The ‘Best of’ range will be known as ‘Playstation 3 the Best‘, and will supposedly be rolling out in Japan first, and then will be making their way over to Europe and USA later on. Obviously the titles may change, and the price of the titles is not yet fixed in stone, although as soon as we hear any more, you will be the first to know.

Grand Theft Auto 4 is to be released by RockStar on the 19th October 2007. A limited edition version of the game will be available and will come packaged in a metal Safe Deposit box.

Inside this Safe Deposit box will be:

- your specially packaged copy of GTA IV
- a limited edition Rockstar duffel bag
- production artwork for GTA IV in an exclusive book
- selected soundtrack CD for GTA IV featuring exclusive releases

Oh, and you also get the all important key for your safety deposit box!

This version is sure to sell out quickly and is available for £69.99 (or $86.99 in the US) – pre-orders are being taken by a number of suppliers now. The bog standard version of the game is expected to retail at £49.99 so we think the Special Edition represents excellent value for money.

You can pre-order your Special Edition copy of GTA 4
- for £69.99 in the UK
- for $86.99 in the US

This post contains a list of PS3 games planned for release in PAL regions for the rest of this year:

August 2007

SingStar Next Gen PS3
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
Warhawk
Madden NFL 2008

September 2007

FIFA 2008
John Woo presents Stranglehold
Lair
Heavenly Sword

October 2007

Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour
The Getaway 3
Grand Theft Auto IV
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
Eye of Judgment

November 2007

Assassin’s Creed
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Army of Two
Time Crisis 4
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

Unconfirmed date (sometime in 2007)

211
Alive
Alliance: The Silent War
Battlefield: Bad Company
Bladestorm: The 100 years war
The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
Colin McRae: Dirt
FEAR 2
Haze
Kane & Lynch: Dead men
SOCOM: Confrontation
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground
TimeShift
Unreal Tournament 3

Medal of Honor: Airborne

A full preview will be on the site shortly but in the meantime have a look at the online video trailer of the game in which ‘you create the game!’

Weird – but brilliant…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/nuoOosTdFiY[/youtube]

Argos have a limited number of deals available online on the PlayStation 3 (RRP of £429.99). For the next couple of days – for the sum of only £399.96 you 60Gb PlayStation 3 will come with:

- 2 Free games (you can choose from Resistance: Fall of Man, Motorstorm, Ridge Racer 7 or Formula 1 Championship Edition. (normally £39.99 each)

AND

- an extra Sony Sixaxis Wireless Pad (normally £29.99)

It’s a superb offer and if you are thinking about getting your PS3 then this could save you some of your hard-earned cash.

Find out more from the Argos website

PS3 Software 1.90 – Major Changes

The most significant and noticeable change for PS3 fans is that the new update enables you to change your background wallpaper to your own custom design. To utilise the cross media bar – PS3 wallpaper sites will be springing up left right and centre and we will upload a collection of the best designs on to the website. Most wallpapers will be made to the resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. (We have uploaded a KillZone wallpaper at the bottom of this article for you to try out)

Another tidy change is that no longer will the PS3 controller need to be ‘wired’ in to the machine while you perform an update.

You can now use emoticons which is great news for those of us who regularly use forums!

In the last update Sony improved DVD upscaling output, to help make standard DVD’s look that little bit better on our PS3′s. In this update, Sony has improved the upscaling of CD’s to make the music quality even better when played via your PS3.

You can also now eject the disc without leaving your site – with an option available in the Games section of the XMB (Cross Media Bar).

Avatars are now animated during voice/video chat and will move to the sound of your voice.

AVCHD-format video files can now be played.

You can adjust the display settings whilst a PlayStation or PlayStation 2 game is in progress.

Summary

This is a good update and the wallpaper changes are sure to add a real touch of personalisation for everybody’s own unique PlayStation 3. We look forward to seeing your designs and we would love for you to let us know the links of any new PS3 wallpaper websites.

Sony is continually improving the system software and since the launch of the PS3 in Europe – system updates have become more regular and more involving. We look forward to the next updates, and hope Sony have something special for version 2.0 – but I guess we already know what that is going to be…. PS Home!

Killzone PS3 Desktop Wallpaper (Click for full size)

Here’s a brief gameplay clip to whet your appetite.

Read the full preview below and then find out to pre-order and get 15% off those RRP’s on one of the PlayStation’s best multi-player games.

Features

30 songs on the disc – 350 already in the new ‘Singstore’!

The game arrives with around 30 tracks, but you will be able to download as many as you want from the PS3 Online Store. Around 350 tracks will be available at day one with more being added all the time.

The initial 30 songs on the disc cover a wide range of genres from the 80s to now.

* Blink 182 – “All the Small Things”
* Blur – “Coffee & TV”
* Britney Spears – “Toxic”
* Coldplay – “Fix You”
* Gorillaz – “Feel Good Inc.”
* Gwen Stefani – “Cool”
* Junior Senior – “Move Your Feet”
* Macy Gray – “I Try”
* Musical Youth – “Pass the Dutchie”
* Ne-Yo – “So Sick”
* Orson – “No Tomorrow”
* OutKast – “Hey Ya!”
* Primal Scream – “Movin’ On Up”
* Pussycat Dolls – “Beep (song)”
* Radiohead – “No Surprises”
* Razorlight – “America”
* REM – “Losing My Religion”
* Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman – “Somethin’ Stupid”
* Scissor Sisters – “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’”
* Supergrass – “Alright”
* The Automatic – “Monster”
* The Cardigans – “Lovefool”
* The Fratellis – “Chelsea Dagger”
* The Killers – “Mr. Brightside”
* The Stone Roses – “She Bangs The Drums”
* The Zutons – “Valerie”
* Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
* U2 – “Beautiful Day”
* Weezer – “Buddy Holly”
* Wolfmother – “Love Train”

If you have any of the PlayStation 2 SingStar games you will be able to ‘unlock’ these tracks to use on your PS3 too!

Undoubtedly, though, the SingStore is the real attraction. It’s like iTunes, essentially – an online shop where you can search for your favourite songs and download them to build up your very own library of SingStar tracks.

Sony has yet to release figures on how much each new track will cost to download (although we have heard rumours ranging from 75p to £2.99)

MySingStar Profile Pages!

The other major new feature introduced by SingStar PS3 is My SingStar Online – it’s a social networking service, essentially. If you’re familiar with MySpace, Facebook or any of those other sites used by today’s youth (and today’s grown-ups “because of the music thing”), you’ll be right at home.

On your My SingStar Online profile page, you can post a picture of yourself, list your favourite artist and favourite song and pick a flag to show which country you’re from. Your high scores will be displayed, along with comments other users have left for you.

Then there’s room for photos and videos you’ve taken using the official PS3 camera or any of the web cams SingStar supports from third-party manufacturers. Snapshots are taken automatically when you’re singing a song, and you can also grab your own at key moments. Then it’s a matter of saving them to your media gallery and stick them on My SingStar Online, with the option to restrict viewing to those on your friends list if you’re shy.

As a SingStar PS2 owner (yes I have ALL the discs) I look forward to this new SingStar version. Although after a couple of drinks down the pub, you know how everyone loves hogging the mics, it could become an expensive business when you ‘have to’ download every song in one night!

You can order SingStar PS3 now at a discount.

a) Game only £19.99 (save £5) – Order here
b) Game + 2 microphones only £39.99 (save £5) – Order here

SingStar Next Gen is released on the PS3 on 7th December 2007 in the UK

The game features 42 different World War II planes and allows the player to take part in numerous famous events (18 missions) from the war as a fictional squadron. Online support allows 16 players to take part in head-to-head and co-operative play battles.

It is being brought to the PS3 in style including all new missions and graphical effects. T he added bonus for PS3 users is the fact that you will be able to use the motion sensitive controller to move the planes instead of the usual control methods.

This game was a blast on the 360 and if you like your flight sims then you should definately keep an eye on this one.

Screenshots

I can remeber back when i was a wee lad and ‘The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants’, and Krusty’s Super Fun House was all i used to play on my sega megadrive. Heck even the simpsons arcade game cost me alot of my pocket money when it appeared one day at the back of my local news agent. (yeah it was a cool shop).

Although those days are but distant memories unless you are into retro gaming, and so it is my pleasure to announce that the loveable family from springfield are once again coming to a gaming console near you. The latest incarnation, which currently bears a working title of The Simpsons, will supposedly have 16 levels. Each said to be an episode of the series, with a unique title animation, setting, and story.

Players will supposedly take control of 2 players themselves or can team up with a friend for some multiplayer action.

Apparently the simpsons are trapped inside a video game and so decide to give themselves powers, such as Bart can change into Bartman. The shots shown below are taken from the xbox 360 version but the PS3 version should look nigh on identical.

Plus don’t forget that the Simpsons movie is also released worldwide on July 27th.

These shots seem to show what the my space esque action will look like while you wonder around the huge virtual world trying to make friends (or in my case enemies hehe). It all looks rarther cool from the psp navigation menu to visiting the arcade and the ten pin bowling, to going to the cinema or simply relaxing in your own pad sipping back the beers and staring at the scenery out of your window. Heck this looks the dogs.

As of yet there is no official word when we will see it on these shores but untill then these shots will have to do.

We will keep you fully up to date as and when here at PS3Pad.com.

The game has you starting off with a blank canvess and allows you to create pretty much anything you want. While all of the time the objects that you use all have real world attributes, such as real wood or wool, and not forgetting real world physics.

Your character is a small teddy bear-like creature made from wool, and you use this little fellow to play around in your custom created world or even allow others to play in it at the same time. It was first shown at this years GDC by the Media Molecule developers to much acclaim, and i for one can not wait for this title to come out.

According to zie Germans over at Gamefront.de, Sony is planning to release a demo of the download-only four-player game. It also suggests that the demo could be downloaded about the same time that PS Home goes live. So hopefully not long to wait then.

In the mean time here are a few pics of this amazing title to wet your appetite.

Later on, Ubisoft also announced that the game was coming to the PC and Xbox 360. The game is being developed by many of the same people who helped make Prince of Persia: The Sands of time, and began production as soon as the latter was completed.

The game takes place during the Third Crusade. The gamer plays as a member of the assassin sect Hashashin known as Altaïr (of Greek and Arabic origin, roughly translates to “The Flyer” or “The Bird”). The player will be able to travel through three cities, Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus. The cities are populated by many people and the way the player controls Altair affects how people around you react to his or her presence. For example, when going through a crowd, if you lightly move someone out of the way, it will not have a significant effect, however, if one throws someone to the ground and kills him, the crowd may unite against the player and he or she will then have to find a way out. Similarly, for example, if you shove a person aside, they may shove you back. If you climb walls, civilians will gather around, attracting unwanted attention from guards.

Features

One of the most talked about features of the game is the ability to get around the game world. Assassin’s Creed will allow new levels of freedom for the player. Influenced by the Parkour phenomenon and its freedom of movement, the player will be able to grab onto and climb “any object that sticks out more than 2 inches”, which means exploration of the cities, rooftops, et cetera will be possible on a greater scale than in any previous game. The game will also be completely free-roaming, which has led to comparisons with Grand Theft Auto, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion , Shadow of the Colossus , and other games

Assassin’s Creed was featured in E3 2006, where a new system of gameplay was revealed. Only two trailers have been released so far. The title’s in-game graphics, as exhibited at E3, more closely resemble the quality shown in the few screenshots that have been released, as opposed to what has been shown in trailers.

Another hyped feature is the intuitive control scheme. Assassin’s Creed will employ a new idea that can best be compared to playing marionette of puppeteers to Altair’s actions. Developer Jade Raymond states, “What I really like about this concept was that once you understand the controls, you know how to play the game. You don’t ever have to look at what the button combonations are. You can invent them as you go along.” On the PS3 controller, the left analog stick will control movement, and the right will control the camera. However the actual buttons are quite different from normal. X will correspond to the feet, Square will dictate arm movement with your weapons, Circle will use your arms without weapons, and Triangle uses your head. Also, one of the right triggers will act as a shift between violent and gentle intensities. Here are some examples of each:

If you just use the left analog stick by itself you will run, but if you hold the intensity button with it, you will walk. Also, if there is a person in front of you, you can press the arms without weapons button (Circle) and violently shove them out of the way. Holding the intensity button will gently move them out of the way. If you are navigating the rooftops and see a set of overhanging building struts, you can hold the X and jump from each one the other. Or you can press Circle and grab one and swing to each. When you approach a low wall you have many choices on what to do. If you run towards it and press the legs button (X), then you will hurdle it. Say you are in the same situation but you press the arms without weapons (Circle), you will throw you arms down and vault it. When walking around the crowded areas, you may hear groups speaking the native tongue of the city. Press Triangle to use your head and translate to English.

Ubisoft Monteral did confirm that a demo of the game will be released before the game hits stores. However, they did not state as to what form the demo will come in.

An article on IGNannounced that Assassin’s Creed will also be released on the Xbox 360and PC. Although it was never stated the game would go multiformat at E3, it was generally assumed it would do so.

Screenshots

The first stage beta trial of Sony’s impressive new ‘Home’ interactive environment has begun closed beta testing in most parts of the world.

15,000 European gamers were selected by Sony, who made the trial available from the last day of April. Around 15,000 PS3 users are involved in this early stage of the trial.

We expect, all things running well, that a further 50,000 users will enter the open betal trial stage sometime during the end of June, start of July – then a succesful rollout on to everybody’s PlayStation store in the Autumn.

PS3 Home is Sony’s online virtual networking community. It has been likened to the online game Second Life, where your virtual character can meet all the other PS3 users’ virtual characters. You can chat, invite them to your apartment – where you can watch videos on your PS3′s hard drive and connect directly to play games.

Multimedia Links

PS3 Home Video Trailer

For some screenshots of PS3 home click here

Microsoft have upped their advertising budget in the United Kingdom in recent weeks in a bold attempt to ensure that their XBox 360 remains high visibility in the weeks leading up to the launch of Sony’s ground-breaking PlayStation 3.

Senior chiefs at Microsoft believe that following the first few days to weeks in which the PlayStation 3 is widely expected to sell-out like it did in the US, Microsoft aims that when gamers enter stores in the Easter holidays all that will surround them will be heavily ‘in-stock’ XBox 360.

Microsoft have more XBox 360 systems in the UK with retailers already than than the measly 250,000 which Sony is expecting to deliver.

It appears that Sony’s advertising strategy for the UK and Europe which is due to commence soon will focus primarily on ensuring that the new PS3 will set the standard for home gaming, and that any other system will be second best.

The end of March/April will mark the most intriguing battle between the two game consoles. A succesful European launch with poor sales of the XBox over Easter could decide the winner of the next generation console war.

(If you don’t want to wait till late Summer to get your Sony PlayStation 3 then read our guide to UK PS3 Pre-Orders right now – you only have another 6 weeks – and the queue is forming!)

Lair is an action game, in which you will control the flight and actions of a dragon – using the tilt functions on the PlayStation 3.

In the game you will play the role of a Knight, a member of a secret society who fly dragons in combat. The game is being developed by Factor 5, and although there will be no online multiplay of the title, they have confirmed this is a possibility for a potential game sequel depending upon the appeal of the game.

Lair will make full use of the Playstation 3′s capabilities

- running at the maximum 1080p resolution, and

- with 7.1 digital surround sound

The graphics for the title are truly impressive with complex real time rendering of waves, clouds, rain – you get the picture.

Controls

Using the Sixaxis controller for the game is set to be truly revolutionary.

The X button will flap the dragon’s wings (increasing speed etc)

The direction of movement will be controlled by the tilt of the controller. Slamming down the controller will force the dragon to stamp his feet – creating a shock-wave which will affect your enemies. Moving the controller back and forward will ‘slash’ at your enemies.

From what we have heard and seen we think this will be one of the land-mark games in the early phase of PS3 development.

Watch this space…

“It’s a real coup for Evolution,” says Martin Kenwright, CEO, Evolution Studios. “Developing MotorStorm has certainly not been easy — but the team here really delivered. Evolution has a reputation for delivering high quality racing titles, but we really needed to up the ante with Sony’s new hardware. We’re delighted that the public has agreed with the press, and made MotorStorm the current Japanese number one PlayStation 3 title. We can’t wait to see how it performs throughout the rest of the world.”

We can all look forward to playing this game here in Europe and in North America next spring. Untill then just enjoy the screenshot below and try to imagine playing this beautiful looking game.

Store workers are widely believed to be behind a number of eBay auctions which have already appeared following last week’s ‘day’ of pre-ordering in the US.

Many people have spoken on PlayStation forums of their intentions to make a few dollars by selling on the rare PlayStation 3 if it falls in to their posession on 17th November 2006.

PS3 pre-orders with large mark-ups have been strangely removed from the internet auction site today.

We will monitor this with interest, but maybe eBay is going to launch a censorship period on PS3 sales….

Further releases

The memory card reader will also be released on launch date, enabling PS2 memory cards to fit in to the PS3, so you can migrate your save files across – hell why not even complete your PS2 game on the new machine.

This reader will be around 7 pound or $12.

A purpose built remote control will be released a couple of weeks later on the 7th December to enable you to use your brand spanking new PS3/Blu Ray player to maximum effect.

PS3 remote controlCost – around 15 pounds ($28).

A number of add on peripherals are in the pipeline and will no doubt be released as we get nearer to launch date.