Head Coach heads up PSN releases

Sony's weekly update to the PlayStation Network online store is live, and it features the first third-party downloadable edition of a retail PS3 game.

That title had previously been expected to go to Burnout Paradise, which will launch this fall, but another EA title, NFL Head Coach 09, has claimed the honor instead. Already released in stores on its own and as part of the Madden NFL 09 collector's edition bundle, NFL Head Coach 09 takes a more management-minded approach to the game of football, allowing gamers to work the front office instead of the backfield. Like the retail version of the game, NFL Head Coach 09 sells online for $49.99.

While Head Coach is the only full game debuting on PSN this week, there are a few more notable releases in addition to the expected array of video clips and wallpapers. The fourth "episode" of Sony's Qore digital magazine launched, with a minigame and exclusive access to the MotorStorm: Pacific Rift demo (expected September 11) for 30 days. Qore is available for $2.99 an issue, or $24.99 as part of an annual subscription.

Beyond those offerings, the PSN is also playing host to a free demo for the Disney Interactive racer Pure, a $9.99 "Destruction" multiplayer add-on pack for Free Radical's first-person shooter Haze, and a trio of Rock Band tracks from artists that played at last weekend's Penny Arcade Expo. Jonathan Coulton's "Skullcrusher Mountain," The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets' "Shhh...," and MC Frontalot's "Livin' at the Corner of Dude and Catastrophe" are available for $.99 each, or $2.99 when purchased together as PAX Pack 1.