LittleBigPlanet and MotorStorm Coming to PSP

So, you thought the PSP was dead, eh? Or at least living on borrowed time? Not so, says Sony, especially if its recently announced 2009 lineup is any indication. According to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Sony’s Little Handheld That Could will be chugging along uphill in 2009, as some of the most popular titles on its PlayStation 3 big brother get shrunken down for new PSP releases.

“There are a lot of big claims in the gaming industry but we’re confident when we say that 2009 is going to be an exciting year for PSP,” said Mark Hardy, European Marketing Director, SCEE. “Our fans have demanded big PSP titles and this year, we’re going to deliver again and again. With Resistance: Retribution, already on its way to stores, PSP gamers are going to get one big franchise after another.”

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PS3 Greatest Hits Unleashed

Sony Computer Entertainment kicks off the PS3 Greatest Hits program this week, giving consumers a cheaper retail price point for select best selling PS3 game titles. Retailing for $29.99 each, games making the first Greatest Hits list include Warhawk, Motorstorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, Call of Duty 3, EA Sports Fight Night Round 3, Need for Speed: Carbon, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas, Assassin’s Creed, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Ninja Gaiden Sigma.

If you missed these games when they were originally released, the lower price point should prove to be a strong motivator to get out there and buy them.

AIAS Award Winners Announced

The recipients of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences” 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards were announced this week, with BioShock, Call of Duty 4 and The Orange Box picking up four awards each. The annual awards for developers by developers also inducted Blizzard’’s Mike Morhaime into the Hall of Fame and gave a Lifetime Achievement Award to former Sony Computer Entertainment boss Ken Kutaragi.

Mike Morhaime, president, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, was inducted as the 11th member of the prestigious AIAS Hall of Fame for helping to create some of the world’s most popular franchises, including Diablo, Warcraft, StarCraft and World of Warcraft. Ken Kutaragi, former president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., received the Lifetime Achievement Award for this year.

As for the games, Call of Duty 4 won Overall Game of the Year, Console Game of the Year, Action Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play; BioShock won Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction, Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design, Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition and Outstanding Achievement in Story Development; and The Orange Box won Outstanding Achievement in Game Design, Computer Game of the Year, Outstanding Character Performance, and Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering. The big list of all of this year’’s winners can be found below:

Overall Game of the Year: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Console Game of the Year: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Computer Game of the Year: The Orange Box
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming: Rock Band
Handheld Game of the Year: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Multiplayer Game of the Year: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
Cellular Game of the Year: skate
Role-Playing Game of the Year: Mass Effect
Racing Game of the Year: MotorStorm
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design: The Orange Box: Portal
Adventure Game of the Year: Super Mario Galaxy
Sports Game of the Year: skate
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year:Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Action Game of the Year: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Family Game of the Year: Rock Band
Outstanding Achievement in Animation: Assassin’’s Creed
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction: BioShock
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering: Crysis
Outstanding Character Performance: The Orange Box: Portal (Ellen McLaw’’s voice work as GLADos)
Outstanding Achievement in Story Development: BioShock
Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering: The Orange Box: Portal
Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play:Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Downloadable Game of the Year: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition: BioShock
Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack: Rock Band
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design: BioShock

Congratulations to all of this year’s big winners.

MotorStorm Gets New Tracks

Everything old is new again this week, as Sony’’s hit PS3 racer MotorStorm gets a little bit of the old nitro boost, courtesy of two new downloadable tracks. For an entry fee of $2.99, MotorStorm racers will get to floor the gas one more time by picking up the newest Track Pack, released this morning as a download on the PlayStation Network.

The two new tracks are called Diamondback and Eagle’’s Nest. Felice Standifer, Senior US Producer for MotorStorm, describes the tracks as follows:

Diamondback gives you all the thrills of a speedway circuit, where flat-out pedal-to-the-metal driving is the only way to compete. Speed is important, but watch out for those banked corners because this snake-like circuit is not for amateurs.

Eagle’s Nest is set on of top of a remote mesa, but it’s not for parking and viewing the sunset. Instead, it’s for those who wish to prey on your rivals and cause total mayhem. This track is all about experiencing a brutal, fast-paced, and adrenaline rushing racing experience. Once again it’s MotorStorm at its finest.

Players can hit these two new tracks with all vehicle classes in online races as well as Time Attack and Eliminator modes.