Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights

The PlayStation Portables (PSP) Essentials Range of software, originally revealed by Electronic Theatre last month, has received a number of new additions courtesy of THQ. Revealed early this morning, the likes of Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights, MX Vs ATV Untamed, Avatar: The Legend of Aang and Marvel Super Hero Squad are joining LocoRoco, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters and Patapon 2 in the budget line-up of PSP software known as the Essentials Range.

Photographer Paul Ferradas has said a photo he took of a model has ended up being used without consent from him or the model. Apparently an ex-boyfriend of the model was playing Juiced 2 and recognised her in the loading - please wait images of the game. No comment from THQ at the moment, which may be scrambling to investigate themselves.

During THQ's financial conference call with analysts, company execs explained why two of their highly anticipated in-house games, Stuntman Ignition and Jucied 2: Hot Import Nights, did not do as well as anticipated in sales and reviews. For Stuntman, the execs stated that they felt the game's design was too old-fashioned and highly scripted compared to the more open games that involve more player's choice that the publisher feels are more popular now. For Juiced, THQ felt that giving the developer, Juiced Games, a total of six different platforms to develop all at once was too ambitious and that going forward THQ will only give their game developers no more than three SKUs to work on at once.

THQ has today announced its decision not to pursue its Juiced and Stuntman intellectual properties. Both franchises saw releases in 2007, with Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights and Stuntman: Ignition each releasing across multiple platforms. Although not receiving universal acclaim both titles were not without merit, Stuntman in particular proving great addictive fun for high-score junkies.

PS3 gamers short changed once more. PS3 owners once again find themselves facing another delay for a cross format game with the news that Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights has been pushed back until October. According to the latest schedule published by THQ, the PS3 and PSP versions of Juiced 2 will now be shipping in October, where as the Xbox 360, DS and PS2 versions will all still arrive on store shelves in September.

Developer THQ has officially announced the sequel to 2005's street racer Juiced, heading to PC, PS3, 360, PS2 and PSP, following earlier reports on the game this week. Juiced 2 is based around the Hot Import Nights series of car shows, and will include race and drift racing modes along with large amounts of customization options. There's also a "Driver DNA" system that "molds" the racing traits of players and then makes them downloadable to race against in events, though we're not quite sure

The sequel to urban racer Juiced has been revealed via Swedish games mag, Gamereactor, even though publisher THQ has yet to publicly confirm its existence. Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights is being developed for a September 2007 release on PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, and PSP, potentially going head-to-head with a new version of EA's Need For Speed series. The action takes place across various European cities, and there will be a roster of over 90 tuned-up motors to pimp. The game will be based around