Tag: Sony - Page 219
News Microsoft Didn't Expect Sony to Ditch 4K Blu-ray Either
What the 4K?
We probably all expected the PlayStation 4 Pro to have a 4K Blu-ray player – Sony's one of the founders of the physical media format, after all. But the supercharged system doesn't, with the Japanese giant favouring streaming ahead of the disc-based playback option. And it turns out even its main competitor Microsoft expected the...
News PlayStation Plus October Includes Resident Evil and Transformers on PS4
That's more like it
October looks to be a really solid month for PlayStation Plus. Sony has revealed that subscribers will be getting Resident Evil and Transformers: Devastation on PlayStation 4 - that's two great games right off the bat for the current-gen console. Elsewhere, the Vita selection includes interesting indie Actual Sunlight and...
News Former Sony Exec Jack Tretton Details What Went Wrong with the PS3's Launch
"The most difficult launch you could imagine"
Briefly thinking back to past Sony press conferences, it's hard not to miss Jack Tretton and his cheeky little smile. The former president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, Tretton left the company in 2014, but that hasn't stopped him from talking about the PlayStation 3 and its troubled...
News PlayStation Experience 2016 Heads to Anaheim in December
Is your body ready?
PlayStation Experience 2016 is happening after all. There had been some speculation that Sony may cancel its annual fan gathering, but an official website has been updated revealing that the show will be hosted at the Anaheim Convention Centre on 3rd and 4th December. This means there'll be one last press conference for you to...
Hands On Could Horizon: Zero Dawn Be Sony's Next Big Blockbuster?
Aloy, saveloy
The best thing about PlayStation is that it's reinvented itself time and time again. Sony's original console was defined by Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon, but a contractual blunder meant that both series went multiformat. Sony had to reinvent itself, and we saw the introduction of Jak & Daxter and Sly Cooper. Now on its...
Feature PlayStation VR Has the Power to Elicit Real-World Reactions
Don't look down
There are two things that make virtual reality extra impressive: scale and physical reactions. As we've said so many times, you really need to wear the headset to understand just how affecting these assets are, but we also appreciate that it's not easy for everyone to get eyes-on time with the device. As such, we've already tried to...
Mission Blog Chapter 6 - Boldly Going
The final frontier
The black hole was alarmingly close. It was an arresting if slightly terrifying sight, with an attractive blue aura surrounding a harshly defined circle of darkness. Though No Man's Sky's black holes offer some of the most striking (and perilously inviting) views in the game, my curiosity got the better of me just before I flew...
First Impressions PS4 Pro Represents a Sizeable Step Forward
A new Horizon
Looking at Guerrilla's eye-wateringly pretty dinosaur destroying role-playing game Horizon: Zero Dawn on the PlayStation 4 Pro initially reveals the game that you have in your imagination; it's only when the upgraded version is observed back-to-back with its standard PS4 release that the stark contrast comes into alarming focus...
Podcast Episode 14 - The PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro
And is the Iron Price right?
A fictitious prize to whoever cites both references in that sub header! Anyway, we've got another bumper episode for you this week that comes to you with improved microphone quality on my end, for once. Huzzah! This episode, we catch up on all the latest new from the PlayStation Meeting and Tokyo Game Show. Plus, we...
Talking Point What October PlayStation Plus Games Do You Want?
Free the freebies
The price has gone up in North America, but few could be disappointed with September 2016's selection of free PlayStation Plus games. Between the excellent Journey and the agreeable Lords of the Fallen, the PlayStation 4 alone played host to two really worthwhile downloads last time out. But now it's time to starting thinking about...
News Buckle Up with DriveClub VR on 13th October
How fast do you wanna go?
It's been described by some major publications as the best virtual reality racing game period, and now DriveClub VR has been confirmed for a 13th October launch. This means that you'll be playing the racer -- which includes new tracks, a brand new campaign, and fresh modes tailored for VR -- on PlayStation VR's launch day...
Reminder PlayStation Plus Prices Increase in North America Tomorrow
You've been warned
A friendly reminder for all of you with active PlayStation Plus subscriptions: the price of the service will increase in the United States and Canada starting tomorrow. You won't be charged any extra money until your membership lapses, but we figured that it was worth positing a subtle reminder should you be due to be charged any...
Soapbox Uncharted 4's Higher Difficulties Kill the Joy of Combat
Joey Thurmond's sick of sitting behind cover
I'm on chapter 20 of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, having just escaped explosive deathtraps with a good companion by my side. We're ready to take on the bad guys that have taken another friend hostage, and I happen to see him attempting to escape from my vantage point. I'm overlooking a vast cove run dry...
Video Fly Away with Gravity Rush 2's Free PS4 Demo
Kat-ch it while you can
This is a most pleasant surprise: there's a free Gravity Rush 2 demo available on the Japanese PlayStation Store. One catch: you'll need a PlayStation Plus account to nab it. Thankfully, we're going to show you how you can claim a 24 hour trial on your Japanese account, meaning that you can download this and give it a spin...
News Pre-Order Prices of PS4 Blockbusters Plunge on Amazon UK
Battlefield 1! Mafia III! Watch Dogs 2!
While we're not the biggest advocates of pre-ordering games, we are supporters of saving money. And thus it's probably worth pointing out that a wave of the PlayStation 4's biggest holiday games have been reduced on Amazon.co.uk in the run-up to the busy release season. Thus, if you're planning to pick up any...
News PS4 Pro Requires Very Little Investment from Developers
One or two people working on Sony titles
CD Projekt Red's decision not to update The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for the PlayStation 4 Pro has prompted some people to ponder just how many resources developers need to commit to the new machine. According to Digital Foundry, the answer is very few, as it's reporting that just one person from Sony Bend is...
Mission Blog Chapter 5 - Atlas, At Last
We are not alone
I didn't really want to leave the Rachel system. There were lots of planets, all of them were great for different reasons, and I was making mega space bucks. I found another planet, not far from Gravitino Rush, that was covered in venom sacs. They were also worth a bundle, and collecting them was just as dangerous as it was with...
TGS 2016 This Gravity Rush 2 Concert Is the Best Thing You'll See Today
Sing it back
Look, we don't even care if you got access to Irina Shayk's iCloud account earlier, this Gravity Rush 2 concert is unquestionably the best thing that you'll see today. Streamed from Sony's Tokyo Game Show booth, the broadcast also saw director Keiichiro Toyama take to the stage in order to showcase some brand new gameplay from the fan...
TGS 2016 Can New Hot Shots Golf Score a Hole in One?
Tee off with 20 minutes of gameplay
We haven't really seen a massive amount of New Hot Shots Golf since its announcement in 2014, but a PlayStation Japan livestream from the Tokyo Game Show has provided us with 20 or so minutes to sift through. Before you watch, though, you'll want to turn down your speakers just a little bit – there are a lot of...
News Sony's Latest Sizzle Trailer Spotlights Major PS4 Games
The best place to play and all that
It looks like this is the lineup that Sony will be spotlighting this fall: Destiny: Rise of Iron, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Watch Dogs 2, and Horizon: Zero Dawn. The latter obviously doesn't release until next year, but it's good that the Japanese giant's putting in the legwork to build hype around the brand...
News Yoshida Says He Understands No Man's Sky Criticism
But he's still "super happy" with the game
Do you remember No Man's Sky? The game released to a chorus of hype, but aside from Stephen Tailby's excellent Mission Blog series, there aren't a whole lot of people talking about it anymore. That's because, whether you loved the game or not, it didn't quite deliver on what director Sean Murray had...
Poll Should the PS4 Pro Have a UHD Blu-ray Player?
A moment of clarity
Sony took a bath on the PlayStation 3 just to get Blu-ray into as many homes as possible, so it's strange to see the company ignore the fledgling Ultra High-Definition Blu-ray format a decade later. Times have changed since the turbulent days of 2006, of course: streaming is, for many, their primary means of consuming media now...
TGS 2016 Ogle Some Off-Screen PS4 Pro Images
Final Fantasy XV! Uncharted 4! Horizon: Zero Dawn!
With regards to 4K resolution and HDR, you really need to see the PlayStation 4 Pro with your own eyes in order to appreciate the improvements that it offers. However, at the Tokyo Game Show this week, Sony is showing off a handful of titles on a very expensive panel – and Game Watch took a few...
News Sony 'Pleasantly Surprised' by Strong PS4 Pro Pre-Orders
That's a pro, then
We suppose that the reaction to the PlayStation 4 Pro could be described as mixed, but its sales seem to be off to a decent start. It's dominated the best sellers list on Amazon for some time now, and we've heard from a couple of retail sources that pre-orders are looking decent in both the UK and in the US. And now Sony has...
News UK Store GAME Will Sell You a PS4 Pro for £174.99
But you'll need to make some trades
Many have asked whether retailers intend to offer trade-up programmes for the recently announced PlayStation 4 Pro, and it looks like GAME is the first. The UK outlet will sell you one of the supercharged systems for £174.99 – assuming that you're willing to make some trades. It's worth noting that this offer...
TGS 2016 PlayStation Japan's New Commercial Must Have Cost a Fortune
We can do everything
PlayStation Japan's been putting out some silly ads of late, but its new flagship commercial takes itself very seriously indeed. The clip centres on the slogan "We can do everything", and appears to show ordinary people in extraordinary scenarios. The message, we assume, is that PlayStation takes you to incredible places. It's...
Competition Sony and Taco Bell Team Up Over PlayStation VR
Win a headset every 15 minutes
Stock up on toilet paper and plan a holiday detox: Sony's teaming up with Taco Bell to give away thousands of PlayStation VR headsets over the coming weeks. Starting 15th September through 19th October, the fast food chain will be giving away a futuristic face mask every 15 minutes if you purchase a specially marked $5...
News Job Losses at London Studio as PlayStation VR Worlds Dev Is Completed
Team restructuring around new projects
Sony San Diego's not the only team in the platform holder's stable to sadly lose staff this week, as London Studio has also been struck by a round of layoffs. The first-party team has led the charge on PlayStation VR over the past few years, and it's behind one of the peripheral's showpiece launch titles:...
TGS 2016 Horizon: Zero Dawn Is a Proper Role-Playing Game
New gameplay highlights RPG systems
Back when Horizon: Zero Dawn was announced, we wondered how much of a role-playing game it would actually be. That's the genre that Guerrilla Games had promised, but with the early demonstrations centring on combat ahead of crafting and conversations, we pondered whether the Dutch developer may be stretching the...
TGS 2016 Hear Kat's Chorus in Gorgeous Gravity Rush 2 Trailer
Oh Hekseville
We've absolutely no idea why Gravity Rush 2 is being treated like the black sheep in Sony's first-party portfolio; in addition to Horizon: Zero Dawn, the title has shown incredibly well with each new trailer. And this TGS 2016 clip is no different, teasing the origins of heroine Kat, as she takes to the stage in a glamorous dress and...
Video We Got One of Those PS4 Slim Things
And ours isn't off the back of a lorry
Leaks presumably irritate every organisation operating in the games industry, but Sony must have been particularly peeved by the PlayStation 4 Slim's premature reveal. Today we learned an important lesson about the diminutive device: it's not very photogenic. Like, at all. To the degree where we gave up trying...
News MLB The Show Survives as Sony San Diego Restructures
Drawn to Death not dead either
Sony San Diego has seen a large number of layoffs – thought to be in the region of 40 to 50 employees – but the MLB The Show team has been unaffected. Despite being one of the Japanese giant's lower-profile exclusives, the baseball series sells strongly every year in the United States – and is widely considered...
News The Last Guardian Looms Large with New Trailer at GameStop Expo
New locales and gameplay
So here's something we weren't expecting, and from a rather unlikely place: a new trailer for The Last Guardian has been released at the GameStop Expo. The footage features brand new locations and gameplay, which may help to suppress your disappointment over the game's recent delay just a little. We are a little surprised...
Rumour MLB The Show Developer Sony San Diego Shuttered?
Caught out
MLB The Show rarely gets much coverage on websites like ours, but it's a strong seller for Sony in the United States every year. However, reports are swirling that the studio may have been shut down. Not exactly the kind of news that will go down well at a time when the Japanese giant seems to be attracting waves of negative press. We...
Review The Tomorrow Children (PS4)
Russian around
The Tomorrow Children is something of a departure from Q-Games' vibrant, punchy, arcadey PixelJunk titles. This is a game far grander in scope, darker in tone, and more varied in gameplay than anything from the Japanese studio's previous gen efforts. It also explores new territory, treading the lines between genres and feeling...
Video Is Hot Shots Tennis a Winner on PS4?
Everybody's arcade favourite
New Hot Shots Golf is really starting to shape up judging by its Tokyo Game Show trailers – it's just taking an eternity to tee off. (Okay, so maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but Clap-Hanz will have been working on its first PlayStation 4 instalment for almost half a decade when it deploys in Summer 2017. Insane.)...
Video PS4 Firmware Update 4.00's Secret Neatest Feature
Sing song
PlayStation 4's latest firmware update brings a lot of obvious advantages to the new-gen console, but as is so often the case, it's the "secret" features that are causing our pulse to race. Case in point: Spotify's integration with the system now runs so deep that it'll recommend playlists based upon what you're playing. In the video...
TGS 2016 Death Stranding Will Bring Online, Open World Action to PS4
Hideo Kojima explains exclusive game
Hideo Kojima really taxed the translators at Sony's Tokyo Game Show press conference today, talking cryptically about his upcoming game Death Stranding – which will launch exclusively for the PlayStation 4. Given that development on the title only started a few months ago, the acclaimed auteur didn't have...
News Final Fantasy XV's PS4 Slim Bundle Will Cost You More Than a Pro
But it does come with a lot of goodies
Final Fantasy may not be the juggernaut that it once was, but it's still comfortably one of the most iconic franchises in PlayStation's stable. And after a brief dalliance with Microsoft around the launch of Final Fantasy XIII, it's nice to see the series back where it belongs – firmly under the PlayStation...
Round Up What Was Announced at Sony's TGS 2016 Press Conference?
Every reveal recapped
Sony held its annual Tokyo Game Show press conference earlier today, which was well assembled if a little light on content. While the platform holder didn't have a whole lot of new content to show, it did offer meaningful updates on a slew of different titles, attaching release dates to anticipated exclusives like NieR Automata...
News PS4 Firmware Update 4.00 Is Available to Download Now
Weighs in at 312MB
Sony has released PlayStation 4 firmware update v4.00, which brings with it hotly anticipated features like folders and a spruced up user interface. The patch weighs in at 312MB in total, so if you don't have the fastest Internet connection, you may want to turn on your console on a few minutes before you intend to play, as you...
TGS 2016 Horizon: Zero Dawn Is Even Cooler in Japanese
Aloy aloud
Horizon: Zero Dawn is comfortably one of the most anticipated PlayStation 4 exclusives – but how's it shaping up in Japanese? Pretty damn well, to be honest. This TGS 2016 trailer recycles a lot of footage, but the voiceover may just be better than the English language version. Which is impressive, considering we can't understand a word...
TGS 2016 Sony Hasn't Forgotten About the PS Vita Entirely
New colours incoming overseas
The PlayStation Vita put in an appearance at Sony's TGS 2016 press conference today – albeit a rather fleeting one. The platform holder took a moment to announce that two new colours will be available in Japan starting 1st December: Silver and Metallic Red. Both models will retail for ¥18,980 (~$186).
TGS 2016 Is This PS4's Greatest Ever Montage?
See it to believe it
It's no secret that Sony loves a good montage, but today's TGS 2016 opener may have been its greatest ever achievement. The 'RYO-Z&PES with Tofubeats' clip shows off dozens of upcoming PlayStation 4 titles like Yakuza 6, Final Fantasy XV, and Battlefield 1. But the mash-up of classical music and rap is a real wonder to...
TGS 2016 New Hot Shots Golf Tees Off Next Summer on PS4
Fore
New Hot Shots Golf looks much better these days. The arcade sports title, which has been in development for a while, got a new trailer during Sony's TGS 2016 press conference, and in addition to the traditional click-click-click action, we also got a glimpse of some new character models, which look much better than those employed in previous...
TGS 2016 Final Fantasy XV PS4 Slim Is Over the Moon
Another Noctis in the bedpost
Sony announced the first custom PlayStation 4 Slim hardware design – and it's a tasty one. The Luna Edition – which, sadly, won't be available in the PS4 Pro format it seems – will cost ¥39,980 (~$392) and will feature the moon motif from Final Fantasy XV on its front. It will come with a copy of the game, and...
Talking Point What Did You Think of Sony's TGS 2016 Press Conference?
Beast in the East?
It got practically no build-up, but Sony's TGS 2016 press conference was decent – even if it lacked new announcements. The platform holder centred on upcoming Japanese releases like Final Fantasy XV, New Hot Shots Golf, and more but also found time to mention PlayStation VR and other hardware initiatives. But what did you think...
Live Watch Sony's TGS 2016 Press Conference Right Here
Land of the rising fun
This is novel, isn't it? Two PlayStation press conferences in the span of a week! Today we're in Japan for Sony's annual pre-Tokyo Game Show media briefing. There's been very little build-up to this event, so we could get anything out of the platform holder today. Our dream reveal would be Bloodborne 2, but while that's very...
News Japan Has a Killer PS4 Line Up Over the Next Few Months
Crazy new ad says it all
It's time for another crazy Japanese PlayStation television ad, so we hope that you've come prepared. Featuring a man who can only be described as incredibly enthusiastic, the clip highlights 16 titles coming to the PlayStation 4 before the year is out in Japan. Oh, and there's a mad mention of PlayStation VR as well...
News PS4 Firmware Update 4.00 Adds New Features Tomorrow
Available to everyone imminently
The long awaited new PlayStation 4 firmware update – numbered v4.00 and codenamed 'Shingen' – will officially release tomorrow, bringing a bevy of new feature to Sony's best-selling box, including the ability to create folders. In order to celebrate the news, the platform holder's outlined some of the additional...
