PlayStation 4

“Months to Triangle:” PS4 Lead Architect Mark Cerny on His Career and More

by Brien Bell | Jun 28, 2013 | 3 comments

The appearance of Mark Cerny on stage in February for the announcement of the PlayStation 4 was, for many, a good sign. Cerny’s history in video games stretches back to Atari and Marble Madness in the early 1980s, and his career as a consultant since then has seen his involvement with Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Jak & Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, and the Uncharted series. Cerny is no stranger to game development, and the reveal that he was the man in charge of creating the architecture of the PS4 was a signal to the game community that Sony was intent on making their next generation system developer-focused.

Since February, Cerny has been a busy man, speaking at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March and the focus of a lot of behind-the-scenes interviews about the system, and his new game Knack, at this year’s E3 conference. This week, Cerny took the stage at Barcelona’s Gamelab conference to talk not just about the PlayStation 4, but also his career and what led him to become so invested in the PlayStation ecosystem despite never being officially employed by Sony Computer Entertainment. After the break, check out Mark Cerny and his discussion of the Road to the PS4, his involvement in the ecosystem of the PS2 and PS3, and what “months to triangle” means for development.

PSA: PlayStation Plus Will Be Required for PS4 in Order to Play Online

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 28, 2013 | 3 comments

One of the key differentiation between the PS3 and Xbox 360 has been the lack of online fees. While on the PS3 anyone can access Netflix (normal fees apply) or play Battlefield 3 online for free, on the 360, an additional monthly payment is required for Xbox Live. While a pleasant option for PlayStation fans, this approach is an unsustainable one by Sony as online games continue to grow which means further expenses for the company. With the PS4, all of this will change and gamers will be required to have PlayStation+ in order to access online gaming, but there is more to it than that.

Have PS4 Units Already Begun to Ship?

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 24, 2013 | 3 comments

The PlayStation 4 success is somewhat of a new thing for Sony. Despite the PS3 being a massive machine with one of the most unique game libraries of the current consoles, it took many years to really find its footing with consumers. With a high price point, low inventory, and lean game selection at launch, the consoles debut was anything but stellar. As we get closer to the PS4 launch, its abundantly clear that the PlayStation has learned from the past and is doing everything it can to to make sure the mistakes from the past do not repeat. Part of this in tales having enough units at launch and if recent reports are to be believed, Sony is already starting to receive delivery on PS4 consoles.

Editorial: Why I Think Sony Won E3

by Sarah Ingram | Jun 23, 2013 | 13 comments

Now that the dust has settled and we have all had some time to digest the news that came out of E3, I feel like it’s the right time to reflect about what we saw and what it means. I was able to catch both the Microsoft and Playstation conferences live as they happened, and once it was all over there was a clear winner for me. But I didn’t go into the expo already declaring Sony the winner: I really wanted to see what each had to say about the hardware, sharing, used games and connectivity. And what I ended up getting out of a comparison of the two presentations after the fact was something a little more, and something I think is much more important.

Sony really handed it to Microsoft this year. I watched Microsoft first, and was admittedly impressed. The games looked good, they had Insomniac on their stage, and a partnership with Twitch is nothing to shake a stick at. I expected the DR and used game news, and was interested in learning more about the cloud sharing. The price tag didn’t even surprise me, and I was curious as to what Sony had in store. I had originally predicted that if Microsoft went through with some of these things, then Sony would have to follow suit. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. They allow used games, there is the capability to play games offline, and they hit the price tag out of the park, something even I didn’t expect. It was an all round A+ performance.

PS4 Pre-Orders at Amazon, GameStop Forecast Big Launch

by Brien Bell | Jun 21, 2013 | 5 comments

To say that PlayStation 4 pre-orders are going well might be selling things short. When Andrew House unveiled the price of the PS4 last week, retailers like GameStop, Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and more were quick to get the console pre-order pages active. Amazon sold out of the Launch Edition of the PS4 and the Day One Edition of the competing Xbox One in the first 24 hours–though Amazon’s stock of the new Microsoft console has been revised and the Day One edition is once again available for sale. The PS4, meanwhile, continues to hold fast with five of the top 10 items on Amazon’s Video Game Best Sellers being PS4 hardware (including the standalone DualShock 4 controller), while the PlayStation 4 Launch Edition is already the second best-selling video game-related merchandise on Amazon in 2013. Throw in The Last of Us (#2) and a $20 PSN card (#6) and you’ve got a strong Sony presence on the online retail giant’s hottest trends this week.

But Amazon isn’t the only place that has been changing their forecast on PS4 pre-order sales. According to a memo received by GameTrailers.com’s Side Mission blog, GameStop employees have been told that “the flood gates are open” for PS4 pre-orders. The full text of the memo, as acquired by GameTrailers, is as follows:

Sony’s Reaction Xbox One $499 Price Tag

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 19, 2013 | 2 comments

The two defining moments of E3 this year were during the PlayStation press conference and neither had anything to do with a specific game though both would impact the gaming community greatly. For those who attend, they’ll easily remember the explosion of applause when Sony would announce their used game policy which was in polar opposite of what Microsoft had announced earlier that day and one that Gears of War developer Cliff Bleszinski strongly agrees with. Ironically, for the most part, Sony’s strategy was to announce that they would keep things as is so the no news was the big news. This of course meant that gamers could lend their games to friends, be able to sell and trade their old titles, and not need an internet connection to play games, even if they were single player.

The other defying moment? The $399 price tag which meant that the PS4 would cost $100 less than the Xbox One. After the jump, Sony’s Scott Rohde, head of Sony Worldwide Studios Software Product Development reaction.

Editorial: Is Cliff Bleszinski’s Used Game Views the Problem or the Fix the Industry Needs?

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 18, 2013 | 1 comment

Gears of War developer Cliff Bleszinski has never been shy about his thought process. Be it his thoughts on what journalists have to say or his views on the used game market, Cliff tends to talk without the usual PR filter. On its own, this is a refreshing and welcomed trait and I hope we see more of from those who are in position of knowledge and can help bring change to our industry. But unfiltered words should also not be taken for the gospel. Taking to his Twitter account, Cliff has been weighing in on the used game discussion which has only escalated in the past week with the PS4 being far more liberal towards selling and lending games while Microsoft has created their next gen system with a lot of restrictions.

In a nutshell, Cliff believes that the used game market is killing off AAA titles. He argues that with production costs rising with each generation and fans demanding more and more, there is little room for loss of profit which he believes used games cause. Instead, gamers need to pay full retail price in order to help support the AAA games that they want.

After the jump, Cliffs actual words and an interesting rebuttal from Jim Sterling of Destructoid.

Dear Readers, What Won You Over at E3?

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 16, 2013 | 2 comments

There is always a lot of talk after a show like E3 of who won and who lost. Like all real things though, the outcome is far more complicated then that. While Nintendo didn’t bother to really show up, Sony and Microsoft were poised to butt heads with more concrete information about the PS4 and Xbox One. Being a long time PlayStation fan, I have to say that there are parts of the Xbox One vision that I get and connect with. Still, a lot of the announcements and news from the Xbox camp the past month has been purely bizarre and anti-consumer in some ways while Sony has been able to better connect to gamers. With an array of exclusive games like Killzone: Shadow Fall, inFamous: Second Son, The Last of Us, Beyond: Two Souls Gran Turismo 6, and Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5, Sony had game after game to show for PlayStation at E3.

This of course doesn’t mean that there weren’t a host of other good content out there. Microsoft has been able to woe in EA/Popcap and get a timed exclusive for Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare while long time favorite series of mine, Command & Conquer is once again to PC with a new entry. All of this translates as a victory for gamers with lots of old favorites making debuts like Call of Duty and Battlefield while new IP’s like Puppeteer, Tearaway, and Titanfall had plenty of spotlight left for themselves.

Guerrilla Games Devs Walk Through ‘Killzone: Shadow Fall’

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 16, 2013 | 0 comments

Guerrilla Games, the PlayStation exclusive developers have proved time and time again that they’re able to master the PlayStation in a way that few developers ever will be able to do. From the release of Killzone for PS2, many pointed towards the game looking like a next gen title and that voice only grew from the controversial PS3 trailer that many pointed towards only being possible if it was done in CG. Well, the team would eventually deliver Killzone 2 and 3, two of the most gorgeous looking games on the PS3 though the games were criticized for their lack of color, due to the environment (Helghan home world) that they took place on.

With such a history, it should come as no surprise that the team was once again present at the initial PS4 announcement, way back in February with another gorgeous game, Killzone: Shadow Fall. This time, the world depicted before our eyes was colorful and alive with pedestrians and flying ships in middle of a metropolis with waterfalls running down the side of buildings. Surely this time around, this was all a pre-rended show. Wrong again and to tackle that head on, the team from Guerrilla Games would take the stage during E3 to play through the shown level and explore in ways not seen before, something that’s only possible in a live game. A fantastic 21 minute video awaits you, after the jump.

Just How Big is the PlayStation 4? Let’s Compare

by Brien Bell | Jun 15, 2013 | 5 comments

The PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One have been revealed in all their glory. The press, the retailers, the investors, the developers, they’ve all had their hands and eyes on the two boxes for the better half of a week. For those of us at home, we’re left wondering one crucial thing: just how are these things going to fit under my television?

The folks over at PSMania.net may have your answer. While Microsoft has not revealed the exact dimensions of the Xbox One, the clever folks at this PlayStation fansite have cobbled together a pretty good estimation based on, of all things, the size of the system’s USB ports. Since USB port sizes are standard, it gave them a good basis from which to determine the rest of the system’s size. Take all these measurements with a grain of salt, but here’s a look at the launch and slim models of the PS3 and Xbox 360, and the revealed models of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4:

PlayStation Marketing Kicks Off; Greatness Awaits

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 14, 2013 | 0 comments

One of the themes from the PlayStation E3 press conference this year was “greatness awaits.” The new tagline for the gaming division of Sony could be seen outside of the LA Convention Center as a beacon for PlayStation fans. To followup with the theme, Sony has released a new minute and a half trailer that’s all about greatness. Better yet, the ad itself is not PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, or PlayStation Vita centric. Instead, the ad is all about gaming and gamers. After the jump, greatness awaits you.

PlayStation Plus “Up To Developers” for Free-to-Play PS4 Multiplayer Games

by Brien Bell | Jun 13, 2013 | 2 comments

PlayStation Plus is a great service, and one easily recommended to both the casual and lifelong PlayStation fans. Launched just two years ago, the subscription-based online service allows cloud storage of game saves, automatic update downloads, access to exclusive betas, and free access to games through the Instant Game Collection — which just this week added Uncharted 3, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and LittleBigPlanet Karting to its roster. On Monday at Sony’s E3 media event, president of Sony Computer Entertainment America Jack Tretton revealed that the service would also now be required for online multiplayer gameplay on the PlayStation 4, a feature that is currently–and presumably still will be–free to PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita owners.

The question regarding PlayStation Plus requirements for online games was quickly raised by fans and the press, especially in light of a number of recent announcements of free-to-play games coming to the PS4. On Sony Online Entertainment’s Twitch.tv livestream yesterday, the developers behind DC Universe Online revealed that their game would not require PlayStation Plus in order to play. Sony Online’s other free-to-play MMO Planetside 2 is also playable without a PS Plus subscription, according to a statement received by Polygon. Polygon’s story was updated late yesterday with a quote from President of Sony Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida, who said that “[a]s far as free-to-play games are concerned, it’s a publisher’s decision whether they put it inside or outside of the PlayStation Plus requirements.”

PS4 to PS Vita Remote Play ‘Just Works’

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 13, 2013 | 8 comments

During the initial PlayStation 4 announcement in February, Sony indicated that the PlayStation Vita would be a crucial companion device to the PS4. This will be achieved by the PS4’s Remote Play capabilities which streams the given game onto the Vita. Since then, Sony has further clarified that Remote Play will be required for every PS4 game, barring those that require additional accessories like the PS4 Eye or Move controller. So will such a requirement leave developers burdened? Apparently not, as the feature “just works.”

‘The Last Guardian’ is Alive, But Why?

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 13, 2013 | 4 comments

I probably don’t need to tell you about The Last Guardian. Originally revealed in 2009 by designer and director Fumito Ueda, who is responsible for the acclaimed titles Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, the game has since been delayed numerous times and has even seen Ueda leave Sony though he remains on the project as a consultant. So what’s the latest on the project? According to Sony, in short, ‘its alive,’ but if true, why?

Extensive High Resolution PS4 Image Gallery

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 12, 2013 | 9 comments

If you’ve been wanting to obsess over every edge of the PS4 then wait no more. After the jump, we’ve put together an extensive high resolution PS4 image gallery that includes the console, controller, camera, and headset from various angles. Whether you’re interested in design or didn’t have a chance to attend E3 to see the console in person, our gallery will surely leave you satisfied.