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Sony creates a new company to run everything PlayStation
Okay, so this is kind of weird: Sony just announced that it's spinning off PlayStation into its own separate company, dubbed Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC. It combines Sony Computer Entertainment (basically any and all PlayStation-related hardware and software) with Sony Network Entertainment (services like PlayStation Vue and the PlayStation Store) and will be led by Andrew House as president and global CEO. Head of Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, retains his title, but will now report to Shawn Layden.
'Uncharted 4: A Thief's End' hits PS4 on March 18th
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, the final game in Naughty Dog's Indiana Jones-style adventure series, will hit PlayStation 4 on March 18th, 2016. We got a taste of the game right after E3 2015 with an extended, action-packed trailer that features protagonist Nathan Drake shooting up bad guys, driving through a mountainside city and surviving all manner of seemingly lethal evasion tactics. There are a few versions of the game up for pre-order this week, including the Special Edition, which costs $80 and includes a steelbook case, an art book, in-game currency, a sticker sheet and the game on Blu-ray.
JXE Streams: Fight the werewolves of London in 'The Order: 1886'
Sometimes you just have to walk in blind. Could there be monsters waiting inside the dimly lit alleyways of The Order: 1886's merry London town? Of course! Could the game be god awful? Almost certainly. That isn't going to stop JXE Streams from walking into the game, having never played a single second of it previously, for a solid two hour stream this afternoon.
Driveclub Japan update live now with 3.3GB of new tracks, fixes
Driveclub's Japan update – featuring a new online multiplayer mode, gameplay improvements and five new Japan tracks with 11 variants in all – is available now on PS4. The update, coming in at 3.33GB, is free and will automatically download when launching the game. All Driveclub updates so far total 5.87GB, Evolution Studios writes in a Facebook post. The new online mode is a multiplayer time trial, and the five new Japan tracks are as follows: Nakasendo (2 variants), Lake Shoji (2 variants), Asagiri Hills Racetrack (3 variants), Takahagi Hills (2 variants) and Goshodaira (2 variants). Gameplay updates include weather improvements, changes to AI drafting behavior, the option to race without crowds and other track infrastructure, and a number of bug fixes. A handful of add-ons are due out January 27 - 29, including the free Icona Vulcano download, the paid Apex Expansion Pack – five new cars, 11 new events and five trophies – the Sakura Tour Pack with 11 new events and five trophies, and two new livery packs. [Image: SCEA]
This trailer for The Order: 1886 is chilling
Not like, "That trailer is so relaxed, it's chillin'." This trailer for The Order: 1886 does away with fancy 3D cinematics and tells the terrifying story of Little Bobby Paige, complete with children singing in the key of creepy. [Image: Ready at Dawn]
Ex-DICE leads found Fugitive Games, build space survival sim
Ben Jones, previously lead designer of the Battlefield Premium service at DICE, and a team of former DICE, Capcom and Sony America developers have formed Fugitive Games, and their first project is an open-world space survival simulator called Into the Stars. In Into the Stars, players are the captain of a ship exploring a huge solar system to find a new home for humanity. Players oversee the details of ship management, including choosing unique resources, modules and personnel to take on the journey. Into the Stars is single-player, it features crew permadeath, and it's in development for PC and Mac, running on Unreal Engine 4. The score comes from Jack Wall, the composer behind Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. Fugitive Games is seeking $85,000 on Kickstarter to build Into the Stars, and it's up for voting on Steam Greenlight. On the Kickstarter campaign page, Fugitive explains the decision to seek crowdfunding with the following message: "We've been involved in the Kickstarter community for several years now, so when it became clear that we required additional funds to complete this project, we knew just where to turn. The reality is that we simply can't provide the high level of polish, quality audio and compelling score this game demands with our existing resources. Though we could potentially turn to publishers to fill this void, we'd much rather deal directly with gamers like you who can help shape the experience into something truly special!" [Image: Fugitive Games]
Canada celebrates Boxing Day with two-game PS4 bundle
Boxing Day, the festive day following Christmas in which folks shop even more is upon us, friends. To celebrate, Sony will offer Canadian players a new PS4 bundle that includes two games. For $450, players can pick up the 500 GB PS4 console with NHL 15 (because Canada) and LittleBigPlanet 3 this Friday, December 26. Pre-orders for the Boxing Day bundle open on Wednesday, and it will be available through "major retailers." Canada's Boxing Day bundle's value compares fairly well to previous ones: Sony offered a PS4 for $400 earlier this month that packed in the buyer's choice of one game out of four options, LittleBigPlanet 3 being one of them. Walmart later sweetened that deal by tacking a $50 gift card onto the offer. While NHL 15 wasn't received well at its launch due to a number of missing modes, some of which returned in via patches, the platforming sequel starring Sackboy did get praise in our review for its "vibrant and inviting" world. [Image: Sony]
Sony 'embarrassed' by Driveclub's launch, UK boss says
Driveclub's launch has been rocky, pockmarked with severe server issues, a stream of patches and the delay of the game's free PS Plus version. With all of this in mind, Sony UK Managing Director Fergal Gara told IGN that he and the Driveclub team are "embarrassed" by the game's performance so far. "It's a disappointment," Gara said. "When you lay your soul out as being '4ThePlayers', then what you certainly don't want is games that are not fully ready. It certainly wasn't any ill-intention on behalf of the team. It's ambitious as a game; they're as embarrassed as we are and all you can do in those situations is say sorry. We apologize to any players affected and are doing our damndest to make things right. So that's what we've been doing and the game is pretty near-complete now. We don't want to introduce the PS Plus Edition until we're confident the servers can take the load." In our review, we noted that it was "an infuriating slog to race against" Driveclub's AI, and the game's true joy hinged on its online functionality: "To truly enjoy Driveclub and ignore the demands of its abusive AI, you have to form or join a racing club with friends online." Sony America President and CEO Shawn Layden previously said that Driveclub's issues stemmed from the developer's inability to fully test the game's online systems. "In a connected world, you can't effectively test in your house or in your beta group what it means to have 50,000, 100,000, 200,000 users hit your service," he said. "And the guys [at the studio] are struggling with that. It's throwing up things they had not anticipated." [Image: SCEA]
The Last of Us gets weapons, skills, gear in new DLC
Naughty Dog launched add-ons for The Last of Us' online multiplayer Factions mode this week, each piece available for purchase individually or in convenient bundles. The game's new Tactical Weapons bundle ($2.99) features a tactical shotgun, burst pistol, frontier rifle and crossbow, each available for $0.99 separately. The Last of Us' Misfit Head Item pack costs $6.99 and includes eight clothing and gear options for players such as ski goggles and a viking hat, each available at varying prices individually. Likewise, the Risk Management Survival Skills pack ($3.99) includes five new skills that are otherwise $0.99 each. Lone Wolf boosts players that separate from their team, Second Chance grants a bonus health kit to those in danger, Jack of All Trades boosts grab-bag level one skills, Lucky Break increases supply box hauls and the special execution-improving Lethal Efficiency skill. Speaking of which, the game's Special Executions pack costs $2.99 and offers new animation sets for takedowns across nine weapon categories, each one costing $0.99 on their own. Lastly, Naughty Dog introduced two new gestures packs for $2.49 each, with individual gestures going for, you guessed it, $0.99. The developer noted that some of the special execution animations didn't make the cut for the game's PS3 version due to the system's memory constraints. [Image: SCEA]
Driveclub patch restores challenge functionality, rain forecast for tomorrow
Evolution Studios has issued another patch for its socially-focused racer, Driveclub. A post to the game's official Facebook page states the update has "made major improvements to online play," adding that racers should "now see that challenges are back up and running for everybody." Joystiq's Sunday morning test drive was indeed populated with functional community challenges, allowing clubs and friends to take on rivals in track and time-based trials once more. A second patch is scheduled to launch tomorrow, and while the full details regarding its effects will be held until then, a video within the related Facebook post offers a glimpse of a rain-slicked drive. Despite improvements, the team is still working to "reach the capacity levels" needed to support Driveclub's companion app and a PlayStation Plus version. The latest updates continue a string of patches trailing from Driveclub's launch, which have been persistent enough for Evolution Studios to offer up two DLC packs to fans to make up for their troubles. [Image: Evolution Studios]
SCEA boss: 'You can't effectively test' for games like Driveclub
Wondering why Driveclub, a game that has required several post-launch fixes, didn't receive more testing to make sure everything was running smoothly before it was pushed out the door? According to Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) President and CEO Shawn Layden, it's because games like Driveclub, which focus heavily on online communities, can't be effectively tested. "In the development cycle, we try to do all things. In the development cycle, we try to test against every possibility. We have a [Quality Assurance] team, we have a QA plan. You do a beta test, you scope against that," Layden recently told IGN. "But now, in a connected world, you can't effectively test in your house or in your beta group what it means to have 50,000, 100,000, 200,000 users hit your service. And the guys [at the studio] are struggling with that. It's throwing up things they had not anticipated." Layden noted that progress reports from developer Evolution Studios show continued improvement, and called the problems experienced so far a "hiccup." For their part, Evolution has been quick to apologize for Driveclub's issues, going so far as to offer free DLC and extending Season Passes. [Image: Sony]
Driveclub update adds photo mode, three new tracks
Evolution Studios updated Driveclub yesterday, adding a photo mode option as well as three new tracks. Players can now press the right side of the DualShock 4 controller's touch pad to enable photo mode, then use the system's sharing features to send their pretty car screenshots across the web. Driveclub's three new tracks, which include reversed variants, are located at Yedapalli in India, Los Pelambres in Chile and Wester Ross in Scotland. The developer posted the patch notes to Driveclub's official Facebook page. The update also added support for two upcoming expansions, the Ignition Expansion Pack and Photo-Finish Tour Pack. Both pieces of DLC will launch on November 25 in North America. Driveclub's latest update featured changes to corner and collision penalties as well as corner cutting "for balancing purposes." In addition to new menu and club functionality, the update also introduced "a number of minor bug fixes, performance improvements and usability tweaks." Driveclub has been plagued with server connectivity and performance issues since its October launch. [Image: SCEA]
'LittleBigPlanet 3': The Joystiq Review
There's a moment in LittleBigPlanet 3 where Hugh Laurie's villainous Newton, an effete British lightbulb with an egg timer built into his bowler hat, faces down his conscience, berating him with his greatest fear: that nothing he creates will ever be good enough, has never been good enough. It's a fear that LittleBigPlanet players will be familiar with, given the creative possibilities presented by the series. The feeling is more pronounced this time around, and the overwhelming diabolical genius at work in LittleBigPlanet 3 is almost a cause for alarm. The first and second games in the series felt like a toy box, with developer Media Molecule providing about 3 or 4 hours of examples of how it could be utilized. In contrast,LittleBigPlanet 3, now helmed by Sumo Digital, is the first to feel like the pre-formed game at its core is meant to be a showstopper, an abundant showcase of greatness, a dare to the player to push the envelope even further. Lucky for us, for those who decide to rise to the challenge, they have never made creation easier or more satisfying than it is now. Click here for the full review!
Resogun sets course for PS Vita
Arcade-style shooter Resogun will receive a PlayStation Vita version, developer Housemarque confirmed via Twitter today. The Vita port will be handled by Climax Studios, which developed the PS4 and Vita versions of another Housemarque original, Dead Nation. While no release date for the Vita version was given, the developer noted that "more details on the port will soon be released by Sony." Resogun launched alongside the PS4 in November 2013 as a free download for PlayStation Plus subscribers. The game's first major "Heroes" expansion arrived this past June and added new survival and demolition modes to the shooter. The DLC launched shortly after a free update for the game patched in a ship editor and local cooperative multiplayer options. [Image: Housemarque]
PS4 update rolls out USB music player, Share Play next week
The PlayStation 4's version 2.0 system update will arrive next Tuesday, October 28, PlayStation announced via Twitter. Codenamed "Masamune," the update adds the ability to play music from a USB stick connected to the console. As revealed earlier this month, it also features more game broadcast tools, such as the ability to archive sessions and search for specific games being broadcast, as well as themes to spice up the system's layout. One of the major features being added to the console next week is Share Play, the pass-the-controller-style cooperative multiplayer game sharing mode announced by Sony at its Gamescom 2014 event in August. Though limited to one-hour increments, the feature will be inherent to all PS4 games, allowing PS Plus members to let a friend take over a game the latter doesn't own via PSN. The Masamune update also adds a dedicated YouTube app as well as improved game library filtering options. [Image: Sony]
The Unfinished Swan painting PS4, Vita next week
Giant Sparrow's surreal exploration game The Unfinished Swan will arrive next week on PS4 and Vita, just over two years after it first launched on PS3. The game will launch on Tuesday, October 28 in North America and the following day in Europe for $14.99 (€12.99/£9.99). The Unfinished Swan will also be Cross-Buy enabled, so those that own any version of the game will be able to download it on the other two systems. Our review of the PS3 game noted that The Unfinished Swan's power "lies in its engagement with our imagination, in its ability to remind us of that capacity for whimsy and fantasy." It's the first game from the Santa Monica-based developer, which is currently working on an as-yet-unannounced game that is not a sequel to The Unfinished Swan, but is "not a million miles away either." [Image: Giant Sparrow]
Vib-Ribbon launching in North America via PSN tomorrow
At last, Vibri is free. Sony announced today that PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura's vector-graphics rhythm game Vib-Ribbon will hit the PlayStation Network tomorrow, marking its long-awaited North American debut. Released for the original PlayStation in 1999, Vib-Ribbon puts players in control of Vibri, a bizarre rabbit-like creature who must vault on-screen obstacles in time to a backing music track. In a novel twist at the time, Vib-Ribbon allowed players to insert their own music CDs and create playable levels based on individual tracks, often upping the game's challenge far beyond the difficulty of its default soundtrack. Though Vib-Ribbon was released in Japan and Europe, a North American version never surfaced. This week's PSN release will be the first time Vib-Ribbon is officially available in the United States, and Sony notes that its CD-scanning feature will arrive on the PlayStation 3 fully intact. [Image: Sony / NanaOn-sha]
Spend $100 on PSN in October, get $15 back
Sony's latest promotion is dishing cash back to those that buy goods on PSN this month. As of October 1, players that spend at least $100 using their Sony Entertainment Network wallets will receive $15 in credit. The credit will be delivered to those taking advantage of the offer "on or before November 7" via email or PS4, PS3 or Vita system notification in redemption code form. The promotion runs through Tuesday, October 28. Players will have until December 5 to redeem their $15 credit codes. Now the question is: What ever shall you spend that $100 on? PS4 players may consider the recently-launched and excellent Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, or may choose to pre-order Alien: Isolation via PSN. Or you could just blow it all on repeated rentals of Hocus Pocus. Your call. [Image: Sony]
Killzone: Shadow Fall drops three new multiplayer maps
Sony dished out three free maps for Killzone: Shadow Fall today, the publisher's FPS that launched with the PS4 last November. One of the maps is The Statue, a competitive affair that takes place at a Scolar Visari memorial statue surrounded by scaffolding. A trailer for The Statue map can be found after the break. The other two maps, The ATAC Tower and The Canal, feature cooperative multiplayer action. Players that want to check out those two levels must also own Killzone: Shadow Fall Intercept, either in its add-on expansion form or the standalone version. The DLC launched in June, while the lone Intercept download arrived last month. For an extensive look at Intercept, check out our archived stream of the DLC from July. [Image: SCEA]
Sony sued over Killzone: Shadow Fall's 1080p promises
A California class-action lawsuit alleges Sony Computer Entertainment America engaged in "deceptive marketing" of Killzone: Shadow Fall for PS4 when it advertised the game running in 1080p. After launch, Digital Foundry found that the multiplayer portion of Shadow Fall runs in upscaled 960 x 1080 resolution, a step below 1080p – and law firm Edelson PC and plaintiff Douglas Ladore see a case there. The suit, on behalf of Ladore and "all others similarly situated," seeks damages of more than $5 million. It also calls for Sony to more accurately advertise Shadow Fall's multiplayer resolution. "Sony admitted that it did not in fact design Killzone to display multiplayer graphics in 1080p, but instead used a technological shortcut that was supposed to provide 'subjectively similar' results," the suit argues. "But Sony never advertised and convinced consumers to buy a technological shortcut."
