Heavy Rain Chronicles include a darker perspective

Heavy Rain is finally just around the corner, after four years of development. Quantic Dream’s David Cage has told Gameblog.fr that an episode of the Heavy Rain Chronicles downloadable content will be played from the perspective of the Origami Killer, somewhat flipping the script.

The other two episodes discussed in the interview are from the perspectives of Norman Jayden and Madison Paige, two playable characters from the main storyline. The Chronicles act as prequels which explain the back-stories of each major character in the game.

The first of two Chronicles packs is free to those who purchase the Collector’s Edition.

[gameblog.fr via Eurogamer]

Heavy Rain hype machine: “Blows Uncharted 2 away”

Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain is just around the corner, due to arrive in late February.

As a result, the hype machine is in full swing, with a PR man claiming, “Graphically, it blows Uncharted 2 away.” Since Uncharted 2 is argued by many to have the best visuals of any console title, this is a bold statement.

Obviously, the gameplay between the titles is considerably different, with Heavy Rain promising a unique, atmospheric experience. After almost 4 years of waiting, it’ll be exciting to see how it turns out and how people respond.

[Gamertell via Destructoid]

Announced Rock Band 2 PS3 patch fixes HOPO, adds RBN

Rock Band 2 Lead Designer, Dan Teasdale, today announced a long-coming patch for the PS3 release of the title.

The patch notably includes a fix for chord HOPOs (hammer-ons/pull-offs) which brings them up to par with their implementation in The Beatles: Rock Band, as well as the inclusion of the Rock Band Network Store. Unfortunately for PS3 owners, the store will still only feature a selection of the songs available over at the Xbox 360 RBN Store.

The patch also allows the use of wireless SingStar microphones, supports drum velocity sensitivity for ION drum kits (for drum fills and Drum Freestyle), and adds the ability to Sort by Stars in the Song Select screen.

[PlayStation.Blog via RockBandAide]

ABC iView now available on PS3

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s iView service is today available for the PlayStation 3, accessed directly from the XMB’s new TV menu after logging in to the PlayStation Network.

The ABC iView XMB icon is just a web shortcut, which opens the PS3’s browser and launches the fullscreen Flash application. The service, which was recently revamped, used to run terribly through the PS3 browser, but now runs smoothly, just as well as it would on a PC. Streaming from iView does not consume download quota for users of iiNet, Internode, Westnet, and a number of other ISPs.

iView is essentially the Australian equivalent of the BBC’s iPlayer, which is available on the PS3 and Wii. Similarly, the Australian deal is non-exclusive, meaning the service could spread to other devices.

ABC iView

Gran Turismo 5 set for March Japanese release

A release date for Gran Turismo 5 has finally been announced at Sony’s TGS press conference, but it is currently unknown whether or not this is a worldwide release window. This almost certainly proves recent suspicions of a surprise Christmas release wrong.

Previous Gran Turismo releases have taken an extra 3 months or so to reach Western shores, with the exception of Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo (PSP), set for release worldwide on October 1. More details about GT5 are expected in the coming days.

[via Joystiq]

White, 250GB Final Fantasy XIII PS3 part of Japanese bundle

Want this striking piece of limited edition hardware? I don’t blame you. You’ll need to pony up 41,600 yen ($460) plus whatever it costs to actually import the bundle, which will be available on December 17, the day of Final Fantasy XIII‘s Japanese, PS3-exclusive launch.

The bundle includes the console, featuring a pink print of the game’s heroine Lightning, as well as a white DualShock 3 and of course the game itself. A Western release of this bundle is highly unlikely. FFXIII is expected to launch worldwide in Spring 2010 on PS3 and 360.

[via Joystiq]