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This week we found out that Capcom will be getting a custom-branded PlayStation Store for their own content. Apparently publishing a variety of games on the PlayStation Network gets you this level of attention, but I'm not convinced they deserve special treatment.

October promises to be a very big month for the PS3 with a bevy of potential cross-platform blockbusters, a couple of ports, and some possibly huge exclusive titles. So many of these games look so good that I'm suspecting I won't be the only one trying to make tough decisions about what games should be bought now and what should be picked up later. That said I'm going to give a fuller rundown than usual and I'll start out with the platform exclusives on the PS3. That includes the game featuring the guy here who just might end up becoming the console's mascot. And not to worry PSP fans, this month has a few nice treats coming our way as well, aside from the PSP-3000 refresh of the system itself.

Aside from earning top scores, Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror did what developers everywhere were claiming couldn't be done on the PlayStation Portable in March 2006. It put a third-person shooter on the platform with a strong 3D engine, full-featured cover mechanic, very good weapon variety, and a nearly perfect control scheme featuring the analog nub for aiming, the face buttons for movement, and a context-sensitive d-pad for climbing, using ziplines at specific points, swapping weapons with what was in the environment, manging inventory, and switching between night vision and other goggle types to help Gabe Logan take on tough terrorists around the world. All this with the L and R shoulder buttons kept free to aim and fire. Technologically it is an impressive game just on single-player side of things and the online game broke the mold with a full 3D shooter with voice support, several game modes, and online profiles including clan support that tracked your stats and rewarded you with new weaponry.

I've played through the entirety of the single-player portion of Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow, which is the sequel to Dark Mirror and I have to say Sony Bend has improved on their previous game rather impressively. It's even better balanced than the first game, features water levels for Gabe to swim through and fight from, and generally avoids ridiculously difficult encounters that mar other portable games and remind you that you only have one analog stick to work with. The engine runs faster and looks better and while the story is still generic and disposable I'm-tough-as-nails-grr-dammit special agent bunk, this time it hews a little closer to reality without losing its prime focus as an excuse for some great shooter action. The signature cover-based shooter gameplay is augmented by the IR and EDS goggles. The rich environments are designed with ample cover, occasional environmental items like exploding cannisters, and the EDSU goggles can always highlight interactive items. This eliminates any chance of frustration with the light hit-this-switch, then-that-switch puzzles that occasionally crop up.

The online play in Dark Mirror was notoriously brutal and sloped terribly towards much more experienced players since they get more starting weapons to choose from when equipping your character, including the dreaded double-sawed-off-shotguns that ended any confrontation very quickly. Whenever I would go online with one or two friends to play against others who seemed to do nothing but play the game I would call it our Monday Night Meatgrinder game session. We would get shot and blasted down to little bloody chunks relatively quickly. It's really a testament to how great the game was with its included headset voice support and online leaderboards that we all stuck with it for a while, leveling up a few ranks before ultimately losing our tolerance for being stomped on fairly regularly.

Even back then there were a few moments I suspected the enemy had gotten extremely lucky. One particular moment stands out. I once nailed an opponent with a grenade at point-blank range and then watched his lifeless, defeated form get right back up and start shooting again. I was stupefied, but not so much so that I didn't put three or four bullets in him before he took ME out with a few good shots. I never forgot that encounter, chalking it up to a despiriting engine glitch, but now I think it was something worse: cheating.

My very first online game of Logan's Shadow showed me the developers had done a truly remarkable job taking the online play up a notch or two since Dark Mirror, and it also shocked me with a clear example of brazen game hacking and cheating.

But first, the good news.

Field Commander is one of the best online games on the PSP and it's now available on the PC PlayStation Store as a 896-Meg download for $14.99. (Remember, for those of you who have a PS3 and don't have a Windows computer you can buy it using the website and then download and install it using your PS3.) I was lucky enough to find this in UMD form on a clearance rack for about $13 around a month ago so I'll be sparing my memory stick from the heavy hit of the download.

I rented this game a while back and even though I didn't manage to make a dent into the naval warfare part of the game, I knew then that I'd have to keep my eyes open for when this game eventually got a bit cheaper. It took a long time for me to find it, and lately I've been so busy that I haven't yet broken the shrinkwrap on it, but it's worth running down the feature set to give you an idea as to why I like this game so much.

It looks like Sony's PSP Store promised earlier this year is coming closer to reality. This Fall in Japan gamers will be able to download content and games from the Store directly to their handheld machine.

New PSN content this month should include the long-awaited Bionic Commando: Rearmed swinging into view on the 14th and the puzzle-and-platforming focused shorter game Ratchet & Clank: Quest For Booty on the 21st for $14.99.  In the patch department we're looking at getting

Last week I picked Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure back up from my short stack of unfinished PSP games and jumped back into it.  I found 12 hours already on the saved game clock and was ready to drive through what would probably be maybe two or three more hours -- this is a portable game after all -- to finish it off while on vacation with my family.  Gurumin, as I've mentioned before, is a PSP exclusive cute Zelda clone featuring a little girl named P

The most noteworthy release on the PS3 for July has to be Firmware 2.40 bringing trophy support, in-game messaging, and a few other niceties like changing headsets and bluetooth settings mid-game. For actual games, though, I'm going with Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution.

Except for my Hard Case!

Sony has revealed in a business meeting that their long-assumed-was-coming video on demand service will debut this summer in North America for PS3 and PSP users. Surprise, looks like they're actually going to deliver a video store. No mention of any affiliation with vendors like Netflix, which, as I'm a Netflix subscriber, is disappointing.