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The PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale beta has been released, and that means some version of the game has hit the public. That also means that hackers are now going out of their way to data mine these beta versions in order to figure out details about the game’s eventual release. According to a post on NeoGAF, several new stages and characters were found in the beta version’s code. The new stages include Alden’s Tower from inFAMOUS, Black Rock Stadium from Twisted Metal, Columbia from BioShock Infinite, Dojo from PaRappa the Rapper, Franzea from LocoRoco, Invasion from Killzone, Paris from Sly Cooper, San Francisco from Resistance, Stowaways from Uncharted, and Time Station from Ape Escape. Details about these stages outside of their names are unknown, though there is a space in the code reserved for random select. As far as characters go, the leaked data shows entries for Dante from the new DmC, Evil Cole from Infamous, Nariko from Heavenly Sword, Raiden from Metal Gear Solid, Ratchet and Clank, Sackboy from LittleBigPlanet, Sir Daniel Fortesque from MediEvil, and Spike from Ape Escape. Strangely, though, the mined data did not show an entry for Big Daddy, who has already been confirmed and has been available to play in demos at various trade shows. Perhaps this means that this data-leak is not the be-all-end-all of character lists. The data leak also included extra info about game modes including arcade mode, capture the flag, challenge trials, character trials, countdown attack (or time mode), Free Roam (training mode), General Trials (mission mode), King of the Hill, Netplay, and “Solo Play,” which may be some sort of story mode. Difficulties announced in the data leak include Easy, Normal, Hard, and Insane. In addition, the data leak mentions things such as “gold stars collected”, “killer bees”, and “clue bottles.” It appears as if the game may have a rather extensive collectible system that we have not yet heard about. 
The items listed included the Atomizer from Resistance 3, Baumusu’s Axe from The Mark of Kri, the Boots of Hermes from God of War III, the Dohvat Laser Designator from Killzone 3, the Freeze Missile from Twisted Metal, the Golf Club from Hot Shots Golf, the Gravity Shield from WipeOut, the Hedgehog Grenade from Resistance, the Leech Beam from WipeOut, the Murder of Crows from BioShock Infinite, the Railgun from Metal Gear Solid 4, the Razor Claws from Ratchet and Clank, the RPG from Uncharted, the Scythe from Fat Princess, the Sonic Rift from ModNation Racers, and the Spear from God of War: Ascension’s Versus Mode. The minions listed include Athena from God of War, Captain Qwark from Ratchet and Clank, Dollface from Twisted Metal, Helghast from Killzone, Kai from Heavenly Sword, Kat from DmC, Keira from Jak and Daxter, Kiya from MediEvil, Kuma from Tekken, the Little Sister from BioShock, the Monkey from Ape Escape, Murray from Sly Cooper, Nix from inFAMOUS 2, Pierre from Doko Demo Issho, PJ Berri from PaRappa the Rapper, Sackbot from LittleBigPlanet 2, Sam from Metal Gear Rising, Sully from Uncharted, Worker from Fat Princess, and Zeke from inFAMOUS. What does Sony have to say about all this data leaking? Absolutely nothing. As of now Sony has not commented on the leak at all. They have only said that they refuse to talk about rumor or speculation. So it’s true, this could all be one gigantic overblown story. However, the data is so thorough it would be strange if some of it wasn’t at least in part true. Only those with access to the PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale beta will know for sure. The rest of us will have to wait for the PlayStation mayhem to break out on consoles later this year. By Angelo M. D’Argenio |