Tag: Culture - Page 4
News PS I Love You XOXO Podcast Returns with PS5 Hopes and Dreams
Two hour special
Who else had missed that introductory title sequence brimming with classic PlayStation boot-up sounds? We most certainly did, so the welcome return of one of the internet's very best Sony-focused podcasts is going to be the source of our enjoyment this evening. Kinda Funny's PS I Love You XOXO is back, and the first episode is...
Random Drink from the Holy Grail with Official PlayStation Trophy Glass
The hunt is on
Sony’s so deep in the merchandising market with PlayStation these days, you can even buy lava lamps. Trophy hunters will be particularly enchanted by this item, however: an official glass inspired by the platform’s Holy Grail – a humble trinket, which ships without that iconic ‘bling’ sound. It’s available now from Amazon...
News Classic PlayStation Podcast PS I Love You XOXO Returns Next Week
Greg Miller and co
Who doesn't love a good PlayStation podcast? PS I Love You XOXO was largely considered to be one of the very best, hosted by Greg Miller and Colin Moriarty, although the show was scrapped after the latter departed Kinda Funny under controversial circumstances back in 2017. The podcast is about to make its triumphant return,...
News PlayStation Gear Website Once Again Shuts Down Across EU Territories
Offline merch
We're not entirely sure what the deal is with Sony's PlayStation Gear online merchandise store. For the past two and a half years, passionate fans have been able to purchase officially licensed clothing, statues, and artwork from the hardware manufacturer across EU territories. However, much like when it returned to the internet in May...
News PlayStation Players Are Still Gaming's Biggest W*nkers
#Foreplayers
Another year, another avalanche of surprisingly interesting statistics from Pornhub -- the world's most popular pornography website. Once again, the adult site has crunched a load of data, but there's only one part of it that matters to us (honest!). We are, of course, talking about 'Traffic by Game Console', which breaks down the...
Reaction PlayStation's Most Ardent Fans Are Feeling Frustrated and Insecure
The current state of play
There are PlayStation fans, and then there are PlayStation fans. If you’re reading this, you probably fall somewhere in the middle; we’re guessing your interest in games expands beyond the next Call of Duty release date, but hopefully you’re not one of these social media nutters who attacks developers for including a...
News PSone's Iconic Startup Sound Was Designed to Detect if the Console Could Read Your Disc
The more you know
PSone’s iconic startup sound is arguably one of the most recognisable audio sequences in all of games, but did you know it was designed specifically to detect issues with the console’s CD drive? “The function of this sound is to tell the user that the hardware is running like it is supposed to, and that the disc has...
News PlayStation's 25th Anniversary Marked with Game Informer Cover Story
Cover star
Update: You can read Game Informer's full story, The First 25 Years, through here. Game Informer’s cover is perhaps best associated with jaw-dropping game reveals, but this month it’s serving up some celebrations, as PlayStation celebrates its 25th anniversary. The latest issue promises “a massive chronicle of the PlayStation’s...
News Sony to Celebrate PlayStation's 25th Anniversary All This Week
Happy birthday
Tomorrow will mark the 25th anniversary of the PlayStation brand, as the PSone first launched in Japan on 3rd December, 1994. And the company has confirmed that it will be commemorating the occasion all this week on the PlayStation Blog and social media, although it’s yet to outline exactly what we can expect. Jim Ryan, the...
News Ex-Ghostwire Tokyo Director Ikumi Nakamura Seems Primed to Join Sony
More evidence uncovered
Former Ghostwire Tokyo director Ikumi Nakamura is most certainly taking her time deciding where she'll develop video games next, isn't she? After leaving Tango Gameworks, she has been on a bit of a world tour visiting numerous studios far and wide, but the destination she seems to keep coming back to is Sony. The PlayStation...
News Insomniac's Last Ever Non-PlayStation Game Is Getting Rave Reviews
Stormland is a success
Insomniac Games is owned by PlayStation now, but the Burbank-based developer still has unfinished business with partner Oculus to conclude. Stormland – it’s last ever non-Sony published project – is gaining rave reviews, attaining an average score of 83 on aggregate website Metacritic. While much of the excitement...
News The Witcher Netflix Series Already Has Seven Seasons Mapped Out
Geralt's got work to do
It's still to early to say whether Netflix's take on The Witcher will be a success or not, but that isn't ever going to stop studios from planning ahead. In an interview with entertainment magazine SFX (as reported by GamesRadar), showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has already mapped out seven whole seasons for the series. It...
News Metal Gear Solid Artist Creates Stunning Death Stranding Magazine Cover
Beauty in death
The latest issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu is quite the feast for the eyes. It features a Death Stranding cover put together by the one and only Yoji Shinkawa, the artist behind all of the brilliantly distinctive character art in the Metal Gear Solid series. Of course, Shinkawa also contributed to Death Stranding, but his...
News The Witcher Netflix Series Gets a Release Date, New Trailer Teases Geralt in the Tub
Wild stunt
You know, Netflix's take on The Witcher isn't looking too bad. The streaming service has revealed that the upcoming series will release on the 20th December, with eight episodes being made available right from the world go. The above trailer's well worth a watch, by the way, and yes, it does feature a scene where Geralt's busy taking a...
News Fans Want Ex-Ghostwire: Tokyo Director Ikumi Nakamura to Join Sony
Sound the Siren
Ex-Ghostwire: Tokyo creative director Ikumi Nakamura captured the attention (and hearts) of gamers around the world when she revealed Tango Gameworks’ next project at E3 2018 earlier in the year. Unfortunately, she’s since parted ways with the Tokyo-based studio, and fans are hoping that she may have a future with Sony’s...
News PS4 Community Helps Out House Fire Victim Whose Console Was Damaged in the Blaze
Reddit rescue
Reddit user SmokeinPeace2516 was eating in his dining room a few days ago when a fire broke out on the floor above. Caused by a wiring defect, the fire brought down the ceiling, but fortunately no one was injured, and all are reportedly okay. Though of course not the most important thing in the world in these situations,...
Random Haunting Sonic Movie Costumes Arrive Just in Time for Halloween
Gotta spook fast
We've had just about enough time to forget all about Paramount's first attempt at Sonic the Hedgehog in the upcoming movie, and now look what's happened. The movie might be delayed into next year, but that hasn't stopped some merchandise from popping up, and boy, they're a sight to behold. Below are two examples of hilariously...
Random This Miniature PSone Toy from Bandai Is Ultra Detailed
Internal workings included
Now, here's something for the collectors among you. There's a place in all of our hearts for retro consoles, and the PSone is certainly among those. Sony's original grey box is a pretty understated design, but it's become something of an icon -- at least for PlayStation fans. If you're infatuated with the nostalgic...
News Even Xbox Is Weighing in on the PlayStation 'X or Cross' Debate
It ain't Crossbox either
No doubt having seen the X button debate raging across the internet for the past week and a half, the official Xbox Twitter account is getting in on the action. If you somehow don't know what we're on about, the PlayStation UK Twitter account made waves last week when it stated that the X button on a PlayStation controller...
News The Internet Is Cross with PlayStation's Name for the X Button
Xit strategy
It's been days since PlayStation UK posted a tweet saying that the X button is actually pronounced 'cross', but the debate is still raging across the internet. Well, we say debate, but the reality is that most people never call the X button cross. Countless fans have responded to our site poll and social media posts on the matter, and...
Poll Sony Says the X Button Is Pronounced 'Cross', But What Do You Call It?
This makes us very X
Is it the X or the Cross button? Most sane individuals have settled on simply calling it X, but those who insist on calling it Cross still crop up from time to time. The two types of people had happily settled their differences -- until the question was raised once again on Twitter. We spotted this response earlier today, and it...
Soapbox I'm Collecting Every NFL Game Ever Released on PlayStation
Third and long
What’s wrong with me? I’ve been planning for a while to clear out my cupboards from the countless PlayStation discs I’ve accumulated over the years, but just as I’ve started making progress on that process, I’ve been unable to resist the temptation of adding new cases to my collection. There’s a twist, though: I’m only...
News Tired of Funko Pop? How About Ducks Cosplaying as Video Game Characters
Quackers
So, you've spent your life savings on collecting all the Funko Pop! Vinyl figures money can buy, and now you need something new. Something different. Something... Weird. Introducing 'Tubbz', a range of collectable cosplaying ducks from Numskull. We told you it was weird. Each duck cosplays a different video game character, and all of them...
News Super Mario Maker 2 Comes to PS4, with a Helping Hand from LittleBigPlanet 3
Claptrap9 does it again
Dreams is all the rage right now when it comes to player creation, but don't rule out Media Molecule's previous franchise, LittleBigPlanet, just yet. Much like what he did with the original Super Mario Maker, prolific inventor Claptrap9 has re-made Super Mario Maker 2's creation suite in
News EU PlayStation Fans Are Furious with Sony's Treatment of the PS Store
Store wars
PlayStation fans in Europe are in a particularly foul mood at the minute – and changes to the PS Blog’s weekly new releases article have tipped them over the edge. Historically, the platform holder has listed every new title and DLC pack due out on the PlayStation Store, with appropriate links and release dates. The latest update,...
News Someone Made Super Mario Maker in LittleBigPlanet 3
Dream big
Dreams is on the cusp of receiving its Early Access release, and yet even after its impressive beta, people still question the sheer creativity of Media Molecule’s community. Perhaps this LittleBigPlanet 3 level will put things into perspective: it’s Super Mario Maker recreated in Sackboy’s world. Yes, we said Super Mario Maker –...
News Sony Spotlights Some of Its Top Talent on International Women's Day
A look behind the curtain at Worldwide Studios
As part of International Women’s Day, Sony has released a pretty cool trailer peeking behind the curtain at several of its first-party teams. The inspirational clip, which naturally focuses on ladies, spotlights employees from a variety of different disciplines, including programmers, artists,...
Soapbox Can We Please Kill Cursors in Console Games?
Sammy's cursing up a storm
I tolerated the cursors in Theme Park and Theme Hospital on the PSone because even as a nipper I knew that these games had been ported from the PC and there was really no other way deliver them on Sony’s grey device. The Horde, too – one of my absolute all-time favourites on the ill-fated Panasonic 3DO – had...
News Insomniac Games Celebrates 25 Years of Great Games
Still awake
If we asked you to list your five favourite game developers, we suspect Insomniac would pop up a lot. The studio launched Marvel’s Spider-Man to critical acclaim last year, but we think everyone expected it to be good the moment it was announced – that’s what past pedigree does for a team. Whether it’s Ratchet & Clank,...
News Senran Kagura 7EVEN Impossible to Release After Sony Censorship Row
Project being completely reconsidered
Senran Kagura 7EVEN was announced for the PlayStation 4 all the way back in 2017, but it sounds like Marvelous has been forced back to the drawing board following a recent wave of policy changes which have seen several risqué titles censored on Sony’s system. While the platform holder is yet to officially...
News Phoney PS5 Invites Are Being Sent Out to Press
They're fake
PlayStation Meeting invites are beginning to hit the inboxes of games media, but they’re completely fake. Sent from a standard Gmail account as opposed to an official Sony address, the emails promise a 20th February blowout, which will purportedly reveal the “future of PlayStation”. It’s similar to the correspondence the...
News Man Gets Suspended Sentence for Trying to Pass Off PS4 as a Bag of Bananas
Fruit loop
A French man has been handed a four-month suspended prison sentence for trying to pass off a PlayStation 4 as a bag of produce. The 19-year-old had the crafty idea of putting Sony’s system on a weighing counter intended for fruit and veg, and then paying for it via a self-checkout till. It means that he ended up stumping up around €9...
News PS4 Users Are Still Gaming's Biggest W*nkers
Play your way
Hugely popular pornography website Pornhub is back again with another annual breakdown. In an impressively detailed report that covers everything from traffic statistics to, er, well, let's not get too graphic, it's revealed that PlayStation 4 users are still gaming's biggest w*nkers. Well done everyone! We've now covered Pornhub's...
News These PSone Sneakers Are the Third Best Thing You'll See This Thanksgiving
Turkey being the best, the PS Classic ad being second
When he wasn’t putting up 25 points in a convincing win for Oklahoma City Thunder against current NBA champs the Golden State Warriors, small forward Paul George was on the PlayStation Blog writing about his new PSone-inspired sneakers. The gorgeous Nike PG 2.5 x PlayStation Colorways come...
Weirdness The Smoken Joy Lets you Hook Up Your Hookah to the DualShock 4
Sheesh
We've seen some pretty crazy controller peripherals and accessories in our time, but this one might just take the cake. Called the Smoken Joy, this new grip for the DualShock 4 allows you to attach your hookah pipe to your controller, essentially letting you smoke and game at the same time. Yes, that's right. To back up a little bit here,...
News Put a PlayStation Spin on Your Halloween Pumpkin with These Official Stencils
Sir Dan-o-lantern
We feel like we've been writing Halloween stories for far too long, but the holiday is almost here. With seemingly every game on the planet updating with something spooky, it was only a matter of time before Sony joined in on the fun, although this example is a little more physical. If you fancy bringing gaming to your Halloween...
News You've Been Waiting for This Official Fortnite NERF Blaster
Maybe you didn't realise it
The omnipresent Fortnite continues to wheedle its way into every corner of popular culture, with this NERF Blaster representing the natural next step before Happy Meal freebies parachute into McDonald’s restaurants. Due out next summer, the $49.99 dart gun features flip-up sights and a motor, so you can pick off prey at...
News Custom Fallout 76 DualShock 4 Looks Ready for Reclamation Day
Power armour
It's fairly common these days to see some pretty excellent fan-made custom controllers. The Facebook page Shed of Dreams is responsible for some of the best around, including this one for Horizon: Zero Dawn. The DualShock 4 modder, Vulpe Andrei, has returned with his latest creation: a Fallout 76 themed pad that looks ready to take on...
News Officially Licensed PlayStation Furniture Is a Thing Now
Sofa, so good
Sony’s gone absolutely mad with licensed products this generation, so we suppose we shouldn’t be surprised by this line of officially licensed, y’know, furniture. Part of Pottery Barn’s teen line – because Instagram kids need state of the art bedrooms to snap selfies in – this new selection of overpriced MDF-based gear...
News PS4 Downloads Account for 2.7 Per Cent of Global Internet Traffic
Analyst dissects the data
With PS4, digital downloads are incredibly common. Users are able to download games, of course, but if you also think about streaming via PlayStation Now, patches, firmware updates, and other bits and pieces, the amount of total data must be pretty staggering. Well, according to a new report from Sandvine, 2.7 per cent of...
News Sony, Marvel, and Hundreds of Fans Gather to Break Bizarre Spider-Man World Record
Spider-Men
The hit game is already selling incredibly well on PS4, but Sony and Marvel are looking to break records in more ways than one. Marvel's Spider-Man has been a big success, and on the back of its significant momentum, the companies rallied together to break a Guinness World Record during Stockholm Comic Con. Chief editor at Marvel, C.B...
News EA to Support Jacksonville Victims' Families with $1 Million Donation
Livestream planned next week
EA has pledged a $1 million contribution to the families of the victims involved in the shooting in Jacksonville last week. For those of you who don’t know, players had gathered to play Madden NFL 19 as part of a qualifier event for the publisher’s Madden Classic series when a gunman fired off shots, killing two...
News Xbox Gamers Are More Hardcore Than PlayStation, Says Microsoft
You filthy noobs, you
Microsoft’s getting stomped globally by the PlayStation 4, but it believes that “hardcore gamers” gravitate towards the Xbox One ahead of Sony’s system. Aaron Greenberg, one of the marketing bigwigs at the Redmond firm, told IGN Italia at Gamescom 2018 that he believes the most engaged players prefer to game in green...
News Mass Shooting Reported at Madden NFL 19 Tournament in Florida
Multiple fatalities confirmed
A shooting has occurred at a Madden NFL 19 tournament in Jacksonville, Florida today, with multiple fatalities confirmed. Videos on social media reveal harrowing scenes from the event, where attendees had gathered to play EA Sports’ latest American football game. The Jacksonville County Sherriff’s Office confirmed...
News Four Issue God of War Comic to Expand on Kratos' Story
Did you axe for it?
Dark Horse is teaming up with Sony to expand upon Kratos’ escapades in Norse mythology with a new four-part comic book series. According to ComicBook.com, the project’s being led by Witchfinder's Chris Roberson (writer) and Mayday's Tony Parker (artist), with a host of other big names attached. The first issue’s set to go...
News Dragon Ball FighterZ Beats Street Fighter V to Be Evo 2018's Biggest Game
New blood
The final entrant numbers for Evo 2018 are in, and Dragon Ball FighterZ is at the top of the pile. For years, Street Fighter has been the king of the world's largest fighting game tournament, but Bandai Namco's anime-based brawler has managed to knock Street Fighter V off its throne. According to the numbers provided by head Evo...
News Nathan Fillion Plays the Role He Was Born to in Uncharted Fan Movie
Watch the full thing now
Sony’s clearly never going to get the long-rumoured Uncharted movie off the ground, so leave it to Canadian director Allan Ungar to stick a 15-minute fan film online. Clearly a plea from the Gridlocked director to get given the full project, this is a slick clip that sticks closely to the blueprints of Naughty Dog’s...
News Germany Bans Pre-Orders for Games that Don't Have a Set Release Date
A good thing?
This is a pretty interesting story. Over in Germany, products that don't have a set release date -- including video games -- are no longer allowed to be pre-ordered. This means that, for example, you can't go ahead and pre-order something like The Last of Us: Part II, since it has a vague "coming soon" release date attached. The...
News The Campaign to Keep Gravity Rush 2's Servers Online Continues
Auldnoir yells at cloud
Gravity Rush 2’s servers were scheduled to be shut down on 18th January, but a fan campaign kept them alive until 18th July. Of course, that’s less than two weeks away at this stage, and so
News Sacred Symbols Sees PS I Love You's Colin Moriarty Return to PlayStation Podcasting
Beyond
If you’ve had a PlayStation podcast shaped hole in your life since the death of Kinda Funny’s popular PS I Love You XOXO and our very own Push Square Podcast, then you may be interested to learn about Colin Moriarty’s new endeavour: Sacred Symbols. Following largely the same format as the original Podcast Beyond,