PS Plus for August - Hitman Absolution

It's a new month, which means a new set of freebies and discounts for PS Plus members. The Instant Game Collection gets updated once more with the addition of Hitman Absolution and four more games for the month of August. 

Along with Hitman Absolution, here are the rest of the games you get on August:

• Zen Pinball 2: Star Wars Pinball (PS3)
• Bit.Trip Presents Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien (PS3)
• Machinarium (Vita)
• Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower (PS3/Vita)

Just like last month, the release of the free title is in no particular order. So check out the PlayStation Store every once in awhile to see if your free games for this month is available for download.

PlayStation Store is also holding a discount on the Rayman franchise, with of course PS Plus members getting a bigger price cut.

• Rayman Origins - Original price: $19.99, Discount: $9.99, PS Plus: $5.00
• Rayman 3 HD   - Original price: $9.99, Discount: $4.99, PS Plus: $2.50
• Rayman Origins PS Vita  - Original price: $26.99, Discount: $13.49, PS Plus: $6.75
• Rayman Arena  - Original price: $9.99, Discount: $4.99, PS Plus: $2.50
• Rayman 2 Revolution  - Original price: $9.99, Discount: $4.99, PS Plus: $2.50
• Rayman 2: The Great Escape - Original price: $5.99, Discount: $2.99, PS Plus: $1.50
• Rayman  - Original price: $5.99, Discount: $2.99, PS Plus: $1.50

If you haven't given PS Plus a chance, I highly suggest you do because you will save a good chunk of your money since you'll be busy taking in everything you get out of the service. Their monthly release of free games and crazy discounts make this service difficult to ignore.

[Source: PS Plus Blog US]

J-Stars Victory Vs

The weeaboo in me is going absolutely nuts right now. What looks to be a very nice looking Jump game is coming out in HD later this year. Formerly known as Project Versys J, this game is called J-Stars Victory Vs. Featuring famous Shounen Jump characters such as Naruto, Son Goku, Kenshin Himura and Monkey D. Luffy, it's a 3rd persion action brawler much in the same vein as the DBZ Tenkaichi games. It even looks like it's using the same graphics and environments from Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi.

Made in part to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Japan's weekly Jump Magazine, this has been touted to be the 'ultimate Jump game'. The game is published by Namco Bandai and will be released for PS3 and PS Vita sometime this year.

E3 2013 - Dragon's Crown trailer

With E3 being the big event filled with new games to take in, you will find yourself missing out on a few of them. One in particular, after looking back at this year's E3, is a game called Dragon's Crown for the PlayStation 3 and Vita. After seeing a few interviews, and of course the trailer that was released for E3, I now have this urge to get a new PS3 or even get a Vita just for this game. Have a look at the trailer below.

Dungeons and Dragon's arcade game? Anyone? Back in the day, when arcades were everywhere, games like these emptied my pockets. Remember the X-men arcade beat em up?  Dragon's Crown looks to bring back those types of games and I can't wait to get my hands on this, invite a couple of friends over, and just go all out.

Atlus, thank you for this.

Dragon's Crown will be available August 6 for PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita.

Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z

And here we have yet another Dragon Ball Z game. Even though the series ended more than a decade ago, people still want that Super Saiyan fix. I know I do.

From a glance, it looks to be like the Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi graphics with the older gameplay style of the previous Tenkaichi/Raging Blast games but with the added twist of co-op or team battles with up to eight players. The team battles aren't new since they already did this on the PSP with Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team.

I guess the Super Butoden-esque gameplay style of Ultimate Tenkaichi didn't sit well with players so Bandai opted to go back to an older system which isn't bad. I'm still hoping we get a successor to Burst Limit with the battle system of Shin Budokai on home consoles. I doubt we'll see it but a guy can dream.

The trailer only shows the Saiyan saga and Frieza saga. I hope they add the Buu saga and hell, even the GT cast. The Buu saga not being included in some of the recent games is just heartbreaking. I do hear that Goku's Super Saiyan God form will be playable.

Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z will be coming to Xbox 360, PS3 and PS Vita.

E3 2013: Rain Trailer

Shown during the Sony press conference, Rain is about an invisible world revealed the falling rain. Developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, you follow the story of a young boy and girl as they search for answers and try to escape the evil that is also hidden in the rain. I know what you're all thinking. This looks so much like Ico which is a good thing. From the camera angles, the young boy and girl, the silent mystery and what looks to be a darker theme than most games makes me very excited for this.

The game is set to launch in fall of 2013 on both the PS3 and PSVita.