The upcoming fast paced racing title, Blur will be hitting the store shelves on May 23rd with a Beta to kick things off this month. Europe will only have to wait a few days after when it hits their shores on May 28th. The beta will have plenty of things for you to mess around with in the online world. In order to get into the beta you can try and grab a key at one of several outlets around the web that will be giving them out in plain sight. What is exactly in the beta? Take a look.

What's in the Beta?

• 14 cars in four different car classes (A through D). Some are nippy (Koenigsegg CCX-R), some are beautiful (Volkswagen Scirocco), some are tough (Land Rover Defender SVX), and some are just plain cool (Chevrolet Camaro 1969).

• 4 different race tracks: Barcelona Gracia, Tokyo Shutoko, Amboy, and Long Beach Docks. Each provides a totally different racing experience, from wide-open off-road races to tight, technical inner-city tracks. My personal favourite is the Docks - it's got alternate routes through shipping containers, and one particular crossover which is going to ruin a few bumpers...

• Twitter support. You can enter your Twitter credentials and share a Tweet or two DIRECTLY from the game. And it won't spam your account either - nothing is posted without your say-so. Just hit the left-bumper from anywhere in the menus to bring up the "Share" menu.

• ...And of course, 8 meaty power-ups. These really are what make Blur different to every other racer out there. They're so important that we've built a brand new section of our website to tell you about them. More details at the end of this post.

You'll be able to play the beta from March 8th onwards till release. Good luck and I'm suure you'll get into the beta!

Source

Human Soft has announced for Nintendo Wii, Hardgrip, which is now in development and will be supporting the Wii Motion Plus. The game features the most experience with extreme rock climbing.

HardGrip takes players on a tour of exotic and stunning locales around the globe as they compete in open events or invitation-only official races. With no harnesses or lifelines, players must solve seemingly impossible challenges and conquer their fear to make it to the top. Speed counts, but climbers who prove their ingenuity and daring will earn more respect. As climbers progress, their skills will have to become truly awesome to make the grade.

"Free climbing is all about style and creativity. Just making it to the top fast isn't the point if you used an easy route." says Gabor Kadas, CEO of Human Soft. "By incorporating the MotionPlus, we can capture that competitive spirit in a game for the first time."

In addition, Hardgrip is in development for other motion-controlled based systems.

Already being ready to ship this summer, Ignition Entertainment has revealed its new IP; Blacklight: Tango Down for Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network and PCs everywhere. The new game is set to rasie the bar for downloadable content and shooters in general, bold claims for a new IP.

Blacklight: Tango Down is a fast-paced first person shooter based in a new fictional universe called Blacklight.  Utilizing the cutting-edge graphical power of Epic Games’ Unreal® Engine 3, Blacklight: Tango Down’s near-future setting is brought to life with disturbingly detailed and old-world architecture dripping with modern sci-fi lighting and brightly lit advertisements, an effect that causes each environment to appear both futuristically alien as well as hauntingly familiar.

Blacklight: Tango Down will deliver some of the most exciting multiplayer gameplay available in the shooter category and features numerous gameplay styles and functionality.  These modes include traditional formats like Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch & Control Point, with other modes being announced in the build up to launch.

Blacklight: Tango Down will set itself apart from other games by virtue of its incredibly deep customization features.  Players will be able to alter and upgrade not only their character through experience gained on the battlefield, but also their weapons.  Weapon customizations will unlock as the player gains skill and experience points and will include more basic add-ons like sniper scopes as well as more complex enhancements, such as improved accuracy. 

Get ready to experience the Blacklight this summer for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. More screenshots below...

Sony Computer Entertainment has announced today that it has acquired Media Molecule, the creators of the insanely successful exclusive; LittleBigPlanet. LittleBigPlanet has won over 90 awards since its release including 2 BAFTAs and 8 AIAS Interactive Achievement Awards, Media Molecule brings a wealth of experience and a highly talented staff into the SCE WWS family that will further strengthen the PlayStation first party studio.

”Since they burst onto the gaming scene, Media Molecule have proved to be a truly exciting and innovative studio, who have proved their world-class credentials with the creation of the incredible LittleBigPlanet,” said Shuhei Yoshida, President, SCE Worldwide Studios. “SCE WWS is all about creating ambitious, innovative and ground breaking games, traits that Media Molecule clearly have. To bring them into our family proves our dedication to creating fantastic new experiences that we believe will cement our position as industry leaders.”

This is an exciting time for the studio and should be great for Playstation owners who are coming to expect more releases from Media Molecule in the future. Check out the full press release below...

Four DLC content add-ons have been made available on Xbox Live today, entitled the "VIP Membership Ca Pack". It's been stated that any purchase of the DLC pack during the month of March will have its funds donated to assit in the global relief efforts for the vicitims of the earthquake in Haiti. The DLC was previously only available to those who purchased the Limited Collectors Edition copies of the game.

Now you'll be able to download the DLC for 800 MS points and it will give you special access and visibility in the Forza Motorsport 3 Community as well as special recognition in the scoreboards, lobbies and more. You'll also be placed in the VIP section of the auction house. The VIP membership includes these 5 cars: 2008 Aston Martin DBS, 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, 2007 Ferrari F430 Scuderia, 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, and 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997). Also note that the VIP membership is included in an Xbox Live token form if you do purchase the Limited Collectors Edition.

Hit the jump below to check out more details on other DLC packs that were relased today from Turn 10.

It appears that Activision has forcefully removed two Senior Staff members from Infinity Ward today according to the SEC report filing this morning. This was following accusations by Activision of contract breaches and insubordination. 

"The matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation," read the filing. "At present, the Company does not expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company."

The two were Studio Heads, chief creative officer Vince Zampella and CTO Jason West, who both worked on the critically acclaimed Modern Warfare series. It appears that the two had a meeting with Activision but haven't been seen by the Infinity Ward staff since. At the moment, Infinity Ward is creating DLC for Modern Warfare 2 and supposdely has an entirely new IP in the works. More on this story as it develops.

Via GamesIndustry.biz

Have you heard about or experienced any problems with the Playstaion Network if you have a fat PS3? Well, your not the only one. Since last night, PSN has been suffering what is being called the dreaded Error: 8001050F. A statement from Sony has said that they hope to fix the problem in 24 hours. It is highly reccomended you do not use PSN if you have a fat PS3. Sony also said that it seems to have been caused by a clock error and you are unable to reset the clock and sign into your account. Here is part of the statement from Sony regarding the issue.

We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.

As mentioned above, Please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error. We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologize for any inconvenience caused.

You can check out more updates on the Network error over at the Playstaion Blog. [Update: Although it appears that looking at some comments the Network seems to be working properly now, so you shouldn't have a problem. ]

Turbine announced today the release of the newest Volume in the MMO Lord of the Rings Online with Volume III: Allies of the King. Subscribers are now able to experience Book 1: Oath of the Rangers, which introduces new features to the popular Skirmish system.

More information after the jump.

The newest edition of the Nintendo Download here and with it comes the release of MegMan 10 from Capcom on Wii Ware. Here is what we got releasing today.

Wii Ware

• MegaMan 10 (1 Player, 1,000 Wii Points)
• DartRage (1-4 Players, 600 Wii Points)
• Happy Hammerin' (1-4 Players, 500 Wii Points)

Virtual Console

• Fata Fury Special (NEO GEO, 1-2 Players, 900 Wii Points)

 DSi Ware

• Let's Golf (1-2 Players, 800 DSi Points)
• Globolus Party (1-2 Players, 500 DSi Points)
• VT Tennis (1 Player, 500 DSi Points)
• Flips: Terror in Cubicle Four (1 Player, 500 DSi Points)

 Check out the full descriptions below...

Another slue of games hitting the store shelves this week giving us probably no opportunity to finish catching up on our back catalog from the past few weeks. Baseball is the highlight this week with MLB 2k10 and MLB 10 The Show will be hitting the shelves for baseball fans like myself to give it a go. If you tried the demo you know what to expect from MLB 2k10 already. Look for GamePlasma's reviews on those games soon. Here is what else that is on the calendar this week including the highly anticipated Battlefield Bad Company 2.

3/2/2010
Alice in Wonderland (Wii, DS, PC) [Google It]
Battlefield Bad Company 2 (360, PS3, PC) [Google It]
Deca Sports (DS) [Google It]
Jigapix Pets (DS) [Google It]
Lips Party Classics (360) [Google It]
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (PSP) [Google It]
MLB 10 The Show (PS3, PS2, PSP) [Google It]
MLB 2k10 (360, PS3, PC, DS, PS2, PSP) [Google It]
Project Runway (Wii) [Google It]
Quad Kings (DS) [Google It]
Racquet Sports (Wii) [Google It]
Silent Hunter: Battle of the Atlantic (PC) [Google It]
Sonic Classic Collection (DS) [Google It]
Spongebob Boating Bash (DS, Wii) [Google It]
Supreme Commander 2 (PC) [Google It]

What interests you?

Via TheWeeklyRelease