Get used to some Dog Days, experience a change of gravity and get your hands on some marvellous downloads this weekend…

A Marvel to behold

Marvel Comics has teamed up once more with PlayStation 3 platform title LittleBigPlanet for another batch of costumes that can make your Sackboy a true hero. Marvel Costume Kit 2 gives you the chance to make Sackboy look like five legendary Marvel characters: Thor, Spider-Man, Elektra, Ghost Rider and Human Torch. Flame on!

Give your Sackboy a heroic new look now – download Marvel Costume Kit 2 from PlayStation Store.

Every dog has its day…

The unlikely couple of Kane and Lynch have made their way back to PlayStation 3 with the gritty sequel Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days – and you can get a shot of the action in the PlayStation Store demo. Featuring documentary style visuals, this third person shooter for over 18s only is sure to get the blood pumping as you explore the dark world of two rather disturbed individuals. 

If you’re a PlayStation Plus member, the Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days demo downloads automatically to your PlayStation 3 via PlayStation Store without you having to lift a finger – and days before everyone else gets the chance to play it. If you want to get ahead of the game (and everyone else) with the biggest game demos, make sure you subscribe to PlayStation Plus for all the latest titles, first.

There’s a certain gravity about this one

Want to take some classic arcade blasting with you wherever you go? Gravity Crash on PSP is sure to give you that stellar experience, all in the palm of your hand. Explore new worlds on a plane, blast through psychedelic looking enemies on the train and get that unbeatable high score on the go – it doesn’t matter where you are, Gravity Crash will take you on a fun journey.

Blast off with Gravity Crash now by downloading it from PlayStation Store.

Fight for your faction

From 22 July 2010, MAG developer Zipper Interactive will be treating fans of the game to a brand new feature. All of the maps from the Sabotage mode will be faction neutral, so if your chosen Private Military Corporation is SVER, you can take on Raven in a map that was previously owned by Valor. Simply log on to the game, select Sabotage mode and prepare for action.

It’s already set up and ready to go – what are you waiting for?

A kung fu compendium

To celebrate the cinematic release of star-studded martial arts movie, The Karate Kid, and the arrival of the classic original films on Blu-ray Disc, PlayStation Store has a stunning offer for you to enjoy. From 21 July 2010 until 4 August 2010, a variety of martial arts related games, packs and films will be discounted.

And don’t forget about PlayStation Home on PS3, where you can collect exclusive free martial arts themed avatars.

Fighting fit? Prove it – head over to PlayStation Store and enjoy some great special offers.

Name that tune

Fans of the eagerly anticipated Gran Turismo 5 now have their chance to get even closer to the heart-racing action. How? Drive your browser to gran-turismo.com and cast your eyes (and ears) over the new GT5 trailer, which features a composition by musician Daiki Kasho. All you need to do is think of a suitable title for the music that will provide the epic backdrop to thousands of action-packed racing hours. Kazunori Yamauchi, the GT series creator, will select the winner and their name will appear in the Special Thanks section of the game’s credits.

Go to gran-turismo.com before 25 July and become part of the game’s history.

The Friday Debate – This is Hardcore

After last week’s debut, The Friday Debate at PlayStation.Blog returns with a new intriguing topic for you to ponder over and discuss. This week delves into gaming labels and asks you to discuss the associations you have with being a hardcore gamer, casual gamer or something completely different. What category do you fit into?

Check out the debate and make yourself heard at blog.eu.playstation.com.

Contests of champions

You can be a winner in a variety of competitions at eu.playstation.com/psn/competitions. There’s still a chance to win a gold PSP in celebration of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in the Gold PSP Limited Edition Competition; you can take a trip through time by winning a copy of Singularity on PS3 in the Singularity Competition; and enjoy some mechanised mayhem in the Transformers Competition where you can win a Transformers figure set and a copy of Transformers: War for Cybertron on PS3.

Keep an eye on PlayStation Blog at blog.eu.playstation.com for the latest PlayStation news as it happens.

Be sure to opt in to receive PlayStation emails when you sign up for a PlayStation Network account. If you already have an account, sign in to your PlayStation Network account settings at eu.playstation.com/registration or via the XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) and opt in. That way, you can keep bang up to date and receive the latest PlayStation news direct to your inbox.

Slim-PS3.com is updated frequently per day with the latest Free Slim PS3 news and games reviews.

The latest PS3 news:

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, 3D feature and interview with SCE UK boss

Episode 17 of FirstPlay will be going live on the Store from Wednesday, and this week we lead off with a fantastically sharp HD preview of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. Alongside that we’ve also got a feature on 3D on PS3, including an interview with Sony UK boss Ray Maguire, a reviews round-up including Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and Toy Story 3, and a review of claustrophobic thriller Exam on Blu-ray.

In this week’s Network Highlights we take a look at downloadable games Hamsterball and Fret Nice in our Best Of PSN video, and we preview the multiplayer modes of some upcoming triple-A titles, including Call Of Duty: Black Ops, Medal Of Honor and Gran Turismo 5. We’ve also got a round-up of the best minis, and a new section called Personal in which members of the FirstPlay team and occasional guests will be talking us through some of their most memorable gaming experiences.

Lastly we’ve got our screenshot galleries, which this week include new Konami actioner NeverDead, American invasion shooter HomeFront, blockbusting sequel inFAMOUS 2 and Middle Earth RPG Lord Of The Rings: War In The North.

All of this comes at our regular price of 99p per episode, which falls to less than 75p if you take out a 90-day subscription for £8.99.

We’d also like to remind you that you can stay in touch with all things FirstPlay by following us on Twitter at @firstplay_uk and on our Facebook page. We also have a YouTube channel up and running here

The FirstPlay team would love to hear from the PS3 community so if you’ve got anything to share, from videos and grabs to suggestions for content feel free to get in touch.

Our site is updated frequently each day with the very latest Free Sony Slim PS3 news and reviews.

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Sony has said today that their PSP, PS3 Minis have reached one million downloads.

The Minis are low-priced games available via the PlayStation Network on either the home console or the handheld.

It is unclear whether the number includes free demos, but if it does, the number is even more insignificant than it already is.

Only 1.7 percent of all PSP owners have downloaded a Minis game, compared to 51 percent of iPhone owners and 54 percent of BlackBerry owners.

Minis were released 9 months ago, and there are over 60 million PSP owners, in all variations.

Of the 86 games available, PocketGamer says the following 10 are the best-selling:

Age of Zombies (Halfbrick)
Monopoly (EA)
Fieldrunners(Subatomic)
Zombie Tycoon (Frima)
Bloons(Hands-on)
Spot The Differences! (Sanuk)
Pinball Fantasies(Cowboy Rodeo )
Mahjongg Artifacts: Chapter 2 (G5)
Yetisports Pengu Throw (Xendex)
Breakquest (Beatshapers)

Our blog is updated regularly every day with the very latest Free Sony Slim PS3 news and hardware reviews.

The latest PS3 news:
One of the topics that came up at GEEX was indie and student game development, a topic near and dear to yours truly.

You see, in addition to writing about, and playing a ton of PlayStation games I also teach game design and development at the University of Utah.
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Well, it’s hot and there’s no new disk based games for the PS2 or PS3 this week. So crank the AC and either check out the gaming deals PlayStaiton Plus has to offer or try the two new downloadable games for the PS3 this week.
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Hooked Gamers: “Today has been an interesting day for Mikey Neumann, Creative Director at Gearbox. This morning on his Twitter Mikey said: “I don’t know why Stuart Black’s headlines for today don’t read “Guy who shits on everyone else’s games can’t finish his own”.

Well gaming sites have had a frenzy with that (us included ). Well Mikey deserves a chance to elaborate on what he said and we have given it to him. Read more for Mikey’s comments.” Slim-PS3 is updated frequently every day with the latest Free PlayStation news and reviews.

The image gallery for Red Faction: Armageddon on Strategy Informer has been updated with 7 new screenshots. Slim-PS3.com is updated regularly every day with the latest Free Slim PS3 news and reviews.

Scrawl: “After confirming Ar Tonelico IIIs localization at a press event yesterday, NIS America has officially detailed the upcoming role-playing game. Itll come to the west as Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel in Spring 2011.” Slim-PS3.com is updated regularly every day with the latest Free Slim PS3 news.

Virtual Reality:

“The problem for publishers is, theyve stumbled into a vast wellspring of value, but they havent yet figured out how to monetize it. Multiplayer modes increase the recurring worth of games. No longer do we expect to play games for a mere 10-20 hours and then never touch them again. We expect them to entertain us for that long, and then to continue to entertain us for months and years afterwards by allowing us to play with our friends online. We expect, in other words, that games provide ever increasing amounts of value.

And yet, up until now, we havent been expected to pay for this value. Even though multiplayer vastly increases the worth of a game to consumers, publishers havent forced us to pony up for it. But with multiplayer becoming the primary mode of gameplay for many games, this model is probably on its last legs.” Slim-PS3.com is updated regularly per day with the latest Free Slim PS3 news.