The Best of PlayStation Network, Vol. 1 collects four diverse PSN exclusive games to give you a taste of what the PlayStation Store has to offer. If you haven’t had a chance to dive into PSN yet, these collections are a great place to start.

When Vikings Attack!

When Vikings Attack! is an energetic third person adventure featuring fast-paced battles pitting up to four co-operative players against the Viking hordes. You can also take on your friends in the “Versus” arenas in a 4-player battle royale.

Sound Shapes

Sound Shapes is equal parts instrument and game giving everyone the ability to make music. Play through a unique campaign that fuses music and artwork into a classic 2D platformer, featuring artwork by Pixeljam, Capy, Superbrothers and more, with music by I Am Robot and Proud, Jim Guthrie and Deadmau5. Create your own unique musical levels with all of the campaign content and share with the world. Sound Shapes creates an ever-changing musical community for everyone to enjoy at home or on the go.

Tokyo Jungle

Tokyo Jungle has over 50 playable animals to choose from, unleash your inner beast to hunt your way to the top of Tokyo’s post-apocalyptic food chain. Whether in Story or Survival Mode, you never know where your next meal will come from or the dangers you’ll face, so be prepared for anything and everything. Forage through this desolate but dangerous city to complete story-based challenges using a variety of survival skills, from all-out attack to stealth. Beware– you are not the only animal out there hunting for survival!

Fat Princess

Fat Princess made her return last year in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Now experience her original story in Fat Princess where you can choose from five distinct character classes and charge head first into battle. Upgrade your team and the castle defenses as you work with your team to save your princess. There’s a catch, though—the other team has been feeding her delicious cake, a treat she can’t resist, making her harder to escort back to your castle.

Best of PlayStation Network, Vol. 1 will be out on store shelves on June 25th for $39.99. That’s a savings of nearly $15 off the PlayStation Store price!

While you’re cruising through the Collections section, don’t forget to pick up Jak and Daxter Collection for your PlayStation Vita, ready to pick up in stores on June 18th for $29.99.

First the sound packs. The 80′s pack brings the synth-poppy melodies and digital drum beats inspired by the neon decade when big hair and leg warmers ruled the lands. If that’s too gaudy for you, dive into the dark and dirty world of the Dubstep Sound Pack with the lurching, wobbling, big bass drops straight from the streets of London. Will you dare to combine the two?

Both packs each include new notes, loops, five new Beat School levels, and five Trophies.

And later this month we roll out a special installment of the Milkcrate, our carefully curated collection of Community levels. What’s so special? Well, we asked some of our favorite people to hand-pick their favorite levels, write up liner notes, design custom album artwork, and send them your way – people like:

Pretty rad if we say so ourselves, and there are many more guest-curated Milkcrate albums coming soon. Stay tuned.

Both Sound Packs will be available today for $0.99 each on the PlayStation Store (PS3 and PS Vita), and the Milkcrate albums are coming on May 28th as a free update (they’ll appear like magic when you log in). Hope you dig all this new content, and we’ll see you soon.

Hey everyone! We’ve been working hard on our next update (our biggest one yet!) and it’s finally ready. With new levels, vehicles, creator content, offline play, and more musical/visual goodies than we can list, there’s something for everyone here. Hope you like it!

Car Mini-Album & Creator Pack ($1.99)

Put on your driving gloves, there’s a new vehicle in Sound Shapes and it changes everything! Speed, flip, loop, and jump your way through the levels and experience Sound Shapes like never before. We set out to make a platformer and created a trials game by accident. Yeah!

This pack includes new Campaign levels, a full Sound Pack, brand new editor entities (like loop-de-loops, speed boosts, and more), Beat School lessons, and trophies too.

The Community Milkcrate & Six New Albums (free update)

Perfectly sized to fit a record, the trusty milkcrate has been holding music collections for a long time and with the Community Milkcrate we’re continuing that tradition. We’ve hand-picked eclectic and creative levels from the Community and arranged them into themed albums. Each is presented in a brand new interface and comes complete with liner notes with insights and interesting things to check out while playing them, kinda like a director’s commentary for levels. We’re so blown away by what you guys are making that we wanted a way to properly showcase it. Oh… and the Milkcrate albums become part of the game so any levels selected are baked right into Sound Shapes.

The Milkcrate launches with six albums and 35 total levels and is included free in today’s patch update.

Offline Play (free update)

You’ve been asking for it and it’s finally here. Sounds Shapes now has Offline Play. While connected to the Sound Shapes servers, select any community level, tap a button, and sync it. Now you can play your favorite levels whenever you want! (Offline Play is included free in today’s patch update as well).

I want to thank each and every one of you for voting, debating, and commenting on our first annual awards! As predicted, the process wasn’t entirely without its hiccups, but in general I think it was a pretty good first attempt. That said, we absolutely want your feedback on next year’s awards, which will be bigger and better in many ways. Please provide your feedback in the comments – we’ll be referring to it in preparation for next year!

Also, be sure to listen to our new episode of PlayStation Blogcast, where GamesBeat Editor in Chief Dan Hsu joins us for a discussion of our favorite games of the year.

‘Nuff said. Read on to see the very best in PlayStation gaming for 2012 as chosen by PlayStation gamers worldwide.

PS3 Game of the Year

Assassin’s Creed III

This one was a squeaker, but Ubisoft Montreal’s period epic inched past a strong showing by Gearbox Software’s well-received shooter. FIFA 13 Soccer landed the most write-in votes, but not enough to place in the winner’s circle.

Borderlands 2

Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Far Cry 3

Dishonored – “In my book, this was the smartest, most distinctive FPS of the year, shoehorning adult themes, nuanced characters and sophisticated gameplay mechanics into a wincingly visceral campaign. Oh, and it was great to see so many primary colors too! Sequel please!”

– Fred Dutton, Manager, EU PlayStation.Blog

Borderlands 2 – “Sequels don’t always manage to one-up their predecessors, but Borderlands 2 does just that — in nearly every conceivable way. From the vastly improved story, to the motley cast of characters, to the massive volume of guns, Gearbox has planted their foot firmly in the ground as one of this generation’s premier FPS developers.”

– Justin Massongill, US PlayStation.Blog

XCOM: Enemy Unknown – “This game scratched an itch I didn’t know I had, weaving tense turn-based firefights into a shockingly addictive management simulation. This is a refreshing and utterly fascinating game with a surprise and a delight around every corner. Highly recommended.”

– Sid Shuman, Manager, US PlayStation.Blog

PS3 Game of the Year (PSN Only)

Journey

Thatgamecompany’s wildly original opus was always the favorite to win this category, though Telltale Games’ heartbreaking series The Walking Dead nearly overtook it in the final hours of voting. Queasy Games’ Sound Shapes took the most write-in votes.

The Walking Dead: Episodes 1-5

Tokyo Jungle

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Journey – “I’m going with the obvious choice here. Nothing else I played this year drew me in like thatgamecompany’s Journey. Despite the lack of communication and identity involved, I felt closer to my co-op partners in Journey than in anything else I’ve played this year… maybe ever. It’s an experience I wish I could wipe from my memory, just so I could have it for the first time again.”

– Justin Massongill, US PlayStation.Blog

Journey – “I won’t be alone in singling out thatgamecompany’s bewitching quest here. Some complained that it was too brief, but its three hours of playtime will surely live longer in the memory than almost any other release this year. This is joyful, uplifting, must-play material. And, no, there’s no shame in admitting its final moments set your bottom lip aquiver.”

– Fred Dutton, EU PlayStation.Blog

The Walking Dead: Episodes 1 – 5 – “Telltale’s memorable series starts small but slowly builds to towering emotional heights, culminating in what may be the greatest gaming moment of the year. This is a prime example of the narrative potential of videogames — don’t you dare miss it.”

– Sid Shuman, US PlayStation.Blog

PS Vita Game of the Year

UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss

The closest category in this year’s awards nearly ended in a three-way tie between Gravity Rush, Persona 4: Golden, and UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss. But in a photo finish, Bend Studios claims the Platinum prize. The most popular write-in vote was for Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward, which is also available on PS Vita game card.

Persona 4 Golden

Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation

Gravity Rush

Gravity Rush – “Alternately careening and frolicing through the skies of Hekseville provided some of the most enjoyable, empowering moments in gaming this year for me. A lush world and loveable character wrapped around a set of mechanics that feels downright awesome in the palm of your hands.”

– Nick Suttner, PlayStation Blogcast co-host

Persona 4 Golden – “JRPGs have seen a relative lack of representation in this gaming generation. But now that Atlus has rebuilt one of PS2’s most highly regarded games for PS Vita, they’ve proven that a well-written, visually striking, character-driven RPG can still find an appreciative audience.”

– Justin Massongill, US PlayStation.Blog

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale – “A tough choice, but my voracious appetite for portable pugilism ultimately tipped the scales in favor of the All-Stars. SuperBot’s slavish attention to detail shines on the OLED screen and the characters feel intoxicatingly powerful, making this a perfect choice for mobile encounters.”

– Sid Shuman, US PlayStation.Blog

PS Vita Game of the Year (PSN Only)

Sound Shapes

Innovative indie titles placed strongly in this category, with Queasy Games’ charming musical platformer handily securing the lead. Fun fact: Grasshopper Manufacture’s shooter Sine Mora was the top write-in vote.

MotorStorm RC

Super Stardust Delta

Escape Plan

Frobisher Says! – “Not many games are silly. Yet Frobisher’s minigame madness is supremely silly in all the right ways, a ton of fun, kind of beautiful, and free, free, free as a bird. Whether I was finding flan, making a terrible din, or not smiling at pandas, it was some of the most fun I’ve had on PS Vita this year.”

– Nick Suttner, PlayStation Blogcast co-host

Sound Shapes – “Jonathan Mak’s unique approach to game design yields one of the biggest surprises of the year: A whimsical musical platformer that whisks you away on a magical tour of five imaginative worlds, leading inexorably to a momentous meeting with Beck.”

– Sid Shuman, US PlayStation.Blog

When Vikings Attack! – “Okay, maybe I’m biased, but I found When Vikings Attack!’s bonkers Britishness impossible to resist. If there was a more satisfying mechanic in gaming in 2013 than flinging a skip at a gang of Viking invaders, I certainly wasn’t privy to it. If you’re after a hidden gem to discover this Christmas, you could do a lot, lot worse.”

– Fred Dutton, EU PlayStation.Blog

PS Mobile Game of the Year

Super Crate Box

In a surprisingly tight race with several favorites jockeying for position, Super Crate Box’s accessible, addictive formula came out on top in the PS Mobile arena. The most popular write-in vote? Lemmings.

Sixty Second Shooter

Aqua Kitty

Everybody’s Arcade

Rebel – “Super Crate Box is the easy choice, but with that well-trod I want to make sure that no one misses out on Rebel. A sort of anti-Crate Box that has you dodging falling weapons crates while turning enemies against each other, Rebel feels satisfying thanks to a brilliant reward loop of upgrades that turn time-waster into skillful navigator.”

– Nick Suttner, PlayStation Blogcast co-host

Super Crate Box – “This feels like the no-brainer of the group, though Bullion Blitz and Puzziball are definite gems. Simple but focused, Super Crate Box is one of those indefinable instant classics that you’ll understand the moment you lay hands on it. A sheer delight.”

– Sid Shuman, US PlayStation.Blog

Super Crate Box – “Believe it or not, I reckon I’ve played SCB more than any game in any category. Vlambeer’s bite-sized score-attack platformer was an ingenious confection, and nailed that just-one-more-game catchiness better than any other title this year.”

– Fred Dutton, EU PlayStation.Blog

Best Use of PlayStation Move

Portal 2 In Motion

Another tight race, with Sixense’s Portal 2 expansion pack beating back a potent showing from PlayStation Move favorite Sorcery and close runners-up Wonderbook: Book of Spells and Sports Champions 2, while Okami HD claimed the most write-in votes.

Datura – “Probably the best example yet of how PS Move can open up new ways to interact. Navigating the dreamlike forests of Datura from a first-person perspective using PS Move brings a hypnotic surreal quality, as well as a more tactile interface. Really cool stuff.”

– Sid Shuman, US PlayStation.Blog

Datura – “I like touching trees.”

– Nick Suttner, PlayStation Blogcast co-host

PixelJunk 4am – “Sure, it’s something of an acquired taste and plays best, as advertised, in the small hours after a night on the town, but Q-Game’s music plaything really got its hooks in me over the summer. If you like your digital entertainment arty, freeform and very, very bleepy, this one’s for you.”

– Fred Dutton, EU PlayStation.Blog

Most Anticipated PS3 Game

The Last of Us

Despite powerful resistance from Grand Theft Auto 5, Naughty Dog’s highly anticipated post-apocalyptic journey The Last of Us claimed the coveted Platinum prize. Bronze winner BioShock Infinite topped Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch by just a handful of votes, while Namco Bandai’s RPG Tales of Xillia earned the most write-in votes.

Grand Theft Auto 5

BioShock Infinite

God of War: Ascension

Puppeteer – “A close call between this and BioShock, but my innate predisposition towards anything involving 2D visuals, running, and jumping won through. Japan Studios’ lovely platformer is a true feast for the senses, shot through with a delightfully dark sense of humor and A-grade character design. One to watch out for.”

– Fred Dutton, EU PlayStation.Blog

The Last of Us – “An agonizing decision, but (sorry BioShock Infinite) I’m putting my money on Naughty Dog. I’m drawn to the game’s suffocating atmosphere of hopelessness, but I’m also dying to learn more about the fragile relationship between innocent Ellie and world-weary Joel. Fingers crossed that Naughty Dog pulls off something extraordinary here.”

– Sid Shuman, US PlayStation.Blog

Sportsfriends – “If you’ve ever managed to catch one at a gaming event such as PAX, you know that Johann Sebastian Joust, Hokra, BaraBariBall and Super Pole Riders are already some of the best local multiplayer games EVER, even in their unreleased forms. Having all of them on PSN, upgraded and collected as Sportsfriends, is just too exciting for words. Get ready to Joust!”

– Nick Suttner, PlayStation Blogcast co-host

Most Anticipated PS Vita Game

Killzone Mercenary

Strong showings from Sly Cooper, Soul Sacrifice, and Tearaway weren’t enough to unseat Guerilla’s upcoming powerhouse. Intriguingly, Atlus USA’s mysterious Dragon’s Crown earned the most write-in votes.

Soul Sacrifice

Tearaway

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time

Guacamelee! – “It’s been far too long since I got my hands on a unique exploration-based platformer. Guacamelee’s hyperactive art style and elbow-dropping personality promise to revitalize the genre popularized by games like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.”

– Justin Massongill, US PlayStation.Blog

Soul Sacrifice – “Inafune’s dark fantasy promises to bring some serious emotional gravity to the co-op battlefields, such as tragic boss monsters that beg for mercy and an alarming array of life-or-death choices. I’m particularly drawn to the grim, almost grotesque art style.”

– Sid Shuman, US PlayStation.Blog

Tearaway – “Can’t wait. Expect wild innovation, free-wheeling creativity and charm in abundance. If you don’t covet a PS Vita now, just wait until this one lands on shelves.”

– Fred Dutton, EU PlayStation.Blog

Go ahead… open it.

Yup, a Holiday Sound Pack. Do you like it? Five new Christmas-themed instruments from classic carols to create your own holiday tunes – because there’s no such thing as too much Christmas music!

How do you get them? Just turn on Sound Shapes on your PS3 or PS Vita, connect to the internet, and they’ll automatically appear.

Oh really, we’re so glad you like them and we hope you enjoy them over the holidays. Anyway, we need to get going (the reindeer are getting restless) but from everyone here at Queasy Games and the whole Sound Shapes team, we wish you and your loved ones all the best and a happy holiday!

PS… if you create some levels, put #XMAS in the title and we’ll play them while chilling over the break. Talk soon!

The Sound Packs are $0.99 each, and the Curved Terrain Pack is free. You’ll find everything in our new in-game Sound Shapes Music Shop today. (You can also grab them on PSN, as usual.)

Here’s a short trailer with a track we put together using some of the new sounds. And remember, if you create something you’re digging, tell us on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr – we love playing your levels.

Oh, and one (ok, a few) more things… So the community has created over 15,000 levels (!) and we’ve been noting our favorites since launch. But how to share them? We have an idea! Coming in December is the Community Milkcrate – the best user-created content in Sound Shapes gathered and organized into themed albums, so you can find the levels that match your mood or play style. Chill, amped, long, short, tough as nails, and on and on. As part of the Milkcrate, we’ve been chatting with some rad musicians and game industry folks, and they’ll also be putting together collections of their favorites for you (their stuff coming in 2013). The new year will also bring a new vehicle DLC pack but before the big ‘13 we have a little holiday present from everyone here at Queasy — stay tuned!

The DLC Details

Sound Shapes has been out (in North America, at least) a little under a month now, and we continue to be blown away by the response the game has been getting. If you’ve been following our official Sound Shapes twitter (and we hope you have!) you’ve probably been kept up-to-date with our news, but just last week we hit over ten thousand levels in our community (if you’re interested, our ten-thousandth level was Out of the Rain by sunpsyche.)

With so many levels, we’ve been working very hard behind the scenes to make sure that players are able to best find the cream of the crop. For example, not only have we been iterating our search algorithms to ensure the star tab (“Greatest Hits” on the website) is kept up-to-date with the best levels, we also try to make sure if you search you get useful results—oh, and if you missed it, you can search on the website now too! However, we would like to ensure we’re interacting with our community and not just setting up SOULESS SEARCH ROBOTS to do that job for us—so we’re going to try and regularly share with you the community levels that pique our interest. Starting… now.

And I to Fire by jordanbuster

“This level sort of blew my mind a bit” said Jon [Mak], at which point I probably mumbled something like “oh, that’s nice” and went back to doing something else entirely. However, when I finally played this level it was worthy of his praise. To be honest, if you follow the Sound Shapes community you are probably already familiar with this level, so we’re not telling you anything new, but we had to spotlight it because it was the first level we saw that did things that surprised us — and, you know, we made the game. You’d think we’d know it inside out, eh?

Arcade Fireworks by Daftbomb

Here’s a darn tough level with some lovely visual stylings. If you played through our D-cade album you’ll kind of get the theme here—twists on some classic arcade games—but what really sells this one for us is the consistent art (even using a selection of different assets), clever challenges, and general fun times.

Intermission by Zoetroupe

This is a nice short level—an intermission, if we will—that mixes things up by not twisting video games but cinema! It’s musically lovely and genuinely artistic visually, and will leave you wanting more (always a good thing.)

Metamorphose by Tabulator_AT

This level is beautiful but also deserves praise for using one of our creatures in a way that we didn’t expect. It would say too much to pick out which one, but levels which challenge our established view of the game are always winners.

Quick, Dinosaurs! by TheAvengedMarin

Strong themes are always good! This level is an adventure across a dinosaur-filled landscape with a cute ending, with well thought out challenges and lots of cute dinosaurs to spot (we remain impressed at to what you’re all able to squeeze out of our ground shapes!) — it’s well worth a play.

That’s only a very small selection of the levels we’ve been playing—we really do try and play as many as we can manage—and so we do hope to be back soon to share more levels with you (the quality only gets better and better, so we’re sure that there are already new levels that you think we’re foolish to not have included.)

Don’t forget that you can queue up any of these levels to play in Sound Shapes from the website. Simply log in to the site with your PSN ID, hit queue on the level that takes your fancy, and when you load up the community (on PS3 or PS Vita) you can find them in your “favorites” on your profile (once you’ve played through them once, if you don’t choose to favorite them, they’ll be removed from that list.)

Oh! And don’t think we’re just spending all our time playing your levels (as much as we want to.) We’re working hard on getting the first DLC out to you as soon as possible (giving you more to work with!) — we’ll be able to talk about that soon. Happy creating!

The game offerings are quite enticing – there’s our new No. 1 selling PSN game for PS Vita, Sound Shapes (which comes with its PS3 version at no additional charge), indie darling Papo & Yo, fan-favorite Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and the action-packed Expendables 2 Videogame.

As an added bonus, PlayStation Plus members can still nab Counter Strike: Global Offensive for 20% off the retail price. To learn more about PSN PLAY and the rest of the games available on PlayStation Network, click here.

If you want more information on the games included in the promotion, look no further:

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PS3)

One of the gaming world’s most celebrated first-person shooter series makes its way to PSN with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, offering an updated take on the tried-and-true objective-based gameplay. Pitting teams of counter-terrorists against terrorists, Global Offensive features a number of classic game types like Bomb Diffusal and Hostage Rescue, and introduces two new modes: Arms Race and Demolition. Up to 10 players can engage in online matches, and the game also supports PlayStation Move, giving players a brand new way to experience the classic Counter-Strike gameplay.

Sound Shapes (PS3/PS Vita)

Play, Compose and Share in a unique take on the classic sidescrolling platformer where your actions make the music. Play through a unique campaign that fuses music and artwork into a classic 2D platformer featuring artwork by Pixeljam, Capy, Superbrothers and more, with music by Beck, Jim Guthrie and Deadmau5. Additionally, Sound Shapes is a Cross-Buy title, so you only need to purchase it once in order to get the game for both PS3 and PS Vita. Create and upload your levels on either platform for others to download and remix on their own.

Papo & Yo (PS3)

PSN exclusive indie game Papo & Yo tells the story of a young boy, Quico, and his best friend, Monster. Taking place in a dreamlike world inspired by South American favelas, Papo & Yo entices players to explore and solve puzzles as Quico, while simultaneously preventing Monster from eating poisonous frogs, which throws him into an uncontrollable rage.

The Expendables 2 Videogame (PS3)

The latest and most explosive co-op action shoot’em up title coming to PSN, based on the popular movie franchise this game leads players right into the upcoming The Expendables 2 movie. The story begins when four Expendables (Barney, Gunner, Caesar and Yin Yang) are hired to rescue an extremely valuable, kidnapped Chinese billionaire. Featuring vehicular combat, four-player co-op story and challenge modes, and a wealth of exotic locales, The Expendables 2 Videogame offers everything an action-game fan could want.

PS3 Full Games

Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 ($49.99)

Return to Gamindustri and help Nepgear free the captive Console Patron Units from the clutches of ASIC! Meet the other CPU Candidates from around the world and put a stop to Arfoire’s designs!
ESRB: M-Mature // File Size: 3.8 GB

The King of Fighters XIII ($29.99)

With the triumphant return of fan favorite characters like Mai, K’, and Vice, extensive refinement of the core fighting engine based on community feedback, and vastly improved network functionality, The King of Fighters XIII represents the HD entry in the series that fans have been waiting for.
ESRB: T-Teen // File Size: 2.18 GB

PSN Games

Sound Shapes ($14.99)

Equal parts instrument and game, Sound Shapes gives everyone the ability to make music. Play through a unique campaign that fuses music and artwork into a classic 2D platformer. Create your own unique musical levels with all of the campaign content and share with the world. Sound Shapes creates an ever-changing musical community for everyone to enjoy at home or on the go. Purchase the PS3 version of Sound Shapes and receive the PS Vita version at no additional cost!
ESRB: E-Everyone // File Size: 969 MB

PS Vita Games

Sound Shapes ($14.99)

Equal parts instrument and game, Sound Shapes gives everyone the ability to make music. Play through a unique campaign that fuses music and artwork into a classic 2D platformer. Create your own unique musical levels with all of the campaign content and share with the world. Sound Shapes creates an ever-changing musical community for everyone to enjoy at home or on the go. Purchase the PS3 version of Sound Shapes and receive the PS Vita version at no additional cost!
ESRB: E-Everyone // File Size: 969 MB

PS Minis

Farm Frenzy 3 Minis ($4.99)

Manage five farms around the world and try your hand at penguin breeding and jewelry making in Farm Frenzy 3! Features 95 outrageously fun levels, 30 wacky animals and more upgrades than there are ears in a field of corn!
ESRB: E-Everyone // File Size: 32 MB

Bundles

Payday: The Heist Wolfpack Bundle (Game And Wolfpack DLC Bundle) ($19.99)

PAYDAY The Heist is an action filled FPS game for the PlayStation Network that lets players take on the role of a hardened career criminal executing intense, dynamic heists in constant pursuit of the next “big score”. Load out with an array of weaponry and equipment. Navigate six high-stake heists with three other live or A.I. Co-Op partners in crime. Time for a PAYDAY – Cash in Before you Cash Out!
ESRB: M-Mature // File Size: 2.37 GB

PlayStation Store Highlights

After blasting off with the launch of Expendables 2, PSN PLAY continues to bring the heat with the PlayStation exclusive Sound Shapes! Coming bundled with both PS3 and PS Vita versions for one price, you won’t want to miss out on this unique platformer that combines awesome beats with clean 2D visuals. It’s available now and is 20% off for PlayStation Plus subscribers.

Also a part of PSN PLAY, this week marks the window to pre-order Papo & Yo! Plus members receive an exclusive theme as well as a 20% discount.

This week PlayStation Plus delivers an update to the Instant Game Collection with the first two episodes of Telltale’s The Walking Dead free for Plus members! This acclaimed series delivers breakthrough storytelling and engaging choices that really matter. If you’re already a Walking Dead Season Pass holder, your purchase is still well worth it as you’ll be among the first to experience the later episodes as they release.

For those of you who never got the chance to play PAYDAY: The Heist, now is an excellent time to jump in — a great bundle is now available, which includes the newly released Wolfpack Add-On. The core game is all about planning and executing the perfect heist across a handful of campaigns, and Wolfpack adds a ton more content, skill tree expansions, and also raises the level cap.

If you caught EVO 2012 this year, you know that The King of Fighters XIII made quite an impression in the fighting game community. If you’ve yet to get your hands on a KOF game, KOFXIII is a great place to start and is available now in the PS3 Full Game section. Download it today and see how refined a fighting game can be.

Lastly, don’t forget to hop back into UNCHARTED 3 to check out Version 1.13 of the legendary game. It’s Naughty Dog‘s biggest patch ever and features a new tournament mode, tons of new items, and more. You can find the tournament tickets in the Add-Ons section of the PlayStation Store which grant you special in-game weapons or items based on how well you’ve played in tournaments.

There’s more great content to review below including getting set for next week’s retail release of Darksiders II by grabbing the Darksiders II Season Pass. Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and we’ll see you next week.

PlayStation Plus

Click here to learn more and purchase online or go to the PlayStation Store to activate instantly.

Free Content	The Walking Dead: Episode 1 – A New Day The Walking Dead: Episode 2 – Starved for Help
Discounts	PSN Play – Week 3 – Papo & Yo – Pre-Order (20% Off) – PS Plus Price: $11.99 Sound Shapes – PS3 Game w/ Vita copy (20% off) – PS Plus Price $11.99 Sound Shapes- Vita Game w/ PS3 Copy (20% off) – PS Plus Price $11.99
Last Chance (Leaving Plus This Week)	Mad Riders (10% Discount) – PS Plus Price $8.99 Mad Riders Game The Daredevil Map Pack (Free) Just Cause 2 (Free PS3 Full Game) Lara Croft Guardian of Light (Free PSN Game) Papo & Yo – Pre-Order (20% off) – PS Plus Price $11.99 Sound Shapes – PS3 Game w/ Vita copy (20% off) – PS Plus Price $11.99 Sound Shapes- Vita Game w/ PS3 Copy (20% off) – PS Plus Price $11.99 International Track and Field (Free PS one Classic) Hot Shots Golf 2 (Free PS one Classic)

Preorders

Papo & Yo Preorder Offer (Static Theme Gift With Purchase) ($14.99)

Pre-Order Papo & Yo Today and receive a Free Theme! Papo & Yo is a Puzzle-Platforming Adventure that follows the tale of a young boy named Quico and his best friend Monster, a huge beast with razor-sharp teeth and an addiction to poisonous frogs. When the minute Monster eats a frog, he goes into a violent rage that’s bad news for everyone around. And yet, Quico isn’t afraid to make a dangerous journey through a magical, constantly-changing world to find a cure for his best friend. This is their story…

ESRB: E10+

Sales

Normaltanks – PS mini (now $0.99, original price $3.99)
Payday: The Heist – PSN Game (now $13.99, original price $19.99)
Super Stardust HD Game Bundle (now: $7.99 old price: $14.99)
Super Stardust HD Solo Add-on Pack (now: $3.19 old price: $4.99)
Super Stardust HD Team Add-on Pack (now: $3.19 old price: $4.99)
Super Stardust HD Solo Pack (In Game Purchase version) (now: $3.19 (old price: $4.99)
Super Stardust HD Team Pack (In Game Purchase) (now: $3.19 old price: $4.99)
Two Worlds II Velvet Game Of The Year Edition – PS3 Full Game (now $9.99, original price $34.99)

Price Change

LittleBigPlanet 2 – PS3 Full Game (now $19.99, original price $39.99)

PS3 Add-ons

UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception

• Tournament Tickets (10 for $4.49, 20 for $7.49, 50 for $15.99, 200 for $50.99) – The brand new UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception multiplayer Tournament System ushers in a points-based competition that has three reward tiers which grant you special in-game weapons or items based on how well you’ve played. Once you unlock a weapon or item it’s yours to use until the next tournament period. You can buy into a tournament using tournament tickets. You’ll always carry a balance of ten tickets per tournament period but you will be able to purchase more via the PS Store. A tournament leaderboard will be added to the leaderboards section so you can track your skill level among your friends!

Inversion

• Map “VERGE” ($1.99) – VERGE features two distinct bases as players jump between vectors, and sneak through multiple paths to gain the upper hand. Battle and master the multiple planes in this intense and frantic map.
• Map “RIOT” ($1.99) – RIOT features a dark deserted urban landscape. Fight in multiple buildings, several levels, and an intense sniper’s paradise. Master your Gravlink to pull campers from their cover, throw objects, and gain the upper ground for control of the map.

Darksiders II

• Season Pass ($19.99) – Season Pass provides a discount on the Maker Armor Set (available now), The Abyssal Forge (available soon), and The Demon Lord Belial (available soon). Please note Season Pass does not include any content other than the three items listed above. Season Pass content should be accessed and downloaded in-game, or you may be charged twice. Visit darksiders.com for more details.

Adidas miCoach

• Rugby Pack ($4.99) – A full rugby training programme to add to your miCoach living room experience – train with the best! Train in the comfort of your own home with an all-star rugby training team – Ma’a Nonu and Will Genia. It’s your exercise world, perfectly synced from your PlayStation 3 system, via the web or via your smartphone.

PAYDAY The Heist

• Wolfpack ($9.99) – PAYDAY The Heist Wolfpack is the first DLC for this action filled FPS. Features: New Weapons: STRYK full auto pistol, AK Automatic Rifle, Grenade Launcher and deployable sentry gun. 2 New Heists: Undercover (transfer money to your account from the IRS) and Counterfeit (secret operation in Florida). Hosting Ability: Invite friends to play in the new DLC maps even if they do not own the DLC themselves. New Skilltree: Raise your level cap to 192.

Mass Effect 3

• Firefight Pack ($1.99) – Unleash hell with the Firefight Pack! Firefight adds seven weapons for use in the single-player campaign: the Indra and Krysae sniper rifles, Reegar Carbine, Harrier battle rifle, Geth SMG, plus the all-new Blood Pack Punisher SMG and Adas Anti-Synthetic rifle!

Dragon’s Dogma

• Notice Board Quests – The Savvy ($2.99) – After completing “Reward and Responsibility,” an extra 8 exclusive quests become available at notice boards everywhere.
• From a Different Sky – Bundle Pack ($6.99) – All of the ‘From a Different Sky’ quests in one handy bundle. Can you complete all 100? Check the Pawn Guild to begin!

Record of Agarest War 2

• Right to the Blacksmith Pack 9 ($0.00) – Here is some good news for those too spineless or too lethargic to Convert! Take the following items and get your bad self to Gordon’s place! Shining Blade x 1, Ring of Light x 1, Mysterious Jewel x 1, Genbu’s Bowl x 1, Seiryuu’s Eye x 1, Byakko’s Crest x 1, Suzaku’s Wing x 1, Generation Crystal x 2, Whispered Dream x 2.
• Bonus Point Pack 7 ($5.99) – Thank you once again for your profligate spending habits. Today we have prepared a heaping helping of party points just for you. Included points: 3,000PP. These points can be shared amongst your entire party. Spread the wealth, create a single superhero, or shower them upon a beloved character; it’s entirely up to you.
• Frensberge Specialty Pack 5 ($1.99) – At these prices, you might as well be stealing all of this stuff! Now, the fifth set of Fresnberge-themed goods for your buying pleasure! Keep spending; the town needs the cash! Langguth Sword x 1, S. V. Rouge x 1, Injector Maximus x 1, Lollipop Stick x 1, DESHIMARU x 1, Training Wear x 1.
• Right to the Blacksmith Pack 10 ($0.00) Listen up, all you lazy, cowardly oatmeal warts who can’t be bothered to Convert things on your own! Take the following stuff to Gordon and let him work his magic. ATK Element Ω x2, DEF Element Ω x2, MAG Element Ω x2, RST Element Ω x2, STR Element Ω x2, VIT. Element Ω x2, INT Element Ω x2, MND Element Ω x2, AGI Element Ω x2, DEX Element Ω x2.
• Bonus Point Pack 8 ($6.99) – Thank you once again for your profligate spending habits. Today we have prepared a heaping helping of party points just for you. Included points: 6,500PP. These points can be shared amongst your entire party. Spread the wealth, create a single superhero, or shower them upon a beloved character; it’s entirely up to you.
• Extra Costumes 2 ($2.99) – Here is something for one of the lovely ladies in your life to bathe in! Why not get one of them to put it on now?!
• 3rd Extra Character ($2.49) – Hark! Allies that will share in your joys and sorrows have come in droves! Now, it is time to overcome adversity together!

Persona 4 Arena

• Additional Colors Pack #1 ($1.99) – Additional colors for Yu, Yukiko, Teddie, and their Personas. Each character will have 8 new colors, 2 of which can only be used offline.
• Additional Colors Pack #2 ($1.99) – Additional colors for Chie, Naoto, Akihiko, and their Personas. Each character will have 8 new colors, 2 of which can only be used offline.
• Additional Colors Pack #3 ($1.99) – Additional colors for Yosuke, Aigis, Labrys, and their Personas. Each character will have 8 new colors, 2 of which can only be used offline.
• Additional Colors Pack #4 ($1.99) – Additional colors for Kanji, Mitsuru, Elizabeth, Shadow Labrys, and their Personas. Each character will have 8 new colors, 2 of which can only be used offline.
• Additional Colors Full Pack ($5.99) – Additional colors for all the characters. Each character will have 8 new colors, 2 of which can only be used offline.
• Glasses Pack #1 ($1.99) – Glasses for Yu, Yukiko and Teddie. When selected, the corresponding character will wear glasses during battle. NOTE: Additional glasses colors will be available if you also purchased the corresponding characters’ additional colors.
• Glasses Pack #2 ($1.99) – Glasses for Chie, Naoto and Akihiko. When selected, the corresponding character will wear glasses during battle. NOTE: Additional glasses colors will be available if you also purchased the corresponding characters’ additional colors.
• Glasses Pack #3 ($1.99) – Glasses for Yosuke, Aigis and Labrys. When selected, the corresponding character will wear glasses during battle. NOTE: Additional glasses colors will be available if you also purchased the corresponding characters’ additional colors.
• Glasses Pack #4 ($1.99) – Glasses for Kanji, Mitsuru, Elizabeth and Shadow Labrys. When selected, the corresponding character will wear glasses during battle. NOTE: Additional glasses colors will be available if you also purchased the corresponding characters’ additional colors.
• Glasses Full Pack ($5.99) – Glasses for all the characters. When selected, the corresponding character will wear glasses during battle. NOTE: Additional glasses colors will be available if you also purchased the corresponding characters’ additional colors.
• Navigation #1 (Teddie) ($2.99) – Battle navigation voice for Teddie (selectable in Versus Mode and Network Mode). NOTE: Skilled players can unlock this content by playing the game.
• Navigation #2 (Yosuke) ($2.99) – Battle navigation voice for Yosuke (selectable in Versus Mode and Network Mode). NOTE: Skilled players can unlock this content by playing the game.
• Navigation #3 (Mitsuru) ($2.99) – Battle navigation voice for Mitsuru (selectable in Versus Mode and Network Mode). NOTE: Skilled players can unlock this content by playing the game.
• Navigation #4 (Aigis) ($2.99) – Battle navigation voice for Aigis (selectable in Versus Mode and Network Mode). NOTE: Skilled players can unlock this content by playing the game.
• Navigation #5 (Fuuka) ($2.99) – Battle navigation voice for Fuuka (selectable in Versus Mode and Network Mode). NOTE: Skilled players can unlock this content by playing the game.
• Navigation #6 (Nanako) ($2.99) – Battle navigation voice for Nanako (selectable in Versus Mode and Network Mode). NOTE: Skilled players can unlock this content by playing the game.

Street Fighter X Tekken

• Color Palette Add-On 6 ($0.00) – The 6th color pack (4-color set) for character color customization. Note: This add-on is exclusive content for STREET FIGHTER X TEKKEN.
• SF Boost Gem Pack 9 ($0.99) – 10 Boost Gems exclusively for Street Fighter characters. Perform a technical action to activate the effects for these Gems. Note: If you would like to see the effects of the Gems individually before purchase, please use the Store from the game’s Main Menu. The effects of the Gems may be subject to change.
• SF Boost Gem Pack 10 ($0.99) – 10 Boost Gems exclusively for Street Fighter characters. Includes Gems for fighting against Pandora as well as Gems for instantaneous vitality recovery. Note: If you would like to see the effects of the Gems individually before purchase, please use the Store from the game’s Main Menu. The effects of the Gems may be subject to change.
• TK Boost Gem Pack 9 ($0.99) – 10 Boost Gems exclusively for Tekken characters. Perform a technical action to activate the effects for these Gems. Note: If you would like to see the effects of the Gems individually before purchase, please use the Store from the game’s Main Menu. The effects of the Gems may be subject to change.
• TK Boost Gem Pack 10 ($0.99) – 10 Boost Gems exclusively for Tekken characters. These Harmonize Gems activate upon various differing conditions. Note: If you would like to see the effects of the Gems individually before purchase, please use the Store from the game’s Main Menu. The effects of the Gems may be subject to change.
• Boost Gem Trial Pack 4 ($0.00) – A total of 3 Boost Gems that all characters can use. Note: If you would like to see the effects of the Gems individually before purchase, please use the Store from the game’s Main Menu. The effects of the Gems may be subject to change.

Rock Band 3

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

• (I Just) Died in Your Arms ($1.99) – Cutting Crew
• Crawling in the Dark ($1.99) – Hoobastank
• Still of the Night ($1.99) – Whitesnake

Rock Band Network – Build your Rock Band library by purchasing song game tracks made available through Rock Band Network

• Anything ($0.99) – An Endless Sporadic. Compatible with Rock Band 3 and Rock Band Blitz.
• (I’m the One That’s) Cool ($0.99) – The Guild feat. Felicia Day. Compatible with Rock Band 3 and Rock Band Blitz.
• From the Blue/Point of No Return ($0.99) – An Endless Sporadic. Compatible with Rock Band 3 and Rock Band Blitz.
• Romancing the Ordinary ($0.99) – Rose of Jericho. Compatible with Rock Band 3 and Rock Band Blitz.
• The Ravenous ($1.99) – I, Omega. Compatible with Rock Band 3 and Rock Band Blitz.

Avatars

Magic 2013 Avatar Pack ($1.99)
Rainbow Moon Avatar – Demon Warrior ($0.49)
Rainbow Moon Avatar – Living Gun ($0.49)
Rainbow Moon Avatar – Savant ($0.49)
Rainbow Moon Zelorus Avatar ($0.49)
Rainbow Moon Avatar – Zombie ($0.49)
Rainbow Moon Dazed Stare Avatar ($0.49)
Rainbow Moon Demon Mage Avatar ($0.49)
Rainbow Moon Merchant Avatar ($0.49)
Rainbow Moon Serena Avatar ($0.49)
Rainbow Moon Lofi Guard Avatar ($0.49)

Game Videos (Free)

Battlefield 3 Armored Kill Gameplay Premiere Trailer
Dyad Launch Trailer
Sound Shapes Introduces Beck & Pyramid Attack

PS3 Themes

Anne-Dynamic Pirate Theme 3 ($2.99)
Dynamic America City NYC Skyline Theme ($2.99)
Vampires – Bloodletting Dynamic Theme ($2.99)
Vampires – Eternal Blood Spell Dynamic Theme ($2.99)
Vampires – The Deadly Departed Dynamic Theme ($2.99)
Vampires – The Turning Dynamic Theme ($2.99)
Vampires – What Lies Beneath Dynamic Theme ($2.99)

Wallpapers

Papo & Yo – Wallpaper 1 ($0.00)
Payday: The Heist Masked Man Wallpaper ($0.00)
Payday: The Heist New Features Wallpaper ($0.00)
Payday: The Heist New Heist Wallpaper ($0.00)
Test Drive Ferrari Racing Legends Wallpaper ($0.00)

Available In-Game Only (Not on PlayStation Store)

Adidas miCoach

• Manuel Neuer ($4.99) – Add soccer superstar Manuel Neuer to your miCoach football training team – train with the best!Train in the comfort of your own home with an additional soccer star for your all-star soccer training team. It’s your exercise world, perfectly synced from your PlayStation 3 system, via the web or via your smartphone.

Rock Band 3

• (I Just) Died in Your Arms ($1.99) – Pro Guitar (In Game Only) ($0.99) – Cutting Crew

Sound Shapes is out on PSN today! It’s the culmination of a long journey for our boss-men Jonathan Mak and Shaw-Han Liem, who worked on the concept for… more years than they probably want me to say before the reveal at E3 2011, and having worked on the game for a year myself now I think I can speak for the whole team when I say we just want you to play it. Like… we don’t want you to finish reading this blog post, or even probably watch the launch trailer we made. We made Sound Shapes for you to play! So when today’s update goes live, get yourself over to the PlayStation Store on your PS3 or PS Vita and pick it up!

The title is $14.99 ($11.99 for PlayStation Plus members this week only) and part of the PSN Play promotion, so if you buy one or more other of the games in the promotion you’ll get an increasing amount of money back. Most importantly, however — Sound Shapes is a cross-play title. Whether you buy it on PS3 or PS Vita, you receive both versions for one price. We cannot stress this enough. We’ve definitely tried to stress this enough. Both versions are yours when you buy it, and all trophies and community levels are shared between them, whether you own a PS3 or a PS Vita, or both.

If you’re looking for more of a general overview of what Sound Shapes is, why not watch our brand-spanking new launch trailer?

If you’re still here, I guess I should recap the information you really need to know, to be sure you’re making the right purchase when you finally dawdle over to the PlayStation Store. So: Sound Shapes is a 2D musical platformer in which every level is a song. You pick up the notes placed in the level to construct the music, but at the same time the creatures (friend or foe) and interactive objects are instruments too. We’ve worked with different graphic and musical artists on each album of level-songs, with the likes of Shaw-Han in his I am Robot and Proud guise, Deadmau5, Jim Guthrie and Beck working with graphic artists like Vic Ngyuen of Capy, Pyramid Attack, PixelJam and Superbrothers. If the game stopped there that would probably have been more than enough work for us but we also decided that players should be able to use these notes, creatures and so on to make their own songs and levels. Therefore we’ve included a full level editor and online community which will allow you to share your creations across the entire world, reaching players on both PS3 and PS Vita no matter which version you’re using.

Oh, and on top of that we’ve also included Trophies (yes, there’s a Platinum). They’re unlocked by conquering Death Mode, which consists of intense platforming challenges based on our main campaign, and Beat School, which hopes to inspire players in the fine art of beat-making by challenging them to recreate a piece of music in our level editor.

So, we hope that’s rather a worthy offering for your $14.99, if you’re still dilly-dallying. One of the nicest things for us is that although we’re super excited to have you play Sound Shapes, we’re even more excited to play the levels you create in the community. To be honest, this could be a total win-win. We get to make the game we wanted to make, share it with PlayStation’s community of gamers, and then have them make levels that we get to play? Amazing! (And don’t worry, we do plan to support the community beyond launch with DLC. Not that we’re going to say any more than that for now!)

If you do find you want to know even more about Sound Shapes, check out our website here! But we wish you’d just pick up the game and get to making levels. Come on, it’s your turn, we’ve been making them for ages!