Game Pre-Orders

• NHL 14 - $59.99
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Blacklist  – $59.99
• The Bureau: XCOM Declassified - $53.99

PS3 Games

• Dragon’s Crown - $49.99
• Tales of Xillia - $54.99

PSN Games

• ibb & obb - $9.99
• Superfrog HD - $9.99 (Cross-Buy with PS Vita)

PS Vita

• Dragon’s Crown - $39.99
• Superfrog HD - $9.99 (Cross-Buy with PS3)

PS2 Classics

• The Red Star - $9.99

For those of you that have PlayStation Plus

Instant Game Collection

• Hitman: Absolution Special Edition (PS3) - Free
  

PS Plus Discounts

• Escapevektor (PS Vita) – PS Plus Price: $3.99
• Wicked Monsters Blast! HD (PS3) – PS Plus Price: $1.00
• Superfrog (PS3) – PS Plus Price: $7.99
• Superfrog (PS Vita) – PS Plus Price: $7.99
• Rayman Origins (PS3) – PS Plus Price: $5.00
• Rayman 3 HD (PS3) – PS Plus Price: $2.50
• Rayman Origins (PS Vita) – PS Plus Price: $6.75
• Rayman Arena (PS2 Classic) – PS Plus Price: $2.50
• Rayman 2 Revolution (PS2 Classic) – PS Plus Price: $2.50
• Rayman 2: The Great Escape (PSone Classic) – PS Plus Price: $1.50
• Rayman (PSone Classic) – PS Plus Price: $1.50

PS3 Demo

• ibb & obb

PS Vita Demo

• Doodle God

Price Changes

• F1 Race Stars – PS3 Game (now: $29.99 original price: $39.99)
• Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed – PS3 Game (now: $29.99 original price: $39.99)
• Papo & Yo Bundle – PS3 Game & Soundtrack (now: $16.99 original price: $19.99)

Sales

Sound Shapes Birthday Sale

• Sound Shapes– PS3/ PS Vita Game Add-On (now: $7.49 original price: $14.99)
• Sound Shapes 80s Sound Pack– PS3/ PS Vita Game Add-On (now: $0.49 original price: $0.99)
• Sound Shapes 8-Bit Sound Pack– PS3/ PS Vita Game Add-On (now: $0.49 original price: $0.99)
• Sound Shapes Acoustic Sound Pack– PS3/ PS Vita Game Add-On (now: $0.49 original price: $0.99)
• Sound Shapes Car Mini-Album & Entity Pack – PS3/ PS Vita Game Add-On (now: $0.99 original price: $1.99)
• Sound Shapes Drum Kits Sound Pack – PS3/ PS Vita Game Add-On (now: $0.49 original price: $0.99)
• Sound Shapes Dubstep Sound Pack– PS3/ PS Vita Game Add-On (now: $0.49 original price: $0.99)
• Sound Shapes Record Player Avatar (now: Free original price: $0.49)
• Sound Shapes Guitar Walker Avatar (now: Free original price: $0.49)
• Sound Shapes Music Box Avatar (now: Free original price: $0.49)
• Sound Shapes Player Blue Avatar (now: Free original price: $0.49)
• Sound Shapes Player Brown Avatar (now: Free original price: $0.49)
• Sound Shapes Avatar Pack (now: Free original price: $1.79)

Other Sales

• Castle Crashers – PS3 Game (now: $7.49 original price: $14.99)
• Escapevektor– PS Vita Game (now: $4.99 original price: $9.99)
• God Mode – PS3 Game (now: $4.99 original price: $9.99)
• Rayman – PSone Classic (now: $2.99 original price: $5.99)
• Rayman 2: The Great Escape – PSone Classic (now: $2.99 original price: $5.99)
• Rayman Arena – PS2 Classic (now: $4.99 original price: $9.99)
• Rayman 2 Revolution – PS2 Classic (now: $4.99 original price: $9.99)
• Rayman 3 HD – PS3 Game (now: $4.99 original price: $9.99)
• Rayman Origins – PS3 Game (now: $9.99 original price: $19.99)
• Rayman Origins – PS Vita Game (now: $13.49 original price: $26.99)
• RockSmith – Various Songs (now: $1.99 original price: $2.99)
• Wicked Monster Blast! HD – PS3 Game (now: $4.99 original price: $9.99)

PS Vita Add-Ons

Dragon’s Crown

• Storyteller Voice Pack (Free)

Dynasty Warriors 8

• BGM Pack 1 ($1.99)
• New Stage & BGM Pack 1 ($2.99)

Pool Nation

• Cue Balls and Decals ($1.49)
• Pressed for Time Pack – Unlock All Assets Pack ($1.49)

Tales of Xillia

• 300,000 Gald (1) ($4.49)
• 300,000 Gald (2) ($4.49)
• Adventurer’s Nest Egg (Free)
• Alvin’s Steward Costume ($2.99)
• Alvin’s Swimwear Costume ($2.99)
• Color Variation Set (Free)
• Elize’s Maid Costume ($2.99)
• Elize’s Swimwear Costume ($2.99)
• Jude’s Steward Costume ($2.99)
• Jude’s Swimwear Costume ($2.99)
• Leia’s Maid Costume ($2.99)
• Leia’s Swimwear Costume ($2.99)
• Level Up +10 (1) ($4.49)
• Level Up +5 (1) ($2.99)
• Level Up +5 (2) ($2.99)
• Milla’s Maid Costume ($2.99)
• Milla’s Swimwear Costume ($2.99)
• Rowen’s Butler Costume ($2.99)
• Rowen’s Swimwear Costume ($2.99)
• Sample Material Set (Free)

PS3 Themes

• Dragons Crown: Into The Labyrinth Theme ($1.99)
• Abstract: Dynamic Bubbles Dynamic Theme ($2.99)
• Amazing Earth: Summer Beach Dynamic Theme ($2.99)
• Dynamic Celtic Maiden 1 ($2.99)
• Surreal: Chameleon’s Eye Dynamic ($2.99)

PSP Themes

• Digital Blasphemy Campfires ($1.49)
• Digital Blasphemy Circumpolar ($1.49)
• Digital Blasphemy Extra Solar ($1.49)
• Digital Blasphemy First Light ($1.49)
• Digital Blasphemy Geomancy ($1.49)

PS3 Videos

• Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag: A Pirate’s Life On The High Sea
• Borderlands 2 – Dragon Keep Launch Trailer
• Dungeons & Dragons Chronicles Of Mystara HD Launch Trailer
• Mad Max – Gameplay Reveal – Soul Of A Man (US, CA only)
• Need For Speed: Rivals Cops vs. Racers Trailer
• Payday 2 Web-Series Episode 1
• Payday 2 Web-Series Episode 2
• Saints Row IV – Johnny Gat Trailer (US only)
• The Guided Fate Paradox Pv1

 Source

The following services that will be unavailable:

• PlayStation Store (PC and Console)
• Customer Account Management
• PlayStation Home

During the maintenance, users will not be able to access the services we listed above. However, if you attempt to signed in to PSN at some point between now and the time of maintenance, you will  remain signing to your online session  and use apps.

“At 2K, we’re excited for the new opportunities coming with the next generation of hardware, and are hard at work preparing our announced titles for release,” the company explained.

“While 2K will not have a booth on the show floor at this year’s E3 conference, we will have a lot of great news coming your way this spring,” the statement continues.

2K’s slate of upcoming titles includes the Brave New World expansion for Civilization V, WWE 14, NBA 2K14, and The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.

Though 2K Games will not have a presence on the E3 2013 show floor, parent company Take-Two Interactive will hold its typical business meetings at the event.

“We are going to have a meeting room in the upper concourse level and we’ll be doing some business meetings as we usually do. 2K is not participating,” a Take-Two spokesperson confirmed with Joystiq.

I have made this article because I would like to play music everyone is interested in and giveaway prizes everyone wants, not to mention talk about gaming news people actually want to hear about.

Music - I will play anything: censored, uncensored, orchestral, classical, parodies, etc. There are no limitations, so please, request away.

Prizes - I will give away anime items, movies, CDS, downloads, games, books, magazines, etc (pretty much anything). If there is something you have been wanting, you can request it to be a prize. I can’t guarantee you that what you requested will be chosen as a prize, but I’ll do what I can to make prizes awesome.

Gaming News - I will talk about anything gaming related. If you’re tired of all of the old news you’ve already read before, you can request for something new. You are the reason why PlayStationGang is still around, so it only makes sense to try and satisfy you, the community, to the best of our ability.

Questions - there will be a chat section and a call button where you can ask me anything. If I feel it is an appropriate question, I will answer it in text or verbally.

*Spoiler* Expect a PS4 to be one of the prizes.

So what are you waiting for? Comment down below and start requesting for stuff!

The PlayStation Store, PlayStation Home, and Account Management will not be accessible. However,  those who attempt to  signing into PSN  before the maintenance will not be effective. You will be able to access to your online gaming session.

Disney is saying their current games could be licensed out to a different publisher or developer, but according to Kotaku’s source, that’s unlikely. The source says Lucas has pursued the option for “one or both games,” but nothing happened. “With the teams now basically being dispersed I think both games are effectively dead forever,” the source said.

A second source also told Kotaku that the chances of Lucas licensing out 1313 are very slim. The odds are “effectively zero,” the source said.

“After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games,” LucasArts parent company LucasFilm said in a statement. “As a result of this change, we’ve had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles.”

This comes after weeks and months of rumors involving the studio, which was acquired by Disney last fall. In September, LucasArts put a freeze on all hiring and product announcements, which many staff saw as the beginning of the end. In February, rumors spread that the studio might be shuttered. Today, it’s official: the iconic development house is gone along with all other projects.

]]> http://www.playstationgang.com/lucasarts-shut-down-star-wars-1313-star-wars-first-assault-and-other-projects-cancelled/feed/ 4 http://www.playstationgang.com/playing-video-games-will-be-required-in-school/ http://www.playstationgang.com/playing-video-games-will-be-required-in-school/#comments Sat, 30 Mar 2013 00:15:18 +0000 Samantha Earwood http://www.playstationgang.com/?p=10703 Two prominent neuroscientists have published a commentary in the Feb. 28th Nature suggesting that video games might be crafted to improve brain function and enhance personal well-being. In “Games To Do You Good,” they cite prospects for bettering performance on behavioral measures ranging from visual perception to altruism.

Daphne Bavelier of the University of Rochester and Richard J. Davidson of the University of Wisconsin put forward a plan calling for neuroscientists and game designers to work together to determine what aspects of play can  improve cognitive performance—and for enabling  game designers from academia to get their products to market, a process they compare to transferring drugs from the lab to patients.

The promise of video games for enhancing a range of cognitive skills was highlighted as well in the January/February issue of Scientific American Mind in an article that points out that games like Call of Duty can improve visual ability, attention, spatial reasoning and decision making. The article mentions the work of Bavelier, an advisor to a game company, and others who are trying to realize the vision of  neural enhancement either through action play or explicitly labeled brain training.

By coincidence, the same issue of Mind references one of the biggest snags in bringing forth gaming as pedagogy.  In the letters section of that issue, three researchers—David Hambrick, Frederick Oswald and Thomas Redick—cite the absence of any convincing evidence for efforts to improve intelligence through mental exercises —the basis for much of  the lucrative brain-game industry. Their letter was a response to an earlier Mind article that showed that an “n-back test,” incorporated into some games, can improve working memory, a measure related to intelligence.

What’s the answer?  I can only waffle here. The article by Bavelier and Davidson indicates why it is difficult to disentangle studies on games for brain enhancement. In sum, this  type of research is tough to do. “Placebo controls are not possible,” the authors write, “so optimal designs probably involve having several comparison groups, including an active gameplaying comparison [group] and perhaps other, more typical interventions, such as drug therapy.”

One of the underlying themes in brain research in recent decades is the accumulation of evidence for neuroplasticity, the brain’s apparent ability to remold  like clay in response to changing inputs from the outside world: the brain of a blind person expropriating the visual cortex to process sensations of touch.  One long-time pioneer in neuroplasticity research, Michael Merzenich, became involved with developing brain-training software—and researchers in the laboratory of Nina Kraus at Northwestern University reported in February that using one of the brain training exercises developed by Merzenich’s company, Posit Science, enabled older adults to hear better by letting them process sounds more quickly.

It’s studies like this that may have prompted the White House Office of Science and Technology and the National Science Foundation to organize a get-together last year of gaming companies and neuroscientists—and the second annual Entertainment Software and Cognitive Neurotherapeutics Society conference is being held from March 15 to 17th at the University of Southern California.

The  biggest challenge in all of these endeavors will be to determine whether a higher score on Call of Duty translates into a larger tally on tests of mental processing time (how fast you jam on the brakes when a kid runs in front of your car to retrieve a ball) or working memory (keeping a new phone number in your head long enough to dial). As the letter writers to Mind imply, not much evidence exists so far that a video war fantasy or a psychological test, slightly re-purposed into the form of a commercial brain game, will get you into Mensa if you didn’t have the essentials from the outset.

Call of Duty may improve memory, attention, reflexes and whatnot for Sergeant John “Soap” MacTavish, a game character, but that’s wholly separate from whether the actual game player also displays augmented function for those attributes when venturing beyond a desktop virtual world. Daniel T. Willingham, a professor of psychology from the University of Virgina, sums up the main critique of cognitive calisthenics: “What we really want to do is target a cognitive process [say, attention or memory] and then design a game that packages practice of that process into a gaming experience. That effort has been ongoing for 20 years or so in the education world and game designers have found it much more difficult than anyone thought it would be.”

Judging whether anything has actually changed within the neural circuitry of a game player’s prefrontal cortex is an exceedingly difficult task. A player may actually improve when tested on a measure like working memory—in principle, demonstrating that interacting with battlefield graphics translates into an improvement in mental ability. But that may not suffice. Willingham again:

There has been enormous controversy over transfer in working-memory training. At least in some tests, researchers show transfer [from the game to] working memory measures. What they don’t show is beneficial effects of working memory training to cognitive processes that have working memory as a constituent—reasoning, for example. So working memory is highly correlated with reasoning ability and then you boost working memory…but reasoning doesn’t get any better. Why? That’s still under debate…it’s not obvious that if we can boost mental rotation [a skill mentioned by Bavelier and Davidson in their article], we will make people into better dentists or  scientists.

This hurdle will likely leave both psychologists and software developers executives undeterred, if only because of the hypnotic allure of gaming: Call of Duty: Black Ops was played the equivalent of  68,000 years in the month after its release. Michael Posner, a professor of psychology from the University of Oregon, believes that the issue of transfer effects will ultimately be addressable: “We do have principles for predicting transfer based on common elements among tasks, common mental operation in performing them, or common anatomy of the brain networks that support them. Many of the findings are disputed, but I think in the end it will be possible to know the limits of generalization of different forms of learning.”

More (and better designed) research will be needed before that goal is achieved. Walter Boot, who researches complex skill training at Florida State University, says that most of the studies on games arrive freighted with methodological flaws—they include overly simplistic lab tasks, inadequate control groups and a failure to measure whether a game skill translated to the world beyond the confines of a game. “The potential of games to improve cognition is exciting and in the end may be a fruitful approach,” Boot says, “but it will be important for consumers of these games to be given realistic expectations regarding their effect. Much more research is necessary before this can happen.”

For the moment, a video or brain game that enhances neuroplasticity or IQ may not be where a parent or student should look to learn how to learn better. Willingham and colleagues published a lengthy review in Psychological Science in the Public Interest this year that shows that the student that tests herself on recently learned material and goes over coursework at set intervals, rather than cramming, has the best chance of success. Whether or not they make the brain more plastic, these tried-and-true methods, affirmed by a body of psychological research, may be as good as it gets.