PlayStation Update for 5-13-14: Minecraft on PS3, free-to-play sale, free Skullgirls

Lots of discounts on free-to-play add ons, the Hitman Trilogy is less than $15, and a fighter is the free game in this week's PlayStation update.

New Releases

PS3

• Minecraft: PS3 Edition - $19.99 (Retail - Friday)
• Serious Sam 3: BFE - $14.99* (Digital)

VITA

• Borderlands 2 Vita - $39.96** (Digital/Retail)
• Soul Sacrifice Delta - $49.99 (Digital)

DEMOS

• Ragnarok Odyssey ACE - PS3/Vita
• XBlaze Code: Embryo - PS3/Vita

*PlayStation Plus price

**Amazon price

A bit light on the slate for new releases this week, considering there's nothing actually new. The highlight has to be Minecraft, which is currently the best-selling PlayStation 3 game on Amazon at $20. The craze continues, and it's not even out until Friday.

For those that don't know what Serious Sam is, that's an old-school first person shooter that hails to the days of Doom and Quake, when you blow up monsters with massive guns. This new edition is pretty old -- it was released on Xbox a year and a half ago -- and the PS+ price is the bare minimum to get this game. In fact, you're better off waiting for the full-fledged experience of an old-school shooter like Wolfenstein next week.

What is Soul Sacrifice Delta? It's basically an Ultimate Edition, including the game and downloadable content. It includes a "new Grimm faction" and has upgrades over the original edition.

PSN Discounts

This week, Sony is discounting nearly all of their free-to-play games. Yes, that sounds like an oxymoron, but plenty of FTP games have so much DLC, it could almost be like playing a full game. Hell, it can be even more expensive at times! For those interested, there are some massive deals on PS+ along with a big variety of games.

• Blacklight Retribution Zcoins: 100 - $.48, 500 - $2.44, 1,000 - $4.89, 2,500 - $12.24, 5,000 - $24.49, 10,000 - $48.99 ($50 savings)
• DC Universe Online Ultimate Edition (PS4) - $13.99
• DCUO UE Starter Pack (PS3) - $13.99
• DCUO: Lightning Strikes / Origin Crisis - $4.89
• Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate: Complete Costume Set - $10.00 ($30 savings)
• DOA5: Complete Casual Collection Vol. 1 - $2.75
• DOA5: Ultimate Sexy Costumes - $3.75
• Dust 514: Various Combat and Assault Packs - $2.50
• Dust 514: Tactical Edition (w/ or w/o Client) - $2.50
• Dust 514: Starter Pack - $0.75
• Dust 514: Battle Kit - $0.25 (w/ Active Booster - $0.50)
• Spartacus Legends Gladiator Starter Pack - $3.75
• Spartacus Gold Coins: 240 - $5.00, 650 - $12.50, 1,100 - $18.75, 3,000 - $37.50
• Warframe: 75 Plantinum - $3.59, 170 Plantinum - $6.74, 370 Plantinum - 13.49
• Warframe: 1000P + Mod - $33.74, 2100P + Mod - $67.49, 3210P + Mod - $101.24 ($48 savings)

Here are some other discounts for a couple of Square Enix games:

• Hitman Absolution Special Edition - $8.99
• Hitman Trilogy HD - $14.39 ($25 savings)
• Tomb Raider (PS3) - $13.49

Instant Game Collection

This week's free game is a 2D anime fighter, Skullgirls Encore, on the PlayStation 3. I never played the game, and only heard about the story between Konami and Lab Zero Games. This is an upgrade to the original Skullgirls after the developer cut ties with Konami. After being pulled from availability on consoles last December, the game was re-released under Autumn Games back in February for $15. 

For those that haven't gotten burned out on all the fighters that have been released on the IGC for Vita, might as well grab a six-pack and give this one a go. Also, it'd be fun to play a fighter on the big screen for once.

Have a great week, everyone!

Dead or Alive, Dragon's Dogma to Receive Free-to-Play Editions on PlayStation Consoles

If it hasn't died already, the end of downloading demos is nearing. Third-party companies frustrated with game sales are opting to give their games a free-to-play option to attract more gamers. Could this be the go-to move that so many MMOs and mobile games have gone to?

Tecmo's release of Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate will have two versions of the game available - the full retail edition and a special stripped down edition only for the PS3 as a download. [Geek]

Released this coming September, DOA5 Ultimate has been developed by Team Ninja and will be available as a full, paid-for game on disc for both the PS3 and Xbox 360. However, a limited basic version will also be offered as an experiment only on the PS3 as a download. It will only include four characters alongside all the game modes with the exception of story mode.

The sequel to Dragon's Dogma, DD Quest, will be a PlayStation Vita exclusive and will also implement the free-to-play model. In this version, executive producer Hideaki Itsuno told Polygon that players will be given the full quest with options to purchase things to make the quest easier.

"We decided to go with downloadable and free-to-play at an early stage," Itsuno commented. "A lot of games in that genre haven't featured much gameplay or made money purchases feel like the whole point of it. We wanted a game where it was fun to think, where it was fully playable and addictive. This is a serious, full-on RPG, and it's built to play seriously. However, there may be people who don't have much time to play or don't want to spend a lot of time in this or that part of it. For that, we have [purchasable] items that might help out people."

The free-to-play model is a trend that more games may go to. It gives gamers a vast library immediately with the limitation only being how much storage space is available on their console. Think of a better version of Google Play with so many great games available to download immediately.

Both the gamers and the developers win in a format like this. Players can get the brand new games immediately instead of holding off for a complete discount or simply buying a used copy -- companies get no income off of used games. Developers then can continue to gain revenue on games by either stripping the game down and making other modes available to purchase or implementing helpful items for players to buy to aid them through a game.

Downloadable content works in gaining more income on a video game. Enhancing that model seems like the best way to go instead of restricting full retail games to prevent them from reaching the used games market.

[Sources: Geek, Polygon]

[Photo credit: Flickr/GamingShogun]