Sony has told Eurogamer that the entire Playstation Network will become ‘Sony Entertainment Network’ as from tomorrow, the 7th February.  Sony says it is to make it easier to associate the service to the Sony brand name and with all Sony products.

Previous PSN users will need to agree to the new Terms of Service, User Agreement and Privacy Policy update, but your username or password will not change, nor are we asking you to change them.

“On Sony Computer Entertainment’s PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita systems, this rebranding will occur in connection with software updates for these devices. (Note, this change will not be applied to the PSP system at this time.)

“This transition is based on Sony’s goal to enhance its unique digital entertainment offering.

“As a series of these activities Sony started last September, PlayStation Network will be aligned with Sony Entertainment Network. This helps us get closer to our goal of establishing a global comprehensive network platform of services across games, movies, music and more, all accessible from one convenient account.

“The Sony Entertainment Network account also enables use of Sony’s compelling non-game services such as Music Unlimited, Video Unlimited and PlayMemories Online (currently called Personal Space) across a variety of network-connected devices.”

“If you do not agree with the new Terms of Service and User Agreement or Privacy Policy, you may decline to accept them, and you will no longer be able to access your account.”

Piazza

Modern Warfare 3′s first two DLC maps for PS3 – Liberation and Piazza – have been dated for release on 28 February.  This kicks of the nine month “Call of Duty Elite Premium Members Content Season” on the PlayStation Network.

“Call of Duty Elite Drop 1: Liberation, a militarised Central Park in the heart of NYC, features a vast landscape ripe for long-range sniper and LMG kills. Mounted turrets on opposing ends of the map offer overwhelming firepower to anyone brave enough to man them. Elite Drop 2: Piazza, set in an idyllic seaside village, Italian getaway gone rogue, where blind corners and a complex network of branching pathways pose danger at every turn. Visceral close-quarters combat dominates in Piazza, and attacks from above and below are an ever-constant threat.” – from Press Release

The good folks at THQ Insider were kind enough to treat UFC Undisputed 3 fans to the entire DLC plans and Season Pass Program.

Amongst the reported DLC plans is a wide variety of new fighters, career boosts, historic UFC fights and early access to unlockable content which will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace and PlayStation Network.

Fighter Packs

Fight of the Night Pack – March 2012
Price: 400 MS Points / £3.19
Featuring UFC fighters Joe Lauzon, Rory MacDonald, Charles Oliveira and Sam Stout, along with former UFC fighter Anthony Johnson.

International Pack – April 2012
Price: 400 MS Points / £3.19
Featuring UFC fighters “The Korean Zombie” Jung Chan-Sung, England’s John Hathaway, Germany’s Pascal Kraus, Australia’s Kyle Noke and Italian Alessio Sakara.

Ultimate Fights Collections

Ultimate Submissions – Released at launch
Price: FREE
This collection will be available free of charge and include the following…
• UFC 109: Mike Swick vs. Paulo Thiago
• UFC 115: Mirko Cro Cop vs. Pat Barry
• UFC 116: Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin
• UFC Fight Night 19: Nate Diaz vs. Melvin Guillard
• UFC Fight Night 21: Kenny Florian vs. Takanori Gomi

Ultimate Rivals – Released at launch
Price: FREE
This collection will be available free of charge and include the following…
• UFC 92: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
• UFC 111: Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy
• UFC 114: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Rashad Evans
• UFC 117: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
• The Ultimate Fighter® Season 9: Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida

Ultimate Upsets – March 2012
Price: 400 MS Points / £3.19
The Ultimate Upsets collection will include…
• UFC 92: Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
• UFC 109: Chael Sonnen vs. Nate Marquardt
• UFC 112: Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn
• UFC 116: Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
• UFC 121: Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar

Mixed Bag – April 2012
Price: 400 MS Points / £3.19
The Mixed Bag collection will include…
• Best of PRIDE – Final Conflict 2003: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Mirko Cro Cop
• Submissions – UFC 125: Takanori Gomi vs. Clay Guida
• Upsets – UFC 110: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
• Rivals – UFC 124: Stefan Struve vs. Sean McCorkle
• Knockouts – UFC 120: Dan Hardy vs. Carlos Condit

Alistair Overeem – Available at launch
Price: FREE
UFC Heavyweight Championship contender Alistair Overeem will be available at launch for consumers who participated in the limited time promotional offer on facebook.com/UFCUndisputed, the official Facebook page for UFC Undisputed 3. There will also be the opportunity to purchase ‘The Reem’ in March 2012 for 80 MS Points / £0.59.

Create-a-Fighter Boost – Available at launch
Price: 240 MS Points / £1.59
Enabling players to acquire additional points for created fighter development and save an estimated 8-10 hours of gameplay.

All Unlockables – Available at launch
Price: 160 MS Points / £1.19

The Season Pass Program allows players to pre-purchase select DLC at a reduced price point

For 1360 MS Points / £11.99, players will receive the following items:

• Fighter Packs – Fight of the Night Pack and International Pack
• Ultimate Fights Packs – Ultimate Upsets and Mixed Bag
• UFC Heavyweight Championship contender Alistair Overeem
• All Unlockables

THQ Insider will also be running two launch tournaments – The Xbox 360 tournament will take place on the 21st Feb and the PS3 one on the 27th Feb. See the details on THQ Insider.

The game with the pretend Bats shooting the pretend Jokerz has been dated for release.  The download only game will arrive 7 February on PC and on 8 February 8^th on the PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE.

Square Enix say that “extensive” DLC is planned for Final Fantasy XIII-2, for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The planned DLC includes Coliseum Battles where players players can take on friends and foes from previous titles in the series. Once players defeat opponents, you can recruit into the player’s party. The Coliseum battle entitled ‘Lightning & Amodar’ will be available for Xbox 360 on 7^th February via Xbox LIVE Marketplace and on 8^th February on the PlayStation Network.

DLC will also include story episodes for some of the key characters, which Square Enix say will give you the opportunity to explore the game’s secrets, such as Lightning which complement the narrative of the game.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 releases locally this coming Friday 3rd February.

EA has announced that their servers will be unavailable today, January 31 at 10:00am (ZA time zone or 12:00 am PST) for three hours as EA has scheduled maintenance.

The games that require you to log in to the EA servers including Battlefield 3 and Need for Speed The Run, will be unavailable for the three hours, while Star Wars: The Old Republic will apparently be offline for slightly longer due to a separate scheduled maintenance.

So users will be unable to log in to the Origin client, online multi-player game lobbies, but the offline mode should remain playable.

The PlayStation Network will be having its oil changed and filters replaced again this Thursday (2 February) from 14.00PM until 08.00AM on Friday (3 February).  We assume that’s GMT times.

According to EU PlayStation Forums:

During the maintenance period, the following services will be affected:

• PS Store (PC and Console)
• Customer Account Management
• Registration

HOME will be unavailable for the duration of the maintenance.

Users who attempt to sign in after maintenance begins may receive the site notification page. If you are signed in before maintenance begins you should remain signed into your online session (although the above services will still be unavailable).

The game let’s you “take control of a powerful warrior, a dark sorcerer or a stealthy rogue, before throwing yourself in a big, action-rich quest!”  Sounds delightful.

For more, keep an eye on the official site.

The UFC Undisputed 3 playable demo is now available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace as well as PlayStationNetwork and it weighs in at around 1.6 gigs.

The demo includes:

• UFC matchup between current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
• Classic PRIDE Mode rivalry between renowned UFC fighters and former champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Wanderlei Silva.
• Some mirror matches, enabling you to play against friends or opponent AI as the same fighter.

“The playable demo for UFC Undisputed 3 will give consumers their first taste of the virtual Octagon with four incredible fighters and unique gameplay experiences across UFC and PRIDE Mode,” said Danny Bilson, Executive Vice President, Core Games, THQ.

“We are eager to see how our fans worldwide embrace this engaging and powerful mixed martial arts gameplay experience.”

“Fans have been waiting a long time for the next release in the UFC Undisputed franchise,” UFC President Dana White said. “We can’t wait for players to try the demo and compete with four of UFC’s best fighters in Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Rampage Jackson and Wanderlei Silva.”

UFC Undisputed 3 arrives in mid-February.

Just a reminder – The Mediterranean Traveler Map Pack for Assassin’s Creed Revelations goes live today for Xbox 360 for 800 Microsoft Points and around R100 for Windows PC. PlayStation 3 fans can grab it tomorrow for around the same price.

The Mediterranean Traveler Map Pack adds on to the multiplayer front:
• All-new multiplayer maps to maneuver through: Jerusalem, Constantinople and Dyers
• Fan-favorite Italian Renaissance maps from Assassin’s Creed® Brotherhood to revisit: Firenze (Florence), San Donato and Siena
• All-new Trophies and Achievements to earn

Six multiplayer maps also introduces new gameplay opportunities through each map’s varied terrain, perches and hideouts. The new collection of Trophies and Achievements will allow players to try their hand at kills and escapes that are as impressive as they are effective.