What's in Store

I heard that Sony switched on the Australian Playstation Store today, so I've just activated my Australian PSN account and had a look. The Aussie Store is much the same as all the others, but I thought I'd reveal what's in there for those of you picking up an Australian PS3 soon. No doubt the content is essentially the same as the UK Store, though the pricing is obviously different.


Here's the complete list:

Games
GTHD Concept (free)
Tekken 5: Dark Ressurrection ($16.95)
Blast Factor ($8.45)
Lemmings ($8.45)
Gripshift ($13.37)

Demos (all free)
Resistance: Fall of Man
Motorstorm
Blast Factor
Formula One C.E.
Lemmings Starter Pack
Genji: DotB
Ridge Racer 7

Video
PS3 Advert: trailer 2 "underbelly" (61MB 1080p)
Resistance: FoM TV advert (58MB 720p)
Formula One: C.E. trailer (73MB 720p)
Motorstorm trailer (224MB 720p)
PS3 Advert: trailer 3 "grenade" (93MB 1080p)
Resistance: FoM trailer (223MB 720p or 122MB SD)
GT HD Concept trailer (185MB 720p)
Motorstorm TV advert (6355KB 720p)
Casino Royale trailer (282MB 1080p or 38MB SD)
Gripshift trailer (91MB 720p or 23MB SD)
Genji:DoB trailer (155MB 720p)
PS3 Advert: Keiji (18MB 1080p)
Ridge Racer 7 trailer (128MB 1080p)
PS3 Stories: Control (146MB 1080p, 110MB 720p or 32MB SD)
PS3 Stories: Power (147MB 1080p)
PS3 Stories: Real Time (203MB 1080p, 143MB 720p or 146MB SD)
PS3 Stories: Cinematic (178MB 1080p or 35MB SD)
PS3 Stories: High Def (156MB 1080p, 120MB 720p or 33MB SD)
PS3 Stories: Storage (187MB 1080p, 138MB 720p or 37MB SD)
NHL 2K7 trailer (31MB 1080p)
NBA 2K7 trailer (23MB 1080p)
X-Men 3: The Last Stand trailer (112MB 720p or 29MB SD)
Behind Enemy Lines trailer (108MB 720p or 31MB SD)
The Omen trailer (66MB 720p or 17MB SD)
Kingdom of Heaven trailer (119MB 720p or 30MB SD)
Ice Age: The Meltdown trailer (98MB 720p or 27MB SD)
Speed trailer (121MB 720p or 31MB SD)

Game Content
Ridge Racer 7 Game Decal Sets 1-5
Genji Enemy Costume Pack


That's it...well almost. Strangely enough there's another trailer available that's not listed in the Video section. It's a rather brutal The Darkness: Revenge trailer that's only accessible by scrolling through the Latest section. It's the same trailer that was shown at TGS 06. Notably absent are previously announced titles like flOw, Go! Sudoku and Super Rub-a-Dub.

Remember folks, the first 20,000 Australians to activate their PS3s online are eligible to recieve a free copy of Casino Royale on Blu-ray. Good luck.

Consoul Magazine

Well, this piece was going to be a long and thoughtful post-mortem of GDC '07 and the announcement of Sony's new MMO online interface, Home. The rest of the gaming press and blogosphere have already talked that to death, so instead here's a picture of a blond girl in a pink bikini, sitting on the toilet with her pants down.
This is the cover of Sony's new PS3 lifestyle magazine called CONSOUL. How nice of them to shamelessly steal my name. This free monthly magazine debuted earlier this month in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Here's my own (admittedly very rough) translation of the media release:

Sony Computer Entertainment Deutschland (SCED) brings its own lifestyle magazine to the launch of the PLAYSTATION3 on the market. In co-operation with the Köln agency, the first edition of CONSOUL will appear on 06/03/2007 with a run of 500,000 copies. The new monthly trend magazine appears in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and is distributed through stores catering to the gaming & internet scene and other selected outlets free of charge.

CONSOUL covers the PLAYSTATION 3 from the perspective of lifestyle and entertainment enthusiasts. High production value photo shoots, reports on sports, fashion and design, and music and movie reviews will fill CONSOUL's pages, as well as features on the technical highlights of the PLAYSTATION 3, and outstanding games and gadgets. The articles, which are all written by an independent specialized editorship, don't lose themselves in technical details, but inspire curiosity to find out more and targets a readership which sits around the fringe of video game topics.

PLAYSTATION 3, which will be available with the European-wide sales launch on 23 March 2007, is more than just a next generation game console, but a multimedia high-end entertainment centre. CONSOUL welcomes this new dimension of digital convergence, which is made possible with the start of the PS3. "The PlayStation brand will be shaped with PS3 as high definition home entertainment. With CONSOUL we look directly at the lifestyle of our customers. We address all, the fun of new emerging gadgets, the digital life of the internet, and naturally our outstanding games and films", said Uwe Bassendowski, Managing Director of Sony Computer Entertainment Deutschland GmbH.

Wow. I'm still not sure exactly where the girl on the toilet fits in, but she will no doubt attract some attention. I'm somewhat dubious about the "independent" editorship, but this seems to be the direction in which Sony's 'decentralized' PR is headed (see also thinly-veiled Sony mouthpiece blog ThreeSpeech). I'm curious to see what this magazine actually contains. If anyone could send me one, or provide some scans, I'd be much obliged.

UPDATE: First they take my name, then they take my story.

So I had a subtle dig at Threespeech in this post. Well, they've responded by ripping off part of the post (complete with my re-sized, re-named cover picture and my own bodgy translation) and posting it on their site, without credit. Do not underestimate the petulance of Playstation.

Thanks to good folk like Chris Kohler @ WIRED, N'Gai Croal @ Newsweek and Brian Ashcroft @ Kotaku who gave credit where it was due.