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Remember when people were cautiously optimistic about Sonic Unleashed? Finally, we thought: a return to Sonic's 2D roots. None of this crazy mascot 3D nonsense! Well, looks like Sonic Team is up to their old (not not so old) ways: this new trailer for Sonic Unleashed includes tons of 3D platforming sections, brawling areas (with combo meter) and almost zero 2D gameplay. Are you still excited for this?

The Eye of Judgment continues to expand. The revolutionary Eye-enabled card game will get its second expansion pack on October 16th. Biolith Rebellion Set 3 will add 100 new cards to EoJ. Once again, players will have to purchase the expansion on the PS Store, in addition to new cards that will make their way to retail stores.

With Biolith Rebellion Set 3, the total number of cards goes up to 310. Set 3 will also enable other content, such as XMB Trophy support, and a "set of new abilities that encourage more tactical playing based on creature formation." Set 3 will also add some background bonus material.

[Thanks, Will S.!]

The circle is now complete. After finding out the price for WipEout HD, and learning of the slick new details, there was only one piece of key information that was left missing; that would be a solid release date. However, now we know it: Thursday, September 25 for North America.

That's next week's PSN Thursday. Dropping a 20 note for the game shouldn't be too difficult to do. After all, you'll be foaming from the mouth to play this -- not from epilepsy mind you, but from the sheer gorgeousness of it. Go on, wipe that chin ... you're staining the carpet.

This week's releases take you everywhere: from a supernatural hotel room to the natural wonders of America to a world where a man has the power to revive the dead. Here are this week's Blu-ray releases;

• 1408
• 88 Minutes
  
• Another Cinderella Story
  
• Dragon Ball Z: Tree of Might / Lord Slug
  
• Emperor of the Seas
  
• Great North (IMAX)
• The Hulk
  
• Leatherheads
  
• The Love Guru
• Madagascar
  
• Made of Honor
  
• The Mist
  
• Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy
  
• Pushing Daisies: The Complete First Season
  
• The Pyongyang Concert - New York Philharmonic & Lorin Maazel
• Risky Business
  
• Scenic National Parks: Crown Jewels Collection
  
• Scenic National Parks: Yosemite
  
• Scenic National Parks: Grand Canyon
  
• Scenic National Parks: Yellowstone
  
• Speed and Angels
  
• Speed Racer
  
• Torchwood: The Complete First Season

The psychedelic adaptation of the classic 60s anime Speed Racer by the Wachowski siblings prove to be both a box-office and critical disaster. We really enjoyed Torchwood, which is best described as a dark and realistic take on the ideas from the British show Dr. Who. Those of you want all the Pirates of Caribbean films in one package can now purchase the entire trilogy for a fairly reasonable price. Note that The Hulk released this week is the much-hated Ang Lee version and not the one starring Ed Norton. Rest of the releases are above.

Have you ever wanted to make games? For many, it's just a pipe dream. However, PlayStation has just launched a new search for talent in its Creator Audition Mash Up Project, or CAMP for short. They're looking for enthusiastic innovators to bring forth more unique games to the PS3/PSP. The audition is open to people of all ages and races ... so long as they live in Japan.

The application is rather flexible, but it must effectively show your skills and your unique, innovative idea. Do what Dylan Cuthbert and Q-Games did with the PixelJunk series: use graphics to help convey what's bubbling in your brain.

Check out the PlayStation CAMP website for more information. Who knows -- you may become the creator of the next innovative PlayStation project!

[Thanks, chocito!]

This week the Force unleashes worldwide whilst Americans get their hands on off-road racer, Pure. Europeans can enjoy recording TV onto their PS3 hard discs (while playing games, no less) and the Japanese finally get their hands on Eternal Sonata (though they choose to call if Trusty Bell, and why not?) Here's the full release list:

US Games

• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
  [Get a free $20 gift card at Toys R Us stores; Get a free $5 gift card at Circuit City]
  
• Armored Core: For Answer
• Pure

EU Games

• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
• PlayTV

Asian Games

• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
• GI Jockey 4 2008
• Trusty Bell: Chopin no Yume
• Unreal Tournament 3

Don't forget, release dates are constantly subject to change, so check with your local retailer if you need any of the above information confirmed. We're now only a month away from one of our most anticipated titles of the year -- Dead Space starts the holiday season off on October 14th and after that it's a terrifyingly expensive avalanche of titles until years end.

We doubt many of you have this largely unnoticed Ferrari-themed racer. However, the few of you that do will be pleased to know that the upcoming Trophy patch is about to go live, on or around the 17th. There are a whopping 46 Trophies for you to collect, which should keep you very busy. Thanks to PS3Trophies.org for the list!

Bronze Trophies

• Trofeo Rame - Achieve 1st place in the F348 Challenge Tournament
• Trofeo Ferro - Achieve 1st place in the F348 TB Tournament
• Trofeo Perla - Achieve 1st place in the F355 Tournament
• Trofeo Topaz - Achieve 1st place in the F355 GTB Tournament
• Trofeo Carnelian - Achieve 1st place in the F360 Modena Tournament
• Trofeo Tourmaline - Achieve 1st place in the F360 GT Tournament
• Trofeo Mercurio - Achieve 1st place in the F430 GT2 Tournament
• Trofeo Malachite - Achieve 1st place in the F550 Maranello Tournament
• Trofeo Diaspario - Achieve 1st place in the F550 Maranello GT Tournament
• Trofeo Accacio - Achieve 1st place in the F575 Maranello Tournament
• Trofeo Bronzo - Achieve 1st place in the F575 GTC Tournament
• Trofeo Argentino - Achieve 1st place in the F40 Tournament
• Trofeo Oro - Achieve 1st place in the F50 Tournament
• Trofeo Granato - Achieve 1st place in the F333 SP Tournament
• Trofeo Obsidian - Achieve 1st place in the FXX Tournament
• Trofeo Opale - Achieve 1st place in the F365 GTB4 Tournament
• Trofeo Platino - Achieve 1st place in the F512 M Tournament
• Trofeo Rubino - Achieve 1st place in the F512 S Tournament
• Trofeo Zaffiro - Achieve 1st place in the F250 LM Tournament
• Trofeo Smeraldo - Achieve 1st place in the F250 Tessarossa Tournament
• Trofeo Diamante - Achieve 1st place in the F250 GTO Tournament
• The Graduate - Complete Tutorial mode for the first time
• Hot Shot - Achieve 75% accuracy or above in all categories in Tutorial mode
• Italian Lap King - Beat the Lap Record on all Italian circuits in Time Trial mode
• Euro Lap King - Beat the Lap Record on all European circuits in Time Trial mode
• US Lap King - Beat the Lap Record on all US circuits in Time Trial mode
• Numero Uno - Achieve a pole position in Qualifying in the Italian Challenge series
• Prancing Horse - Complete the Italian Challenge series
• First Challenge Win - Win your first race in the Italian Challenge series
• Double Whammy - Achieve 2 podium placed finishes in the European Challenge series
• The Veteran - Complete Expert difficulty in Arcade mode
• First Across the Line - Place first at every circuit in the game
• Unlock and Roll - Unlock your first Tournament Car
• 100 Wins - Win 100 races
• 2000 on the Clock - Race a total of 2000 miles
• The Collector - Unlock every Ferrari available in the game

It's that time of the week again. You ask a question, then we answer it. It's a fun exchange, but sometimes we wonder what would happen if we switched shoes? Say, we ask you all questions and then you answer back? Does that sound like fun? Maybe -- maybe not. Maybe that's what we'll do sometime soon. Just for kicks. Anyway, here's this week's column. Enjoy.

Keep checking back every weekend -- we'll be sure to answer all intelligent, fun, and relevant questions that you may have. If you haven't asked us anything yet ... why haven't you? Send an e-mail to majed @ ps3fanboy.com with the subject "Ask PS3 Fanboy." We'd like to stress, if your e-mail doesn't include that subject heading, your question will not be answered. If you've got PSP-related questions, be sure to ask them on Ask PSP Fanboy.

While the hardcore of the hardcore enjoy their Pip-Boys, the rest of you who will perish in the apocalypse are slightly less prepared for Fallout can still pick up the regular and collector's editions.

I recently wrote about some of the difficulties beyond realistic rendering that developers face when trying to make us emotionally attached to a character. Human behaviors and emotions are so much more difficult to mimic than those of animals, no matter how abstract. You'd find me silently weeping for the destruction of little Metal Gear Mk. II long before I'd be shedding tears for Solid Snake. Why is it easier to evoke a nurturing and protective instinct in a virtual pet than in a virtual human?

We don't blame you if you forgot about the recent announcement of Batman Arkham Asylum. A lot's happened since then. Eidos is keen to keep the game fresh in your mind, however, and has released a batch of new screen shots to do just that. These shots show gameplay and art from the game, as most screenshots tend to do, including B-man himself alongside the Joker and some very moody images of the eponymous Arkham Asylum. If you're excited for this 2009 title then be sure to jump into our gallery and saturate your eyeballs in picturey goodness.

Eternal Sonata brought the charming sound of Chopin onto the Xbox 360 late last year; meanwhile on the other side of the console pond, PS3 owners waited with the utmost patience, just waiting for the title to cross over -- which it did. Then came the waiting for an official date, which will officially be over once you finish reading the next sentence ... or the headline.

The game will be out this October 21. That's four days shy of being exactly 13 months apart from the original release on 360. We're seeing shades of 2K's BioShock here, given the whole year difference. In any case, PS3 owners who so dearly wish to muck up the deceased composer's life can do so next month.

This week's Rock Band DLC starts off with one of the six promised albums: Megadeth Peace Sells ... but Who's Buying? The tracks are as follows:

• "Wake Up Dead"
• "The Conjuring"
• "Devil's Island"
• "Good Mourning / Black Friday"
• "Bad Omen"
• "I Ain't Superstitious"
• "My Last Words"

The title track is not part of the track pack; that will be on the Rock Band 2 disc. Each Megadeth song will be $1.99 while the entire album will be $10.99. The second track pack consists of bands on the Rock Band Tour MTV will be doing to promote the game:

• "One of Those Nights" -- The Cab
• "Hands Down" -- Dashboard Confessional
• "She's a Handsome Woman" -- Panic! At the Disco
• "Natural Disaster" -- Plain White T's

This Rock Band Tour Pack will be $3.99 and each individual track will be priced at $0.99 for 30 days after its release. After 30 days the Pack will be $6.99 and each song $1.99. Peace Sells ... but Who's Buying and the Rock Band Tour Pack will be available for download next Thursday, September 18th on the PS Store.

When Nintendo dominates the NPD charts month after month, it's unsurprising that competitors (like Sony) would want to follow suit. Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida notes that the Wii has been incredibly successful in capturing the casual gamer -- a demographic that used to be PS2's bread and butter. "[Social gaming] has been massive on PS2 as you know," he tells IGN UK. "Nintendo Wii's success is really helping that, as is the success of music games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero -- they're bringing in these people, creating the style of playing games with your parents, and that continues to be important for the success of the PS3 as well."

While Wii has been doing a great job of introducing gaming to a new audience, Yoshida is hoping that some of the Wii audience will learn to move on to other platforms, such as the PS3. "After they've played a Wii and played some of the games, some of those consumers might try something else. I'm really interested to try and convince those consumers to stay with us."

How will Yoshida be able to capture that audience? He points to the SIXAXIS as just a small part of the strategy: "[it's] really important to us to create a new experience. And that was what we've been doing with the EyeToy camera, the SingStar mic and the Buzz controller. We always look for a new way to give users interaction with games." As for a brand new "dedicated motion controller" ... well, "that's a possibility."