Steve Boxer has been busy on Time Crisis. Here’s his preview of number four in the popular franchise…

Those of you who are of a certain age should be well aware of Namco’s pre-eminence in the arcades, and its propensity for bringing its hottest arcade properties to Sony’s consoles. Here, then, is its best-loved arcade shooter, Time Crisis, updated for the PS3, complete with a redesigned G-Con light-gun (bright orange in the UK) and even a stab at a proper first-person shooter mode to go with the traditional on-rails action. Read more…

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It’s only 11 days now until GTA4 hits UK stores, so the wait is almost over. With GTA 4 being one of the biggest releases of 2008, the game is in high demand and there are rumours floating around that many UK stores are already sold out of initial stocks and many online retailers cannot guarantee delivery for the release date. Have you ordered your copy yet, or are you going to take the risk of trying to pick up a copy on the day?

The classic arcade shooter Time Crisis has always been a fun game but can this fourth iteration of the franchise stand the test of time?

Worthplaying rated the game an impressive 8.8/10 and IGN gave it an 8.0/10.

The game comes packaged with the very orange G-con 3 light gun, the very first peripheral of its kind on PS3. It features two analogue sticks and full Sixaxis functionality. It is one impressive controller and it is also fully compatible with modern TV’s unlike the older models.

The game features includes arcade mode with updated graphics, and an all new FPS mode that takes advantage of the GunCon 3 and its dual analogue stick set up.

In the shops today.

So, you all asked the questions and Paulina Bozek was on hand to give the answers. Sorry it took a few more hours than intended but there were a lot of questions. Over to Paulina.

1. Will all the tracks from SingStar Vol 1 & 2 be downloadable from SingStore and when will this happen?

‘Licensing music for digital distribution is a different process to that of the disc-based product. We are working hard at clearing tracks for the SingStore and will continue to clear as many tracks as quickly as possible. When Vol 2 is released a number of tracks from the disc-based product will also be available to buy in the SingStore.’

2. Will the Harmony Mode on SingStar Vol 2 be available to owners of the first SingStar blu-ray disk? Will this be as a downloadable upgrade and will user’s be charged for it?

‘The new Harmony mode will be available as a free upgrade via the PlayStation®Network. It will be compatible with the specially selected duet tracks. Once the upgrade goes out, we’ll be making more of these songs available in the SingStore, and there is a great selection on the vol. 2 disc.’

3. Will the new tracks be in HD?

‘SingStar tracks feature the artists’ original music videos. We’ve gone for a lot of classic party tunes from different decades on this vol. 2 disc so HD is not a possibility for many of these.

We’re continuing to work with Record Labels to get HD videos wherever possible. At the moment, there still aren’t a lot of Music Videos being shot in HD but when they are, we’ll have them. Otherwise, we do a lot of extra video processing to make sure we get the Standard Def videos looking as good as possible.’

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New Products

Title Licence/Publisher Price

Packs

Lair Deadly Dragons Pack SCEE FREE
Warhawk Operation: Broken Mirror Pack SCEE £3.99
Metal Gear Online Premiere β Konami Digital Ent FREE

Video

GTA IV: Trailer 4 ‘Everyone’s A Rat’ Rockstar FREE

It’s almost two years since Incognito Entertainment’s Dylan Jobe revealed the PlayStation 3 version of Warhawk to the world as a demonstration of the Sixaxis motion sensing controller. Since then, it’s undertaken substantial change, going from a standard game with a single player component, to an online multiplayer only frag fest. Now we’re getting ready for its second batch of premium downloadable content and Tom Eccles, Three Speech’s young hot-shot, has been putting it through its paces. Here’s what he thought.

Operation: Broken Mirror brings two major updates to Warhawk: a new snowy battlefield under the name of Vaporfield Glacier, and a new vehicle, the APC. Vaporfield Glacier is a gigantic snow filled winter battlefield. After feedback from fellow players that Omega Factory in the previous release was too large, the team at Incognito have decided to give us the best of both worlds – ten layouts ranging from miniscule villages to huge full size areas. One of the smallest layouts, Grinder, consists of just two bases in close proximity and one central checkpoint in the middle. Grinder is perfect for those playing with just a few other people, and while it doesn’t involve the full scope of Warhawk by limiting your choice of vehicle to only a jeep, it makes for a great close quarters match.

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Here is the full European track listing for the SingStore this Friday. We know many of you are European readers so we thought we would be kind and get you the whole track listing.

Danish Language

Johnny Deluxe Ft. Anna Nordell — Drommer Jeg?
Rasmus Nohr — Sommer I Europa
Swan Lee — I Don’t Mind
TV-2 — De Forste Kaerester Pa Manen
Johnny Deluxe — Drenge Som Mig

Dutch Language

Koos Alberts — Zijn Het Je Ogen
Erik Mesie — Zonder Jou
Frank Noeijen — Kronenburg Park
De Kast — Morgen Wordt Het Beter
Benny Neyma — Vrijgezel

English Language

GANGgajang — Sounds Of Then (This Is Australia)
Placebo — Every You Every Me
Corinne Bailey Rae — I’d Like To
Dover — Serenade
The Gift — Ok! Do You Want Something Simple?
The Gift — Question Of Love
Jackie Wilson — Reet Petite
The Pipettes — Pull Shapes
The Magic Numbers — Forever Lost
Billy Ocean — Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)
Roy Orbison — Crying
Duran Duran — Ordinary World
Maximo Park — Girls Who Play Guitars
Natasha Bedingfield — These Words
Billy Joel — Piano Man
Billy Joel — It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me
Bic Runga — Sway

French Language

Têtes Raide — Fragile

German Language

Maya Saban & Cosmo Klein — Das Alles Ändert Nichts Daran
MIA — Zirkus
2raumwohnung — Besser Geht’s Nicht
Pohlmann — Wenn Jetzt Sommer Wär

Italian Language

Subsonica — Tutti I Miei Sbagli
Subsonica — Nuova Ossessione
Simone Cristicchi — Vorrei Cantare Come Biagio

Portugese Language

The Gift — Fácil de Entender
Mesa c/ Rui Reininho — Luz Vaga
Los Hermanos — Anna Júlia

Spanish Language

Extremoduro — So Payaso
Joaquín Sabina — El Blues De Lo Que Pasa En Mi Escalera
Seguridad Social — Quiero Tener Tu Presencia
La Oreja de Van Gogh — Dulce Locura
Alejandro Sanz — Y, ¿si fuera ella?
Edurne — Amores Dormidos
Miguel Bosé — Morenamía

We have just received the official press release from Sony on SingStar Vol.2 for PS3, now including a brand new harmony duet mode - which is basically a new way of playing that allows two players to sing together, showing off their harmonising skills. Sony have also sourced some special tracks to showcase this feature, including the ace Paul McCartney & The Frog Chorus number ‘We All Stand Together’ and The Mamas & The Papas classic ‘California Dreamin”.

Click through for the official press release.

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