The Drop: Week of November 5th 2012 New Releases

On PS3 this week and available for download on PSN, Sackboy returns in a completely new adventure where players’ fast-paced karting skills will be the key to saving the Craftworld universe. Get behind the steering wheel and get ready to race through fun-filled tracks, discover unlockables in open-world environments, and battle in karting arenas filled with pick-up items and LittleBigPlanet-esque weaponry in LittleBigPlanet Karting.

With online cross-platform play and save compatibility between the PS Vita and PS3, a battalion of Viking invaders have landed 1200 years late to the party in a bewildered and bewildering modern day Britain rife with rock ‘n’ roll, polyester, and color television. Unite the townsfolk and fight back against the invasion in When Viking’s Attack.

Enjoy this week’s The Drop.

LittleBigPlanet Karting

(Also on PSN) — Join Sackboy and Sackgirl on the starting grid for a new kart racing adventure! Fire up your engines, jump behind the steering wheel and take on your friends and foes in breathtakingly unpredictable battles through an ever-changing world of content. In order to save the Craftworld universe, players join a fast-paced karting campaign, filled with intense classic kart racing and ultra-competitive arena battles. Beyond traditional racing and battle scenarios are more adventurous driving expeditions, including objective-based missions, boss battles, and mini-games.

On the create side, players can customize their Sackboy, karts, and much more. The new level editor tools will allow players to construct far more than just kart racing games, as they can design their own karting experiences with the ability to make their own game rules, weapons, and tracks that break free from the constraints of a traditional racetrack allowing the imagination to run wild in a completely open environment. Players will also be fully able to share this content with others around the world through PlayStation Network providing access to what promises to be millions of LittleBigPlanet Karting experiences created by the community.

Nascar The Game: Inside Line — Hop in the driver’s seat, buckle up and start your engines for NASCAR The Game: Inside Line. Bringing the true NASCAR experience to consoles, NASCAR: Inside Line will allow players to race with the top NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers, teams and cars, as well as feature all 23 officially licensed racetracks.

When Vikings Attack!

(On PS3 & PS Vita) — In the all-action fighting adventure When Vikings Attack, a battalion of Viking invaders, 1200 years late to the party, are causing havoc in your town! In order to combat them, you form a posse of local citizens — a construction worker, a butcher, a policeman, a pastor, a schoolboy, etc. — and take to the streets together in order to use whatever is on the streets to beat back the invaders. Amass a huge horde and you can work together to rip out phone booths or pick up cars in order to throw massively damaging objects at enemies.

When Vikings Attack features both Adventure and Versus gameplay modes that can be played with one to four players. Adventure players can go through the game’s viking invasion storyline and smash enemies through a crazy storyline of single-player or co-op action. Versus players can play on PlayStation 3 or PS Vita against each other in four-player melee quickfire battles for wild fighting action.

Vanquish — The story of Vanquish is set in the near future. Russia and the United States are vying for ownership of the world’s fast-depleting energy resources and the US has constructed a space station in order to harness energy from the sun. Russian forces capture this space station and divert its harvested solar energy into a blast wave that destroys San Francisco, aiming to force the US into a total and unconditional surrender. In response, the US tasks its armed forces with recapturing the space station before the Russians can annihilate their next target – New York.

Portal 2 — Using a highly experimental portal device, you’ll once again face off against a lethally inventive, power-mad A.I. named GLaDOS. And this time you won’t be alone. Meet an expanded cast of characters as you think your way through dangerous, never-before-seen areas of Aperture Laboratories.

Absolute Supercars — From the racing minds at Eutechnyx comes the definitive auto package for every hardcore driving fan’s wildest dreams: Absolute Supercars! This racing game allows people of all ages and skill to get behind the wheels of some of the world’s most powerful supercars. Take part in quick races, time trials, championships and even an epic Career mode in an attempt to earn the big bucks and fill your Showroom with a cavalcade of stunning motors! From Ferrari, to Pagani, to Aston Martin and McLaren, there’s a car for everyone and a series of stunning tracks to race them on.

PID — PID is a creative, stylish, retro-flavored platforming adventure game designed to turn everything you know about 2D gameplay upside down. You play as a young boy that gets stranded on an old remote planet. He must fight off a variety of malicious robots bent on stopping him and befriend unlikely allies to shed light on a huge conspiracy that keeps the planet mesmerized and prevents him from ever reaching home.

The core feature in PID allows players to manipulate a powerful force that can be used to maneuver around the levels in thousands of unique ways. In PID, two players can experience the adventure together in co-op mode and help one another navigate tricky puzzles.

Toejam and Earl — Funk at last, funk at last, ToeJam & Earl, funk at last! That’s right people, SEGA brings you the game that funneled funk directly from the mothership right here to Spaceship Earth with this downloadable version of the classic Genesis game, provided through the PlayStation Network service.

In 1991, two aliens, Toejam and Earl, were cruising in their Rapmaster Rocket Ship, when ToeJam decided to let Earl drive. Bad move! After crash landing on Earth, ToeJam and Earl began their mission to get back home to Funkotron. Along the way, they traversed this most un-funky planet, avoiding earthlings, hunting down the pieces of their spaceship, and searching for elevators to take them from level to level. In this one- or two-player game, the goal was to find all 10 pieces of the rocket ship, and return ToeJam and Earl to Funkotron.

Toejam and Earl: In Panic On Funkotron — The year 1993 found the popular alien duo ToeJam and Earl on their home planet of Funkotron. Unknowingly, as they left earth for their return voyage to Funkotron, their cargo included a hoard of earthling stowaways. Because earthlings disrupt the Funk balance on Funkotron, the objective was to capture all the earthlings in jars, and ship them back to earth in rocket ships at the end of each level. This side-scrolling adventure for the Sega Genesis took advantage of a completely new layout and graphics engine, and developed a second generation of loyal fans.

Demos

• Disney’s Epic Mickey 2
• PID

minis

• Enchanted Cavern

[Editor’s Note: The following dates are subject to change. Game details are gathered from Press Releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]