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Old-school game cartridges are coming to your smartphone
There have been many attempts at bringing classic gaming to smartphones, but they all lack the most visceral part of the experience: the satisfying ka-chunk of plugging a cartridge into your console. You might get that vibe back if Japanese startup Beatrobo has its way. It's launching the Pico Cassette, a game cartridge that you plug into your phone's headphone jack. Unlike the vintage carts of yore, though, these don't actually hold games -- instead, they transmit an inaudible tone that unlocks content you've downloaded. No, it's not just a nostalgic approach to anti-piracy measures. The technology also enables saved games that sync across multiple devices, so the cartridge will feel more like your unique copy than a mere dongle.
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.
'Dragon Quest Builders' is a shallower, more polished 'Minecraft'
It's like a very, very well-done mod. In Dragon Quest Builders, Square Enix has taken the thrill and almost tangible joy of building your own world, and coated it in a deep, glossy layer of Dragon Quest paint. If you don't know Dragon Quest, it was the sworn rival of Final Fantasy in the Japanese RPG golden age. Then Squaresoft (FF) and Enix (DQ) became the same company. Oh, and if you don't know Minecraft, where have you been, you monster?
Of course 'Ghost In The Shell' is getting its own VR movie
Ghost In the Shell's protagonist often looks like she's wearing a VR headset, so why not give the Major her own feature? Tying into a free-to-play first-person shooter and a new movie, Production I.G also setup a spherical theater to project a short teaser movie. With a 3D effect delivered through red-and-green glasses, it meant we could get some degree of immersion without a headset -- and the line to see it wasn't an utter nightmare. What you can see above was our wide-eyed view without the 3D effect. The full feature, which will arrive this winter, will play in 360-degrees, with a demo version set to go out on Oculus Share before it his retail on both Android and iOS for 480 yen (roughly four dollars) -- although there's no indication as to how long the animation will run for. While half the appeal is in the panoramic view of existential musings, digital brains and fights with tanks, we're hoping the studio will offer up a teaser trailer in ole-fashioned flat 2D soon and we'll embed it when we can.
The best part of playing 'Metal Gear Online' isn't the shooting
Metal Gear Online takes The Phantom Pain, well, online. We've just got to go a few rounds in Bounty Hunter, one of two play-modes -- the other is Cloak and Dagger and focuses on stealthier things. Controls will be familiar to anyone that's played MGS5, but because everyone can't be Solid Snake (ugh), in MGO there's a range of roles and abilities from stealthier builds with non-lethal or silenced weapons, to a half-mech suit (the Walker Gear) that lets you blast the hell out of your opponents. While the mech seems like the easy choice for a whole lot of kills, but that doesn't necessary mean it's the funnest way to play.
Your PS4 is screaming out for some color (and a gold DualShock 4)
Admit it: these new DualShock 4s and color plates for your PS4 are going to make that living room obelisk pop.
A giant rat bird was the closest I got to 'The Last Guardian'
Well, I got to tease it with a giant pink ball. To promote The Last Guardian, which is very much happening and also very not playable (so far) at the Tokyo Game Show, the team at genDesign hooked up a 20-foot screen with a projection of the lovable / grotesque (delete as applicable) Trico. The feathery giant rodent is projected at fictional life-size, while two hidden depth cameras pick movement of anyone near its cage. We seemed to get the best reactions when the organizers brought out that aforementioned pink ball to catch its attention. It still roars a lot, which only scares the crap out of you the first... twelve times. It's a simple little technical demo that doesn't reveal anything more about the game, but it's better than watching similar gameplay videos again. Hand me a controller.
The next 'Resident Evil' game is an online competitive shooter
Resident Evil's recent track record for hits is... patchy. And we're being nicer than we should because of how fondly we remember the earlier games. More recent spin-offs and adventures for the series that all-but invented survival horror might have watered down that (t-virus) formula, but that's not stopping Capcom's very own hideous experiments. Tying into the 20 year anniversary of Resident Evil (or Biohazard), the company announced Biohazard Umbrella Corps, a game that'll see you shooting zombies and... other people that also seem to also be shooting zombies. The trailer was heavy on the action and gore, but expect to control your characters in first person when accuracy demands it, as well as a bunch of new zombie not-so-friendly gadgets and weapons. The game arrives in early 2016 on PS4. (Update: and also PC.)
'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.
Sony debuts new DualShock 4 hues, colorful hard drive covers
If you already own a PlayStation 4 but want to add a little bit more flair to your console, Sony's Tokyo Game Show press conference has delivered some good news. First up are new hard drive panels, which let you add a touch of colour to your console with a variety of yellow, gold, pink, yellow, light blue, red and purple plates. Sony introduced us to the idea of swappable faces when it debuted its Project Skylight beta back in December 2014, but its latest accessories focus on solid colors more than game tie-ins.
PlayStation 4 is getting a price cut in Japan
If you were holding off on a price drop before buying a PlayStation 4, I hope you're living in Japan. Sony just announced that its latest home console is getting a price cut to 35,000 yen (around $300) in the region, starting October 1st. You might be asking how this affects everyone else. Well, for starters this is a Sony sanctioned price cut and this is the first official one for the PS4. With the upcoming Paris Games Week (that Sony's pledged to be at in a big way) this could very well signal a price drop in Europe. And then we have the upcoming PlayStation Experience show in the United States later this year, which could see the asking price drop domestically too.
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.
