Sony Weekly Update (Dec. 10-16)

Hey Game Ranters, another Thursday, another update to the Sony PlayStation Store, and another Game Rant Weekly Update.

There are no scheduled retail releases for either the PS3 or PSP this week – but fear not, PixelJunk Shooter has been released on the PlayStation Store. The title continues Q-Games’ streak of innovative and engaging releases (all of which are exclusive to the PSN). PixelJunk Shooter features two player local compatibility, a great soundtrack, charming story, great gameplay, numerous collectible items, and an attractive $9.99 price-tag. Without question, Shooter is Game Rant’s featured Sony release of the week.

For PSP owners, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is a great release priced at $14.99. The title refreshes the cult favorite Castlevania: Rondo of Blood for a new generation of gamers with updated graphics, new voice acting, a remastered soundtrack, and other improvements.  The download also includes the original Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and a port of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Even if you’re not a die-hard fan of the Castlevania series, this PSP package offers a great gameplay experience at a terrific value.

Here is the full list of release information:

Dec. 15 Sony Retail Game Releases

PlayStation 3 & PSP

There are no retail game releases scheduled this week.

Dec. 10th PlayStation Store Update:

Downloadable Games

PixelJunk Shooter ($9.99) Pilot a subterranean exploration vehicle to explore the interior of diverse cave-like complexes. The player must affect the surrounding and dynamic terrain to safely rescue survivors scattered about the cavernous environment. Both environmental elements and eniemies, including bosses will attempt to hamper the player’s progress.
 ESRB Rated E10+

Revenge of the Wounded Dragons ($9.99) Come out with fists blazing in high-energy Kung-Fu style in Revenge of the Wounded Dragons, now on the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system! Your mission is double: Avenge your grandfather’s death and rescue your sister from the local mafia boss’ hands. Play single player mode or try special cooperative moves with a friend in a raging Kung-Fu battle of fists and weapons. 
ESRB Rated T

Frogger Returns ($4.99) Frogger Returns takes the heart-pounding challenge of arcade Frogger and takes it into the next dimension! Classic top-down 2D gameplay is updated with colorful 3D graphics, a new perspective, all-new levels, new enemies and game-changing power-ups to dodge and use! Local multiplayer lets you race a friend to victory. 
ESRB Rated E

PSone Classics: PS3/PSP

Bomberman Party Edition ($5.99) Have a blast in the party edition of the classic Bomberman game. Can you clear all 50 stages?
 ESRB Rated E

Game Demos (free)

topatoi Demo topatoi for PlayStation 3 brings your screen to life with classic platforming gameplay over a variety of dynamic levels. Dynamic arcade gameplay, nimble enemies, amusing puzzles and Raph’s breathtaking adventures await you. Unlockable levels make game progress even more fun!
 ESRB Rated E

Dante’s Inferno Demo Dante’s Inferno The Gates of Hell Demo – Discover an epic adventure based on the first part of Dante Alighieri’s masterpiece, “The Divine Comedy”. Playing as Dante, you must defeat Death and arm yourself with his scythe as you prepare to descend into the nine circles of Hell and rescue the soul of your beloved Beatrice from Lucifer himself.
 ESRB Rated R

Mushroom Wars Demo Mushroom Wars is a fast-paced, accessible single and multiplayer RTS game with a quaint visual style that brings skirmish gameplay to the forefront. Battles of opposing tribes of Mushroom armies take place in close-quarters maps using simple, straight-forward controls against AI or friends. Short campaigns challenge players to take control of key strategic points. Conquest battles require complete annihilation of opponents.
 ESRB Rated E

Add-on Game Content

inFAMOUS Gigawatt Blades Power (free) This exclusive inFAMOUS power transforms Cole’s hands into instruments of sheer destruction. Electric blades extend from his wrists, and a single blow annihilates any foe, sending them to their death. No other melee weapon in the game comes close to matching the ferocity of Gigawatt Blades.

High Velocity Bowling Ginger Character ($0.99) It’s time to bowl – High Velocity style! Add Ginger from the hit PlayStation Network game PAIN to your High Velocity Bowling roster. Ginger is taking a break from breaking, and healing, bones in PAIN to join the HVB cast and knock down some pins instead. Download includes Ginger’s special ball “The Gimp,” plus the new Ginger’s Triage lane.

High Velocity Bowling Jarvis Character ($0.99) It’s time to bowl – High Velocity style! Add Jarvis from the hit PlayStation Network game PAIN to your High Velocity Bowling roster. Jarvis is ready to knock some pins down for a change, rather than knocking himself out with a giant slingshot. Download includes Jarvis’s special ball “The Bruiser,” plus the new Crash Pad lane.

High Velocity Bowling Animal Patterns Ball Pack ($0.99) It’s time to bowl – High Velocity style! Spice up your bowling game with this cool pack of six custom “Animal Patterns” theme bowling balls.

High Velocity Bowling Winter Holiday Ball Pack ($0.99) It’s time to bowl – High Velocity style! Spice up your bowling game with this cool pack of six custom “Winter Holiday” theme bowling balls.

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast Alien Warriors Pack (free) “Dragon Ball: Raging Blast” Character Pack #2 is now available! The second release is the “Alien Warriors Pack!” This pack contains Vegeta (Scouter), Raditz, Nappa, Zarbon and Dodoria! These wild fighters from outer space join the battles and heat things up! Show your skills in the ultimate battles against the earthlings!

The King of Fighters XII: Classic Pack ($1.99) BGM Arrangement Packs for THE KING OF FIGHTERS XII now available! 10 tracks of the game’s BGM will be arranged in CLASSIC style.

The King of Fighters XII: Dance Pack ($4.99) BGM Arrangement Packs for THE KING OF FIGHTERS XII now available!
10 tracks of the game’s BGM will be arranged in DANCE style.

The King of Fighters XII:Hard Rock Pack ($4.99) BGM Arrangement Packs for THE KING OF FIGHTERS XII now available!
10 tracks of the game’s BGM will be arranged in HARD ROCK style.

The King of Fighters XII: Jazz Pack ($4.99) BGM Arrangement Packs for THE KING OF FIGHTERS XII now available!
10 tracks of the game’s BGM will be arranged in JAZZ style.

Need For Speed Shift: Team Racing (free) In Need For Speed Shift Team Racing players race together in teams of up to six versus six for the ultimate racing challenge. Look out for five amazing new cars which are available immediately for use online and in quick race, and from tier two in the career mode.

The Saboteur: The Midnight Show DLC ($2.99) Welcome to the Midnight show! This content allows you to toggle the nudity in-game, opens up new hiding spots, mini-games, and 4 unique cinematics from the Belle de Nuit Burlesque girls.

PAIN: PAINBall Mode ($1.99) The PAINBall mode challenges you to a slap-happy multiplayer showdown! Throw out everything you learned in typical sports and get ready for a mutant form of competition with new PAINful rules. Select your favorite launchee to slap your friends silly and get in their way of scoring. It sounds simple, but the makers of PAIN have littered the playing field with enough obstacles to make everyone say “Ooch”.

Guitar Hero 5 For all song credits please visit www.guitarhero.com.

• “All The Right Moves” by OneRepublic ($1.99)
• “Everybody Loves Me” by OneRepublic ($1.99)
• “Mercy” by OneRepublic ($1.99)
• OneRepublic Track Pack ($5.49) – Downloadable Track Pack featuring “All The Right Moves”, “Mercy”, “Everybody Loves Me” by OneRepublic. Please Note: Many songs are available both as singles and as part of a Track Pack, so please carefully consider your purchases before downloading.

File sizes: 39 MB – 42 MB (singles), 121 MB (track pack)

Rock Band Build your Rock Band library by purchasing these song game tracks. For song credits, visit www.RockBand.com.

• “Dreaming of Love”— Lights Resolve (free)
• “I Am a Rock”— Simon & Garfunkel ($1.99)
• “The Sounds of Silence”— Simon & Garfunkel ($1.99)
• “Duality”— Slipknot ($1.99)
• “Psychosocial”— Slipknot ($1.99)
• “Sulfur”— Slipknot ($1.99)
• Slipknot Pack 01 ($5.49)- Build your Rock Band library by purchasing this song game track pack: Slipknot Pack 01. This pack includes: “Duality,” “Psychosocial,” and “Sulfur” by Slipknot.

File sizes: 13 MB – 41 MB (singles), 115 MB (track pack)

PlayStation Store for PSP

Downloadable Games (also available from PS3 storefront)

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles ($14.99) The legendary action game Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is reborn on the PSP system with incredible 3D graphics and timeless side scrolling gameplay in Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. The first time Rondo of Blood has been released outside of Japan, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles lets gamers take up the Vampire Killer whip as Richter Belmont as they seek to destroy the maniacal Dracula once and for all in this pivotal piece of the ongoing Castlevania saga. Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles also includes the original Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night games, delivering incredible gameplay and value while updating two of the most beloved video games of all time for a new generation of gamers.
 ESRB Rated T

Coded Arms ($9.99) Coded Arms is a visually stunning first-person shooter that places the gamer in the role of a computer hacker who infiltrates an abandoned virtual reality system.
 ESRB Rated T

Death Jr. ($9.99) When Death Jr. accidentally releases the evil Necromancer Moloch and his hoards of deranged demon-beasts to wreak havoc on the town, it’s time for some quick-thinking action from the son of the Grim one. Grab your scythe, an arsenal of guns, and your… self-guided C4 hamsters?… to hack, maim and destroy armies of mutant creatures and scavenge the souls of those you so innocently imperiled…and keep yourself out of military school.
 ESRB Rated T

Death Jr. 2 Root of Evil ($9.99) Death Jr. and Pandora return in an all-new twisted adventure as they accidentally unleash Furi, a creature of nature hell-bent on becoming the ultimate evil! In order to stop Furi and her hordes of unnatural minions, DJ and Pandora must travers demented locales like the Toy Graveyard, the River Styx, and the Waffle House, home of the best acid syrup covered waffle in the World.
 ESRB Rated T

Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2 ($14.99) Ancient China’s greatest warriors have rocked the foundations of heaven and earth for over 2,000 years. Now KOEI’s ‘Warriors Worth a Thousand’ return in a sequel that eclipses the original with an exquisite array of features!
 ESRB Rated T

Gradius Collection ($19.99) A shooting fan’s dream come true! Gradius Collection 5 classic games from the Gradius Series, I, II, III, IV and the long awaited Gradius Gaiden!
 ESRB Rated E

Kurulin Fusion ($4.99) Kurulin Fusion is an hypnotic blend of color, geometry, puzzle action and a futuristicsoundtrack featuring renowned Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu’s reimaginingof J.S. Bach. The game is easy to grasp–Fusion Blocks and Energy Orbs annihilateeach other if matching colors touch–but Arcade mode and Mission mode offer skill andstrategy challenges if you hope to achieve super scores.
 ESRB Rated E

Silent Hill: Origins ($14.99) The renowned Silent Hill survival horror series makes its handheld gaming debut with a brand new adventure that reveals many of the series’ most hallowed secrets. Assuming the role of a lone truck driver trapped in Silent Hill while making a routine delivery, players must escape the city’s horrific inhabitants and confront the strange hallucinations that have haunted him since childhood. Taking full advantage of the PSP system’s graphics, sound, and portability, Silent Hill Origins set a new standard in handheld gaming terror.
 ESRB Rated M

PSP minis

Stand O’Food ($4.99) File size: 12 MB

Battle Poker ($2.99) File size: 13 MB

Add-on Game Content

Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce Pack 8 (free) (also available from PS3 storefront) Quest Pack #8 – Dive into these brand new missions that will spice up your Strikeforce experience. Also includes all previous Quest Packs. To learn more about this pack and about Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce go to www.koei.com/strikeforce.

Are you excited for PixelJunk Shooter? What else will you be picking-up or downloading this week?

Source: PlayStation Blog