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First revealed at E3 2013, Tom Clancy’s The Division introduced us to a post-apocalyptic vision of New York City realized in jaw-dropping detail. Bringing Ubisoft’s vision of a post-pandemic urban battleground to life isn’t a task that the development team are keen to rush, so at E3 2015 there were still plenty of details to be unveiled — and this year was the turn of the Dark Zone. This in-game PvP realm invites players to take on a variety of missions either as a team, a lone wolf or — as Executive Producer Fred Rundqvist told me — as a rogue agent hell-bent on securing the Dark Zone’s extra-special loot drops all for themselves. “Essentially, the Dark Zone is a lawless area where you can go rogue, steal other people’s loot, and potentially betray your own teammates,†Fred explains. As the hands-on demo from the E3 show floor demonstrated, patrolling the Dark Zone is a nervy, tense experience where you’re never quite sure who to trust — whether that’s other player-controlled squads, or members of your own team. But as with much of The Division, your experience and how you choose to play needn’t be restricted by how many friends — from your PSN list, match-made or met in-game — are also playing. “You can play on your own, absolutely, or as part of a team,†Fred says. “If you want to play alongside others, you can hook up with people inside the game world and form a group, or go through matchmaking and start as part of a team. If you’re playing solo you won’t get totally overwhelmed — enemies scale to give a challenge to just one person or to a larger team.†So those fears that The Division can only be enjoyable with the level of tactics and comms that we’ve seen in the trailers can be put to one side. As Fred explains; “It’ll be your choice to work with other players, or against them. The Division is a loot and progression driven game, so the main reason to engage another player in combat within the Dark Zone is to take the loot that they’re carrying and use it for yourself.†Tempting as that may be, greed can easily get the better of you. “By doing that, you’re taking a fairly large risk. As soon as you’re openly hostile to another player, you’ve gone rogue and you’ll be flagged to all the other agents in the area. If they take you out, they’ll gain an extra bounty that’s placed on rogue agents, earn extra XP, and can pick up whatever it was that you stole. “So the game is more balanced than just being a free-for-all — you have you decide if it’s worth it, who you’ll be up against, and the strength of your team before you go rogue and engage another player.†How you approach life in the Dark Zone, and outside in the wider world of The Division, is likely to depend on how you want to play the game. But, as Fred explains, you won’t find yourself locked in to a specific class, loadout or speciality. “We like to think of The Division as a ‘classless’ game — you’ll unlock skills and talents as you level up and then you can specialize in a specific path. Or you can try to follow them all and level up that way and switch between them,†he says. “Most people have a preferred playing style, whether you’re the supporting medic, the long range sniper, or if you want to go in aggressively and deal a lot of damage. To me, that’s the beauty of The Division — it’s an evolution of traditional RPGs.†View the full article -
The team returns! The dust has settled, the chaos has calmed, and E3 2015 has drawn to a close. The Blogcast crew discusses show highlights, favorite demos, memorable memories, and press conference reactions. As a bonus, Clements sits down with Shaun McCabe to discuss the upcoming Ratchet & Clank on PS4. And as a special treat, the team brings on a dear friend (and behind-the-scenes hero) who is leaving PlayStation tomorrow. All this and more, so enjoy the show! Subscribe via iTunes or RSS, or download here Stuff We Talked About E3 2015 Ratchet & Clank on PS4 The Last Guardian Final Fantasy VII Remake Shenmue III Mirror’s Edge Catalyst Kitchen Just Cause 3 Super Hyper Cube Fond Farewells Recent Episodes Episode 167: Shu’s Quest for the Bloodborne Platinum Episode 166: Witchers and Grocery Lists Episode 165: Trans-Galactic TowerFall Send us questions and tips: blogcast@playstation.sony.com or leave a voice message! 650-288-6706 The Cast Sid Shuman – PlayStation Social Media Manager Nick Suttner – PlayStation Account Support Manager Justin Massongill – PlayStation Social Media Specialist Ryan Clements – PlayStation Social Media Specialist [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.] Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. View the full article
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Hey, dood! It’s been a hot and sweaty six months duking it out in the Netherworlds since we announced Disgaea 5, but I managed to find my way back with some awesome news! NIS America is unleashing Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance exclusively for PS4 on October 6th! This ridiculously over-the-top strategy RPG will be available in stores and on PlayStation Store. For those poor souls who have never spent time in the Netherworlds, Disgaea is a turn-based strategy RPG where players use a grid-based system to arrange their characters and perform special attacks, or team up to rain down literally millions of points of damage upon the enemy. The series is known for its unique cast of characters, which are always beautifully illustrated by Takehito Harada, and its over-the-top and hilarious stories and dialogue written by Sohei Niikawa. Disgaea 5 doesn’t disappoint in the jokes or art department, but it does take things in a new, darker direction. With a story centered on taking revenge on a powerful new Demon Emperor named Void Dark, this title follows our dark, self-assured hero, Killia, and his Overlord allies on their dark and dangerous path to vengeance. With the move to the more powerful PS4, Disgaea 5 is jam-packed with more content than ever before — and all of it looks slick as a whistle! Previous games in the series featured main storylines of 25-30 hours. Disgaea 5 has upped the ante with as much as 45 hours of content for just the main storyline, and hundreds of hours of extra content. Each second of this epic journey is rendered in crisp, HD resolution on PS4 with up to 100 enemies on a level, brand new sprites, tilesets, and ability effects. And did somebody say ability effects? The plethora of skills each entry in this title has brought to the table has been nothing to scoff at, but Disgaea 5 isn’t content with “enough†and brings entirely new battle systems into the fray to deliver even more impressive animation and particle effects. Building on the Team Attacks seen earlier in the series, Disgaea 5 will introduce you to new Alliance Attacks which combine the strengths of specific members of the game’s main cast of characters when they have built up a strong enough bond with one another. And as everyone knows, when you feel strongly about someone, you hate to see them harmed. Well, welcome to another brand new hallmark of Disgaea 5, the Revenge System. Watching your buddies take a beating will slowly build up your characters’ Revenge Gauge, and when it bursts they’ll enter Revenge Mode. This mode enhances a character’s base stats, and allows them to use new abilities called Overloads if they’re Overlords. Voila! That’s a veritable smorgasbord of new content. I think that’s enough mouth-watering details for now, but rest assured, there’s even more juicy Disgaea 5 info to come! Make sure you check out our newly updated website for a closer look at the value of this vengeful tale before it hits stores on October 6th. The Launch Edition will be available at North American retailers, which includes the full game, reversible cover, 32-page art book, and original soundtrack — all packed neatly into a gorgeous collector’s box! View the full article
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Back in April, Gio Corsi at PlayStation visited the SEGA office in Tokyo to interview two of the developers behind the legendary Yakuza series, General Director Toshihiro Nagoshi and Producer Masayoshi Yokoyama. In this first of three interview videos, Gio goes deep into the details of Yakuza 5 and also gets answers to some of the questions fans sent to #Yakuza5PS. Since the game announcement at PlayStation Experience, we’ve been working very hard to ensure that this massive game — including all the DLC packs — is localized for the western market. We are grateful for all the support we’ve received from our fans so far and can’t wait to share more details with you. View the full article
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Greetings, PlayStation fans! Not sure if you watched all the news out of E3, but Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 is real. Very real. Today we have a new “behind the scenes†trailer with yours truly, a bunch of guys from my team, Tony Hawk himself, and some of the in-game skate pros. In case you need to get up to speed: our goal is to capture the combo-driven energy and tightly designed levels of the Pro Skater games while ambitiously expanding the experience with seamless online play. The gameplay is in the signature style of classic Pro Skater games in a brand-new set of levels with the same focus on daring objectives, fine-tuned controls, and high-score tricks — including manuals and reverts — for stringing together those huge combos. The game’s skateboarding pros include Tony Hawk, Nyjah Huston, Chris Cole, Riley Hawk, Aaron “Jaws†Homoki, Lizzie Armanto, Leticia Bufoni, David Gonzalez, Andrew Reynolds, and Ishod Wair — or customize your own skater. And of course the soundtrack will be sick. More details on that soon. Online multiplayer is where Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 truly takes off, letting players drop in and out of ongoing online skate sessions with friends and challengers from around the world; it’s like a skatepark that never closes. Complete missions, unlock new content, and level up online or offline, or go head-to-head on the fly against all takers in competitive matches. You can play with 20 people at once, which is insane. Players can also build their own imaginative skateparks to share with the community. Definitely make note of the fact that these online features are only in the PS4 version – the PS3 version has no online play. Tons more to talk about here in the upcoming months, so stay tuned. Also we’re starting to roll out various pre-order programs for the game. Check online for pre-order exclusives from your favorite retailers – and of course PlayStation Store, where PS4 pre-order is now available. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 is being developed by my company Robomodo, along with Disruptive Games. Activision is, of course, publishing it. It will be available for PS4 on September 29th, 2015 for $59.99. The PS3 version is expected to release by Holiday 2015. Can’t wait to share more over the summer! View the full article
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Ever go exploring somewhere you shouldn’t have? The excitement! The anticipation! The heightened, electrified, tingle that ran down your spine. There you were, surrounded by an eerie, raging silence, overcome by the haunting feeling that you knew — just knew — you weren’t alone. Whispering Willows is that kind of experience: an adventure game wherein you take on the role of Elena, a determined young girl with the extraordinary ability to project her spirit outside of her body. In this spectral form, she can interact with the benevolent spirits and wicked wraiths that dwell within the walls of the sinister Willows Mansion. Help Elena use her astral projection to solve puzzles, help lost spirits, and uncover the mystery behind her missing father. Whispering Willows is launching on June 30th as a PlayStation cross-buy console exclusive for PS4 and PS Vita — with an exclusive dynamic PS4 theme available as well, along with special discount pricing for PlayStation Plus members. It’s best described in one word: immersion. A story of adventure and discovery which unfolds as you progress through the game. We reached out to Night Light Interactive’s David Logan and Kyle Holmquist for more insights into Whispering Willows. LOOT: Whispering Willows emphasizes atmosphere and discovery — more like an interactive work of fiction. What was the inspiration for this game? David Logan: My original motivation behind Whispering Willows was more gameplay focused; I wanted to explore mechanics and abilities that a player might have if playing as a ghost. Story was incredibly important from the beginning to me as well, so the first person I brought on board was our writer, Kyle Holmquist. Early on, the idea evolved from playing strictly as a ghost to playing as both a corporeal and ethereal form. Kyle Holmquist: A lot of the inspiration for the game came from the history between natives and white settlers, and the dual nature of those stories. The natives told stories of being enslaved and murdered, while the history books claim a more peaceful approach to the relations between whites and natives. We wanted to show that duality to players. LOOT: Players need to rely on their decision making, exploration skills and puzzle-solving abilities rather than button mashing combat. Was that part of the overall idea from the beginning? David: Yes; the horror genre has some beautiful worlds, but I feel the player is often just quickly running through it, since they’re scared of what’s around every corner. With Whispering Willows, I wanted the player to feel like they could explore every nook and cranny of the world we created. Kyle: Steve Goldshein (the composer) made such chilling music for Whispering Willows that, along with our beautiful hand-painted scenes, created a more cerebral game which got players thinking. Overall, we wanted to provide a horror-tinged adventure experience that could be enjoyed in a different way. LOOT: Whispering Willows, notably, started off as a successful crowd-funded project; what do you feel were the hooks that got people so enthusiastic that they decided to throw down money on a concept they’d never heard of before? David: Initially I think one of the big draws was the artwork in the game. We had a talented (and large for an indie project) art team that worked very hard to create a unique style. We also just had an overwhelmingly supportive base of friends and family that continue to be very involved and motivated. I think that’s contagious, and people online picked up on our very enthusiastic community. Kyle: A large draw is having a female main character. Elena is a strong girl, but we also made sure to keep her human; she has her moments of being scared, sad, and even angry. Those are aspects I really strove to portray in the game. LOOT: Whispering Willows is now about to make it into the more exclusive console ecosystem with its PlayStation debut. What do you think the PlayStation audience will make of the game? Why should PlayStation gamers pick it up? David: Whispering Willows has always been very much a console game. It’s the kind of game that I loved as a kid, where I could bundle up in a blanket on my couch and play. It offers an accessible experience for a casual gamer, but also has an in-depth story and experiences that a hardcore gamer would appreciate as well. Kyle: We think it fills a nice little niche that has been otherwise vacant on PlayStation. It’s also pretty fun to play with someone else next to you, especially if you both like the pace of relaxed terror that is Whispering Willows. If you like your adventures filled with dark discoveries, immersive storytelling, and the sort of mystery that sends that tingle down your spine, then follow your instincts and check out Whispering Willows on June 30th. Got any questions? Let us know in the comments below! View the full article
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Hi everyone. After a lot of hard work from the team at Evolution Studios, I’m pleased to announce that we are making the Driveclub PlayStation Plus Edition available to all PlayStation Plus members starting on Thursday, June 25th. We’ve spent a long time preparing for this launch after some difficult and unexpected set-backs. To make absolutely certain that all players have the smoothest and most stable experience possible we are going to be duly cautious about how we release the game this time around. Starting on Thursday, all PlayStation Plus members can download Driveclub PS Plus Edition and begin playing the offline mode. Also starting Thursday, we will be rolling out online access to the Driveclub PS Plus Edition and will steadily bring more and more players online while continuously ensuring that all game systems are running smoothly. We know that this might be frustrating after your extra wait already, but hope you can understand that we are taking extra precautions to protect your experience when you do get online. We want to make sure we don’t overload the servers as we invite millions of PS Plus members to download the game tomorrow. We have to take this precaution because Driveclub connectivity is demanding for a multiplayer game, with countless ever-growing social connections across clubs, challenges, multiplayer, and hundreds of thousands of dynamic leaderboards and activity feeds. Everybody will have full access to the offline mode of the Driveclub PS Plus Edition while this is happening and we will keep you fully up to speed via driveclub.com with updates on access as we bring everybody online. Thank you to everyone who has stood by Driveclub during the past year and for everyone who has accepted the extra wait for the PS Plus Edition and the companion app which will come after. The team at Evolution Studios is working incredibly hard to make Driveclub great for you, to get everyone to have fun racing in clubs and continue the evolution of the game with spectacular updates every month. I can’t wait to see all of you enjoying the game online together. View the full article
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score submissions PSBlog Feed: PlayStation Store Update
Commander Fury posted a topic in Playstation Blog
PS4 Games Batman Arkham Knight $59.99 Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition $24.99 Planetside 2 Free Arcade Archives Raiders 5 $7.99 Attacking Zegeta $9.99 Don’t Starve: Giant Edition (3 way Cross Buy) $14.99 Ender of Fire $19.99 Riptide GP2 $6.99 Shantae: Risky’s Revenge – Director’s Cut $9.99 Tour de France 2015 $49.99 PS3 Games Don’t Starve: Giant Edition (3 way Cross Buy) $14.99 Suikoden 3 $9.99 Tour de France 2015 $39.99 PS Vita Games Don’t Starve: Giant Edition (3 way Cross Buy) $14.99 Demos Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess Pre-Orders Godzilla (PS4) $59.99 Tearaway Unfolded (PS4) $39.99 Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 (PS4) $59.99 (pre-order 6/24) BundlesConsoleTitlePricePS4Batman: Arkham Knight Premium Edition$99.99PS4Final Fantasy XIV Online$59.99PS4Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Collector’s Edition$59.99PS3Final Fantasy XIV Online$59.99PS3Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Collector’s Edition$59.99June’s Free PS Plus LineupPS4PS3PS VitaDownload this month’s games | Join PlayStation Plus Sales Price ChangesConsoleTitleSale PriceOriginal PricePS4Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn – Standard Edition Bundle$19.99$29.99PS4Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn – Collectors Edition Bundle$39.99$49.99PS4Evolve: Evolve – Behemoth$9.99$14.99PS4Evolve: Evolve – Crow (Trapper Hunter)$4.99$7.49PS4Evolve: Evolve – Slim (Medic Hunter)$4.99$7.49PS4Evolve: Evolve – Sunny (Support Character)$4.99$7.49PS4Evolve: Evolve – Torvald (Assault Hunter)$4.99$7.49PS4Evolve: Evolve Hunting Season Pass$14.99$24.99PS3Batman: Arkham Origins$19.99$29.99PS3Beyond: Two Souls$19.99$19.99New PlayStation Now Rentals New on PlayStation Music Trey Songz Trigga Reloaded Son Lux Bones Leon Bridges Coming Home Follow PlayStation Music on Spotify App Updates PlayStation AppYesterday, we updated the PlayStation App to version 2.55, which brought with it, the following features: PS Store can now be opened within the PS App Account management can now be done within the PS App PSN Card numbers and promotion codes can now be entered within PS App Comments that you receive while broadcasting from your PS4 system can now be displayed on the second screen Download now for Android or iOS HBO GO True Detective, “The Western Book of the Deadâ€, available today Ballers, New series “Pilotâ€, available today The Brink, New series “Pilotâ€, available today Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, New episode available today Gone Girl, available today Malibu’s Most Wanted, available today The Wolverine, available today Hulu Plus Seinfeld seasons 1-9, available 6/24 Qello Concerts Lauryn Hill – MTV Unplugged Fall Out Boy – Front Row Center Bands in Seattle – Vaudeville Etiquette Various Artists – Speaking in Code VidZone VidZone Highlights: https://youtu.be/aFNFeu92MzU Artist Of The Week: A$AP Rocky – Featuring the brand new video for ‘L$D’ from his brand new No. 1 album, At.Long.Last.A$AP. Featured Playlist: CMT Music Awards 2015 – A playlist with the winners from this year’s fan-voted Country Music Awards show. Includes Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum and more! Featured Video: Nicki Minaj – ‘The Night Is Still Young’ – The Hip-Hop star’s latest single from her Pinkprint album is a pop anthem with a colourful music video set in Downtown Los Angeles. New Videos: Jessie J – Flashlight (Pop), Mariah Carey – Infinity (RnB), Lil Durk Ft. Jeremih – Like Me (Hip-Hop), Maroon 5 – This Summer’s Gonna Hurt Like A MotherF****r (Party), Duke Dumont – The Giver (Reprise) (Dance), Ryn Weaver – Octahate (Alternative), Anti-Flag Ft. Time Armstrong – Brandenburg Gate (Rock) PS4 Add-ons Batman Arkham Knight Flashpoint Skin (Season Pass Exclusive) New 52 Skins Pack (Free) Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition 1 Blue Orb ($0.99) 2 Blue Orbs ($1.49) 5 Blue Orbs ($2.99) Lady & Trish Costume Pack ($3.99) Proud Souls ($2.99) Red Orbs ($1.99) Super Nero/Super Dante/Super Vergil ($4.99) Unlock All Modes ($1.49) Evolve Assault Victory Skin Pack ($4.99) Goliath Digital Camo Skin ($2.99) Hyde Victory Skin ($1.99) Lennox ($4.99) Lennox Victory Skin (Free for Owners of Hunter Season Pass 2) Markov Victory Skin ($1.99) Parnell Victory Skin ($1.99) Hunting Season 2 ($24.99) Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm RebornHeavensward Standard Edition ($39.99)Littlebigplanet3Hook Hat T-shirt (Free)Planetside 2 1,000 Battle Cash ($9.99) 10,000 Battle Cash ($84.99) 2,000 Battle Cash ($19.99) 500 Battle Cash ($4.99) 5,000 Battle Cash ($44.99) Heroic Boost Bundle ($29.99) Nanite Systems Starter Bundle ($19.99) New Conglomerate Assault Starter ($14.99) New Conglomerate Support Starter ($14.99) Terran Republic Assault Starter ($14.99) Terran Republic Support Starter ($14.99) Vanu Sovereignty Assault Starter ($14.99) Vanu Sovereignty Support Starter ($14.99) 1-month Membership ($14.99) 3-month Membership ($29.99) 6-month Membership ($119.99) 12-month Membership ($119.99) Rocksmith 2014 Cross-buy with PS3 Primus – Jerry Was a Race Car Driver ($2.99) Primus – Tommy the Cat ($2.99) Primus – Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver ($2.99) Primus – South Park Theme ($0.99) Tales from the Borderlands Cross-buy with PS3 Episode 3: Catch a Ride ($4.99)The Witcher 3: Wild HuntRelease on 6/24 New Quest – Contract: Skellige’s Most Wanted (Free) Skellige Armor Set (Free) PS3 Add-onsAce Combat Infinity Extra Contract & Special Supply Ticket Set F ($8.99) Extra Contract & Special Supply Ticket Set P ($8.99) Extra Contract & Special Supply Ticket Set Q ($26.99) Extra Contract & Special Supply Ticket Set R ($44.99) Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm RebornHeavensward Standard Edition ($39.99)Rocksmith 2014 Cross-buy with PS4 Primus – Jerry Was a Race Car Driver ($2.99) Primus – Tommy the Cat ($2.99) Primus – Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver ($2.99) Primus – South Park Theme ($0.99) Tales from the Borderlands Cross-buy with PS4 Episode 3: Catch a Ride ($4.99) ThemesConsoleThemePricePS4A Dynamic Usa Flag Theme$2.99PS4Abstract Green Moving Background Dynamic Theme$2.99PS4Aspen Comics Executive Assistant: Iris Theme$2.99PS4A Dynamic Birds On River Theme$2.99PS4A Soccerball With Dynamic Turkish Flag Theme$2.99PS41 Luxurious View Of New York Dynamic Theme$3.49PS41 Spaceship Dynamic Theme$3.49PS4A Close Up River Scene Dynamic Theme$2.99PS4An Underwater Treasure Chest Dynamic Theme$2.99PS4Audio Theme Series Thunder And Wolf Sounds$3.49PS4Frequency Wave Dynamic Theme$2.99PS4Godzilla Theme$0.00PS4Summer Beach Dynamic Theme – Full HD$2.99PS4Winter Wolf Dynamic Theme – Full HD$2.99PS4A Soccerball With Dynamic Argentina Flag Theme$2.99PS4A Soccerball With Dynamic Brazil Flag Theme$2.99PS4A Dynamic Antique Radio Theme$2.99PS4A Dynamic Bridge Crossing Water Theme$2.99PS4A Dynamics Machu Piccu Ruins Dynamic Theme$2.99PS4A Spit Fire Plane Dynamic Theme$4.99PS4Flame Thrower Dynamic Theme$3.49PS4Girl Gamer Dynamic Theme$3.49PS4Lightning Storm Dynamic Theme$3.49PS VitaAnother World Theme$2.99PS VitaBeach Sunset Theme$2.99PS VitaBiting Lip Theme$2.99PS VitaDeath Theme$2.99PS VitaDesert Drifter Theme$2.99PS VitaEvolution Theme$2.99PS VitaGhostly Cat Theme$2.99PS VitaGrunge Flag USA Theme$2.99PS VitaI See You Noob Theme$2.99PS VitaSplat Soldier Theme$2.99PS VitaSummer Beach Theme$2.99PS VitaThe End Theme$2.99AvatarsConsoleAvatarPricePS3Avatar Planet 2$0.99PS3Avatar Tiger$0.99PS3Avatar Respiration$0.99 View the full article -
We’ve seen some awesome collector’s editions and limited-edition PS4 bundles released over the years, but we wanted to give even more to the PlayStation Nation. This year we’re very excited to introduce ‘Extraordinary Bundles of Greatness’. We’ll be bundling a PS4 system and game together with an awesome over the top prize to truly make the bundle Extraordinary. We’ll be making ‘Extraordinary’ versions of your favorite bundles throughout the year, so make sure to keep checking with PlayStation.Blog to see the latest and greatest. First up: a shot at winning our exclusive Batman: Arkham Knight PS4 ‘Extraordinary Bundle’, which includes the Limited Edition console, a copy of the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Knight from Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment, and a custom Batmobile inspired by the one in the game. That’s right — a custom Batmobile, built for one lucky winner by the experts at Super Fan Builds. See Full Rules Here To enter the sweepstakes for your chance to win, just snap a photo of yourself with the new Batman Arkham Knight PS4 bundle and tweet it out with the hashtag #PS4BundleSweepstakes. You can check out the full sweepstakes rules right here to learn more. Good luck! View the full article
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Hello, people of the PlayStation community — Capcom’s Hideaki Itsuno, here. Long time no talk. I know it’s been a long wait, but at long last Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition is available today on PS4. To celebrate the game’s launch, I’d like to share some tips and suggestions for the three new playable characters, because they all play quite differently. Let’s start with Vergil. Vergil, unlike the other characters, can simultaneously perform melee attacks and long-range attacks thanks to his Summoned Swords. You can enhance his fundamental attack prowess by pressing the long-range attack button (Square) during the animation for a melee attack (Triangle). Try it out, and — if you want to fight more stylishly — be sure to make use of the Circle button which allows Vergil to travel instantaneously to whichever enemy you’re currently locked onto. When using his Yamato sword, hold the Triangle button at the end of a combo string and release to perform “Judgement Cut.†Once you’ve got that down, try releasing the button with perfect timing to perform the so-called “Just Judgement Cut.†Skillful fighting will cause Vergil’s new Concentration gauge to fill, increasing his attack power and giving him an advantage on the battlefield. Now, onto Lady. Unlike other characters throughout the DMC series, Lady is not adept at melee combat. Try to keep your distance from the enemy and focus on ranged attacks using the Square button. Each of Lady’s weapons has a respective optimal distance, so try your best to utilize the right weapons at the right distances. It will make a big difference in Lady’s attack prowess. If you find yourself surrounded by enemies, don’t panic — one tap of the L1 button will unleash her Burst Attack, giving you an emergency out. Lady is a mere human, which means she isn’t able to regenerate health using a Devil Trigger like Dante or Vergil. She also takes more damage when attacked, so taking attacks can quickly lead to death if you’re not careful. Last up, we have Trish. To start, you’re going to want to throw the Sparda sword at enemies. This is the “Round Trip†move (R1 + Left Analog Stick Forward + Circle). You can use this to trap clusters of enemies in one location, then use the Triangle button to stack on hand-to-hand combos. The combination of Round Trip and hand-to-hand attacks is Trish’s fundamental combat strategy. Round Trip is also an effective way to fill up her Devil Trigger gauge, which you can then utilize to fire the powerful “Revenge†attack from her Pandora weapon. But be aware: Trish’s various Pandora moves have some nuanced controls, which require various directional inputs and holding down the Square button. All three of the new playable characters have moves allowing them to attack multiple enemies at once, so they’re all very well suited for Legendary Dark Knight Mode, which throws an incredible number of enemies at you at once. I’d also like to remind PlayStation fans that with the PS4 you’ll be able to easily upload videos of the game in action. This was something that simply wasn’t possible with the original launch of DMC4 on PS3, so I sincerely hope you’ll share your combo videos online. The entire dev team is really looking forward to watching these. And with that, I thank you all very much for your ongoing support for Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition and the DMC series. View the full article
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If, like me, you were left speechless by the jaw-dropping intensity of the Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End demo from our E3 2015 show, you’ll be desperate to hunt down more information like Nathan Drake looking for fortune and glory. Fortunately, PlayStation.Blog caught up with the man who played through that seven-minute onslaught, game director Bruce Straley, along with creative director Neil Druckmann, to give us the inside line on what was shown on-stage. PlayStation.Blog: Before Drake and Sully stepped into the bustling market square, the demo opened with a shot of an inscription above a door: “I am a man of fortune, I must seek my fortune.†Is that a motto that Nate lives by? Neil: That’s a quote from Henry Avery, the King of Pirates. He was one of the most popular and successful pirates, who was never caught, and there’s something in there that’s thematically appropriate to Nate too. Here’s a guy who’s always trying to prove something to himself, always trying to seek his fortune – and maybe to compensate for something. In this story, we’re exploring who he really is, that hole he’s trying to fill. PSB: The first really striking thing in the demo was just how alive the market felt. Has the move to PS4 given to the freedom to create a bigger world for Drake? Neil: We’ve been able to able to pack a lot more into each level, have more happening on-screen at once, and make the whole environment more dynamic. We’re at a point where technology isn’t driving our decisions, it’s our creativity and what we can come up with for Nate to go through. Bruce: We made great games with what we had, but you can’t have everything so you pick your mechanics to fit the pacing. With each game we’re evolving with what the technology can afford us, and right now we’re able to make the world seem a lot more real. Like in the car chase, you’re ploughing through fences, smashing other cars, pineapples are flying everywhere, and every time the jeep slams into a building and it reacts, the more invested in the moment the player feels and believes the building is there. PSB: Will Nate be doing a lot of driving in Uncharted 4? Bruce: Vehicles were something we wanted in previous games, and while they were there, this is the first time they’ve been drivable. There a lot of new mechanics in this game and we want to give you lots of opportunities to use them; we’ll ease you into it, give you opportunities to learn the new features, then you can go crazy with them. Neil: In the demo, essentially Nate’s moving at 60 mph, he’s under stress, as usual there’s people trying to kill him, so as a player your foot is always going to be on the gas. But we use the jeep in other ways, you can jump in and out and go exploring, and we’ve been able to open up the levels and let players drive great distances. Bruce: At the same time, we’ve got a lot of story to tell, so we’re not creating an open world where you can take the jeep anywhere – we want to make sure we’re setting up and paying off everything that we’ve put into the game in the right way. So at times, the jeep can move through vast areas, but at times like the level you’ve just seen, you’ve got to hit the gas because Sam’s in trouble. PSB: We’ve seen Drake showing off an array of new ways to fight, move, new kit for him to use and how he interacts with the environment around him. The on-stage demo ends with Nate swinging from his grappling hook and rope into the side of a bridge, but behind closed doors, an extended play-through didn’t end there. We won’t spoil what comes next, but Drake doesn’t let go of the rope, and that drags him – quite literally – into one of the most exciting set-pieces the Uncharted series has seen so far. He might be a little older and perhaps a little wiser, but is seems that Nate has found new ways of getting into and out of trouble… Neil: We’ve evolved Nate’s repertoire of what he can do, but it’s also about how those moves flow from one to another. So when he’s hiding behind sandbags for example, we have a new cover mechanic so he’s even lower than before, then crawling on all fours, blind firing to hit a guy and stagger him, the smash him against a wall, climb up onto a shack, then the hook and rope might become available and you can choose whether to use that or carry on along the ground. There’s all these mechanics that interact with one another, so we’re trying to give the player a choice of strategy of how they approach each set-up. All of the action we saw on stage was to save big brother Sam – is he as good at getting into trouble as Nathan? Bruce: All the characters we create are kind of mirrors of different facets of Nate’s personality. Sam is part of Nate’s past that re-ignites that fire in Nate’s belly and gets him back into the adventure. Neil: As a new character, Sam he has a little mystery around him — who he really is, what does he want from Nate? But they’ll get each other into trouble… as brothers usually do. View the full article
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Sometimes it seems like Batman’s work is never truly done. As soon as he’s locked up one supervillain, someone else is breaking out of Arkham Asylum, or a new enemy emerges from the shadows and he’s starting up the Batmobile once again to stop another threat to his city. Every so often, game development feels like that, too. But it’s great to take a moment to reflect, and with Batman: Arkham Knight out today, we’ve got a lot to celebrate. It’s an incredible feeling to know that this morning, millions of people will be turning on their PlayStations to load up a game that we’ve put so much love and effort into. Batman: Arkham Knight | Download Now So it’s over to you, then! We’ve spent three and a half years playing this game and we can’t wait to see what you, the community, can do with it. Whether you’re tearing through the streets in the Batmobile, gliding over the rooftops, or bringing justice to the thugs and supervillains that threaten Gotham, we want to see your screenshots and videos, read your reactions, and find out what being the Dark Knight means to you. So what are you waiting for? Hit that Share button! Gotham needs you. Enjoy the game. Be the Batman. From your fans at Rocksteady. View the full article
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Hello, PlayStation Nation! This summer I’m hosting “Conversation with Creators,†a series of roundtable discussions with some of the most incredible and talented game creators on the planet. (I know, it’s a little on the nose, but we all figured you should know exactly what you’re getting into, because we respect your time, and Dragon Age: Inquisition isn’t going to play itself while you try to figure out if you want to watch a new show) The series is presented by PlayStation Store and the first episode premieres July 7th. Here’s a little preview of what you can expect: We’ll release new episodes, every Tuesday in the US and Canada, on PlayStation Store. You’ll get them for the low, low price of FREE on your PS3, PS4, and PS Vita. What’s that? You loaned your device to your cousin and she went out of town, locked it in her house, and didn’t give you the key? Don’t worry. If you don’t want to try out those lock-picking skills just yet, we’re also going to make our episodes available on PlayStation’s YouTube channel. So, I hope you’ll join me and some really interesting people as we talk about games like Destiny, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Uncharted, The Last of Us, God of War and more. I’ve already taped a couple of episodes, and I’ve had some really fascinating conversations about the similarities and differences between videogames and movies, the origins of Destiny, and exactly how The Last Of Us scared the hell out of us all, while simultaneously making us care about Joel and Ellie more than we care for actual people we work with in our real lives. Yes, Mark, I’m looking at you. You are never going to get a spot in my zombie survival compound, Mark. If you’re interested in hearing about how the games we love were brought to life from ideas to actual worlds we can visit, you’re going to love this show. And if you’re not, that’s okay. I could probably use your help in some Destiny raids, anyway. Seriously, you should see me dance. I’m amazing.Here’s a list of our upcoming episodes and creators: Episode 1: Bungie – July 7thJason Jones – Co-FounderRyan Ellis – Design DirectorLuke Smith – Design Director Jason Sussman – Senior EnvironmentEpisode 2: Naughty Dog – July 14thEvan Wells – Co-President Neil Druckmann – Creative Director Bruce Straley – Game Director Anthony Newman – Co-Lead Game DesignerEpisode 3: Treyarch – July 21stMark Lamia – Studio Head Dan Bunting – Game Director, Multiplayer David Vonderhaar – Studio Design Director Jason Blundell – Campaign Director & Sr. Executive ProducerEpisode 4: Santa Monica Studio – July 28thShannon Studstill – Studio Head Cory Barlog – Creative Director Nathan Gary – Creative Director Jason McDonald – Lead Combat Designer Oh, and one more thing! Beginning today, through June 23rd at noon Pacific Time, I’m giving two PlayStation fans an amazing opportunity. Submit that question you’ve been dying to ask of the Treyarch and/or Santa Monica Studio teams in the comments section below and I will select the top question for each studio and ask it during our taping on June 23rd. Play more games, visit playstationstore.com/creators for more info and I’ll see you on the Internets! Your pal, Wil Wheaton View the full article
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Violence and darkness descend on Gotham City. With a seemingly endless torrent of crime plaguing the streets, the legendary Dark Knight must fight for the city he’s sworn to protect. It’s here at last. Batman: Arkham Knight launches this week on PS4. The final chapter in the Arkham series, Batman: Arkham Knight once again puts players beneath the cape and cowl of Batman, but with a few very important twists. Now, the entire city of Gotham is open and rife with opportunities to exact Batman’s particular brand of justice. Traverse the dizzying spires and rainy streets with Batman’s signature glide, or catapult into the Batmobile and burn rubber through Gotham for the first time in the series. For a full list of games coming to PlayStation, read on. And enjoy the Drop! Arcade Archives Raiders 5, PS4 — Digital Astebreed, PS4 — Digital (Out 6/25) Attacking Zegata, PS4 — Digital Batman: Arkham Knight, PS4 — Digital, Retail Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition, PS4 — Digital Ender of Fire, PS4 — Digital Planetside 2, PS4 — Digital Ride, PS4 — Retail Riptide GP2, PS4 — Digital Shantae: Risky’s Revenge — Director’s Cut, PS4 — Digital Suikoden 3, PS2 Classic — Digital Tour de France 2015, PS4, PS3 — Digital Demos and BetasDeception IV: The Nightmare Princess — PS4 Demo Coming to PlayStation MusicTrey Songz – Trigga Reloaded Son Lux – Bones Leon Bridges – Coming Home Coming to PlayStation VideoEx Machina Home 7 Minutes The information above is subject to change without notice. View the full article
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Whew, we made it! Another E3 in the books, and what a show it was. Our press conference started us off with a bang (and some of you were lucky enough to watch it on the big screen): The Last Guardian re-emerged on PS4 with a 2016 launch date, Shenmue III was officially announced (and nearly instantly funded on Kickstarter), and the long-awaited Final Fantasy VII Remake was finally revealed. And let’s not forget Guerrilla’s beautiful Horizon Zero Dawn, a slate of new games for Project Morpheus, a face-melting new demo for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, a new Media Player app on PS4, Destiny: The Taken King’s grand debut, and Call of Duty’s new home on PlayStation with Black Ops III. Of course, there’s been far more news than that… You know what? Let’s just list every PlayStation.Blog post from the past week! All This Week’s PlayStation.Blog Posts E3 2015: The Best Trailers Media Player Coming to PS4 Tonight That’s a Wrap: PlayStation’s E3 2015 Press Conferece PlayStation E3 2015 Livestreams: LiveCast, Press Conference Best of E3 Sale: Titles From Shows Past and Game-Inspired Movies Announcing Horizon Zero Dawn PlayStation LiveCast: 45 E3 Game Segments You Missed Call of Duty: Black Ops III PS4 Multiplayer Beta Details Transformers: Devastation Details Revealed Firewatch Coming to PS4 Fumito Ueda on The Last Guardian’s Grand E3 Reveal Hitman Coming to PS4 12/8, Exclusive Console Beta Access Destiny: The Taken King Exclusive Content Revealed Introducing Destiny: The Taken King Introducing the Film Noir Stealth Adventure Calvino Noir on PS4 Kerbal Space Program Preparing to Launch on PS4 E3 2015: Uncharted 4 Vehicle Chase Gameplay The Last Guardian Coming to PS4 in 2016 The Tomorrow Children Hits PS4 in Autumn 2015 Yu Suzuki Begins Crowdfunding Shenmue III on PS4 Dragon Quest Heroes Comes to PS4 on October 13th Star Wars Battlefront: Survival on Tatooine E3 2015: The Fans Have Spoken Godling: A God-like VR Experience Coming to Project Morpheus Eitr, Mother Russia Bleeds, and More Coming to PlayStation PlayStation Vue Expanding, Hits LA and SF Today Introducing Battlezone for Project Morpheus Introducing Unravel, Coming to PS4 Dreams for PS4, Announced at E3 Announcing Headmaster for PS4’s Project Morpheus VR Headset SUPERHYPERCUBE Coming Exclusively to Project Morpheus Six Reasons to Step into the Arena of RIGS Mechanized Combat on PS4 Harmonix Music VR Coming to Project Morpheus New Tearaway Unfolded Trailer and Companion App Details Introducing Assassin’s Creed Syndicate: The Dreadful Crimes Mirror’s Edge Catalyst Hits PS4 on February 23rd Next Year Cammy and Birdie Join the Street Fighter V Roster, Out Spring 2016 Call of Duty: Black Ops III Campaign Walkthrough A Look into Wayward Sky on Project Morpheus I’d be remiss if I didn’t call your attention to our massive, all-week E3 LiveCast. Sid, Ryan, Anthony, Meredith and I hosted tons of developers on our annual live show, where we talked to them about what they’re working on, what we can expect from them, and in some cases even playing their games live on stage! Catch up on all our live segments with these handy playlists: PlayStation LiveCast: E3 2015 Day 1 The Last Guardian Horizon: Zero Dawn Uncharted 4 Destiny: The Taken King …and more Day 2 Deux Ex: Mankind Divided Transformers Devastation Salt and Sanctuary I Am Bread …and more Day 3 Ratchet & Clank Rocket League Mirror’s Edge Catalyst Volume …and more There are dozens of new trailers now live on our YouTube channel, so if you’re looking for a more visual way to catch up on everything out of E3 that’s a good place to start. It’s little surprise that the most-viewed video of the week was the official reveal trailer for The Last Guardian on PS4 — let’s re-live that one now: The Last Guardian – E3 2015 Trailer | PS4 A few more personal highlights: So, that’s E3 2015. It was a wild ride, but we made it — together. What did you think? View the full article
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Another E3 winds to a close! And truth be told, it was a memorable show: We got a long-awaited peek at The Last Guardian, first details on Guerrilla Games’ new Horizon Zero Dawn, thunderous announcements in the form of Final Fantasy VII Remake and Shenmue III, a jaw-dropping new gameplay sequence from Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, PlayStation becoming the new home of Call of Duty starting with Black Ops III, a new adventure in Destiny with The Taken King, big updates on Project Morpheus with games like RIGS Mechanized Combat League and SuperHyperCube, and hey — even a fancy new PS4 Media Player that supports a wide range of video, audio, and image formats. Whether you experienced the press conference from one of hundreds of theaters nationwide, tuned in via livestream, or were lucky enough to hit the show floor, thanks again for offering your support, feedback, and questions on another big E3 adventure. Check out some key takeaways from the links below, and be sure to let us know your favorite E3 games and announcements. See you next year! PlayStation LiveCast: Live coverage of 45 games from E3 2015 E3 2015: The best trailers PlayStation’s E3 2015 Press Conference PlayStation.Blog: All E3 2015 blog posts View the full article
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Over the past several months, the team here at Q-Games has been hard at work on The Tomorrow Children, adding tons of new features previously unseen in trailers and the closed alpha last fall, as well as enriching the story and setting. Strange and magical tools, cute and unique clothing, and bizarre and imposing structures are just a few of the new additions players will be able to experience. Although the world of The Tomorrow Children is encased in the bleak Void, life still flourishes as humanity claws its way back from the brink of extinction, and players in the roles of “Projection Clones†will take that life into their own hands. In the E3 trailer, those of you who were unfortunately unable to attend the event in person will be able to get a glimpse of what life in the world of The Tomorrow Children is like: players will take control the fate of their town and eventually the world itself as they build up and expand it from a nearly empty outpost into a lively home filled with shops, facilities, and even a home of their very own, all while defending everything they’ve built in life and death struggles with invaders from the edges of existence. The Tomorrow Children is set to release in Autumn 2015, so there are only a few more months until players will be able to jump into the whimsy and madness for themselves. As we approach release, we’ll be sure to keep everyone updated with more information about and visuals from the game, such as new features, tools, enemies, and places to explore. From all of us here at Q-Games, let us all march toward tomorrow, together! View the full article
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Onstage at E3 2015 this week, Andrew House introduced a high-octane, big-hitting new title coming exclusively to Project Morpheus: RIGS Mechanized Combat League. Down on the show floor, we caught up with Piers and Tom from Guerrilla Cambridge to learn more about their lightning-fast and explosively fun new VR arena shooter – and why you’re going to want to grab a VR headset and step into the arena. It’s all your favourite sports in one futuristic arenaPiers: “RIGS is a first-person, arena based shooter set 50 years into the future and is a collision of all different sports – there’s elements of motorsport, shooting, basketball and others that come together to create this combat league where the rigs are the heroes.†Tom: “It’s all about the drama, knocking an opponent rig out of the air when they’re going to score, getting the big saves or scoring a last minute goal to win for your team.†Piers: “We’ve taken elements from real sports that create tension, when it’s all on a knife-edge; the last minute goal, the saves and blocks – we’re inspired by the games that give you those moments.†You’re in the driver’s seat of enormous mech sports heroesPiers: “The rigs aren’t just robots, they’re driven by you. You’re in control, and you really get that sense of size and presence when you’re inside Morpheus.â€Tom: “Head movement is a big part of how you control the rigs – in the game mode we’re showing at E3, that’s how players steer the mechs and use their aim. You can scan the skies and see other rigs, or change direction quickly. But ultimately, we’ll offer a choice of control schemes so people can take charge of their mech and be comfortable within the game.â€Piers: “We’ve made the Dualshock controls as natural and familiar as possible, so players can focus on what’s happening inside the Morpheus headset. We’re not going to overload you with controls, we’re stripping it right back to just what you need to compete inside the arena.†You can choose your rig and play your wayPiers: “Matches are 3-on-3, and the rigs come in different forms with different specialities. There’s the Hunter, the Mirage and the Tempest. Tempest is a lightweight flying rig, Mirage is a tall, agile rig that can double-jump and Hunters are small, fast rigs that can get through gaps quickly.â€Tom: “Different people like different things – I’m a big fan of the Tempest, hovering around with an overview of the arena, looking around with the Morpheus headset and seeing what’s going on in the match.â€Piers: “I really like the Hunter, diving in and out of cover, taking people out so they don’t even see me coming.†Different game modes mean more ways to playTom: “At E3 we’re showing a game called Power Slam, where you take out opponents to collect power orbs and send your rig into overdrive – which makes you run faster, shoot more powerfully and regenerate health faster. Most importantly, when you’re in overdrive you can jump through the hoop to score a goal and get points on the scoreboard. It’s kind of like basketball with guns.†You can pick your team and share tactics – but solo players have a place tooPiers: “We’ve brought two teams to E3, the Cobras and the Dynamos, each with their own special abilities that help in certain game modes. The Cobras have their vampire ability so they regain health when they take out an opponent. The Dynamos have a knockout power that lets them take down an opponent with a melee attack and steal their overdrive to deny them a chance to score.“The mechs have different loadouts and abilities, but it’s down to how you and your team want to play that will influence which one you choose and how to combine the classes.“As for single players, we’re not quite ready to talk about we’re offering there – we’re focusing on the team games for now at E3 as that best shows off what the game is all about – but we’ve got plans for what the single player mode will be.†It’s been built exclusively for Project MorpheusPiers: “Everything we thought we knew about game development went out the window when we started RIGS so we had to learn everything from scratch, which is an incredibly refreshing thing to do. We learned new ways of choreographing an environment, new ways to design an interface – everything about it is different and really exciting.â€Tom: “It sounds cheesy, but working with the Morpheus kit is a little bit of magic. We obviously play the game every day and may have got used to it, but coming here and seeing people’s reactions when they play RIGS for the first time is incredible. You really have to play it to see what I mean.†View the full article
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What a week it’s been! After all the excitement and fanfare of E3, we wanted to take a moment to show you our fantastic new trailer for Tearaway Unfolded, and tell you a bit more about our brand new companion app which will be launching with the game on 8th September! As you might have heard, a small group of Molecules packed up their papercraft suitcases and headed to LA this week to show off Tearaway Unfolded to the E3 crowds. To celebrate, we’ve made a brand spanking new trailer for E3, to highlight some of the beautiful, papery worlds you’ll be journeying through, the exciting new ‘thrown-forth’ features you’ll be using and of course, the exciting new companion app! Feast your eyes on our trailer above! The Tearaway Unfolded Companion App is an all new way to experience Tearaway Unfolded on the PS4. If you own a smartphone or tablet, you’ll be able to experience atoi’s delivery adventure with your friends and family through a second player experience! Using the app, you can access the cutting mat to cut out new creations, customise your characters, re-texture the world with photos and collaborate on creative challenges! Everything you create using the app is sent directly into the game, instantly appearing in whatever scene you’re currently playing, it’s awesome! We hope you guys enjoy watching the trailer! For more things Tearaway Unfolded, head on over to our blog where we’re sharing lots of behinds the scenes footage and extras from E3, as well as all our exciting news in the run-up to release – so stay tuned folks! It’s gonna be a rippin’ good time! View the full article
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You haven’t been watching our three-day PlayStation LiveCast show?!? For SHAME. On the bright side, you can now catch up on all the live demos, developer interviews, and new gameplay footage you’ve missed. We’ll keep updating this post with the best and latest segments. Enjoy! Click here to see our schedule for Wednesday and Thursday. [NEW] Mad Max [NEW] Transformers Devastation [NEW] Deus Ex Mankind Divided [NEW] Tearaway Unfolded [NEW] Mighty No. 9 [NEW] Unravel [NEW] Drawn to Death [NEW] Fat Princess Adventures [NEW] Shadow of the Beast [NEW] Relativity [NEW] Salt and Sanctuary [NEW] I Am Bread [NEW] Death’s Gambit [NEW] Fire Watch Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Horizon Zero Dawn Shenmue III Doom Just Cause 3 Call of Duty Black Ops III Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 Batman: Arkham Knight Destiny: The Taken King Hitman Until Dawn Street Fighter V What Remains of Edith Finch Thumper SOMA Assassin’s Creed Syndicate HellBlade RIGS: Mechanized Combat League King’s Quest Kill Strain Shawn Layden interview Star Wars Battlefront live coverage The Last Guardian live coverage View the full article
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Hello! I’m Ben Throop (pronounced Troop) of the new micro studio Frame Interactive. But enough about me! I’m excited and humbled to announce Headmaster for Project Morpheus. What started as an experimental prototype last year has turned into a Project Morpheus launch title showing on the floor of E3. That’s bonkers. So I’ve got a trailer to show you below, but before you watch it, imagine you are standing alone in a dark courtyard of what appears to be some kind of institution. You are holding this. …and now the trailer. Being a part of what PlayStation is doing with Project Morpheus is incredibly exciting. Most of all I love how they have fostered creative risk taking to make sure players really see the potential of VR. The medium is completely new and weird and amazing and we’re all learning as we go. Headmaster will be playable on the floor of E3 this year. I’ll be at the booth so come say hi (my buddy Dan and I will have Headmaster Logo T-Shirts on) or follow me on Twitter @ben_throop. You can also check out Headmastergame.com and Twitter @Headmastergame. Feel free to drop a comment here with any questions as well. Thanks! View the full article
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You know what’s weird? Music visualizers. You know what’s even weirder? Virtual Reality. So if there’s one thing you can say about Harmonix Music VR – my company’s first foray into the medium, and an attempt to define the category of “VR music visualization†– it’s that it’s one wonderfully weird project. It takes any song you give it and generates a unique, musically-driven event sequence. The resulting experiences range from subtly magical to outright psychedelic, depending on the world you select. Sometimes fireflies show up to compliment a relaxing melody, and sometimes stars descend to engulf you in synesthetic spirals of color. It’s definitely weird. And as the title’s creative lead, I couldn’t be happier about that. We set out to accomplish a lot with this software. For starters, we wanted to familiarize ourselves with VR as a medium. We have a long history of making music games, but how much would we have to relearn to make quality VR? Additionally, we recognized that with Morpheus, Sony was about to provide one of the most thoroughly immersive platforms in the history of technology, and we couldn’t wait to use that immersion as an aid for musical appreciation. I mean, when was the last time you sat down and just listened to a record? I’ve heard that people did that back in the 70’s, but if you’re like me and most people I know, you most often consume music as an activity enhancer – livening up your commute, making exercise less horrible, etc. Just sitting still and listening tends to make us 21st Century multitaskers kind of restless and distractible. But music provides so much worth focusing on and appreciating! Now, a lot of people find that having a simple task to focus on helps them relax and appreciate what they’re hearing. So what if we could provide not just activities, but actual environments that were themselves an expression of your music? What if we could provide an escape where your favorite songs weren’t just the soundtrack, but the defining aspect of your surroundings, where your very sense of space complemented the sounds filling your ears? Wouldn’t that be a whole new kind of mind-blowing? Of course, there are a lot of songs out there, and a lot of different types of music and music listeners, each with their own expectations and listening preferences. And there are countless potential ways of mapping musical qualities to spatial qualities. And that’s where things get weird. Traditional, old-school music visualizers are many and varied, but all of them were limited to a 2D screen and the use of real-time audio spectrum analysis. With Harmonix Music VR, we have control over every aspect of your surroundings, using our internally-developed, amazingly effective song analysis voodoo. We still use real-time data, but we can also look at the entire song, break it into sections, identify specific drum hits, and even categorize the feel of song sections to drive the visual and environmental transformations. So maybe you just want to relax, listen to some chill tunes, and vibe out on a beach where the weather patterns reflect the mood of your song’s sections. Or maybe you feel like having a more energetic trip through a variety of intensely reactive spaces. Maybe you like familiar environments with flourishes of musical reactivity, or maybe you just want to be somewhere impossible to really escape with your songs. We don’t want to make those decisions for you, so we’re building a bunch of different worlds, each with its own vibe and level of intensity. Within worlds, you can even interact with objects to trigger further experiential shifts. Two of our worlds will be available to try at E3 (and I hope to see you there if you’re able to swing by!), but believe me, they are just the tip of one big, trippy iceberg. View the full article
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There are few games that inspire such passion and devotion among gamers than those of Fumito Ueda. His twin PS2 classics, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, are rightly beloved for their extraordinary atmosphere, thoughtful mechanics and evocative storytelling. Duly, it was no surprise that his ambitious third game, The Last Guardian, was met with feverish enthusiasm when first announced for PS3 back in 2009. Since then – as is well documented – everything largely went quiet, but finally the wait is nearly over. It’s re-reveal for PS4 this week was a real lump-in-the-throat moment and – forgive my shameless partisanship – one of the highlights of a packed E3 week, where big announcements have come thick and fast. 24 hours after the big reveal, I caught up with Ueda-san to find out what he made of the reaction to the news, and how the game is shaping up. So, for the benefit of those gamers who might not be familiar with the game, can you give me a brief overview of what exactly The Last Guardian is? Fumito Ueda: In short, it’s an action adventure title. It’s a story about a young boy who has been kidnapped or captured under strange circumstances. It’s about an encounter between that boy and the mysterious beast Trico amidst ancient ruins, and a story about their journey together in the hope of escaping their mysterious predicament. In short, that’s what the game is, but we don’t want to tell you too much. We want players to experience it for themselves as the story unfolds. Obviously it’s been a number of years since we last heard news of the game, and there’s been so much speculation about the title among PlayStation gamers. How does it feel to finally re-introduce the game to your fans? Fumito Ueda: Yes, it’s been a few years since our last announcement. From my point of view, it was very unpredictable how the audience would react. I wasn’t sure if people would remember the title. Admittedly I was a bit nervous, but after the announce I saw the reaction, and the cheering – and that proved to me that people had really been waiting and were excited to see us reveal The Last Guardian for PS4. Afterwards, I was more relaxed and happy! Can you talk a little about why the game has taken longer than anticipated? Fumito Ueda: Obviously there were a number of reasons for the delay. If I had to call out one of them, it was more of a technical hurdle that we had to overcome. But eventually we have overcome it, and we have finally – proudly – announced the game for PS4 during the E3 press conference. Has the game changed at all since we last saw it? Fumito Ueda: The game content itself – the storyline etc – that stuff has not changed. Obviously the migration to PS4 has enabled us to push the envelope on the technology side. The overall aesthetic that the team is going for isn’t necessarily ‘edgy’ but we have a very specific art style we are aiming for and the PS4 hardware has helped us achieve our goals. One of the aspects of the footage you showed during the E3 press conference that I found most interesting was how the boy and Trico moved. The boy’s motions in particular are a little unusual, but extremely charming. How did you go about defining their characteristics? Fumito Ueda: When I was formulating the concept of The Last Guardian, one of the things I looked at was the relationship between people and animals, and I thought this was something that I wanted to build a game around. Most people really relate to animals – they find them cute and easy to bond with – so that relationship was the primary focus. The reason I chose this core theme is that I wanted to appeal to as many people as possible, knowing that it would resonate with many players. As a result, I hope some elements of the boy and Trico’s expressions may well come across as ‘charming’. The footage mainly featured environmental challenges. Can we expect different kinds of threats elsewhere in the game? Fumito Ueda: The demo that we showed this week is a vertical slice of the game and we intentionally selected this to show some of the dynamic game transitions. There are quieter encounters that the boy and Trico will experience at other times in the game. There are a variety of different level designs and challenges that players will encounter. Given the fervor and anticipation around the game, are you feeling a burden of expectation to deliver something incredible? Fumito Ueda: Obviously I’m very relieved to finally have had the chance to stand up and say, “Here we are again!â€. I saw the crowd’s reaction and the reception was great. That reception has fed our motivation to work even harder to complete production. From a creative and development point of view things haven’t changed – we’ve been working very hard already – but we’ll certainly be fueled by all the attention and love we’ve got this week. View the full article
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Almost five years ago, we began the development of our very first title — a space program simulator that would showcase the reality of the physics of space exploration. However, we realized that the game’s tone would be heavily affected if the player were to have every mistake be followed by the death of a digital human being. Therefore, we needed pilots who would help us somehow change the tone of space exploration. Physics, astrophysics, trajectories, combustion, gravity, can be really dense concepts to explain, and even more if you’re trying to make a sandbox game about space exploration. We needed somehow to portray the seriousness of the game’s subject, but at the same time give it a more “gamer†friendly tone. It’s important that every mistake in the game feels like an opportunity for the player to learn something new and interesting, instead of a grim portrait of real failure. We needed a lighter, fresher, and more encouraging experience. Inspiration came from the oddest yet perhaps most fitting background imaginable: two kids playing space program with fireworks in Sao Paulo more than a decade ago. One of them was Felipe Falanghe, our lead designer, who had enough creativity to come up with the idea of strapping little tinfoil men to fireworks, and not enough parental supervision to actually try it. He called the little guys Kerbals, and for all those years he carried both the name and spirit of Kerbals within his heart and mind. A few years later he found himself working for Squad, which started out as a marketing agency, specializing in interactive technologies development. Every year, the owners of the agency asked their employees to come up with original projects, and if there was a good and viable idea, it could get developed. Felipe was an employee at Squad for some time when one day he couldn’t take the stress of marketing anymore. He tried to quit, but the owners insisted he instead presented a viable video game project idea. Barely believing his luck, Felipe set out to bring the Kerbals and their space program to reality. Designing the Kerbals had a simple yet complex directive: embody the spirit of the game. They had to be relentless in their pursuit of scientific achievement and not be dissuaded by mistakes and failures, regardless of how horrific they may be. They had to be capable, yet reckless engineers who would be willing to fly a mission with a low possibility of success, while screaming “Never tell me the odds!†But they also had to be funny in their demise. Kerbals were going to die horrific deaths, so it was important that the design didn’t compound the horribleness of these things, but instead made them easier to swallow. Big eyes of irregular sizes that aim in different directions show that the Kerbals don’t perceive reality in the same way human beings do, having a different perspective that may simply be incomprehensible to people. A body shape with cartoonish proportions and faces that were both alien yet capable of being filled with human emotions. Add in a color and size that calls back to the old-school ideas of little green men from Space, and you have Kerbals. With great rockets comes great responsibility. Kerbals are willing to take up the challenge of building a space program from the ground up. They are eager to learn about the Universe, and want to explore all the corners of the Kerbol System, all in the name of Science! There are no mistakes in Kerbal Space Program, only learning incorrect ways to do things. That’s why every launch in the game leads to learning more about rocket science and space exploration. All the while, one is reminded that Kerbals don’t see the world the same way as we do, and can process their inevitable demise with complete, insane excitement as well as abject horror. Kerbals are both the face and soul of Kerbal Space Program. An endless supply of expendable yet relatable astronauts willing to expose themselves to the dangers of space travel in the name of scientific progress and glorious success. All the while presenting the player with friendly faces that remind them that failure is fun. Without the small green characters, we wouldn’t have been able to pull off a space simulator that interested engineers at space agencies across the world and elementary school students alike. Thus, they will remain a huge part of the success of our game, and a big part of the reasons why Kerbal Space Program is coming to PS4. Do you have any doubts or questions about how the Kerbals and our game? Drop your questions in the comments below! View the full article
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One of my favorite moments in PlayStation’s E3 2015 Press Conference this week was the big reveal of Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s new Campaign. It’s been built from the ground up to accommodate more emergent, team-based battles that veer “off the rails†found in many linear campaign experiences. As a huge fan of Treyarch’s past work on their famous Zombies mode, needless to say I’m dying to try out their new take on Campaign play in Black Ops 3. Without further ado, read on for a very special message from the team at Treyarch – and as always, let us know what you think in the comments below. Hello PlayStation Nation! Well, that was fun. What an amazing week! It was great to be on stage. We hope that you enjoyed it. We’re excited to share the E3 reveal of Black Ops 3 with you, and can’t wait for folks at E3 this week to get their hands-on with playable multiplayer on the show floor for the first time ever in Call of Duty history. If you loved the feel of Black Ops 2, you’ll love the feel of Black Ops 3, and finally giving people the opportunity to get their hands on the game will be incredibly satisfying. Multiplayer is massive, yet there’s so much more to Black Ops 3. If you saw the show tonight, you got a look at our all-new campaign mode, which you can play solo or up to 4-players together on next gen consoles. To set the stage, it’s the year 2065 and you’re pursuing a high-value target in an off-the-books mission in Cairo, Egypt. This is Ramses Station on the PS4. Be sure to sign-up for the multiplayer Beta coming this August, first on PS4. We’re particularly excited since this is the first public beta that the franchise has run since Treyarch did one for World at War, which will help ensure we have the best launch possible. Feel free to follow @Treyarch for the latest studio news; otherwise, we’ll see you at the show, or better yet, we’ll see you online. Regards, Treyarch View the full article