Hasta La Gadget!

PS3 owners have a new entertainment option available for download on their game console. The application should be good for some laughs because it is a streaming comedy application from Laugh Factory. If you’re not familiar with Laugh Factory, it has been a place where some the biggest comedians in the business have performed for three decades.

Laugh Factory will be offering historical performances from some the biggest comedians ever including Richard Pryor, Dave Chapelle, Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, Dane Cook, Rodney Dangerfield, and Jerry Seinfeld. The content will be streaming in the US via the PlayStation Network. The app is free to download and will continue to be free until December 1.

Once December 1 rolls around, the app will cost $.10 per day, roughly $3 monthly. “We are thrilled that PlayStation is providing its millions of PS3 gamers with the gift of laughter,” says Laugh Factory founder and owner Jamie Masada. “Not only are they going to access to some of the best comedy in the world on a nightly basis but, PS3 owners now will be able to improve their daily lives and health through laughter. After all, it’s accessible to everyone with a PS3, doesn’t care about pre-existing conditions and it’s a lot cheaper!”

If you’ve ever played through any of the always-addicting Ratchet & Clank games, once you get used to the zany cartoon style and not-always-sharp humor, there’s one thing that becomes instantly identifiable about the franchise – the weapons. Apparently, developers at Insomniac Games realized just how iconic its crazy R&C weapons are, and decided to capitalize on it for the next franchise installment.

So in Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault, there will be a gameplay mecahnic that involves tower defense gameplay. For those of you who don’t know, a tower defense game is one where players set up turrets, weapons, and other automated guerilla warfare machinery to ward off streams of incoming enemies. Players do not directly attack the enemies and must instead hope their automated weapons set-up will do the job for them.

So bringing Ratchet & Clank’s weapons to that style of gameplay seems infinitely appropriate. Of course, there will still be the same platform-jumping, puzzle-solving, third-person assaulting that the series has always had, but “this new twist … brings a whole new level of strategy and decision-making to Full Frontal Assault. You’ll want to make sure your Hoverboots are laced up and ready as you race to defeat your enemy while keeping your base secure,” Insomniac’s James Stevenson wrote in a PlayStation Blog post.

[via PlayStation Blog]

Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault to have tower defense mechanic is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Sony is making the dreams of 16 racing game fans come true by putting them behind the wheels of real-life professional racing cars. Players from all walks of life came together to compete in rigorous Gran Turismo battles, and now the best of the best are about to experience a pretty awesome prize.

The 16 finalists are going to be flown to the world-famous Silverstone racing circuit in the UK. There, they will all be put through a week-long racing “boot camp.” Their journey will be documented in a reality TV series on Spike TV later this year, the first time that the GT Academy competition has been transformed into a cable TV series.

“GT Academy North America finalists will be judged and eliminated by an expert panel of racing professionals, based on each competitor’s skills, performance and overall aptitude for the requirements to become a professional racer. The top driver will train under the guidance of professional racing drivers and compete in selected races for a Nissan racing team,” Sony explained in a PlayStation Blog post. More details are in the “via” link below.

[via PlayStation Blog]

Sony’s GT Academy top 16 drivers announced is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We mentioned back in early May that the Gran Turismo GT Academy 2012 had kicked off. The top 32 drivers, out of roughly 400,000 Gran Turismo 5 racers, met in San Diego to whittle that 32-driver field down to the final 16. The drivers in the final 16 will compete to win a real race ride with Nissan in the GT Academy North America TV show.

The final 16 contestants will move on to the last round of GT Academy competing for the opportunity to race professionally for Nissan motors. The event to choose the top 16 drivers was held at a restaurant in downtown San Diego July 13-14. The top 16 drivers will fly to Silverstone racing circuit in the UK to participate in a weeklong boot camp in August. That week long boot camp will be televised on Spike TV GT Academy television series later this year.

During that week long boot camp, the 16 finalists will be judged and eliminated by a panel of racing professionals based on their skills, performance, and aptitude for professional racing. The top driver selected from the boot camp will be trained under the guidance of professional racing drivers and will compete in selected races for a Nissan racing team. The winner of the competition last year was Bryan Heitkotter, and he has been successful on the real racetrack finishing on the podium at the Dubai 24 hours and landing two front row qualifying spots along with two top 10 finishes in the Continental Tire Challenge series, and a race prepped Nissan 370Z.

Nissan GT Academy final 16 get ready to race for real is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The 1080p remaster of the classic games that put Insomniac Games on the map will be available on the PS3 on August 28. The collection will include all three Ratchet & Clank games from the PS2, available in full 1080p HD support, or 720p 3D support for those with the equipment to take their game to the next dimension. In addition to a complete remastering of the graphics, the games have added trophy support. And, where applicable, online multiplayer has been recreated to function with the Playstation Network.

Many gamers didn’t get to experience Ratchet & Clank’s online multiplayer when it was available on the PS2. So for the title Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, that functionality is being completely revived. The other titles in the remake, which will be released as one title called The Ratchet & Clank Collection, are Going Commando and the original Ratchet & Clank game that started it all.

Ratchet & Clank was one of the biggest blockbuster PlayStation franchises to make its way to the PS3. Insomniac is celebrating the franchise’s 10th anniversary this year, and plans to offer more special content in celebration of that. The collection will be available for $29.99. Sony told gamers to keep an eye out on its official Facebook and Twitter pages for the latest details.

[via PlayStation Blog]

Ratchet & Clank Collection shipping August 28 is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.