The PlayStation Recap – Megaton Edition

Crazy week, eh? Gamescom pummeled us with a volley of major PlayStation announcements: A new $249 price point for PS3, social apps for PS Vita, a first look at Resistance: Burning Skies for PS Vita, and the debut of Escape Plan — what is this, E3?

In other news: PlayStation Home debuts an uber-popular Dead Island game experience (2 million zombie kills in less than 24 hours!); our UK mate James Gallagher gets details on Robin in his Batman: Arkham City interview; Jeff outlines Virtua Tennis 4’s PS Vita functions (including “VT Apps”), the LittleBigPlanet 2 Move Pack, and PAYDAY: The Heist; Sony Online Entertainment reveals PSN dates for PAYDAY: The Heist, Rochard, and Sideway: New York; Dylan Jobe talks space combat and jetpacks in Starhawk; James Gallagher tastes the future with WipEout 2048 for PS Vita; David Thatch releases the 40-song track list for Everybody Dance on PS Move; Insomniac Games shows off a story-focused Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One trailer; Rey details the advanced weaponry of Resistance 3 in a new dev diary; Sega shares Renegade Ops upgrades; and Capcom outlines the PSN PLAY release of Street Fighter III Third Strike: Online Edition.

What was your favorite gamescom announcement this week?

I’m playing: Resistance 3 Multiplayer Beta, Limbo

I’m watching: Firefly, Sports Night on Netflix PS3 instant streaming

I’m reading: Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson

Most-Watched Video of the Week: UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss for PS Vita – Story trailer

The 10 Most-Viewed Posts of the Week

DIRECTV and PlayStation Bring NFL Sunday Ticket to PS3 — Note that “existing DIRECTV customers who already have NFL SUNDAY TICKET and NFL SUNDAY TICKET To-Go through DIRECTV can access the service on their PS3 for no additional charge.”

Watch the gamescom Press Conference Live — The PlayStation gamescom press conference has ended and the stream is no more, but you can catch up on the big news here and here.

Live from gamescom: PlayStation 3 Now $249 — Nuff said!

PlayStation Store Update — New releases include Medal of Honor: Frontline, Driver: San Francisco – Multiplayer Demo, Breath of Fire for PSone, LittleBigPlanet 2 Toy Story 2 Costume Pack, and a ‘PlayStation Store Essentials’ category

inFAMOUS 2: Festival of Blood Drowns PSN in October — Cole’s been bitten! A new downloadable adventure is coming to inFAMOUS 2 and it’s bound to be a bloody good time. Protip: Disc not required!

ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection: Bonus Content, Trophies Revealed — The eagerly anticipated PS3 collection includes never-before-seen glimpses of the earliest ICO and Shadow of the Colossues prototypes, and a production video for an abandoned game called NICO.

UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss for PS Vita – Meet Marisa Chase — As you’ll see from this impressive new trailer, Nathan Drake is looking mighty fine on the PS Vita. Bend Studios’ creative director gives PlayStation.Blog readers a full tour!

Resistance 3 Trophy List: Bwing! — SPOILER ALERT: These 59 Trophy descriptions will sketch a rough map of your battle through Chimeran-occupied America. And yes, there’s a Platinum.

Coming to PS Vita – Resistance: Burning Skies, Escape Plan, Assassin’s Creed, FIFA, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Skype — Catch up on the PS Vita infodump from gamescom, including social apps and a wealth of new games from SCEI, EA Sports and Ubisoft.

Coming to PlayStation Plus: Resistance 3 Multiplayer Beta and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Multiplayer Beta — This Tuesday sees the PlayStation Plus release of the Resistance 3 beta (protip: try the Marksman!). Ezio and the boys swoop in on September 3rd with the Assassin’s Creed Revelations beta. Which are you most excited for?