Hideo Kojima surprised the entire internet with a 5 minute trailer for his yet-undated third person action titled Death Stranding last night. In usual Kojima style the trailer contains absolutely no plot or character information, yet this cinematic trailer contains enough interesting moments that we will speculating for months until the release of the next cryptic morsel.
In the opening of the trailer we see a European city under-siege from an army of zombie skeleton soldiers and planes as the camera establishes it self on an unnamed character presumably played by project collaborator Guillermo Del Toro. We see a pair of neon handcuffs around Del Toro’s wrists and in his opposite hand a mechanical womb-like device that contains a fetus. As the the skeleton troops march across the bridge above Del Toro he affixes a tube from the mechanical womb to himself. The camera then zooms down a large drain pipe to reveal more zombie soldiers and a character played by Hannibal actor Mads Mikkelsen.
Alongside the trailer Kojima Productions also released two cinematic style posters:
The world of Death Stranding seems to be an intriguing mixture of World War II era military technology, dystonia undertones, science fiction devices, characters played by well known Hollywood actors and several mysterious babies.
Any other details regarding the game-play, plot or other Death Stranding related topics are merely conjecture. Some folks have speculated that the babies are used as healing items in a future society where the aged literally siphon the essence of youth from the next generation. Others have drawn parallels to the 2006 post-apocalyptic sci-fi film where humans have lost the ability to naturally conceive.
Death Stranding has no release date but more information might be released during Kojima’s panel at the PlayStation Experience today at 1pm PST.
Defiant Development will be bringing its’ hybrid Action RPG / rogue-like dungeon exploration / CCG sequel Hand of Fate 2 to PlayStation 4 in Q1 2017 the developer announced today via press-release. Today’s reveal brought with it a collection of brand new screenshots, confirmation that the game will be playable for attendees of next week’s PlayStation Experience and a look at one of the game’s brand new companion characters.
Estella Fiore is a ranged pistol wielding companion whose aim seems as deadly as her attitude. She’ll join the player character in her quest against The Empire as she also locks her sight on taking out a brand new factions like the Greed and Frost. Estella will also have a role to play in the newly unveiled Pendulum mini-game which the developer says will test players precision and timing.
Hand of Fate 2 sees the player character team up with NPCs to take down the protagonist from the first title. Combining elements taken from Collectible Card Games, Table Top Role-playing Games, Action RPGS and Dungeon & Dragons a number of discrete genres have influenced the unique formula used in the Hand of Fate series. Hand of Fate 2 will be playable at PlayStation Experience next week at booth B10008, where attendees can check out the newly unveiled Estella.
Hand of Fate 2 will be released simultaneously on Xbox One, Windows PC via Steam and PlayStation 4.
Are you ready to be TAKEN FOR A RIDE? Rumours are circulating on the popular video game forum NeoGaf that Capcom and Sony may have entered into an exclusivity for another fighting game. The heroes & villains of Marvel Entertainment might be preparing to face off against Capcom’s large roster of characters in Marvel Vs Capcom 4– if this rumour is true.
A set of three images appeared thanks to a user named Ryce who claims that they are part of a reveal at the PlayStation Experience set to take place in California next weekend from Dec 3rd through 4th.
Here are the teaser images that Ryce posted:
These screen-grabs are supposedly from either a teaser trailer or a set of teaser images created to promote the upcoming fighter. Does the artwork on display remind you of anything? Almost all of it is taken from previous promotional art or trailers for both Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 or the 2001 classic Marvel Vs Capcom 2. Aside from the re-use of iconic artwork the only new element in these screen-grabs is the “4” – signifying the fourth major title in the franchise.
Long time Fighting Game Community member and content creator Maximillian Dood, who has had official partnerships with Capcom, created a rather lengthy video giving his opinion on the whole thing. Max doesn’t feel that the “4” images (reprocessed above) are not legitimate and that the proportions of the image are out of wack.
Marvel Vs Capcom 2 and digital copies of Marvel Vs Capcom 3 / Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 were pulled from the PlayStation Network nearly two years ago, in mid December 2013. Users who already purchased MVC2 are still able to download copies onto their systems but prior to it’s 2009 re-release on PSN it was locked to the Xbox (original) and PlayStation 2 / Dreamcast.
What do you think about the possibility of MVC4 coming to PS4?
Tripwire Interactive and publisher Deep Silver have jointly announced that Killing Floor 2 has gone gold on PS4 and Windows PC. This means that the zombie slaughtering team shooter will be leaving Steam Early Access after being in development for the past 18 months, originally going live in March 2015 on Windows.
Killing Floor was partially developed with the help of Sony Computer Interactive – as the motion capture for the game’s animations were captured at Sony’s Santa Monica California motion capture studios. Other technological innovations in KF2 include the evisceration system which allows individual limbs to separated with each enemies having five distinct separation points. The graphics team at Tripwire interactive also focused heavily on how blood was rendered in the game – spending considerable time on how blood was generate from wounds and how it split onto surfaces.
An open beta was available on PlayStation 4 for all the check out earlier this month. The physical release of Killing Floor 2 will be priced at $49.99 CDN on PS4.
Here’s a picture of the development team that Tripwire released in celebration of the game being complete:
Alright so I am a little late on this one – it actually went live on Halloween Night – but Sony has released a massive 6GB Patch for DriveClub. Adding 15 brand new tracks that were formally exclusive to DriveClub VR this update gives players even more content to play in Sony’s two year old racing title.
Sony’s would be marquee racing franchise didn’t do as well as the publisher had expected – after multiple delays, a troubled PlayStation Plus edition and the eventual closure of developer Evolution Studios there is a good chance this is the final patch for DriveClub.
These new courses do sport slightly downgraded visuals – a necessity due to their inclusion in the PlayStation VR version of the game. The official changelog for this update even included a farewell message from whomever is handling the deployment of this last patch. “Thanks for your support. Thanks for your commitment. Farewell,” that message read in part.
Evolution Studio’s vision of a socially connected racer may not have panned out as expected but they delivered & supported the game up until the very literal end.
Sony recently revealed the list of 30+ titles that will be receiving additional benefits from the PlayStation Pro such as resolution rendering up to 4K, HDR enhancements and more stable frame-rates. Unfortunately for PlayStation Owners who might be dropping the $399 USD on this enhanced console this list of supported games raises some and conflicts with previous reports about PlayStation Pro support.
For sure there are some several big name AAA games from 2016 that are receiving an upgrade on the PS4 Pro including EA’s Titanfall 2 & Battlefield 1, EPIC Games’ Paragon, Square Enix’s episodic Hitman, 2K’s Mafia III and Sony’s own first party efforts Until Dawn: Rush of Blood and Uncharted 4. A lot of these titles are third or first person action titles and will benefit from the bump up in resolution in frame-rate, texture quality and resolutions most certainly but doesn’t it leave a bit to be desired?
Some really big titles from this past year alone are absent from the list for unknown reasons – titles like The Witcher III and its 2016 expansions, Tom Clancy’s The Division, Dark Souls III, DOOM and Mirror’s Edge Catalyst all could have benefited from varying degrees due to the technical improvements offered by the PlayStation Pro. This is especially true considering that rumblings around the industry point to a small workload when implementing PS4 Pro support when compared to the overall work required to produce a finished title.
Concerning the PlayStation Pro’s graphical enhancements the platforms architect Mark Cerny told Eurogamer this about the overall development required to use specific PS4 Pro features:
“The point though is that these are techniques that can be implemented for a fraction of a percent for the overall budget for the title.”
Certainly there are other older titles in the system’s library that could either benefit from a bump up in frame-rate to make them more playable – most notably last year’s Fallout 4, whose frame rate can creep into the mid 20s at times when the action ramps up with a number of enemies on screen. Another title that could have seen a huge potential boost would have been Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV which has graphical options of Windows PC that haven’t been utilized in the PS4 port. One genre that has always struggled with the balance of frame-rate and texture quality is open world titles due to the amount of complex objects on screen and the need to stream the game-world to players to keep immersion and game-play flowing.
Sony says that support for up to 15 more titles will be ready to roll out by the end of 2015 with games like Killing Floor 2, Final Fantasy XV, The Last Guardian and Gravity Rush 2 receiving patches to support the new console. Oddly some big titles from this fall are missing despite the leaked claim that Sony told developers that titles released after October 2016 would need to support the PlayStation Pro – so if you were hoping for PS4 support for the latest Star Wars Battlefront DLC or Dishonored 2, you’re out of luck for now.
When the large – then code-named PS4 Neo- leaks occurred earlier last month Eurogamer did an excellent job providing readers with a rundown of what Sony expected of developers going forward. At that time it was believed that PlayStation 4 Pro support would be mandatory from October going forward but for a select few titles like Bethesda’s Dishonored 2 this does not appear to be the case.
Here is the original quote outlining Sony’s requirements for PS4 devs:
“Forward compatibility patches are for old games only: Sony really wants Neo support on all games from October onwards. While older titles can have Neo features patched in, the platform holder will not allow new titles to add Neo features at a later date.”
Is the PlayStation Pro worth your extra cash if you’ve got a standard PS4? Let us know your opinion in the comments section.
Developers of The Getaway &The Getaway 2 for PlayStation 2 and most recently the upcoming London: Heist for PlayStation VR are no more according to reports. Sony Computer Entertainment Londonhad been a first party owned development team based in the U.K. since 2004 when Sony folded ‘Team Soho’, creators of The Getaway franchise, into the now defunct subsidiary.
Members of the team affected by the lay-offs include senior development staff, artists, programmers and others. In a statement issued to GamesIndustry.biz Sony Computer Worldwide Entertainment said these staffing changes were the result of “regular reviews”
“Unfortunately, there will be a number of compulsory redundancies within the London Studio. We accept that this will mean that we risk losing high calibre staff whose projects have reached completion and where possible, we will try to reallocate people to new projects currently being nurtured.”
Sony has positioned the lay-offs as a routine business decision often made when projects have been completed. For the members of Sony Computer Entertainment London it must be frustrating to have finished work on a project only to have your employer pass you a pink slip or offer you a position within an other team. Sadly, it has become commonplace within the industry as team sizes swell and the budgets for AAA games balloon into the hundreds of millions.
London Hiest was one of the earliest demonstrations shown by Sony for then code-named “project morpheus” and tasks players with tanking on elaborate hiests using an innovative control system where the PlayStation Move controllers act as the players arms and hands, allowing for immersive gun-play. It will be available alongside the PlayStation VR headset on October 13th.
Sony Computer Entertainment London was quite acquainted to trying to innovate on Sony’s latest hardware – they also had a hand in the development of Eyepet for the PlayStation Move back in 2010.
Okami is without a doubt the best example of how a video game can be a work of art. From the moment you start your first playthrough you are introduced to a vibrant world inspired by Japanese culture. For anyone with a love for action adventure platformers this is the Capcom published classic is your dream come true, and it’s available in HD on PSN.
I should start out by explaining my history with this game:
Back in early 2006 I received my monthly edition of Official PlayStation Magazine in the mail, and to my delight it contained a demo disc. Am I showing my age yet? I loved demo discs. It was the easiest way for me to play games I otherwise would have never gotten the chance to. Okami was published by Capcom in 2006 and originally developed by the now defunct Clover Studio. I played the Okami demo for the rest of that year. When Christmas came around and I was asked what single game I would like I said “drum roll please” Bully for PS2. I had a short attention span. I have never regretted my choice, but I always wondered how great it would be to play the rest of the game. Thank the old gods for the trend of HD re-releases.
Okami’s narrative is strongly rooted in Shinto Mythology. Nearly every character is based on a figure from shintoism. The sheer amount of Japanese folklore packed into Okami would take countless articles to cover. From sun goddesses to wood spirits to eight headed demons, playing Okami will introduce you to the world of Japanese mythology in the most engaging way possible.
The basic plot of Okami is familiar enough – An ancient evil has returned to the land and it is up to the titular character to traverse a vast cell shaded world filled with memorable characters. You take on the role of the sun goddess Amaterasu who has been reincarnated as the heroic wolf Shiranui. 100 years have passed since Shiranui and the warrior Nagi defeated the monster Orochi to save Kamiki Village. You are joined by a Navi like comedic companion named Issun. Throughout the story you meet a wood spirit named Sakuya, a would be swordsman with a wooden sword named Nami, and Waka a mysterious character who can see into the future. All the characters are both endearing and compelling and ad to the overall narative of the game as well as adding in perfectly placed bits of humor. The stakes feel high as you are tasked with bringing life and color back to the world and to defeat evil. By the end of the game I found myself rooting for these characters to succeed and to grow, a feat many modern games fall short of.
One of the biggest draws of Okami is how it’s art design as the main focus of its game-play. Although like most action platformers you can use basic striking attacks you will spend most of your time using Okami’s unqiue celestial brush. The brush is used in almost every element of the gameplay – In some instances you will need to use the brush to complete objectives such as bringing trees back to life, fixing a water wheel, cutting barriers down that block your path and so on. In one charming instance you use the ink from the brush to obscure the sight of a farmer so you can dig up daikon radishes. As the game progresses you will encounter different spirits that will award you with different brush strokes that can be used in a variety of different ways. The amount of ink you get at the start of the game is very generous and your ink pots regenerate quite quickly. This will work to you benefit as the game’s difficulty curve can become daunting at times. I died a lot in the later portions of the games. Although the game will at points give you an directional arrow that leads you to an important objective, for the majority of the game you are left to figure out what you are supposed to be doing on your own. Nothing impossible, but trial and error is a must in this game. The open ended nature of the quests you are given allows for a tremendous amount of freedom.
The gameplay has not changed at all from the original PS2 version released a decade ago for this modern re-master, and the HD overhaul makes every color pop out at you. The HD version of without a doubt the definitive version. A PC release on Steam would be a welcome however as there are times when the precision needed to perform certain brush strokes would have been made easier with a mouse and keyboard. Overall the artistic aspects of the gameplay along with the cell shaded graphics inspired by Japanese watercolor paintings and woodcarvings are a joy to behold.
My time spent playing Okami was worth waiting ten years to play. The art style was candy for my eyes and the gameplay kept me on my toes and constantly thinking “What do I do now?”. It’s a shame that the game did not command high sales at the time of its release. Unfortunately Okami came out at a transitional time in gaming when First Person Shooters where in and platformers were on the way out.Without a doubt if Okami had been released in today’s market it would have been a smash hit for the now defunct developer. If you have a love for action platformers and an interest in Japanese mythology this is most definitely the game for you. Even if you don’t have an interest in the mythology then the game is still loads of fun to play and well worth the price of admission.
Okami HD was part of last month’s Humble Capcom PlayStation Bundle
Psyonix’s surprise summer hit from 2015 recieves a brand new “rumble mode” that provides players with a whole new set of power-ups. 11 new randomized power-up give players new abilities that drastically changes how the rocket powered soccer title is played.
If you’re getting flashback to older racing titles from the 90s that included outrageous power-ups, like Extreme-G for the Nintendo 64, don’t worry you’re not alone. Here is a list of all of the power-ups available to players in the new “rumble mode”.
The Boot (Kicks an opponent’s car)
Disruptor (Forces the opponent to drive uncontrollably)
Freezer (Freezes the ball in-place)
Grappling Hook (Pulls you toward the ball)
Haymaker (Punches the ball)
Magnetizer (Attracts the ball to your car)
Plunger (Snaps the ball to your position)
Power Hitter (Hit everything harder)
Spike (Attach the ball to your car when you bump into it)
Swapper (Change positions on the field with your opponent)
Tornado (Sweep up the ball and cars into a giant funnel cloud)
Today’s update also introduces the “Crates & Keys” system that will allow players to unlock new skins and cosmetics through keys that are purchasable through optional micro-transaction. “Crate & Keys” is a similar micro-transaction model as popularized by Valve’s Counter Strike: Global Offensive and does not affect the core gameplay experience of Rocket League. Keys will be sold for $1.49 USD for 1 or in bundles of 5, 10 or 20. Profits from the “Crate & Keys” system will be used to fund future e-sports prize pools for the Rocket League community.
Sony officially unveiled the much-rumored PS4 Pro at today’s PlayStation Meeting. The PS4 Neo improves performance and offers higher resolution graphics. A new, slimmer base model will accompany the PS4 Pro’s launch in November.
Sony’s Mark Cerny demoed the console’s 4K graphics with games such as Horizon: Zero Dawn and Mass Effect Andromeda. Because the console features enhanced hardware, games will be able to employ higher resolutions and greater detail. In addition, HDR lighting is coming to all PS4 models via a software update.
PS4 Pro will make its debut on November 10th for $399.
The latest Compile Heart title headed on PlayStation Vita received a new trailer today giving some insight into MeiQ’s story. This dungeon crawling RPG features first person exploration, sort of like Etrian Odyssey but with actual triggered event style turn based combat. It looks to be quite the adventure and if anything, those of us who aren’t Vita owners can probably look forward to this title eventually making it’s way onto Steam like most Idea Factory titles in recent memory.
MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death will be released on September 13th in North America and on the 16th in Europe.
North American gamers are facing the first price increase for PlayStation Plus in the services history the company stealthfully announced today. In a notice emailed to members whose memberships are about to lapse, including one on our staff, Sony outlined that the price of the service will be increasing on September 22nd in the North American region.
“Starting on September 22, 2016, prices for PlayStation Plus memberships will change to $59.99 USD/ $69.99 CAD for twelve months and $24.99 USD/$29.99 CAD for three months. The monthly plan will change to $11.99 CAD in Canada, and remain $9.99 USD in the U.S. If you are a current member, the new prices will take effect if your membership renews on or after this date.”
Prices will increase by $10 USD in the United States and an absolutely shocking $20 CDN in Canada. While many have pointed out that this price increase brings the services’ price in line with Microsoft’s Xbox Live offerings it actually makes PlayStation Plus $10 CDN more per year when compared with Xbox Live.
Is this price increase anti-consumer as some have pointed out? Hell yes it is. I’m not saying that Sony can’t price their product at a similar rate to the competition but that isn’t what they’ve done in Canada. Not only is their product now more expensive than Microsoft’s but according to Statistics Canada the CPI (cost price index) inflation value for the past 5 years that Plus has been active for comes out to roughly 10.5%. Septembers price increase on PS Plus is equal to 33% or 3x the rate of inflation. Sony clearly just wants more of your cash without providing any additional benefit to the end consumer.
It is highly advisable that Canadian gamers either renew their PS Plus through their consoles before the September 22nd deadline or pick up a redeemable card at retail before they are phased out. Below are a few retailer links that will guide you to discounted cards:
Amazon.ca ($49.99 CDN Standard price but free shipping)
PlayStation Plus launched in 2010 and provides subscribers with “free” games in the form of timed rentals tied to the owner’s subscription expiry date. The service generally provides two games per PlayStation platform – PS3, PS3 and PS Vita per month. In addition PlayStation Plus is required for online multiplayer on PlayStation 4 and for the use of the PlayStation Cloud game-save service.
Free to play MMORPG TERA could be heading to the Xbox One & PlayStation 4 if a new survey that has been emailed to players from developer Bluehole is accurate. We don’t have images of the actual questions from the survey but we do have what appears to be an image from the initial survey invite email taken from a mobile phone.
Here is a copy of the survey invite as posted on Reddit:
A job posting published this past May by Bluehole Studios requested applicants for a Technical Lead to assist with porting the game to both consoles. Duties listed in the job adverts included coming up with short term and long term plans for the two ports as well exploring the possibility of developing the TERA property for “other markets”.
TERA originally launched during the tail endz of the 2000s MMORPG boom back in 2011 and was originally required a monthly subscription fee. What sets TERA apart from other late 2000s MMORPG titles that emerged in the wake of World of Warcraft’s success is its closer third person camera and real-time action focused combat. Like another console bound MMORPG, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV, TERA can be played with either a mouse & keyboard or Xbox controller. TERA completed its transition to free to play with the TERA RISING update in February 2013.
Here is how Bluehole describes TERA on its Steam Page:
TERA is at the forefront of a new breed of MMO. With True Action Combat – aim, dodge, and time your attacks for intense and rewarding tactical combat. Add the deep social experience of a MMO to best-in-class action combat mechanics for a unique blend of both genres. Play now for free!
If you can’t wait for the eventual PS4 and Xbox One version of TERA, here are the PC minimum requirements:
Sony’s PlayStation Network plays host to a sale on Bethesda’s recent & past catalogue of digital titles for both the PlayStation 4 and PS3. This sale is in celebration of the upcoming QuakeCon convention, which will have events live-streamed this weekend from Texas.
Recent titles like iD Software’s Doom reboot and older critically acclaimed games like The Evil Within (2014) for PS4 have been heavily discounted. For FPS fans this is a great deal to save a huge chunk of change on DOOM, which hasn’t even been on the market for two full months.
Other titles from other developers under the Bethesda banner include discounts on the Fallout franchise. Last year’s immersive Fallout 4 gets a substantial temporary price-cut alongside DLC for the PS3’s Fallout 3.
Here is a partial list of the titles available. All prices listed are in Canadian dollars with PSN Plus (10% discount applied).
DOOM Franchise
DOOM (2016) Standard Edition – $39.99
DOOM BFG Edition – $19.99
DOOM Classic – $8.99
Fallout 4
Fallout 4 Standard Edition – $39.99
Fallout 4: Automatron DLC Add-On – $10.99
Fallout 4: Wasteland Workshop – $4.99
Fallout 4: Far Harbor Add-on – $26.24
Fallout 4 Digital Deluxe Edition – $104.99
The Evil Within
The Evil Within Standard Edition – $17.49
The Evil Within Digital Deluxe – $22.49
The Evil Within Season Pass – $14.99
Wolfenstein Franchise
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood – $12.49
Wolfenstein: The New Order – $14.99
Fallout 3 DLC (PS3)
Fallout: New Vegas Lonesome Road – $7.49
Fallout: New Vegas Courier’s Stash – $1.49
Fallout: New Vegas Dead Money – $7.49
Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta – $3.79
Fallout 3: Broken Steel – $3.79
The full list of available titles in the Quakecon sales is available on Sony’s store website.
Back in the late 1980s Nintendo of Japan announced a partnership with Sony Corporation to build a CD-based add-on for the then-upcoming Super Famicom (Super Nintendo). After years of development one of the most public schisms between the then fledgling video games industry giants occurred during the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show. Though, this dissolution may have ultimately favoured Sony as any list of top-selling games these days will inevitably feature Playstation games, but back then, Sony was humiliated at that 1991 show. In the span of two days not only did Sony announce a CD-based add-on for the SNES, called the ‘Nintendo PlayStation, but Nintendo of America also announced a partnership with Phillips to produce officially licensed games.z
After Engadget went hands-on with an early prototype ‘Super Nintendo PlayStation’ decades of speculation roared to life within the gaming enthusiast community. For more than 20 years this add-on was a phantom, the only tangible evidence was thought to be a single controller (that we now know looks nothing like this prototype’s controller) that appeared online in 2007, some concept drawings and Sony’s original 1991 CES press release. For years fans had wondered – Did the SNES CD add the capabilities of the PlayStation 1 (called the PSX in early marketing materials)? Or was it an entirely new beast?
Thankfully well known hardware tinkerer Ben Heck was able to negotiate a deal with the owners of the SNES PlayStation system, allowing Ben to take a crack at restoring some of the functionality. After two painful weeks of waiting for Ben’s entire video series to be complete – from tear-down to repair of this once mythical prototype – we now have some tangible details about the ill-fated add-on.
The SNES PlayStation did not contain any of the hardware that would later be found in the PSX, instead it appears to be very similar in design to a Japanese SNES with a CD-tray under carriage, extra memory and control chips designed to run unreleased CD based games. Now that the full specs of the SNES PlayStation prototype have been published by Ben we know that the unit would have used the stock 3 MHz processor from the SNES for most of its number crunching. Also we know that the SNES PlayStation had an additional 2mhz co-processor and added 256K of Working Memory to allow for smooth playback from the 2X CD-ROM drive.
Ben Heck is actually able to restore a lot of function to this patch-work prototype – replacing a number of the aging capacitors and cleaning up some of the internal components. Once this was done he was able to restore function to both the under carriage CD-ROM drive, view the CD-ROM self test, play SNES / Super Famicom Games and even get the CD-ROM drive to open and close. Sadly, without any proto-type CD-ROM software to test the unit with, we’ll never get to see the SNES PlayStation reach its unrealized potential.
So there you have it, one of the longest standing mysteries that plagued young Nintendo fans in the early 90s finally solved. Check out the pair of videos below if you’re interested in the entire restoration process that the SNES PlayStation underwent.
