Sony Computer Entertainment and Evolution Studios have made official what we've known for a few weeks now—MotorStorm 2 is coming, bringing monster trucks and four player split-screen action with it. The PlayStation 3 racer is indeed moving from arid Monument Valley to a lush Pacific island, an island apparently known for its remote location and 16 "diverse multi-route tracks."

Instead of mud, rocks, dust and the occasional cliff, MotorStorm 2 will feature natural hazards like "tangled undergrowth, swift flowing rivers, choking volcanic clouds and searing lava pools." Sounds just fantastic. The official release on the matter talks up an Autumn release, arriving with a "host of game modes and rewards." Now about those vehicle loading times...

Could be time to get back behind the wheel of your mud-covered vehicle of choice, as Sony has dropped two brand new tracks for their off-road racer Motorstorm onto the PlayStation Network today. Diamondback is a twisting speedway circuit that will tax your diving abilities to their very limits, while Eagle's Nest is a track set atop a remote mesa that you will more than likely find yourself falling off again...and again...and again. If you've mastered all of the original tracks for the game as well as their mirrored counterparts introduced in the 3.1 update, these two tracks are just the thing to add a little more life into your game. The packs are (or should be) available via the PSN today for $2.99.

Two New MotorStorm Tracks Tomorrow [PlayStation Blog]

The latest software upgrade for MotorStorm should be available for European customers, according to a recent posting on the Official PlayStation Community forums. Version 3.0 brings with it a number of new features and fixes, including support for the DualShock 3. Other notable patch features include sensitivity settings for SIXAXIS control schemes, a new "Gloating Index" and changes to positioning rules for online races.

The full list of tweaks and twists is after the jump, but I'll save you the Ctrl + F "fixed loading times." There's no mention of less than unbearable vehicle selection speeds.

To acquire Motorstorm developer Evolution and their Pursuit Force subsidiary BigBig, Sony forked over £16 million, which translates to a little over $32 million. So is that a lot of money? Considering the importance of Motorstorm in the first year of the PS3 platform and the dollars Sony has sunk into the game's marketing and combo distribution, it makes little sense not to buy the studio before the Motorstorm 2 media frenzy begins and keep the expenses and profits a little more in-house.

But if we have any corporate buyout specialists who'd like to run some numbers and post them in the comments, please, by all means. Until then, we'll get back to drooling on our laptops and coming up with catchy headline words like, "Moneystorm."

Evolution Set Sony Back £16 million [nextgen]

The latest update to the PlayStation Store has gone live, hosting a digitally rights managed smörgåsbord of new content for PLAYSTATION 3 owners. In addition to new demos for Midway's Stranglehold (1337 MB) and EA's NBA Live 08 (661 MB), a slew of add-ons for already released games are available.

MotorStorm owners can pick up the Revenge Weekend add-on ($5.99) which consists of one new track, five new vehicles (including a school bus!), a new online mode and nine new events. Four of those vehicles may be purchased individually for 99 cents each, if you're so inclined. For Ninja Gaiden Sigma players looking for more punishment, the Weapons Master pack adds five survival modes for $2.99. But wait, there's more!

id's Rage is FPS-meets-racing-meets-vechicular-combat-meets-lotsa-sand. So many ideas rolled into one. Sure, id probably had no shortage of FPS ideas — the developer all but invented the FPS. But where did it get those other ideas? From other games! id's Todd Hollenshead explains:

For other areas, MotorStorm was an influence, and I was a big PGR3 fan, and of course we have some other guys who are racing game fans. But the driving side of it isn't intended to be a racing simulation like PGR3 or Gran Turismo. It is intended to have the feel and response that you would expect, and one of the things we had to prove to ourselves internally is that we had the capability to drive around in vehicles and have that be a significant aspect of the game and fun.