PlayStation just announced the return of the PlayStation E3 Experience yesterday on their blog. Fans are invited a to free screening on June 13, from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm, of a live broadcast of their E3 Press Conference, in one of over 85 movie theaters across the US, Canada, and Latin America. Sign-ups for the event can be found here, starting Tuesday, May 31st at 1:00 pm EST. The locations can also be found on their blog. 

If tickets run out for a location, PlayStation said they will take names to go on a waitlist and have a select number of seats reserved for lucky fans. PlayStation also said that fans must be 17 or older and have a valid form of ID in order to attend. 

The event is filled with free giveaways of exclusive PlayStation themed SWAG. PlayStation said this includes, "a commemorative Coca-Cola E3 Experience Cup and #37 from the PlayStation Collectible Card series first introduced at PlayStation Experience 2015," in addition to a digital gift basket, the contents of which remain a surprise. 

PlayStation has been running the PlayStation Experience since 2014 to promote their press conference and broadcast it live to fans eager to hear about all the news coming out.  

Fingers crossed for a PlayStation All-Stars Sequel!

(Images courtesy of PlayStation)

Recently, the PlayStation Blog put up a post about how you can get $15 credit for spending $100 or more in the PS Store. The promotion runs from 10/1/14 - 10/28/14, so I better get started!

What games would I buy for $100 from the PlayStation Store?

While, I could just buy 2 games for the PS3 or PS4 and make it happen, I figured that this might be a good excuse to expand my nearly non-existent PS Vita collection. In the legendary words of Barney Stinson, "Challenge Accepted!"

I really only have a few PS Vita games which are: Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Batman: Arkham Origins, Playstation All-Stars Battle Roayle, Limbo, and Need for Speed: Most Wanted. For the purpose of this article, I will throw out these games in the games I consider.

I will also only consider games made for the PS Vita, excluding games that are playable on the Vita, but made for PS1, PSP, or are PS Minis. The games I will mention in this article are games that I have not purchased yet, and will base my decisions primarily on titles that interest me, and their previews, descriptions, and screenshots. I have decided not to base any decision on game reviews, mainly because reviews discourage me from buying games 99% of the time. 

That being said, here are my choices for games that add up to around $100:

CounterSpy

I really love the stealth genre of games, which means that games based on spies, ninjas, and thieves usually will grab my attention. Looking at the game preview of CounterSpy, what really caught my attention was the soundtrack, which has a James Bond-esque sound to it, combined with fluid animation, and lots of stealth action. However, it looks like the game can also be played in a non-stealth way, and if you choose, you can also play it guns out, with heavy gun play and explosions. I also like the fact that I can play it across various PS systems, though I probably would end up just playing it on the Vita.

At the time of this writing, the game is $14.99. So, that'll be game #1.

Still left to buy: $85.01

Murasaki Baby

Purple is one of my favorite colors, so the title Murasaki Baby definitely caught my attention ("murasaki" is the Japanese word for "purple"). The game looks to be very unique, considering the graphics are all hand-drawn, and the game looks very unique, in that you are to help this baby girl find her mommy, while guiding her through the world, and teaching her right from wrong.

As a new father, this game particularly caught my interest, though I am not sure if this would be the way that I would teach my son about the world. What I also found interesting in listening to the interviews with the developers is that they want the user to create an emotional bond with the character, which makes me want to play it even more. Along with the fact that the game uses only touchscreen and rear touchpad, I think this would make for a fairly interesting game.

This game is also selling for $14.99. That's game #2.

Still left to buy: $70.02

Metrico

I have absolutely no idea what Metrico is about, except that the game is looks to be a puzzler based on infographics. Infographics! I love those things! Putting them to use in a video game is very intriguing to me, and I would buy this game simply to see how they do this! According to the description, everything you do in the world, will directly affect it, which makes me think that while there may be more than one way to solve a puzzle, how you solve the puzzle will determine the difficulty of solving other puzzles in the game, which also makes for a very interesting gameplay.

This game is a little cheaper at $13.99. That's game #3.

Still left to buy: $56.03

Mousecraft

Mousecraft combines several games of my past together! In part, it reminds me of Lemmings, in the sense that you direct the mice through an obstacle course, by placing objects in their path. The pieces that you lay down remind me of Tetris, and I guess the mice themselves, remind me of ChuChu Rocket. That's three great games all come together in an updated, 3D and cartoony look! Hmm... I see that I seem to be on a kick with puzzlers here. Gotta do something to change that...

This game is currently selling at $10.49. That's game #4.

Still left to buy: $45.54

Stick It to the Man

I like the clever naming of this game. Stick It to the Man has a unique story where your character has the ability to read people's minds, and can change the world using stickers. I like the crazy artwork in the game, where everything is paper in a 3D world. It looks like it's basically a strategy game, with a bit of a puzzle element to it. (yup, I think I am addicted to puzzlers)

The game sells for $12.99. That's game #5.

Still left to buy: $32.55.

Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed

Another clever naming of a game. Akiba's Trip (or Akiba Strip) is an adventure game where you hunt down vampires, but in order to kill them, you need to rip off their clothing so they burn in the day light. The setting, as the name implies, is in the Akihabara district of Tokyo, (aka Akiba) best known as a district for selling all kinds of electronics, but also for its huge otaku culture. The open-world game recreates the entire district, along with over 100 real-life shops. Yes, I guess a game about ripping off other people's clothes could seem a bit pervy - but aside from that, a game based on Akihabara is also very interestingif only to see how close it can come to to recreating the actual district.

This is by far the most expensive game in my selections, at $39.99. That's #6!

Still left to buy: -$7.44 Goal Reached!

So these are the games that I would purchase to reach my $100 goal:

CounterSpy
Murasaki Baby
Metrico
Mousecraft
Stick It to the Man
Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed

Additionally, I should take a look and see what I would do with the $15 credit.

Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational

Now that I am older, I have more of an appreciation for the game of golf. While I have played other golfing games in the past, they all seem to be a bit too serious for my tastes. Hot Shots Golf seems to be more up my alley. It has a more NBA Jam style of gameplay to me, in that everything in the game seems to be larger than life, and much more cartoony. 

So that's my list. I know everyone has their own opinion on the games that they would get, and since I had $100 to play with, I just chose the games that really popped out at me at first. Of course, there were other games that I would also consider, but I think these are the ones that I would first buy in order to jump-start my collection.

I would be curious to see what other people might get instead, and also would be interested in seeing whether the games I chose actually will meet my expectations based on their descriptions. When I get around to it, I'll have to update this in another article to see how they all fare.

After seeing layoffs just a week ago, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale developer SuperBot Entertainment is now being left behind by Sony Computer Entertainment. Despite the recent bad news, the developer is optimistic about the future.

Kotaku spoke with a Sony representative, who confirmed that SCEA and SuperBot Entertainment's working relationship has "amicably ended". The representative assures that PlayStation All-Stars and any DLC in the game's future will be supported by Santa Monica Studio.

David Yang, director of operations over at SuperBot, got in touch with Kotaku to clear up rumors that the studio was going to have to shut down without Sony's support. Yang backs up Sony's claim that the split was on "good terms" and continues, stating that they are "very excited about beginning the next chapter of our future".

While David Yang seems optimistic, the developer may have to let more employees go over the coming months. Only the future knows, but hopefully they will be able to find their footing before it comes time to let people go.

SCEA came down on Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale developer Superbot yesterday, laying off an unknown amount of employees within the studio.

Mike Birkhead of Insomniac Games first broke the news via Twitter, stating:

Layoffs at Superbot. When it rains, it pours.

Sony later contacted IGN, confirming the studio's downsizing but not saying much else:

“SCEA can confirm that SuperBot Entertainment did make a reduction in their workforce today. The studio and SCEA remain committed to supporting PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale post launch, including developing the title’s forthcoming DLC releases in the coming months. The first character pack (including Kat from Gravity Rush and Emmett Graves from Starhawk) will be available for download on February 12 and will be free for the first two weeks. We’ll be sharing news of additional upcoming content soon.”

This past week has been difficult for several studios, with some closing down and others downsizing. We can be thankful that Superbot's case was the latter instead of the former, though there isn't much happiness in this type of situation. Good luck to those affected by these layoffs. We hope to hear from you again.