Sony has announced the next batch of DLC heading to the mascot-brawler PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. It was recently revealed that the game would soon be receiving two more characters and a new stage next month.

On March 19, the PlayStation Store will see the additions of Zeus from the God of War series and Isaac Clarke of Dead Space fame join the battle. The characters will cost $4.99 a piece, unless you pick up a copy of the upcoming God of War: Ascension. The new PS3 game will include a voucher code for both characters. Also joining the roster is an entirely new level called Graveyard. This new locale blends together the words of the Unfinished Swan and the classic MediEvil.

You can check out the reveal trailers for both characters below and look forward to the new content next month!
   

Sony took to the official PlayStation Blog yesterday and revealed this weeks bonuses for PlayStation Plus members. This weeks store update will bring yet another free game to the Instant Game Collection and a variety of discounts on all platforms.

On the free side of things, Plants vs. Zombies will be available for the PlayStation Vita will be free of charge for the next couple of weeks. This is a very small download (approx. 75mb) and an extremely addictive game, that you shouldn’t hesitate to download! On the discount end of the bargains, you can look forward to the rhythm-shooter Retro/Grade for the PS3 being reduced to $2.44. the soundtrack is also available for a reduced price.

Since this month marks the one-year anniversary of the Vita’s launch, Sony is launching a PS Vita anniversary Sale as well. Discounts on the following Vita titles will be available to everyone, but PS Plus members will get an even bigger discount as shown below:
 

Game	Price	Sale Price	PS Plus Price
Escape Plan	$14.99	$10.49	$7.34
Hot Shots Gold: World Invitational	$35.99	$25.19	$17.63
Hustle Kings	$9.99	$6.99	$4.89
Little Deviants	$17.99	$12.59	$8.81
MLB The Show 12	$17.99	$12.59	$8.81
ModNation Racers: Road Trip	$17.99	$13.99	$9.79
MotorStorm RC Complete Edition	$11.99	$8.39	$5.87
PS All-Stars Battle Royale	$35.99	$25.19	$17.63
Reality Fighters	$17.99	$12.59	$8.81
Smart As	$26.99	$18.89	$13.22
Sound Shapes	$14.99	$10.49	$7.34
Super Stardust Delta	$9.99	$6.99	$4.89
Unit 13	$26.99	$18.89	$13.22

RUSSELL ARCHEY, staff writer
I'll probably be trying to finish up Skyrim, or at least getting to the final act. Last time I played the game crashed to the desktop four minutes after I did a quick save. Provided it plays nice, I'll probably give it some major attention this weekend.

SEAN CAHILL, staff writer, Twitter @seancahill2
My gaming has been locked up by FIFA Soccer 13 and Far Cry 3, lately. I find myself continuing to play online with Ultimate Team in FIFA, while Far Cry tortures me time and time again with various wild animals while I'm attempting to complete a goal. Frustrating, but it makes it far more challenging.

NATHAN CARTER, staff writer, Twitter @natedoggcata
Probably more Left 4 Dead 2 on the PC. The steam workshop is such a great thing. I am having so much fun downloading tons of new and unique campaigns, character skins, weapons and more. Hell I hate leaving the safe room cause I love listening to the Resident Evil save room soundtracks that I downloaded from the workshop as well. Other than that I might also hop in some Counter-Strike: Source to play some more Deathrun maps. Its like the TV Wipeout only...in CSS! 

NATHANIEL COHEN, staff writer, Twitter @seven_hells
I finally got around to trying XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Lovin' it. I name all my soldiers after Game of Thrones characters. I'm also doing a "vertical playthrough" of the Dead Space trilogy. "Vertical playthrough" is what I call it when you take a trilogy of games and play one level/chapter/whatever of the first game, then do the same for the second, then do the same for the third, and then you start back with the first one and so on and so forth. Dead Space lends itself well to vertical playthroughs because it's got those clear chapter delineations. Doing so really paints the each games differences in stark relief.

JEREMY DUFF, senior staff writer, Twitter @duff3c
Assuming that I get some time to sink into some games for fun this weekend, I will likely spend a few more hours on the free-to-play Path of Exile, getting my loot gathering fix. Other than that, I really need to start Batman: Arkham City which has been collecting dust in my cabinet since it launched, and wrap up Uncharted 3 which has been half-finished for well over a year.

CHARLES HUSEMANN, editor in chief, Twitter @chusemann
Currently playing more Black Ops 2 PC multiplayer than I care to admit. Just too easy to drop in few a few quick rounds between chores around the house. Also playing a lot of MechWarrior Online and Temple Run 2. Need to scope some time to wrap up Dead Space 3 and get caught up with Halo 4's Spartan Ops.

RANDY KALISTA, staff writer, Twitter @randykalista
Is twelve months late too late to be fashionably late? That's where I'm at with Mass Effect 3. On the upside, I bought the Firefight Pack, Groundside Resistance Pack, and Alternate Appearance Pack 1. There's entirely too much game ahead of me to even consider the big single-player DLC stuff like Omega, Leviathan, From Ashes, or the recently teased Silversun Strip. But this is the pulpy kind of sci-fi I'm absolutely dying for right now.

MIKE MAHARDY, staff writer, Twitter @mmahardy
I'll be playing through Serious Sam DD XXL on XBLA cooperatively this weekend (it's very fun in all of the craziest, best ways) and also playing Metal Gear Rising insert really, really stupid noun here. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is just as amazing as it has always been, and it's never a bad time to play FTL: Faster Than Light when I'm craving that strange feeling of helplessness combined with pure euphoria. God, I love FTL.

JOHN YAN, senior hardware editor, Twitter @thejohnyan
Diablo 3, Black Ops 2 multiplayer.
 

Today Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (SCEA) announced the nominees for their third annual PlayStation®Network (PSN) Gamers’ Choice Awards, designed to recognize the best downloadable games on PSN. The awards feature ten categories comprised of some of the highest user-rated games released on PSN in 2012.

Starting today you can log into PSN & vote via the Play Station Store where you can download the Gamers Choice Awards theme for your XMB (Xross Media Bar).  The winning games will be announced via the Play Station Blog on February 26th.  Hit the break for all your Nominees! [READ MORE]

It has only been a few weeks since Zen Studios announced that they were bringing Star Wars Pinball to the Pinball FX and Zen Pinball universe, now we know when. The first pack of tables set in the Star Wars universe will launch next week on a variety of platforms.

The first pack will feature three tables: the Empire Strikes Back, Boba Fett, and the Clone Wars. The pack will roll out according to the following schedule:

• February 26-     PlayStation Network ($9.99, Cross Buy privileges for PS3 and Vita)
• February 27-     Xbox Live Arcade (800 MSP), Apple App Store ($1.99 per table), Mac App Store ($2.99 per table), Google Play ($1.99 per table)

Additional platforms are expected to be announced at a later date.

Namco Bandai has recently announced that WRC 3 FIA World Rally Championship will be coming to North and Latin America this spring for the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Vita.  The game draws its content from the 2012 FIA World Championship Rally, so gamers can experience racing on official tracks with world-renowned teams and racers.

While the game will feature a variety of single player and multiplayer modes, the main feature of WRC 3  will be its Road to Glory mode.  This lets gamers experience a career to become the top racer in the WRC universe.  Players can create their own teams and compete in rallies that take place in some of the most famous locations in the world. [READ MORE]

Dead Or Alive 5 Plus for the PS Vita launches on March 19th and today, Team Ninja has information on the "Touch Fight" mode which is exclusive to the Vita version. The "touch fight" mode allows you to play the game in a first person mode where you touch and swipe to deal damage to your opponent. Using the Vita's touch controls will allow you to unleash huge combos and hitting a five hit combo will unleash a critical burst leaving the opponent open for more attacks. As an example, swiping upwards will launch the opponent into the air and pinching the screen will result in a hold. Opponents will react to where they are being attacked.

In addition to help players Team Ninja has also included several new training modes. Free Training allows players to choose what moves and combos they want to practice. Command Training allows players to practice each of the characters moves until they have mastered them all. Its pretty much the "trials" mode you find in other fighting games. Tutorial mode gives players the lowdown on basic moves to advanced combos with lesson and mission segments. Finally Combo Challenge allows players to select each characters key moves and combos till they become second nature. 

Finally we got a brand new batch of screen shots including the new cheerleader costumes. 

This week brings a blend of both old and new to the current wave of platforms. On the new side of things, Gearbox’s Colonial Marines is finally being released after numerous delays and a ton of anticipation from gamers everywhere. The 360 is also getting last week’s PC release of Omerta: City of Gangsters. On the older side of things, Team17‘s classic Alien Breed is making a comeback on Sony’s portable Vita, which should please fans of the classic game.

There are quite a few choices this week, so pick your poison:

• Alien Breed for PlayStation Vita (via PSN)
• Aliens: Colonial Marines for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC
• Brain Age: Concentration Training for Nintendo 3DS
• Ecolibrium for PlayStation Vita (via PSN)
• Omerta: City of Gangsters for Xbox 360
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 for Nintendo 3DS
• Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed for Nintendo 3DS
• YU-GI-OH! 5D’s Decade Duels Plus for PlayStation Network

The Trials style motorcycle games are pretty fun. Just ride your motorcycle through though the crazy tracks and let physics do the work for you. Playstation and Vita owners should be pretty excited to know that that they will be getting their own freestyle cycling game as Urban Trial Freestyle will be coming soon and it looks like it was directed by Michael Bay. Based just from the trailer it looks like you will be riding your bike along rooftops and trains blasting down the tracks while explosion and other crazy stuff is going on. 

The developers of the game also wanted to give players the highest level of competition possible so they are including about 100 different leaderboards. That should keep you plenty busy to rise the ranks of those. Players can also compare their best scores and times depending on two different game modes. 

The first is stunt mode where players compete to be named "Best Stuntman" on all of the 20 different tracks with about five kinds of stunts to perform on each track. Each track will have its own leaderboard. Time Attack mode which allows you to race against ghosts so you can challenge the number one person in the world or your top friend. 

We wanted to take advantage of the high-end graphics and the power that PS3's Cell processor provides. So we developed a live background and enhanced gameplay with secondary events like police chases, barricades, and all the demolition you can imagine when you put a crazy guy on a motorbike and let him jump over the motorway. Urban Trial Freestyle really breaks the rules of gravity with the trial biking.

No release date has been announced but Urban Trial Freestyle is expected to be released Q1 of this year so probably soon.  [READ MORE]

• Frogger
• Time Pilot
• Asteroids
• Centipede
• Astrosmash Gen 2
• Shark! Shark! Gen 2
• Mad Bomber

Downloading the free app will also get you Icebreaker and WipEout 2D for free plus a demo of Scribble Shooter. Games will cost $1.49 each and all games purchased will be playable on both PlayStation Home and PS Vita at no available cost.
 

Don’t go running to your local game retailer hoping to pick up Fire Emblem Awakening today... or tomorrow for that matter. It appears that the game has suffered a minor delay in the shipment of the physical game which will set it back a few days. The game was scheduled to be in retailers yesterday, but is currently nowhere to be found (aside from digital distribution).

The delay is reportedly due to a manufacturing error, which should be remedied by now. The game will likely show up later this week for those seeking the actual, physical game cartridges. We will also have our full review of the game very soon.