It’s time to make a move! Today, we are releasing The House of the Dead III demo on PlayStation Network. This demo will be available on PlayStation Network for two weeks (until February 21st) exclusively to PS Plus members.

Not a PS Plus member? That’s okay… This beloved arcade classic will be released exclusively on PS3 on Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2012) at an easy to pick up price of $6.99. For two weeks only (until February 28th), we will also be offering a PSN avatar as a free gift with purchase.

For PS Plus members, we will be offering additional 30% off on the game for two weeks (until February 28th) to make your Valentine’s Day and the month of February even sweeter! We will also be giving away PS Plus exclusive free dynamic theme and avatars.

Your Mission: Run fast. Shoot faster. As Lisa Rogan or Agent G, rescue Ex-AMS Agent Thomas Rogan before the unthinkable happens. Unload shotgun rounds on relentless armies of evil creatures and of course, save the world!

Key features:

• PlayStation Move compatible
• Multi-player mode
• Multiple paths
• Multiple rescue events
• Ranking and grading system to track your shot accuracy
• Trophies
• Bonus unlockable PlayStation Home item
• Original creator interview

Guns – A reliable source of zombie obliteration. A well-timed headshot goes a long way in zombie eradication, and Yakuza: Dead Souls has more than enough guns to choose from. (Don’t forget that you can play as Ryuji Goda, whose fake arm is a gatling gun!) Additionally, Yakuza: Dead Souls allows you to “heat snipe” items for maximum zombie carnage. Horde of zombies got you craving more fire power? Well then snipe the gas tank on a nearby car and watch the explosion spread!

Melee – If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking, “Alright, guns are cool but what happens if I’m out of ammo or just plain feel like slapping a zombie around?” The answer: pick something up and slap a zombie! Yakuza: Dead Souls lets you play with reliable, time-tested zombie-killing things: chainsaws, baseball bats, grenades, etc., and also allows you to get slightly more creative with your melee weapons: Motorbike? Poles? Desk? Go for it!

Questions about available weapons? Need tips on the art of beating a zombie to death (again) with a couch? Kellie and I are here to answer your questions, and if you’re lucky I might share my super-secret zombie-apocalypse survival tips (Hint: get to a Costco that sells beer and wait for Majima and his sweet eyepatch to show up).

The undead are multiplying and filling the streets of Tokyo’s red light district. The area is quarantined quickly, but degenerates into a district full of terror, panic and devastation. Survivors try to flee the city, but four men rise up to protect those they care most about. If you think zombies are bad, meet the Yakuza.

Playable for the first time in Yakuza: Dead Souls, Goro Majima is nuts about zombie movies. He’s so excited to be killing off zombies that when you’re playing as Majima, you’ll be picking fights with zombies, instead of just merely defending yourself. Now that’s bad ass.

You probably thought Ryuji Goda was dead after Yakuza 2. But you’d be wrong, and not because he’s a reanimated zombie back to munch your brains. He’s more interested in cooking you some takoyaki at a street stall. In case mysteriously reappearing from the presumed-dead for some yummy fried octopus is not ridiculous enough for you, you should know that his prosthetic arm can transform into a gatling gun. You’ve never been able to play as Goda before, and it’s not something you’ll soon forget.

Your returning Yakuza favorites, Shun Akiyama and Kazuma Kiryu, will also be packing some heat: Akiyama specializes in dual handguns to protect himself, and Kiryu, not one to skimp when it comes to strength, will have a very special gun of his own.

Play as your favorite character, grab an attractive hostess to be your butt-kicking sidekick and arm yourself with your favorite gun or whatever item is within reach – chainsaws, bicycles, fire extinguishers, desks or anything else you can pick up. It’s time to fight some zombies!

Want to ask Kate about her favorite item to smack a zombie with? Want to ask Kellie what the heck takoyaki is? We’ll both be in the comments to answer these and any other Yakuza: Dead Souls questions you have for us.

It’s all here. The cars, the courses, the original soundtrack and of course, the unforgettable Rooolliiiing staaaart! Race your AI opponents in classic Arcade Mode, beat the clock in Survival and Time Trial modes or sing along to your favorite DAYTONA songs in Karaoke mode!

We are bringing back the original DAYTONA USA experience introduced back in 1993 with enhanced retro graphics, trophies, steering wheel controller support and a new online mode that supports up to 8 players.

Since its arcade debut, DAYTONA USA has stood the test of time as one of SEGA’s top racing titles. The DAYTONA USA and retro game fans will certainly notice that every detail of the original hit has been meticulously preserved and polished for this ultimate version of DAYTONA USA.

For two weeks only (until November 8th), we are giving away our DAYTONA USA retro theme as gift with purchase. DAYTONA USA is also part of this month’s PlayStation Plus program. For Plus members, we are giving away a free theme and retro car avatars.

We hope to see you on the speedway tomorrow!

So, what is Yakuza: Dead Souls all about? I traveled to the top of the mountains and spent two weeks meditating to bring you the answers. In the end, that failed, so I just played the entire game instead. It was awesome, and in doing so, I found that this game is a mix of:

• Zombies in Tokyo
• Yakuza with guns
• Beautiful Hostesses

And while I’m not able to reveal how much content from the Japanese version is coming over, let me just say that you fans are going to be very, very happy when you hear how much we’ve included.

The version we’re bringing to the west features the entire storyline, as well as its brand new mini-game: Pachislot. Yakuza: Dead Souls returns you back to the streets of Kamurocho, which is now under attack by hordes of Zombies. Though you won’t be restricted by Zombies as your only threat, as you’ll also face powerful mutants, and, perhaps most dangerous of all, members of the Japanese underworld.

The name Dead Souls has multiple meanings within the game, beyond the obvious “Oh-hey-that’s-totally-a-Zombie” angle. But did I mention the Zombies yet? Well, there are Zombies. Lots of Zombies. So many Zombies I’m going to start using a capital Z when I type Zombies, just to spite all those English professors back in college who said I couldn’t. Zombies, Zombies, Zombies!

Yet even for all the wacky and hilarious Japanese culture laden within the game – and in past Yakuza games, too – there is a strong layer of serious, emotional storytelling taking place here. This game has also convinced me that, without a doubt, Kazuma Kiryu is more manly than both Chuck Norris and Duke Nukem fused together – but that’s for another blog.

If you’re a fan of the series, we’d like to end by saying THANK YOU for going out there and picking up the western releases of Yakuza 3 and 4. Even now, every copy of Yakuza 4 sold, and every pre-order of Yakuza: Dead Souls helps this franchise continue to survive and grow here in the west.

Got a question about Yakuza: Dead Souls? Want to know more about the game or leave a comment below? Please do – I’m aiming to top my previous response numbers with a 100% response ratio this time. All I ask is that you keep the questions Yakuza related, where possible. Thanks guys – and stay tuned for more Zombie goodness from us soon!

SEGA Bass Fishing has been an arcade favorite for years, gobbling up quarters since 1998 here in the US. Bass Fishing then caused quite a splash when it launched with the Dreamcast on 9/9/99 – a day very dear to all of us Dreamcast fans.

In terms of gameplay, Bass Fishing is surprisingly easy to pick up and get into, and it keeps you coming back for more with layers of depth added by the different fishing conditions and locations. Cast out in 8 different locations and lure in the biggest, baddest bass. Want to look like a pro? Use your Move controller! If you’re fishing in the morning try a surface lure. If you’re fishing in the middle of the day, use a heavier lure to drop down to the cooler waters and pick up the prize bass you’ve been huntin’. The biggest one I’ve caught is 33lbs – can you beat me?

Last but not least I thoroughly recommend playing Bass Fishing while blasting my favorite song: “I’m on a boat, I’m on a boat, everybody look at me coz I’m sailing on a boat…”

What is Space Channel 5 exactly? Excellent question. It’s a rhythm action dancing game. Throughout the game you encounter “Dance Offs”, where your challenger will spit a bunch of moves at you, and it’s up to you to show that you’re not going to be one-upped, out-fancied and out-swaggered. Get your timing right to free the hostages, shoot robots, and generally show off your killer dance moves.

Space Channel 5 Part 2 never made it over to the US for its original Dreamcast release, instead it was first playable on the PlayStation 2 as part of a bundle with the original Space Channel 5 game. Today you can grab it with HD graphics, full 16:9 support, a 2 player co-op mode, and a substantial cameo appearance from the late King of Pop himself – Space Michael.

We here at SEGA have a special soft spot in our hearts for Dreamcast games, and we know there are a lot of Dreamcast fans out there who’d love to get their hands on some of those other Dreamcast gems. Tell all of your friends about Space Channel 5 and SEGA Bass Fishing, and we’ll do our best to get some of those other gems out for ya as soon as possible.

It’s been many, many months in the making, but as you’ll have noticed yesterday, we’ve unleashed Renegade Ops onto PSN as part of the PSN PLAY promotion. We’re incredibly pleased to be part of this new promotion, and hope that you are ready to help General Bryant and the Renegades defeat the tyrannical Inferno and thwart his dastardly plans.

Hopefully you already have a good idea of what the game is about, you may remember I did ramble at length in previous blog posts such as Meet the Team, and Let’s talk about upgrades, but if not allow me to give you a quick reminder; Inferno is threatening to detonate bombs in capital cities around the world, unless his demands are met, and it is in the hands of the Renegade Ops team that the safety of the world now rests. General Bryant and his crack team are taking their range of vehicles, weapons and various specialities to the battlefields to destroy the Inferno threat once and for all.

If you haven’t had the chance to try the game yet, then please help yourself to the trial that is now available via PlayStation Store; we’re confident that once you’ve had this game in your hands for a couple of minutes that you’ll be converted. Not only does the game have a lengthy single-player campaign, but you can also play co-operatively via local split-screen, and you and up to three friends can tackle the Inferno menace online. This is where the game truly excels, as there’s nothing quite like teaming up with your friends and laying waste to countless enemies, destructible buildings and racing each other to upgrade drops and objectives. The game is about teamwork, but you don’t always have be the nice guy or gal.

There isn’t much more to say that I haven’t already, other than I hope you give this game a chance, we’ve enjoyed working on it, and the incredibly talented team at Avalanche have created a truly epic, explosively fun digital title!

It’s out now for $14.99 (20% discount for PS Plus users) and below I’ve listed the trophies you can expect to be earning – if you’re good enough that is.

Trophy List:

[Bronze] Goody Two Shoes – Bring 20 Prisoners to the Church
[Bronze] Airbourn – Pilot a Helicopter
[Bronze] Sergeant Slaughter – Kill Inferno’s Sergeants
[Bronze] Jonesing for Relics – Return all the relics to the Museum
[Bronze] From Cold Dead Hands – Steal all Inferno’s Weapons Crates
[Bronze] Supply Problems – Destroy all Mining Carts in the Kaabe Mountains
[Bronze] Inferno’s Briefs – Steal all the Document Briefs
[Bronze] To Hell and Back – Complete Mission 9 on any Difficulty
[Bronze] The Daily Grind – Get a Character to max level
[Silver] Tough Stuff – Complete all Levels on Hardcore Difficulty
[Silver] Lord Master of Great Skill – Get “Skill Rank – Omnipotent” in a match
[Gold] Mega Kill Combo – Get a 100x Damage Streak in a match

Renegades out!

Now, at gamescom, I finally got to see some of these game modes in action.

Virtua Tennis 4’s core experience is nearly identical to its recently-released PS3 counterpart; you can create a character, start a career, and participate in tournaments while enhancing your skills through all kinds of bizarre tennis-related skill tests. Likewise, you can jump into the shoes of Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, or other real-world tennis stars.

What PS Vita brings to the court is a new, yet optional way to control the main serve-and-volley action, plus a series of “VT Apps.”

The core gameplay opens up considerably thanks to the PS Vita touch screen. Tap on the screen and your player will run to that spot. Once in place, you swipe in the direction you want to hit the ball, utilizing different gestures for topspin shots, lobs, backhands and more. Multitouch is employed to launch a lethal power shot – just swipe using two fingers to add an exclamation mark to a long volley.

Of course, you can still use the traditional stick-and-button controls, but here’s where it gets interesting: since both types of controls are always enabled, you can use a combination of the two. After a couple of games, I was navigating around the court with the left analog stick, and directing my shots with my right index finger on the screen. You can leverage any mix of touch and traditional controls, even in the middle of a point.

You might not always have enough time to power through a five-set marathon match, and so Virtua Tennis 4 for PS Vita includes a number of “VT apps” which are exclusive to the platform. My fave is called Touch Vs – a top-down mode for two players to compete on a single PS Vita. By turning the PS Vita on its side — air-hockey style — each player gets an analog stick and some screen real estate to shoot. It should prove to be a fun way squeeze in some two-player competition (and start a few conversations, too).

Additionally, Virtua Tennis 4 takes advantage of the Vita’s gyroscopes with the first person VR match (see the video above), and skill-building Rock the Boat, where you’re controlling your player as well as a ship you can lean back and forth. Virtua Tennis 4 also plans to take advantage of the system’s cameras through use of augmented reality, though Sega wasn’t yet ready to show that off.

Virtua Tennis 4 will be ready for launch when the PS Vita goes on sale. Tennis game aficionados should probably plan on taking it home with them the day they pick up a PlayStation Vita.

First though, allow me to give you the first exclusive look at the latest trailer which surprisingly enough shows off some of these upgrades.

The better you are at the game – in other words the more enemies you destroy, stunts you pull and collectibles you grab – the quicker you’ll reach the next level, and in this game levels mean prizes…well, upgrade points. So, how can you spend these points? Well you’ll have the choice of three skill trees to spread your points over, so you can customise your character depending on how you best play the game. The only limit to this is the amount of upgrades you can have active at one time; the higher your level, the more upgrades you can equip.

What I’ll do below is detail the upgrades you’ll have access to, and then give you an example using my current level 19 Roxy build.

All Character Upgrades

Defense

Spare Parts: Chance of spawning health pick-ups from your vehicle when hit by explosive damage

Nitro: Double tap turbo button for nitro speed boost, also extinguishes fire if used when burning

Second Chance: Death is delayed by 10 seconds so you can find a health pick up to stay alive. Second chance only triggers once per life

Extra Life: Increases the numbers of loves you start each mission with by 1

Hardened Hull: Maximum health increased and health received from pick-ups increased

Auto Repair: Automatically regenerate health when low

Offense

Auto Reload: Automatically generate ammo for secondary weapon over time

Ammo Surplus: Secondary ammo pick-ups give more ammo than normal

Advanced Arms: Rocket launcher – homing rockets, Railgun – shorter charge time, Flame Thrower – Damage increased

Magazine Size – Basic: Secondary weapon magazine size increased

Magazine Size – Elite: Secondary weapon magazine size greatly increased

Now it starts to get different, with each character having unique upgrades, as follows:

Roxy Upgrades

Special Ability: Rocket Strike – Drops beacons that are hit by a rain of rockets from the sky, causing area damage.

Offense

Rocket Launcher Kit: Start Every life with Rocket Launcher and some ammo equipped

Tactical

Efficiency – Basic: Rocket Strike cooldown reduced

Efficiency – Elite: Rocket Strike cooldown greatly reduced

Auto Strike: Rocket Strike automatically targets and attempts to directly hit enemies in area

Bombardment – Basic: Rocket Strike duration and radius increased

Bombardment – Elite: Rocket Strike duration and radius greatly increased

Quick Strike: Rocket Strike hits instantly and has increased damage radius

So, to give an example to provide further context, here’s how this ‘expert’ Renegade Ops player does it:

Roxy (Currently level 19)

Defense: Nitro (short additional speed boost, removes fire if burning)

Extra Life (Start each mission with 1 extra life)

Offense: Ammo Surplus (Secondary ammo pick-ups give more ammo than usual)

Tactical: Bombardment – Basic (Rocket Strike duration and radius increased)

Efficiency – Basic (Rocket Strike cooldown reduced)

Quick Strike (Rocket Strike hits instantly and has increased damage radius)

Current skills equipped: Ammo Surplus, Efficiency – Basic and Quick Strike

This build means that the already nimble Buggy that Roxy drives is now suitably powerful, too. Secondary weapons can be spammed a lot more due to the extra ammo, and I’ve powered up my special ability into something quite devastating. The only problem is without any defensive abilities equipped, I’m currently something of a glass cannon…but hey, you play how you play. In this game I like to be in and out of the action quickly dealing as much damage as possible.

Usually in co-operative games, I play a support role, whether that’s as a medic or engineer. But in Renegade Ops I want to be nimble and explosively deadly, and that’s why I prefer Roxy. However, you may like to support your teammates by causing disabling effects to the enemies, so your preference may be for Diz and her awesome EMP special ability.

Diz Upgrades

Special Ability: EMP – Releases an electromagnetic pulse over a large area disabling all enemies within this area making them susceptible to attacks for a limited period.

Offense

Railgun Kit: Start Every life with Railgun and some ammo equipped

Tactical

Static Shock – Basic: EMP causes minor damage to enemies in addition to normal effects

Static Shock – Elite: EMP causes high damage to enemies in addition to normal effects

Black Out: Duration of EMP effect on enemies increased

Efficiency – Basic: EMP cooldown reduced

Efficiency – Elite: EMP cooldown greatly reduced

Super Charged: Increased EMP radius and enemy rockets are disabled in mid-flight when hit by EMP

Armand Upgrades

Special Ability: Armadillo Plating (Shield) – Extendable shield plating that causes enemy bullets to bounce back at the attackers.

Offense

Flame Thrower Kit: Start Every life with Flame Thrower and some ammo equipped

Tactical

Efficiency – Basic: Shield cooldown reduced

Efficiency – Elite: Shield cooldown greatly reduced

Rebound: Shield deflects enemy bullets and rockets back at the enemy for damage

Time Extension: Maximum Shield duration increased

Guarded Repair: Regenerate health over time while Shield is active

Ram Plate: Destroy small enemy vehicles when ramming them and no penalty when driving through buildings

Gunnar Upgrades

Special Ability: Heavy Cannon – Extends heavy cannon that fires high velocity, armour piercing rounds causing extreme damage. Vehicle cannot move while active.

Offense

Rocket Launcher Kit: Start Every life with Rocket Launcher and some ammo equipped

Tactical

Efficiency – Basic: Heavy Cannon cooldown reduced

Efficiency – Elite: Heavy Cannon cooldown greatly reduced

Power Hydraulics: Increased Heavy Cannon turret rotation speed

Explosive Rounds: Heavy Cannon causes additional splash damage to enemies near area of impact

Riot Shield: A shield protects against bullets from front while Heavy Cannon is active

Counter Shot: Heavy Cannon shots destroy enemy rockets in mid-flight

So now you have a good idea of the depth of the upgrades available, and how you can experience four different play-styles by trying every character, or playing the same character using different builds depending on your mood and the composition of your team.

Finally, if any of you are going to PAX this year you’ll be able to get the chance to try Renegade Ops there. So come and find us, get your hands on the game, ask as many questions as you like, and prepare for Renegade Ops. Hopefully I’ll see some of you there!

We announced The House of the Dead: OVERKILL – Extended Cut just before E3 this year, and were amazed to see that there were so many who were eager to take aim at the mutant infection springing up in Bayou County. This is the first time we have released The House of the Dead on an HD console, and we feel that the PS3 is the perfect home for an arcade-style shooter like OVERKILL. With 3D and PlayStation Move support, two brand new scenarios added, and all seven stages of the original remastered, the ‘baddest’ just got bigger! We are really working hard to make this the best in the series to date.

These posters and our box art pay homage to our signature retro b-movie look, and hopefully you recognized the legendary Agent G and Detective Washington. This time around, we also wanted to give Varla Gunns a bit more top billing, so she became the headline character on the box art. This is no fluke however, she plays a bigger part in this Extended Cut and we’ll have more details on this soon. Exclusively for you PS blog followers, we are also releasing some fresh screenshots and the fact sheet detailing all the new features of The House of the Dead: OVERKILL – Extended Cut.

List of PS3 exclusive features:

• PlayStation Move and Sharp Shooter compatible
• OVERKILL fully remastered – available in high definition, with stereoscopic 3D for the first time ever
• Extended with 2 additional levels not featured in the original game
• Exclusive crossbow weapon
• New baby mutant type
• New Hardcore Mode – mutants can only be killed with headshots
• New Classic Mode – play through the entire game using only the AMS Magnum
• Exclusive Missing Reel – an extended boss fight with “Mother” in “OVERKILL”, the game’s final level
• Online leaderboards to track high scores and player statistics
• Collectibles to grab throughout all levels to unlock bonus materials; comic pages, music tracks, 3D models and 2D artwork
• New PlayStation Trophies to unlock
• Improved boss fights in all levels
• New and improved cutscenes using motion capture
• And more still to come!

The House of the Dead: OVERKILL – Extended Cut will be releasing exclusively on PlayStation 3, and will be available in stores across North America on October 25, 2011. We will be revealing more details in the near future so keep it tuned to the PlayStation Blog and our official game page. You can also keep up with SEGA via Facebook and Twitter.