My top games of 2011

1. Batman: Arkham City – Who doesn’t like Bruce Wayne. Arkham City is basically Arkham Horror but with the ability to roam the streets of Gothom and experience
the open world in your quest to find a cure and to stop The Joker and Hugo Strange. Along the way if you bought the game new or bought the DLC you’ll get to enjoy a few missions as Catwoman there fun but not necessary in order to enjoy the overall game. Rocksteady refined the fighting mechanics and brawling couldn’t be easier and more fun. The story was very well told the various sub plots always kept me wanting to play. The challenge rooms are back and been updated. How many bad guys can you kill and how well can you use stealth. The real fun happens when you start new game plus mode where you start a new game but carry over all upgrades, gadgets you earned through the first play through and face tougher enemies. Overall I had a ton of fun, didn’t experience many issue with game and enjoyed a well written extremely polished game.

2. Gears of War 3 – This was my most anticipated game of the calendar year. It’s no secret that my love for this franchise and characters is out of this world.
Considering that this was the third game in the franchise. There were a lot of questions that needed to be answered in game and Karen Travis did an
outstanding job putting the story together. We found out where Chairman Prescott went, what happened to Adam Fenix and mostly importantly in my eyes the truth
about the Locust and why the E-Day happened. There was some new weapons in this installment The One Shot and Sawed off Shotgun and the roadie run, cover mechanics
where polished. The storyline was filled with up’s and down’s and cheers of joy and tears of sorrow throughout the game. The end of Act 3 without spoiling it
was one of the sadness moment’s I’ve had in a game and generally brought a tear to my eye, well more than a tear to be honest. I felt connected and joyful that
Delta squad finished what they had set out to do 6 years ago. Horde mode was refined and had added a tower defense element to it which is an unique addition that
makes the player think about what defenses to buy and what to upgrade in order to survive against the Locust. Any Gears fan knows how bad the multiplayer
was in Gears 2. Epic couldn’t just get it right in that game. Epic set out from the beginning to ensure this didn’t happen this time and it didn’t. Gears 3 moved
from player hosted to matches to dedicated servers, no more host advantage with the shotgun!. It’s Gears competitive multiplayer without issues which really
tickles my fancy. Also a good fun edition was Beast mode which allows you to play as the Locust in Horde mode. It’s genuinely a lot of fun to tickler and run
around and cause havoc!.

3: Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception – Another 3rd game in the franchise coming out this year and having to live up to the expectation’s set up by Uncharted 2: Among
Thieves is a really tall order and Naughty Dog was up to the challenge but didn’t deliver on exceeding those expectations. I’m not saying Uncharted 3 was a bad game at all, I’m just saying it wasn’t as good as Uncharted 2. Uncharted 3 started off really slowly for me and didn’t pick up until we hit the ship yard at that point I was questioning why we were in a ship yard and the relevance of these chapters were to the story. I got really hooked into the game once we were at the airport the action picked up, I was engrossed into the story. One of my biggest complaints about this game was the shooting mechanics they were horrid!. There was a patch to address these concerns but I was already 2/3rd’s through the game and I wasn’t completely convinced the patch had made a difference. I really enjoyed how Uncharted 3 ended which was for once wasn’t a boss battle. When Alana and Drake left together holding hands in Uncharted 3 I felt satisfied. I haven’t gotten
much time to sink into Uncharted 3 multiplayer but I have dug in and finished all the co-op missions with my dysfunctional guest writer DartAlbertIII (Scott). I
hope Naughty Dog continues and supports this mode and also looks at ways to incorporate more puzzles into the mix and stay true to the Uncharted franchise.

There were many other great games in 2011 and some titles worth mentioning are Resistance 3, Forza Motorsport 4, Killzone 3, Assassins Creed: Revelations, Alice: Madness Returns, F1 2011, Saints Row 3,Kinect Sports Season 2 and Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

$1.99
Release date: 10/25/2011Price: $1.99

Racing Gear Pack (90 items)
This DLC pack adds racing gear items of famous drivers to your Gran Turismo 5.
Contains helmets and racing suits of 8 famous WRC and NASCAR drivers, 12 helmets and suits in all. In addition there is the Official Gran Turismo helmet, and new gear from Alpinestars and Simpson.

$2.99
Release date: 10/25/2011Price: $2.99

Racing Car Pack (15 Cars)
This DLC pack adds new cars to Gran Turismo 5.
Includes the new model of the X2010 ultimate racing machine, the Red Bull X2011. There is also a lineup of specially tuned touring cars and three new racing karts. Expand your garage with these exciting new racing machines.

$7.99
Release date: 10/25/2011Price: $7.99

Course Pack (2 Tracks, 5 layouts)
This DLC pack adds the new tracks to Gran Turismo 5.
The new Course Pack includes SPA-Francorchamps (with weather effects) and Kart Space layouts I and II (each layout supports normal and reverse).

$4.99
Release date: 10/25/2011Price: $4.99

or all for 11.99?

[Major Changes and New Features]
- Standard Cars now given simplified cockpit views
The over 800 standard cars included in the game are now given simplified cockpit views. You can change your view using the SELECT button when racing, to change your display to the exciting cockpit view.
*Unlike the cockpit view of premium cars, the simplified cockpit is shown in a dark silhouette, and the gauges used for the car will be standard in-game instruments.

- New Opening Movie
A new opening movie is now available from “Gran Turismo TV”. When you download this movie, it will replace the current opening movie. The previous version will be viewable within Gran Turismo TV.

- Addition of the weather change menu
On some tracks with weather changes, it is now possible for the user to set time and weather changes from the Quick Menu in both the Arcade Mode, and “Practice” of the GT Mode. Also, you can make more detailed time and weather changes while editing in the course maker and in the online lounge.

- Multiple car settings/save feature
We’ve added a setting sheet feature that allows you to save multiple car settings.
From the [Setting Sheet] on the lower right of the screen, you can check the current settings. You can switch between 3 settings A, B, and C, allowing you to change between your personal settings easily according to the type of race and your objectives.

- Added 11 NASCAR cars
The newest NASCAR 2011 models have been added to the car dealerships. The added cars are the following:
Toyota 2011 Denny Hamlin #11 FedEx TOYOTA CAMRY ’11
Chevrolet 2011 Tony Stewart #14 Office Depot CHEVROLET IMPALA ’11
Toyota 2011 Kyle Busch #18 M&M’SR TOYOTA CAMRY ’11
Toyota 2011 Joey Logano #20 The Home Depot TOYOTA CAMRY ’11
Chevrolet 2011 Jeff Gordon #24 Drive to End Hunger CHEVROLET IMPALA ’11
Chevrolet 2011 Juan Montoya #42 Target CHEVROLET IMPALA ’11
Ford 2011 AJ Allmendinger #43 Best Buy FORD FUSION ’11
Chevrolet 2011 Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowe’s CHEVROLET IMPALA ’11
Toyota 2011 Brian Vickers #83 Red Bull TOYOTA CAMRY ’11
Chevrolet 2011 Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 AMP Energy/National Guard CHEVROLET IMPALA ’11
Ford 2011 Carl Edwards #99 Aflac FORD FUSION ’11

- Added the Nissan GT-R N24 Schulze Motor Sports
The Nissan GT-R N24 Schulze Motor Sports has been added to the car dealer. This is the car entered in the 2011 Nurburgring 24 hour race by Schulze Motorsports of Germany, and is the very car in which Kazunori Yamauchi drove and achieved a class victory.

- Avatar now usable in Photo Travel
An Avatar ON/OFF feature has been added to Photo Travel. Now you can photograph your avatar together with your car.
You can turn the driver avatar ON/OFF by pressing the △ button while positioning the car.

- Replay Fast Forward/Rewind
All replay videos recorded after the 2.0 update will have [Forward] [Rewind] buttons.
You can now easily search for the scene you are looking for and play back a certain section whenever you want to, adding even more fun to the photo mode.

-Improved Online Lounge
[Car Restrictions] has been added in the regulations. You can now limit participants to specific categories such as “NASCAR” and “Super GT”. Also, there are now more cars that can be used in shuffle races, and a new “Shuffle Base” setting allows you to set the performance level of cars allocated to each player.
For details, please see Top screen – [Manual] – [Online Race] – [Event Settings] and the “Regulation Settings”.

- Additional features to Remote Racing
A “Graph Display” has been added to the remote race screen in GT My Home of granturismo.com, where you can enjoy B-Spec racing. This allows you to visually see the changes in positions in each lap. A time difference display for each car in the race has also been added.

- New Photo Stage Added
The “Indy: NASCAR Pit Stop” stage has been added to photo travel. We invite you to come see and capture the energy of NASCAR’s famous pit stops.

- Addition of the Consecutive Login Bonus
When a user logs in consecutively, a bonus will now be applied to experience and race rewards.
It will increase to 110% in the 1st day, 130% in the 2nd day, 150% in the 3rd day, 170% in the 4th, to a maximum of 200% in the 5th day. This will apply to all events both online and offline, so logging in every day will make the game progress faster.

- DLC (Downloadable Content) Compatibility
A [Downloadable Content] button has been added to the lower right of the top screen. Here you can install content purchased from the PlayStation®Store.
Please refer to the product information page of gran-turismo.com for details regarding downloadable content.
*The release of the DLC is planned for 25th October, 2011.

- Official Support for the G25/G27 Racing Wheels
The Logitech G25 Racing Wheel and G27 Racing Wheel are now officially supported. You can now change button assignments for various racing controls on these wheels.

[Other Improvements]
- User interface improvement
- Quick Menu can now be accessed while the race is loading.
- It is now possible to save and resume endurance races.
- Two NASCAR cars selectable in Arcade Mode have been changed from the 2010 models to 2011 models.
- In the Arcade Settings of [Options], AI Car Characteristics settings has been added. You can now change the aggressiveness of the AI against you in Arcade races.
- Some effects of Traction Control have been adjusted. When the TCS level is set to 1, it will not come into effect as much especially in tight corners on dirt tracks.
- Surface Water and Tire Load Indicator displays have been added to the race screen. The Tire Load Indicator can be set from the Quick Options menu that is displayed during the race (when the game is paused using the START button), or the standard Options menu.
- The option to Create Thumbnails for All Cars has been added to the context menu of the Garage. This will update the thumbnails of all cars in the garage.
- Experience gained in online races have been increased by 60%, and rewards have been increased by 66%.
- You can now change the Slipstream Strength settings in the lounge.
- In the Lounge and in [Option] – [General] – [Arcade], it is now possible to turn Visible Damage ON or OFF.
- Drivetrain settings has been added to the regulation settings in the Lounge.
- A setting to prohibit “Tuning” of cars has been added to the regulations settings in the Lounge.
- Adjusted the driving speed of formula cars in banks, and auto-drive when coming onto straights.
- Added a button to [Reset Playlist to Original Settings] under the settings menus of [Menu BGM], [Race BGM] and [Slideshow BGM].
- Personal BGM can now also be set in [Slideshow BGM]
- A new brand “AMG” has been added to the MUSEUM.

[Correction of Known Issues]
- Corrected an issue where the “Torque Sensing Center Differential” installed on a Lancer Evolution X was not functioning.
- Fixed an issue where you could participate in the Intermediate/Tarmac Rally of the Gran Turismo Rally in a Ferrari F1 by using the power limiter.
- Fixed an issue where the Controller Steering Sensitivity was not applied correctly.
- Fixed an issue where there was a server connection problem in certain network environments.
- Fixed an issue where auto-drive would make braking mistakes.
- Fixed an issue where the system would misjudge whether deceleration happens in time when making pit stops in the rain.

[To Check Your Current Version]
To check the version of your software, press the “Manual” button at the bottom of the main menu screen. The version number will be located on the upper left of the index page.

If the number starts with Ver. 2.00, you are playing the latest version of the game.

If not, please press the PS button and exit the game. The game will be updated automatically when you restart it with your PS3™ system connected to the internet.

Tokyo, August 17, 2011 – Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) today announced that the PlayStation®3 (PS3®) computer entertainment system with 160GB hard disk drive (HDD), currently available at a recommended retail price (RRP) of 29,980 yen (including tax), $299 and €299, will be available at a very attractive new RRP of 24,980 yen (including tax) for Japan, $249 for North America and €249 for Europe/PAL territories. SCE will also reduce the price of the PS3® system with 320GB HDD, currently available at a RRP of 34,980 yen (including tax), $349 and €349, to RRP of 29,980 yen (including tax), $299 and €299. The new pricing will be immediately effective for North America and Europe/PAL territories, and starting August 18, 2011 for Japan.

Since its release in 2006, PS3 has gained tremendous support from fans around the world and its cumulative worldwide sales reached a milestone of 50 million units as of March 29, 2011. Equipped with future proof cutting–edge technologies including the sophisticated processors, Cell Broadband Engine™ and RSX®, as well as the Blu-ray disc™ (BD) player and HDMI terminal, PS3 has continuously enhanced its value to consumers through system software updates to support new features and services including stereoscopic 3D content playback and support for the PlayStation®Move motion controller. With the breadth and depth of services and content available for the PS3 system, including its impressive BD software line-up and the expansive portfolio of more than 60,000 games and video content*1 available on PlayStation®Network, the new price will make the platform more accessible than ever and will appeal to a wider audience looking to buy the best entertainment system for their home.

With strong support from software developers and publishers, as of June 30, 2011, the worldwide cumulative number of BD software titles for the PS3 system exceeds 2,495 titles and downloadable PS3 games available on PlayStation®Store exceeds 3,100 titles*2. Of these titles, more than 120 titles*3 are stereoscopic 3D supported and 200 titles*3 are PlayStation Move dedicated or supported. In addition to this extensive software title line-up, exciting and attractive new titles are expected to be released from software developers and publishers as well as from SCE Worldwide Studios, including Madden NFL 12 and Battlefield 3™ from Electronic Arts, Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare®3 from Activision, Assassin’s Creed Revelations from Ubisoft, Resistance® 3, The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception™ from SCE and more.

The PS3 system provides free access to PlayStation Network and its growing portfolio of marquee entertainment services for streaming hi-def movies, TV shows and sporting events. In North America, these services include Hulu Plus, MLB.TV, Netflix, NHL GameCenter, Vudu, and many more. PlayStation Network also features unique and compelling downloadable content from leading networks, such as the Discovery Channel, ESPN and HBO, and exclusive games, including the critically-acclaimed PixelJunk series and the highly anticipated Journey, to ensure PS3 customers always have amazing entertainment experiences at their fingertips.

Through these price reductions, the upcoming line-up of blockbuster software titles for the PS3 system and the industry’s strongest offering of entertainment services, SCE will continue to expand the PS3 platform and deliver a world of computer entertainment that is only possible on PlayStation.

August 16, 2011 – Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (SCEA) and Sony Network Entertainment (SNEI) today announced that its 99¢ movie rental program is coming back to the PlayStation®Store in both the United States and Canada. Beginning today, PlayStation®Network users can rent a selection of movies and TV shows for 99¢ (SD) and $1.99 (HD) through the video section of the PlayStation Store. The storefronts will refresh the content available with new titles every Tuesday, and the movies discounted the previous week will return to their original price.

Since its initial debut in July 2011, the 99¢ movie rental program has been one of the most asked-for offers from the PlayStation Network community, who have enjoyed movies such as Crank, Reservoir Dogs, Crash, and dozens of others from various content partners.

Titles included in the first week of the 99¢ movie rental program in Canada include:

August 16 – August 22:
• Salvage
• Tony
• Shank
• Tony
• Bonded By Blood
• Air Bud
• Flawless
• Funny Games
• Partition
• Surfer Dude

Thanks to Game Trailers for the video

Video courtesy of Game Trailers

Video courtesy of game trailers.

Tokyo, December 10, 2010  – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) announced today that the cumulative worldwide sales of the Gran Turismo® franchise, a genre-defining racing and car-life simulator available on PlayStation®, PlayStation®2, PlayStation®3 (PS3™) and PSP®(PlayStation®Portable), has exceeded 60 million units* as of December 6, 2010.  This remarkable sales figure was achieved in just 12 years and 11 months since the Japanese launch of the first title in the franchise, Gran Turismo, in December 1997.

The Gran Turismo franchise, from the original Gran Turismo to the latest Gran Turismo®5, has continued to evolve alongside the PlayStation platforms.  With its outstanding gameplay, beautiful graphics and true-to-life driving simulation, the franchise is recognized as the world’s number one automotive game title on the PlayStation format, receiving high regard not just from game fans, but from professional racing drivers and enthusiasts in the automotive industry.

The ninth installment of the world’s best-selling racing franchise, Gran Turismo 5 for the PS3 system, features a completely new physics engine for an improved feel for steering during turns and drifts, delivering a more intuitive driving experience than ever before.  The game also features an impressive line-up of more than 1,000 licensed karts and cars from the world’s top manufacturers.  Other highly anticipated features include stereoscopic 3D support, real-time car damage, dynamic weather effects, kart racing, a Course Maker, and a deep online and community feature set where players can race online with up to 16 players through PlayStation®Network.  With the widest scope and depth of gameplay options in the Gran Turismo series, Gran Turismo 5 offers users an entertainment experience that is only possible on PS3.  As of December 6, more than 5.5 million units of Gran Turismo 5 have been sold worldwide. Gran Turismo 5 will further continue to contribute to the expansion of the PS3 platform.

For all Gran Turismo fans around the world, SCEI and the developer of the Gran Turismo series, Polyphony Digital Inc., will continue hereon to vigorously promote development of the Gran Turismo series, which can be expected to evolve even further through the PS3 platform and broadband network environment.

*   Sell-in number

Cumulative Worldwide Sales of Gran Turismo Series (million units)
Title        Japan         North America*1         Europe*2          Asia        WW
Gran Turismo        2.55        3.98        4.24        0.01        10.78
Gran Turismo 2        1.71        3.96        3.65        0.02        9.34
Gran Turismo 3 A-spec        1.89        7.14        5.76        0.01        14.80
Gran Turismo Concept 2001 TOKYO*3        0.43        —        0.94        0.13        1.50
Gran Turismo 4 Prologue        0.79        —        0.39        0.16        1.34
Gran Turismo 4        1.27        3.02        6.40        0.17        10.86
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue*4        0.75        1.13        3.04        0.11        5.03
Gran Tursimo (PSP)*5        0.34        0.67        1.19        0.04        2.24
Gran Turismo 5        0.55        1.25        3.56        0.16        5.52
Total        61.41
*1: Including Latin American countries
*2: Including PAL territories
*3: Including series tiles
*4: Including Download Version and SpecⅢ
*5: Including Download Version

Title Release Dates in North America
Gran Turismo                                May 12, 1998
Gran Turismo 2                                December 7, 1999
Gran Turismo 3 A-spec                        July 10, 2001
Gran Turismo 4                                February 2005
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue                April 15, 2008
Gran Turismo (PSP)                                        October 1, 2009
Gran Turismo 5                                November 24, 2010

PlayStation, PS3, PlayStation logo and Gran Turismo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
All manufacturers, cars, names, brands and associated imagery featured in this game are trademarks and/or copyrighted materials of their respective owners.  All rights reserved.