Welcome one and all, to the PS4 Screenshot of the Year Competition!
This contest is designed to share and celebrate screenshots captured on your PS4 or PS4 Pro. It's a bit of fun, invented by the legendary @themcnoisy and judged by him, @AdamNovice and my good self.
We are not including the PS5 this year; those who have the console already would have the advantage of better visuals, and many haven't been able to secure one yet, or were duped by the nefarious Amazon at launch. This is therefore exclusively a PS4 and PS4 Pro competition, the last hurrah of a spectacular generation and one that ushered in that all-important Share button.
And on that note, let's get cracking!
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Categories
This year, we're adding submission categories into the mix!
Their purpose is twofold; not only will they create a greater diversity of shortlisted shots (ensuring we don't have a dozen pictures of Kratos' beard to choose between because, let's be honest, it's a magnificent beard which should totally win everything), they also allow us judges to play along.
We cannot and must not submit into our own category, for obvious reasons, but we can submit and be considered in the others, by the others.
There are three categories to choose from. Judge assignments were picked from a hat.
The PS4 has helped to make gaming environments truly stunning, with some of its highlights cutting through their PR puffery and finally achieving photo-realism. Here's where you put your picture-perfect panoramas; submit your best to the Landscape category.
When you become convinced that you're playing with real people, and not just assemblages of polygons and voice clips, you know that they're worth capturing. Here's where you put your protagonist portraits and villainous visions; submit your best to the Character category.
Finally, we introduce a bit of skill-based screenshotting to the competition, as getting the timing right on a mid-combat shot can be an art form in and of itself. Here's where you put your exciting explosions and furious fisticuffs; submit your best to the Action category.
This category will be judged by me, @RogerRoger (ah, nuts).
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What to Submit
Each individual can submit a total of six shots. You don't have to submit six; you can just submit one, or three, or two-and-a-half if you're feeling particularly esoteric.
There is no category limit. If you're a master of landscapes, you can submit all six in that category.
See the following post for additional hints and tips about what to submit.
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How to Submit
Please submit your shots via the "Push Square Screenshots of the year 2020" community on your PS4. It's the same community as last year, just renamed, which means 56 of you are already members.
When posting each shot, please remember to include the following:
1) The category into which you're submitting your shot (Landscape, Character or Action); 2) A title for your shot; 3) The game in which the shot was taken; 4) Your PushSquare username.
If you don't want your PSN account associated with your PushSquare username, then please send your shots directly to me via PSN Messages. I'll post them in the community for you, and keep your PSN account confidential whilst doing so (you'll have to tell me who you are, but trust me, I can keep a secret).
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When to Submit
You should have all your shots submitted by the evening of Saturday 12 December 2020 (GMT).
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Finalists and the Public Vote
Judges will select their favourite four shots from each category and send them to me via PSN, sometime on or around Sunday 13 December. This will give us twelve finalists and, once I have them collated, I'll post them in this topic and open up a public vote, in which we'll assign points to our personal preferences.
Timescales for this will be flexible, because we all have lives and whatnot, but don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to browse what I'm certain will be a gorgeous gallery!
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Best of luck, and may the forced perspective be with you!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
This one is totally up to you, but remember to keep in mind that each shot will be judged on its merits as an example of its category.
What does that mean? Well, let's look at the Spidey shot I used in one of the category headings.
It's definitely an action shot, with Spidey in mid-beatdown and more goons piling in, but you could also argue that it perfectly represents Spidey's character. He's obviously the focus of the shot, and it shows him doing his duty as a superhero, cleaning up the streets.
Think about why you took your shot, what you wanted it to say, and how you'd like it to be judged.
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What makes a "good" screenshot?
We all know what we like, so trust your instincts. If you think something looks good enough to capture, then chances are others will agree with you.
That being said, please don't be lazy. Take this for example:
Pretty sweet shot of good ol' Sully, right? Well, it should be, because it's taken from a cutscene and it's therefore been framed and lit by one of the cinematography experts over at Naughty Dog HQ. All I did is hit the pause button at the right moment and slap a black-and-white filter on it, and I'm sure there are hundreds of thousands of players out there who did the same.
We're not here to give professional developers yet another award. Do your own thing!
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So, do I have to use Photo Mode for my shots?
Absolutely not. A good Photo Mode can obviously give things flair, but there are plenty of games out there which don't feature them, yet look stunning all the same. In previous years, we've considered and elevated shots from folks who've simply positioned an in-game camera for maximum effect.
Just be warned that nothing, and I mean nothing, ruins a good shot like an on-screen HUD.
Beautiful, but generic. Please be sure to deactivate the HUD where possible!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@get2sammyb@Quintumply You were kind enough to promote this on the front page last year, and I was wondering if you'd be prepared to do the same again? Bit of winter fun an' all.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Does the PS5 have communities or are they accessible through the PlayStation website? My PS4 is boxed up and factory reset, but I have my screenshots on a USB stick.
This will most likely end up being the Ghost Of Tsushima and Last Of Us 2 competition.
Anyway, entries submitted by the 12th gives me 2 days to get plenty of snaps from Night City.
@Thrillho Nope! This year's award will have a special name, which we'll use going forward.
@mookysam Good point, thanks for raising it. The PS5 can't access Communities, so the only way to access them is via a PS4 or PS4 Pro (pretty sure that there used to be a smartphone app, but I'm not sure whether it's supported any longer).
If you have your screenshots on USB, then I suggest transferring them to your PS5 and then sending them to me via PSN Messages, same as the anonymous submission method.
I'll send you a screenshot back, proving that I submitted them correctly. How's that sound?
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger That’d be great, cheers. The Communities app was disabled a while ago, which would’ve made sense if it was integrated with the new PlayStation app, but Sony doesn’t seem to have thought of that yet.
@Thrillho Haha your picture is the community icon! I've heard retaining a title is harder than winning the first.
Forum Best Game of All Time Awards
PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7
@mookysam Yeah, there seem to have been a couple of corners cut. I think the Communities feature is going the way of the dodo anyway, so we'll have to think of something else next year.
@Anti-Matter Hmm. I have to be honest with you, it's not ideal. You'll definitely be facing some stiff competition from folks who've captured high-quality images using the Share button, but I suppose you're describing the purest definition of a "screen shot" there so... heck, I'm not gonna stop you. It'll be up to the individual judge of each category to evaluate them.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
That moment you get excited about a screenshot contest but quickly remember you suck at taking screenshots.
PSN: frownonfun
Switch: SW-5109-6573-1900 (Pops)
"One of the unloveliest and least enlightening aspects of contemporary discourse is the tendency to presume that whatever one disagrees with must be very simple—not only simple, but also simply wrong." - Elizabeth Bruenig
@RogerRoger
I have figured it out how to transfer the screenshot from my PS4 slim to my USB.
I guess o can get HD screenshots without directly taking pictures in front of the TV.
Ahh my screenshots are going to suck compared to the majority! I normally only capture funny stuff or glitches but I was compelled to capture some in Metal Gear Solid V this year (which naturally includes some glitches 😅).
I'll try and fit them into the categories and submit them and I apologise in advance to whoever ends up having to judge mine! Also I am a HUD man but only because I rarely use photo mode!
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Topic: The PS4 Screenshot of the Year Competition (2020)
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