Here’s what Sony had to say about it:

Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition Contents

• Original Gran Turismo 5 game, featuring more than 1,000 cars, 20+ locations with 70+ track layouts, diverse racing styles including rally, track, karting, NASCAR, and more, deep online community features and online racing, plus Gran Turismo TV, Course Maker and more.
• All of the new and improved features and functionality from all free downloadable game updates up through Spec 2.0 included on the disc.
• Voucher good for over $20 worth of DLC content, including the Racing Car Pack, Car Pack 2, Course Pack, Racing Gear Pack, and Paint Pack.

Also included is a reversible cover featuring the Red Bull super car, a vehicle with a decidedly arachnoid shape that may scare off some players or inspire them to kill it with fire.

To read more about the GT5 XL launch this January, click here.

The only question at this point is whether or not we’ll see the return of the previous game’s protagonist, Nathan Hale. If you haven’t played Resistance 2 yet, we won’t spoil it for you, but needless to say the question must be asked.

Sony Online Entertainment has announced that their customer-deficient MMO, DC Universe Online, will consolidate PC and PS3 servers around the globe into four “SuperServers” within the coming weeks. There will be one Super-Server for each platform in both the European and American regions; Sony refused to comment on the server’s apparent weakness to Kryptonite.

DC Universe Online was released for both platforms on January 11, 2011 for $59.99US, with a $14.99US monthly subscription fee. The game failed to gain traction with critics and users, attaining a 72 rating for the PC version and a 67 rating for the PS3 version on Metacritic.

The news was readable for a short period of time earlier today, prior to SOE announcing that their entire online platform and the Station.com website were being brought down as part of a preventative measure related to the recent online successful hacking attacks on the PSN and Qriocity services. The information has since been replaced with a letter to SOE customers notifying them of the outage.

The original text from Sony’s DCU release can be read below:

We have heard your concerns about queue times on the servers. This game is about people playing and fighting together so we feel your pain. Sometime in the next month, we are going to test new technology to meld all of our US and European PC and PS3 servers into four Super-Servers, one for each platform in each region. This will allow for more opportunities to queue and participate in other group related game mechanics.

We are hoping to get this on our PC Test Server to start testing, again, sometime in the next month and then will tune it up for the PS3 platform as well. As soon as we know more about testing and timing we will let you know. But, believe this – it is one of our top priorities. Again, thanks for your patience, we appreciate your support.

Assuming that the PlayStation Network is able to extricate itself from the mired depths of it’s hacked grave, Gearbox Software (@GearboxSoftware) will be offering a PlayStation theme next week on May 5th. Even if it’s not, Gearbox has announced that it will release the wallpaper and icon set for free at dukenukemforever.com

Speculation is now rampant that this debacle will affect Sony’s sales numbers for the PS3 in the coming quarter, and will shift the balance of power back to the Xbox 360, negating Sony’s gain in momentum over the last two years. While I can’t begin to speculate on what future users will do, I can only reflect on my own situation: my PS3 still plays games.

I’m disappointed with Sony, but I’m not pulling the lever and bailing out now. Three generations of consoles, a library of games that takes up the better part of an Ikea bookcase, and countless hours of fun are still tangible realities for me. While my privacy has been violated, Sony has the opportunity to make good before this debacle is over. Whether they perceive this issue to be sufficiently serious remains to be seen.

In the meantime I’m going to keep playing my PlayStation 3 games. I’ll log back into PSN (when I can) and I think my credit card info will be safe with this once-bitten-twice-shy provider.  Will I switch my primary platform preference? Perhaps. I’ll wait until Sony’s cards are on the table to make that call.

Mastercard, it seems, is apprised of the situation with Sony’s violated PSN network and the personal identity risks that customers have endured in the past week. Veronique recounted a team meeting to me, delivering the good news in a charming French accent: I could keep my existing credit card number.

I was puzzled. Sony had directed me, specifically, to follow up in this vein. According to MasterCard my information is not at risk, and any fraudulent charges are completely covered in the event that they occur. I was, however, asked to change my online profile for my bank’s online site. The vulnerability of Sony’s system has exposed that data, assuming that you use the same password with multiple sites. I don’t, but I changed the password anyway, because hey, why not?

Sony has confirmed this week that user data including name, location, and birthday were all compromised in the attack. They have not confirmed if credit card information has been available during this time, but the corporation is suggesting that users engage in an act of caution and change whatever banking/credit card information they may have had on file with PSN.

The network remains down as Sony rushes to repair the damage and rebuild the network with great security.

The plot of the film center on Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller, a man tasked with finding the weapons of mass destruction that the American Army was sent to war over. When his unit is sent on yet another fruitless search for WMDs, a local man alerts then to a meeting of high value targets taking place only a few kilometers away. This sets events in motion that  lead Miller across Baghdad and against his own comrades in arms in an effort to find the truth.

Green Zone plays like a Tom Clancy thriller, with fast moving shots, explosions, and Matt Damon playing Jason Bourne light. It’s well framed and the action moves well, without ever feeling like it’s overstaying its welcome. The dialogue is sharp and well written, and performances from the principles are good.

It’s an odd exercise to be a Canadian looking into the glass bottle of a film about Iraq. For me there aren’t any preconceived notions about the good or bad guys – so I felt more comfortable letting the action unfold without any hopes for the direction of the story or the characters. I really liked the way that the film blends fact and fiction into a compelling story. I usually peruse film reviews after watching a film to see where critics landed in comparison to my opinion; I was appalled to see this film being labelled “anti-American” – I wasn’t aware that truth had an anti-American bias.

Green Zone is a good film. It’s got a sub-par rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but I think that may be skewed by critics who weren’t comfortable with the lens turned on the American contingent. Based on fact but steeped in fiction, Green Zone does a remarkable job of communicating exactly why operations in Iraq are still going on to this day.

Video and Sound

The audio track is DTS-HD Master Audio and joins other Universal discs in the “excellent” category for sound. I’ve yet to hear a Universal Blu-ray disc that I’m not happy with. If you’ve got the right gear (a component audio system and DTS-HD Master Audio compatible receiver) you’ll really enjoy Green Zone.

The video track is interesting. The transfer is good, but it’s not clean. A great deal of the scenes take place at night; they’re muddy, dirty, and chock full of noise. It’s so prevalent that I can’t believe it’s anything other than a conscious decision on the part of the director. You won’t be using this disc to show off the quality of your HD display, but it does do a great job of selling the world in which it takes place.

Extras

There are two mini-docs here, some deleted scenes (with or without video commentary), and Universal’s UControl mode that lets you watch the film and the special features in real time. It’s a touch light in comparison to other Universal titles on the extras front, but the docs that come with it are short and worth watching.

There is a digital copy that comes in the box for a limited time (until sometime in 2011, so if you’re reading this after that a) I’m sorry you’re out of luck on the digital copy and b) how’s the future? Do we have flying cars yet?). I uploaded it to my Mac, where it looks quite good, but it won’t stream over my network or play on my BlackBerry – DRM can be a real pain.

Conclusion

I liked Green Zone. I didn’t love it, but it was good. I enjoyed seeing the story of the faux-WMDs written into a larger tale, and I think Paul Greengrass as able to present the story without having to pay deferential homage to the US Army. It’s a decent popcorn flick with a truth flavour-shaker on top. If you haven’t seen it yet you should.

Rating: 80%

Two thoughts ran through my head. First: damn, it’s time for bed. Second, well, I’ll just pop into multiplayer briefly to check it out. When I tried to access it I was booted out, and asked to sign into PSN… odd, I thought I was. The screen cleared up my late night confusion: a firmware update was required and PlayStation Plus was upon us.

I performed the required update and clicked through the PlayStation Store. There, as large as life, was a PlayStation Plus advertisement. $49.99 for Sony’s enhanced online service. I bought it instantly. Why?

• I like automatic updates; I don’t need to have them, but it’ll get me into my games faster. My time is worth something to me, so this was a no brainer.
• “Free” stuff. The PS+ content isn’t free, but it feels like it. I was going to download the add-on to Fat princess last week, and I was going to pick up the Warhawk add-on as well. I forgot to and because of my laziness, I’ve saved $3 as Warhawk: Fallen Star is free and the Fat Princess DLC is a dollar off with PS+ this week. There’s also two PlayStation Avatars and a new dynamic theme.
• Deals? So far so good – all Midway titles are half off this week, and there are big sales on games from Create Studios (if you picked them up during the spring fever sale you’ll be happy to know the DLC for most of their games is free with Plus)
• As an owner of a PSP Go, I’m rather happy to see PSOne Classics included in the package. Though the first offering, Rally Cross, isn’t a long awaited classic, it didn’t cost me anything extra.

So why did I buy PlayStation Plus? There certainly isn’t anything you have to have involved, but it’s just a nice package of additional content that makes my PlayStation experience more fun. I’m cool with it, and for me it’s money well spent.

If the idea of PlayStation Plus makes your blood boil, if it’s everything you hate about gaming, if you don’t want to give Sony another red cent because of it… then don’t. But don’t take my word for it. I’ve been subscribed to Xbox LIVE since it launched, so I’m clearly the wrong guy to ask.

DC Comics are now available through the PlayStation Network digital comics service for PSP (PlayStation Portable). Starting today, users in the US can access DC Comic titles on PlayStation Store, directly on the PSP or via Media Go on their PC. The content library on PlayStation Network continues to grow. The addition of DC Comics brings some of the comic book world’s most iconic characters to the digital download service.

Users in applicable areas now have access to over 80 DC titles. These titles can be downloaded from the PlayStation Store including:

• Batman: Hush
• Green Lantern: Rebirth
• Fables: Legends in Exile
• Planetary: All Over the World and Other Stories

Users will also get exclusive DC Comics content such as Superman/Batman, Resistance, Free Realms and God of War.

Things kick off with a free 10 page story: Superman 700, as well as free downloads of Bayou, Fringe, Mirror’s Edge, and Resistance.

From the official release:

Using the PSP’s Autoflow Viewer, users can enjoy the comics frame by frame, zooming in and out, all at the touch of a button, making your comics look as good as they do in real life. This is available for all PSP models and is simple to use: just download the latest firmware (6.20) and select the “Digital Comics” icon under the “Extras” column on PSP’s XMB menu.

Be sure to check out the “free comics” category in the PlayStation Store, for a selection of comics that you can download for free. You’ll also find a great variety of titles from our partners at Marvel, IDW Publishing, Disney and more.

Enjoy superheroes across the game store, video store and comic store — when it comes to digital comics, this is the place to be! Stay tuned for more and more titles and, in the meantime, keep checking out what’s new in the PlayStation Store!

Visit www.playstationcomics.com for more information.