Get Your BUZZ! Face On Tomorrow!

Hey all you BUZZ! fans - the big day is tomorrow! We officially launch BUZZ! Quiz TV for PS3 and BUZZ! Master Quiz for PSP in North America. Hopefully you have been enjoying creating quizzes on the MyBUZZ Web site (looks like you’ve all been busy!) and by now, I’m sure you’ve all read the previews and are aware of all the cool stuff that’s to come with the games, but here’s a brief recap.
BUZZ! Quiz TV for PS3
New wireless buzzers and the ability to play with up to eight friends and family members!
Online play with “Sofa vs. Sofa” - challenge up to three other living rooms anywhere within the United States or Canada!
Over 5,000 questions on five different channels - music, movies & TV, sports, brainiac and lifestyle. There’s also a Channel Hopper mode that combines all of these genres.
All-new characters and round types and a brand spanking new studio in high-def.
Downloadable quiz packs on the PLAYSTATION Network, each containing over 500 questions. The first packs available on Thursday, September 25 are Videogames, Sci-Fi and National Geographic: Safari.
MyBUZZ - create your own personalized quizzes and play them online or in-game. Also, take advantage of the community features. You can share the quizzes you write, and rate and comment on other peoples quizzes.
But wait - that’s not all! As soon as the game launches, you’ll also have access to the first update which contains:
Trophies! That’s right - immediately upon launch you can start building your trophy library. Collect trophies for a number of different challenges from creating quizzes to playing “Sofa vs. Sofa” games to scoring over a certain number of points - and more!
Four new contestants and ten new buzzer sounds
Manage all of your quizzes and your download packs
PlayStation Eye support - take photos and save in-game. “Get Your Buzz Face On” will let you view your favorite photos and save them to your PS3.
Multiple buzzer support in “Sofa vs. Sofa” - now anyone can be the first to buzz in!
BUZZ! Quiz TV is available for $59.99 and will come bundled with four wireless buzzers.

BUZZ! Master Quiz for PSPFor the first time, you can take BUZZ! beyond your living room and play anywhere! The “host with the most” is ready to travel and he’s got tons of great features:
Three new multiplayer modes:
“Pass Around” - challenge a group of friends using just one PSP
“Game Share” - play frenzied “Fastest Finger” with up to four players ad hoc using just one copy of the game
“Quiz Host” - you’re in control - award and deduct points as you see fit with up to six players
An enhanced single-player mode featuring 15 different quiz challenges.
Collect medals that unlock new rounds and in-game trophies based on different challenges like how many questions you answered correctly in a row, or how fast you answered the quiz questions.
Over 3,000 questions across eight question categories: music, TV, science, celebrities, nature, sports, movies and general knowledge.
Six all-new single and multiplayer round types specially created for PSP: Quickfire Challenge, Virus Challenge, Picture This, Weak Spot, Snap Shot and Short Fuse.
BUZZ! Master Quiz is available for the low price of $19.99!
Hopefully, you are as excited as we are to finally be able to get your “BUZZ” on. We’re already seeing a great response from those lucky enough to get an early copy of the game and now we’re looking forward to playing against other BUZZ! fans in “Sofa vs. Sofa.” And don’t forget, we’ll be awarding a prize to the “All Time Top Author” tomorrow and another one to the “Top Quiz” author a week after launch on September 30. So, keep those quizzes coming!
*BUZZ! Quiz TV comes packed with 4 buzzers, but one will need an additional set to allow 8 players.

Hands-On With Home's 'Uncharted Bar'

We find out what use there is for an online extension to a single-player game.



Last week, I was invited for a special look at the expanding closed beta for Sony's Home service, the virtual world they will be launching on the PlayStation 3 later this year. While Home director Jack Buser walked us through pretty much everything the service currently has to offer -- from the social gatherings in the Central Plaza to the virtual bowling and pool in the Game Space -- the most interesting thing we were shown was the "Uncharted Bar," a Game Space for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.
Though we've already had brief glimpses at Home spaces for Resistance 2 and Warhawk, even the idea of one for Uncharted immediately raises the important question of what use there is for an online extension to a single-player-focused game. Buser quickly explained that the Uncharted Bar is a place where fans of the game as well as people who haven't played it but are curious can meet up to talk about and explore a space inspired by Uncharted.
One thing is for sure: The Bar looks like something straight out of the game. We couldn't get screenshots of the unfinished area yet, but it had a ton of detail and ran smoothly as a Home avatar navigated it. Scattered around the Bar's dirty tables were a full collection of the artifacts you can find hidden in Uncharted. As an example of something gamers could do here, Buser suggests looking at one of the artifacts and then asking others in the area for advice on where to find it. Not exactly as elegant as a walkthrough, given, but Buser believes the Home audience will naturally drift toward ideas such as this.
Thankfully the Uncharted Bar also has several features that should appeal to fans of the game in a more direct manner. In one dimly-lit corner, there is a new arcade game titled "Mercenary Madness." This eight-bit homage to games such as Pitfall! and Lode Runner was created by Naughty Dog specifically for Home. The space also contains several other secrets that Buser only hinted at cryptically. Visual cues should nod back to Uncharted's story as well as possibly hinting at new stuff, and the bar has three mysteriously locked doors that players will need to figure out how to get into if they want to see everything.
Buser also promised us that what we were shown was not everything the Uncharted Bar will offer. Game spaces will change and grow over time, so if and when an Uncharted 2 is announced, we expect some early sneak peeks at the game to appear in Home. Buser also noted that third-party publishers and developers will be able to make game spaces for their games as well, including non-PS3 exclusives. Though Sony isn't ready to drop names, he says many more are already in the works.
Though we're not totally sold on the concept yet, we're eager to get into Home and walk around the Uncharted space (and other game spaces) ourselves. If the sneaky secrets and mini-games end up being worth exploring, these spaces could provide some great extensions of existing games that we already love. Stay tuned for more coverage of Home soon, including an interview with members of Naughty Dog about what it was like helping create the Home space for their game.