At the end of the week, all those who submitted the correct evidence pack from the crime scene were given an exclusive voucher code to download the Heavy Rain playable demo from the PlayStation Store. The demo will not be made generally available until this Thursday, 11th February – so there’s still time for you to get involved and get hold of the demo early. Head over to www.HeavyRain.com to register, and then take a look at the active community over on the Facebook Fanpage if you need any hints or help.

The final stage of the investigation will take place this week – you’ve been seconded to work with the Bureau, helping them assess potential suspects against strict psychological criteria. This is where you will need to use all of the skills and information you’ve learned during the investigation, and ultimately make your decision – which suspect will you bring in for questioning?

Also – a big apology to those of you who had problems accessing some of the websites at times last week. We’ve seen absolutely unprecedented traffic over the last few weeks, and we’ve now taken additional steps to ensure that everyone taking part has the best possible experience. Thanks to all of you for your patience, and your enthusiasm for the fantastic Heavy Rain!

Super secret cheat #1 – Unlock All Maps and Fast Forward
Now you can instantly play any map and mode with fast forward!

To unlock:

1. Navigate to the Credits screen.
2. Enter the following button sequence: Down, Down, Up, Up, Right, Left, Right, Left, Circle button, X button.
3. The “Charge” sound effect will play indicating the cheat was unlocked!

Super secret cheat #2 – Unlock Health and Money Boost
Now you can build your ultimate maze with 9999 money and 999 health!
To unlock:

1. Navigate to the Credits screen.
2. Enter the following button sequence: Up, Right, Down, Left, Up, Right, Down, Left, Circle button, X button.
3. The “Cha-ching!” sound effect will play indicating the cheat was unlocked!

We hope these cheats help enhance your Fieldrunners experience!

This interview will hopefully give you some insight into the development of the game, and get you interested in the other two Fabula Nova Crystallis games — Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII. As soon as Square Enix is ready to talk more about these titles, you can expect to see something here on PlayStation.Blog.

If there are any burning questions that you have for Square Enix, be sure to let the talented gents over at PlayStation.Blog US know, as they’ll be conducting further interviews, which you’ll see here later this week.

Do you have any plans for Final Fantasy XIII PlayStation Home content?

It is already happening in Japan. There will be costumes for Lightning and Snow, and there’s a personal space as well as chocobo and other character figures. We don’t know at the moment whether this will be brought to Europe.

Will Final Fantasy Versus XIII have any links to Final Fantasy XIII?

Final Fantasy Versus XIII is part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series, but XIII and Versus XIII only share the same basic mythology. The fal’Cie and l’Cie are just a small part of this mythology, but the story and the characters are completely different.

Are there any games within the Fabula Nova Crystallis series that have yet to be announced?

At the moment we are concentrating on releasing Versus XIII and Agito XIII. At the moment we have no other specific plans to release any other titles as a part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series.

What made you decide to make Final Fantasy XIII a series, rather than a standalone title?

If you look back at the Final Fantasy series, at VII for example, this later let to Advent Children and Crisis Core. Also, for FFX, we created FFX-2 after its release. In those cases we obviously released the original title first and then created the sequel. This time we wanted to create several games in the same project from the outset.

Will there be an English demo?

We haven’t decided whether to make a demo available yet.

How much emphasis is placed on story and cutscenes in FFXIII? Do you feel it’s balanced with gameplay, or heavy on either side?

The basic playtime is about 50 to 60 hours, for the main story. Amongst which, the cutscenes make up about 10 hours. So, quite a large amount, with very high quality graphics, of course. So there’s plenty of story and gameplay to enjoy.

What will you be moving on to now that Final Fantasy XIII is finished?

At the moment we are still concentrating on finishing off and promoting the overseas version of Final Fantasy XIII, but many of the team have obviously accumulated a lot of knowledge and experience and they will be moved over to work on Versus and Agito. Personally, we don’t know what we’re going to move on to next.

How much sidequest content is there in XIII?

We call them “missions”, rather than “quests”. During the second half of the story, when the characters go down to a place called Pulse, there are many missions available there. In the majority of them the boss of the mission who you have to defeat, is more powerful than the main boss of the story. I’ve already told you that the basic playing time is 50 to 60 hours, but if you want to complete all the missions, the total time is probably twice that or more.

So what are the chances of a CG movie based on FFXIII, like Advent Children?

There are no plans at the moment, but once it is released over here and, if there are some particular characters or features that are received particularly well, then we might make a decision. And of course we need to see how it goes down sales-wise and regarding user reactions, first.

What are your feelings about the current state of the game industry in Japan, compared with the West and what Western games have you been most influenced by?

Some people have been saying that the Japanese game industry is dead, and all that… I dunno. I will say that Final Fantasy XIII is one really epic title for high definition consoles. With this game, we are going to resurrect the whole thing. As for Western games that have influenced us — FPSs mostly. The Call of Duty series, for example.

How do you feel about Yoichi Wada’s statement that Final Fantasy XIII will be the last game of its kind for Square Enix?

We don’t know exactly what he meant by that. We don’t really know what he meant by this style of game. If you consider that during Final Fantasy XIII’s development, at peak time the team consisted of over 300 people. It was a huge team, plus it took a several long years to get the game finished. So, if Mr Wada meant that we would never make another Final Fantasy title with the similar number of people, taking as long as FFXIII did, we would agree.

Obviously in the future we want to be much more efficient. Having worked on XIII, we feel that we have got much better at making good games for high definition consoles. In the future our teams will be smaller and more effectively run. We suspect that is what Mr Wada meant by his statement.

The God of War HD remake for the PS3 has been very popular in the US and people in Europe are very much looking forward to it. Do you have any interest in creating an HD remake of a PS1 or PS2 Final Fantasy game?

We don’t know the details about the HD remake of God of War. If it’s just a case of attaining high resolution graphics, only, then that wouldn’t be that difficult, but if we were to achieve the same graphical standard as in XIII with a PS1 title, then that would be a huge, huge task. Almost unrealistic. Even with a PS2 title it would be difficult. In the case of God of War, there weren’t really that many characters in the game — the main character and some monsters, maybe ten people or so. That would not be unachievable.

As with Final Fantasy titles in the past, like on PS1, even just the main characters amount to around 10 people. Then you have all the NPCs, you’re probably looking at about 200 characters total. All with individual textures for the skin, plus costumes, facial features and everything. That would be a really tricky job.

Will there be any New Game+ content in Final Fantasy XIII?

When you finish the main quest there are some growth elements of the the characters which will unlock once you’ve defeated the last boss. After this is done, you’ll be easily able to return to Pulse and take part in the many missions available there. There is no way to start the game again with your current character stats, however.

Is there a specific reason why Japanese voices were left out of the game?

For the European version, the facial expressions and lip syncronisation are all lined up with the English lines, so the Japanese voices would not match up right. That was the main worry.

People are aware that there is a lot of content that has been cut from the game. Do you have any plans to use this content in the future?

You say “content” but, in reality, it’s more like “ideas”. Maybe a map was a little bit too complex and we felt like the player would get completely lost, so we simplified, or whatever. So this content won’t be coming out separately, as it has been binned.

Will there be a hard drive install available?

There is no installation, the game runs directly from the disc.

Finally, why does Sahz have a Chocobo in his hair?

What happened was, initially we only had a concept of this character being happy and jolly. Nomura designed the character and gave him an afro while, flippantly, drew a small chocobo next to him. As we looked at this, we lliked the idea and the chocobo got added into the story. That’s how it happened.

Here I am again with lots of great tracks in my SingStore shopping bag, including not only one but two amazing SongPacks to sink your mics into. Don’t say I’m not good to you…

Whether you like to rock out to The Raconteurs and ‘Steady, As She Goes’ or prove that you have the potential to win American Idol with ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’ by Kelly Clarkson, there should be something for everyone in this week’s update.

Also some more French tracks including Christophe Willem and Helmut Fritz, plus Finnish and German songs by Juli, Jan Delay and Happoradio.

Last but not least, our SongPacks for this update are both jam-packed with hot hits from Crowded House and Lionel Richie And The Commodores.

That’s it – see you in two weeks’ time…
Nina x

In English

• Damien Leith – 22 Steps
• James Morrison – You Make It Real
• JLS – Everybody In Love
• Kelly Clarkson – Since U Been Gone
• Kelly Clarkson – Behind These Hazel Eyes
• Lil Wayne – Go D.J.
• Massive Attack – Teardrop
• P!nk – U + Ur Hand
• P!nk – Who Knew
• Supergrass – Alright
• The Raconteurs – Steady, As She Goes (not available in Australia/New Zealand)
• The Specials – A Message To You Rudy
• The Subways – Oh Yeah
• T’Pau – Heart And Soul
• Von Hertzen Brothers – Let Thy Will Be Done
• Snow Patrol – Run
• Snow Patrol – Spitting Games

In Finnish

• Happoradio – Puhu Äänellä Jonka Kuulen

In French

• Vitaa – A fleur de toi
• Helmut Fritz – Ça M’enerve
• Julien Doré – Moi Lolita
• Tété – À La Faveur De L’Automne
• Christophe Willem – Berlin
• Grégoire – Ta Main

In German

• DJ Ötzi & Nik P. – Ein Stern (Der Deinen Namen Trägt)
• Jan Delay – Klar
• Juli – Geile Zeit

Song Packs:

• Crowded House
  • Crowded House – Weather With You
  • Crowded House – Don’t Dream It’s Over
  • Crowded House – It’s Only Natural
  • Crowded House – Four Seasons in One Day
  • Crowded House – Fall At Your Feet

• Lionel Richie And The Commodores
  • Lionel Richie – All Night Long
  • Lionel Richie – Angel
  • Lionel Richie – Hello
  • The Commodores – Three Times A Lady
  • The Commodores – Easy

New this week from the video store:

To Rent:

• Adventureland
• Driving Aphrodite
• Along Came Polly

To Buy

• It Might Get Loud
• Aliens In The Attic
• Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead (Unrated)
• Couples Retreat
• Malice In Wonderland
• The Ugly Truth
• Adventureland
• Duplicity
• Driving Aphrodite
• Secret of Moonacre
• Bandslam

To celebrate the launch of all 3 godfather movies on the video store we decided to create a Gangster Collection so you can find all your favourite gangster movies in one place.

From Thursday the 11th of February for 1 week only we will be running a special Valentine’s Day treat for you. No, it’s not a collection of romantic movies with happily ever after endings but rather some cheeky films that everyone secretly enjoys

Naughty Valentines special offer is what you need for a perfect night in this weekend. A selection of movies, such as Cruel Intentions, School of Seduction, Fatal Attraction and many other great movies will be available for you to buy for as little as £5.99.

Enjoy!

Firstly, let me thank all of you for your feedback to our first post, it has made me feel very welcome :0)
Secondly, I wanted to let you know that the first round of DLC for Fairytale Fights is due for release on the 11th February. Even better – its free!

The DLC, AKA ‘Treasure Pack 1’ contains 4 brand new playable characters and 3 challenging PvP arenas, our local residents now have more foes to slice‘n’dice and arenas to paint red with their blood! Fairytale Fights Treasure Pack 1 offers you the chance to experience life in Taleville in so many new ways!

Our four characters are Bones, Princess Afia, Grandma Red (yes, you guessed it, Little Red’s grandma) and Puss in Boots – Each of our characters have a story of their own to tell, we have started the story for you, but for the rest, you must play to find out

Moving on to our 3 challenges, the PvP arena’s, I will give you a little information, but really – You should play them yourselves to find out more

Time to Die - In Time to Die, players have to traverse the tricky elevators on both sides of the room. The battlefield is small, the action is dense! Get to the weapons, risk your own life and slaughter your enemy. Your opponent is just waiting for you to make a mistake!

Rooftop Rumble – On top of the snow covered rooftops you must fight! Use the bridge to throw your opponent into the thorns, crush them against the wall or simply use it as access to the floors below. Trick your enemy into a false sense of security and when the time is right, fire your arrow (triggering the bridge), giving your careless opponent a nice surprise! A bloody surprise!

Cannon Ball Bay – Cannon Ball Bay is made up from 5 islands, and a Pirate ship. Fighting on islands means a lot of pushing and trying to shoot each other into the water, however when you take control over the cannon the fighting changes to a cat and mouse game. Take your 3 chances to shoot at your enemy whilst they cower and hide – this will be carnage!

It sounds like MAG is keeping all you nice and busy. As for us, we’re busy preparing to get Heavy Rain and White Knight Chronicles out the door and into your hands in a few weeks time. As if that wasn’t enough, there are plenty of awesome third party titles coming up, like BioShock 2, Aliens Vs Predator, Star Ocean 4 and, the one I’m looking forward to the most, Final Fantasy XIII.

If you’re itching to try out Heavy Rain for yourselves, though, the demo can be obtained through the Heavy Rain Four Days challenge. You could be playing it today! You’ll find out how in one of the links below. Speaking of which, let me know what interesting stories you noticed around the web in the comments section.

• PlayStation LifeStyle » PSLS Presents – Seth Luisi, Director of Development, Zipper Interactive
• MAG Review for the PS3 from 1UP.com
• PS3 sales reach 33.5m | Games Industry | MCV
• Sonic the Hedgehog 4 goes episodic this summer – News at GameSpot
• News: Sony: PS3’s best is yet to come – ComputerAndVideoGames.com
• News, Reviews, Previews, Editorials, and more @ GamingEvolution
• PlayStation LifeStyle » PSLS Presents – Steve Lycett, Sumo Digital – Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing
• PlayStation LifeStyle » Kratos: God of Case Mod
• M.A.G. – Review | The Lost Gamer
• Want The Heavy Rain Demo Right Now? Here’s How… – heavy rain – Kotaku

January is over! The year has officially begun, in earnest. We’ve got God of War III news (mostly involving boxes), Heavy Rain news and lots of minis info. Not to mention this week’s big announcement that ModNation Racers will be available on PSP alongside its PS3 cousin this Spring. Check out the full list below, as ever.

By the way, you’re following along with the Heavy Rain Four Days challenge, right? Those of you who made it through the second week will no doubt be enjoying the Heavy Rain demo over the weekend. So now you’ve tried it, what do you think?

• LittleBigPlanet Contraption Challenge #9 – And The Winner Is… — Check out the winners of the latest LBP Contraption Challenge.
• The Shortest Month Is Now Minis Month — Celebrate February’s shorter length with some mini minis prices.
• Fairytale Fights White Room Demo — A look at the Fairytale Fights White Room demo, available on the PSN Store right now.
• UK Video Store Update — The latest movies added to the UK Video Store.
• Kahoots Hints And Tips — Some hints on how to play Kahoots, direct from the developers.
• Heavy Rain – Previously on ‘Four Days’ – Part 1 — A look at what happened last week in the Heavy Rain Four Days experience.
• Pillar of the Skies – New Episode Of Topatoi Saga In PlayStation Store This Week — The next episode of Topatoi is here!
• It’s Disco Time with Musicality! Plus PixelJunk Arrives! — The latest new Home releases.
• Bioshock 2 – Big Daddy Is Coming — Bioshock 2’s epic launch trailer, plus a Q&A session with the developers.
• Spaceball: Revolution Out Today — Our minis library continues to grow with the latest title, Spaceball: Revolution.
• ‘Heads-Up’ PlayStation Store Update (4th February 2010) — This week’s PlayStation Store update.
• Digital Comics Store Update (4th February 2010) — The newest comics now available on the PlayStation Store.
• VidZone Update: MTV, Smooth Operators, And A Whole Lot Of Hassle — This week’s VidZone update, detailed.
• Select minis Now Have A Mini Price — A reminder of the minis price drop to celebrate minis month.
• God of War III Ultimate Trilogy Edition – Box Unveiled! — You’ve seen the God of War III Ultimate Trilogy box, but have you seen the box the box comes in? It’s boxy.
• ModNation Racers Goes Portable! — ModNation Racers is coming to the PSP alongside the PS3 release this Spring.
• Introducing echoshift for PSP — A look at the latest game from the creators of Echochrome.

I’m Kim Piper, the European Product Manager for Echoshift. Brian Chou has done a great write up introducing the game, which you can find below. Be sure to let me know if you have any questions.

Kim

Hi Everyone –

I’m here to talk about echoshift, an upcoming PlayStation Portable title that brings a fun and different twist to the puzzle genre. echoshift introduces a new gaming concept where you will have to play with your past actions. Each level features crazy puzzles and obstacles that must be overcome in order to reach its exit door. You have a set amount of time to reach each level’s exit, and your actions are recorded as you play through the level, creating an “echo” of your past. If time runs out before you can complete the level, you start over from the beginning alongside your echo. The echo will repeat any actions you took before, which you can use to your advantage this time around to help clear obstacles you couldn’t by yourself! Cooperate with your echoes to climb platforms, clear gaps, and reach switches that you couldn’t before.

The levels are filled with so many different puzzle gimmicks that you’ll have to create multiple echoes to reach an exit. Whenever you start over, any echoes you’ve created will appear at the same time. It is up to you to strategically use these multiple echoes to help reach the level’s goal. You’ll have to think quickly and learn from your past decisions! Master this innovative game play style and plan ahead so that you layer your echoes and actions to clear each level.

echoshift comes loaded with over 30 different puzzle types to solve, all within eight themed worlds based on different puzzle concepts and types. Each world has seven levels that are filled with puzzle types such as moving objects, doors controlled by switches, crumbling floors, and more!

There are three different game modes for each level: “cast”, “key”, and “illusion”. “Cast” mode challenges you to reach the level’s exit within the time limit. When you first play, only “cast” mode is available, but you unlock the other two as you clear each mode. In “key” mode, the door at the goal is locked, so you will need to find the key before you can clear a level. Sometimes the key is hidden, so make sure to cooperate with your echoes to find it! Finally in “illusion” mode, you will be able to stop the timer briefly. When you stop time, each echo freezes, but you can still advance forward, plus you don’t have to worry about gimmicks in your way! This feature can be also handy when you are running out of time near the goal.

And there are more levels coming for those who master all 56 levels! There will be additional downloadable levels, which will be available on PlayStation Network at a later date. For all those interested, a free demo of echoshift will be releasing in PSN in February!

Continue to check back here on the PlayStation.Blog for updates, details on DLC and other news on echoshift.

ModNation is going Portable!
Yep that’s right PSP owners will be able to get their hands on a PSP version of the game; allowing you the same creative tools to make your mod, kart and tracks while your on the move/on holiday/at your grandparents house. You will also be able to upload, download, remix and race creations by the PSP ModNation community.

Meaning ModNation PSP content will never get old. If you get bored of racing on your own then grab some mates and race against each other or go online and battle it out with 6 other players.

I’m really excited about ModNation on PSP it’s looking like it’s going to be pretty amazing and it will be launching alongside the PS3 version of the game later this year.

p.s Last week in my reply to Deathvein I set a little challenge. I wanted to see if anyone could create a cool looking Nathan Drake using the ModNation Beta… Below is a selection of Nathan’s I found:

This week how about creating some Mods that look like Jak and Daxter or Buzz? Best ones will be shown in a blog post next week.