European PlayStation Home community manager TedTheDog recently clued in his fellow virtual inhabitants to some changes that would soon take effect within the game world. Most of them focused on improving some already integrated features -- for instance, he mentioned many PS3 developers are working on patches to their respective titles to allow them to be launched within Home, and that they're "investigating" methods of allowing players to listen to their own music in-game.

He also explained that a few high profile Game Spaces are nearing completion, and should see the light of day in the coming weeks. Among the mentioned game-themed rooms are lobbies modeled after SOCOM: Confrontation, Siren: Blood Curse (which is currently accessible in Japan), and Resident Evil 5. More importantly, he mentioned that a "slightly updated" Home Square could launch as early as March 5. We don't know what this update will entail, but we hope it'll provide further opportunities for us to carry out our more nefarious PlayStation Home enterprises.

The Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (or USK, for those who are terrified of lengthy, foreign words), Germany's game rating organization, isn't traditionally known for bringing us the hottest scoops. However, a recent listing on their site perked up our ever-attentive ears -- they recently stamped a Freigegeben ab 6 Jahren gemäß § 14 JuSchG (restricted for those below the age of six) rating to a PS3 version of Worms. Given that the genre of said listing is "Arcade", we think it's safe to assume that they're referring to a PSN port of the XBLA title.

This isn't a particularly surprising turn of events -- Worms has sold over half a million on the XBLA, and its done so over the course of about two years. However, Team 17, the game's developer, hasn't formally announced the PSNified title. Assuming the USK hasn't got its wires crossed, we should be hearing more about the port fairly soon.

Europe's "semi-official" PlayStation blog, Three Speech, has posted up a list of songs to be included on this week's SingStore update. The new songs will be available this Thursday, January 29th.

English

New

Kylie Minogue – Confide In Me
Paul McCartney & Wings - Jet
Rita Red Shoes – Dream on Girl
Suede- Everything Will Flow
Suede – Saturday Night
Supergrass – Diamond Hoo Ha Man
The Divine Comedy – Something
The Divine Comedy – National Express
Westlife – Fool Again
Will Young – Grace
Wings – Band On The Run

80's

Modern Talking – Cheri Cheri Lady

Interested in seeing what sells on the PlayStation Network? Sony has you covered. A new PlayStation Bulletin promises to be released every week or two with some interesting stats about the service. Mostly, these are sales stats, but we're hoping to see some gameplay statistics in future updates.

The stat list, found after the break, applies to the American PSN store only. European stats are unknown. The bulletin contains some other interesting info, too, such as the fact that there are now "more than 162 downloadable games" and 430 PlayStation 3 games "are expanded through digital downloads." That seems a little high. Can you rattle off a list of 100+ PSN games?

Downloads have increased by over 20% over the last three months and over half the games found on the PSN Store are exclusive to the PlayStation Network. Home has also been updated recently with the addition of some Ninja gear and the bulletin promises more costumes, such as an Astronaut suit and a female pirate outfit this week.

It looks like PlayStation Home will be expanding soon, with a brand new Home Space. This cafe was introduced on the PlayStation Boards by Home Manager Locust_Star. Apparently, this space already exists in the Asian versions of Home. From the looks of things, this is just a lounge where people can gather and chat.

Check out the images in our gallery:



[Thanks, Omni_Noesis!]

Bit of a strange update today. Europe finally begins to catch up with the first episode of Penny Arcade Adventures. The PS1 vault is also bolstered slightly with a couple of Disney games. Other than that, there's the F.E.A.R 2 demo and Uncharted 2 and God of War III trailers, plus a few other bits and bobs of DLC. Here's the full release list:

Playable Content

• Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 1 full game (£7.99/€9.99)
• F.E.A.R 2 demo
• Disney's Action Game Featuring Hercules PS1 game (£3.99/€5.99)
• The Little Mermaid II PS1 game (£3.99/€5.99)

Add-on Content

• Buzz! Quiz TV "American Culture" pack (£3.99)
• Skate 2 "Time is Money" pack (£3.19/€3.99)
• Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm "Storm Pack 5" (free)
• Rock Band DLC (listed after the break)
  
• Guitar Hero World Tour DLC (listed after the break)
  

With the announcement that Crystal Defenders R1 is heading to WiiWare in Japan next week, there's also news that a PS3 port is also in the works, probably for PSN. There's no word yet on whether the PS3 version will have upgraded graphics or features, but we're hoping so. Though the word "port" doesn't fill us with confidence. Currently this is for Japan only, but condering the iPhone version was released worldwide, it seems likely these other versions will be too. If you don't want to wait you can try it out now by grabbing it from the iPhone app store.

Want an early taste at Capcom's latest zombie adventure? You'll be able to download a free demo off the PlayStation Store the week of February 5th.

The demo will include two levels and three types of co-op play: single-player with AI support, two-player split-screen on a single PS3 and two-player across PlayStation Network. Players will be able to pick between traditional RE4 controls, or a new "Action" control scheme, inspired by popular third-person shooters, like Gears of War.

Level-5's J-RPG White Knight Chronicles has been out in Japan for little under a month now. While some have perhaps already finished the main story, it doesn't mean that the adventure is over just yet. DLC for WKC will appear on the Japanese PS Store on January 15 (tomorrow) and will add new costumes and a whole new quest for online multiplayer.

Those who own the game and plan to download the DLC will find that they'll have to meet certain in-game requirements before triggering the new mission. It'll only appear for those who have a guild rank of 7 or above, and it is recommended that players be at least level 36.

We wonder how frequent Level-5 plans to release these packs, as we're certain that there will be more. Also -- since it was not mentioned in the source article -- is Level-5 charging for this content? We'll probably find that out when the update hits the store tomorrow. Anyway, hopefully we'll see this additional content come our way when the game voyages to North America.

This is a promo we'd love to see in our region. Sony Computer Entertainment Asia is giving away HK$10 (about $1.30) in PlayStation Network credit to those that are able to find a "mysterious avatar" in Sony's virtual world. Clues can be found on posters in the service.

The money certainly isn't enough to buy anything significant, but it is enough to buy a trinket from the PlayStation Home's in-world store. Participate in a game and win free virtual pants? We like the sound of that. Hopefully, SCEA or SCEE will do something similar in the future.

[Via Siliconera]

Have Mirror's Edge? Well, make sure you log onto the PlayStation Network on January 29th. PS3 owners will be able to download two pieces of DLC, one free and one for-pay. PS3 owners will be able to download a PS3-exclusive level for free. However, if they want seven all-new Time Trial maps, they'll have to pony up $10. Those that are having trouble with the Time Trial Trophies may want to pick this pack up -- more maps will make it easier to pick up that elusive 50-star rating.

We're fairly certain that there's a good number of you who responded to the news of an EA Sports Home space with nothing more than a "meh." Some of us did too, to be honest. Some of us are not particularly big fans of sports games, so we assumed this Home space is for other people. Until, that is, we saw the new walkthrough video that has appeared on the PlayStation Blog, which shows off the entire space, including the three mini-games.

Home users will be able to race go-karts against each other, with four people racing at once. There's also a golfing minigame and poker tables. While these are nothing too exciting on their own, EA are introducing a "light progression system" with their area. That means that you'll be able to spend your winnings on upgrading your go-karts, and progressing to higher level poker tables. There will also be wearable prizes and stuff for your Home apartment, as usual.

So even if you're not a sports fan, you should find something to do within the EA Sports Home space when it launches around March.

Looks like this "Home" thing is working out for Sony. It's only been a month since the online service launched, and Sony has already sold a million bucks worth of virtual goods. Seems the bite-sized prices of the various online products have tempted quite a number of Home users. Products go for as low as $.49, but some can get quite expensive.

Sony is also looking into the value of user-generated content in Home. However, allowing users to create their own objects in Home will not only cut into Sony's bottom-line, but it will undoubtedly cause moderation migraines. Let's not forget that Second Life was once filled with flying penises.

[Via Joystiq]

A PlayStation Store update has come and gone ... without any LittleBigPlanet content. Huh? Ever since release, LBP has treated gamers to free and premium DLC on a weekly basis. So what gives?

Well, looks like the LBP team just took a small break. DLC will resume on a weekly basis at the end of the month, starting January 22nd. "Big surprises" are in store for fans of the game. Will they be surprises on the scale of the MGS4 pack?

In addition, Media Molecule is working hard on a new patch that fixes some of the glitches found in version 1.07 of the game. Will they fix the save data issue? Hopefully!

A reasonably small update for America too, today. Not as small as Europe's update, though. Two of Creat Studios' PSN titles, Cuboid and Mahjong Tales are releasing today, alongside Qore episode 8. There's also the normal musical DLC packs and various other pieces of add-on content. Here's the full release list:

Playable Content

• Qore episode 8 ($2.99 for a single episode, $24.99 for a year's subscription)
• Cuboid full game ($9.99)
• Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom full game ($9.99)

Price Changes

• Mercenaries 2 "Blow It Up Again" pack ($1.99)
• Rock Band tracks: "Are You Dead Yet," "Hay Poco Rock n Roll," "Ready, Set, Go!", "The Real World," "Tempted," "Tutto E Possible" ($1.99)

Add-on Content

• Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm "Storm Pack 6" (free)
• Tom Clancy's EndWar "Faction Elite" pack ($3.75)
• WWE Smackdown Vs Raw Roster Update ($4.99)
• Rock Band 2 DLC (listed after the break)
• Guitar Hero World Tour DLC (listed after the break)
• Rock Revolution DLC (listed after the break)