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NEWS: Limited edition Puma trainers mark Forza 3 launch

Amy-Mae Elliott — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:42:21 +0000

Xbox team-up produces 324 pairs of the Speed Cat 2.9 FM3

Puma and Xbox have collaborated on some special edition shoes to celebrate the launch of Forza Motorsport 3.

The new trainers come in the form of the Speed Cat 2.9 FM3s, said to be "inspired by the pace-setter of the racing game genre and based on a classic Puma silhouette".

The game-themed footwear gets a Forza Motorsport 3 embroidered tongue while the rubber outsole is said to be inspired by real motorsport tyres.

In grey and red, Puma will sell only 324 pairs of the Speed Cat 2.9 FM3, available from London Puma shops priced at ?65 per pair.

Tags: Gaming Puma Xbox 360 Footwear Clothing Forza Motorsport 3 Racing games Sports Fitness

Limited edition Puma trainers mark Forza 3 launch originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:42:21 +0000

NEWS: Gran Turismo finally to get PSP release

Duncan Geere — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:28:51 +0100

Finally here, several years after originally promised.

Last October, we posted a story with a quote from Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida who said that the company had a development team working on Gran Turismo on the PSP, but that it wasn't ready yet.

Nearly a year later, Sony has finally announced that the game is getting a release on the console. The PSP edition contains more than 800 vehicles from real-world car manufacturers, all with driving dynamics specific to each model. There's over 4500 paint variations, too.

You can race them around 35 tracks, and "70 variations on those tracks" (which just sounds like you can go round each one backwards) that include original courses, world circuits, city courses and other racing environments.

Various gameplay modes are available - driving challenge, single player, time trial and drift trial, and multiplayer is accomplished through the PSP's ad-hoc mode with a series of head-to-head races that handicap faster drivers with slower cars. You'll also be able to trade cars with other players.

Gran Turismo PSP comes on UMD but also as a downloadable product via the PSNetwork for owners of the all-new PSP Go - which doesn't take UMDs. It's out in the United States now, we'll keep you posted on European availability.

NEWS: Top five PSP games to have in your collection

Dan Sung — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:55:01 +0100

Classics and soon-to-bes to download for your handheld gamer

With the PSP Go inches from the shelves and few first-timers about to get stuck in, we thought it be best to give you five ways to spend your spondoolics with maximum satisfaction. There's more games on the PlayStation store than you can shake a tree of sticks at so, if you're looking to start your collection or just checking that yours is complete, then make sure you've got the following:

5) Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

Developer: Infinite Interacive
Genre: Puzzle/RPG
Price: ?15.99

Infinitive Interactive took mini games and turned them into the main event. As the name suggest, the action is set in the Warlords world. You pick a character with differing abilities according to morals, magic affinity and such, and take on a bunch of main and side-quests. They win you more experience and more gold that you then cash in for more content and more character customisation. The twist, of course, is that all the confrontations are taken care of in the form Bejeweled-type mini game duals to decide who the victor is. Perhaps someone could suggest the model to warring leaders of the world.

4) Wipeout Pure

Developer: SCE Studio Liverpool
Genre: Racing
Price: ?14.99

No PlayStation platform or device would be complete without one version of Wipeout or another and the pick for the PSP is Wipeout Pure. Bags of weapons, eight constructors and only one FX-300 anti-gravity race league. Despite being set 100 years later than the original game, the idea has been to get back to the old school magic. The pit lane has been dispensed with in favour of the ability to absorb your own weapons to boost your energy. The handling is also more as it used to be but, essentially, you know what it's all about - far out tracks, amazing music and Quake disrupting your way to first place.

3) Patapon 2

Developer: SCE Japan Studio
Genre: Strategy/Rhythm
Price: ?19.99

Essentially a strategy/god game with a twist, the name Patapon refers to both your loyal tribe of tooled-up eyeball warriors and also the drum beats you need to enter correctly to control their actions on the battlefield. This second version has added a four-way multiplayer option over Wi-Fi and has been described as a "must have" for any PSP owner, so you'd better go and must have it then.

2) Dissidia: Final Fantasy

Developer: Square Enix
Genre: RPG
Price: Released imminent

Celebrating over 20 years of the renowned series that has shipped over 85 million units worldwide, Dissidia Final Fantasty brings together the largest collection of FF characters ever in a fighting-styled game where players can choose their allegiance between good and evil. It's one of the world's most popular RPG franchises. Heroes and villains of the series collide in a war that threatens to tear the universe apart. Action-packed gameplay and character customisation move to another level with full-on blockbuster audio and visual presentation on the handheld. Lovely game.

1) Monster Hunter Freedom Unite

Developer: Capcom
Genre: MMORPG
Price: ?24.99

With a huge following in Japan and an ever-growing cult status over here, the latest incarnation of the franchise does not disappoint. Monster Hunters can prepare for the ultimate fight by customising their character and creating thousands of armour sets and weapons to assist them on hundreds of different quests to track down and slay the toughest bosses out there. Players can embark on hunts alone with their cat like Felyne companion or as a team in up to four-player ad-hoc mode to complete more challenging quests. An excellent and hopelessly addictive way to lose 100 hours of time without so much as blinking.