launch BAYONETTA.