Good news for GripShift fans! Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and Sidhe Interactive has released free upgrades for the PlayStation 3 racing game.

The said upgrades are currently only available for North American gamers and will sport a number of new features for GripShift. The upgrades will allow for faster loading times and the more accessible leaderboards. Players will now be able to view the leaderboards of levels they haven't yet played. The new leaderboards will also include "car type", number of resets, and the "ability to browse all entries".

Other features include:

• Ability to change the vehicle without exiting a game session.
• Ability to change controls from the in-game pause menu.
• Ability to change current the music track from the in-game pause menu.
• Access to the full "Level Select" menu from the in-game pause menu.
• Players can now jump to the top or bottom of a leaderboard even if they aren’t ranked on that board.

The GripShift upgrades have been implemented on North American versions of the game. If you haven't played this insane driving game, it is available via PlayStation Network for US$ 9.99.

Just in case you got so caught up with the PS3's PAL launch, the guys behind the game, GripShift, just wanna remind you that their pedal-to-the-metal game is now available for the Australasian and European launches of the PS3. Of course, you could get it on the PlayStation Network at a purchase price of €7.99 for an introductory period.

If you haven't been reading on our past articles about this game, then you wouldn't know that with this game you'd experience insane driving as you stunt and wiggle your way through 150 twisted levels while collecting power-ups, avoiding traps, beating the clock, and challenging friends online. And oh, we almost forgot, online rankings are now available.

Sidhe Interactive's Mario Wynands had this to say, "the nature of the PlayStation Store platform enables us to add value on an ongoing basis after an initial release...We’re excited about the opportunity to deliver more content, game modes and features over time".

QJ reader Jim has informed us that Sidhe Interactive's official GripShift website now has online leaderboards that contains all level records. There's also a centralized leaderboard that shows players how they're doing overall. The centralized leaderboard uses data based on players' records relative to other players'.

The boards are updated daily, so check it out by clicking on the "via" link below. You can browse through the levels individually or just use your PSN ID to look for your records. The administrator of the official GripShift forums also mentions that the leaderboards require players to be online for their high scores to be counted.

The PAL version of GripShift should have online leaderboards available in-game. The U.S. version of the game will hopefully have the feature via a patch some time in the future.

Everything sure seems to be going according to plan for the European release of Sony's PS3. We've heard of quite a bunch of launch titles already for the PlayStation Network, and there's definitely more coming your way.

Confirming the seven downloadable titles to be up and about Europe's PlayStation Network, this sure is a golden sign that there really is no stopping the PS3 from landing in that part of the world now.

Here's the list of titles coming out. Keep your fingers crossed, cos your personal faves just might be on this first wave. If not, well then, there's still no reason to pout, 'cos we're definitely certain this won't be the last of them headed your way.

March
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection - March 23 - £6.99 (US$ 9.20)
Blast Factor - March 23 - £3.49 (US$ 4.60)
Gran Turismo HD - March 23 (free)
Super Rub-A-Dub - March 30 - (price TBA)

April
flOw - April 6 (price TBA)
Go! Sudoku - April 13 (price TBA)
Go! Puzzle - April 20 (price TBA)

There's also word that you may very well expect Lemmings, Gripshift and Calling All Cars to be paying courtesy calls to the Euro PSN in the near future.

We don't have to repeat and remind you about the bumps Sony went through for the PS3 European launch. That journey was filled with disappointments, but it did pay off. Sort of. So we guess, we can't really blame the fans and our friends in Europe if these things are still very much vivid in their heads.

To tell you the truth, fears of another delay, last minute changes, and whatnots are still imminent. Everyone is hoping that March 23 will come without any shocking news from the company. To put an end to these all, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) Head of PR David Wilson gave these words for every single fans back there: "It is our aspiration that all of the 30 titles mentioned in our announcement will be available at launch of PlayStation 3 on 23rd March."

There. You shouldn't be bothered by those thoughts now. Anyway, in case you missed all 30 launch titles, we are giving you a rundown once more. Better check this with your own list and see if you've got everything covered:

• Resistance: Fall of Man
• MotorStorm
• Genji: Days of the Blade
• FORMULA ONE CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION
• Ridge Racer 7
• Tekken: Dark Resurrection
• Lemmings
• Go! Sudoku
• Go! Puzzle
• Blast Factor
• flOw
• Super Rub'a'Dub
• Call of Duty 3
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
• Tony Hawk’s Project 8
• Gundam: Target in Sight
• Full Auto 2: Battle Lines
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Virtua Fighter 5
• Virtua Tennis 3
• World Snooker Championship 2007
• NBA 2K7
• NHL 2K7
• Blazing Angels Squadrons of WW ll
• Enchanted Arms
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
• The Elder Scrolls lV: Oblivion
• Def Jam: Icon
• Fight Night Round 3
• NBA Street 4 Homecourt 2007
• Need for Speed Carbon
• The Godfather: The Don's Edition
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007
• Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom
• F.E.A.R.
• Gripshift

Short but packed and sweet. This may very well be the perfect description for the award-winning PSP original GripShift. So it's gone on to bigger planes, the PS3. But that doesn't mean it won't look back to where it came from. And although the changes from the handheld to the next-gen is significant enough to warrant it not being a mere port of the PSP version, it still has that factor that made it a success: innovative mix of genres, burst gameplay and short load times.

It's been out for a couple of weeks now in the U.S. (since January 4th). But for you who have yet to check out this downloadable title from the PlayStation Network, here are two gameplay videos to show you why this PS3 version of GripShift is utterly different from the PSP, and yet essentially the same.

Big Air

Sky-High Racing game vid follows after the jump!

Screens are nice and all, but you have to admit: in order for a gamer to really get an idea of what gameplay is like, he/she will really have to rely on trailers. The released gameplay trailer for GripShift for the PS3 gives gamers a taste of just how insane a game that is a hybrid of the racing/kart/platform genre is.

To be honest, the instances where the car gets propelled into the air reminds this blogger of several UT2k3 multiplayer maps. The fact that your avatar is a car only adds to the weirdness-factor.

Here's the trailer, enjoy folks!

  

To stop you getting confused between the PS3 and PSP versions of Gripshift, Sony Online Entertainment has released two new screenshots showing off the first PSP game to make it's way onto it's much bigger brother, the PS3.

Gripshift has been available to download through the Playstation Store for just $9.99 since yesterday. This game has had various control changes and enhancements since the PSP version to make it more specified to a larger home console, although Sixaxis tilt support has not been confirmed yet. You'll find four themed worlds in the game, ranging from desert to jungle, Ice and the more ambiguous 'horror' environment.

If you aren't sure whether Gripshift is your kind of game, then these two screens should be enough to tempt you into trying the bargain title. The academics present here in the QJ office tell me that the image you see to the right is the horror world, with the left image representing the jungle world in a wealth of green. If wacky tracks, wacky cars, and even wackier music isn't your thing then don't bother with Sidhe Interactive's Gripshift. However, if you like a laugh and are fed up of simulation racing games, give it a try.

After all, you could buy it ten times over for the price of one PS3 game!

We know you're still reeling with our report a couple of days ago regarding PSP game GripShift coming to the PS3 as a downloadable title. Why wouldn't you? We're pretty sure all racing fans are fond of playing puzzle and platform games. Sounds weird? Not really, because the game is exactly like that. The game was originally created by developer Sidhe Interactive.

Anyway, as already mentioned, SOE decided to include this hybrid game in its growing roster of titles. Of course, fans would be treated to a vibrant 3D environment in HD. Speaking of environments, there are four themed worlds available for GripShift PS3 namely Desert, Jungle, Ice and Horror.

SOE didn't specify if the SIXAXIS tilt feature would be utilized in this game but they promised that there would be significant control enhancements making the vehicles much easier to handle. Also, it is rather exciting that this game is bigger that its PSP counterpart, given the 125 new and re-mixed levels, 25 race tracks and enhanced music soundtrack.

We mentioned that this racing game is also a puzzler one. Well, so you know what you'll be getting for US$ 9.99, the different challenges for GripShift include multiple routes, short-cuts, loops, jumps, ramps, power-ups and dangers to avoid. The game is to go live online either late December or early January, 2007.

GripShift is a PSP game. Now it's a PS3 game, too. IGN reports that Sony Online Entertainment will release this game onto the PlayStation Store and for the PS3 late this month or early next, for US$ 9.99. The PS3 must be stunt-happy this early in its life - MotorStorm, Ridge 7, and now this downloadable.

Let no one think this is a simple port from the PS3's portable cousin, though. IGN says that SOE is pushing the game's visuals at 720p/60fps, and throwing in more responsive controls (with a SIXAXIS, they better be). The PS3 version will also sport more than 125 new and remixed levels spanning over 25 race tracks. Plus four-way online multiplayer, just like the PSP GripShift.

Okay, on to the four other screenshots SOE released with the announcement to IGN.