The floor this year at PAX East included a section indie developers dubbed the Indie Megabooth- 16 independent developers showing off twenty of the latest and greatest indie games on all sorts of platforms. One of those titles was Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack, the follow up to PSN title Tales from Space: About a Blob, now available for the Playstation Vita. I decided to pick up the title to play during my free time at PAX East, and I’m really glad I did.

Much like the Katamari games, Mutant Blobs Attack  requires you to eat everything in sight to proceed through the level, as long as it’s not bigger than you. But, while Katamari is a 3rd person perspective three dimensional game, Mutant Blobs Attack is a 2D sidescrolling platformer, more like Loco Roco.  As a blob, you’ll also gain powerups to allow you to fly, float, and magnetize yourself to walls.

The game utilizes the Vita’s controls without overdoing it and becoming cumbersome to play. You control the blob throughout the levels using the analog stick, but there are also a few random levels that require you to tilt the Vita around like a ball maze to try to move the blob to the goal. The back touchscreen don’t come into play at all, but the front is used to manipulate the environment to proceed.

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When I first downloaded Journey off the PlayStation Network, I intended on giving it a traditional review. I had been mostly in the dark about the game itself other than hearing it mentioned after E3 last year. Quickly as I began playing, I realized this is not an ordinary game. In fact, it’s hard to even call it a game in the first place. So many conventions, not just of video games but of what people think of any kind of game be they sport, board, card or video game, don’t exist within the confines of Journey.

The name Journey, not to be trite, actually does say it all. Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited with the quote, “Life is a journey, not a destination.” In Journey, this statement rings true throughout as the player takes on the role of a faceless robed creature as they make their way towards a mythical mountain top location. Other than a three very brief “tutorial” instructions at the start, there is no instruction during the game. Journey is designed to give the player an indication of where to go and motivation to get there but never explicitly tells them why they are headed there. They don’t know what the ultimate goal is other than the location itself or even what the significance is.

In addition to being faceless, the player is also voiceless. While this has been used throughout gaming and worked well with specific examples such as Gordon Freeman of Half-Life or the boy from Limbo, it becomes even more interesting as the game has a built in multiplayer component to it. Much like the rest of the game compares itself to real life, players will find themselves crossing paths with others as they go through Journey. Through body language and the game’s brief musical tone abilities alone, players can determine how they interact with each other. Since Journey can be crossed from start to finish in about two hours, it is realistic that a pair can work alongside each other for the entire time. Others may intersect briefly with one deciding to hang back in hopes of new discoveries while the other pushes forward, a direct corollary of real life relationships. There is an added layer as players have no way of voice chatting over the PlayStation network as their identities remain hidden to each other so not to impair the game’s message by allowing players to chat over the network.

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When DC Universe Online debuted last January, it became the first MMO available for the PlayStation 3. Sony Online Entertainment wants to celebrate the first anniversary of this hit game by providing a special mission and item in game today.

“We broke a lot of new ground with last year’s launch of DC Universe Online, both by successfully creating the first PS3™ MMO community and adding true action combat to the genre,” said Lorin Jameson, Executive Director of Development, Sony Online Entertainment. “The free-to-play transition at the end of last year is a proof point that our community is stronger and larger than ever. We are very proud of what we’ve accomplished thus far and look forward to continuously striving to improve the game.”

To celebrate the game’s one-year anniversary, players will receive a special one-of-a-kind One Year Anniversary Cape that features a number “1″ on the back. The cape will be granted to players through their mission journal on January 11. The character must exist on the 11^th to be eligible to receive the mission. However, players do not need to log in on the 11^th; as long as the character exists on the 11^th, players will receive the mission the next time they log in.

The game went free to play late last year and has been a hit among MMO fans and comic book fans a like. More on what the game has accomplished in it’s first year after the jump.

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As we have seen, some games go through extended development times and switch between studios to varying degrees of success. A poor example of this is 2011’s Duke Nukem Forever. Some games however find their strengths and weaknesses and adjust accordingly. One such game looks to be I Am Alive, currently under development from Ubisoft Shanghai.

Originally announced in 2008 under developer Darkworks, I Am Alive was announced to be a full retail release but has now been brought to a more manageable downloadable title.

I Am Alive takes place in a fictional city of Haventon one year after something referred only to as the Event, a cataclysmic occurrence that wipes out much of the world’s population. There is even a cloud of toxic gas surrounding much of the planet. The main character is on the search for supplies and other survivors while he tries to reunite with his wife and daughter.

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First they are sour, then they are sweet. Capcom hopes that a downloadable game staring the little candy dudes ends up more like the latter. World Gone Sour is a new game that will take place in a human sized world, but from the perspective of the little sugary treats.

Game Informer is reporting that Capcom has the game in development.

“Sour Patch is the #1 all sour candy brand in the U.S. but there is so much more to these iconic characters than just their sour exteriors and sweet interiors,” says Sebastian Genesio, marketing director for Sour Patch. “Bringing our ‘lost kids’ to life in video game form will add a new dimension to these lovable snacks. We feel this video game will resonate strongly with our core audience of teens and young adults.”

“Sour Patch has brought its brand to life in a unique experience that only video games can deliver,” said Christian Svensson, senior vice president, planning & strategy, Capcom Entertainment, Inc. “Whether you’re a fan of Sour Patch Kids or fun and engaging gameplay, World Gone Sour has something for all gamers to enjoy.”

It is also being reported that the game will feature the new Method Man song, World Gone Sour (The Lost Kids) and narration by Creed Bratton, who, conveniently, plays Creed on The Office. Sounds like this game will have everything you could possibly want in a game based on candy.

World Gone Sour will be available this winter for 400 Microsoft Points or $4.99 on the PSN or PC.

The amazing Sony hacking saga continues. As you probably know, the company has had a few problems with hackers. Although now, it looks like the company may be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.

Sony on Tuesday said services associated with its PlayStation Network will be fully restored by the end of this week in all regions outside Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. The company also said it would fully restore the Music Unlimited services tied to its Qriocity streaming music service for the PlayStation 3, PSP and PCs.

“We have been conducting additional testing and further security verification of our commerce functions in order to bring the PlayStation Network completely back online so that our fans can again enjoy the first class entertainment experience they have come to love,” said Kazuo Hirai, Sony’s Executive Deputy President, in a statement. “We appreciate the patience and support shown during this time.”

That all sounds great but its been quite a bit of time away from PSN for a lot of users. So much so that several people we know have jumped ship and gone over to Microsoft and its XBox 360/XBox Live offerings. Sucks to be Sony these days it seems.

Click through for the full press release from Sony. Has it been restored for you yet?

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As if the beleaguered Sony doesn’t have enough problems already what with all the recent security breaches, hacking and general ill will from fans who waited a long time for the PSN to come back online. Now it seems we can add another potential issue to the already troubled company’s litany of problems.

According to sources at Rockstar Games, the developer of hit games such as Grand Theft Auto and L.A. Noir, the latest 3.61 firmware update for the Sony PS3 is causing units to overheat.

“We have received some reports of PS3s overheating while playing L.A. Noire or beeping three times before shutting down / turning themselves off, mostly on older 60GB and 80GB fat models,” Rockstar customer service team said on its support page, as reported by MCVUK.

Rockstar also offered that the problem is not just with L.A. Noir and that users are experiencing the same issue with other games. When the problem occurs, the red light or PS3 freeze usually happens between 30 minutes to 2 hours after starting a game.

Here’s a statement from Rockstar Customer Service on the subject. This is, however, not an “official” statement from the company (at least not yet):

“At this time we are recommending contacting Sony directly to report the overheating issue. However, this is not the end of our support; we are continuing to test L.A. Noire on all firmware versions and hardware models to isolate the issues and see what can be done. As always, we will update this article as soon as we have updates.”

Sucks to be Sony right now. Anyone had any problems like this after updating your PS3? If so, sound off in the comments.

Will wonders never cease. After being dark for, um, a little while, it seems Sony has begun the process of restoring the PlayStation Network. About time, I’m sure many would say (and they did).

The first step for Sony’s PlayStation Network members is a firmware update that’s been issued for the PlayStation 3. After applying the patch, your PS3 will restart and then you will be prompted to sign into the PSN. You won’t be able to, however, and instead will be sent an email which includes a link to change your network password.

When I tried last night the servers were so jammed the webpage wouldn’t load. So, be patient. Obviously, a lot of people are trying to do this all at the same time.

Once you can actually change your password, then you can go back to your PS3, sign in, and get back on the network. Oh happy day. Don’t worry if you can’t make all this work just yet. According to Sony, it might take some time.

“Please note that these services will take a bit of time to be turned on and rolled out to the whole country,” the company said in a blog post Saturday. “The process has begun and some states are being turned on now, so please be patient as we reach your city and state.”

In other words, after waiting this long, you may have to wait a bit longer. Anyone having any success with this yet? Let us know how its going for you.

If you’ve been one of the people banging your head against the wall waiting for Sony to restore the PlayStation network so you can get on with your life (trust us, we know people who are doing exactly that), you’ve got more time to wait. On its PlayStation Network blog yesterday, Sony gave an official statement on when the PlayStation Network will be back online.

Sadly, the answer wasn’t “right now.” Instead, the answer is that the network won’t be restored for “at least a few more days.” I’m sure you recall that both the PSN and Sony’s Qriocity networks suffered a major security breach recently where hackers reportedly stole 12.3 million credit card numbers and compromised personal data from 101 million accounts. Awesome, right?

“I know you all want to know exactly when the services will be restored,” Sr. Director, Corporate Communications & Social Media Patrick Seybold wrote on Sony’s PSN blog. ”At this time, I can’t give you an exact date, as it will likely be at least a few more days. We’re terribly sorry for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work through this process.”

Sure we will. I can hear cash registers all over the world ringing right now with sales of brand new XBox 360′s.

Sony better hurry, get the network back up and running and make this right with users or soon nobody will care and will have switched to XBox 360 and XBox Live.

That is, if they haven’t already.

Poor Sony just can’t seem to get a break lately. With hackers already breaking into Playstation Network and Qriocity services only last week, the company now says hackers may have stolen the personal information, including credit card numbers, of 24.6 Million users of Sony Online Entertainment.

“We are today advising you that the personal information you provided us in connection with your SOE account may have been stolen in a cyberattack,” Sony wrote in a statement on its website on Monday.

Sony Online Entertainment is a division of the company that publishes online multiplayer games like the recently released DC Universe Online. Sony turned off all SOE game services Monday after it learned of the intrusion.

Sony said that the compromised personal information includes customers’ names, addresses, e-mail addresses, birth dates, gender, phone numbers, logins and hashed passwords. Also at risk are the credit card numbers and expiration dates of 12,700 non-U.S. customers, plus 10,700 direct debit records from customers in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain, containing bank-account numbers, customers’ names and addresses.

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Much like the roommate that disappeared with your credit card, Playstation is crawling back to life this week after over 2 weeks of being down due to an alleged “hacking”. There were plenty of rumors as to why the gamer network went down, and one fact that was floating to the top was that some credit card numbers and personal information would have been compromised.

With that scary seed planted into thousands of PSN customers’ minds, the network is making it’s way back this week with both regular and a few new features. GeekWeek‘s got a full breakdown.

• Restoration of Online game-play across the PlayStation®3 (PS3) and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) systems
  -This includes titles requiring online verification and downloaded games
• Access to Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3/PSP for existing subscribers
• Access to account management and password reset
• Access to download un-expired Movie Rentals on PS3, PSP and MediaGo
• PlayStation®Home
• Friends List
• Chat Functionality

The network is said to be back at 100% by sometime this month, with no specific date announced yet. So the network is coming back. That should be enough for most people right? Not so much.

With droves of PSN customers screaming mad because they haven’t been able to access the network for 2 weeks, Sony and PlayStation have decided to sweeten the pot a bit with some free features and bonus material. here’s the list.

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Since Netflix broke the barrier between disc rental and instant streaming on the console, every other digital media provider has been vying for the attention of gamers everywhere, and that even includes the gaming powerhouse Sony and their PlayStation Network market.

As of late, a ton of mega studios have signed up to exclusively release their new films on the PSN market, including Sony Entertainment Disney. According to Variety, two more have now hopped on board.

Two more studios have signed on for Sony Computer Ent.’s movie service for gamers, according to a report in the Nikkei newspaper.

Starting in January, Fox and Universal will join Sony and Disney in supplying pics online to users of Sony PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable machines for either unlimited-time purchase or limited-time rental.

At this rate, Sony’s PlayStation Network may just take the lead in digital content, and could end up surpassing Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace, which is what the Xbox 360 is supplied by. No word yet on exactly what titles this new deal entails, but we expect to hear more as we enter the new year.