Rock on with Brutal Legends

ACCORDING to VG247, BRUTAL LEGENDS will be making its demo debut on PSN this week.

BRUTAL LEGENDS is in development by Double Fine Production with developer Tim Schafer at the helm. BRUTAL LEGENDS has been in development for quite a while but is now getting ready to rock the gaming world.

Starring Jack Black as Eddie Riggs, a legendary roadie summoned to a heavy metal world where he must fight for the liberation of humanity from the demon Emperor Doviculus. It has been said that once the demo has been completed, millions of gamers worldwide will experience what is known as face-melting from so much ROCK! Yes literally.

Mini Ninjas demo out this week

A DEMO of the fun-looking Mini Ninjas game on the PS3 is out this week.

Eidos recently confirmed the release date of the demo which will be available for download for XBLA, PSN and PC Thursday, August 19.

The full game is still on schedule to be released September 8.

Batman demo on the Network this week

BATMAN fans, be prepared - The Playstation Network will be receiving the BATMAN: Arkham Asylum demo this week, as Eidos has announced.
Users will be able to take control of the Dark Knight as he brings The Joker to justice. As users investigate Arkham Asylum, they will also be able look at criminal files and occassionally go bat-crazy on some crazed inmates as The Joker eventually break free and causes havok and chaos within Arkham Asylum.
This game looks really cool from the videos of the gameplay I have seen - let's hope it plays just as good.

New motion controller for the PS3

NOT one to be left behind, Sony has given the public the first view of its new game controller for the Sony PlayStation 3.

The Motion Controller for PS3 uses two controllers that work in conjunction with the Sony PlayStation Eye.

The firm said it was a technology demo, but then said the new system would be available early next year.

The news follows Microsoft's announcement on Monday of a controller-free control system it is calling Project Natal.

The Motion Controller for PS3 works in a similar way to Nintendo's Wii controller. A sensor sits on top of the TV and detects the position, distance and movement of two controllers held in a user's hand.

The device can not only measure where the controllers are in relation to each other, but also how close they are to the sensor, meaning you can create true 3D movement within a game.

The tech demo looks impressive (view it at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8080511.stm ) but we will have to wait and see if the games developers can make full use of the potential it offers.

A tale of two demos

THIS weekend the PlayStation Network has demonstrated quite effectively how game demos should - and should not - be done correctly.
The first to mention is the hugely-anticipated Killzone 2 demo. After downloading it and booting it up, negotiating the start menus (the slight shakey camera-style is a little off-putting), the game started - and absolutely blew me away.
Fantastic graphics, smooth and fluid gameplay, intelligent AI (where the baddies actually run out of the way and hide if you throw a grenade at them) - it was all I had wished and waited for.
Add to that the fact that you can choose different configurations of controls to suit your play - in ways that actually suit different gamers, not just ones that are put in their because they think they should - this demo will definitely shift copies of Killzone 2, including the one I buy.
But, on the other side of the coin, comes - Resident Evil 5.
Again, this was highly anticipated, but once I had downloaded it, I went to the options screen - and it all froze.
I restarted my PS3, booted the demo up again, started the game straight away, got through the first cut scene - and it locked up my console again!
I reset it and deleted the demo! Later that day I went round to a friend's house on whose console it actually worked, to find that, even in these advanced times, you still can't run and shoot at the same time!
Yes, the graphics are impressive, but hasn't gameplayed moved on a bit?
So, thanks for the demos - it has definitely made my mind up on what I will and won't be buying!