New PlayStation Branding Direction: Hope You Like Blue

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No logo stays the same forever. Design and color changes are inevitable in the long run.
And if you haven't noticed, the recent PlayStation ads have been saturated with lots of pretty blue; a solid blue background is typically found behind the standard white lettering of the PlayStation logo. Some thought it was only related to the PlayStation Vita, but Sony Computer Entertainment Europe blog manager James Gallagher has revealed that it's more of a general update.
"It’s not directly PS Vita related, more of a change in branding direction for the company as a whole. These colours are going to be synonymous with PlayStation going forward."
The Euro blog now reflects the change, and you might see the same thing happen at the North American blog, too. Well, I've got no problem with blue; remember that the original PlayStation 3 box was bright blue (still are, aren't they?). I remember it well because I had to walk across a big parking lot with that thing at 10 a.m. on launch day, with visions of stabbings dancing before my eyes...
I wasn't a likely mark, though. There was some solace in that. ;)

EA Believes BF3 Stole Market Share Away From CoD

 Battlefield 3

EA never expected Battlefield 3to outsell Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. No, they had more realistic goals.
The BF3 publisher went on record many times saying they only wanted to steal some market share away from Activision's reigning FPS king. And now that both shooters have been available for over a month, EA boss Peter Moore believes EA reached their goal. Here's what he toldIndustryGamers:
"Two entities have benefited from Call of Duty and Battlefield being on the market: gamers and the industry (retailers and people who rely on the ability to sell big blockbuster games). Together we've grown the genre enormously. 10 million [copies of Battlefield 3] sold in and 5 million sold through doesn't come out of nowhere--if we haven't gained share, that means in the first week we've added 5 million new FPS gamers.
I think when the dust fully settles, maybe when we're looking at this at the end of our fiscal year (March 31, 2012) we'll do an analysis and I think we will have taken share. I don't think there's any doubt about that, unless everything BF3 sells is just incremental."
BF3 has no hope of outselling MW3 but in the long run, if EA did indeed steal a few fans away from CoD, that's a victory in their eyes. At the very least, it's clear that both games in question are wildly successful, and the FPS genre continues to be one of the most popular categories in the industry.
Just don't forget that other games with names like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, andAssassin's Creed: Revelations have sold well, too.

Battlefield 3 tutorial: Shooting down jets the awesome way

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It's been fun, everyone. We've really enjoyed posting funny and awesome moments from video games over the years. Unfortunately, this may be our last time doing so because, frankly, it's hard to imagine something better than this. Prove us wrong, internet! Bring us more awesome.

Mini Ninjas playable in Chrome soon

Google's "Native Client" isn't merely a technology used to play Bastion in a browser window. It will also allow you to try ... Square Enix and IO Interactive's 2009 game, Mini Ninjas. The publisher announced that Mini Ninjas for Chrome is going into open beta sometime this month. It's designed to run in the upcoming version 17 of the browser.

Square Enix plans to make more games from its "group-wide lineup" playable in Chrome in 2012. Perhaps those will include some more memorable fare

PSN Tuesday: DLC for thee in Resistance 3 and Battlefield 3

The PSN Store update is now live! The high-profile additions this week areBattlefield 3's "Back to Karkand" DLC and the Brutality Pack for Resistance 3, the latter featuring a new Survival mode, a theme, skin and weapon for multiplayer.

And, for PlayStation Plus subscribers, there's a free copy of Tomb Raider: Underworld waiting for you, some free PSOne Classics titles in the Spyro series and a 80 percent discount on the Penny Arcade Adventures games. You can see the full update list over on the PlayStation Blog.

Microsoft Flight accepting beta applications, fasten seatbelt sign on

Microsoft Flight, a revamped, streamlined flight simulator-slash-game, is accepting applications for its beta program right now. The Microsoft Flight beta is scheduled to begin in January, and the dev team is accepting applications via Microsoft Connect for some brave pilots to try it before everyone else rides it. Applications sent to the Microsoft Flightemail will not be reviewed for the beta, so do it right, or don't do it at all. Remember, when you're handling a 100-foot steel tube 32,000 feet above the earth, you only get one chance to get it perfect.

Namco Bandai announces Tekken Tag Tournament 2 field tests in US arcades

"But wait," we hear you say from the other side of the Internet. "Isn't the American arcade scene dead? Haven't coin-op establishments gone the way of the dodo? What kind of fool do you take me for? Hey I'm talkin' to you!"

Chill, friend! It's true that the American arcade is not as prolific as it once was, but the scene is far from dead. In fact, the U.S. of A.'s fighting game community has gone to great lengths to preserve its arcade heritage, and the scene is doing so well that Namco Bandaiwill be testing the latest entry in the Tekken series across our amber waves of grain.

Announced during Northeast Championship XII, the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 field test will take place in 5 different arcades across the nation: Next Level Arcade in New York City,Round One Entertainment in City of Industry, CA, Super Arcade in Walnut, CA, Fun Works in Honolulu, HI and Arcade UFO in Austin, TX.

As Austin is positively bursting with Joystiq editors, we'll be keeping an eye out for scheduling information as it becomes available. For now, we're just going to sit back and daydream about punching a robot with a bear. Mmmmm, satisfying.