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Posted by Bob Muir on Jun 17, 2014 in Videogames 
The PS4 and Xbox One are lacking in must-have games right now due to publishers believing they’d sell worse than they did last fall. Now, they’re scrambling to catch up, but still need to release something in the meantime. The solution? Taking visually-impressive games from last-gen and remastering them with slightly better tech and a higher resolution for current-gen. 2012’s Hong Kong crime game, Sleeping Dogs, may be next up for a rerelease. Read more…
Tags: PS4, Sleeping Dogs, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Jun 10, 2014 in Videogames 
When Final Fantasy XIII was announced, it was done so as part of the “Fabula Nova Crystalis” project that also included Final Fantasy Versus XIII (just for PS3) and Final Fantasy Agito XIII (for mobile). The former game was delayed, being reannounced as Final Fantasy XV in 2013, while the latter game was reworked for PSP as Final Fantasy Type-0. FFXIII got two direct sequels, FFXV isn’t finished yet, and Type-0 was never released outside of Japan due to the declining demand for the PSP. But suddenly, we’re going to be getting it — just not for PSP! Read more…
Tags: Final Fantasy, PS4, PSP, square enix, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Jun 10, 2014 in Videogames 
We close out E3 2014’s “Day 0” with Sony’s press conference. Last year, this was the conference that helped propel the PS4 ahead of the Xbox One in terms of consumer excitement. With Cross-Buy, the ability to buy a game on one platform and get any other version for free (like buying on PS4 and getting the PS3 and Vita versions for free), Sony gives gamers a big incentive to play on all their systems. And this press conference was filled with a ton of game footage — nothing too in-depth, which allowed them to fit in even more game coverage and reveals. Read more…
Tags: Playstation Vita, PS3, PS4, Sony
Posted by Bob Muir on Jun 9, 2014 in Videogames 
Following EA’s disappointing press conference, Ubisoft attempted to pick up the excitement by showing something cool right from the start. Instead of beating around the bush, they went right into showing their biggest recently-announced game: Far Cry 4. Read more…
Tags: E3 2014, PS4, Ubisoft, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Jun 9, 2014 in Videogames 
The second press conference of E3’s “Day 0” was Electronic Arts, and while there was new stuff shown off, it is unlikely to get you into a frothing mess of anticipation. They began with their studio DICE, who showed some early in-engine footage of Star Wars: Battlefront, coming Spring 2015, and the environments looked gorgeous. The Star Wars license looks like it’s in good hands. Read more…
Tags: E3 2014, Electronic Arts, PS4, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on May 6, 2014 in Videogames 
Before Harmonix took music gaming by storm with Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Dance Central, they were putting out other, smaller games that were no less interesting. One fan-favorite (and personal favorite) was Amplitude, a 2003 sequel to a 2001 game (FreQuency) about “mixing” electronic music by switching between various instrument tracks to fill in the song. It was a direct precursor to Guitar Hero, which would put the focus on one track with more notes (or one track per player in Rock Band), though Harmonix has revisited the core gameplay with Rock Band Unplugged on PSP and Rock Band Blitz on digital platforms. Now, there’s a chance of a full sequel! Read more…
Tags: Harmonix, Kickstarter, Music, PS3, PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Apr 29, 2014 in Videogames 
I can’t blame you if you haven’t purchased a current-gen console yet. Yes, the PS4 and Xbox One are no longer considered “next-gen,” but that doesn’t mean everyone has made the switch from their PS3 and Xbox 360 yet. That’s why it’s good to hear about plans like this one. Bungie’s upcoming sci-fi MMO-FPS Destiny will be released on all four of the previously mentioned systems, which means many players may pick it up on last-gen consoles. But if you upgrade your system, you won’t lose all your progress. Read more…
Tags: Bungie, Destiny, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Apr 10, 2014 in Videogames 
As rumored, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us is getting a PS4 release. First released in June 2013, the original version pushed the PS3 to its limits, using what Naughty Dog learned from making the Uncharted trilogy, and won tons of awards. However, it’s not surprising that Sony would like the game to have a longer tail when it comes to sales, and putting it on their new system will help. The Last of Us Remastered will run at 1080p and is targeting a frame rate of 60fps; all the DLC will be included, as well as a commentary track. Those are all the details shared so far, so it’s not yet clear if there will be any other improvements. It’s a tough proposition for many gamers, though. Read more…
Tags: PS3, PS4, the last of us
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 27, 2014 in Videogames 
Opinion is currently split on backwards compatibility, or the ability to play games from previous consoles on a new console. On one hand, it’s great to not need older consoles to play your favorite games, letting gamers sell their old systems for some extra cash and free up space under their TV; it ensures that we don’t lose the ability to play generations worth of games, something movies haven’t had to worry about as much. On the other hand, including old chips isn’t cost-effective, and emulating them is very difficult due to their complicated architecture; plus, backwards compatibility is only a strong selling point for the first year of a console’s life, when game choices are limited. It’s a real shame that the PS4 can’t play any previous games, but it’s understandable. But that may soon change. Read more…
Tags: PS2, PS4, Sony
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 20, 2014 in Tech, Videogames 
The Oculus Rift has been in development for a while and is getting close to release, but Sony must figure it can do it better. They’ve announced Project Morpheus, a prototype virtual reality device that is being developed for PS4. While much is up in the air, including the design and specs, here’s what the prototype can do. It has a 1080p display at 1000hz with a 90-degree field of view. There’s 360-degree movement, 15mm eye relief, and support for forward prediction. So far, there’s a VR version of God of War being developed, as well as a special build of the recent Thief game, though it will only be key sections, not the entire game. EVE Valkyrie is playable on the dev kit right now, and there are two games called The Deep and The Castle; to complete the VR experience, you can use the PlayStation Move controller in The Castle. It’s a cool idea, but I do wonder why Sony needs their own VR device instead of working with the Oculus Rift. Will the market support a separate VR headset for each platform? Will it even support one? Read more…
Tags: PS4, Sony, Virtual Reality
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 27, 2014 in Videogames 
Remember last week, when we got our first post-E3-2013 look at The Order: 1886? The Ready at Dawn-developed PS4 game showed off more cinematic stuff, but actual gameplay was quite limited, or at least seemed to be. Even if it was rendered in-engine, it mostly looked like cutscenes, so it wasn’t easy to tell what the game would play like. Sony has posted more footage on their PlayStation YouTube channel, and now things are coming together. As promised, the gameplay is unsegmented for a cinematic feel, with cutscenes and quick-time events flowing directly into regular gameplay, which is of the third-person shooter variety. What strikes me isn’t the usual “cinematic” elements like a wider aspect ratio or camera framing, but the willingness to use more filmic editing, switching from shot to shot seamlessly, which is normally reserved for a game’s standard cutscenes. It’s still too early to tell if the game will rely too heavily on quick-time events, but I’m interested to see how things turn out. Read more…
Tags: PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 19, 2014 in Videogames 
Ready at Dawn is prepping The Order: 1886 for release on PS4 sometime in the future. It involves knights dedicated to fighting an enemy of humanity, battling in London with futuristic weapons. Sounds awesome, but how’s that gameplay? Two official trailers released today, and while some of the footage is apparently in-engine (and looks beautiful), there’s not really any gameplay. There’s some footage in this gameplay debut from VG24/7 (the first video below), and it seems very focused on cutscenes with quicktime events. From what reporters are saying, the game is very good at transitioning between cover-based shooting gameplay, quicktime events, and regular cutscenes. Hopefully this doesn’t turn out to be the PS4’s version of the Xbox One’s Ryse (a very pretty game with little actual gameplay), because I love the steampunk-ish setting. Read more…
Tags: PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 13, 2014 in Videogames 
Look at that jacket to the right. That thing is what you’ll keep your copy of Infamous: Second Son in if you pick up the Collector’s Edition. Yes, one of the features is an adorable, tiny jacket for your serious grown-up superhero game. If that jacket doesn’t entice you, maybe some of the other goodies will. The CE comes with a cool bottle opener, pins (“badges”), a collectible coin (Who is collecting these coins?), the main character’s beanie, and some exclusive DLC called “Cole’s Legacy” that deals with the character from the previous three games. It’s not the worst CE I’ve ever seen, but I think you’d certainly need to be a fan to appreciate most of that stuff. Read more…
Tags: Infamous, PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 5, 2014 in Uncategorized, Videogames 
Did you know that Thief, the reboot to Eidos’s stealth-franchise, is coming out on February 25? There isn’t much buzz, which probably stems from the delays the title has had during its troubled development. But watch this latest trailer, because despite a smaller marketing budget, this game looks pretty cool. I know some longtime fans of the series seem to have concerns, but as someone who has never played any of the previous games, I’m liking what I see. It looks like a good mixture of stealth and action, and the fact that you could play through the game without killing any enemies is surely enticing to those looking to do more than just build up a body count in a game. Read more…
Tags: Eidos, PS3, PS4, square enix, thief, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 8, 2014 in Videogames 
When showing off the PS4, Sony shared its desire to be able to stream PS3 games from their servers to the PS4 since the PS4 couldn’t play PS3 games due to its different chip architecture. The console launched, but the game streaming wasn’t ready yet, as we had been told from the start. But it seems we’ll have game streaming soon, as Sony has announced PlayStation Now. The streaming service will work not just on PS4, but also on PS3. Streaming is also planned for PS Vita, as well as most 2014 US models of BRAVIA TVs, and in the future tablets and smartphones. Sony is using the Gaikai tech they purchased to help stream across multiple devices, even keeping your save progress in the cloud. Read more…
Tags: Playstation Vita, PS3, PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 8, 2014 in Cinema, Videogames 
The most recent game based on Alien/Aliens was 2013’s Aliens: Colonial Marines, one of the worst games of the year that failed to live up to any of the apparently-false advertising and press demos. Everyone’s rightfully wary of any future games in the franchise, but let’s give Creative Assembly (known for Total War) a shot. They’re making Alien: Isolation, a survival horror game about Amanda Ripley — the daughter mentioned as having died of old age at the beginning of Aliens — exploring a space station to find info on Ellen Ripley and the Nostromo. Instead of hundreds of xenomorph enemies that are treated like cannon fodder, there’s only one, nine-foot-tall, formidable xenomorph that hunts Amanda throughout the game; they’re clearly aiming more for the horror of Alien than the action of Aliens with this game. Read more…
Tags: Alien, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Dec 17, 2013 in Videogames 
I’ve only had my PS4 copy of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag for a month, so it’s easy to forget that the game was out a bit earlier for last-gen systems. In that context, I suppose it’s not too strange that it’s getting its first story-based DLC today, after some previous multiplayer content. The DLC is called Freedom Cry, and it follows first mate Adewale in his quest to free slaves 15 years after the main game’s events. There are nine missions, and as a reminder, you get them for “free” if you purchased the Season Pass. The game is getting a great reception, so more content is good, but I’m more curious if they’ll make a sequel to this game, perhaps even separate from the Assassin’s Creed series proper. Read more…
Tags: Assassin's Creed, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Nov 12, 2013 in Videogames 
So this is what it’s come to, huh? Unboxing videos are so popular that companies are not just putting out official unboxing videos, but they’re infusing them with high production values. After years of rumors and a longer previous console generation, the PS4 is launching this Friday, November 15, in North America. Sony wants to show you what you’ll be getting when you open your own box, and they’re showing you in style, reusing the set from the unboxing of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories earlier this year. (I guess they have to cut costs somewhere.) It’s everything you’d expect to be in the box, including a mono headset, something the PS3 didn’t include by default. (That doomed the PS3 to a life without much audio chat compared to the Xbox 360, which generally included a headset.) Read more…
Tags: PS4, Sony
Posted by Bob Muir on Nov 5, 2013 in Videogames 
At this point, it’s hard to tell whether Konami has been poorly communicating information about Metal Gear Solid V on purpose (a la Metal Gear Solid 2) or if it’s just due to their usual bad management. We had heard that there would be two parts to the upcoming sequel: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, a prologue (similar to MGS2‘s Tanker scenario), and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the main, longer game (similar to MGS2‘s Big Shell scenario). After the rather inelegant reveal that The Phantom Pain, a game advertised as an independent game made by a fake studio, was unsurprisingly MGSV, conflicting information suggested that both parts of the game would be sold together. Konami has just announced that this isn’t true: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes will be released by itself in Spring 2014. Read more…
Tags: Metal Gear Solid, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 23, 2013 in Videogames 
The latest trailer for Killzone: Shadow Fall on PS4 is out, and it’s all about the story. I admittedly haven’t ever played a Killzone game, but it’s usually not hard to understand these plots. After the events of Killzone 3 killed off a bunch of the Helghast (the guys that look like Space Nazis), there are a bunch of Helghast refugees sharing space with non-Helghast in a city divided by a giant wall. So basically, it’s the Cold War in space. What’s more important to me is that the game looks gorgeous. Watch this trailer and be amazed at how good things look. And this is just a PS4 launch title — just wait until this generation really gets going a few years from now! Read more…
Tags: Killzone, PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 22, 2013 in Videogames 
Were you aware that the first PlayStation console launched in the West in 1995? Yep, besides the December 1994 Japanese release date, it’s been 18 years since Sony fully entered the console market after Nintendo’s tragic betrayal. Sony Europe made this great video that shows several people growing up with PlayStation products throughout the years. While it’s a little unusual that this guy has lived in the same room for 18 years, I guess it’s still plausible now that the economy has forced recent graduates to delay moving out of their parents’ home. Read more…
Tags: Playstation Vita, PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP, Sony
Posted by Bob Muir on Sep 18, 2013 in Videogames 
Shinji Mikami is well known for directing Resident Evil and Resident Evil 4, classics of survival horror (or I guess just horror for that second one). He and his studio Tango Gameworks have teamed up with Bethesda to make The Evil Within, a new horror game for most major platforms. It does look pretty spooky, with the enemies looking like a mixture of science gone wrong and forbidden occult magic. The Evil Within is coming out sometime in 2014, but hopefully it will be playable at this year’s Tokyo Game Show and we can get more enticing details. Read more…
Tags: Horror, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Sep 11, 2013 in Videogames 
Deep Down‘s name sounds a bit awkward, like other Capcom games such as Resident Evil. But watching this trailer, the name really fits, evoking a sense of dread as you explore areas deep below the Earth’s surface. Many are noting that it seems to take the oppressive atmosphere of From Software’s Dark Souls while mixing in a sci-fi future concept of exploring past memories, a framework used in Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series. The result is this trailer that has practically sold me on the PS4 exclusive. Admittedly, there still isn’t much concrete information on Deep Down‘s plot, gameplay, or release date, so there’s plenty of time for expectations to fall as more details come to light. But for now, consider me excited. Read more…
Tags: Capcom, Fantasy, PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Aug 21, 2013 in Videogames 
It’s really annoying when console producers are coy about when their new consoles will launch. It’s obvious that they’ll launch shortly before Thanksgiving, yet they dance around like the date is some treasure to be hoarded. At least Sony has finally come clean about when the PlayStation 4 will launch at its Gamescom event. Come November 15, you can buy a PlayStation 4 for $499.99. Europe and other PAL territories will have to wait just a bit longer, as the console will launch there on November 29. Time to start getting in line! Read more…
Tags: PS4, Sony
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