DLC - June 26th

It's almost the weekend, so that means it's probably Thursday. And what's Thursday? Hump Hump Day! What? You've never heard of Hump Hump Day? It's between Hump Day and the start of the weekend making it Hump Hump Day! O.K. Fine, you haven't heard of it because I just thought of it but never mind that now. Stuff to download, things to play, and typing to be done! On to the links.

IGN PS3
PlayStation.Blog
ThreeSpeech - European Store Update
QJNet - European Store Update

Add-Ons
As promised in recent PAIN news, a new character drops into the PAIN universe. Complete with videos (below) and a theme to match (Also below.) I still haven't bought this one, though I've sat here with my finger on the trigger a few times. So for those of you with PAIN already pre-loaded, make sure you round out your rag-tag group of miscreants with the $.99 Nigel!

Guitar Hero II rocks out with a free song this week. For all the World of War craft players they can download the "I am Murloc" song for absolutely free.

Rock Band drops a TON of songs tonight. Damn near an entire album for one artist and then 3 Weezer songs. Each song will run $1.99 (17 tracks total.) if purchased seperately, and the Doolittle album will run you $18.99 for 14 tracks and the Weezer Pack 1 will run $5.49 (3 tracks.)

Demos
Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds is an updated Hot Shots Golf game for the PS3. I've owned this game since it's release in March and haven't gotten as much enjoyment out if it as I would like because I just keep buying new games and not finishing the old ones. It's a "habit" but I refuse to call it bad because it means I always have "new games" to go back to. As explained in the PlayStation.Blog post about the demo, you will have access to two characters, the old swing system as well as the new one, and can enjoy two player ONLY online play. One thing that I still don't get about this game is the graphics. The greens and fairways are beautiful yet you notice all types of "jaggies" in the trees or character graphics. It's like this is a continuous comparison of the good and the got lazy. Of course none of this effects the game play as it's a lot of fun, but just seems odd that one part of the game is gorgeous and another not so much. Play the demo, buy the game, it really is a good arcade golf game.

When did simple game mechanics become to much like drudgery that we had to go and complicate things unnecessarily? Apparently the Top Spin 3 OFFICIAL DEMO decided it was now. Remember the days of running to the spot on the the baseline and hitting a single button at the right time to return a volley or serve? Well those days are over my friend. With the new iteration of Top Spin - a game I used to really enjoy - you now have to time up your swing in two different places to achieve the desired effect. You have to basically pre-load your swing and then release the swing at precisely the right time in order to send the ball where you'd like it to go. Even after going through the Top Spin School, one of the game modes in the demo, the change seems even more annoying in an actual match. I will say the graphics are an improvement though as you can actually see the character's hair move as they cut and stop on the court. A few slow downs in the demo but I'm sure they'll sort that out in time for the actual release.

Games
Available for the PSP at both the PS3 and the PC store, we have an existing UMD game now available for download. Medievil Resurrection will set you back $16.99, but make sure you check out a few reviews. Game itself seemed like it had promise but a few annoyances got in the way of game play. Check it, and be an informed consumer!

Videos

Games
Battlefield: Bad Company Accolades TV Spot - Great script, good concept, just doesn't look very well and I disliked the controls.
Battlefield: Bad Company Preston’s Blog - Good thing these videos are funny, otherwise I'd have nothing good to say
Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway - Ubidays Trailer - Looks like an intense, INTENSE game. If the polish sticks this will be a damn good game.
Call of Duty: World at War - Same trailer that showed up online recent, and it's still $%@*'n awesome.
HAZE Launch Trailer - They keep releasing HD720 and HD1080 trailers for a game that only did 576. If only the game lived up to the impression given from the trailers.
HAZE Song Trailer - I'm not a Korn fan but this is actually a pretty good song and tie-in video.
Medievil Resurrection interview trailer - And old clip from E3 2005, interviewing somebody from SCEE about the development about the game.
The Incredible Hulk Trailer - Considering the reviews SEGA garnered from both Iron Man & Hulk tie-in games, they probably won't be doing another Marvel game, but this one at least looks fun! I want a demo!

Movies
The House Bunny trailer - I really dislike spoof movies, and I'd have to call this a prequel to a spoof movie. Including the one of the same bimbos that's in all spoof movies. No, not Carmen Elektra!
So I Married An Axe Murderer Blu-ray Disc trailer - This is a great cult classic comedy with what looks like lots of extras tacked on. May have to check this one out.
Men In Black Blu-ray Disc trailer - This and ID4 are a must have for any movie collection, but now in full HD it's got to be amazing.

Themes
Now I have to say I kind of miss the days when there was a new PAIN theme at least once a month, and I'm still waiting for the "Spank the Monkey" theme. But this week's PAIN: Nigel Theme isn't half bad. Nigel's "a British punk so full of rage that the only thing he doesn’t hate is PAIN." And he looks like he fell straight out of Trainspotting or was one of the droogs from Clockwork Orange. Background is anger the whole way with well designed icons based on the Union Jack flag. Sounds are quick, very fitting and would take quite a while to become annoying unlike the sounds for Cookie. This one's actually been kind of fun.

PLAYSTATION Network Theme has some very sharp icons, default "tick" sounds effects instead of the sounds from the PS Store, and I'm not a fan of the background. Background takes the PSN symbol and rotates to prominently display one of the 4 iconic DUALSHOCK buttons. The graphics were done in a very high res but they seem out of place for me. With a better background design and better sounds this theme would have kept up with Nigel.

No theme for the PSP this week but we do receive three Medievil Resurrection wallpapers. Two of them look like they were possible cover art for the UMD version and another actually looks more like it was for Sid Meier's Civilizations game. They don't look bad, just aren't much in the way of actual background material.

Well that's it for this week. Now that I've gotten another taste of Hot Shots Golf I think I'll put the actual game in and play some.