Shuhei Yoshida
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DualShock 4 light bar can't be switched off, says Yoshida
Players can't disable the DualShock 4's top light bar, regardless of the optional PS4 Eye camera that can track the controller for certain games. The news comes from Twitter and Sony's president of worldwide studios, Shuhei Yoshida. Twitter users have expressed concern over the light's possible reflection on a TV in a dark environment. The light bar on the PS4 was originally pitched as a way to communicate things like player health, back when the PS4 was first announced in February. More tangible ideas were conveyed at E3, however, in a demonstration for The Playroom, a series of tech demos included with every PS4 system. In The Playroom, players use the light bar on the DualShock 4 in conjunction with the PS4 Eye to play Air Hockey and interact with little robot men. We've got some questions into Sony for more clarification on the light's effect on battery life and will update this post when we hear back.
Sony's Yoshida: We've got Oculus dev kits, 'I love it'
While the PlayStation 4 doesn't yet support the Oculus Rift, Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida is full of love for the VR device. Speaking to Engadget during a roundtable today, Yoshida said, "We've got a couple of the development kits, and I tried it out and I love it." While we've seen plenty of devs showing off their Oculus Rifts, it's interesting to note Yoshida kept the question of future PS4 support open with a "no comment" and, as Engadget notes, a big smile.
PlayStation Plus price not changing for PS4, video services don't require Plus
The PlayStation Plus service will remain the same price at the launch of the PlayStation 4. SCE America VP of Publisher & Developer Relations Adam Boyes confirmed to Joystiq during a roundtable that the price will remain $50 annually in North America. Boyes also said "all video services [on the PS4] will be outside of Plus," meaning that services like Netflix and Hulu won't require Plus. Furthermore, free-to-play games won't require PlayStation Plus for online multiplayer. During a separate roundtable Joystiq was present at, Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida said, "As far as free-to-play games are concerned, it's the publisher's decision whether they put it inside or outside of PS Plus." The news follows confirmation that a PlayStation Plus subscription is required for online multiplayer on the PS4. Existing PS Plus subscriptions will extend onto the console's lineup when it launches this holiday.
Yoshida: 'PS4 is region free' [update]
The PlayStation 4 is "region free," according to Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida. At Monday's E3 conference, Sony announced its new console will launch at $399, and comes with "no restrictions" on used games. Afterwards, Yoshida took to Twitter with the extra bit of PS4 news. It's unclear if Yoshida's statement indicates the PS4 will be region-free in the same way the PS3 is. The PS3 can play game discs no matter which geographical region they're tied to, minus the sole exception of Persona 4 Arena. There are region-based PlayStation Network restrictions when it comes to downloadable games on the PS3. Update: When approached about Yoshida's comment, a Sony Computer Entertainment spokesperson gave us the following statement: "In general, neither digital or disc-based games will be region locked, but we recommend users purchase games at the region of their residence to guarantee the best overall consumer experience (eg, customer service). In addition, certain software makers' game titles may be region locked."
Sony, Microsoft going 'heavily' on free-to-play next-gen, says Epic VP Rein
Sony and Microsoft are telling developers they're "going heavily" on free-to-play and in-app purchasing models with their next-gen consoles, according to Epic Games VP Mark Rein. Speaking in a roundtable discussion at the UK's Game Horizon conference, Rein said both companies will take on the kinds of financial models seen on mobile devices. "The next-gen consoles are going to be fully embracing the free-to-play and these IAP-type business models," Rein told the audience, "So in case you don't know that I'm putting that out there. Sony and Microsoft are both going heavily in that area." Roundtable chair Matt Martin of GamesIndustry International said that's what both platform holders are saying, but that "we still need to see some kind of evidence." Rein replied, "Well, I'm telling you. I'm telling you what they're telling developers."
Yoshida: PS4 share function can be disabled by developers
Sony worldwide studios president Shuhei Yoshida recently elaborated on the use and origin of the Dual Shock 4 controller's share button, one of the noteworthy features coming to the PlayStation 4. Namely, Yoshida noted in an interview with Japanese site 4Gamer (translated by Edge) that the share button will be limited to whatever use developers will allow. "There will be parts of a game that the maker does not want people to be able to see," Yoshida said. "For example, on Vita, developers can in certain scenes disable the feature that lets users take a screenshot, and [the Share function] will have a similar mechanism. The creator may not want to make video of the final boss sharable, for instance." Yoshida said his desire to see an accessible video sharing function come to life on the PS4 stemmed from his desire to play Dark Souls "all day long," which resulted in him watching videos of others playing the game since he was too busy.
Sony asking PS4 devs to try PS Vita remote play before submission
A major feature of the PlayStation 4 is native remote play support on the Vita for PS4 games. During last night's presentation, Gaikai CEO David Perry talked about the work being put in to ensure the fastest response times for remote play. It's a big part of the PS4 and speaking to Engadget, Sony worldwide studios president Shuhei Yoshida said Sony is requests developers for its new console test their game on Vita using remote play before submitting for certification.Yoshida said the addition of remote play with the PS Vita means developers can create custom control layouts on Vita. "Some PS Vita games make use of the edge of the screen to add contextual buttons – that works really well, I think, and it's easy to see. So that kind of thing I'd like to see developers do on PS Vita over remote play." Of course, the onus is entirely on the developer, but custom controls for the handheld would be swell.
Yoshida: PS Vita digital purchases beat PS3 each month
Last night's PS4 unveiling event showed Sony is a company committed to digital distribution and the cloud. Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida echoed those sentiments during follow-up interviews, telling Destructoid that the digital business is quite booming for Sony, especially on the PS Vita – which has more people purchasing content on a monthly basis than on PS3."Digital business is the faster growing business," Yoshida said. "We do not publish numbers, but every month it's almost a new record that the purchase on Vita is higher than the PS3, because everything is available [digitally]."Among the things we anticipated from last night's event was a price drop for the PS Vita in North America. Sony lowered the price in Japan last week, but during our own interview with Yoshida, he confirmed no such plan exists for North America.
Yoshida: DualShock 3 won't work with PS4
"No, [PS4] doesn't support DualShock 3, but it does support PS Move," Sony worldwide studios president Shuhei Yoshida has confirmed. Considering the design of the DualShock 4 and the functionality within, we can't say we're too surprised.Obviously we knew about the PS Move compatibility, seeing as how it was featured during last night's event, but this is the first definitive word on DualShock 3 support. Last night Sony announced that PSOne, PS2 and PS3 games would be playable on PS4 through technology developed by Gaikai, but that PS3 discs would not work natively.
PS4 will output video in 4K, but not games
The PlayStation 4 supports 4K resolution output, Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida just told us – but only for video that was recorded in the format. He clarified that games do not play in 4K.On the upside, that means you don't have to go buy a 4K television yet. On the ... other upside, it prevented Sony from calling the thing "PlayStation 4K."
Yoshida: No Vita price cut for North America
"No, it's not," Sony Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida told Joystiq, when asked if the Vita will see a price cut like the one just announced in Japan. Yoshida cited the exchange rate as a reason for the lack of price drop – an issue that has plagued Nintendo in recent earnings releases.
Sony reveals how the PlayStation 4 Eye works
Sony's Shuhei Yoshida has dished the dirt on how the company's latest camera accessory will work. The PlayStation 4 Eye comes with a pair of 1,280 x 800 cameras, four microphones and an 85-degree field of view. The two lenses are designed to be used in a variety of ways, including triangulating the 3D space, gesture recognition, Kinect-style body tracking, and in conjunction with accessories like the Wonderbook or DualShock 4 controller. "It's not just a way to identify your player number, it also works like a PS Move," Yoshida said of the new DualShock's light bar. "It's an extension of the PS Move technology that we incorporated into the DualShock so that the camera can see where it is." The Sony Studios chief used a PS Eye-style AR game as an example, saying that with the original camera, one lens had to do everything. With the new unit, one camera will concentrate on capturing the action and ensuring good picture quality, while the other is dedicated to motion tracking. Another reason that the Move functionality was incorporated into the DualShock is to enable the console know where you're sitting in relation to the TV (and your on-screen character). The company is also aiming to enable users to take 3D pictures and video and store it on the console. As for the microphones in the new Eye and how that'll impact interaction with the PlayStation 4 on a system level, Yoshida wasn't giving up any details. Though he said it'll be incorporated into games (a la Kinect voice commands on Xbox 360 games), he wouldn't give up whether you could use your voice to control the PlayStation 4 on a system level. Ben Gilbert contributed to this report.
Yoshida: PSN games won't run natively on PS4, no emulation or cloud support yet [update]
Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida told our friends at Engadget current-gen PSN purchased games won't natively transfer across to the PS4. Speaking in a roundtable interview later, Yoshida clarified to Joystiq there are options Sony is considering, but native transfers are out of the question, and Sony has nothing set in terms of workarounds. "No," Yoshida said, when asked about any current-gen PSN game being natively supported on the PS4. "Unless, somehow, some games work on emulation. The easiest thing technically would be to make PS1 games work on PS4 through emulation. But we aren't talking about our emulation plans as yet. There are two ways: emulation or cloud service. But native support, no, sorry. We could do so if we choose to. We know who purchased what as a record. But we are working on service plans, and we haven't decided."In last night's PS4 announcement, Sony revealed the new console won't have backwards compatibility for PS1, PS2, or PS3 discs, although the company aims to use the PS Cloud service to stream previous-gen games as a workaround.Update: Revised with clarifying quotes from Yoshida
Vita firmware 2.00 makes web browser faster, usable in-game
Today's Vita firmware update is giving the system's web browser a speed boost, as well as making it usable in-game. We knew the browser's due enhancements in the 2.00 update, but Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida shed further light on Twitter today.The browser becomes a "small app," said Yoshida, meaning it can be used without quitting a game. That's vital for when you're stuck and need a walkthrough, not that we ever have of course, cough splutter. Yoshida also noted browsing is faster in 2.00 firmware.The biggest deal with 2.00 is the introduction of PlayStation Plus for Vita. The first batch of Instant Game Collection freebies arrives tomorrow, with six Vita games added including the likes of Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Jet Set Radio, Wipeout 2048, and Gravity Rush.
Tokyo Jungle's Remote Play functionality to be patched in
Sony is working on a PS Vita Remote Play patch for Tokyo Jungle. Sony Worldwide Studios chief Shuhei Yoshida tweeted that North American and European PS3 owners can expect a patch to let them play the game remotely on Vita systems, but he didn't disclose a date.Sony released a patch for Tokyo Jungle in Japan earlier this month, with Yoshida then indicating that the North American and European releases would have Remote Play functionality built in. The game , however, came yesterday to PSN without it.Earlier this month Yoshida teased a Remote Play patch for Ico on Twitter, then the next day the patch went live. Whether or not Tokyo Jungle players can expect a similar timeframe, only Yoshida knows. And other people working at Sony, we presume.
Ico HD to soon get Remote Play patch on PlayStation Vita
Sony is "almost ready" to patch in Remote Play support for Ico on the PlayStation Vita. Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida, the tease that he is, yesterday tweeted the above photo of the 2001 game's PS3 version running on a Vita. A few minutes later he clarified, saying the patch was almost complete and that more information will follow.Remote Play lets PS3 owners access their system remotely on the Vita, including playing certain supported games. Back in E3, Sony announced future Remote Play support for Ico along with its spiritual successor, Shadow of the Colossus, and the first two God of War games. That suggests functionality for these games is included in the upcoming patch. We'll likely know more at this year's Tokyo Game Show, for which Sony recently announced its lineup.
Sony's 'Cross Buy' promo headed to North America and Europe, Japan undecided
Sony's "Cross Buy" promotion isn't just for Europe – SCE president of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida took to Twitter to clarify that the PlayStation 3/Vita promo is also headed to the United States. Japan, however, isn't so lucky. At least not yet. " PS Vita-PS3 Cross Buy price promo is coming to both Europe and North America. My quote by Famitsu was meant as 'not decided for Japan yet,'" Yoshida said. A piece from Famitsu was picked up yesterday (via Andriasang) that was misunderstood to mean the promo is exclusive to Europe.PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale was revealed during Gamescom 2012 to be the first retail game from Sony launching with the Cross Buy promo – if you buy either version of the game, you get the other version for free. Sound Shapes and Motorstorm RC already employ the promo, albeit on PSN. A variety of other upcoming first-party Sony games also support the promotion. Incidentally, we also support the promotion, because it's super boss.
Sony rules out PS Vita price cut in 2012, works to lower the price later
It's time to get realistic about the prospects of a PlayStation Vita price drop. Sony Worldwide Studios' head Shuhei Yoshida dampened the fires of speculation at GamesCom this week by telling Eurogamer that it was simply "too early" to slash the price on the gaming handheld -- it was only just launched this year for every active region beyond Japan, after all. That's not to say Sony is determined to keep the PS Vita at $249 forever. Much like what it did for the PS3, the company is working to bring down the price by streamlining part costs. The cuts might be necessary given the mismatch between the warm reception to the quad-core, OLED-packing hardware and the actual sales; Sony would "like to see more uptake" than what's been seen to date, according to Yoshida. In the meantime, we'll have to be content with bundles like the European LittleBigPlanet combo if we want to eke out a little more value at the game store counter.
Yoshida: 2012 is 'too early' for Vita price drop
If you're holding out on a Vita until the price goes down, you may be holding out for a while. Speaking to Eurogamer at Gamescom, SCE Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida that the price will not go down this year. "It's too early," he said. Sony engineers are working on "cost reduction," which Yoshida said takes time."At a certain point in the future we would like to address the pricing issue for some of the people who are waiting," Yoshida said. "But this year we are trying to add value by creating different types of bundles," like the LittleBigPlanet PS Vita bundle announced at Gamescom. "That's affordable for people who are looking for a good deal."
The Last Guardian is still coming, still on PlayStation 3
"The team is still working on it very hard," Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida said in response to questions regarding the status of the long-in-development PS3 exclusive, The Last Guardian.Speaking with Eurogamer, Yoshida explained that there are certain "technical issues" that developer Team Ico has been pushing through since last we've heard of it. "That's the period of time when the game, looking from the outside, doesn't seem to be making much progress." In February, Yoshida made similar promises about The Last Guardian but admitted progress on the title was "slow."The Last Guardian has failed to appear at any major industry trade show in years, including last year's Tokyo Game Show, E3 in June, and this week's Gamescom.Trouble started to boil over in December 2011, when Team Ico mastermind Fumito Ueda announced he was leaving his position and would complete work on The Last Guardian with Sony on a contractual basis. Recently, Sony abandoned the trademark for The Last Guardian, but can still recover it by filing a petition by January 2013.Yoshida says that Sony Japan Studio – one of the teams helping with the project's completion – had to completely re-do work to bring the game to a playable state. "...it turned out the technical issues are much harder to solve. So the engineering team had to go back and re-do some of the work they had done," he said.Despite its numerous delays, The Last Guardian has not shifted into a new console generation. "The game is developed on PS3," Yoshida confirmed. Let's hope it doesn't launch as late as some of the PlayStation 2's latest software, which continues to arrive six years after the PlayStation 3's release.%Gallery-102416%
