• Coming to PSN this Week: Braid — A personal favorite of mine. How’s with me? Anyone beat it yet?
• MAG Beta 4 Starts…Now! — MAG Beta 4, activate! More than 6,000 changes since the last version. Yes, six thousand!
• Disney Selection on PSN is Way UP! — A veritable bevy of Disney movies hit the Video Store, including the recent UP!, Wall-E and more.
• Netflix on the PS3 Available Now! — My disc came today! Who’s with me? Been wanting to stream the first season of Weeds. Now’s the time.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Launch Event in PlayStation Home — If you jumped in Home on Modern Warfare 2 launch day, you probably noticed the “Featured Game Party” for MW2, a new kind of event in PlayStation Home.
• Up All Night: 24-hour LittleBigPlanet PSP Game Jam Session — What do you get when you mix art students and LBP? Insanely cool levels, as evidenced by this week’s LBP Academy or Art San Francisco Jam Session!
• Asia, Europe Design Rag Doll Kung Fu Dolls for Us to Enjoy — You’re not going to turn down free stuff, are you? I thought not.
• God of War Collection – Trophy Speed Run — God of War Collection’s Lead QA Tester speeds through God of War II’s Loom Chamber in record speed. You definitely want to watch this.
• Coming to PSN this Week: Bubble Trubble PSP Mini — A new puzzle-based mini hits the PSP. Who grabbed it? Do tell.
• Free Comet Crash Update Available Now on PSN! — There’s nothing I don’t like about a sentence with “free” and “update” in it. In this update, Comet Crash gets new levels, new maps and more.
• This Week in PlayStation Home: Assassin’s Creed, Final Fantasy XIII, Fullmetal Alchemist and A&E’s Lawman — Lots of new stuff going on in Home this week, highlighted by a special line of Assassin’s Creed items.
• Braid Available Today on PSN — Plenty or reasons highlighted here to pick up Braid for PS3. Regardless, it’s a great game.
• SOCOM Fireteam Bravo 3 Competitive Multiplayer Features Unveiled — 16-player multiplayer, new modes and new MP screens. A welcome update for FTB3.
• Pinball Heroes Out Today on PSN for PSP — Pinball Heroes hits PSP today with four tables, UNCHARTED, Hot Shots Golf, PAIN and High Velocity Bowling.
• PlayStation Store Update — Braid, Star Trek D-A-C, four demos, and much more.
• PlayStation Network Video Content Update — To celebrate MGM’s 85th Anniversary, you get a great selection of movies for $1.99.
• adhocParty for PSP Available Soon — Yes, you’ve been waiting. Now adhocParty is coming very soon. Hit the post for details on how it works.
• Fill Up Your Own Stocking This Year: Get a PSPgo for as Low as $199! — Get a Sony Card and score a PSPgo for $199. Not a bad deal, if you ask me.
• PlayStation Eye Chat: Assassin’s Creed II — Ubi Lead Game Designer pipes in through the PS Eye, dropping lots of new details and features in Assassin’s Creed II.
• Developer Diary #3: The Saboteur for PS3 — Tom French is back for #3 in his series of posts that reveal The Saboteur in great detail.

Courtesy of Jeremy Dunham

• Challenge: Play the MAG Beta with Zipper! – Now’s your chance to test your skills against the folks who make the game.
• MAG Developer Interview: Test Leads – Jay Embry and Kurt Manning take us behind the scenes with Zipper’s upcoming shooter and reveal just how important our beta tests have been.
• MAG Beta 4 Starts Now! – Find out how you can take part in testing one of the hottest PS3-exclusives on 2010.

My name is Jeremy Dunham (PSN ID: zpr_DunhamSmash), Zipper Interactive’s new Senior Community Manager, and I wanted to share some news regarding our latest MAG beta program that we’re kicking off right now. Starting today, we’ve officially moved into our next Beta phase – Beta 4. We’ve made more than 6,000 changes from our last phase to Beta 4, not the least of which include an increased level cap from 40 to 60, a retooled skill tree and experience curve, and an improved ranking system – all based on the feedback from our diligent testing crew.

We’ve also introduced two new major features to Beta 4. We’ve implemented the oft-asked about “proximity chat” feature that allows you to hear enemies communicating as you get closer, or trash talk them yourself as you punch ‘em full of lead. We’ve also introduced Shadow War bonuses. Depending on which PMCs are leading in the number of contracts owned, the entire PMC will earn different bonuses based on gametype. Leading in Sabotage adds experience points, leading in Acquisition increases leadership aura distance, and leading in Domination decreases tactical strike cooldown time.

Other new additions to Beta 4 include improvements to character hit detection and reactions, skill tuning that sees many of the existing skills amped up, refined Leadership abilities and experience points, and numerous other changes that our eagle-eyed testers have spotted over the last cycle.

Beta 4 is exclusive to GameStop pre-orders, and we’ve moved away from our limited pre-scheduled play times and are keeping the servers open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With the change in versions and the last phase now at its end, many of the testers who spent their evenings with us over these last weeks are moving on to other pastures. With that in mind, it’s with great respect that on behalf of the entire MAG team, I want to say thanks to each and every one of you who participated for your hard work, patience, and dedication. Just remember, though, you don’t have to say goodbye just yet. If you still want to participate in our current beta that ends on November 20, all you have to do is pre-order MAG at your local GameStop in the USA and EB Games in Canada to get you the exclusive code you need.

Finally, I wanted to take a moment to let you know that over at MAG.com, we’ve launched our developer blog, which will provide an ongoing behind-the-scenes look at MAG over the next few months before the game launches on January 26, 2010.

Thanks again and I’ll see you on the battlefield.

United Front Games’ first title for the PS3, ModNation Racers, looks to bring the same “play, create, share” ethos of LittleBigPlanet to the kart racing genre, with tons of customization options combined with lively racing action. Veronica Belmont sees firsthand how easy it is to create drivers, karts and tracks and gives us a taste of what is to come.

The highly-anticipated sequel Assassin’s Creed II is almost upon us. Qore returns to the dangerous world of Renaissance Italy with an in-depth look at an all-new mission set in Venice including some amazing gameplay and information on new characters and tactics. There’s even a “spoiler” you can skip or dare to watch!

Industrial Light & Magic created the special effects for some of our favorite films spanning the decades from Star Wars to Transformers. In part one of our visit to ILM’s Presidio campus, they pull back the curtain to show Audrey Cleo the tech behind the magic.

One of ILM’s biggest productions this past year was Star Trek. Earlier this year, the franchise was re-booted with a new cast, a new director and a new timeline. With the film about to “beam down” onto Blu-ray, we take a look at its extra features.

This month, we’ve also got an exclusive ModNation Racers PS3 theme and the first in a series of themes based on classic PlayStation titles (PSone’s Blasto) for download.

As a reminder, the MAG Beta Test for Qore subscribers will soon be coming to an end. We hope you enjoyed your time with the game. Don’t forget to leave your feedback for the developers at Beta Central by following the instructions that came in your voucher e-mail. And if you are interested in continuing on with the Beta test, you can gain access by pre-ordering MAG at GameStop.
Look for Qore Episode 18 tomorrow.

Some of the patch highlights are:

• Framerate improvements in all environments
• Vote/ Kick implemented
• Art and lighting updates to all levels
• Art updates to weapons, vehicles and objects
• Animation improvement and updates
• Client patching improvements
• Design tuning on all environments (attacker/defender, out of bounds, sightlines, routing…)
• Tuned all skills (skill point expense, skill trees, skill effects)
• Tuning pass on experience rewarded for all actions (resuscitate, heal other, destroy turret, destroy motor pool….)
• Tuning pass on player & leadership experience progressions
• Full audio tuning pass
• Bunker, APC, and Spawn camera adjustments
• Lowered initial spawn times for attackers and defenders for all gametypes
• Update Major/Minor victory and loss percentages and conditions for all gametypes
• Updated Domination gametype scoring values
• Improved weapon feel and hit feedback

A lot of the changes are based directly on feedback from the MAG Public Beta community. Please keep this feedback coming, it really helps us improve the title.

If you are not yet a part of the MAG Public Beta there is still time. If you pre-order MAG at GameStop in the US or EB Games in Canada you receive access to the MAG Public Beta. And remember, from November 9th until November 20th the only way to access the MAG Public Beta in North America is to pre-order MAG.

We look forward to seeing you in battle.

The hours for this phase of the MAG Public Beta are:

Monday – Friday:
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM EDT
8:00 PM – 12:00 AM EDT

12:00 PM – 3:00 PM CDT
7:00 PM – 11:00 PM CDT

11:00 AM – 2:00 PM MDT
6:00 PM – 10:00 PM MDT

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM PDT
5:00 PM – 9:00 PM PDT

Later this week or early next, we will be releasing a new version of the MAG Public Beta client. This will be a major update to the MAG Public Beta client and server set.

Remember, in North America the MAG Public Beta access from November 9 to November 20 will be available exclusively to people who pre-order MAG from GameStop or EB Games (in Canada). If you live in North America and you want to continue playing MAG you will need to get your pre-order in to GameStop or EB Games and get your MAG Public Beta voucher code. This will also be the first time the MAG Public Beta will be available 24/7 with unlimited server hours (with the exception of server maintenance).

In conjunction with the next phase of the MAG Public Beta, we are also introducing a ton of new features for our Web site, MAG.com. The updated site will include a community section with access to the MAG forums, RSS feeds, and new media and downloads for fans, including wallpapers, AIM icons, and XMB themes for each of the PMCs. You can also read more background on each of the PMCs and enlist in your favorite private army. Check it out now at MAG.com. The Shadow War is coming 1.26.10.

We have some exciting news to announce. Starting this month, you can head to your local 7-Eleven and reserve your copy of MAG to receive an exclusive MAG recruitment kit and poster. What’s in this uber-exclusive recruitment kit? Expect to find a brief history of the Shadow War and learn about the three leading private military corporations (PMCs) – their skill sets, their reputation, and their purpose. And then decide where your loyalties will lie. Will you be attracted to the aggressive nature of S.V.E.R.; will the high-tech expertise of RAVEN be your calling, or will the honor of VALOR be your deciding factor? The choice will be yours.

Head to 7-Eleven today, but please note that this offer is in the U.S. only and at select 7-Eleven stores that carry the MAG game. To find your local 7-Eleven, click here. To learn more about how to reserve your copy of MAG, see our pre-order Blog post. MAG Launches 1.26.10.

“You’re in: Welcome to the MAG Beta”

And, the email voucher will look like this:

Remember, you only have 4 days left to get in on the action as the Public Beta entry deadline for Qore subscribers is this Thursday, September 17. Please allow at least 5 business days for delivery once you subscribe.

Qore subscribers will have access to the MAG Beta Test from September 17 through November 8. The hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 10am-1pm and 5-8pm Pacific (PDT).

Once again, here are the eligibility requirements:

• The Qore MAG Beta offer is open to Qore subscribers only, not to single episode purchasers.
• All Beta invitations are restricted to persons 18 years and older.
• We must have your current, valid e-mail address on file.
• You must be opted in to receiving communications from PlayStation.
• Vouchers will be sent to the e-mail associated with the PSN account that purchased the Qore subscription, not to any sub-accounts.

You can update your e-mail address and check your notification preferences via your profile on PS.com or on the PS3 itself under Account Management/Account Information. Be sure that you have “opted in” to receive our communications.

We hope you enjoy the MAG Beta, and don’t forget to leave your feedback at Beta Central by following the instructions in the voucher e-mail. As this is a Beta is a work-in-progress and not representative of the final game, your input is vital.

Exclusive S.V.E.R In-Game Character

This exclusive S.V.E.R. (Seryi Volk Executive Response) Hazard Trooper comes with the unique Hazard Camo Pattern, Hazard Improved Ballistic Vest, and the Hazard Improved Helmet. S.V.E.R. operatives live for the chance to achieve the honor they believe they deserve. The Hazard design is ideal for instilling the fear they are so used to administering on the battlefield. “The fire within fuels the true warrior.”

To pre-order, click here.

Exclusive RAVEN In-Game Character

This exclusive Raven Industries operative comes with a unique Spyder Camo Pattern, Spyder Reinforced 2nd Gen Composite, and Spyder Reinforced 2nd Gen Helmet.

Quoting a recent Raven press release, “Spyder defense materials are designed by Raven Industries top field weapons researchers. Stealthy yet defensive, the Spyder materials increase Raven operatives ability to take control of the battle with superior technology.”

To pre-order, click here.

Exclusive VALOR In-Game Character

This exclusive Valor in-game operative comes with a unique Bulldog Camo Pattern, the Bulldog Mk 2 Reinforced Fiber, and the Bulldog Mk 2 Helmet. For a Valor Company operative, donning the battle tested Bulldog uniform communicates a level of preparedness, induces intimidation in the enemy, and perfectly matches their motto – “Improvise, adapt, and overcome”.

Pre-order info TBD.

Exclusive S.V.E.R. PlayStation Home Personal Space

This S.V.E.R. PlayStation Home Space comes custom-made with the unconventional look of this unique PMC, focusing on beige and earth-toned gear, perfect for the guerrilla-style fighter within. If you live by the creed, and feel fear and intimidation are the cornerstones of any good fighting force, then show-off your true colors with a one-of-a-kind space.

To pre-order, click here.

MAG Public Beta Access (10/12/2009 – 11/20/2009)

If you’re not a Qore subscriber, but you’re ready to try out the most anticipated new shooter on the market before the game launches, here’s your chance to pre-order now and get into the final big Public Beta window that starts 10/12/2009. All of you that pre-order through this method will get an exclusive window of playing time after 11/9…and the Beta window will be open 24/7.

To pre-order, click here.

We’re so excited, in fact, that we’d like some of you readers to join us even if you can’t make it to the Emerald City and our Now-Sold-Out-Even–Though-We-Weren’t-Selling-Tickets Event.

No matter where you may be this holiday weekend, we want you to join the Shadow War with Zipper Interactive developers and your fellow PS.Blog readers, so we’ll be giving away some super-exclusive MAG closed beta codes throughout the day via Twitter!

Here’s what you need to know:

Contest Instructions:

• Follow us on Twitter!
• The PlayStation Twitter account will tweet out 4 MAG-related questions throughout the day (9/3/2009). That’s TODAY.
• The first 6 people to @reply the @SonyPlayStation account with the correct answer for each question will win a MAG beta code.
• There will be 6 winners for each question – 24 winners total.
• PlayStation will direct message the codes to the winners by the end of the day.

Giveaway Terms and Conditions:

• US residents only.
• The beta code winners will still be under a NDA (aka, you can’t write or blog about your experiences, or take screenshots, etc. We’ll know it was you!!)
• PlayStation.Blog will giveaway 24 beta codes on Thursday, Sept. 3rd via Twitter.
• One MAG question will be tweeted every hour starting at 10:00 am PT.
• First 6 followers to @reply the @SonyPlayStation account with the correct answer get a beta code.

Check out the video, and don’t forget that Qore subscribers will have the chance to get in on the MAG Official Public Beta on September 17!