PSN

Sony evidently prefers to look on the bright side following the attack that took PSN offline for six weeks earlier this year, saying it "woke up dormant customers". Speaking to TechRadar, senior director of global business strategy and development Soichiro Saida said that user numbers and revenue were up, attributing PSN's reviving fortunes to Sony's efforts to improve the service and the Welcome Back programme, which encouraged users back to the service with free games. More >

Gaijin Games has revealed its latest project, Runner 2: Future Legend Of Rhythm Alien. Headed for XBLA and PSN, Runner 2 is the first sequel to emerge from the Bit Trip series and introduces HD visuals, new abilities for main character Commander Video and more playable characters. More >

Sony has confirmed that an online pass system “will be incorporated into Uncharted 3 and future Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios games with online functionality". More >

Capcom has admitted that the controversial always-on DRM it has used in recent PlayStation Network releases has had little impact, with the publisher saying it had proven "as much a hindrance as a help." More >

Sony has presented those looking forward to today's launch of the Battlefield 3 multiplayer beta with a major headache by taking PSN down for maintenance this evening. In a post on the PlayStation community forums, Sony confirms that PSN will be offline between 5pm and 7pm BST. More >

Speaking to CNN, a Sony spokesperson has confirmed our suspicion that the revision of its PSN terms of service to forbid class-action lawsuits was prompted by a US Supreme Court decision from earlier this year. More >

Sega has confirmed that Dreamcast classic Space Channel 5 Part 2 will be released on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade on October 4 and 5 respectively. More >

Edge publisher Future has teamed up with Sony Computer Entertainment UK to launch Access, a new on-console PS3 video show available to download for free every Wednesday from the PlayStation Store. More >

The PlayStation Network has been out of action for over three hours and there is currently no indication when it will be back online. More >

Other Ocean Interactive has a announced an XBLA and PSN title based on HG Wells’ revered science fiction novel The War Of The Worlds. Other Ocean’s previous experience with Dark Void Zero and Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night (the XBLA port, anyway) holds them in good stead for this “story of survival as a lone person trying to escape chaos and destruction amidst an alien invasion in 1950s London.” The game is poised for release this year.

Double Fine's mech battler Trenched, recently blocked from release in Europe due to a board game designer's ownership of the trademark Trench, will be renamed Iron Brigade worldwide when it launches in Europe this month. Speaking on Whiskey Media's Big Live Live Show Live Double Fine's Greg Rice and Brad Muir said that the decision was to ensure that players of all versions could play online together, and that the update would include a new survival mode, weapons, costumes and gestures. Muir also confirmed that additional DLC is currently being worked on.

The multiplayer beta of Ezio's final outing, Assassin's Creed Revelations, will be made available to all PSN account holders today. It was originally exclusive to members of PlayStation Plus and Ubisoft's Uplay, but from 10am UK time today all PSN users can download it from the PlayStation Store. A word of warning: the dreaded "scheduled maintenance" means PSN will be offline between 4pm and 6pm GMT today. Oh, and another: the beta is a 2.5GB download.

Driver: San Francisco will receive a full digital release on the PlayStation Network in the coming weeks, presumably in line with the retail version’s September 2 launch. “We are doing triple-A games you can download to the hard-drive,” Ubisoft Reflections MD Gareth Edmonson said during a Gamescom panel attended by Develop. “Driver is released on the PlayStation Network in a few weeks, for example. That’s the full Blu-Ray/DVD experience you can download. I think physical media will remain very important, but I think things are going to shift. How long that will take I’m not too sure. I don’t agree that the size of data will be the limiting factor, though, you can store this data on your hard drives.” A few weeks ago, Driver: SF creative director and Gareth’s brother, Martin Edmondson, told Edge there’ll be at least one more home console cycle before cloud computing takes centre stage. “I’m pretty sure there’ll be one more cycle,” he said. “Whether there’ll be a fifth is real crystal ball stuff. But it’s pretty obvious the way things are ultimately moving.”