Kotaku

Let's file this one under "Too Soon." Seen at the "Invaders!" booth, tucked away in Hall Four of the Games Convention being held in Leipzig, Germany right now, was this non-interactive installation of the classic Taito space faring aliens laying waste to the Twin Towers. It was projected on a massive screen in the vicinity of lots of classic Space Invaders goods, as the game is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. It was... it was weird.

This hits three year's after the first and last game to take on the World Trade Center hit Brooklyn.

Honestly, we're not quite sure what's going on here quite yet, as we didn't know the German translation for "What the fuck?" We do know, however, that the 8-bit tower jumpers and the negative score applied to each WTC tower to indicate damage aren't going to sit well with, we're thinking, everyone.

Buzz!: Brain Bender announced for PSP

'SingStar: Singalong With Disney' Announced For PS2, Exclusive to PAL Territories

SCEE announces VidZone Service For PS3

Free Realms MMO Coming to Playstation 3

Sony Online Entertainment's experimental blending of social network service with massively multiplayer online role-playing game, FreeRealms, is coming to the Playstation 3 as well as the PC, Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe announced today.

FreeRealms joins DC Universe Online and The Agency as the first massively multiplayer online role playing games coming out of a new arrangement between SCEE and SOE.

Under the new agreement, SCEE will publish and distribute three MMOs developed by SOE for PS3 throughout the PAL territories. In addition, SCEE will also publish DC Universe and The Agency on behalf of SOE in the PAL territories.

“This is an opportunity for SCEE and SOE to bring the best online experiences from PC gaming to the PLAYSTATION 3 universe, the result of which will certainly benefit PlayStation fans,” said David Reeves, President, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

EyePet Brings Virtual Monchichis To PlayStation 3

Sony's Games Convention press conference saw the announcement of one brand new and rather interesting title, one that takes advantage of the PlayStation Eye in impressive new ways. EyePet, a virtual pet game for the PlayStation 3, lets players customize and interact with the "simian-like" titular beast, a furry digital companion that responds to user commands via the camera accessory.

EyePet takes advantage of technology we've seen previously in PS3 demos, allowing users to draw and scan in objects that the in-game creature will play with. The EyePet is said to remember objects it is shown and modify its behavior for objects that it is unfamiliar with.

Announced only for PAL markets so far, EyePet is said to ship in late 2009, giving us ample time to learn more about it.

Shortly after announcing a new snap on wireless keypad for the Playstation 3, Sony has released the full spec sheet for the device, which they say is going to be introduced worldwide this holiday season.

The peripheral will hit North America in late November and in Japan, Europe and Asia by the end of the year. The Bluetooth-enabled device will support all typing on the Playstation 3, including text chatting in Home and LittleBigPlanet support.

The keypad includes two shortcut buttons, a Communication Button and a Message Box Button, letting users jump to pre-set features on the XMB such as Friends screen and Message Box during game play. Finally, a Touch Pad Button allows PS3 users to use the entire surface of the keypad as a touch pad, allowing them to maneuver the pointer while web browsing by sliding their fingers around the keypad surface.

No price has yet been announced, but the full specs and release are on the jump.

Sony Computer Entertainment America has released further information on the new model of the PSP, officially known as the PSP 3000, including when you'll be able to get it stateside. The PSP 3000 model will be available in North America this October, shipping with the previously announced Ratchet & Clank Size Matters entertainment pack, the same one announced at E3 2008.

SCEA officially describes the PSP 3000's new LCD screen as having "a wider color gamut and higher contrast ratio to deliver deeper, more vibrant colors, as well as anti-reflection technology so you can see the screen more clearly when playing outdoors."

As rumored, the PSP 3000 also ships with a smaller metal ring on the back. Picture proof after the jump.

Towards the end of Konami's Games Convention 2008 press conference this morning, while certain members of the press were slowly inching towards the door, Head of Product Planning for Konami Digital Entertainment Dave Cox to the stage to present a brand new 3D action title for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Lords of Shadow. The press release describes it as as a dark fairy tale, an epic battle between good and evil, and a stunning new action-adventure IP. You play as Gabriel, a mysterious protagonist on a journey to discover the true meaning of Christmas> self-sacrifice. Sounds like fun, in a vague sort of way.

The trailer itself featured the main character, seen above, looking all tense and powerful, and some giant critter showing up. This is the way of early trailers.

As we excited the press conference we were given a little bundle filled with cards featuring art from the game, which I will post in a gallery below for your enjoyment. Lords of Shadow is due out in 2010.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune 160GB PS3 Priced, Dated for North America

Warhawk Jet Packs, Crash Commando, Savage Moon Invade Sony PSN

Riding high on the success of downloadable titles like PixelJunk Monsters, echochrome and Super Stardust HD, Sony packed their booth with a collection of upcoming digital goodies.

High on the list are such stand-outs from E3 as Flower, PixelJunk Eden and The Last Guy Standing, but there's also a nice selection of some newer titles like old-school side-scroller Crash Commando, tower strategy game Savage Moon and Warhawk's Operation Fallen Star expansion pack which includes, yes, jet packs.

Full list and descriptions on the jump.

PS3 Firmware Update Lets SingStar Owners Rip PS2-Only Tracks

The PlayStation 3 version of SingStar is about to get a massive boost in track department, as Sony has announced that a future firmware update will allow for the ripping and playing of SingStar tracks from PlayStation 2 versions of the game. SCEE president David Reeves didn't go into too many detals on the 'how' and 'when,' but we have a feeling the 'why' is that they want the many SingStar devotees in Europe to graduate to the PlayStation 3 sequel to SingStar.

That means the PlayStation 3 will play your forthcoming SingStar: Singalong With Disney tracks just fine. Go on, pick it up. You know you want to.

RB2: Drum Trainer, Battle of the Bands detailed

Harmonix swung by New York City this week so I finally got a chance to check out Rock Band 2 for the XBOX 360. So is there any new info we didn’t already see from E3? Why yes, yes there is. Although we briefly went over some of the game’s features that were already reveled, we spent the majority of the time going over new details on modes - such as the Drum Trainer and Battle of the Bands - as well. Oh, were you thinking about buying the original Rock Band so you could import the old songs? You might want to consider just renting it instead.

The Quantic Dream developed Heavy Rain, described by president David Cage as dark and emotionally driven, made its public debut at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's press conference today. Little details were divulged on the PlayStation 3 horror game during its brief cinematic showing, but David Reeves of SCEE called it "horrifying."

We watched the game's protagonist, seen in the 'casting call' trailer shown at E3 years ago, investigated an abandoned house, filled with what we assume to be ghosts frozen in time. Visually, the game looked spectacular and moody, heavy in sepia tones but with occasional dashes of primary color, but we'll have more in-depth impressions of Heavy Rain when we see it behind closed doors tomorrow.

PlayStation 3 Controller Getting Wireless Keypad

Sony showed off a new wireless keyboard for the PlayStation 3 controller, intended to help with in game text messaging and PS3 browser navigatoin. The black keyboard clips on over the front of the DualShock 3/SIXAXIS with the keyboard located above the main controller area.

The wireless keyboard also features a touchpad mode to allow for mouse input. David Reeves, president of SCEE, said that this touchpad control mode may be used in future game development.

The keyboard will ship in eight configurations in Europe to support the numerous languages and keyboard types in the continent.

PlayStation 3 160GB Model Coming To Europe

Sony will be bringing one more SKU to the PlayStation 3 family this Fall, doubling the storage of the soon to be offered 80GB model. While the functionality of the console remains the same, the hard drive size will be doubled when the 160GB model ships out to European gamers on October 31.

Price? Just 499 Euro, with 70 Euro worth of downloadable content out of the box.

SCEE president David Reeves announced at the company's Games Convention press conference that the PSP-3000 would being shipping this Fall, boasting new hardware features over the current PSP Slim and Lite. Featuring a built-in microphone, a new, brighter LCD screen and Skype out of the box, the PSP-3000 is expected to ship to Europe in October.

Visually, the new PSP 3000 is nearly identical to previous iterations.

It will ship with eight bundles, with pack-ins featuring Harry Potter, Buzz Master Quiz and more. Each bundle will be priced at 199 Euros.

Gary Oldman Answers Call of Duty

Activision is adding another famous name to Call of Duty: World At War. Joining accomplished shouter Kiefer "Damn It!" Sutherland, who plays Sgt. Roebuck in the Treyarch developed World War II game, will be Gary Oldman. The co-star of The Dark Knight and The Professional will voice one of the characters in the Russian portion of the World at War campaign.