Commander Fury

Last week you set out into the gorgeous Egyptian wilds of Assassin’s Creed Origins. Our Share of the Week this time around takes a slightly different turn with Gran Turismo Sport. Let’s celebrate the long-running racing series with some fantastic shots that you shared using the hashtags #PS4share and #PSBlog. Let’s see highlights from your amazing work! @matzulmatfor composed a beautiful, backlit image to start our week off. @madammad_fadaag captured the tense isolation of a quiet city street. @Philt43_Yewone emphasized the contrast between land and air to great effect. This up-close detail shot from @thatslifegaming seems like the perfect way to close out our feature! Search #PS4Share and #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? Better pack for an adventure! Theme: Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Share by: 9:00 AM Pacific on Wednesday, March 14 While exploring alongside Chloe and Nadine this weekend don’t forget to use #PS4share and #PSBlog for a chance to be featured next week. View the full article

Since its recent PlayStation Plus release, the streets of Yharnam have seen a sizable income of new Hunters, making it the perfect time to hunt together! Want a Hunter to help you with a particular boss or clear out a tough area? Here’s a quick guide on how to play online in Bloodborne. Insight The Insight system is the Lovecraftian mechanic at the very core of Bloodborne. This stat represents the amount of inhuman knowledge you have acquired by exploring the world and defeating bosses. Accumulating Insight points will lead you on your path towards the eldritch truth, seeing the unspeakable, and a lot more. When it comes to playing online, Insight is also the main currency you’ll need. For the cost of one insight, you can summon players to your world to assist you in the hunt, and you won’t be able to play online until you get your first bit of Insight. For this, however, you have a few options. The easiest way to get Insight early on in the game is to encounter a boss for the first time or consume Madman’s Knowledge, which you’ll find scattered across Yharnam or as a drop from certain enemies. Getting help from others (the Beckoning Bell) Once you have you have some Insight, you’re (almost) good to go. The item you need to summon help in Bloodborne is the Beckoning Bell. After you’ve obtained your first point of Insight, you’ll buy the Beckoning Bell from the Messengers in the Hunter’s Dream. Ringing this Beckoning Bell while playing online will grant you the ability to summon helpful players to your world. Once rung, the bell will open your world and connect you to players who have offered to assist and that are within range of your in-game level and position. A good tip to find helpful players is to use the bell either at the beginning of a level or just before a boss room. You can have two guests summoned in your world at once. When you play online, enemy health bars will adjust to reflect the extra Hunters in the mix, but co-op has a lot of benefits – for example, other players might distract the boss’s attention, letting you get in behind for some easy attacks. Online, be wary that opening your world to friendly hunters might also attract unwanted attention from blood-starved Hunters. You will be notified in game if an adversary has invaded your world, so you have a little bit of time to prepare to fight (or to hide). Helping other players (the Small Resonant Bell) To be able to help other players, you will need the Small Resonant Bell. This item can be purchased in the Hunter’s Dream from the upper Messenger shop, which will appear once you’ve collected your first Insight. All you need to do to help other players is ring the Small Resonant Bell and your game will connect to players who are ringing the Beckoning Bell in their world. Once again, a good tip is to use the item before bosses’ rooms or at the beginning of a level. Helping other players and helping them defeat bosses is a great way to gain Insights so you can summon players to your world later on! Playing with friends If you want to play with a friend, both the person using the Beckoning bell and the person using the Small Resonant Bell will need to put the same password in the settings under Network. Make sure you are both in the same area and try to stand as close as possible to each other in your respective worlds. Ending a session (the Silencing Blank) If for one reason or another you need to put an end to the co-op hunting session, you will need to use the Silencing Blank. You’ll get this item from the same Messenger that gives you the Beckoning Bell. When firing it up, you will end the online session and either return to your world or send the players helping you back to theirs. Summoning The Old Hunters After gaining your first point of Insight you’ll find an item known as the ‘Old Hunter Bell’ sitting on the steps of the Hunter’s Workshop, inside the Hunter’s Dream. This special bell can be used to summon the spirits of legendary hunters all around Yharnam and even within the Chalice Dungeons. The summoning points will appear as small, glowing wells that resonate with a high-pitched chime. Stand over them and press ‘X’ to ring the Old Hunter Bell. Doing this will consume one Insight and summon to your world a friendly NPC hunter who will follow you around that area of the game, helping you to dispatch enemies and – in particular – tough bosses. Share Play If Beckoning Bells, Insight and cooperative play are not quite what you had in mind – if you just need to pass the controller to a friend for a moment so they can show you a cool hidden secret or a smart boss strategy, then why not fire-up Share Play? This unique PlayStation 4 feature allows you to hand to control to a friend via the PlayStation Network and wherever they are in the world, they can take control of the game using their own PS4 as though they were sitting right beside you. You can continue to chat via parties while you’re using Share Play, meaning you’re free swap strategies or point things out as you go. If, on the other hand, you’d really rather tackle things yourself, you can even simply invite someone to simply spectate and offer hints and tips rather than taking direct control. #BuddyUpForBloodborne So now you know how co-op works, what next? Well, you can put a call out to your fellow Hunters across social media, using the hashtag #BuddyUpForBloodborne. You a veteran wanting to guide newcomers through those tougher areas of Yharnam? Offer up your services using the hashtag. Fresh to the game and need help on a boss? Do a social shout out including the hashtag and see if an experienced Hunter’s in the area to lend you their expertise. Remember, Hunters don’t have to go it alone! View the full article

Hi everyone! I’m happy to announce that Hello Neighbor is finally coming to PlayStation 4 this summer! I’ve been living in the US for about two years now, and clearly remember the first time I set foot in a typical Seattle suburb–large houses, fairly spaced apart, all capable of hiding something sinister. This was one of the core inspirations for the setting of Hello Neighbor. Hello Neighbor is a stealth horror game about sneaking into your creepy neighbor’s house. You play against the Neighbor, an AI-powered antagonist who tracks your every move and adapts to your behavior. The game starts off in what seems to be a normal suburban house, where you play as a kid who catches his next door Neighbor hiding something (or someone?) in his basement. Naturally, the most logical thing to do is break in, and see what’s in it. Of course, we don’t recommend actually doing this in your typical Seattle suburb. The game plays like a stealth horror experience set in a sandbox. You outsmart the AI while solving puzzles and progressing closer to uncover what’s in the basement. Filled with mysteries and Easter eggs, Hello Neighbor has a story split up into three acts. Each act dives deeper into the rabbit hole. I would also like to take this moment to thank all the content creators and streamers who have explored our mysterious and spooky game. We wouldn’t be where we are today without you and all your fun, innovative, and dedicated efforts, and are super excited to get Hello Neighbor into the hands of PlayStation 4 players and content creators around the world this summer. View the full article

Welcome back! On today’s show we speak to Far Cry 5 Associate Executive Producer Darryl Long on his favorite new additions to the long-running open world. Make sure to stay to the end of the program for a special musical performance by Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, recorded at PlayStation Experience last year! Enjoy the show! Email us at blogcast@sony.com! Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Google or RSS, or download here Stuff We Talked About Far Cry 5 God of War PS4 Bundle Nier: Automata Horizon Zero Dawn How amazing Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker are Recent Episodes 283: Fast-Forward 282: Blogcast and Quill 281: To Bee, or Not to Bee The Cast Sid Shuman – Director of Social Media, SIEA Ryan Clements – Sr. Social Media Specialist, SIEA Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. [Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.] View the full article

The numbers are in for February 2018! Capcom’s excellent (and record-breaking) Monster Hunter: World leads the charge in February’s PS4 chart, followed by NBA Live 18: The One Edition and Bluepoint’s gargantuan rework of Shadow of the Colossus. Superhot and Job Simulator sit pretty at the top of the PlayStation VR list, Fortnite and Brawlhalla dominate the free-to-play rankings, and the new Secret of Mana remake debuts at #1 for PS Vita. Note that these rankings are based on number of downloads, not revenue generated. If you missed on out any of these titles, head over to PlayStation Store to pick ’em up. Hit the comments to let us know what you think this month’s charts will look like! PS4 Games 1 Monster Hunter: World 2 NBA Live 18: The One Edition 3 Shadow of the Colossus 4 EA Sports FIFA 18 5 Madden NFL 18 6 EA Sports UFC 3 7 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege 8 Dragon Ball FighterZ 9 Kingdom Come: Deliverance 10 Gang Beasts PS VR Games 1 Superhot VR 2 Job Simulator 3 PlayStation VR Worlds 4 I Expect You To Die 5 Driveclub VR 6 Doom VFR 7 Moss 8 Batman: Arkham VR 9 Sprint Vector 10 Arizona Sunshine Free-to-Play Games 1 Fortnite Battle Royale 2 Brawlhalla 3 Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 Lite 4 Warframe 5 Paladins 6 America’s Army: Proving Grounds 7 3on3 FreeStyle 8 Crossout 9 Trove 10 Blacklight: Retribution PS Vita Games 1 Secret of Mana 2 God of War: Collection PS Vita 3 Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth 4 Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z 5 God Eater: Resurrection 6 Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition 7 God Eater 2: Rage Burst 8 Tearaway 9 Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory – Launch Bundle 10 Jak and Daxter Collection PS4 Themes 1 Monster Hunter: World – Theme 2 Legacy Dashboard Theme 3 Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Original Theme 4 Friday the 13th: The Game Theme 5 BioShock: The Collection Theme 6 Alien – World at Hands HiQ Dynamic Theme 7 Assassin’s Creed Origins – Dynamic Theme 8 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege Operation White Noise Theme 9 Amazing Aquarium 3D HiQ Dynamic Theme 10 Sakura Night Sky Dynamic Theme PS Classics 1 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 2 Bully 3 Metal Slug Anthology 4 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 5 The Warriors 6 Resident Evil Code: Veronica X 7 The King of Fighters 2000 8 Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy 9 Crash Bandicoot 10 Twisted Metal: Black View the full article

Hi everyone, this is Steve Merka with Sony San Diego Studios and MLB The Show 18 — let’s talk Road to The Show! This year we have made some pretty big changes in the way you experience the mode, and we think you are going to like them. No More Micro Transactions The first change is the removal of micro transactions from progression. We wanted to remove the need to make purchases to progress your player and just focus on the gameplay and more pure experience. So this year, you will no longer be able to purchase Training Points. Instead, you will experience a new way to progress your created player, but I will get into that later. The removal of micro transactions from Road to The Show also means that you will no longer be able to heal injuries through stubs. You will just heal naturally. New Archetypes and Attribute Caps Another big change we made was how your player is created. This year, your created player will have an Archetype. We designed Archetypes as a means to create more believable players and they reflect the various types of players currently found in baseball. Each will have their own suggested primary positions, and there are specific ones for infield, outfield, and pitchers. Every Archetype has a pair strengths and a weakness. Some Archetypes may have big power potential at the sacrifice of speed, while others will be insanely fast, but lack the ability to go deep. For example; a Power Corner Archetype’s strengths are their Arm and Power, and their weakness is Speed. Lastly, Archetypes will have limitations to how powerful they can be in certain attributes. These are called Attribute Caps and you will need to be raised these during the course of your career if you want to get the most out of your player. There are two types of Attribute Caps, Current and Max. Current caps are temporary attribute limits that can be raised through selecting the appropriate Focus Training choice, during one of your training sessions. Training choices that feature a teammate are the only way to raise your cap. Be sure not to neglect these opportunities, because once you reach a Current cap, you will not be able to take advantage of any gains until the cap is raised. Eventually, you will reach an Attribute Cap, which cannot be raised. This is your Max Attribute Cap. Max Caps are the best that your player can be at a particular attribute, through training. But don’t worry, you can use equipment cards to further enhance attributes, even past their Max Caps. Speaking of equipment cards, we have added even more equipment and rituals, to provide so much more variety for your created player. We know how much fun it is to find that right piece of equipment, which balances both looks and bonuses. Expansion of Pave your Path – Focus Training We have brought back our narrative experience to help tell the story of what it is like for a mid-to-late round draft pick in the baseball world, with a newer minimal UI. In addition to keeping the strong storytelling presence, this year, we are taking some major steps in one of our favorite modes. In addition to Archetypes, we changed the way you progress your characters, as you pave your path. We thought about how our previous progression system worked and we asked ourselves, “Does this feel good?”, “Is this how you would progress in the real world of baseball?” and “How do we create a more seamless experience?” After discussions, between ourselves and with professional players, we came to an answer for how player progression should work. Progression is now a two part experience. On The Field The first way that you progress and get better is on the field. As we all know, you learn by doing, and your abilities will award you gains to your player’s attributes. We felt like this was a very organic and passive way to progress. You just play the game. Every on the field action you make will feed into your player’s attributes. For example, if you hit a monster bomb off of Chris Sale, with runners in scoring position, then your player would earn gains in their Power vs Left and Batting Clutch attributes. You will be able to track these gains, both during the game, as they happen, and at the end of the game, on the Base Gains screen. The hope is that both you and your player improve together, as you play. Focus Training Choices The second way that you will be able to improve your player is through Focus Training Choices. Previously, you had the power to take all accumulated training points and place them wherever you wanted. This year, we removed the hassle of getting into a groove, of playing some of your best games, and then having to spend that growing sum of points to play catch up on lapsed training. Now, you will be presented with a quick choice experience, during the course of your season, where you are presented with a short list of options. These options represent areas you want to specifically focus and train your player, in order to improve. You will choose one from up to four facility themes. Each facility will have their own specific training exercises. You will choose the training exercise that suits your needs and then improve the specified attributes. It is just that simple. This will allow you to choose how your player progresses, while allowing you to get back to playing the game. When we interviewed players over the past two years to help build Road to the Show, every player we spoke to, mentioned that a big part of their growth came from learning from other players. We wanted to try and reflect that this year in some way. So, as mentioned previously, All Player Archetypes have temporary caps. You will have the opportunity, during a Focus Training session, to choose a teammate to learn from and have them help you push your player’s potential. Managing your Caps is important, because if you neglect them too long, and an attributes caps out, then you will not be able to gain progress in that attribute and will have to wait for another opportunity to train with a teammate. Customization Improvements Finally, I want to write about the customization improvements available in Road to The Show. As a team, we have made it one of our biggest priorities to improve the look and appearance of your created player, while offering you more ways to express yourself. We know that this is the starting point, of your Road to The Show experience, and it should offer everything you need to make you or your ideal version of a ball player. This year, we have taken some steps to help make this process a best in class experience. Improved Skin, Hair, and Heads Our Art Team has been busy all year to improve the quality of our skin tones and how they look in various lighting conditions. This year, in MLB The Show 18, your player’s skin tone will have an even more natural appearance, and look more realistic. In addition to skin, all of our hair has been re-worked, in order to look and react more like hair. This is for both facial and head. Now fade hairstyles transition better from shaved areas to the grown out parts, while mustache, goatee, and beard fidelity reflects a more realistic look. Batting Stance Creator A major addition to the player customization experience is the brand new Batting Stance Creator. Batting Stance Creator will allow you the opportunity to tweak and adjust that perfect batting stance to reflect your personal style. We even exposed the values, so you can share these with other people. All of these adjustments to provide a deeper level of customization and uniqueness to created players. So fine tune as much as you need! Play Ball These new changes to Road to The Show are just the next steps in our journey to provide the best single player sports gaming experience possible. We look forward to seeing which archetypes you select, what meaningful career choices you make, the stances you create, and of course, how successful they become in The Show! This is just an overview of what Road to The Show is about, so be sure to tune into our livestream on Twitch, where we will go into even more detail about this awesome mode. You can also stay up to date on all things MLB The Show 18 by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Or learn more about Road to the Show on our Twitch stream at 2PM PT today. View the full article

Hi there! My name is Neill Glancy and I’m the Creative Director of New IP at Aspyr Media. We are excited to introduce to you our upcoming PSVR game, Torn. Torn is a dark sci-fi mystery in the style of Black Mirror, or a classic episode of The Twilight Zone. It’s a narrative game, so we don’t want to spoil too much of the story for you yet. What we will say is that Torn takes place in the mansion of a physicist who disappeared 64 years ago. The mansion brims with strange, Willy Wonka-like machines haphazardly installed into its walls and floors. The question is what are they for? And, more importantly, what happened to the people who built them? Soon after entering the mansion, you will discover a strange tool that allows you to manipulate gravity. This gravity tool can lift titanic objects and reveal hidden circuits and mechanisms built into the fabric of the mansion. By detecting and fixing hidden circuit puzzles you will begin to bring the mansion back online and awaken its mysterious devices. And when the mansion comes alive, that’s when things really get interesting… When we began working on Torn a year and a half ago, we loved all of the early VR experiences but longed for something with a gripping, longform story, a suspenseful Black Mirror-esqe “page turner,” if you will. We wanted to submerge players in a world of unparalleled beauty, history and physics interactivity. We wanted to create a non-linear world where players could explore at their own pace and feel like they were creating the story themselves. We brought in some extra talent to help us bring Torn to life, including writer Susan O’connor, who worked on Tomb Raider and Bioshock. The riveting music you hear is composed by Garry Schyman, who composed the scores for Bioshock and Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. It’s our hope you enjoy Torn as much as we have making it for you. Torn was made with a small dedicated team of just five people with the goal of pushing forward VR narratives and experiences from one-off games to immersive, interactive movies. We hope you savor every loving detail, and enjoy the true touristic freedom and mind-bending story that Torn delivers. View the full article

Hi everyone! I’m Jaakko from 10tons, and I’m happy to be back on PS Blog to talk about what to expect from our latest game, twin-stick shooter Tesla vs Lovecraft. Some of you may know we’re no strangers to top-down twin-stick shooters. We’ve made quite a few, with various flavors. We loaded Neon Chrome with RPG and roguelite elements, while its spinoff title Jydge is all about bite sized missions and customization. In Time Recoil we focused on time slowdown mechanics and story. With Tesla vs Lovecraft we’re going back to our roots with Crimsonland-style all-action arena gameplay with tons of monsters. In Tesla vs Lovecraft, however, the arenas are fully architectured with obstacles, gaps, walls, and buildings. Structured levels are the base for the first core feature of Tesla vs Lovecraft, the Quantum Teleport. The hero of the game, genius inventor Nikola Tesla, is not limited to just running while gunning. With the Quantum Teleport backpack he, or rather you, the player, can teleport a short distance in a blink of an eye. Better yet, it makes no difference if there’s a brick wall or a horde of monsters in the way; you can blink through anything. There’s a cooldown involved however, so you can teleport only three times in rapid succession. After that you’ll need to survive precious seconds for the teleport charges to come back up. The Quantum Teleport feature turned out great, and we’re really happy with how teleporting gives the player more opportunities to do risky stuff. Risky is fun! The highlight of the game, however, is the Tesla-Mech battle robot. This juicy bit of monster slaying goodness is assembled from six pieces, one of which is always somewhere in the level waiting to be picked up. After collecting six pieces you can activate the Tesla-Mech for an immense boost in firepower. While all the weapons, powerups, and perks of the game are plenty powerful, nothing comes close to the Tesla-Mech. You’ll be instantly able to turn the tables on even the most massive swarm of monsters and to just shred everything in a very gratifying way. Like all good things, the Tesla-Mech only lasts for a while before exploding, scattering its pieces around the level to be collected and assembled once again. Tesla vs Lovecraft will be available for PS4 at PlayStation Store on March 13, 2018 for $14.99 USD. If you’re looking for a new shooter, check this one out! View the full article

We are excited to announce that a Limited Edition God of War PlayStation 4 Pro bundle will launch alongside the game on April 20, 2018. This special bundle features a fully customized PS4 Pro console inspired by Kratos’ Axe, a Leviathan Gray DualShock 4 wireless controller with insignia, a physical copy of God of War and digital content. This limited edition bundle will be available across the U.S. and Canada for $399.99 USD (MSRP) / $499.99 CAD (MSRP). Pre-orders start today. Limited Edition God of War PS4 Pro Bundle | Pre-Order This Limited Edition PS4 Pro was designed in close collaboration with Santa Monica Studio, bringing to life Kratos’ Leviathan Axe. We asked Shannon Studstill, Head of Santa Monica Studio, to share some background on the inspiration behind the special design of the custom PS4 Pro: “When we designed Kratos’ new Leviathan Axe, we knew it would have far more meaning not only to the game, but to our fans. Santa Monica Studio was extremely proud to adorn the custom PS4 Pro with the Leviathan Axe in such detailed fashion. We spent a painstaking amount of time to ensure this PS4 Pro was special, for the special fans who will cherish it. The top surface is the Axe skill tree you’ll use in-game to upgrade your axe, along with the runic gem slots on the handle that enable unique special attacks. The side panels are trimmed with a beautiful Norse design, and the runes each represent a realm in the game. The Leviathan Gray DualShock 4 wireless controller has the Huldra Brothers brand on it (just like the Axe), and a very subtle God of War logo on the touchpad. I enjoyed every bit of the design process with Cory and the team, because we were united in our vision of what we wanted the custom PS4 Pro to embody. The game looks absolutely stunning on PS4 Pro and we can’t wait to share a new beginning for God of War when it launches on April 20.” When played on PS4 Pro with a 4K TV, God of War outputs in a dynamic 4K resolution achieved through a 2160p checkerboard. Players with 1080p HDTVs will also benefit from increased image clarity via supersampling of a higher resolution onto their display. Across all PS4s, God of War also features HDR lighting and a wide color gamut for those with TVs that support HDR. Let us know in the comments below what you think of the custom PS4 Pro! View the full article

Spring is in the air, and this month we’ve got an exciting batch of new PS4 games hitting PlayStation Now, ready to stream to your PS4 and PC. Joining the library of more than 600 streaming games – including more than 150 PS4 games – are Battleborn, Darksiders Warmastered Edition, ADR1FT, Lords of the Fallen, and more. New This Month: Jump into the action with the full version of the first-person MOBA Battleborn, from the creators of the hit Borderlands series. Full version includes all 25 launch heroes accessible, and a single-player PvE mode. What’s more, PS Now supports local split-screen, as well as complete online play even without a PS Plus subscription. This month we are upgrading the PS3 version of Darksiders to the enhanced PS4 “Warmastered Edition.” Deceived by the forces of evil into prematurely bringing about the end of the world, War – the first Horseman of the Apocalypse – stands accused of breaking the sacred law by inciting a war between Heaven and Hell. Dishonored, stripped of his powers, and facing his own death, War must take on the forces of Hell, forge uneasy alliances with the very demons he hunts, and journey across the ravaged remains of the Earth on his quest for vengeance and vindication. The sequel, Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition (PS4), is also available to play on PS Now. Experience the breathtaking and critically acclaimed indie game ADR1FT. With no memory of how your space station got destroyed, you must struggle to discover the cause of the catastrophic event that killed everyone on board but you. With a damaged and leaking EVA suit, fight to stay alive as you explore the wreckage for resources, clues, and parts to repair your EEV to escape back to Earth. Enter a dark fantasy world where the demonic Rhogar legions are re-emerging from their dark realm in the action RPG Lords of the Fallen. As Harkyn, a convicted criminal rejected by society, must face the daunting Fallen Lords using a complex and fast-paced melee combat system where weapons, armor and skills directly affect speed and attacks. Lay waste to enemies using forbidden magic when weapons are not enough. Test your driving skills on 15 painstakingly recreated race tracks (and 24 configurations) in the beautiful racing sim Assetto Corsa. With over 90 dream cars from Audi, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Mclaren, Pagani, and more, all rendered with obsessive detail and using manufacturer’s actual telemetry, Assetto Corsa also features an advanced physics engine that delivers a true-to-life racing experience. If you’re a fan of colorful anime J-RPGs, Megadimension Neptunia VII is sure to please. Featuring an upgraded battle system with new linked attacks, as well as a second transformation, NEXT mode, with new special skills and costumes, you’ll fight your way through three dimensions and three stories with new CPUs and NPCs by your side. Here are all the new games available to stream on PS4 and PC starting today. We’ve got action, open-world, sports, racing, shooters, puzzle and indie games, fighting, unique Japanese imports, and more. ADR1FT Assetto Corsa Atari Flashback Classics Volume 1 Atari Flashback Classics Volume 2 Battleborn Clockwork Tales: Of Glass and Ink Defense Grid 2 Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf Lords of the Fallen Pixel Piracy Megadimension Neptunia VII Zombie Vikings PS3 > PS4 Upgrades: Darksiders: Warmastered Edition How To Survive: Storm Warning Edition Terraria Tiny Brains Here are the most popular games on the service in February: Red Dead Redemption NBA 2K16 WWE 2K16 Payday 2 Crimewave Edition Fallout: New Vegas Until Dawn Mortal Kombat The Last of Us Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion God of War 3 Remastered Yakuza 5 If you haven’t given PlayStation Now a try yet, check out the seven-day free trial for PS4 and PC to experience the streaming service for yourself. PS Now provides unlimited on-demand access to a growing library of over 600 games, with new games added every month, and no game downloads required. PS4 save data in PS Now is also compatible with PS Plus cloud saves, so you can upload/download save files to and from your own console. Stay tuned for more updates on PS Now, and happy gaming! View the full article

Starting today, Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition expands further on the acclaimed RPG and its story with new features, new gear and a new dungeon – Insomnia City Ruins. I was lucky enough to reach out to Director Tabata and ask away the many bubbling thoughts in my head. In case you aren’t aware of what’s included, check out the trailer: If you didn’t have any time to play or the opportunity to pick up Final Fantasy XV since 2016, there’s never been a better time to jump in as the Royal Edition comes packed with the main game and over 20 DLC pieces of content. If you’re like me and have been playing Final Fantasy XV since the main game and following with every season pass episode release, you can quickly upgrade to the Royal Edition at PlayStation Store. It was a pleasure to interview the director himself on what’s new in the Royal Edition. Check out our interview below. 1. Why did you make the Royal Edition? We created this as an important way to highlight all the development team’s initial post-launch activities up to now that have been recorded. So I would like newcomers to the game to enjoy this advanced version of FFXV. And for fans who’ve already played the game, we’ll be upgrading the game to have the same content as the Royal Edition. It’s a culmination of everything we’ve done up to now, so please experience it for yourselves. 2. Where did the name Royal Edition come from? First, we wanted to avoid naming it the Complete Edition, because we still have plans of continuing services in the future. We came up with the word ROYAL in association with the Lucis royal line, and also felt it best suited this most complete edition of FFXV available at this time. We previously had a patch named the “Crown Update,” which was also named in association with the Lucian royal family. 3. What can fans look forward to in Insomnia City Ruins? I received plenty of requests from fans who’ve played the game and watched the movie “Kingsglaive Final Fantasy XV,” saying they’d like to be able to walk around Insomnia. So I’m sure there will be some very rewarding discoveries if they explore the extra map. 4. Where did the idea of warp striking in first-person mode come from? First, we came up with the idea of making FFXV playable in first-person mode. Naturally, it was then decided without much doubt that warp strikes would also be done in first-person mode. Likewise, nobody raised any doubts about riding the Chocobo in first-person either. So as a result, making these adjustments was super-difficult, but nobody ever said “let’s quit!” (laughs) 5. With first-person mode and an all-new dungeon, there’s quite a lot of stuff in here! Is there anything else you wish could have made its way into the Royal Edition? I would say underwater exploration. However, since there’d be difficulties spec-wise, and with limited locations where players could play this, we prioritized the other elements. 6. With the Royal Edition, you can also now control the Royal Vessel. I’m looking forward to fishing aboard the vessel with this new feature. Any new fish recipes you’re particularly fond of? I asked the food team and they said they have sushi made from various parts of the tuna —and they’re all recommended. Ignis’ new recipes are always a treasure! I can only imagine how delicious these new sushi recipes will look. There are so many new things added to the Royal Edition. Check it out today and find yourself immersed in the world of Eos now fully loaded with these new features. Which of these are you most amped for? View the full article

Hi there! I am super excited about introducing you all to Frantics, the new PlayLink party game that we at NapNok Games are releasing today. It is a multiplayer party game, but since this is a PlayLink game, instead of using DualShock 4 wireless controllers, you simply download the game’s companion app and you’ll be able to control the game with your smartphone or tablet device. This makes playing Frantics super simple and accessible, while still being massively competitive and fun! Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to Frantics – it is a simple game of bonding, brawling and backstabbery. Frantics is a party game, in which you and up to three of your mates can bash, bite, race, push, squash and smack each other, but all with a little… social twist. Let me give you a few examples. One of my favorite games in Frantics is called Kings of the Hill. The rules are quite simple, shoot yourself out of a cannon to reach a platform, use your handy baseball bat to whack other animals down from said platform and score a point. Now, the problem is that you can only score a point if there are two and only two animals standing on the platform, so you need to team up with someone else to win. Who do you team up with? Well that is up to you, some players try to build alliances, others constantly switch partners, while others again, stay behind and try to snipe in for a victory. It is wonderful to watch, since trust is so fragile when you’re holding a baseball bat in your hand. Another favorite of mine is Hot Rod Heroes — a straightforward racing game where you try to reach the finish line first in a homemade Hot Rod. The kicker is that you are not building your own car, no no, that would be too easy. You take turns before the race starts distributing car parts to each other, and I must say, some of these parts are… quite interesting. Who would you hand the square wheels to? Or the rocket engine? And I’d be remiss not to mention Icicle Pickle, another last-animal-standing game, but unique in that players can jump up and piggyback ride other animals for victory. Friendless Runner is… an endless runner but with other players running around you, and oh boy is that a mess! Dough Knights is a unicycle lancing game where you pierce doughnuts – and each other. One of the doughnuts is secretly explosive and you have to pass it to another player if you pick it up. All this and much more is packed into Frantics, launching today at PlayStation Store! View the full article

The time has come for a new hero to wield the legendary sword and clash with Mormo as The Swords of Ditto arrives on April 24! The team here at onebitbeyond is thrilled to finally announce the release date of our first game as a studio together and couldn’t be more excited to bring it to the PlayStation 4 community first. Some of you might have heard of our new project already or even played it at PlayStation Experience late last year, but we wanted to take some time to dive into the gameplay loop and what makes The Swords of Ditto unlike any other adventure you’ve played before. The Swords of Ditto is a ‘micro adventure’ which means each individual adventure will be a small, focused experience that has players experience a new version of the world with each run. The land of Ditto has been under siege by the evil Mormo as far as anyone can remember, thriving and crumbling depending on the hero of each era’s success against the forces of darkness. Take down Mormo and the world is a happier, brighter place. Fail and Ditto and its poor citizens descend into a dark, crumbling version of their world. An adventure begins with a new, randomly designed hero awakening to Mormo’s return and tasked with picking up the legendary sword and tackling a series of challenges to take her down before the three days of dark invasion come to a cataclysmic end. Players can put on a brave face and try to take down the dark queen right away or, most often, will explore the world to gather weapons and items, level up the sword itself, and destroy Mormo’s anchors to weaken her in an effort to topple a hobbled final boss. Discover stickers to perk up your hero and weapons, gather powerful toys to complete your arsenal, and complete side quests to fill your inventory with a variety of useful tools and items. One of the most compelling features of The Swords of Ditto is that death is not an end but rather a segue to a new chapter and adventure in the sword’s epic story. Once a hero falls a new one will rise 100 years later and wield the same sword as their predecessors, meaning that all the experience and power of the sword from previous runs remain for future adventures. Players will even have a chance to uncover and unlock secret methods to carryover some toys and items, extend the time before facing Mormo, and even resurrect a fallen hero in hopes of a second chance at glory! The Swords of Ditto is full of many more layers of systems and secrets that will unfold with each new micro adventure, something we hope that players will discover and use to their advantage with every successive run through the world. We can’t wait to share our game with you all and are very thankful for all the love and support from the PlayStation community so far! View the full article

Outbreak is a special event coming soon to Rainbow Six Siege to challenge your Operators with adversaries unlike anything they’ve seen before. From March 6 to April 3, Siege owners with a PS Plus subscription will be able to play Outbreak for free and take on the deadly extraterrestrial parasite wreaking havoc on the populace of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. A sinister array of enemies will test you at every turn across the expansive new levels, so here are some tips straight from the Rainbow Six developers to help you take them on. Assemble Your Crew Outbreak is a co-op event for up to three players, and at the start of each match, you’ll have to choose from a select group of Operators with the weapons and gadgets to give you an edge against your enemies. Having an Operator with the ability to revive down-but-not-out teammates is a big help, so consider running Doc for his Stim Pistol, or Finka, the new Operator from Operation Chimera, for her team-buffing Adrenal Surge. Note that shotguns, while generally relied on for their wall-destroying power in competitive play, are very effective against Outbreak foes. And for those of you looking for a good excuse to put Tachanka’s Mounted LMG into play, Outbreak suits this fan-favorite quite nicely. Don’t Summon the Swarm There are plenty of times in which hordes of enemies will descend upon you in Outbreak, leaving you with no choice but to go loud, but don’t underestimate the value of keeping things quiet when you can. Equipping a suppressor can help you avoid alerting enemies to your presence, and even explosive Breacher foes can be dispatched quietly with a suppressed headshot. The stealthy approach is even more powerful on Pandemic, Outbreak’s harder difficulty setting, where the enemies are more numerous and friendly fire is enabled. The Who’s Who of Mutated Abominations There are five unique enemy types in Outbreak, and each will try to lay their own particular brand of hurt on you. Let’s get acquainted. Grunt: The most numerous foe by far, Grunts swarm you relentlessly once they are alerted to your presence. Headshots are best, though if you wound them in close quarters, you may see a prompt to execute a quick melee takedown. I suggest you follow this prompt. Breacher: Long spikes and bright yellow bubbles adorn the backs of these nimble enemies who love nothing more than to get near your or your barricades and explode. Shoot them near other enemies for collateral damage, and if they get close to you, melee them before shooting so you don’t become collateral damage yourself. Rooter: They burrow underground and pop up all over the place, but they want to trap you in one spot with spiked roots? Talk about a dangerous double standard. Shoot them to release their hold on you before the Grunts close in. Apex: These spooky floating enemies will hit you from afar with blasts of vision-obscuring goop, but the real threat they pose is the faster, tougher enemies they spawn into the battle. Take them out quickly. Smasher: This hulking beast is all but invulnerable, and more than happy to clobber you through walls or smash through walls in order to clobber you. Create a crossfire with your team so that while one player runs from it, the others can shoot the weak spot on its back. If you’re feeling daring, shoot it in the face to taunt it into charging you, then step aside quickly, wait for it to run into an obstacle and fall to its knees, then melee it in the weak spot for, you guessed it, massive damage. The Best Defense is a Good Defense As you work your way toward uncovering the mysteries of Outbreak and quelling the carnage, you’ll be ordered to defend some objectives against the advancing throngs. Look around for reinforced walls and deploy them to close off your flanks and limit the amount of angles you have to cover. You’ll still need to keep an eye on them, because Breachers can destroy normal and reinforced walls, as well as barricades; look for the telltale yellow bubbles coming through a wall and try to destroy Breachers before they do their thing. Set up barricades at all doors and windows, but melee a hole in them at head height. This will allow you to headshot Grunts without letting them get too close. And if your objective gets swarmed, remember that smoke grenades will temporarily confuse your enemies and stop their attacks, giving you time to clear them out. Outbreak is coming to Rainbow Six Siege from March 6 to April 3, and special rewards await PlayStation owners who persevere and conquer its toughest challenges. Take these tips, relay them to your squad, and get ready to take on this nefarious new challenge. View the full article

The annual Game Developer’s Conference is upon us, and we’re excited to meet with many of the talented developers who are gathering here at this event. We’ve put together this post as a guide to all of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) GDC activities. From March 21-23, you can find us on the GDC Expo floor at Space 601 in the South Hall. We’ll have interesting tech, tools and games to show. If you would like to meet with us to talk about the world of PlayStation, stop by for a visit. Additionally, SIE developers, programmers, producers, technology specialists, as well as experts from independent development studios will be speaking on a variety of topics throughout the week. Be sure to check out some of the PlayStation sponsored sessions and related talks that are available while you are here. Tech Kiosks PlayStation HDR Development PlayStation Developer Tools – SN Systems Click here for more information about Tech Kiosks. Game Kiosks PS4 / PS4 Pro Titles PS VR Titles Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom Monster Hunter: World Gran Turismo Sport Shadow Of The Colossus Donut County The Swords of Ditto Guacamelee! 2 Moss Bravo Team It’s back! “Ask Developer Relations @GDC” Once again, the “Ask Developer Relations @GDC” station will be here throughout the conference. Members of our Third Party Developer Relations team will be on hand to answer questions you may have on working with PlayStation, including licensing and other business-oriented questions. Limited appointments are available. Click here for more information about times and availability. PlayStation-Related Talks Throughout GDC there will be PlayStation-related sessions and roundtables focusing on developer topics such as visual arts, audio, design, business & marketing, programming, advocacy, and more. Here are a few sample topics: The Magic Behind ‘Joshua Bell VR’: Immersive Video with Positional Tracking Speaker: Ian Bickerstaff (Director of Immersive Video Technology, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe) Location: Room 24, North Hall Date: Monday, March 19 Time: 1:20pm – 1:50pm Pass Type: All Access, VRDC@GDC Add On Topic: Entertainment VR/AR Format: Session Synopsis: Many VR videos offer the ability to look around in all directions, but are unable to respond to the subtle changes in the viewer’s position; they only present the view from one single point in space. This presentation tells the story of how the ‘Joshua Bell VR Experience’ was adapted to overcome this limitation for PlayStation VR, creating the illusion of full volumetric video without the complexity normally associated with the technique. It then shows how this technology can now be used to enhance a wide range of other VR content. Player Engagement in VR Cinematics Speaker: Gabor Soos (Cinematic Animation Lead, Sony London Studio) Location: Room 3005, West Hall Date: Thursday, March 22 Time: 3:00pm – 3:30pm Pass Type: All Access, GDC Conference + Summits, GDC Conference Topic: Visual Arts Format: Session Synopsis: Cinematic cut-scenes in traditional games can feel disruptive at times, pulling players out of the experience. In the medium of VR, disrupting player engagement can lead to a total break of immersion. On the other hand, distract the audience too much from the narrative and they’ll miss the point of the scene. In this session, Gabor Soos will lead you through PlayStation VR’s production examples on how Sony London Studio attempted to strike a balance between player engagement and cinematic cut-scenes. Click here for the full list of PlayStation-related talks! Sponsored Sessions Production Pipelines for HDR and Wide Color Assets Date: Thursday 22nd March Time: 10:00am- 11:00am Location: Room 3009, West Hall Fraud in Gaming – Disrupting the Bad in the Good Date: Wednesday 21st March Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm Location: Room 3009, West Hall PlayStation Visual Arts Service Group: YES! We Did That! Date: Thursday 22nd March Time: 2:00pm 2:30pm Location: Career Theater, North Hall Final Final Version 02: Adventures in Creative Collaboration (Presented by Sony Interactive Entertainment America) Date: Friday, March 23rd Time: 11:30am – 12:00pm Location: Career Theater, North Hall Click here for more information about PlayStation Sponsored Sessions. Tool and Middleware Directory Company Booth Allegorithmic 1709 (South Hall) Audiokinetic 1315 (South Hall) Autodesk BS5208 (North Hall) Coherent Labs 1923 (South Hall) CRIWARE 1723 (South Hall) Epic Games – Unreal Engine 423 (South Hall) FMOD 1331 (South Hall) GameSparks 1337 (South Hall) Graphine 2012 (South Hall) Havok BMR5328 (North Hall) IncrediBuild 138 (South Hall) Krotos 1623 (South Hall) NVIDIA 223 (South Hall) OC3 Entertainment 240 (South Hall) PlayFab 1037 (South Hall) PopcornFX / Persistant Studios 1931 (South Hall) RAD Game Tools 1223 (South Hall) Silicon Studio 2023 (South Hall) Simul Software Ltd 1914 (South Hall) Speech Graphics 1623 (South Hall) SpeedTree 842 (South Hall) Terathon Software 2204 (South Hall) Unity NDA Room 306 (Tue) YoYo Games 1623 (South Hall) View the full list of exhibitors at GDC. Become a Registered Developer Want to become a PlayStation registered developer? With the ability to self-publish on PlayStation Network across PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR and PlayStation Now, there’s a PlayStation platform for every game. Click here for more info. Careers at SIEA Our recruiting team will be at GDC too! This is your chance to have a pre-scheduled one-on-one private meeting with our recruiting team to discuss potential roles available at SIEA. Visit our Careers page under “2018 Game Developer Conference” to apply online and get started. *Participants and scheduled sessions are subject to change. View the full article

Eastern Europe, modern day. Your escort mission has gone horribly wrong. You and a partner are trapped in a city embroiled in conflict. Your only option is to fight your way out. Suit up and stay sharp in Bravo Team, an immersive first-person shooter on PlayStation VR. Bravo Team embraces the power of virtual reality by putting you in the thick of the fight. Use a variety of weapons and tactics to navigate hostile territory and fight for survival. And with the PlayStation Aim controller, the warzones of Bravo Team will feel more real than ever before. For a full list of new games coming to PlayStation next week, read on. And enjoy The Drop! New Releases: Week of March 6, 2018 Audio Beats PS VR — Digital (Out 3/8) Audio Beats is a tribute to classic rhythm games. If you are a traditional rhythm game player seeking great beats and challenges, Audio Beats is the answer. Bravo Team PS VR — Digital, Retail Bravo Team is set in a fictional modern day Eastern European city. When your escort mission goes wrong, a country threatens to tear itself apart… and your team along with it. DJMax Respect PS4 — Digital Legendary rhythm action game finally arrives on PS4! Enjoy all classic DJMax songs and brand new exclusive songs with DJMax Respect. Fear Effect Sedna PS4 — Digital Thrilling action and stealth gameplay enhanced by the Fear system, an exciting story and ultra-stylish cutscenes. Harness your team’s dynamic abilities to tackle enemies and puzzles like never before. Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition PS4 — Retail Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition brings the acclaimed RPG to new heights, packed with add-on content and new features. Join Prince Noctis and his closest friends as they fight against the empire in an effort to take back their fallen kingdom. Frantics PS4 — Digital Arcade style fun and madcap mini-games are all the rage in Frantics, where you and up to three friends have to face off in a variety of challenges. Life is Strange: Before the Storm PS4 — Retail Life is Strange: Before the Storm is a new three-part, standalone adventure set three years before the first game in the BAFTA award-winning franchise. You play as sixteen-year-old Chloe Price who forms an unlikely friendship with Rachel Amber, a beautiful and popular girl destined for success. Midnight Deluxe PS4, PS Vita — Digital In this golf-like game with a perpetual darkness setting, your task is to guide a little square-shaped fairy, named Midnight. North PS4, PS Vita — Digital In North you play a man who applies for asylum in a city filled with strange creatures and strange customs. One Eyed Kutkh PS4, PS Vita — Digital (Out 3/9) A single traveler on his way home crashes on a mysterious planet. To continue his journey, he’ll have to get to the ninth heaven, deceive the Sun and the Moon, and steal their space-boats. Rangi PS VR — Digital Solve complex puzzles, explore hidden temples, reconstruct ancient statues, escape deadly platforms, and revel in the joy of flight as you recover the life force of the Music Giants and restore rhythm to the world! Root Double – Before Crime After Days – Xtend Edition PS Vita — Digital (Out 3/8) The year is 2030. Business is as usual in the isolated research city of Rokumei — that is until several explosions suddenly go off in the nuclear research facility known as “LABO.” The city sends in “Sirius,” an elite rescue squad, to deal with the situation. Scribblenauts Showdown PS4 — Digital, Retail It’s Scribblenauts, party-style! Use your imagination and go head-to-head in the ultimate multiplayer showdown! TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge PS4 — Digital, Retail For bikers, there are two types of speed races: the Isle of Man TT, and the rest. No other race is as gruelling for the motorbikes and demanding for the riders. Take up the challenge of the Snaefell Mountain course: all 37.73 miles faithfully reproduced with the champions and their bikes. Way of the Passive Fist PS4 — Digital A mysterious figure known only as the Wanderer travels across the distant planet of Zircon V, a once prosperous mining colony that is now on the brink of destruction in the face of its dying star. Moby – Everything Was Beautiful, Nothing Hurt Tory Lanez – Memories Don’t Die Andrew WK – You’re Not Alone Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Downsizing (plus Bonus Features) I, Tonya Atlanta – Mondays at 10 PM on FX PlayStation Vue has your favorite sports, news and must-watch shows. The information above is subject to change without notice. View the full article

Behemoths arise, PlayStation Tenno! Starting Tuesday, March 6, you will have the opportunity to summon two new Eidolons in Warframe. With our new update, Shrine of the Eidolon, the Hydrolyst and Gantulyst will dominate the Plains of Eidolon and ferociously loom over those who challenge them. The Eidolons are the biggest creatures you’ll encounter in the Plains. They rise at night in search of their lost limbs scattered across the Plains from the Old War. Peaceful until provoked, they are armed with a barrage of specialized attacks. Tenno are advised to equip themselves with hard-hitting weapons that can strip down their formidable defenses. An Eidolon’s haunting wails and booming footsteps in the distance are enough to send your heart racing. If you thought the first Eidolon we introduced (the Teralyst) had you quaking in last fall’s Plains of Eidolon update, wait until you meet “big” and “even bigger.” To put things into perspective, on the last Warframe “PS4 @ 4” PlayStation stream (live every Tuesday at 4 pm EST on our Twitch channel) the community requested I fight a Teralyst on stream. Now, for the seasoned Eidolon hunters out there, you could say the Teralyst is pretty much an appetizer – someone in chat even referred to it as “the breadsticks of the Eidolon fights.” That said, here’s an idea of what will be served as the main dishes in Shrine of the Eidolon: Altering weather is a sure sign the Hydolyst is among you. Said to be an omen of impending natural disaster by the Ostron people who reside alongside the Plains, it has the ability to taint the ground you stand on with downpours of toxic rain. Lightning also strikes the field of battle when dueling the green spectral giant, so surefooted Tenno will dominate. Having lost its own, the Gantulyst roams around wielding an enormous boulder for an arm. Sentient energy is seen radiating from the severed limb, showing just a hint of the power that lies in wait. Getting up close and personal with this towering beast is no option. With the ability to summon a protective dome around it, it forces opponents in by ticking away health and deflecting attacks from those outside it. High defense and team support-orientated Warframes in these tight combat quarters make for easy work. Along with the two big guys, Shrine of the Eidolon also brings Eidolon Bounties (available at Konzu’s Bounty board in Cetus at night), so that you can squad up with a dedicated team of Tenno specifically to take down these new foes. If you’ve enjoyed fighting the Teralyst, you’re in for a treat in this update! View the full article

I’ve had a passion for all things Porsche since I was chest-high to an exhaust pipe, so bringing to life nine of their wildest and most iconic drives for Porsche’s 70th anniversary in the Project Cars 2 ‘Porsche Legends Pack’ really was an emotional ride through history. As part of this all-action tribute, we also decided to include one of Porsche’s most revered locations―this for the very first time in any racing simulation game. Carved into the scenery around the distinctive diamond-shaped Porsche Customer Centre in Leipzig is the 3.7km FIA-certified ‘Porsche On-road Circuit’ designed by famed F1-track designer Hermann Tilke. The FIA-certification means the track is ready for racing both in-game and real-life, with the addition of pit-boxes for sim racers. We actually spent countless hours testing and tuning our in-game Porsches on this track, too―a case of childhood fantasy meets simulation―as it’s an ideal venue to push these cars to their limits. Each of the 10 turns mirrors a world-famous venue: The Suzuka S bend, Sebring’s Sunset Bend (where, on the exit, you’ll need a fat dollop of opposite lock), the late-braking test of guts for the Loews-at-Monaco-inspired hairpin, bouncing over the kerbs for the Mobil 1 S bend (a carbon-copy of the Nürburgring Grand Prix), the suck-in-your-breath speed through the Curve di Lesmo, and the triple-turn Spa-Francorchamps Bus Stop chicane―all, along with the final Fuji-inspired Suntory bend, provide a serious test of car and driver. Our team spent countless hours testing the nine cars that come with the ‘Porsche Legends Pack’ on this track, and while each car is unique, if I was forced to choose just one to race every day for eternity, it would have to be the 911 Carrera RSR 2.8. This, for me, is the 911 of all time. With the engine at the rear, the 911 is a car that has just the sweetest handling―prone to oversteer, not a little dangerous, but always so willing to thrill. The 911 Carrera RSR 2.8 was created after Porsche had won Le Mans for a second time with the 917 (yes, it’s in ‘Porsche Legends Pack’). A change in regs for ’73, though, meant the end of the 917, and in response, Porsche decided to focus both on Can-Am (with the ‘Turbo Panzer’―the wild 1,200hp 917/10 that is waiting to tame you in the ‘Porsche Legends Pack’), and on the European GT Championship with the 911 Carrera RS 2.8. For this GT racer, Porsche upped the engine to 2.8-litres (and the power to 300hp), fattened the rear tyres (the street version was the first time any car featured wider rear tyres than fronts) which were then housed under seriously-sexy wheel arches―just look at them!―before shoving a bulky ‘ducktail’ rear spoiler (the ‘bürzel’) over the rear engine for the first time on a 911. Then they went racing. The car to beat in GT racing in 1973? The Ferrari 364 GTB ‘Daytona’, already waiting for you in Project CARS 2. By the end of the season, the 911 Carrera RS 2.8 was European GT Champion, notched up a Daytona win for good measure, and kick-started Porsche on the road to decades of GT racing domination. Fast, efficient, beautiful―the 911 Carrera RS 2.8 is the embodiment of 70 years’ worth of Porsche heritage. And surely no-one has ever had so much fun in a racing car that looked this gorgeous! View the full article

Last week, we asked you to use your photographic eagle vision while playing Assassin’s Creed Origins. While you helped Bayek seek justice and create the first order of Assassins, you shared your best shots with us using the hashtags #PS4Share and #PSBlog. After sifting through your impressive submissions, here are this week’s highlights. @The_Don7684 captured Bayek and his loyal eagle Senu basking in the Egyptian sunlight. @Philt43_Yewone brilliantly framed Bayek entering an ancient tomb. The detail on this up-close shot of Senu by @videogame_photographer is stunning. @Son_of_Sekhmet, stayed true to his username, submitting this firey mid-battle shot during the Trial of the Gods fight with the goddess Sekhmet. Search #PS4Share and #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entrancing entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? This week’s theme will put you in the driver’s seat: Theme: Gran Turismo Sport Share by: 9am Pacific on Wednesday, March 7 While you’re behind the wheel in Gran Turismo Sport, share your best shots using #PS4share and #PSBlog for a chance to be featured next week. View the full article

While playing Far Cry 5 at a preview event in Livermore, California, the Ubisoft team stormed an enemy-held radar station at the crest of a hill. This coordinated attack between two members of the studio involved sticks of dynamite, powerful firearms, and a complete lack of stealth. As the resistance fighters surged against the dangerous cultists within, a wild wolverine hurdled out from the underbrush in a surprise attack. This wolverine was not part of the station’s natural defense system. It was not a trained wolverine being used by the cult. It was, simply, a wolverine. An angry one, at that. Even Creative Director Dan Hay laughed in surprise at the torpedo of fur flying across the screen. This wolverine embodies the emergent gameplay of Far Cry 5. It is a quality that the Ubisoft Montreal team means to emphasize at every turn, rocketing the franchise’s staple player freedom to new heights. The setting of Far Cry 5 contains a number of series touchstones: the sprawling open world, the outlandish action setpieces, the iconic villain. In Far Cry 5 players control a rookie law enforcement officer who winds up in Hope County, Montana — a gorgeous, remote locale under the control of Joseph Seed and his cult the Project at Eden’s Gate. After a failed attempt at arresting Joseph Seed, players must fight to build a resistance in Hope County and push the cult out. How players do that, however, is up to them. There are countless systems in Far Cry 5 in constant collision with one another. Moments of intense action quiet into nail-biting stealth. Resistance members react to nearby Project soldiers if they drive too close. Animals skitter across dirt highways. AI companions (called Guns For Hire) provide additional firepower while an actual bear (Fangs For Hire) does lots of bear things. The interactions between these systems result in the emergent gameplay that makes Far Cry 5 so interesting. The possibilities feel endless. Even the story itself reacts to player input. Once the opening tutorial section of Far Cry 5 is complete, players can go virtually anywhere without the need to unlock towers and open the map in a linear order. Characters and plot points will adjust dynamically based on how players go about the fight against the Project. Ubisoft Montreal does acknowledge, however, that some folks may wander off and fish for hours on end. That may not advance the narrative forward, but who cares when there are so many fish to catch? When the developers step in to direct the action the results are enormous. The opening of Far Cry 5 introduces players to cult leader Joseph Seed. Greg Bryk is tremendous as Joseph, delivering soul-piercing stares and haunting whispers in equal measure, and further fueling the player’s drive to liberate a besieged community. When the dialogue comes to a close and Ubisoft Montreal hands control back to players, the beautiful chaos resumes. No matter how players decide to battle the Seed family and save the people of Hope County, one thing is certain: beware the wolverine. View the full article

Email us at blogcast@sony.com! Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Google or RSS, or download here This week, the gang listens in on part two of Justin’s Moss interview, recorded on location at Polyarc HQ in Seattle, WA. Plus, Kristen gives us an update on her journey through Final Fantasy VII, and we reflect on things games have taught us about ourselves. Yeah, this is a deep one. Stuff We Talked About Moss on PS VR Monster Hunter: World Detroit: Become Human Xenogears The Last of Us Final Fantasy IV and VII Recent Episodes 282: Blogcast and Quill 281: To Bee, or Not to Bee 280: The Return of Nick Suttner The Cast Justin Massongill – Social Media Manager, SIEA Ryan Clements – Sr. Social Media Specialist, SIEA Kristen Titus – Social Media Specialist, SIEA Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. [Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.] View the full article

Hello everyone, I’m Matthias Hilke from ClockStone Software, we are the creators of the Bridge Constructor puzzle games. Together with our publisher Headup Games, we’re very excited to expand the franchise next week by releasing Bridge Constructor Portal on PS4. It’s a mash-up of two universes, the famous Portal universe (full of fun but dangerous Aperture Science technology) and the rather relaxing universe of Bridge Constructor. After the collaboration with Valve was confirmed, it was pretty clear that bridge construction combined with the setting and mechanics of the Portal universe would become as unconventional as it could get. Thanks to the indoor scenario and the possibility to use numerous pairs of portals, vehicles could now be traveling through a level in all sorts of directions – back and forth from left to right, in a diagonal crisscross and even shooting up and down vertically. This alone leads to an exciting number of extravagant new level layouts, including spider web-style intersections or multi-storeyed bridges. But this was only the beginning, as we were just about to open the fun box of Aperture Science test chamber technologies: Which mechanics would work in our game? What combinations would bring the most fun to the players? To find out, we prototyped almost all of them into some test levels and played around – it was just hilarious! So we found many exciting assortments and finally ended with 60 challenging levels which will be played under the demanding gaze of GLaDOS. For example, by introducing Portal’s Aerial Faith Plates (catapults) and the Repulsion Gel, players can send vehicles and cubes through the level flying and bouncing. Companion Cubes, High Energy Pellets and Propulsion Gel allowed us to furnish the game with an extra portion of Portal-style puzzle solving. Finally, our levels would not be real Aperture science test chambers without some serious hazards, so we added Laser Fields, Emancipation Grills, Acid Goo, and of course some lovely Sentry Turrets (“There you are.”) to make sure that there was enough potential for an extra portion of entertaining destruction and mayhem. The evolution from Bridge Constructor to Bridge Constructor Portal After the success of the initial Bridge Constructor title in 2012, Headup Games and we always thought about possibilities to improve the series. First we created Bridge Constructor Playground, offering an easier sandbox-style approach with optional challenges like building with specific materials or with a limited budget. Bridge Constructor Medieval featured a little background story for the first time as well as roofs for protection against enemy fire and trap bridges that collapsed just in time, with the enemies on it. With the “Slopemania” DLC for the original Bridge Constructor we managed to get away from just flat bridges, bringing more variety to the level design with sloped roads and much more complex and dynamic simulations. That DLC resulted in lots of great community videos, with jumping (and exploding) gas trucks and many hilarious attempts. When we saw those videos, we wanted a game with considerably more action than the predecessors, so Bridge Constructor Stunts was conceived, featuring stunt parkour-style constructions and fast vehicles to perform daredevil jumps and loops. And, for the first time in the series, you were able to steer the vehicles yourself. Eventually, during playtests with BC Stunts, where velocity and angle had become important game factors, the guys of Headup Games got the idea of combining Bridge Constructor with the Portal universe. As we all are huge Portal fans, we immediately felt it would be a great thing to combine the puzzle elements of both worlds into a fresh new construction game. So they approached Valve with the idea. They really liked it and helped us with great support – thanks again! Bridge Constructor Portal launches today at PlayStation Store. View the full article

Today, we’re very excited to announce that Gran Turismo Sport’s Patch 1.13 is now live, featuring 12 brand new cars, two new tracks and three all new GT League events for drivers to enjoy. New Vehicles Whether you’re an old-school F1 fan or modern supercar connoisseur, we’re sure you’ll enjoy the 12 new additions to Brand Central this month. Take a look at the full line-up: Alpine A110 1600S Alpine A110 Première Édition Audi R8 4.2 FSI R tronic De Tomaso Pantera Dodge Challenger R/T Ford Mustang Mach 1 Gran Turismo F1500T-A Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Subaru WRX STI Isle of Man Time Attack Car Subaru Falken Tire / Turn 14 Distribution BRZ Toyota Supra 3.0GT Turbo A Toyota MR2 GT-S New Tracks Next, we’ve expanded the fan-favorite Blue Moon Bay Speedway by creating two brand new hybrid circuits: Blue Moon Bay Speedway Infield A and B – each adding tight turns and hairpins to the original course’s oval for a unique challenge. GT League Events Finally, we’ve added three exciting new GT League events geared towards drivers of all experience levels, including: Stars & Stripes – Beginner League Vision Gran Turismo Trophy – Amateur League F1500 Championship – Professional League Don’t forget: you can find all the latest info on upcoming GT Sport content right here at PlayStation.Blog or over at the official Gran Turismo website. Until next time, drivers, we’ll see you out on the track. View the full article

When we set out to design City of the Shroud‘s combat, we knew we wanted to make 1) a tactical RPG and 2) combine it with the strategic thinking and a sense of split-second action found in fighting games. Simple, right? The end result is a tactical RPG / fighting game-inspired combat system that rewards both patience and think-on-your-feet strategy, allowing for rapid-fire battles in a story-rich world. So how did we end up with this system? After a lot of iterating (you should see some of the prototypes), we came up with the “Combo Wheel” — a circle of inputs used to activate and chain together special abilities, similar to a fighting game. Think down-right-down to shoot a fireball and you’ve got it; if any of you ever played Legend of Legaia, it’s a similar approach, but in real-time. Since abilities require specific input sequences to activate them, you can equip abilities that share a starting and ending point for easy combos. For example, if you set a Duelist up with both Dash (up-left) and Roundhouse (left-down-right-up), you can push up-left-down-right-up to activate both skills using only five inputs. This results in the Duelist dashing to her target to slash them with her sword (Dash), then following up with a powerful spinning kick to knock them backwards (Roundhouse). One reason we settled on putting a big wheel up on screen for these combos is that there are so many abilities and potential combos in the game that remembering them all in real time battles would be a tremendous burden. To make it so you can focus on combat and not have to recall a specific ability’s path, we set up the Combo Wheel to show each equipped ability’s starting input, with the following inputs appearing once you start the sequence. With everything laid out visually, there’s always guidance on how to activate a character’s abilities, so you can think about which ones to use, not how to use them. So now you have a bunch of abilities and several angry opponents to use them on. Great! Or not, depending on your perspective! How do we manage real-time combat with all these characters and combos on a controller? Two elements come into play here: the first is that the game rewards patience and strategy. Wait for the opportune moment to strike and victory will surely be yours. Mash buttons and, well, victory will probably not be yours. Finding the right moment to execute a powerful combo is key, and the pacing in combat reflects that. The other is that we’ve put a lot of time and thought into getting combat to feel good with a controller. You can easily swap between characters, quickly navigate the battlefield, and pop open the Combo Wheel — all with just four buttons. The Combo Wheel is currently controlled with the left stick: rotating the stick around in a circle is like moving around the wheel and letting it return to center resets your combo inputs. It’s a lot of fun to enter combos this way, and it’s really fast. We’re still iterating, though! We’re thinking about additional options — for example, using the face buttons or directional pad to represent the four inputs on the wheel. What we’ve created for City of the Shroud: Definitive Edition is a rapid-fire tactical RPG that’s chock-full of action and strategy. Throw in the combo mechanics we’ve adapted, and it’s quite the shift! We’ve worked hard to make the experience as awesome as possible on a controller, and we hope you enjoy the results when City of the Shroud: Definitive Edition launches in 2019 on PS4! View the full article

We are proud to announce that Detroit: Become Human now has an official release date: on May 25th, you will finally have the chance to get your hands on Quantic Dream’s most ambitious title to date. In a dystopian vision of our near future, Detroit is the story of three androids, three machines designed to obey, who start to feel emotions. Confronted with persecution and the violence of society, they will all have to decide who they want to be. Connor is a prototype designed to help human investigators on cases involving androids; Kara becomes a fugitive by empathizing with a little girl, united in their dream of freedom; Markus will become the leader of the android revolution. The player will control all three in turn, taking control of their destinies, and telling not only their individual stories, but also the story of their people and of their world. Detroit is by far the most ambitious title ever created by Quantic Dream; with this game, we wanted to push our limits by creating the most bending game we have ever made. Your actions have real and spectacular consequences: there are entire scenes that you can see or miss based on your actions, your closest allies may help you until the end or die just after you meet them, your destiny itself can be totally different depending on your choices. You must also be very careful with your three main characters, because any of them may die at any time. Each story is almost as unique as your DNA: it is the result of the choices you made, the minor ones and the important ones, because in Detroit, all choices matter. You will need to observe, think, decide, feel, follow your intuition or your heart, to tell the unique stories of each character, and their stories will become your personal story. Detroit explores many complex themes that resonate with today’s world. Of course, it is about AI and the role of technology, but it is also more than anything about us, about our society, our dreams, our mistakes, our hopes. It is about what it means to be human: is it just about having flesh and bones, or does it mean more than that? We hope that it sparks some meaningful conversations and we’re looking forward to hearing what you think about it. In order to depict the world of Detroit, we have also developed the most spectacular 3D engine we have ever created. We tried to push the limits of the PS4 as far as we could, with hundreds of highly realistic characters, full performance capture, scenes featuring crowds, all with a level of quality that we had never reached before. We have also imagined a new way of playing a story where you are in direct control of a complex story where any of your choices may have consequences. With Detroit, Quantic Dream presents its most accomplished experience, a spectacular and unexpected journey full of emotions, twists and turns, dangers and hope, in the most bending story we have ever created – where every choice matters. We hope you see Detroit as a unique experience that echoes some of the challenges our world faces, and maybe it even resonates with your own personal life. More than anything, we hope that Detroit will leave an impression on you, and that you will remember for a long time the story of these three androids who wanted to be free… View the full article