Join some Bad Company

Electronic Arts is inviting you to play Battlefield: Bad Company 2 early, exclusively on PlayStation 3 – interested?

Want to experience the spectacular action, destruction, vehicular warfare, squad play and open environments offered by the intense shooter Battlefield: Bad Company 2? Well Electronic Arts DICE is giving you the chance with its multiplayer beta, exclusive to PS3.

Starting on November 19, 2009, the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer beta features the Arica Harbour map, where up to 24 players can compete in one of the game's four intense multiplayer modes called Rush. This new map displays a superb balance of vehicle and infantry combat, as the American assault unit attacks the Russian army base with full force, advancing further through a beautiful desert town and towards the industrial area in a desperate attempt to seize the Arica Harbour.

To find out how to grab a beta key, head over to battlefield.com for details.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 lands to buy in March 2010. To help pass the time before its release, check out the stunning announcement trailer, right here on eu.playstation.com.

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SingStar Take that is coming!

This November, get ready for SingStar Take That… and party!

You probably had posters of the boys on your bedroom wall; you probably spent hours crooning to their albums - you may even have spent an evening screaming at the top of your lungs as you watched them perform live.

Take That were an instant sensation when they burst onto the pop scene in the early 90s. Now you can sing along to more than 25 of their greatest hits with SingStar Take That on PlayStation3 and PlayStation2.

From their 1992 cover of Barry Manilow's Could It Be Magic to Patience and Shine from the 2006 comeback album, Beautiful World, Take That have been lighting up the charts for almost two decades. This collection takes that incredible back-catalogue and gives it the SingStar party treatment.

A Million Love Songs
Babe
Back For Good
Beautiful World
Could It Be Magic
Do What U Like
Everything Changes
Greatest Day
Hold Up A Light
I'd Wait For Life
It Only Takes A Minute
Love Ain't Here Anymore
Never Forget
Once You've Tasted Love
Patience
Pray
Promises
Reach Out
Relight My Fire
Rule The World
Said It All
Shine
Sure
Up All Night
Why Can't I Wake Up With You

And if like us, you're already counting down to the game's release, why not check out the Take That SongPack whilst you're waiting - available now on SingStore. Download the pack, grab a friend and a pair of Wireless SingStar Microphones for some beautiful duet action. And don't forget to upload your performances to My SingStar Online and singstargame.com - It Only Takes A Minute!

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Fright Fest

Settle down in front of your PlayStation 3 for a night of scares this Halloween with this perfect blend of classic and new horror on Blu-ray Disc.

Drag Me To Hell

Spider-Man director Sam Raimi returns to the genre where he made his name, with this roller coaster horror ride filled with shocks and laughs. Alison Lohman stars as Christine, an ambitious L.A. loan officer with a charming boyfriend played by Justin Long. Life is good until the mysterious Mrs. Ganush arrives at the bank to beg for an extension on her home loan. Should Christine follow her instincts and give the old woman a break? Or should she deny the extension to impress her boss?

Unfortunately for Christine, she chooses the latter, shaming Mrs. Ganush and dispossessing her of her home. The old woman then places a powerful curse on her, transforming her life into a living hell. Haunted by an evil spirit and misunderstood by a sceptical boyfriend, she seeks the aid of seer Rham Jas to save her soul from eternal damnation. As evil forces begin to close in, Christine must face the unthinkable: how far will she go to break free of the curse?

True Blood: Season One

The small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, boasts an array of colourful characters including Sookie Stackhouse, a sweet and innocent waitress who hides her powerful ability to read minds. Then there’s Sookie's brother Jason, a ladies' man who can't seem to stay out of trouble; tough-as-nails Tara, Sookie's loyal best friend; and San, the owner of Merlotte's who tries to keep his feelings for Sookie to himself.

Then there is Bill Compton, a 173-year-old vampire who's just moved back to town. Welcome to a world where vampires live among us, surviving on synthetic blood. Or so we thought. Based on the acclaimed series of novels by Charlaine Harris and created for TV by Alan Ball, writer of the Oscar-winning Best Picture American Beauty and creator of the Emmy Award-winning HBO series Six Feet Under, True Blood is a spooky series like no other.

I Sell The Dead

Darkly comic, and absurdly funny, I Sell The Dead was the subject of rave reviews throughout its tour of the film festival circuit in 2009. Now, you can experience this brilliantly written, superbly acted and horrifically enjoyable horror comedy in High Definition on your PlayStation 3.

Nineteenth century justice has finally caught up with grave robbers Arthur Blake (Lost's Dominic Monaghan) and Willie Grimes. With the guillotine looming over him, young Blake confides in visiting clergyman Father Duffy recounting 15 years of adventure in the resurrection trade. From stealing trinkets as a young boy from the dead to a partnership with Willie, Arthur recounts a fear-filled adventure filled with tales of hunting creatures unwilling to take their place in the ground.

Gremlins

Mogwai; they’re cute, clever, mischievous and intelligent. And let’s not forget the rules to prevent these furry friends from turning into fierce fiends. Don't ever get them wet. Keep them away from bright light. And no matter how much they cry, no matter how much they beg - never, ever feed them after midnight.

When young Billy Peltzer takes possession of his cuddly new pet, a Christmas present from his father, he gets a whole lot more than he bargained for when he messes up and breaks the first rule of the Mogwai by getting it wet. Hilarious and packed full of scares, Gremlins is one of the most memorable creature features of all time thanks to director Joe Dante and producer Steven Spielberg coupled with the superb puppetry work crafted by the masterful special effects artists behind this perfect Halloween fright fest.

Halloween

The original and greatest Halloween night film and perhaps the most influential independent film of all time in Hollywood, Halloween is the movie that put director John Carpenter on the map. An exercise in terrifying, pure horror, Halloween takes us into the world of Michael Myers, a killer driven by an insatiable bloodlust and locked away for many years in a psychiatric hospital. Now, years later on Halloween night he has come home to continue his killing spree.

Packed with special features including a compelling commentary by Carpenter and star Jamie Lee Curtis, and an in-depth retrospective documentary on the film and its influence on Hollywood and horror cinema, Halloween has never been better presented. Prepare for the ultimate scare!

An American Werewolf In London

When two American students touring the English countryside are attacked by a vicious wolf during a full moon, their lives are suddenly transformed forever. Featuring ground-breaking Academy Award-winning make-up by Rick Baker, this cult favourite is directed by John Landis of Blues Brothers and National Lampoon's Animal House fame, perfectly blending the macabre with a touch of twisted humour.

This newly remastered High Definition version of the film features a host of out - takes, behind the scenes interviews, a director's commentary and best of all, the brand new feature-length documentary, Beware The Moon which features all-new interviews with cast and crew member and previously unseen on-set footage. A must for monster movie fans.

Horsemen Of The Apocalypse

Hardened police detective Aidan Breslin has grown increasingly distant from his two young sons Alex and Sean since the death of his wife. At work, he finds himself thrust into an investigation of twisted serial killings rooted in the Biblical prophecy of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

As Breslin grapples with each new revelation in the case, he slowly discovers a shocking connection between himself and the four suspects. Full of twists, turns and mind-bending revelations, Horsemen Of The Apocalypse is guaranteed to have you ducking behind the sofa on the scariest night of the year.

Evil Dead

Evil Dead will scare you senseless. In an apparently forsaken cottage, Ash and his friends discover a tape recorder. They turn it on to hear the voice of Professor Knowby, who has successfully translated The Book of the Dead. His words awaken the spirit of evil, possessing them one at a time and turning their weekend getaway into a nightmare as Ash begins his relentless battle against an all-powerful evil that takes many forms. A favourite amongst horror film fans, Evil Dead is the perfect Halloween night movie.

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Can you solve the Blue Toad Murder Files?

There has been a mysterious murder in the village of Little Riddle – time to put your powers of deduction to the test…

Murder is in the air in the quirky English village of Little Riddle. Thankfully, the famous Blue Toad detectives are on hand to solve the case and save the day. Or at least they can if your keen sense of problem solving is up to scratch.

Taking the role as one of the four Blue Toad sleuths, you and up to three players are thrown into a world of puzzles as you aim to solve various crime related mysteries in six distinct episodes, each one downloadable from PlayStation Network.

While each episode dovetails into the next with a handy cliffhanger to spur you on to the next, you can still play each one individually should you prefer your doses of comedic murder a little more bite-sized. It's like interacting with a TV series murder mystery with you in total control over how much you take part in - and you're the star detective of it all.

It's criminal

Developer Relentless Software is no stranger to brainteasers, given its pedigree of creating the popular quiz series, Buzz! on various PlayStation formats - although Blue Toad Murder Files offers to take you down a different, shadow filled alley, full of tricky puzzles that will test your grey matter in a variety of ways.

Rather than throw you straight into a hodunit scenario, you meet and greet a number of Little Riddle's brilliantly caricatured folk who offer gossip, clues and background information to help you build the scene, before you're given a puzzle to solve, to aid your progress.

These mind-benders include solving anagrams, piecing together a jigsaw style puzzle, slotting an identikit photo together based on a character you were talking to earlier and choosing a correct item or path of a suspect based on the verbal recount of a witness. There are many more puzzle types to keep you on your toes, as well as a medal system that rewards you for getting answers right on your first attempt while keeping under a certain time.

The case is in your hands

It's not just a matter of blundering your way through the investigation, however, because at various points during the case you'll be quizzed about key plot points to see if you've been paying attention to all that's been happening around you. Your time to shine comes at the end of each chapter, as you wrap up all your clues and interrogations to take a guess at who committed the foul deed.

With four players, an extra element of excitement is added to proceedings - whether it's helping each other out or trying to see who's the best at small town law enforcement. Each of you gets a puzzle to complete, while at the end of each chapter you all take a guess at the murderer, with everything revealed shortly after - to cheers or jeers.

Well presented and fun, Blue Toad Murder Files lets you become a budding super sleuth without ever needing to leave your sofa. Expect a more detailed look into the mind of Relentless Software and the game very soon, right here at eu.playstation.com.

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Host a spooky soirée with VidZone

You and your friends will be bumping long into the night with the Halloween Hits Playlist on VidZone for PlayStation 3.

The spookiest night of the year is almost upon us and if you're holding a Halloween party, VidZone has your soundtrack sorted.

Check out the Halloween Hits Playlist from the VidZone Home Menu for 20 hair-raising videos from the monsters of rock, dance and pop music.

Alice Cooper Feed My Frankenstein
Alice in Chains Them Bones
Aphex Twin Come To Daddy
Beat Freakz Somebody's Watching Me
Godsmack Voodoo
Korn Right Now
Marilyn Manson The Beautiful People
Metallica All Nightmare Long
Metric Monster Hospital
Michael Jackson Thriller
Primal Scream Miss Lucifer
Queens of the Stone Age Someone's In The Wolf
Rob Zombie Living Dead Girl
Scary Kids Scaring Kids Faces
System of a Down Spiders
The Horrors Sheena Is A Parasite
The Killers Bones
UNKLE Eye For An Eye
White Zombie More Human Than Human
Yeah Yeah Yeahs Y Control

VidZone is the free music video service on PS3, available to download from PlayStation Store, which lets you stream thousands of high quality music videos. You can even create your own playlists and access the service on the move via Remote Play for PSP.

Check out the Halloween Hits Playlist on VidZone or create your own, and have a frighteningly good time this Halloween.

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Three huge PS3 releases hit the shelves this week and PlayStation Store has plenty of spooky downloads in time for Halloween.

As the avalanche of huge videogame releases continues, this weekend delivers three titles to test mind, body and soul.

It's fingers on buzzers time as Buzz!: Quiz World comes to PlayStation 3. This latest edition brings a host of personalisation options and more than 5,000 new general knowledge questions to massage your grey matter.

For a more physical challenge, The King of Iron Fist Tournament smashes onto PS3 in TEKKEN 6. Take the fight online for the ultimate challenge, using the largest roster of characters ever seen in a TEKKEN game.

From Iron Fists to wheels of steel, the makers of Guitar Hero turn their attentions to dance music with DJ Hero on PS3. Using an authentic turntable controller, you can scratch, blend and sample over 100 hundred songs and remixes from such superstars as DJ Shadow and Daft Punk.

The VidZone chart

And here's yet more music to keep the party bouncing all night long, in this week's VidZone chart, which sees Girls Aloud bombshell Cheryl Cole straight in at number one:

1. Cheryl Cole Fight For This Love
2. Alexandra Burke Bad Boys
3. Chipmunk Oopsy Daisy
4. Robbie Williams Bodies
5. Whitney Houston Million Dollar Bill
6. Taio Cruz Break Your Heart
7. Black Eyed Peas I Gotta Feeling
8. Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys Empire State Of Mind
9. Michael Bubl Haven't Met You Yet
10. Young Soul Rebels I Got Soul

VidZone users can also look out for the Halloween Hits Playlist, featuring the likes of Rob Zombie, Michael Jackson and Aphex Twin - perfect for your spooky get-togethers.

Downloadable Halloween

If cowering behind a cushion is your idea of a Halloween night in, check out these blood-curdling downloads from PlayStation Store.

Siren Blood Curse is a nerve-jangling slice of authentic Japanese horror on PlayStation 3. An American TV crew arrives in the small village of Hanuda to investigate an urban myth. An ancient curse is waiting for them, and so are the possessed villagers...

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is another psychological horror influenced by Japanese film. At PlayStation Store, you'll find downloadable multiplayer maps and more.

There's loads of additional Halloween content available for LittleBigPlanet. Grab a werewolf or zombie costume for Sackboy, or dress him up as a paranormal investigator with the Ghostbusters Costume Pack.

On PSP, you can download spooky PS one Classic MediEvil, which follows the story of cowardly knight Sir Daniel Fortesque as he rises from the grave to save the land of Gallowmere. Or check out Vempire - a strategy puzzle game set in a world of ghouls and monsters, to be found within the minis category of PlayStation Store.

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Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising developer interview

Get some behind the scenes intel on Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising with Tim Browne, senior game designer of PlayStation 3 war shooter.

What are the basics of Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising in terms of plot and gameplay?

The plot is based around China invading a small island that has long been in dispute because it has vast oil reserves below it. Russia - who the island rightfully belongs to - asks for assistance from the United States of America who has a United States Marine Corps (USMC) ship on patrol nearby. The action takes place shortly after the initial Chinese invasion. The gameplay splits between fast-paced gun battles to a much slower tactical strategy planning element.

How does Dragon Rising help introduce itself and the genre to newcomers?

In normal difficulty mode we give the player lots of help. Things such as identified enemy locations, a wound indicator and a system which shows the player the best route to the next objective, the one with the most cover for example. We didn't want to hand-hold the player but we appreciated that a realistic tactical shooter such as Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a stern wake up call for people who have got used to being a bullet sponge and can magically heal if they hide from combat for a short period of time.

Can you explain some of the multiplayer modes?

Infiltration is a new twist of team based gameplay. We deliberately have the USMC at a disadvantage numbers-wise; they only have ten men against the 22 men that the PLA have to help defend the targets. However, to help the USMC we give them a lot more toys and firepower. The Annihilation multiplayer mode pits two equally matched teams against one another. We set the map areas where there are deliberate choke points, give both teams lots of weapons and vehicles and then let them fight it out.

How much detail and research had to go into the ballistics system for the weapons?

We spent several months in research & development before development even began. While doing this we spent time analysing bullet trajectories - as different bullet calibres and types have different ballistics - and working out how this will affect the game.

Did any of the development team go on short-term military training for research?

We didn't go on training but we did spend time with various experts including past and current servicemen. Also we had input from the USMC and had a very valuable testing day with over 100 Marines at the Miramar air base.

What were the most important things to portray in the game?

Authenticity was our key goal. We could have made a typical run-and-gun shooter but that isn't what the Operation Flashpoint franchise is about. We focused heavily on the realism aspect of what it's like to fight in a war. We didn't want to do any kind of Hollywood style action; instead we zoned in on documentary style footage and used that right from the start.

Were there any limitations you had to impose on Dragon Rising which ended up going against the desire for realism?

By including a Heads Up Display you're automatically removing some of the realism and feel; however these things are needed to make concessions for the fact that the player isn't really there. We have, however, proven that in Hardcore mode we can turn all of the On-Screen Displays off and give you a game that's as close to war as you'll want to get.

What are you proudest of in the game?

Many elements, really. The feel of the weapons, the fantastic audio, not to mention the very unique difficulty modes we went for. I don't think there are many games that can boast that the game you play on Normal setting is the same as the game you play on the hardest - as in damage and AI are the same. We're very proud of these things.

Were there any amusing moments which have happened during the missions you play-tested?

Plenty. I remember one time on one of the latter missions I was the last man standing and trying to defend my fallen teammate. If I could just halt the enemy advances for a short period of time I'd be able to stop him from bleeding to death and have a second gunman.

There was a group of enemies flanking me to my left behind a small barn. I knew where they'd be but I was running low on ammunition. I drew out a frag grenade and I meant to aim for the clearing just past the small barn. I managed to throw my grenade at the small barn rather than past it and all I could do was laugh in a panic as the grenade rolled back to my feet.

What sort of plans do you have in mind regarding downloadable content on PlayStation Network?

We have quite a few plans currently. We're not giving away any details just yet but there will be more information to come very soon...

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