If you have been waiting to hear who won our Wall-E competition, the wait is over.

Congratulations to Dimitri Kalamoudacos for winning the cool Wall-E hamper (PS2 copy of Wall-E plus trendy Wall-E notepad) sponsored by Ster-Kinekor.

We think his drawing is really cool, don’t you?

Reviewing SingStar games has become an exercise in music critiquing more than game critiquing. As little as I’m qualified to review games, I’m even less qualified to review music since I’m the kind of person who actually enjoys the new Britney single. What I can say completely objectively is that this is the same game you’ve played many times before (there have now been 16 Singstar discs released on the PS2 in English), with no difference but for the music. So my advice is to take a look at the track list at the end of the review and decide from there how much you want to sing those songs.

But maybe you’ve never played a SingStar game so I will explain the game in a nutshell: it’s karaoke with score and music videos. Karaoke doesn’t quite convey it properly though – in this case it’s the real song, not some dodgy cover without the voice track. The real song sung by the real artist while the real music video plays in the background, and the lyrics go across the screen with a handy pitch guide for you to sing to so that you can see when you’re not singing the song exactly the same as the real singer.

Continue reading El33tonline’s review of SingStar Hottest Hits.

Are you ready for SingStar ABBA, Sony Computer Entertainment and ABBA’s collaborative effort? Well, you’d better get ready and exercise those vocal chords, because SingStar Abba is going to be here this Christmas!

Releasing exclusively for PlayStation 2 and Playstation 3, SingStar ABBA includes all of the karaoke fun from past SingStar games, only this time including classic ABBA tracks such as ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’, ‘Waterloo’ and ‘Dancing Queen.’

SingStar ABBA is being developed in full collaboration with Universal Music Group in Sweden, who manage the rights to the ABBA brand, with an exclusivity agreement that lasts until December 2009. ABBA’s success and popularity is still being celebrated, after their recordings have sold an estimated 370 million units worldwide, while their album, “Gold,” has sold 26 million units alone. Additionally, the soundtrack to the movie inspired by ABBA’s music, “Mamma Mia!” has sold almost 3 million copies worldwide.

President, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe said, “We are thrilled to be collaborating with ABBA to bring their tracks to SingStar this Christmas. The popularity of this iconic band continues year after year, and we know SingStar fans will be delighted to add this selection of classics tracks to their SingStar collection.”

Chairman/CEO of Universal Music Group International, Lucian Grainge added, “ABBA have joined that elite club of musicians and artists whose popularity only grows with time, as new generations enjoy some of the most memorable music ever made. SingStar ABBA will have the world singing along again.”

Look out for SingStar ABBA in stores this Christmas!

Fancy a chance to win Wall-E the game for the PlayStation 2, as well as a great Wall-E themed notepad? Well, you’ve come to the right place!

All you need to do to stand a chance to win Wall-E (PS2) and the notepad is draw your very own picture of Wall-E. This could be a scribbling, a doodling, a sketch, crayon drawing - whatever you think constitutes a visual representation of the titular Wall-E!

Enter the competition by scanning your picture and sending it to us. Easy! Read El33tonline’s review of Wall-E to see what we thought of it and visit our Wall-E competition page for more information! You’d better hurry though! Entries close today!

Thanks to Ster-Kinekor for the great prizes!

Fancy a chance to win Wall-E the game for the PlayStation 2, as well as a great Wall-E themed notepad? Well, you’ve come to the right place!

All you need to do to stand a chance to win Wall-E (PS2) and the notepad is draw your very own picture of Wall-E. This could be a scribbling, a doodling, a sketch, crayon drawing - whatever you think constitutes a visual representation of the titular Wall-E!

Enter the competition by scanning your picture and sending it to us. Easy! Read El33tonline’s review of Wall-E to see what we thought of it and visit our Wall-E competition page for more information!

Thanks to Ster-Kinekor for the great prizes!

Three young men face life-imprisonment or a fine of $825 000… or both! What’s their crime? Attempting to smuggle a large amount of ecstasy tablets inside a PlayStation 2 (apparently the original version).

A New Zealander (aged 20) and two Canadians (18 years old apiece) were arrested and charged. A package comprising the PS2 and 3400 ecstasy tablets were intercepted at Sydney International mail facility on October 5th. Three packets of drugs were found inside the hollowed-out husk of the PS2, while another packet was found in the cover of a game disc. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) then monitored the delivery of the package to the criminals’ home in Queensland, Australia.

The three men were charged with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and one count of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, after appearing in court on Tuesday. Life-imprisonment and/or the aforementioned hefty fine await them.

Source: Courier Mail

Are you artistic by any definition of the word? Can you doodle? Can you scribble? Do you want to stand a chance of winning a great little PlayStation 2 game by the unassuming name of Wall-E? Well, look no further, because El33tonline is running a competition that puts your crayon skills to good use.

Did you enjoy the Pixar movie, Wall-E? Well, if you did, Wall-E for the PS2 is a perfect companion piece that allows you to experience the environments and characters from the film. Even if you didn’t like the movie, or you haven’t even watched it, you’re sure to enjoy it as it takes the best parts of the story and wraps them into a game, as we point out in our review.

If you want to stand a chance to win Wall-E for the PS2, as well as an awesome Wall-E notepad, here’s what you need to do - draw/doodle/scribble/paint/whatever a picture of Wall-E and send it to us. If we judge your picture to be the best, you’ll end up with a great prize! What are you waiting for?! Go get Scrib-Doo-Drawing!

Thanks go to Ster-Kinekor for the cool prize.

Wall-E for the PlayStation 2 is a throw-back to the days when collecting items and progressing through levels was considered all a game could be. In many instances, Wall-E represents a time when story and motivation were something players didn’t require - the simple act of item collection to move past a door was enough. Where Wall-E trumps these games is the way it uses its story and characters to present a backdrop to the basic gameplay mechanics, effectively injecting humour, story presence and a touch of soul into an otherwise cookie-cutter design.

Continue reading El33tonline’s PS2 review of Wall-E.

Wall-E, the game, is your chance to relive key moments from the Disney/Pixar film by controlling two of the main characters from the movie, the titular Wall-E as well as Eve, carrying out intense missions, dodging dangerous enemies, solving puzzles and navigating your way through a futuristic world in a non-stop action adventure! There’s even a multiplayer component and mini-games!

Do you want to win a copy of Wall-E for the PlayStation 2? Of course you do! All you need to do to stand a chance of winning Wall-E for PS2, as well as an awesome Wall-E hardcover writing pad, is send us your own drawing of Wall-E! Get creative and show some latent artistic talent by going to the El33tonline Wall-E Competition page for more details.

Thanks go to Ster-Kinekor for the great prizes!

Wall-E is based on Disney/Pixar’s film of the same name that rocketed into cinemas earlier this year. Players take control of robots Wall-E and Eve in THQ’s latest game, exploring nine futuristic levels, all the while carrying out missions, solving puzzles and avoiding enemies.

If you send us a drawing of Wall-E you could win an awesome Wall-E giveaway, consisting of a PS2 copy of the game and a hard cover writing pad. For more details check out our Wall-E competition page, you can enter as many times as you like so get drawing!

Some screenshots of the game after the jump. Thanks to Ster-Kinekor for their continued support.

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It’s been announced on the US PlayStation Blog that a limited edition Lego Batman PlayStation 2 bundle has been unleashed into the market. For a MSRP of $149.99, the bundle includes:

• The Black PlayStation 2 system and DUALSHOCK 2 Controller
• LEGO Batman: The Video Game
• Justice League: The New Frontier DVD, which, in case you don’t know, reveals the origin of the Justice League, based on Darwyn Cooke’s award-winning graphic novel

So, if you want LEGO Batman, you still haven’t bought a PS2 and these new-fangled next-generation systems are still too pricey for your taste, hurry out to a major retailer near you, because stocks are limited. No mention of whether this bundle will be available outside of the US, though.

If you don’t know anything about LEGO Batman, mosey on over here for more info.

Pli Design, a London-based manufacturer of contemporary furniture, has announced their Reee Chair, made from 100% recycled PlayStation 2 plastic. The chair uses 2.4 kg of recycled plastic, of PlayStation 2 origin, and is designed to be disassembled at the end of its life so it can be recycled again…and again. The energy required to recycle and produce the Reee Chair is a fraction of the energy necessary to produce a similar product from ‘virgin’ plastic.

Pli’s design manager, Alex Whitney said, “The simple idea behind the Reee chair is to produce a recycled furniture product in the UK that has style, function and durability but does not compromise its environmental credentials - so our customers don’t have to compromise theirs.”

The Reee Chair will be launched on September 10th at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe HQ in London.

It seems that compatibility is the word of the week. Earlier in the week Sony announced that all instruments for the PS3 versions of three upcoming music games (Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Revolution) would be compatible. Microsoft soon followed suite, making clear that instruments for future Xbox 360 rhythm games will be compatible too.

Following on the announcement that SingStar PS3 Vol.2 will be making its way to the US this October, SCEA unveiled a new SingStar PS3 disc swap feature that incorporates the SingStar PS2 library.

According to the SingStar development team, SingStar track compatibility across PS2 and PS3 is enabled via the Disc Swap feature. “The feature has previously been available on SingStar games for both PlayStation 2 and PLAYSTATION 3, but for the first time owners of SingStar for PS3 will be able to play songs from PS2 discs in their collection.”

When you are playing a SingStar PS3 disc, simply choose ‘select’ at the song select screen to swap discs and play the songs from the inserted disc. Although the songs are not saved to the hard drive, this feature enables gamers to enjoy their SingStar PS2 collection on their PS3.

The disc swap feature will be delivered via a free game update later this year. It will work with all current PS3 system models and does not require a system software update. It will work with all current SingStar PS3 discs and will be included on future SingStar PS3 discs releasing next year.

Richard Bates clarified a few points in the comments section. Players will not be able to upload any saved media for PS2 songs due to licensing restrictions and trophy support will be coming early next year.

In response to whether the PS3 will be playing PS2 discs in emulation through the SingStar software, Bates replied “We added to the PS3 SingStar game ‘engine’ the ability to read and decode the tracks from a SingStar disc for PS2. Keeping it within the PS3 game also means you can still play your downloaded tracks.”

Midway has revealed Mortal Kombat: Kollection, a special edition box set combining three of the most recent Mortal Kombat releases exclusively for the PS2.

The special three pack will include Mortal Kombat: Deception, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. Mortal Kombat: Kollection will be available this September across the US for $29.99.

“Mortal Kombat has been a pinnacle fighting franchise for well over a decade now and this is an ideal package for fans and collectors in terms of content and price point,” said Mona Hamilton, vice president of marketing, Midway Home Entertainment.

“With the PlayStation 2 still holding the highest market share of any home console, we saw this as the perfect opportunity to offer an incredible value to our consumers as we ramp up for the highly anticipated launch of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.”

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe is expected to be released on the Xbox 360 and PS3 this October.

Being one of the three platform holders, Sony’s press conference at the E3 Media and Business Summmit is always an anticipated affair as historically it has been the platform used for big announcements in the industry. Being in the middle of a console generation, however, no hardware announcements were anticipated, so Sony simply show-cased their 2008 line-up, a few future titles and their bid to be every household’s media hub.

Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, began his talk explaining that the original PlayStation was planned to have a 10 year product lifecycle, and that this same strategy is being followed in the PlayStation 3’s case. He backed up his statement about the relative infancy of the PlayStation 3 by saying that seminal games of that generation, such as Final Fantasy VII, Gran Turismo and Tony Hawk were still on the horizon at this stage of the original PlayStation’s lifecycle. Next, as seems customary at these press conferences, Tretton boasted about one of Sony’s biggest achievements this generation - Blu-ray triumphing over HD-DVD. He also pointed out that the Cell processor is being used by IBM to power some of its latest supercomputers, and how the PS3 Folding@home project has in fact spawned the most powerful distributed computing system in the world according to Guiness.

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