PlayStation Network Update: 01/15/2008

Another week, another PSN update. I call this one the Greed edition. My fear of free themes disappearing seems to be coming true after all. The only themes on display are premium ones for Disgaea 3 and Savage Moon, sigh, I love paying for marketing material.

There is a great deal of DLC this week, more characters for Disgaea 3 (which certainly does NOT need more characters), a very expensive pack for Shaun White Snowboarding, a Brain Challenge pack and the standard Rock Band/Guitar Hero updates. Having recently bought some Rock Band DLC I stand by my assertion that it should either be cheaper or contain a portable MP3 as well.

Some games make an appearance this week. One of which, Magic Ball, looks really appealing. Basically a brick breaker game with 50+ levels, but instead of bricks there is 3D environments to break apart. The other game is GTI Club+, an arcade racing game by Konami upgraded to HD. I have no idea how good this game is, but people seem excited so the original must have been good.

Following on the heels of the other console we have a demo for the new game Skate 2, not my cup of tea, but early indications show this is one of the best skateboarding games ever made. There is also, surprisingly, a demo for GTI Club+, it is never guaranteed that a PSN title has a demo so it is nice to see they added one.

Some new items added for the PSP bear mentioning as well. We have a demo for the PSP take on the Buzz! series in the form of BUZZ! Master Quiz as well as a downloadable release of Ultimate Ghost ‘N Goblins.

Finally on the multimedia front we have a new edition of Pulse as well as a slew of game and movie videos looking at major releases on the PS3 and Blu-ray platform.

New games, demos and videos make for a decent update but the badly priced DLC and premium themes just leave a bad taste in my mouth.  Below is a list of all the items added to this weeks PSN update. For more details, please visit the official PlayStation Blog.

Downloadable Games

• Magic Ball ($9.99)
• GTI Club+ ($9.99)

Add-on Game Content

• Brain Challenge Expansion Pack ($4.99)
• Disgaea 3 Makai Kingdom Main Character Package ($3.99)
• Disgaea 3 Pram ($1.99)
• Disgaea 3 Zetta ($1.99)
• Guitar Hero World Tour
• Rock Band
• Shaun White Snowboarding Mile High Pack – Target Edition ($9.99)
• Shaun White Snowboarding Mile High Pack – Regular Edition ($9.99)
• Shaun White Snowboarding The Freebie Pack – Target Edition (free)
• Shaun White Snowboarding The Freebie Pack – Regular Edition (free)

Game Demos (free)

• Skate 2 Demo
• GTI Club+ Demo

Game Videos (free)

• PULSE 01/15 Edition (also available from the PSP store)
• Mahjong Tales Trailer
• Tekken 6 PSN Announcement Trailer January 2009
• Magic Ball Trailer
• Mafia II: Holiday Confession
• FIFA09 – PSN Exclusive: Inside FIWC 2009
• Cuboid Trailer
• BUZZ! Quiz TV Trailer
• PlayStation Network “Movie Download Machine” TV Spot

Movie and Blu-ray Disc Trailers (free)

• Why I Love Monty Python
• Pineapple Express Blu-ray Trailer
• The Wackness Blu-ray Trailer
• The House Bunny Blu-ray Trailer

PS3 Themes

• Disgaea 3 Pram Theme ($0.99, or free w/Makai Kingdom DLC)
• Savage Moon Theme ($0.99)

PS3 Wallpaper (free)

• Pineapple Express Wallpaper
• Tom Clancy’s EndWar Wallpaper (x4)
• Savage Moon Wallpaper (x2)

PlayStation Store for PSP

PULSE

• PULSE 01/15 Edition (also available from the PS3 store) (free)

Game Demos (free)

• BUZZ! Master Quiz Demo

Downloadable Games

• Ultimate Ghost ‘N Goblins ($19.99)