PS3 gets new game, firmware, GTA IV trailer

While recent weeks have seen new puzzle games and a time attack mode for the racing game MotorStorm hit the PlayStation Store, this week's slate of new content is more likely to appeal to straight-up action fans.

Sony today announced that Super Stardust HD is hitting the PlayStation 3's downloadable game store today for $7.99. An omnidirectional shooter like Blast Factor or Geometry Wars, Super Stardust HD drops players into orbit around five separate planets, which they must defend from enemies and asteroids alike. The original Super Stardust appeared on the Amiga and the PC more than a decade ago.

If the one-spaceship-against-many premise doesn't sound appealing, Sony is also offering a demo for Koei's one-giant-robot-against-many crossover title, Dynasty Warriors: GUNDAM. As one might expect, the game combines the hack-and-slash gameplay of Koei's Dynasty Warriors series with the Mobile Suits and storylines of Namco Bandai's Gundam anime series. The full game is scheduled for a late summer release on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Speaking of multiplatform action games, the PlayStation Network is also now hosting a new trailer for one the biggest cross-console titles of 2007. The Grand Theft Auto IV "Looking for that Special Someone" trailer is now available to download directly onto the PS3.

Finally, Sony has released PS3 firmware update 1.82. While 1.80 was released last month, the company has since tweaked it to 1.81 (updating support for some PlayStation 2 online games), and today's update introduces playback support for AVC High-Profile format video. However, update 1.82 has also changed the backward compatibility status for some PS2 titles. Gamers can check to see if their favorites were affected on Sony's backward compatibility search site.