I’ve been wanting to vent about Heavy Rain ever since I heard it existed, and believe me I will. But I thought I might also write up a more balanced, reasoned, even-handed opinion here on the blog too because, love it or hate it, Heavy Rain is a game that begs to be discussed. There’s a lot I could say about it, but I’m going to try and control myself and keep it reasonably brief. Spoilers ahead…

Which covert, stealthy, pyjama-wearing men of the night do we think are the best on PlayStation? Well we've whittled it down to ten, but then we realised only nine of them are on PS, the other is from ELSEWHERE. Nonetheless, read our definitive views here...

Codemasters have announced a new FPS from the creator of the really-rather-metal Black (you may remember it from the tail-end of the PS2's life), this one entitled Bodycount. There's definitely a lot of imagination with these titles. Still, Black was fantastic, so this news is worth reporting on and has us excited. The new game is scheduled for a release in the first quarter of 2011 on PS3 and will include a single-player story of 'the Network' taking out 'Targets' (more ...

Valve has formerly announced the already expected, but much-anticipated sequel to 2007's Orange Box title Portal will be coming out around the end of the year, but unfortunately it doesn't look like it will coming to PS3. The official reveal of the game has appeared in US magazineGameInformer, but it only lists PC, Xbox 360 and Mac as formats.

Format: PS2 Released: 2003 Reviewed: 107 Score: 92% The Commies have invaded the US, many have been killed and it’s up to you and your merry band of insurg… ‘freedom fighters’ to repel the invading Ruskies and save the world as America always does. And there we have 2003’s Freedom Fighters, from the same studio that brought us Hitman 2 and Kane and Lynch. Wait a minute – that can’t be right, surely? But of course it is – we just forgot to mention ...

Spring has sprung at last and is traditionally a popular time to give birth to things so, without further ado, here are some babies…

In honour of Sony’s potentially catastrophic failure to put a fully functioning clock inside early models of the PS3, I’ve decided to put together this Top 5 of the worst console faults of all time, just to put things in perspective. At the time of writing it’s unclear whether the PS3mageddon bug has been fixed by Sony or has simply righted itself. Either way, the panic is over and we can all laugh about it now.

Reports globally and from Sony itself that 'Phat' PS3s are once again operational. This comes after a virtual 24 hour blackout of the bigger and older units stopping people from playing some games or getting online. The fault seems to have stemmed from a calendar fault that misinterpreted 2010 as a leap year. Since it is now March 2, the problem can be solved by simply changing the date manually.

The horse may have bolted on this one, but Sony has just released a statement urging 'Phat' PS3 owners not to switch on their PS3s this evening while it continues to find a resolution to issues that have been locking gamers out of their consoles all day. You can read the full statement from Sony after the jump

For unknown, but widely speculated reasons a number of PS3 owners (seemingly only those who bought 'phat' PS3s before the launch of the PS3 Slim last year) are experiencing PSN shut out issues that have gone on to lock them out of games offline as well. The fault causing this lockout situation remains unclear, but the Internet is ablaze with speculation that it has something to do with a calendar bug on older PS3 units.

Marriage is an institute - or at least that's what the institution tells us. So it's always fun to see what the world of gaming makes of that point in life when your life is over. Ahem. But yes - marriage and games, let's take a look:

Older gaming series are being revisited with increasing regularity these days, with the depths of nostalgia being trawled for anything that can be revamped and sold on to a new generation. Frankly, we're not against this - we like seeing some old games come back for a fresh new run, and it's good to see old characters having another chance for glory. But it's not perfect: there are characters who really should have a new game of their exploits made, ...

(In response to the fine reaction this post received the other day (oh yes, a fine reaction indeed), I thought I'd make this into a regular, hard-hitting and incendiary series of posts. Today we continue...) I’ve just spent a long weekend playing Plants vs Zombies. Yes – that means I was playing on my PC. I can only apologise. But when it comes to playing one of the best zombie-based garden defense games ever made, you have ...

The Official PlayStation Magazine in the US has suggested that cross-game chat, a feature many PS3 gamers would like to see brought to their console, could be restricted to subscribers only. The ability to chat with friends playing different games is enjoyed already by Xbox 360 owners and is one of the most requested updates to the PS3. Sony has in the past hinted that such a service would be coming in time, but this news will come as a blow to many.

I've just spent a long weekend playing Mass Effect 2. Yes - that means I was playing on my 360. I can only apologise. But when it comes to playing one of the best action-RPGs ever made, you have to make a stand and play a game on whatever you can, even if it is disloyal of me as a committed PlayStationite. And this is why I must add my voice to the pile of those that demand the Mass ...

Perhaps as a response to all the attention being paid to Microsoft this week (damn them and their dedicated games conference!) Sony has launched a mesmerising new God Of War III trailer for you to drool over. It's got plenty of gameplay, some set piece sneak peaks and lots of angry voice over from Kratos himself. Best bit is probably at the end though. "PS3, It only does Vengeance." Check out the trailer after the jump.