The PlayStation Recap

Happy New Year, ladies and gents. The holiday break proved to be a welcome respite, as I made considerable progress in chipping away at my stack of as-of-yet-unplayed games both old and new. During my break in my hometown of Lancaster, PA, I also had a chance to properly introduce my friends and family to PlayStation Move. I was delighted to see the enthusiastic reception: Start the Party! went over well as an easy-to-grasp primer, with Sports Champions‘ Table Tennis and Gladiator Duel events easily stealing the show as the go-to “hardcore” games. It was a ton of fun.

But once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more — 2011 is here and it’s a doozy. LittleBigPlanet 2, Mass Effect 2, Dead Space 2, and a host of new PSN games are just days away. I’m personally eager to dive into all three (as well as Dead Space Extraction, the exclusive PlayStation Move game available only on the Dead Space 2 Limited Edition disc), but it’s going to be a serious juggling act to keep up. What are you most eager to play in early 2011?

I’m playing: Dead Nation (finally beat co-op on Undead difficulty), Top Darts, Start the Party!, Sports Champions (mostly Table Tennis and Gladiator), Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

I’m watching: True Grit, Machete, Fringe, The State and Newsradio on Netflix Instant Streaming

I’m reading: Planetary by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday, Coward and Lawless by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, Deathlands: Doom Helix by James Axler, The Incredible True Story of the Collar Bomb Heist on Wired.com

ModNation Monday: Party Hardy for 2011! — Click the link — you need to see this community-made Resistance 3 mod and kart.

Tetris out Tomorrow on PSN, Its Creator Talks About the PS3 Edition — Alexey Pajitnov shares his all-time favorite real-world Tetris reference, plus his favorite puzzle games (Pipe Dream!).

Subscribe and Listen to PixelJunk Radio Now! — PixelJunk Radio: A new podcast from Dylan Cuthbert and the Q-Games team. Topics this week: Japanese culture and…toilets.

Fight Night Champion: Full Spectrum Punch Control Saves Your Thumbs, Controllers — A new, easier way to play the upcoming M-rated boxer Fight Night Champion.

Meet the Winner of ‘The Tester 2’ — …and he’s starting soon in SCEA’s QA (quality assurance) program. Bonus: Meet other notable gaming figures who started in QA.

PlayStation Store Update — Angry Birds, MicroBot, Tetris in HD, Ricochet HD and more made up the first PlayStation Store update of 2011. Not a bad start! What did you download this week?

SingStore Update: No Doubt, Maroon 5 and over 65 songs arrive today — The Singstar team is serious about adding more downloadable songs, with this batch including No Doubt and Maroon 5.

DC Universe Online Beta Event: Battle of the Legends Today — The DC Universe Online beta ended on Wednesday, but the full version lands on Tuesday. Will you be picking it up?

Coming to PlayStation Plus: Discounts on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Modern Combat: Domination — PlayStation Plus subscribers get loads of free content and discounts on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Modern Combat: Domination.

Digital Comics Store Update — Zombo #1, Irredeemable #1-#8, and bundles for Green Lantern, Batman Beyond, and Wonder Woman.

LittleBigPlanet 2 Rave Reviews Rolling In, Adventure Trailer — LittleBigPlanet 2 is sitting pretty with a Metacritic score of 93. January 18th can’t come soon enough…

A Life of Luxury in the PlayStation Home Mansion + New Hudson Spaces & Mall Update — Avoid strategically placed bombs in the Bomberman Dome and live a life of luxury in the new PlayStation Home Mansion.

PlayStation @ CES 2011 — Missed the Sony Electronics CES press conference? Watch the archived livestream here.

The Tomb Raider Trilogy HD Exclusively on PS3 March 22nd — Includes Anniversary, Legend, and Underworld on one Blu-ray disc.

Killzone 3 Story Trailer: Malcolm McDowell and Ray Winstone Lead the Helghast — Watch this bad boy and tell me it doesn’t get your heart thudding.

Lord of Arcana: Delivering Brutality on the Go — Lord of Arcana for PSP is coming January 25, and fans of Diablo-esque action RPGs might want to take note.

2011 CES Show Floor Report: PlayStation Move Heroes — A new level and combat (including whips) for PlayStation Move Heroes at CES. Bonus: Hilarious video intro!

PlayStation Network Video Content Update — 3D content comes to the PlayStation Network Video Store along with Dinner for Schmucks, Machete, The Last Exorcism, and more.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s Level Design is Multi-Path, Multi-Solution — Deus Ex Human Revolution’s level designer gives us a tour of the game’s multi-solution gameplay.

2011 CES Show Floor Report: MLB 11 The Show — Now with bonus hilarious video intro!

Ricochet HD Now on PSN with Special Limited-Time Price — If you’re a Shatter fan, you might want to give this puppy a try.

Courtesy of Arne Meyer

REMINDER: Best Of… The Lab – Holiday Event — A final episode of “The Lab” to ring out 2010. We ran “The Lab” for an entire twelve days over the holiday, ending January 3rd.

UNCHARTED 3 inteviews and gameplay videos from the end of December — A ton of UNCHARTED 3 interviews with Naughty Dog staff hit the web during our holiday break. We’ve done you a solid and compiled them all in one handy spot.