Hi everyone,

After nearly six months, we continue to see PlayStation Plus grow and deliver compelling content for PlayStation gamers. Over these past six months, we have seen some great content introduced — from the DC Universe Online beta to the NHL GameCenter LIVE Application — that is expanding the offerings for all subscribers. Now we are looking to continue that trend through 2011 with new offerings.

In the first week of 2011, we are publishing three featured games, giving gamers a look at a classic, a throwback from 2010, and an exclusive mini from an indie developer. First, we’ll be taking gamers back to Insomniac’s second game ever developed for the PSone, Spyro the Dragon. Take part in the first iteration of a classic franchise with a free download of the PSone classic. Also, we’ll be offering a free download of Lead & Gold: Gangs of the Wild West, a third person multiplayer shooter set in the wild west. Finally, we’ll be offering Pipe Madness, a minis title developed by The Bearded Ladies Consulting (known for Landit Bandit), exclusive to PlayStation Plus subscribers for two weeks.

Also, for those looking for that special gift for your gamer friends and family, we are still offering our promotion giving full year subscribers an extra three months of PlayStation Plus. This is a great gift that will continue to give throughout the year.

Finally, a quick reminder to pick up content that we will be removing content from the PlayStation Plus storefront, including the DC Universe Online Beta and sales on Sonic 4 Episode 1 and Dead Nation. Be sure to see the full list below and download the items before they are removed.

Check out the full update coming to PlayStation Plus subscribers on January 4 below:

PlayStation Plus Highlights for 1/4:

Featured Games

Lead & Gold: Gangs for the Wild West (Free for PlayStation Plus subscribers, regular price $14.99)
Spyro the Dragon (Free for PlayStation Plus subscribers, regular price $5.99)
Pipe Madness – Minis (Free and exclusive for PlayStation Plus Subscribers)

Discounted Games & DLC

MX vs. ATV Reflex PSP (50% off) (PlayStation Plus price $15.00, regular price $29.99)
Tom Clancy: H.A.W.X. 2 – All In One Pack (25% off) (PlayStation Plus price $7.49, regular price $9.99)

Featured Themes & Avatars

Underwater Disco Theme (Free for PlayStation Plus members, regular price $1.49)
Rival School Avatar Bundle (Exclusive to PlayStation Plus members for $1.99)

Last Chance, Get Them While You Can – Coming down on January 4:

Featured Offers to PlayStation Plus Subscribers

DC Universe Online Beta
Smoke and Mist Theme
Tron: Evolution Black Guard Multiplayer Skin
Vector TD

Discounted Games/DLC

Sonic 4 Episode 1 (PlayStation Plus price $7.49, regular price $9.99)
Dead Nation (PlayStation Plus price $11.99, regular price $14.99)
Tom Raider: The Last Revelation (PlayStation Plus price $3.00, regular price $5.99)
Twisted Metal 2 (PlayStation Plus price $3.00, regular price $5.99)

So What Does It Play Like?
Many comparisons have been made (by people watching previews) to Team Fortress 2, which is understandable due to the similarity in genre. Although we do love TF2, we are very confident that the gameplay and feel of Lead and Gold has an identity all of its own.

Lead and Gold features six multiplayer maps, five multiplayer game modes, a co-op mode and a single player practice mode. The matches are five-on-five affairs and the game mechanics, game modes and maps have all been designed with one common goal: team play.

Let me give you some examples:

• Player characters have aura buffs — we call them Synergies — that strengthen your gang-mates if they stay in your vicinity. This is a simple but effective way to encourage players to work together.
• The experience system rewards actions that actually help the team, such as carrying mission objective items and reviving gang-mates. The experience system is non-persistent so everyone starts a new round on equal terms.
• You can revive fallen comrades. Before death, players are usually left in a knocked down state from which they can be revived by a gang-mate. This is yet another incentive to hang around your mates.
• Game mode objectives generally require cooperation. Carrying a heavy sack of gold or a keg filled with gunpowder makes you quite an easy target, unless you have back up.

Who Do You Play As?
There are four professions to choose from. We have the shotgun-toting and dynamite-hurling Blaster, the quick-shooting Gunslinger, the mid-range marauding Deputy, and a long-range specialist known as the Trapper. Each class has their own special ability, or traits as we call them. The blaster chucks dynamite, the gunslinger fans his revolver for unparalleled rate of fire, the Deputy tags enemies making them more vulnerable, and the Trapper can lay traps to incapacitate her prey.

Game Modes?
Lead and Gold offers a rootin’, tootin’ selection of game modes that fits nicely into the Western setting. Conquest is a zone capture mode…with a twist. The zones must be captured in sequence, which makes for a focused and intense tug-of-war like battle. In Greed, the objective is for both gangs is to bring as much gold as possible to your drop-off zone. Remember to cover your teammate carrying the gold! In Powder Keg, one team must sabotage a specific objective, like a waterwheel, while the opposing team tries to defend it. The attacking team needs to bring a powder keg to the objective and shoot it to blow it up, while protecting the player carrying the keg. Then there is my personal favorite, Robbery, which plays like a combination of Greed and Powder Keg. The attacking gang must first bring a keg to a safe to blow it open, and then carry the gold to their drop-off zone. There is also Shootout, the only game mode without specific objectives — it’s a straight-up team deathmatch.

Why the Wild West?
When we were thinking about our next project, there was one thing we all could definitely agree on during our creative discussions and ramblings. It was the fact that the Wild West has been a criminally neglected setting in videogames for many years. One day, in one of those meetings, we had a collective revelation. Gunshots and screams of horses were heard in the distance, a fragrant smell of campfire beans filled the room, and a Morricone medley played on the old static ridden radio.

We realized we need to make a cowboy shooter. A multiplayer, third-person cowboy shooter.

Best Moment in the Game?
For sure when you get shot down and face off with another shot-down enemy. It is a bit like Monty Python and the Holy Grail where he screams, “I can still bite you!” I love it!

You can find more information about the game at www.leadandgold.com.

Thank you for your time!