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Sony officially discontinues the PlayStation Vita
You knew the PlayStation Vita wasn't long for this world, and now it's official: Sony has discontinued the last two Vita models. The move marks the last step of a long, gradual phase-out that included a halt on first-party games in 2015, the discontinuation of physical games and the end to PS Plus freebies. If you're looking for the handheld, you'll either have to get lucky at a retailer (if there are any units left) or track down a second-hand model.
Soulja Boy's latest sketchy console looks like a PS Vita
Soulja Boy is shrugging off possible legal threats from gaming giants with another rip-off console. In the wake of his ill-fated Nintendo emulator swag, his latest attempt at plagiarism marries the design of a PS Vita with the specs of a PlayStation Portable (a 480 x 272 resolution on a supposed "HD" screen is just the tip of the iceberg). It's probably only a matter of time till Sony tells Soulja -- real name DeAndre Cortez Way -- to pull the plug or face legal action.
What we're buying: RetroStone's smart take on retro handheld gaming
The recent spate of retro "classic" consoles might be switching a new audience on to vintage games, but some of us never left them. For most, a $60 - $100 machine with a few flagship titles on it is probably enough to scratch the itch, but Managing Editor James Trew has a much deeper itch: to play retro games on the go without someone choosing the library for him.
Sony will cease PS Vita production in Japan next year
At the 2018 Tokyo Game Show, Sony has announced the birth of a new product and what could possibly be the final nail in the coffin for another. Sony Interactive Entertainment SVP Hiroyuki Oda has revealed that the company will cease PS Vita's production in Japan sometime in 2019. Further, he said the electronics/gaming giant has no plans to create a successor, echoing Shuhei Yoshida's revelation way back in 2015 that Sony doesn't see a market for a follow-up to the handheld console.
You can now overclock your PlayStation Vita for reasons
Today, Wololo spotted that the PSVita plugin LOLIcon can overclock the handheld's CPU beyond its official limits. This allows the CPU to operate at 494 MHz, which is not officially supported.
‘Severed’ gets a lavish PS Vita physical release
DrinkBox Studios released the stylized first-person dungeon crawler Severed as a PS Vita exclusive back in April 2016, but the game moved on from Sony's ailing handheld to iOS by year's end. Yet two years later, the title is making a triumphant return to the essentially-dead system with a gorgeous-looking collector's edition that goes on sale for $35 on July 26th.
Sony will stop making physical PS Vita games in 2019
The PS Vita might still attract new fans thanks to indie releases and JRPGs like Persona 4 Golden, but they're clearly not enough to prevent its impending death. According to Kotaku, Sony's American and European divisions are ending the production of physical Vita games by March 31st, 2019, which is the end of fiscal year 2018. The company has revealed the news in a letter to developers, asking them to submit their final purchase orders by February 15th, 2019.
'Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon' summons 8-bit 'Castlevania' charm
Japanese developer Inti Creates has lifted the lid on Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon at this year's BitSummit -- an annual, Kyoto-based celebration of the finest indie games. Curse of the Moon is a classic 8-bit follow-up to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, originally promised as a Kickstarter reward if certain stretch goals were met.
PlayStation Plus won't include free PS3 and Vita games next year
Changes are afoot for PlayStation Plus subscribers. Starting next March, the smattering of monthly free (with subscription) Instant Game Collection offerings won't include titles for the PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita. It won't affect any games you downloaded previously, however, according to a post on the PS Blog. "Your game saves and other benefits of PS Plus will also remain the same -- the only change is that no new PS3 and PS Vita games will be added to the PS Plus monthly games lineup beyond March 8th, 2019."
‘Windjammers’ brings 16-bit frisbee duelling to PS4 and PS Vita
You'd be excused if all of Sony's tentpole game announcements during the PlayStation Experience show last December blinded you to the best news of all: The 16-bit deep cut Windjammers would get ported to current systems. But the time for excuses has passed. You have only six weeks to prepare before the re-release comes out for PS4 and PS Vita on August 29th. Better polish your competitive frisbee game.
'Full Throttle Remastered' will tear up the road this April
It's been almost a year and a half since Double Fine announced it was giving Tim Schafer's classic motorcycle adventure game an HD makeover, but title is finally almost ready. Today, the company announced that Full Throttle Remastered will be available on PS4, PS Vita and PC on April 18th. Its been a long wait, but for fans of the classic game, it could be worth it. At GDC earlier this month, Schafer described the remake as a sort of preservation project -- detailing the painstaking lengths the team went to recreate all of the game's graphics in HD quality, and the gold mine it found in the original reel-to-reel voiceover tapes.
The next great indie game is about the dragon apocalypse
There's no such thing as an "overnight success." Sure, some folks get lucky with a snappy catchphrase or a $30 Chewbacca mask and they experience a wave of sudden, unplanned popularity, but generally, people don't achieve their dreams over the course of a single evening. Rich Siegel is living proof of this myth. He's an independent game developer who's been quietly working on his dream title, EarthNight, for years. It's a beautiful, hand-painted platformer about the dragon apocalypse. Players careen across the backs of massive, snake-like dragons as they soar high above the planet, all while an original chiptune soundtrack pounds away in the background. EarthNight has received some scattered press, but it's not a household name. When it finally lands on PlayStation 4 and PC, it will probably be a surprise to most people, another indie game in a sea of new releases. However, there's something special about EarthNight. It has all the trappings of a sleeper hit: It's gorgeous, unique and whimsical, and it feels fresh even as it embodies the nostalgia of classic platformers. It has built-in Twitch streaming capabilities, it's a blast to watch and it features permadeath, which means once players die, they have to start the entire game over. EarthNight inherently caters to competitive people and repeat plays. If any indie game is going to be an "overnight success" in 2017, this is it.
PlayStation platformer 'Shu' has Vita-exclusive goodies
Sony isn't showing the PS Vita handheld any love, but indie developers sure are. The latest example is the 2.5D platformer Shu. "Shu feels right at home on the handheld and is a great experience, especially since it's running at 60 FPS," a post by developer Coatsink on the European PlayStation Blog reads. More than that, the Vita version will have some exclusive bits and bobs when the game comes out sometime later this year. Coatsink says that supporting the handheld is something that the team feels "very strongly about" and it's been hard at work ensuring that the portable version isn't a lazy port.
New 'Shovel Knight' expansion haunts the chapel next spring
One of the best throwback games in recent memory is definitely Shovel Knight from developer Yacht Club Games. Last September (it's been that long?), the team dropped the free "Plague of Shadows" expansion for all platforms. This year, we have word of when the next add-on will release. "Specter of Torment" will come out sometime next spring, according to a tweet from Yacht Club. Not much else is known at the moment, but the team did offer a huge update back in June all about new protagonist Specter Knight -- wall climb! Dash slash!
High-profile Kickstarter games see delays, port cancellations
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, was crowdfunded to the tune of $5.5 million last year, with an ETA of March 2017. It promises to be a spiritual successor to the Castlevania series, but this week, project lead Koji Igarashi (known colloquially as IGA) personally announced via Kickstarter that the game will now be pushed back to "the first half of 2018." The delay, IGA says, is because the game is currently at risk of not "meeting [his] quality standards." To that end, he's adding additional developers to the team, who will hopefully be able to put the project back on track. He also offered his apologies to anyone affected by the delay.
Drinkbox's creeptastic 'Severed' arrives on iOS today
The days are basically numbered for Sony's beleaguered portable console, the PS Vita, and they have been for some time. But that hasn't stopped indie developer Drinkbox Studios from supporting it. Three of the company's four games have been released for the Vita (including the excellent Guacamelee!), and the latest (hack-and-slash explorer Severed) came out earlier this year as a Vita exclusive. However, Drinkbox knows that it needs to move beyond Sony's aging handheld: That's why Severed is coming to iOS devices as well as Nintendo's Wii U and 3DS. The iOS port arrives today ready for the iPhone and iPad and costs $6.99. That may be a little expensive for an iOS game, but it's less than half of what the game costs on the Vita. And it dramatically expands the number of people who'll get a chance to play Severed.
Play 'Guacamelee' and 'Severed' in one bundle on your PS Vita
If you scored a good deal on a PlayStation Vita and aren't sure how to get started on game shopping, Drinkbox might have the answer. The developer is launching a bundle, the simply-titled Drinkbox Vita Collection, that includes all three of its Vita games (Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack, Guacamelee and Severed) plus Guacamelee's DLC add-ons. You may not be all that familiar with Mutant Blobs unless you tried it during the Vita's early days, but this is otherwise a great introduction to some classic handheld gaming -- it's hard to top Guacamelee's lucha libre-inspired 2D action, and Severed puts a very surreal twist on the concept of a first-person dungeon crawler. Drinkbox hasn't yet said how much its bundle will cost, but it'll likely be modest when it shows up on July 13th. Update 7/13: The bundle is available for $25, which isn't too shabby for three titles.
Twitch introduces a PlayStation Vita app
Twitch has released streaming video apps for just about every modern game system under the Sun, but the PlayStation Vita has remained the odd one out... until today. The livestream provider has rolled out a Vita app that, much like the PS3 version, lets you tune into live and pre-recorded gaming sessions as well as follow the channels you can't stop watching. You can't stream anything yourself, alas -- you won't be broadcasting OlliOlli or Severed sessions any time soon. Even so, this could be helpful for those moments when you aren't near your phone, or for kids whose Vita might be their only handheld viewer.
Sony ends Ustream game broadcasts on PlayStation 4
When Sony released details about the PlayStation 4 ahead of its 2013 launch, it promoted a feature letting gamers broadcast their playing on the streaming service Ustream. Today, Sony announced that that partnership was over: On August 1st, PS4 players will only be able to livestream their gaming on Twitch, YouTube, and DailyMotion.
PS Vita slasher 'Severed' is coming to iOS, 3DS and Wii U
Back in April developer Drinkbox Studios, best known for the colorful platformer Guacamelee!, launched a little game called Severed on the PlayStation Vita. As much as we love Sony's handheld, it's not a popular system, so we're not surprised to hear that the game is headed to other platforms. Specifically, the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U and iOS. If you need a quick recap, Severed is a first-person dungeon crawler starring a one-armed warrior named Sasha. The touch-based controls have you fighting monsters and solving puzzles to overcome its bright but creepy world.