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Watch PlayStation's E3 2016 event in a movie theater
It's almost E3 time, and that means something big for theater-going PlayStation fans: Sony's PlayStation E3 Experience is back. This year, you can watch the company's gaming presentation on June 13th at over 85 theaters in not only North America, but Latin America as well. Everyone who gets in will walk out with some obligatory swag, including a currently-mysterious digital "gift basket." Tickets will be free when they're up for grabs on May 31st at 1PM Eastern, so you'll want to move quickly -- there will be plenty of gamers curious to see Sony's future products on the biggest screen possible.
Long-delayed 'Mighty No. 9' arrives June 21st
No, your eyes aren't deceiving you -- after more than a few delays, Comcept has announced that Mighty No. 9 is finished. Keiji Inafune's spiritual sequel to Mega Man will arrive in Asia and North America on June 21st, and the rest of the world on June 24th. The initial release is limited to console and computer players (albeit on virtually every platform), but versions for both the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita are due "at a later point." Just be sure to think carefully about your choice of media format: while downloads are more convenient, a retail copy includes the Ray add-on.
PS Vita's 'Severed' goes wild on April 26th
What do one-armed warrior ladies do best? Use a living sword to cut off the limbs of the four-armed, three-faced, four-legged monsters around them. At least that's what the latest trailer for Severed from Guacamelee! developer DrinkBox Studios would lead you to believe. The game hits the ailing PlayStation Vita, exclusively, on April 26th for $15. Dig the music in the video embedded below? Then head over to Yamantaka // Sonic Titan's Bandcamp page to either stream or buy the soundtrack for yourself.
Sony's 'ForwardWorks' will try PlayStation gaming on mobile, again
Sony only just announced an overall restructuring of the PlayStation business under Sony Interactive Entertainment, and now it's launching a new business to focus on mobile gaming. There aren't a lot of specifics, but the new company is called ForwardWorks, and it's promising "full-fledged gaming titles" for things like phones, tablets and other connected devices. ForwardWorks will leverage the intellectual property of the numerous PlayStation® dedicated software titles and its gaming characters as well as the knowledge and know-how of gaming development expertise which was acquired over the years with PlayStation® business to provide gaming application optimized for smart devices including smartphones* to users in Japan and Asia.
Indie horror 'Neverending Nightmares' comes to PS4 and Vita
Neverending Nightmares will be tip-toeing its way onto PS4 and Vita before the second half of 2016, bringing its unusual brand of horror and psychological exploration in tow. The game was originally launched on PC, Mac, Linux and Ouya in 2014, following a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised just over $100,000 for developer Infinitap. Players take on the role of Thomas, a young man that wakes up from a horrific nightmare in his home. Or has he woken up? A cycle of dreams begin to form, unravelling dark emotions and memories that continue to haunt him.
'Axiom Verge' is absolutely, definitely still coming to Vita
The glorious Metroid-style nostalgia bomb that is Axiom Verge will hit the PlayStation Vita soon, developer Thomas Happ says in a blog post this week. In fact, a playable version is already up and running on Sony's handheld -- rather, it's running on Happ's handheld. The rest of us will have to wait a little (emphasis on little) while longer to play Axiom Verge on Vita. "Here's the good news: The game is ported," Happ says. "It runs and is playable! Anyone who has worked on a porting project can tell you that that represents the biggest hurdle.... So from here on out, our focus is on cleanup, polish and bug fixing."
Hardcore cult hit 'Risk of Rain' lands on PS4, Vita this year
Risk of Rain is a gloriously, ridiculously challenging action game that debuted on Steam in November 2013 -- and it's headed to PlayStation 4 and Vita in early 2016. This isn't your standard pixelated, sidescrolling independent platformer; Risk of Rain ramps up in complexity as you play, with difficulty levels ranging from "Very Easy" to "Impossible" to "HAHAHAHA." Players have just one life, meaning if (when) you die, you have to fight through hordes of enemies and collect your favorite weapons all over again. And again. And again. And probably again.
PS Vita hit with battery and PlayStation Store problems
Sony's PlayStation Vita is usually a quiet little beast, slowly accruing indie titles and the occasional "triple-A" exclusive. Today, however, the under-appreciated handheld has stumbled into the limelight because of some unfortunate technical hiccups. As countless commenters on Reddit, NeoGAF and Sony's PlayStation forums explain, the most recent Vita firmware update (3.57) has rendered the console almost useless for some players. Launching the PlayStation Store can trigger a never-ending "Please Wait" message, and sometimes the console struggles to fall into its sleep mode, draining the battery for many unsuspecting owners.
Hey, Kid: 'Bastion' is out on Vita today
It's a good day to be a Vita owner. Bastion, the gorgeous 2011 isometric adventure from Supergiant Games, is out today on Sony's handheld console. The company announced Bastion's latest launch during its PlayStation Experience keynote this morning. This brings Bastion's platforms up to seven: PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox 360, iOS, Chrome, PlayStation 4 and, now, Vita. It's a Cross-Buy game on Sony's platforms, meaning if you own it on PS4, you automatically get it on Vita, and vice versa. Score!
Double Fine's next games include a 'Full Throttle' remaster
Double Fine isn't counting solely on a crowdfunded Psychonauts sequel to capture your imagination -- it just unveiled a ton of new projects at Sony's PlayStation Experience event. The highlight (at least for gamers of a certain age) is a remastered version of Full Throttle, Tim Schafer's action/adventure classic. It's not certain just when the motorcycle-heavy game will arrive, but it'll be available on both the PS4 and PlayStation Vita.
Radioactive shooter 'Nuclear Throne' hits PS4, Vita today
Vlambeer co-founder Rami Ismail dropped a huge surprise during the PlayStation Experience keynote in San Fransisco on Saturday: Nuclear Throne is available now on PlayStation 4 and Vita, while the Steam version officially hits version 1.0. Nuclear Throne is an addictive, pixelated action game that's amassed a cult following of more than 100,000 players since its launch on Steam Early Access in 2013 -- and this community is about to grow (or mutate).
'Severed' trailer shows that the PS Vita is full of life
If you need proof that the PlayStation Vita is a haven for creative games, Drinkbox Studios just delivered it in spades. The Guacamelee developer has posted a fresh gameplay trailer for Severed, its surreal dungeon crawler for Sony's handheld, and it's clear that this isn't your usual slash-em-up. The blend of a nightmarish art style with touchscreen swordplay looks exciting, and more than a little trippy -- think Mexican folk art with a horror vibe. There's still no firm release date for Severed, but the title is definitely shaping up nicely.
Unofficial app makes PlayStation 4 to PC streaming a reality
Sony's had its Remote Play tech in one form or another since the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, but it didn't truly take off until its implementation on PlayStation 4 and the PS Vita handheld. But that's kind of wasted when nobody is buying the Vita and it's getting zero love from its parent company. Remote Play PC is exactly what its name implies: an application that tricks the PS4 into thinking a PC is a Remote Play device. Microsoft changed the game (sorry) with the ability for the Xbox One to stream its games to Windows 10-based hardware and until Sony catches up we're just going to have to settle for an unofficial app that costs money to perform the task.
Your PS Vita deserves to live again
There's no PS Vita 2 on the horizon. So now what? There are a whole bunch of reasons why the now three year-old handheld may not be the mega-hit that Sony hoped for. As Kotaku's elaborated on already, the company isn't completely blameless, but that isn't to say there aren't plenty of reasons to still pick up a Vita, play the crap out of it, recharge it and do it all again. Here's a handful of 'em to start you off. We also want to hear your own recommendations, which is what our new comment system was made for.
Sony doesn't see a market for a PlayStation Vita sequel
You may be jonesing for a follow-up to the PlayStation Vita, but Sony isn't so sure that it's a wise idea. The company's Shuhei Yoshida told those at a recent developer session that the "climate is not healthy" for a Vita sequel. Simply put, he believes that smartphones have dampened enthusiasm for gaming handhelds. Why get a dedicated device and buy games when you can play free games on the device you already have? He hopes that the culture of portable gaming will live on, but he doesn't currently see Sony fostering that culture with new hardware.
PlayStation is finally getting a dedicated Twitch app
PlayStation 4 is finally getting a proper Twitch app. As you can see from the render above, it looks a lot like the one you'll find on the Xbox One. Twitch cofounder and CEO Emmett Shear took the stage during the TwitchCon keynote and said that the app on Sony's current-gen console will have full chat integration and even have full support for emoticons (whatup, Kappa?) and highlight PS4 broadcasts much like the Live From PlayStation app currently does. The difference here is that you won't be limited to only PS4 broadcasts. Want to watch a League of Legends tournament? Have at it once the application launches this fall. What's more, Twitch is also coming to PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation TV.
The best of the Tokyo Game Show (so far)
How does lining up for 40 minutes to play five minutes of a new game sound? It's definitely a trade-off, but it's often (usually) worth it. At this year's Tokyo Game Show, we saw a giant 20-foot griffin thing play ball, nothing from Microsoft and a lot of games that are unequivocally geared toward Japanese gamers. Anime tie-ins and Dynasty Warriors-esque crowd-em-ups aside, there was still plenty for us to play. These are the ones that left an impression.
'Danganronpa 3' brings the weirdness to both PS4 and PS Vita
If you've not played (or heard of) Danganronpa, they're a visual novel series that lie somewhere between Battle Royale and a high school dating sim: it's all about as murderous and plot-twisty as you might expect. Populated with anime characters and obeying the same stretched rules of logic as Phoenix Wright, the dark (sometimes very dark) series is getting now another sequel. Danganronpa v.3 made its first appearance at Sony's TGS press event -- two days before the thing officially starts -- sans release date, but with the fact that it'll land on both PS4 and Vita. Monochrome murderous bears for everyone.
PS Vita gem 'Gravity Rush' is getting a PS4 port and sequel
Gravity Rush leapt onto the PlayStation Vita in 2012, when the console was in desperate need of some "triple-A" titles to compliment its blossoming indie library. It was a beautiful game with a few novel gameplay mechanics -- to traverse the world and land on different objects, you were forced to jump in the air and pull gravity down in new, unusual directions. The handheld title was received favourably but, like Tearaway, never reached a large audience on the Vita -- so Sony is giving it the Unfolded treatment with a port-remaster-remake-thing on the PlayStation 4. It'll be coming out on December 10th in Japan -- no word yet on an international release -- followed by an all-new sequel called Gravity Daze 2 (the original was also called Gravity Daze in Japan) next year. For fans of Kat and her occasionally headache-inducing adventures, this is an unexpected treat from Sony.
Watch PlayStation's Tokyo Game Show keynote right here!
Sony was entirely absent from Europe's annual Gamescom tradeshow last month, but the electronics juggernaut isn't going to sit out the premiere event on its home soil, the Tokyo Game Show. In fact, the outfit wants everyone to watch it tonight during a livestream. The keynote's scheduled for an English broadcast and we've embedded the live player right below. What can we expect come 3AM ET? Probably an update on how many PlayStation 4 consoles the company's moved since it last announced that 20 million number, and maybe even a hard release date for the console's big 3.0 system software patch.