Commander Fury

One of the greatest RPGs of all time, Secret of Mana, is coming back to life in 3D! Secret of Mana will come to PS4 and PS Vita digitally, on February 15, 2018 worldwide. Secret of Mana holds a special place in many hearts here in the office, so we could not be more excited for new fans to experience the time-honored classic for the first time, and for existing fans to dive back into the fun fantasy adventure that they know and love. “I’ve heard of Secret of Mana, but I never played it and I’m just used to more modern graphics.” The above is basically the gist of conversations I have had with most of my gamer friends, and could possibly describe how many of you feel about the game. We’re here to fix that! Here’s what you should know about the remake: The game will faithfully adapt the beloved story and top-down gameplay while adopting modern 3D graphics and controls. Meaning that the game has been fully rebuilt from the ground up, but still remains true to the whimsical gameplay of the original. In this new remake, you can expect the great game all your friends have been saying you missed out on, reborn. After playing the original, watching this trailer hits me right in the nostalgic feels… EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. So, if you’re like me and played the classic version, but wonder what new things you can look forward to outside of the completely revamped 3D graphics and updated gameplay: VOICED CHARACTERS: That’s right, you heard Randi in the trailer and you’ll finally get to hear Randi, Primm, Popoi and many other characters talk and express themselves throughout their adventure! To add to that, the game will have language options which will allow players to experience the game using Japanese voices and/or subtitles. A NEWLY ARRANGED SOUNDTRACK: We’re excited for you to hear a beautiful, newly arranged soundtrack that pays tribute to the original. LOCAL MULTIPLAYER: Yes! Sit down with two of your friends (up to three players) to experience the adventure together. To give you the lowdown on the story: Secret of Mana revolves around a courageous young man named Randi. I think Randi will successfully make headbands cool again (some may argue they were always cool, and I would agree.) Anyway… Randi inadvertently discovers the Mana Sword, a weapon of great power, and finds out that he can harness the great power of Mana. He then embarks on a quest to defeat the evil forces attempting to control Mana, and is joined by a tenacious and caring noblewoman named Primm, and a mischievous yet kind sprite named Popoi. Together, the trio take on a treacherous empire in attempts to bring balance to the world. “If I love the series and want something a little extra to make my experience that much better, what is there?” You are in LUCK sir and or madam. If you pre-order the game on PSN you’ll receive: Individual PSN Avatars for Randi, Primm, and Popoi as an instant reward DLC Costumes at launch on February 15 “Moogle Suit” for Randi, Primm, Popoi “Tiger Two-Piece” for Primm “Tiger Suit” for Randi and Popoi Look how adorable those costumes are! I wonder why the Tiger Suit makes Popoi look so grumpy… For those who want to preorder on PSN, you can click here. Preorders will go live at 1:30am PDT! If you’re excited and can’t wait to get your hands on the game, we’re happy to announce that Secret of Mana will be playable at PAX West from September 1-4 at both the Square Enix booth and the PlayStation booth! As a fan, Secret of Mana is a personal favorite of mine, and I’m honored to be bringing the title to the west. I sincerely hope that all current and potential fans are as excited as I am and will love the game. As we lead up to release, be sure to keep up to date with all of the new Secret of Mana content through our official Square Enix channels! View the full article

Our own Gillen McAllister from PlayStation.Blog EU speaks to one of the minds behind Star Wars Battlefront II and the recently detailed Starfighter Assault mode. Plus, Ryan discusses his new-found love for Agents of Mayhem, and Sid (for some reason) decided to engrave his iPad. All this and more. Enjoy the show! Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Google or RSS, or download here Stuff We Talked About Star Wars Battlefront II Destiny 2 Agents of Mayhem Portal Knights iPad Engravings Recent Episodes Episode 260: Spit-take Episode 259: SUPERNOTEWORTHY Episode 258: The One That Got Away The Cast Sid Shuman – Director of Social Media, SIEA Ryan Clements – Sr. Social Media Specialist, SIEA Zac Minor – Sr. Social Media Manager, SIEA Send us questions and tips! blogcast@sony.com Leave us a voicemail! (650) 288-6706 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

Hi, everyone! Justin at PlayStation.Blog invited me to help celebrate the upcoming PS4 release of Cyan’s game Obduction by doing a question-and-answer session with Rand Miller, CEO and lead designer of the game. I have been playing Rand’s games since the 1990s, and Myst and Riven were both huge influences on The Witness. I felt like this was a good opportunity to ask some serious design questions, so here goes! The Witness Jonathan Blow: One very obvious trend, looking at the series of games from Myst through Obduction, has been the advancement of technology. Today’s consoles are insane supercomputers compared to the machines people played Myst on, back in the day. There are some obvious benefits, like the fact that you can walk around the world of Obduction in full realtime 3D, whereas the original Myst was a series of 2D images. I’m interested in how this affected puzzle design. The advantage of something like Myst is that you can curate each individual image very closely — you know exactly where the player is standing and what she’s looking at, and if you want to make some important clue more obvious, it’s clear how to do that. When building things to be explored in full 3D, it’s a much less-concrete discipline because you don’t exactly know where the player is coming from. How do you deal with that? Does it affect the basic design of the puzzles in some way, or is the difference more down to the way specific details are authored? This isn’t Cyan’s first realtime 3D game; both Uru and Myst 5 were 3D, but I would describe those as occurring in the earlier days of 3D when it was at least a little daring to make a 3D puzzle adventure game. How have things changed between those games and now? Obduction Rand Miller: The nature of exploration/adventure games is that you want the player to feel like they have complete freedom, but at the same time provide some kind of path guidance that insures that the player gets the story/information they need. I think we’ve learned as we’ve transitioned to realtime 3D that the path guidance that we might have previously achieved on a “per frame” basis, we now have to do on a different scale. I’ll give some specific examples. Early in Riven there was a gate that was locked. It wasn’t immediately evident, but the player could slide under the gate. We placed a dagger in the ground under the gate to draw the player’s attention to that lower area. Further, if the player clicked on the dagger the player’s point of view changed to a view of the gate from a much lower perspective – a view that seemed to suggest that they might be able to crawl under the gate. That example precisely illustrates how, by having control of the view we could move the player forward in subtle ways. But that doesn’t work for realtime 3D. Obduction has an example of how that idea has to change in realtime 3D. At the beginning of the game the player can only move forward through a canyon. At one point in the canyon a recorded message directs the player to a house with a white picket fence. At this point the canyon is almost gone, and the player has a choice to visit the house with the white picket fence or explore in various other directions. But we also built in a “pinch point” before the player can move on to another section. Approaching this pinch point triggers a rather large insect-like creature to fly out of a mine, across the prairie, and onto the roof of the house with the white picket fence. The idea being that if the player has chosen to ignore the house, we’d like to remind them that it was something that they were instructed to inspect. It’s a much larger and more dynamic hint to entice the player in a particular direction, but it serves the same purpose that the dagger serves in Riven. I must say that as much as I love realtime 3D it seems like it is always more awkward lining up with devices for interaction with them. Watching players get to the correct angle and the right distance can be cringe inducing – a little left, step back, too far, strafe right a bit, etc. It makes me think back fondly on the Myst 2D images where we control the exact position for optimal interaction. Did you have any of that frustration watching early players of The Witness? Interestingly, I feel like VR throws more challenges into this discussion – looking around is so natural and effortless, having the player look in a particular direction for a short time can feel like keeping the attention of a three year old. It’ll be interesting to see how our design evolves to embrace this. The Witness Jon: We didn’t have too many early players; I tend not to playtest very much! We had a bunch of players come and try the game at PSX 2015, but by then the game was mostly done being designed. Our game had the advantage that our main puzzles are discrete panels located at obvious places in the world, and we auto-position people to interact with most of these if they start to interact while in the neighborhood. But that solution wouldn’t work for most adventure games, because part of the reason it works is because you know exactly what is going to happen — in a puzzle more integrated with the environment, even if you knew it was going to auto-adjust your position, not knowing exactly where you would end up would lead to lots of frustrating moments by itself. Do you find that you change your puzzle designs much to make them less-interactively-awkward? I imagine there’s a limited extent to which puzzles can be adjusted, but beyond that they would break or just lose a great deal of their aesthetic appeal. Obduction Rand: There are definitely some puzzles that we feel more secure about – and are less likely to fiddle with. But we try to start behind-the-back testing early because players tend to do things that catch us off guard and require adjustments to friction, interface, and story delivery. And yes, we have only so much plasticity in how the puzzles can be adjusted because of the interwoven story/environment – it’s an interesting constraint that can be frustrating, but mostly just involves making sure our problem solving considers all the angles. The subtle clue solutions are the most fun for me – just a little tweak that has the perfect psychological effect – a flash of light on the other side of the world, a small 440 volt sign, a license plate on a desk, using consistent colors, etc. I love when those work to fix little issues, and even if they don’t work for everyone, they make the experience more about paying attention then just trying to get into our (the designers’) heads. The Witness Jon: The core gameplay conceit of Obduction (well, I think of it as the core) is really cool. I don’t want to say what it is, because I don’t want to spoil for readers this moment in the game when you first encounter this idea and start to understand how it works. But it’s interesting to me how many of the puzzles of the game are based on this idea, and on how the player can interact with it in different ways. Many of the puzzles are tied together by this consistency — as the player, I am building an understanding of how this thing works, and I get to be delighted each time I get to use this thing in a new way. Did you set out to design a game unified by a central puzzle concept, or did it work the other way around, where this idea started as something smaller, and then you realized how many different ways it could come into play? Thinking back to Myst V, that game had a bit of a similar thing, with the writing on the slate being the core of the game; do you see these things as playing similar roles? Obduction Rand: This is fun to discuss, because I think it’s similar to my impression of how you designed The Witness. We started with the simple idea of the puzzle mechanic — just a bare bones core — that we thought was interesting. As we continued to design the various worlds and levels we began to see different ways that the mechanic could be used. Interestingly, in our particular style of game, trying to balance that puzzle mechanic with the story and environment dampens our ability to continue the process and see how many more variations of that simple play mechanic might arise. Playing The Witness I get the distinct impression that you started with the smaller idea for the mechanic as well and extrapolated into amazing (and surprising) variations. The core gameplay mechanic in adventure or puzzle (or whatever you call them) games is always interesting to me. Seems like many indie studios are generally not feeling obliged to start with a tried and true mechanic (FPS, racing, sports, etc.), instead opting to try new mechanics and friction to see where they go. That path is, of course, more risky, but has the potential to surprise players with great “ah ha” moments. Obduction | Image Gallery Jon: One reason Witness took so long was just that I was doing a bunch of “design research” to chase down all the possibilities for those puzzles, yeah. But also, I know exactly what you’re talking about when you say that there’s an interplay between the puzzles and the story+environment that can make it hard to go beyond a certain point. In our case, I kept letting story be secondary so that the puzzles could be whatever they wanted to be — and even then, it took a great deal of work coming up with environments that somehow enabled these puzzles to exist. But since Cyan games are much more story-oriented, the tradeoffs are pretty different. Obduction Rand: This is one reason it was a nice change for me to play The Witness – the mindset is different. I was able to focus my attention on the puzzle clues and variations, with story elements adding flavor. I enjoyed Firewatch for a similar reason – I could focus on the story, and the puzzle elements added flavor. I really do enjoy our game design niche of balancing story, friction, and environment – as in Obduction, but after a few years of development it’s fun to play the alternatives. Jon: I think fans of Cyan’s games appreciate both the stories and the puzzles, so your particular mix is definitely working. In bringing Obduction to PS4, what kind of stuff did you tweak? Any major gameplay changes, or interactivity that was rearranged to suit the gamepad as the primary controller? Rand: We had a huge focus on optimization – reducing the footprint, keeping the quality high, and increasing performance. We were able to provide a really graphically rich experience – which was very important to us. As for interface changes, the primary one was being able to play with just the gamepad – no keyboard required. And then there are the bits and pieces I can’t really mention yet. PlayStation.Blog extends our thanks to Jon and Rand for taking the time for this Q&A. You can buy Jon’s latest game, The Witness, at PlayStation Store now, and you can pre-order Obduction for PS4 here ahead of its August 29 launch. View the full article

Since we first went hands-on with Destiny 2 back in May, I’ve felt confident that Bungie would deliver on much of what we expect from a sequel. The opening campaign mission was a roller coaster, handily dwarfing any of the first game’s main quests. The changes to the Crucible — from player counts to game modes and on-screen indicators — seemed smart and provided nuanced improvements to an already strong PVP system. But what about everything else? What about the connective tissue? Well, after heading up to Bellevue and spending a few hours with Destiny 2’s European Dead Zone, one of the sequel’s four main hub areas, I’m happy to report that it feels like a totally new game. If each of the locales in the original Destiny was a yacht, the European Dead Zone felt like a cruise ship: massive, and filled with new activities, hidden areas, and narrative clues. In a word, it felt alive. Here’s what’s new: MAP …there’s a map! Accessible via your Ghost at any time, the new map is your guide to the planet you’re on, and the worlds beyond. It gives you a geographical overview of the region, and can help guide you to nearby events, quests, and areas of interest. It may seem like a subtle tweak, but it — in conjunction with all of the new activities in each zone — dramatically reduces the amount of time between the last activity you did and the next destination for your fireteam. In short: it makes it significantly easier to find something fun to do. The best part? Ongoing Public Events and upcoming Public Events are displayed right on the map. Tag ’em as a waypoint, and hop on your Sparrow. You can safely discard your homemade event timer algorithm. ADVENTURES Adventures are totally new to Destiny 2, and represent some of the beefiest content in the European Dead Zone. The Bungie story team described them thusly: “If the campaign is a novel, Adventures are short stories.” Based on the handful that I played through, that rings true. Adventures are essentially side missions that you can pick up while exploring the world. They contain scripted elements, familiar characters, voice over, and story elements that feel comparable to some of the main campaign missions in the first Destiny, but generally don’t reach the bombastic levels of Destiny 2’s campaign — based on the propulsive first mission we played in the beta. Instead of focusing on Destiny 2’s main story arc, they tell smaller stories that reveal more about the world you’re on and the characters you’ve met. Speaking of which… DEVRIM KAY, WARDEN OF THE EDZ Devrim Kay is the main NPC of the European Dead Zone, and he serves as the main guide for many of the Adventures you’ll embark upon there. Stationed at the top of a church tower with his trusty sniper rifle, he packs a salty Western European growl that immediately endeared me to his character, and made me eager to learn about his past and his relationship to the rest of the game’s cast. He also acts as somewhat of a faction boss for the EDZ, collecting EDZ Tokens as well as various resources stashed throughout the world in exchange for his faction’s reputation points. Collect enough and he’ll eventually hand over his own special blend of legendary engram, containing custom weapons and gear that feel right in line with his personal aesthetic of post-apocalyptic athleisure. The most important thing about Devrim: I never felt like I needed to talk to him to figure out what to do next; the map would do that for me. I only visited him when it was time to cash in. THE LOST SECTORS, AND REGIONAL CHESTS While Public Events and Adventures can be trackable waypoints, Destiny 2’s map also contains some more elusive activities: Lost Sectors and Regional Chests. Indicated by small, non-trackable, and often-times enigmatic icons, Lost Sectors and Regional chests encourage players to poke around and explore corners they might not have otherwise. Regional Chests are what they sound like: specially identified crates that are hidden out of sight, usually containing EDZ tokens and various loot, and that often require the player to platform and traverse environments most would miss. They’re reminiscent of the original Destiny’s Golden Chests, but their rewards aren’t limited to early game loot. Instead, you’ll get rewarded with EDZ tokens and faction bonuses. Lost Sectors were maybe my favorite part of the EDZ. These are hidden, labyrinthian areas that require players to cave-dive and explore complex drainage systems or cave networks before they come across a large group of enemies, and more importantly: a really large loot cache. That cache can only be opened by defeating a named elite enemy guarding the area, and retrieving that sector’s cache codes. Find the sector, defeat the boss, grab the cache codes, and the loot is yours. Dance on. PUBLIC EVENTS, AND A SHOT AT HEROIC PUBLIC EVENTS Okay, so public events are obviously not new to Destiny 2. But in many ways, they manage to feel fresh and distinctive from the many I played through (over and over) in the first game. I previously mentioned how the map displays exactly where and when public events are happening, but now every public event has secret objectives — finding and completing these unlocks a Heroic version of the public event. Complete that, and you’ve got yourself a massive experience boost, and a shot at some epic loot. The criteria for these hidden objectives is never messaged to the player. Instead, you’ll need to experiment and explore for yourself. I don’t want to spoil anything here, but let’s just say that Guardians who triumphed over the original Destiny’s heroic raids may have a few ideas about how to get started. With less than two weeks until launch, any doubts about Destiny 2 have been assuaged. The game still has superb core mechanics with perfectly honed controls and a gun feel that — in my opinion – is top of class, but now the world feels alive in ways the first game only aspired to. If the European Dead Zone is indicative of the rest of the game’s zones, Destiny 2 is going to have a whole lot more to do. And I can’t wait to dive in. If you have any questions about my time in the Dead Zone, leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer. Happy hunting, Guardians! View the full article

Education was always a really big part of my life growing up, and its importance was reinforced in more than one way. Getting an education meant getting a chance at a better life, and my parents reinforced this belief through example. They labored day and night to ensure their children, especially their daughters, stayed in school and they also encouraged us to give back to the community. We launched Girls Make Games, a summer camp for teaching girls game development and offering them a home to express their shared love of playing and creating video games, and often the only place for some of the girls to feel like they’re not the only one. Team Invenio, Grand Prize winners of Girls Make Games Demo Day We just wrapped up our 4th and biggest summer season. There were camps all over the country vying for a spot in Demo Day, an event that marks the culmination of GMG’s summer program. Demo Day brought the top five teams from across the country together at PlayStation’s headquarters in San Mateo, California, to present their demos to a panel of industry leaders: Shawn Layden, President of Sony Interactive Entertainment America and Chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios; AJ Mendez, New York Times Bestselling Author and former wrestling champion; Maria Essig, Business Development with Google VR/AR; Tim Schafer, founder and CEO of Double Fine Productions; and Katie Stone Perez, Principal Program Management Lead for Xbox. While at Demo Day each team would present and compete for the Grand Prize – having their game developed professionally and published! This year’s Grand Prize winning team? Team Invenio with their original game, Find Me. In this artistically impressive game, a shadow gets separated from the person it belongs to and, through a series of puzzles and platform levels, begins the journey through a haunting cityscape to find its home alongside its human where it feels safe and home. After the inspiring events of Demo Day, I got the chance to speak with Team Invenio about their original game, Find Me, and what it was like being surrounded by girls with a passion for games. How was it collaborating with your team on Find Me? We all worked so well together and had such a good time doing it. Everyone was so hardworking too, whenever we got frustrated with something we would laugh about it for a little while and then get back to work.” -Audrey “We each had a role to fulfill, whether it was art, music, or level design, and we were all able to work together to make the game.” -Katie “All of my teammates were really supportive and nice. They all had great ideas and they listened to my ideas. They were all really fun but when we needed to work they worked really hard and were very encouraging. I really enjoyed working with them.” -Maeve What inspired you to create Find Me? “We came up with the idea after receiving a writing prompt in our camp journal, which was ‘Create a game where nobody dies.’ That’s where the idea for the shadows came from! “The whole team really liked that idea so we built off of it from there. Light is really interesting and there’s a lot you can do with it so it wasn’t hard. Then we started to figure out what the themes of our game were going to be as it was coming together, the main themes being loss of self, and the importance of things that go unnoticed.” -Team Invenio What did you enjoy the most about your experience with Girls Make Games? “I learned so much this year. I got to learn how to use Unity, the process of game design and things like game flow and metrics. I loved creating the world of the game and I loved designing the puzzles and mysteries in it. I also had such a great time working with the team, they’re the best.” -Audrey Three years ago when I founded Girls Make Games I couldn’t have imagined spending an afternoon at PlayStation inspiring young girls to enter the field of game design by showcasing their own original games, and yet that’s exactly what we did and it’s just the beginning. We will continue to provide girls a welcomed home to further their passion for gaming, inspire the next generation of great game designers, and show the world that girls make games! View the full article

The Call of Duty: WWII Private Multiplayer Beta is nearly here on PS4, and we’ve got all the intel you need to get in on the action when it deploys August 25. SLEDGEHAMMER SPEAKS Last week, Sledgehammer Games released a special message to let everyone know what to expect from the Private Multiplayer Beta, which is just a small part of the full multiplayer mode, and to thank everyone for taking part as this will help hone the final experience when the full game launches on November 3. “We love the active dialog we have with the Call of Duty community, and value the exchange of ideas and constructive feedback we have with fans. Your feedback will help us finalize features, optimize gameplay balance, and refine the remaining development roadmap to launch. So please explore, rank up, and have fun. Share as much feedback as you can – everything helps. The development team will be playing non-stop, and we’ll be monitoring performance and collecting valuable data around the clock.” HOW TO GET INTO THE PRIVATE MULTIPLAYER BETA To gain access to the Call of Duty: WWII Private Multiplayer Beta, you need to pre-order the game at a participating retailer. Head over to www.callofduty.com/beta for more details. If you pre-order from the PlayStation Store, you can pre-load now to jump right into the action once the Beta starts on Aug 25 @ 10AM PT. PRIVATE MULTIPLAYER BETA DATES The Private Multiplayer Beta will be split into two weekends for PlayStation 4 players: Weekend 1 starts at 10am Pacific / 5pm GMT on August 25 and will last until August 28 at 10am Pacific / 5pm GMT. Weekend 2 starts on 10am Pacific / 5pm GMT on September 1, and will last until September 4 at 10am Pacific / 5pm GMT. PRIVATE MULTIPLAYER BETA COMBAT PACK Beta Players will also receive the Private Multiplayer Beta Combat Pack when the game launches on November 3. The pack includes a specially-themed Private Multiplayer Beta Helmet, Calling Card, and Emblem. Wear them with pride in multiplayer after launch and show the world that you were there from the start. DIVISIONS PACK Also, players who pre-order the game at select retailers will receive the Divisions Pack. This pack includes five Premium Gear Sets inspired by the five Divisions in Call of Duty: WWII multiplayer. Infantry Division riflemen are always in the thick of it with finely-tuned rifles and impeccable marksmanship. Well-equipped with incendiary rounds and tactical grenades, the Expeditionary Division’s shotguns literally pack heat. Airborne Division paratroopers endure extreme physical conditioning to outmaneuver opponents with their submachine guns. Focused on stealth and target identification, Mountain Division snipers generate constant fear in the enemy and strike when least expected. Armored Division soldiers are the best supplied in battle and hold down positions with their explosives and light machine guns. MULTIPLAYER DETAILS Now that you know how you can customize your player experience when the game launches, what will you be playing in the Private Multiplayer Beta? There’s a lot happening in the Private Multiplayer Beta starting this weekend. Let’s dive right in! MAPS Players will experience a variety of iconic WWII locations throughout Europe, including a brand-new map that hasn’t been seen before. Ardennes Forest: Battle through the frigid snow-covered forest of the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge, the brutal final major offensive effort by the German army to punch through the Allied front lines. Engagements are fast and deadly in the dangerous, frozen woodland ruins. Stay alert in this medium size map fortified with emplaced MG42 machine guns waiting to annihilate enemy combatants. Gibraltar: Battle through the fortified bastion and steep cliffs of Gibraltar, built as a strategic defense of the Mediterranean Sea and a major refueling and supply station for the Allied forces during WWII. Prepare for multilevel combat engagements and treacherous terrain in one of the most densely guarded and fought over places in Europe. Don’t neglect the lower lane, and use the defense batteries there to pick off flankers. Pointe du Hoc: Fight through a fortified network of German bunker complexes atop the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc, an important strategic target overlooking the beaches of Normandy. Engage in fast-paced, close-quarters combat in the trenches, or flank the enemy in a brutal fight to lock down the nearby farmhouse and bunkers for control of key access routes to the bluff. WAR MODE Additionally, players will be able to take part in Call of Duty: WWII’s War Mode. This is an all-new game mode where players must work as a team to defeat the enemy. Allied and Axis forces clash in team-driven assault and defend missions for key strategic objectives. Fight for control of a war-torn French village west of St. Lo, an important operation in the Allied push onward and out of the beachhead at Normandy. Allied and Axis forces battle for control of a strategic manor to secure a forward operating position. Bridge construction, ammo depot demolition and tank escorts are key strategic tasks in this do-or-die mission to dominate the enemy. Choose your equipment wisely – every decision can mean the difference between victory and defeat in this narrative-driven, objective-based multiplayer experience – a first for Call of Duty. It should be clear by now that this Private Multiplayer Beta is busting at the seams. Be sure to follow Sledgehammer Games on Twitter for the latest updates, and you can leave feedback for the team there, or on the r/WWII subreddit. Every bit of information helps! It’s two days until the Private Multiplayer Beta begins on PS4, and we look forward to joining you on the field of battle. For more intel about Call of Duty: WWII, visit CallofDuty.com/WWII and follow @CallofDuty and @SHGames on Twitter. View the full article

Just before E3, PlayStation.Blog turned the big 1-0! To celebrate, the Blog team got together and decided to throw our first-ever PlayStation Store sale! Members of the PlayStation.Blog team hand-picked each and every one of the games below; they represent some of our all-time favorites. If you’re a longtime listener to PlayStation Blogcast, you shouldn’t see many surprises. ^_^ Better yet, we arranged for a healthy 33% discount on every title listed here, for the next two weeks. Special thanks to all the publishers and developers, and, of course, our friends at PlayStation.Store, for making this possible! Important! To save on the titles below, add selections to your PS Store cart and enter this 10-digit discount code at checkout: ELR6CKF4P9 Thanks for reading PlayStation.Blog – hope you enjoy our picks! PlayStation.Blog 10th Anniversary Sale Axiom Verge Battlezone Darkest Dungeon Firewatch Flower Hohokum Journey N Plus Plus (N++) Ratchet & Clank Risk of Rain Rogue Legacy SOMA The Last Of Us Remastered The Unfinished Swan Transistor Redeem code for 33% off one total cart purchase of selected items. Code must be redeemed and purchase completed before September 5, 11:59PM PT. While supplies last. Full terms and conditions here: playstation.com/psblog10th View the full article

Hello, .hack and PlayStation fans! Randy here from Bandai Namco. We’ve been AFK for a while, but now we’d like to welcome you back to The World this Fall. .hack//G.U. Last Recode is coming to PS4 on November 3, 2017, and we couldn’t be more excited for you to finish out Haseo’s journey. But before we move forward we must re-visit the past! The .hack series holds a very special place among our titles, and this year we get to celebrate its 15th anniversary! Developed by CyberConnect2, .hack first introduced players to Kite’s journey in 2002 with .hack//Infection on PlayStation 2. Since then, the franchise not only featured the video game series, but also spanned across anime, novels, movies, music, magazines, and many other mediums. The .hack franchise has a very strong history with PlayStation, releasing over 7 games on the platform. //Refresher For those of you who are new to the series or need a quick refresher (it has been a while), the .hack//G.U. series takes place in 2017 (!?) where players follow Haseo’s journey as he hunts down Player Killers(PKs), players who kill other players, in a MMORPG called The World. Haseo logs into the game to pursue one PK in particular, Tri-Edge – the player who defeated his friend Shino in-game and put her nto a coma in the real world. From there on, Haseo trains to get stronger to find and defeat Tri-Edge and avenge Shino, all the while uncovering the mysteries of AIDA, a strange computer anomaly that infects players. The series takes place over three episodes; Vol.1//Rebirth, Vol.2//Reminisce, and Vol.3//Redemption. The Terminal Disc For those of you wondering if you’ll be able to jump right into the series without playing the previous games, the Terminal Disc footage (Included within the game) is here to help you along. There are a series of videos that provide details of what transpired in the first series and help provide context for your upcoming journey. New Content in .hack//G.U. Vol.4//Reconnection The MMORPG “The World” has announced that their service will be coming to an end on December 31st, 2018. Soon after that announcement, Haseo, who hasn’t logged into the World since the events of Vol.3//Redemption, receives a mysterious email. In this e-mail, Haseo finds a hint to where Ovan; an old friend, has been after they last saw each other. Haseo, once again logs into The World in order to save his comrade! Along the way, a new character Kusabira, who’s mysterious intentions and past is unraveled throughout the new story, greets him. Haseo’s 5th Form Also new to Last Recode is Haseo’s 5th form that brings new power and skills for players to experience. Cheat Mode For those of you have played the series and would simply like to re-experience the story, we’d like to introduce “Cheat Mode,” a new mode that maxes out your stats to allow for speedier battles. Gameplay Features and Improvements Additional gameplay features and tweaks have also been added: Increased Moving Speed – Characters will be able to move faster outside of battles for easier exploration Power Up – Damage done to enemies have increased to improve the pace of battle Reduction of Stun Time – Another improvement to the pace of battle, the amount of stun time has been reduced for quicker battle response and attacks Increase in Exp. Points – Level up quicker with increased experience points after each battle Retry Mode – In the original games, after players were defeated in battle, they would have to return to title screen to restart from the last checkpoint, players will now be allowed to try the same battle again without having to begin all over again And much more… Enhanced Visuals PS2 PS4 We’ve made some huge visual enhancements! Moving from PS2 to PS4 has brought many opportunities for the developers to improve the look and feel of the game. The game has been up-scaled and is now in 16:9 1080p and at 60fps, with a lot of the cut scenes re-mastered – Making sure it stands the test of time. We’re excited for players to dive into .hack//G.U. Last Recode this fall, and look forward to everyone re-experiencing all of the excitement and emotion again. You can pre-order .hack//G.U. Last Recode at select retailers today. View the full article

With Monster Hunter: World, one of Capcom’s most beloved series returns to console, launching on PS4 in early 2018. Taking on the role of a Guide Researcher, your hunter explores a newly discovered continent, filled with creatures big and small that you can track, discover, study…and of course, hunt. For science! While longtime fans of the series will likely be invested from the get-go, expanding the world beyond handheld platforms opens its doors to a world of new possibilities… possibilities that I got to experience as a first-time hunter at Capcom’s offices. If you’ve never played a Monster Hunter title before, don’t be alarmed. Dropping into World’s lush, responsive world feels immediately welcoming, as the game opens with a narrated tutorial — which I appreciated, given the 14 different weapon options and numerous armor choices you’ll have going into each hunt. On my single-player run I chose my go-to weapon in most games — dual blades — but there’s a weapon here for every kind of player, from traditional greatswords and bows to elemental guns and a massive club that doubles as a spell-casting horn (that one will help during multiplayer hunts). In true Monster Hunter fashion, all of these weapons can be upgraded by hunting bigger and more challenging monsters as you progress through the world. The real joy of Monster Hunter: World comes from its larger-than-life battle sequences and finding ways to use the environment to your advantage. I was doing my best stab-a-lot-and-roll strategy before remembering that I could lead the Great Jagras I was fighting into a tree, which would eventually fall over and reveal ensnaring vines to tangle it up. Used strategically, these elements make the battles feel very fluid, and as monsters try to run away, or eat smaller creatures to gain back health, you truly get a sense for how open and alive the map is. This feels most rewarding during multiplayer hunts, which you can organize before embarking, or by firing a signal flare during single-player mode. This feature is new to the world of Monster Hunter, and allows for a seamless connection throughout the entire game rather than separating out quests based on a single-player or co-op storyline. Multiplayer makes the hunt a group effort, with every player actively searching for clues to find your prey. Some of my most exciting moments were watching a teammate leap onto the back of a Anjanath while I snuck underneath for a shot, or working together to cause a rock ceiling to cave in and crush our target. Monster Hunter: World launches on PS4 in early 2018. Is this your first Monster Hunter game, or are you an experienced hunter? Let me know in the comments below, and I’ll answer any questions I can! View the full article

Uncharted 4 was a big deal. It was the end for a hero we’d spent nearly a decade with and, 15 months ago, we got to finally share the conclusion of Nathan Drake’s story with the world. It was amazing to see the reception of Nate’s last adventure, and it made all the team’s effort worth it. Then (after a much needed break), we came back to the studio to think about the seemingly unthinkable: Could we make an Uncharted without Nathan Drake? To us, Uncharted has always been about the ensemble. Over the years, we’ve spent time with many colorful allies and adversaries, each with their own quirks and personalities. We love that everyone at the studio has their own favorite Uncharted character, so we saw this new project as an opportunity to take characters we love and shine a spotlight on them, to really give them the full Uncharted treatment. At Naughty Dog, we don’t embark on a project unless we think we have a story worth telling and new challenges to tackle. With Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross, we knew we had something special, and the team was on board to dip in for one more helping of adventure. Today, just over a year later, you can get your hands on Uncharted: The Lost Legacy–the result of hundreds of the most incredibly talented and passionate individuals in the industry pouring just as much of their heart into Chloe’s journey as any of Nathan’s past. We knew this adventure through the Western Ghats of India was an ambitious one: chock full of touching moments, incredible vistas, daring escapes, and epic blockbuster sequences. Somehow, the team has pulled it off again and the result is truly stunning. It’s a humbling reminder that with the right team, even the unthinkable is possible. We at Naughty Dog thank your continued support that allows us to make the games we love, with the characters we adore. We couldn’t be more proud of this game, and we hope you have room in your heart for another Uncharted hero. Have fun out there, Kurt & Shaun View the full article

Star Wars Battlefront II looks set to deliver on the big setpiece-heavy space battles fans have been crying out for in Starfighter Assault mode. Covering multiple conflicts spanning all three eras of the Star Wars mythos, the mode – created by acclaimed UK developer Criterion – sees two factions clash amongst the stars for victory across three multi-objective phases. After an eye-melting trailer debuting the mode and teasing its maps and ships on Saturday, check out the mode in action right now in our exclusive 10 minute video, as Rebels combat the Empire at an Imperial shipyard. This massive match showcases the phases, the starfighter classes, the Hero ships and much, much more. In the pilot’s seat is Criterion producer Rob Wyle, while co-pilot and fellow designer John Stanley provides detailed commentary. Lock S-foils in attack position and prepare to witness some of the best piloting in the galaxy… We’ll have much more on Star Wars Battlefront II in the months to come as we countdown to the worldwide release date, 17th November, so keep checking in with PlayStation Blog for all the biggest news from a galaxy far, far away… View the full article

Hi PlayStation fans! It’s Sebastian from Toadman Interactive here to announce our latest title, and to shed light on some additional details about the game. Ok, so what is Immortal: Unchained? Immortal: Unchained is a new game inspired by the Souls-like genre. My colleagues and I are all avid fans of the genre and wanted to make our own unique take on it. So what’s new? Well, it’s set in a pretty crazy futuristic fantasy world, currently collapsing in a cosmic event. You are a living weapon, and your goal is to bring an end to this cataclysm. Also, we chose to make it a shooter, with guns. Guns?! Yep, guns! Take aim and shoot down your foes, as they try to do the same in thrilling close-to-medium range encounters. It’s far from a reflex shooter, though. Mobility, attack direction and well-timed dodges are crucial for your survival and victory. Expect to get shot down a lot; just like its sources of inspiration, this isn’t an easy game. The satisfaction you feel when you evade an enemy attack to fire a burst of hot lead (or plasma, or acid, etc.) into its backside cortex and watch it go up in flames will make it worth it. Death is a harsh lesson You are protected by the Monolith; an ancient structure that oversees the flow of the Cosmos. And trust me, this comes very handy at times. Its mysterious powers will be able to restore you when you die, but (of course) leaving your collected bounty where you were defeated. This lets you learn from every mistake, to come back to the encounter you failed with additional knowledge for your next attempt. This cycle of defeat, pattern recognition, and finally victory is what we believe to be one of the core pillars of the genre. Explore many worlds Immortal’s Cosmos consists of many worlds, some of which you will visit in the game. All worlds are connected via a complex network knows as the Stream. Explore the Stream and its wondrous and deadly worlds on your mission and collect their clues, gear, and rewards to become a weapon strong enough to save the Cosmos. Will you figure it out? So why does it have to be you to save the Cosmos? Well… you’re going to have to find out. The main plot will never be forced upon anyone, at least not in a very large extent. We prefer to make it harder to find out about what has and is happening, and not to be in the way for those that want to get into combat as fast as possible. Once you start digging, there’s going be a lot of untold stories about the world hidden below the surface. The story is written by our excellent narrative team, including Anne Toole (The Witcher) and Adrian Vershinin (Killzone: Shadow Fall, Battlefield: 1). I personally enjoy it a lot, and I hope you will too. That’s all for today. Thanks so much for reading! Remember to keep an eye out for updates, as more will come continuously up until release. Cheers! View the full article

Rainbow Six Siege is one of the most dynamic and destructive shooters on PS4, and PlayStation Plus members will soon get a chance to try it for free from August 24-27. Any progress you make during the free weekend will carry over when you purchase the full game, which you can do for 50% off between August 24 and September 4. The free weekend is a great time to get into Siege and learn some of the basics before the tentative September 5 launch of Operation Blood Orchid, the biggest update for Rainbow Six Siege since its launch. Three new Operators (two from Hong Kong’s SDU and one from Poland’s GROM) bring three new gadgets into the mix, while a new map sends players to a creepy, run-down theme park set in Hong Kong. We’ve got some tips on how to run the new Operators and make your presence felt when the new content hits. Ying, the new attacker, has a small spherical charge that ejects flashbangs into the air when it detonates, blinding nearby enemies. It can be thrown like a grenade, or placed on a breachable wall so that it shoots flashbangs through to the other side, but the key is in the timing. Prime the charge for a few seconds and place it on a wall, and it will delay the detonation so you have time to line up your entry. Prime it and throw it, and it will roll along the ground before detonating, allowing you to flash enemies hiding in out-of-the-way places. The best part? Ying is shielded from her own flashes, so you can rush in and take out your foes while they’re still recovering their sight. Lesion, one of the new defenders, can throw poison needle traps that deploy on the ground and cloak themselves, making them all but invisible to the naked eye. When an enemy steps on one, their vision turns a queasy green and they start taking damage. Poisoned foes can either back away to recover, delaying their advance, or pause to remove the needle, leaving them temporary vulnerable. Throwing these near doors and windows early is a good setup strategy, but Lesion gains more traps over time, so be sure to continue placing them as the round progresses to make things even more dangerous for your enemies. Ela, the other new defender, has traps to deploy as well, though hers are proximity concussion mines that detonate when an enemy is nearby. These can be placed on floors, walls, and ceilings to defend entrances to the objective area, or to set an ambush for flanking enemies. Ela is speedy, so lie in wait around the corner and when you hear your mine explode, rush in to take care of your dazed and disoriented prey. And if she happens to get downed, she’s got one more trick up her sleeve—a mine she carries on her person that she can trigger, giving her allies a chance to smite her attacker (while they’re disoriented) and revive her. Blood Orchid is also bringing a host of new updates to the game, including one that will greatly increase the attacking team’s intel-gathering capacity. Now attackers will be able to have both of their scouting drones deployed at the same time, and they can switch between the two at will. This effectively doubles the amount of camera feeds the attackers can set up, and in a game where knowledge is power, clever drone placement can be very powerful indeed. The Theme Park map brings a fantastical array of room designs for players to explore, from bustling arcades to a tomb full of gargoyles. A ground cable circling the first-floor rooms can help you get oriented, and be sure to find a quiet moment to visit the fortune-teller machine and heed his words of wisdom. You can get a glimpse of the new Operators and new map in action ahead of release by tuning into the Rainbow Six Pro League finals, broadcasting on the Rainbow 6 Twitch channel from Gamescom on August 25-26. The new map and gameplay updates will be free for all players when Operation Blood Orchid tentatively launches on September 5. Season Pass holders will get the three new Operators for free on the same day, and everyone can unlock them in-game tentatively on September 12. And remember, you can play for free from August 24-27, with more information and specific times available at the Rainbow 6 website. So limber up your trigger fingers, cultivate a healthy distrust for solid-looking walls, and we’ll see you on the Siege grounds. View the full article

Hello PlayStation fans! This is Yu Suzuki, director of Shenmue III. It’s hard to believe so much time has passed since we debuted the game at Sony’s E3 2015 press conference. Since then, the team has been extremely busy developing the game in Tokyo, but now it’s time to come up for air. To coincide with Gamescom 2017, we are happy to share the news that we have inked a publishing partnership with Deep Silver! From the early days on the project, the team at Deep Silver really impressed me with their deep passion for the series and their desire to work with us to deliver a proper sequel that all fans will love. Shenmue III | Full Gallery To celebrate the news, I would like to share with you a teaser video built from a small slice of an in-development build of the game. As you will see, the latest chapter in Ryo and Shenhua’s journey begins with a beautiful set piece in China. You’ll also see that we’re aiming to significantly upgrade the game’s visuals, and you may also notice a new character during that quick glimpse of our new battle gameplay… I’m pleased to be able to offer a small peek into what we’ve been building thus far, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to show you more as we get closer to our 2018 release. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to all those who have supported me and the team. I will continue to work hard to deliver the best possible realization of Shenmue III. Yu Suzuki View the full article

Hey everyone, we’re so excited to share the next chapter of the Battlefield 1 journey through the Great War. Coming this September, Battlefield 1 In the Name of the Tsar adds our most extensive Battlefield expansion yet. With the massive Russian Army joining the fight, including the amazing Women’s Battalion of Death represented by the Scout class, you’ll get to experience some of the most dramatic battles involving the Russian Empire during World War I. We’ve also got six new maps coming as the fight moves to the Eastern Front and the ensuing Russian Revolution. Set against the harsh winter, these were some of the most brutal conflicts of the war. And these maps will prove it! Lupkow Pass: The vertical fights are as bitter as the cold as you fight amid snow-covered ravines and treacherous mountains. The first map of Battlefield 1 In the Name of the Tsar, Lupkow Pass pits the Austro-Hungarian forces against the dug-in troops of the Russian Imperial Army. With narrow passes and gorges constantly limiting your sightlines, adapting your tactics is key. You’ll want to gain altitude and get a vantage point on the enemy to help secure the win – but an Armored Train may just change the outcome of the battle. Albion: Partake in the skirmishes of the Albion assault in this massive invasion of the Baltic peninsula, as the German Empire enacts a brutal coastal bombardment against the heavy gun batteries of the Russian forces. While expert vehicle and artillery use is crucial, sharp-eyed infantry that are able to stay ahead of the mayhem can make a serious impact with each capture point. Galicia: Set during the epic Brusilov Offensive, you’ll find the Russian Empire committed to pushing back the Austro-Hungarian forces from within the Russian countryside. It’s an open map focused on infantry, cavalry, and light vehicles. With plenty of open space to traverse, it’s a great opportunity to make use of the cavalry charge as both lightning-fast transport and a serious threat to enemies on foot. Brusilov Keep: The Russians have pushed the Austro-Hungarians back into a secluded mountain town along a critical trade route of the Eastern Front, but the opposition is making a strong stand on this infantry-focused map. Set in the shadow of the Carpathian Mountains, there’s a big emphasis on close-range soldier combat here. Your best bet? Top-notch teamwork with your squad. Tsaritsyn: The Bolsheviks and the Imperials enter the fray among barricaded streets as the old and new regimes fight for the soul of Russia. This up-close and personal infantry fight is as ruthless as they come. Use the house-to-house fighting to your advantage by setting up ambushes for overextending enemies. Volga River: A ruined rural battleground sets the stage for a tank fight between the Bolsheviks in red and the Imperial Army in white. Makeshift shelters provide cover from the freezing cold and the constant exchange of heavy firepower. As you trade salvos with enemy tanks, remember to keep yourself from being outnumbered. A strategic retreat can give you time to regroup and prevent losing vehicle resources. Along with the maps, we’re going to add 11 Russian-themed weapons, including the Mosin-Nagant M91 and the Russian Standard 1912 grenade. The massive Ilya-Muromets Heavy Bomber will rain devastation down from the sky, but you’ll be able to defend your positions from a unique stationary weapon: the powerful coastal gun battery. You’ll also get the chance to execute incredible cavalry charges with the legendary Hussar riders using their awesome lances and an evolved set of cavalry moves. We’ll be introducing a game mode called Supply Drop as well, where you’ll join a fast-paced fight for supplies on the Eastern Front as airdrops descend on strategic capture points, and recovering them gives you everything you’ll need to outgun your opponents. We’re also adding some epic Operations, including the Brusilov Offensive – one of the most lethal offensives of the war. Battlefield 1 In the Name of the Tsar comes with a ton of new goals and in-game rewards, too. Expect Medals, Dog Tags, Service Stars, and more that will keep you in the fight even longer. I can’t wait to see you in the battle! View the full article

Cool music, brutal and dynamic gameplay, shady back alleys and equally suspicious hi-tech suburban works of the Rengkok metropolis, all soaking in the atmosphere of a cyberpunk anime. Ruiner is a dark adventure set in an anti-utopian future where not much has changed and even the most sophisticated technologies haven’t solved human problems. You’re a perfect example: hacked into killing the boss of Heaven, the leading virtual reality corporation. Your brother was kidnapped to make sure you did the job. You’d be over with if it wasn’t for HER. Now you can finally take the matters in your own hands. As you tear through the underground gang lairs and inhumane, industrial complexes, entranced in the cyber-disco slaughter-party, remember that everything out there wants to kill you. So be prepared. Don’t Waste Time The first rule of Ruiner: movement is life. Move fast and think fast. At the core of Ruiner’s gameplay is the Dash ability which gives you the amazing mobility. It has two modes. You can make an instant jump to — or from — a location or enemy. Multidash gives you the tactical opportunity to plan out your sequence. Dash is extremely effective when paired with an aggressive playstyle, especially when using melee weapons. But that’s just the start. Whether you prefer distanced or close-ranged combat, direct or tactical — you can choose from over a dozen abilities, each with 50 upgrades. And you can make use of more than 20 weapons collected from fallen foes or delivered by a supply drone. Guns and blades, one- and two-handed weapons, single shot or AOE, electrifying, freezing, burning — you name it! And the best part is: you’re never stuck! You can reconfigure on the fly. When you find yourself in a tight spot, simply switch weapons, reshuffle your skills and try a new way. An easier way — or perhaps a harder way. You can even try and play Ruiner with no gadgets at all, using your basic weapons: pipe and Ruiner gun. I’m not sure you can beat the game without Dash, though. But we’ll be waiting to see your videos! Choose and Experiment There’s more. You can further develop your basic Ruiner gun, altering its appearance and properties. Same goes for your melee weapon: the rusty metal pipe you start with can be later exchanged for something more stunning. If you prefer a tactical approach to combat, you can choose to manage the battlefield with Kinetic Barriers and Ghost Break. The former slows enemies and reflects their projectiles; the latter transforms enemies into tools in the battle. Add Focus Booster to that mix and you can gun down your struggling foes from a comfortable distance. Or do something completely different! If your combat style is more direct and aggressive, you might want to invest in Shield, explosive and stun grenades, and the Overload ability. With that combo, you can attack swiftly, stun or blow up groups of enemies and finish any stragglers with melee or guns. While Focus Booster slows time and increases your chance of survival, Overload accelerates your perception. The combination of Focus Booster with Overload slows the world down, powering up your relative movement against the enemies. What more do you need? Well, you could upgrade your passive abilities. With Grid Converter you can optimise and manage your basic resources: life, energy and ammunition. Being able to convert between them at any moment makes you super-tough and indestructible. Enjoy! View the full article

While development on the Horizon Zero Dawn expansion The Frozen Wilds is in full swing, we’re still finding time to add improvements to the main game. Last month’s Patch 1.30 added a new difficulty setting called ‘Ultra Hard’ which, as the name suggests, provides a greater challenge for hardcore Horizon Zero Dawn players. Today’s patch adds a difficulty level that does quite the opposite: ‘Story’ difficulty allows you to immerse yourself in the narrative of Horizon Zero Dawn and the exploration of Aloy’s world without having to worry too much about combat. Among the most noticeable changes, ‘Story’ difficulty boosts the player-inflicted damage and reduces the player-received damage considerably, making the combat encounters manageable for less experienced players. It is our hope that the new difficulty setting will help us welcome more players into Aloy’s quest to discover her identity and the mysteries of the world she inhabits. In addition to the ‘Story’ difficulty, Patch 1.32 includes several fixes as outlined in the patch notes. If you have a chance to try out ‘Story’ difficulty, we’d love to hear your thoughts! We’ll have more information on The Frozen Wilds soon, but in the meantime, keep an eye on the official Guerrilla Twitter and Facebook pages for all the latest Horizon Zero Dawn related news and developments. View the full article

Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross take centerstage in a new adventure filled with dizzying vistas and dangerous adversaries. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy launches Tuesday on PS4. Developed by the world-renowned team at Naughty Dog, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a standalone story that follows Chloe across India’s Western Ghats region. Her goal: to recover an ancient artifact and keep it away from a vicious warmonger. Expect plenty of heart-pounding exploration and gunplay in The Lost Legacy, including some of the most expansive spaces in Uncharted history. For a full list of new games coming to PlayStation, read on. And enjoy The Drop! New Releases: Week of August 22, 2017 Bleed PS4 — Digital Wryn is a girl with a big arsenal and big dreams. She wants to be the ultimate video game hero! Help her take down the Greatest Heroes of All Time in an action-packed bid to claim the title for herself and show the world what a true hero looks like! The Book of Regrets PS4 — Digital Experience an interactive story like never before! Escape dangerous dungeons, befriend or kill enigmatic creatures, and solve puzzles as you explore a mysterious world. ChromaGun PS4 — Digital Welcome to ChromaTec’s test lab! You’re here to test our state-of-the-art military-grade color-technology: The ChromaGun (patent pending)! Use it to solve our meticulously designed test chambers by painting the walls and droids. Duck Game PS4 — Digital Duck Game is the only frantic four-player brawler with a dedicated quack button. Enter the futuristic year of 1984, an age where ducks run wild in a frantic battle for glory in both local and online competitive play. The Escapists 2 PS4 — Digital, Retail Craft, steal, brawl, and escape! It’s time to bust out of the toughest prisons in the world as you return to the life of an inmate in The Escapists 2. Have you got what it takes to escape? F1 2017 PS4 — Digital, Retail (Out 8/25) Make history in F1 2017. Win the 2017 World Championship, break every record in the fastest ever F1 cars, and race some of the most iconic F1 cars of the last 30 years. Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (PS2) PS4 — Digital Enter a world of magic, adventure, exploration, and discovery where enormous vistas and exotic characters lead you to places beyond your imagination.This classic PS2 adventure is free if you pre-order Uncharted: The Lost Legacy! Madden NFL 18 PS4 — Digital, Retail (Out 8/25) Madden NFL 18 takes a significant visual leap delivering the greatest looking Madden of all time with the power of the Frostbite engine. See stunning new stadium exteriors surrounded by vast cityscapes and watch the spectacle of NFL gameday come to life in the most photorealistic game to date. Mages of Mystralia PS4 — Digital In a world of magic, your mind is your greatest weapon. Learn the ways of magic and design your own spells to fight enemies, navigate treacherous terrain, and right past wrongs in the kingdom of Mystralia. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm PS4 — Digital (Out 8/25) Battle in full 3D across massive environments. Players will unleash powerful jutsu attacks, perform acrobatic evasive maneuvers, and even run up walls and over water as they pursue their opponent for ninja supremacy. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 PS4 — Digital (Out 8/25) Impressively faithful to the universe of the anime, the game takes players through the Naruto Shippuden story arc with new battle systems enhancing the gameplay. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst PS4 — Digital (Out 8/25) The 4th Great Ninja War continues. Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 has been given a thorough overhaul for its Full Burst comeback! Not least among the wealth of enhancements is the addition of the feverishly anticipated chapter in which Sasuke and Itachi take on Kabuto in a nail-biting confrontation. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Legacy PS4 — Retail (Out 8/25) With more than 16 million Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm games sold worldwide, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Legacy collects all four Storm games in one breathtaking collection. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Trilogy PS4 — Digital (Out 8/25) Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Trilogy collects three Storm games in one breathtaking collection. NeverEnd PS Vita — Digital (Out 8/25) NeverEnd is a roguelite dungeon crawler where you –a simple adventurer — suddenly wake up in another dimension. Inside of this dimension there is no sun and the whole world is caved in. Enemies swarm you from left and right and you need to learn how to defend yourself. One Piece Unlimited World Red PS4 — Digital (Out 8/25) With more than one million units sold worldwide, dive back into the wayfaring journey from One Piece: Unlimited World Red, with the fun-filled escapades, action-packed battles, and powerful comrades from the original Island of Promises storyline, now all with enhanced graphics and previously released DLC. Soul Dimension PS VR — Digital Through its artistic design, this puzzle game will allow players to enter a thrilling adventure. The adventure will be a mixture of “suspenseful puzzle” and “dramatic action game.” Spartan PS4 — Digital (Out 8/23) Spartan is an epic 2D platformer powered by Unreal Engine 4. Featuring silky smooth animations, pixel-perfect controls, challenging gameplay, huge non-linear levels, and an awesome original soundtrack. Super ComboMan: Smash Edition PS4 — Digital Super Comboman is a colorful beat ’em up with wacky characters and fast-paced fighting game combat set in a destructible sticker-based world. SwapQuest PS4 — Digital The kingdom of Aventana is under attack by a cloud of demons known as the Horde. Many legends tell of its destructive power and how it devours everything in reach. Will you become the hero Aventana needs? Thimbleweed Park PS4 — Digital In Thimbleweed Park, a dead body is the least of your problems. Switch between five playable characters to uncover the surreal secrets of this strange town in a modern mystery adventure game from the creators of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy PS4 — Digital, Retail In order to recover an ancient artifact and keep it out of the hands of a ruthless warmonger, Chloe must enlist the aid of renowned mercenary Nadine Ross and venture to India’s Western Ghats to locate the Golden Tusk of Ganesh. Velocity 2X: Critical Mass Edition PS4, PS Vita — Digital The cult hit sci-fi adventure featuring award-winning platform-shooter gameplay, with all expansions and special features included! A$AP Ferg – Still Striving Various Artists – Marvel The Defenders Soundtrack Grizzly Bear – Painted Ruins The Mummy (2017) All Eyez On Me (plus Bonus Features) Great American Eclipse – August 21 at 9/8c (Science Channel) 30 for 30: What Carter Lost – August 24 at 9:30/8:30c (ESPN) Game of Thrones – August 27 at 9/8c (HBO) The information above is subject to change without notice. View the full article

Hey there, PlayStation fans! This is Adam Volker from Flight School Studio, and I’m happy to let you know that we are bringing our first title to PlayStation VR next month. Manifest 99 is a story-driven, interactive narrative VR experience set in the afterlife and you’ll be able to explore its dark and beautiful world on September 12, 2017. Our team has created a rich, immersive world with Manifest 99 and we are excited to have y’all play it on PS VR. It’s been a journey creating an experience that straddles the line between dream and nightmare. We hope you’ll join us on our winding train trek through the great beyond. What is Manifest 99? Manifest 99 | PlayStation.com Manifest 99 is an ominous, eerie story about finding redemption in the afterlife. Set on a mysterious train inhabited by a murder of crows, you assist four travel companions on a journey to their final destination. You play Manifest 99 without a controller: gaze into the eyes of crows to move to their perch, viewing the world from their scale and perspective. In addition to the murder of crows, you can also use your gaze to connect with your fellow passengers. The weary ghosts of a bear, doe, owl and crow ride the train with you as well. As you lock eyes with each character, you’ll discover more about their personal journey and what brought them to the train. Each passenger represents a chapter of the experience and while aboard, you must uncover why they – and you – are on the train. The first travel companion you meet, the Bear, is forlorn and reserved. He avoids your eyes at first, but after some effort you’ll make a connection and learn of his life as a soldier, enlisted in a conflict that ruined many villages. He left a lot behind and is eager to get back to his loved ones. Interacting with each of these spirits is the heart of the story in Manifest 99. We hope you enjoy the journey through Manifest 99. All of us at Flight School Studio loved the challenge of creating our first PlayStation VR experience and cannot wait to share it with others. Don’t forget to check out Manifest 99 on September 12, 2017 when it debuts on the PlayStation Store. If you have any questions or comments, leave ‘em below – we’d love to chat more! View the full article

With Uncharted: The Lost Legacy out Tuesday on PS4, we’ve curated a collection of wallpapers optimized for your desktop (oooh, 4K!), tablet, or phone. Click the corresponding link under each image to download the full-resolution image. If you haven’t pre-ordered The Lost Legacy yet, you still have a few days to do so and snag a download of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy for PS4! So adorn your devices with a new wallpaper or two, watch the launch trailer above, and don’t miss Naughty Dog’s latest adventure when it launches next week. Enjoy! With Logo Desktop Tablet Mobile Without Logo Desktop Tablet Mobile With Logo Desktop Tablet Mobile Without Logo Desktop Tablet Mobile With Logo Desktop Tablet Mobile Without Logo Desktop Tablet Mobile With Logo Desktop Tablet Mobile Without Logo Desktop Tablet Mobile With Logo Desktop Tablet Mobile Without Logo Desktop Tablet Mobile With Logo Desktop Tablet Mobile Without Logo Desktop Tablet Mobile View the full article

I’m really excited to announce that we have developed an all-new mode called Archmage Mode for Mages of Mystralia in anticipation of our launch on August 22! It’s designed for hardcore gamers (The type of person who might be reading PlayStation.Blog!) to make sure that you’re challenged throughout the campaign. In general, one of the hardest aspects of game design is nailing the difficulty curve. Ideally, you always want the game to be challenging but not too difficult. At the beginning, the game should be easy enough while the player develops the skills that are unique to the game. Over time, as the player has mastered those skills, the game should test them more and more. If the game is too difficult, it produces anxiety and frustration. Too easy, and the game is boring. Jesse Schell has a great diagram of this concept in his book The Art of Game Design: The reason why this poses such a challenge for game designers is that it’s really difficult to put ourselves in a position of a new player who hasn’t yet mastered the skills. All of us at Borealys Games have played through Mages of Mystralia so many times that we could probably beat it blindfolded by now! A good way to test the difficulty is through testers. We’ve brought in dozens of testers (Not to mention the hundreds of Kickstarter backers!) through the years and started to notice that we actually had two different categories of players — those who just wanted to play around with the spellcrafting system and enjoy the story, and those who really wanted to prove their mastery by facing a much harder challenge. Archmage Mode was designed for that latter group. When we set about designing a specific mode for players who wanted a deeper challenge, we didn’t want to be lazy about it. It would have been easy to add more enemies, increase the damage they deal, and increase their HP. That would have slowed down some players — and maybe caused them to die more frequently than they otherwise would have, but it would be more grind than fun. It would be like making runners at a track meet sprint through molasses. About a year ago, the YouTuber Dunkey (of whom we’re all big fans) made a great video criticizing poorly designed difficulty levels. We wanted to avoid that. In essence, we wanted to make it almost an entirely different game experience for a very different audience. So what’s new in Archmage Mode? First, we’ve added four new enemy types — one for each element — that are only found in this mode. These enemies not only deal more damage than typical enemies, they approach the player differently. They can add elemental effects to their attacks, and they anticipate your actions better. In addition, there are optional puzzles sprinkled throughout the game, many of which have been ramped up in terms of complexity. Broadly speaking, there are two categories of puzzles in the game. The first one is door puzzles. In this puzzle type, you encounter a magical seal that you need to unlock by rearranging the different nodes so that they all connect to each other. Another category of puzzle is one that tests your spellcrafting skills, as you need to design a spell to achieve a specific goal. As a relatively simple example, you may need to create a spell that will light three braziers simultaneously. In Archmage Mode, many of these puzzles are far more complex and will require players to use advanced techniques like nesting spells. When we did our playtesting, most players self-selected into which mode they were more interested in trying. You should know that there’s no “best” way to play. Games should be fun, and if you feel like you want to experience a charming story and play around with spellcrafting, regular mode is for you. But if you really want the game to test your skills, we think Archmage Mode will be like mana from heaven. (See what I did there?) We’re looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks when Mages of Mystralia launches on August 22! View the full article

PAX West returns to Seattle September 1! If you’re making the trip, I’ve got good news — PlayStation is bringing a small mountain of playable VR and PS4 games! You’ll find them in booths 100, 103, 109, 203, and 209. On the PS VR side, standouts will include cover-based shooter Bravo Team from Supermassive Games; thriller The Inpatient from Supermassive Games; and adorable adventure Moss from Polyarc, among others. You can try out GT Sport in VR, too. PS4 headliners include Detroit: Become Human from Quantic Dream; GT Sport from Polyphony Digital; Knack 2 from SCE Japan Studio; Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite from Capcom and Marvel Entertainment; and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy from Naughty Dog. Expect to see a number of these games playable on PS4 Pro, too. But those are just some quick highlights. See below for the full list of titles, which are subject to change leading up to the event on September 1. Now for the big question: Who’s going?! PlayStation 4 Gran Turismo Sport PlayLink: Hidden Agenda PlayLink: That’s You! PlayLink: Knowledge is Power PlayLink: Frantics Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Detroit: Become Human Knack 2 Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite Swords of Ditto Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom Tooth and Tail Burly Men at Sea Dragon Ball FighterZ Samurai Shodown V Special Omen of Sorrow Windjammers Hob Battle Chasers PlayStation VR Gran Turismo Sport The Inpatient Bravo Team Kaiju Driving Range Moss Star Child League of War: VR Arena Sparc View the full article

In celebration of tomorrow’s PS4 release of Zero Escape Vol. 3: Zero Time Dilemma, I thought I’d look back at the journey this series has gone through and the small part I played in helping bring it to English-speaking audiences. A lot is known about the development, but here’s a little peek into the localization side. I was working as a QA tester in the Aksys office a good number of years ago when, one day, an evaluation title came in. A little unvoiced escape the room demo playable in a browser that only showcased one room. You could click on everything in the room, and the music urged you to go faster or you’d drown. Those of us who didn’t know Japanese had to ask our translators for the solution to two briefcase puzzles because the hints relied on (slightly convoluted) knowledge of kana characters and placement which flew over our heads. That game, as many of you may recognize, was Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (commonly known as 999) by the then Chunsoft. The office was pretty divided over the demo (it’s challenging to judge some games with a simple, quick look), but I and a few others loved it, and the push to acquire the license was successful. Months of back and forth with Kotaro Uchikoshi and Chunsoft, a couple necessary puzzle tweaks for an English-speaking audience, and it finally reached me in QA again. I bugged our editor so often with questions and fixes since it was a bit of a rush project that he likely got sick of seeing my message window flash on his screen, but I think that was how I got moved up to copy editor/proofreader. We got heavy, metal replica watches made for pre-orders and released the M-rated DS game (a rarity!) to little fanfare in November 2010. When word came from Chunsoft that Uchikoshi was writing another one, the whole office was giddy. We wanted it, no matter what. Of course, by then handheld consoles were switching to 3DS and Vita so some things had to change up. 999 was originally intended to be standalone, so we came up with the Zero Escape branding for the series. My strongest memories from working with our editor on Virtue’s Last Reward are the both of us making sure we kept all the story threads straight, a LOT of questions to Uchikoshi which led to holding onto 3rd game secrets for years, and coordinating with the voice recording studio from the office as I scrambled to write voice direction to keep up with the recording schedule. Who’s coming in for tomorrow? Dio? Okay, better make sure he has direction for several hundred lines. Wait, what was the context for this line again? Yeah, we need to change the line and reading for that. The project schedule was pretty tight. When we heard Chunsoft made an OVA for the game with Gonzo?! Oh yeah, we wanted that too. How often do you get an OVA for a game your company is localizing? We had to keep the replica watch trend going, so lighter, silicone watches were made for VLR but with a variety of colors. It was hard to anticipate the public’s reaction but it seemed like people were excited. I think it was this game, released in October 2012, that really started to pull gamers to the series because it felt like it just exploded. More and more fans were urging their friends to play, which was helped by it being on two systems, and reviews were overwhelmingly positive. We still have some of the awards up in the office entrance. 2014 was a year of on and off rumblings, but nothing concrete until the very end of the year when we got word that another game was finally in the works, by the skin of its teeth. I’d been an assistant editor for roughly a year, though the office had shuffled around enough in the years since 999 that there were only a handful of us left who had worked on the previous two games. So the project got offered to me. No pressure! I’d followed the fandom posts online and watched as the series gained more fans, and they had high expectations. It was… daunting. The localization process for Zero Time Dilemma was quite different from the other two Zero Escape games. Those were complete before they came to us, while ZTD was done concurrently. As soon as the text was finished in Japan in early 2015, it was given to us, before a majority of the animation was done. The first two were narration and dialog with user controlled text advancing, while this one was all timed dialog that advanced automatically in a cinematic fashion. It was a challenge, keeping track of the timelines and plot threads, and like always, a lot of questions sent to Uchikoshi. But I got to put my own little mark on a series I hold dear to my heart by coming up with anagrams, scanning my handwriting, and picking out English voices. I’m sure most of my coworkers would say I was consumed by ZTD for over a year. A lot of my soul went into the project; I’m kind of not fazed by much these days. Thank you to all the fans who stuck with the Zero Escape series, and those of you who joined along the way – the trilogy is finally complete! It’s been a crazy ride! Getting to work on one of my all-time favorite series was a dream come true. When The Nonary Games was greenlit, I couldn’t believe I’d get to revisit one of the earliest games worked on, and give voices to some of my favorite characters. The time in the recording studio for 999 was like a dream. And now all three games will be available on PS4! I sincerely hope more gamers get to experience the rollercoaster of a story that the Zero Escape series offers. If you’ve never played the series before, now is the perfect time to start! Join us in experiencing the joy, the sorrow, the suspense, the horror, the laughter, and the heartbreak that comes from the mind of Kotaro Uchikoshi. Zero Escape Vol. 3: Zero Time Dilemma will be available on PS4 for both physical release and digital in North America this Friday, August 18th! View the full article

Greetings dear Prospects, the team here at Sloclap is super excited to present Absolver to the PlayStation community on August 29, and we wanted to dive into one of the game’s biggest feature ahead of launch – online cooperative and competitive play. The new ‘Friends & Foes’ video feature in this post illustrates some of the online experiences you can expect in Absolver and we wanted to provide some more insight into what it all means and how these different experiences will affect your time in the ruins of the fallen Adal Empire. Cooperative Combat Absolver is designed to be a unique mix of solo adventure and online multiplayer experience in a shared world where players can choose to interact with each other in a variety of ways. When exploring the ruins of Raslan, the fallen capital of the Adal Empire, players are matchmaked together seamlessly: the city is made out of a dozen interconnected zones, and as you go from one zone to another, you will be connected with one or two other players also in that zone, without loading times. These two players may choose to spar together in an effort to share knowledge on different attacks, engage in a more aggressive fight, purposefully form a team for co-op PvE, or simply pass each other with no interaction at all… This method of online structure allows for players to both engage with random players from their region as well as intentional meetings: by meditating at an altar, you can decide to invite specific players to your world, from players you have encountered recently, to members of your friends list. Mentors and Students Another feature our team is excited about is the ability to take the idea of cooperative play one step further and have players enter into a formal, in-game mentor – student relationship. This means that players, usually more advanced ones, can create a ‘Fighting School’ and allow other players to join it, effectively becoming their mentors. Fighting Schools are based on the mentor’s playstyle, with mentors defining which combat deck, weapons, and powers they will share with their students. By progressing in their mentor’s school, students will be able to use these Combat Decks, even if they feature attacks they haven’t learnt themselves. They will also be able to unlock the Combat Style of their mentor, effectively allowing them to learn and practice a variety of Combat Styles, and not just the original one of their character. Our hope is that this feature will foster a sense of sharing and player camaraderie amongst the Absolver community, in addition to the more aggressive, competitive angle that comes with a fighting game. Competitive Modes Absolver is at its heart a complex and nuanced fighting game and nothing puts that front and center more than the raw 1v1 competitive mode. The first mode available pits two players against one another in one of several distinct versus mode arenas with three health bars each. Players will have access to the set Combat Deck, weapons, and powers during the fight and, in some settings, must also account for environmental variables like changing terrain and deadly cliffs. Our intention is to expand upon competitive features in the weeks and months after launch with the introduction of 3v3 mode, ranked matches, and a spectator mode. Hopefully this sheds a bit of light on what awaits you when Absolver launches on August 29, but rest assured we’ve not revealed all that Absolver has to offer, as part of the excitement comes from discovery as you roam the world alone or with others. Launch day isn’t far off now and we look forward to seeing you online, whether you turn out to be friend or foe! View the full article

The beta for the PlayStation 4 system’s next major system software update 5.00 (codenamed NOBUNAGA) rolls out today for those of you that were selected for the beta program. If you signed up and were chosen, you’ll receive an email with instructions on how to download and get started. Whether you’re in the beta program or not, we wanted to give a first look at the features included in this update. We’re introducing family on PSN, making it easier to manage your friends, and adding a variety of new features for Broadcast, Notifications, Messages, and much more. Family on PSN We’re overhauling the current master/sub-account system, and introducing the new “Family on PlayStation Network.” This new system will offer a more flexible experience for families on PS4 by making it easier to setup PSN accounts for children and customize parental control settings. Below are the new features that will be introduced with family on PSN: Family Manager, Parent/Guardian Family on PSN will allow multiple adults to be part of a single family. The Family Manager can promote another adult inside the family to a Parent/Guardian, who can then customize parental control levels of children’s accounts. Individualized Parental Controls Before this update, the same parental controls were applied to all users on the same console, including adults. But with 5.00, all controls (including game age ratings) can be individually attuned for each child. Friend List Management In place of the current ‘Favorite Groups’ tab, we’re adding a new ‘Custom Lists’ tab within Friends, which allows you to create and edit custom lists of your friends. This makes it easier for you to manage your friends and access specific groups. For example, you can create a custom list of your Destiny teammates and easily send them raid invites. Broadcast feature updates Communities If you own a community, you can now bind your community to your broadcast. When a broadcast is linked to a community, the community button appears on the Live from PlayStation spectator screen. Once a spectator clicks on the community button, they’ll be able to jump directly to your community page to check out the details. PlayStation VR We’ve added a new setting in PlayStation VR: Display Message to Spectators and Spectators’ Comments. Once this is enabled, spectator comments sent during a broadcast is displayed not only in cinematic mode, but also in VR mode. This makes it much easier for VR broadcasters to keep up on comments and communicate with their viewers. PlayStation 4 Pro Good news Twitch users: with this update, PS4 Pro will support 1080p 60fps streaming on Twitch. Messages Improvements You’ve already been able to share your favorite music to Twitter and Facebook via PlayStation Music, but now you’ll also be able to share via messages using your PS4. If your friends are on PS4, they can listen to the track right inside the message by booting up Quick Menu, and if they’re on their mobile device, they can jump directly to the Spotify app from the PS Messages app to check out the song. In addition, if you’re part of multiple message groups, you can now easily leave several groups at once. Just open up Options in the message list, select Leave, and choose the message groups you want to leave. Notifications Updates We’ve added a new setting that allows you to disable pop-up notifications while you’re watching a movie or TV show on your PS4. This setting is off by default, so go to Settings > Notifications to disable notifications and go uninterrupted during your videos. Furthermore, you now have the option to turn off message previews on your pop-up notifications. If you turn this setting off, the pop-up notification will hide the message senders’ online ID and will display a generic user icon and message instead. Lastly, you’ll have the option to change the color of your pop-up notifications to either white (default) or black. Quick Menu Updates If you want to keep an eye out on what’s happening under Notifications, like the progress of your game downloads/installations or new party invites, you can now access this directly from the Quick Menu so you don’t have to step away from your game every time you want to check your notifications. Also, we’ve added a ‘Leave Party’ option in the Quick Menu, so you can easily exit a party and go right back to playing your game. In addition, now you’ll see the system clock in the upper-right corner of the screen when you pop open the Quick Menu. Virtual Surround Sound on PS VR PlayStation VR now supports 5.1ch and 7.1ch virtual surround sound on your headphones when watching Blu-rays and DVDs in Cinematic Mode, making for an even more immersive viewing experience Improved Tournaments Bracket Viewer We have a new bracket viewer that shows full tournament brackets for Single Elimination and Double Elimination tournaments on PS4. This makes it easier for you to see the current tournament standings. New System Language Additions With this update, we’re adding the following system language options on PS4: Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Romanian, Thai and Vietnamese. View the full article