Fellow Spartans! We are now just over two weeks away from the September 13th launch of God of War: Origins Collection—an epic compilation of two of the most critically acclaimed PSP titles of all time, God of War: Chains of Olympus and God of War: Ghost of Sparta. Since I know many of you can’t wait to get your hands on this package, we’re going to sweeten the deal a bit and let you play God of War: Ghost of Sparta early. PlayStation Plus members will have access to the our demo starting tomorrow, August 30th, allowing you to play Ghost of Sparta on PlayStation 3 in HD and stereoscopic 3D for the very first time. This demo will then be available to the general public next week on September 6th. It’s a treat playing both games with the DualShock controller, and they look and feel like they were always intended for the big screen. If you missed our PSP vs PS3 comparison video, watch it now for a deeper look at how we’ve enhance the visuals.

I’d also like to take a moment to thank all of our friends in the media for their flattering impression thus far. If you pick up the September issue of Game Informer, there’s a great preview calling God of War: Origins Collection “a visual treat.” Here are links to a few other recent write ups and mentions about the collection: Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! News, Playboy.com, USA Today, CNET, IGN, Joystiq, Kotaku, Games Radar, and Game Informer.

Thanks, as always, for everyone’s support. Don’t forget: the war begins on September 13th!

This collection will also support DualShock controllers so every impact and every bone-crushing moment can now be felt in your hands. This is a huge deal to me personally because a God of War game contains so much over-the-top, heavy hitting action that you really want to feel a tactile connection to Kratos. Now you can! These games are also receiving a new Dolby 5.1 Surround mix to make the audio more enveloping. Everything from character sound effects, to positional audio sources in the world, to the incredible musical score now wrap around you while experiencing these epic games.

Additionally, God of War: Origins Collection will include unique Trophies to be unlocked as you battle your way to the top of Olympus. And there’s bonus content, including our special director’s roundtable video that was created for the release of Ghost of Sparta. It features an insightful discussion between the five directors of the five different titles in the God of War series and answers some big questions about the story, characters, and developers behind this massive franchise.
We are so proud to bring these games to PlayStation 3 and we hope you enjoy them!

First off, we want to thank all of the nominees for participating. All of the games that we showcased were the highest user-rated games released in 2010, so that is an honor in and of itself. Second, and most importantly, we want to thank all of you – the PlayStation Network community – for participating. We had a great turnout during the voting period which made for an intense competition. For instance, the battle for the Best PS3 Downloadable Game literally came down to the last day between Castle Crashers and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game.

As a reminder, the 20 nominated games competed in four categories – Best PS3 Downloadable Game, Best PSP Downloadable Game, Best PS3/PSP mini and Best PSN Exclusive Game. So, without further ado, the winners are…

Best PS3 Downloadable Game: Castle Crashers

Best PSP Downloadable Game: God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Best PS3/PSP mini: Age of Zombies

Best PlayStation Network Exclusive Game: Dead Nation

Of course, this isn’t the end of the awards ceremony! The celebration continues as the award-winning titles will be featured during the first week of our Spring Fever event, kicking off tomorrow, with the winning games discounted 30% in the PlayStation Store and available for a 50% discount to PlayStation Plus subscribers.

Thanks again for making our first-ever PlayStation Network Gamers’ Choice Awards fun and exciting. Enjoy the discounts on these great games!

Today is the day you’ve been waiting for! Kratos plunges onto the PSP with God of War: Ghost of Sparta, a technologically sophisticated action tour-de-force. Don’t take our word for it – the critics have spoken and they are ecstatic. Get a sneak peek at the first wave of reviews below.

10 / 10 – GOLD Award

“Sparta offers an immersive experience on par with many of the best PS3 games.” – PlayStation: The Official Magazine

9.5 / 10 – Editor’s Choice

“Absolutely the best-looking game on the PSP thus far.” – IGN

Kotaku Editor’s Choice

“God of War: Ghost of Sparta is a palm-sized epic video game.” – Kotaku

Pre-Order Voucher Redeem and PSPgo Owners

Now, for those that pre-ordered through any of our participating retailers, you’ll be able to redeem your retail exclusive voucher code from PSN starting today, November 2nd at 5:00pm PST. Be sure to also redeem your exclusive Deimos Skin (For God of War III) packed into your game disc copy of God of War: Ghost of Sparta!

PSPgo owners, God of War: Ghost of Sparta will be available through PSN today, November 2nd at 5:00pm PST. As a Limited Time Offer, the entire Pre-Order bundle and Deimos Skin will be included as “Gift with Purchase” with God of War: Ghost of Sparta through PSN. To ensure our PSPgo owners are able to take full advantage of the digital exclusives, the offer has now been extended from November 2nd 2010 to November 23rd 2010.

Thanks again to the PlayStation.Blog and Spartan Army Community for their relentless “rage” placed behind the release of God of War: Ghost of Sparta! Hope you guys will enjoy all the pre-order exclusives and the Deimos Skin (For God of War III) as these items were put together for you, the ultimate God of War fans.

Every End Must First Begin!

With the holiday calendar flying by faster than Ezio Auditore free running across rooftops in Firenze, November’s Episode 30 focuses on the fantastic fun you don’t want to miss this holiday season.

Of course, first up, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is this episode’s lead story and in our preview Veronica Belmont spends some hands-on time with the game and talks to Ubisoft Missions Director, Gaelic Simard about this vastly expanded environment including vistas of Renaissance Rome in High Def along with the very cool game mode allowing players to recruit and deploy a posse of up and coming assassins.

With Kratos coming back to your PSP system in the new God of War: Ghost of Sparta tomorrow, Veronica sharpens her Blades of Athena to slice and dice her way through another larger-than-life God of War adventure. Game Director Dana Jan explains the development team’s approach to maintaining the grand scale and epic gameplay of a God of War title on the PSP system.

And, yes, it does play large.

Qore also went behind-the-scenes of the ‘God of War: Game Directors Live’ production. This historic event brought together the development leads of the five God of War titles for a roundtable covering the evolution of the franchise. Audrey Cleo’s reports from the event with interviews of David Jaffe, Cory Barlog, Ru Weerasuriya, Stig Asmussen, and, again, Dana Jan along with a sneak peek of the finished discussion. Very cool.

“Planetary (Go!)”, a track from the upcoming album by My Chemical Romance has been selected as the opening song for Gran Turismo 5. Audrey Cleo hangs with the band as they get their hands on the game and they talk about making the new album, driving fast cars and the thrill of having their song chosen for the game!

With the new TRON: Legacy, the motion picture, and TRON: Evolution, the video game, rolling out during this holiday season, Qore catches up with Steven Lisberger the writer/director of the original movie along with Legacy Producer, Sean Bailey and Game Director, Darren Hedges to explore how the movie and game work together to expand (and maybe explain?) the full sci-fi universe of TRON.

In this month’s Download Center – Qore subscribers can pick up the Mousetrap Mod and Kart pack for ModNation Racers. In case you haven’t checked these games out yet, all Qore viewers have access to the ModNation Racers demo and the Vanquish Official Demo.

Look for Episode 30 tomorrow.

Earlier this year, over 150 of our PlayStation.Blog & Spartan Army community members were treated to an unfiltered, non-censored, no-holds-barred interview discussion with the entire cast of God of War Game Directors. What was the alternate ending that Stig Asmussen and David Jaffe explored for God of War III? How did Cory Barlog go from Lead Animator to Game Director? What about the biggest challenge for Ru Weerasuiya and Dana Jan as the Game Director for the portable experience? Find this out and more by pre-ordering God of War: Ghost of Sparta!

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look of God of War Game Director’s Live with our Senior Social Media Specialist, Rey Gutierrez.

For those that are either thinking of or have already pre-ordered the God of War: Ghost of Sparta Entertainment Pack for PSP, check out our latest trailer above that shows off the limited edition Two-Toned PSP. The Entertainment Pack includes the content below:

• Black and Red Two-Toned PSP-3000
• God of War: Ghost of Sparta UMD Game
• God of War: Chains of Olympus PlayStation Network Downloadable Game Voucher
• Kick Ass – UMD Movie
• 2 GB Memory Stick Pro Duo
• Deimos Skin for God of War III (PS3)

If that wasn’t enough, for those that pre-order through any of our participating retailers, you will also receive a PlayStation Store downloadable voucher to redeem the following content:

• Kratos PSN Avatar
• Original Soundtrack for God of War: Ghost of Sparta
• Legionnaire Skin
• PSP Theme
• PS3 Dynamic Theme
• God of War: Game Directors Live

If you do the math, you will essentially get all 12 great items listed above for only $199. Be sure to visit www.godofwar.com for more info.

Every End Must First Begin

Here to walk you through each of the skins is the Game Director of God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Dana Jan.

Kratos

Just for comparison, I thought I would throw in Kratos in his standard gear for a direct comparison. Some interesting notes about the default model: We reworked it and improved a lot of things including better textures, specular shine on the metal (belt, shin guard, weapons), his goatee was fixed (Chains of Olympus didn’t have an alpha channel on it), his face I more expressive due to new facial rig, and subtle improvements like the red tattoo having a softened edge so it looks better up close. The blades were all remodeled to match the Blades of Athena as seen in God of War II as well.

Ghost of Sparta

Throughout the game, Kratos sees visions of his past. We came up with a ‘look’ or visual style for these sequences that helped clearly set them apart from what was happening in present time. Everything and everyone in these visions/flashbacks has a vapor-like effect emitting from them. We took almost all of the color out of the imagery making it fairly monochromatic with the exception of the color red which is associated with Deimos’ birthmark, the fires that burned Sparta the day his brother was taken, and also the blood that stains his memories. Choose the Ghost of Sparta costume and you will take twice the damage from enemies, but your rewarded by inflicting quadruple fire damage with Thera’s Bane. The Ghost costume is also able to regenerate the fire meter four times as fast as the default Kratos costume.

God Armor

One of the first bonus costumes we decided to include with the game was the God Armor. Fans will recognize the armor from the beginning of God of War II where Kratos is wearing it in Rhodes as he battles the Colossus. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say that somewhere in Ghost of Sparta you will see Kratos in this armor. Another interesting bit of information about this armor is that Deimos’ armor features some striking similarities. Compare them and see for yourself. This costume decreases the amount of damage Kratos receives from enemies, doubles the damage he deals with Thera’s Bane, and increases the fire meter regen time. Finally, it also causes enemies to drop Red Orbs as Kratos hits them with attacks

Robotos

There has to be a funny costume in every God of War game. We had several on the comic-relief side in Chains of Olympus, but I don’t think any were as good as this. This has to be my favorite of all time. We went back and forth on what kind of robot we wanted to make for this costume. Finally, it seemed like the funniest looking version was robot costume made out of cardboard boxes, metal ventilation hose, and duct tape. Polish it off with some permanent markers to draw the details on the cardboard, and you get Robotos. I’m sure someone is making this costume to wear at a con as we speak. Robotos has the ability to generate massive combos by increasing the amount of time allowed between hits to increment the combo meter. His damage dealt with the Blades of Athena and Arms of Sparta have been decreased along with magic costing him twice as many Blue Orbs to use. He’s still my favorite costume in the game.

Deimos

When we designed Deimos, one of the biggest tasks was trying to create a character that looked like he could stand next to Kratos and be equally as strong and interesting. While they share the similar iconic “mark” as a story point, they needed to be very different people. The years of captivity in the Domain of Death drove Deimos to a very dark place. His birth mark now glows as the flesh sears with rage. When picking the attributes for this costume, we thought it would be cool to make him more proficient with the Arms of Sparta (spear and shield) since he trained with Kratos and is a Spartan after all. Additional adjustments include more damage taken by enemy attacks, and less damage done when using the Blades of Athena.

Legionnaire

(Pre-Order Bundle Exclusive)

This is one over-the-top set of armor, even for Kratos. The idea for this costume started after we learned about the God of War fans known as the Spartan Army. We thought it would be cool to do a costume that would go with the Arms of Sparta (spear and shield) and form a cohesive set of gear. The helmet design is loosely based on that of a Spartan soldier and the chest plate has elements like the Cerberus silhouettes found on Kratos armor from the God of War flashbacks. We also wanted to carry the crimson elements of Kratos’ tattoo and cloth skirt into this costume to keep his palette familiar. This costume gives you the ability to collect double Orbs of all types, and using magic will cost half the amount of Blue Orbs. If that weren’t good enough, the Legionnaire resists enemy damage four times as much as normal and deals double damage with the Arms of Sparta.

Deimos for God of War III

(Available only through purchase of God of War: Ghost of Sparta)

During the production of Ghost of Sparta, we discussed the idea of making Deimos an unlockable costume to be used in God of War 3 on the PS3. We wanted to give players who had both games (and systems) some content that crossed platforms. We provided the team at Sony Santa Monica Studio our assets used on the PSP, and we are really pleased with how Deimos looks in God of War 3. I’m particularly happy with the way his glowing “mark” looks on his body. I’m looking forward to playing through the game again and seeing Deimos tear through some of my favorite moments.

We’re also pleased to report that our first review for Ghost of Sparta just recently came in — PlayStation: The Official Magazine gave Kratos’ latest PSP adventure a 10 out of 10! You can find it in their December issue which features God of War: Ghost of Sparta on the cover and includes a fantastic tribute article celebrating the entire franchise that has interviews with all of the five past and present God of War game directors. The December issue is on newsstands now so go pick it up! Here are a few choice quotes from the review, just to get the blood flowing…

“Sparta offers an immersive experience on par with many of the best PS3
games.”

“It’s no hyperbole to say Sparta is easily among the best-looking PSP
games.”

“Sparta is not only a great PSP game but a great God of War game with an
absolutely incredible ending.”

Every End Must Begin!

Using the Palace of Hades from God of War III as the main inspiration, this exclusive PS3 Dynamic Theme captures the grand vista moment of Kratos as he is betrayed by Gaia at the top of Mount Olympus and ripped of his godly powers. It is at this moment where he obtains the Blades of Exile from Athena and seeks out to destroy all of Olympus and the mighty Zeus himself.

With full active movements of multi-layered clouds and lightning, flowing lava, and fogs, the Palace of Hades Dynamic Theme is exclusive to the pre-order of God of War: Ghost of Sparta, and not available as a standalone purchase through the PlayStation Store.

To our Canadian consumers, be sure to stop by EB Games to pre-order either the God of War: Ghost of Sparta UMD Game or Entertainment Pack as they are also supporting the ultimate pre-order bundle.