Tag Archives: PlayStation 4

Train2Game News: Games Industry News – 21.06.13

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PS4It’s Friday which, of course, means it is time for the games industry news round up.

Mark Cerny, the lead system architect on Sony’s PlayStation 4 console, will deliver the conference keynote at Develop in Brighton, which takes place at the city’s Hilton Metropole from 9-11 July 2013. Cerny’s keynote, Changing the Game: Developing into the Next Generation, will see the industry legend take delegates through the journey he has been on to bring the console to reality, looking at the lessons learnt from previous console generations, the future vision for PS4 and how embracing the Indie community will have a key role in fulfilling that vision. To find out more about the event, go to http://www.developconference.com/

Gamers competing via the Xbox Tournaments with Virgin Gaming app on Xbox 360, now have a new way to win cash and show off their gaming skills. With the new update, available today, players can now enter buy-in tournaments and head-to-head challenges using their own money. Since launching nearly two months ago, Virgin Gaming has awarded Xbox 360 gamers nearly $100,000 in cash prizes, while also allowing players to seamlessly browse, enter, challenge, play in and track tournaments for their favourite games directly from Xbox Live. Gamers that are not already using the app can register for an account at http://virgingaming.com/xbox and download the app from Xbox Live.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced LEGO Legends of Chima: Laval’s Journey will be available for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita handheld systems in Europe on 21st June. A Nintendo DS version will follow this Autumn, as will a free-to-play online world, LEGO Legends of Chima Online. The new games all complement a line of branded products and TV content based on the LEGO Legends of Chima action packed world ruled by eight animal tribes that tells the classic story of good and evil, friendship and family.

Magic The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014 will be releasing on Xbox LIVE Arcade, PC/Steam, PlayStation Network, iPad, and for the first time on Android tablets next week. As with previous years Wizards of the Coast are rolling out the release of the game over two days across the myriad of platforms. The game will be released on June 25 for iTunes, Google Play and Amazon App Store. The following day will see the release on PC, Xbox Live and PSN. Associate Community Manager Sean Gibbons gives the community a first look at the new Sealed Campaign and deck editor in the upcoming Magic 2014: Duels of the Planeswalkers, which you can enjoy here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEQVZf8qxYo

Finally, some good news for those of you who are looking forward to the new Thief game. You won’t have to buy a next generation console for the game. Eidios Montreal has confirmed that the game will also be coming to Xbox360 and PS3. No word yet on a WiiU release. Senior Producer Stephane Roy acknowledges that the developers “have to be smart” in transferring the demands of the software to consoles at the end of their life cycle – suggesting that the breadth of the world may be scaled down to accommodate present-day hardware.

Train2Game News: Cliffy B comments on used games

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Cliff Bleszinski Cliff Bleszinski says the public reaction to the Sony and Microsoft press conferences at E3 are premature, arguing that the former was simply playing a PR game.

Many who watched the show claimed that Sony had “won” E3 due to its declaration that the PlayStation 4 would not have any restrictions on used games.

Bleszinski not only doubts that Sony doesn’t have some anti-used tricks tucked away, but says the used game market is undermining the $60 triple-A model.

“I’d bet Sony has some similar stuff up their sleeves they’re just playing on the internet outrage for free PR,” said Bleszinski over Twitter.

“You cannot have game and marketing budgets this high while also having used and rental games existing. The numbers do NOT work people.”

Bleszinski started his career at Epic Games, where he rose through the ranks to become one of the industry’s most recognisable faces and as the creator of Gears of War, Bleszinski knows the cost of modern triple-A games are astronomical.

“The visual fidelity and feature sets we expect from games now come with sky high costs,” he explained.

“Assassin’s Creed games are made by thousands of devs.”

According to Bleszinski, this means consumers should be prepared for more than just the death of used games, but should expect physical media to be replaced by new distribution and business models.

“This is why you’re seeing free-to-play and microtransactions everywhere,” he concluded.

“The disc based day one $60 model is crumbling.”

Train2Game News: Xbox One vs PS4

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The helpful people at CVG have put together an infographic detailing all the information about the next gen consoles that was announced during E3.

You can enjoy the infographic below:

XB1 v PS4

Train2Game News: PlayStation 4 at E3

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PS4At the biggest gaming convention in the world, E3, Sony have finally given their first look at the PlayStation 4.

The console was revealed to the world and it reminded me of the hugely popular PlayStation 2. With the same black colouring that all the Sony consoles have had and a parallelogram shape, the machine was more attractive than the Xbox One. This was the first of many “One-Ups” Sony performed over Microsoft.

The second came when it was announced that the PlayStation 4 will not force DRM restriction around used games. The clear message was that there were no changes to the way used games and lending games to your friends will be changed at all.

Sony has confirmed that you’ll need to subscribe to PS Plus in order to play PS4 games online. Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida explained that the PS Plus subscription covers the cost of Sony’s massive server-side investments for PS4. Currently a year’s subscription costs £39.99, though it’s yet to be confirmed how much it’ll cost on PS4. Those who already have a PS Plus subscription will have their subscription carried over and your subscription will cover your PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and your PS Vita.

If you do choose to subscribe to PS Plus not only will you be able to play your games online but Sony are also giving one free PS4 game a month, starting with Evolution Studio’s, Driveclub from launch.

Sony also confirmed that it’s new console will be region-free! So no longer will you have to worry so much about your favourite games, or even the console, being cheaper in America.

Speaking of cheaper I will finish off this round up of the console with the price that was announced.

The Sony PlayStation 4 will cost you £349 in the UK, coming in at £80 cheaper than the Xbox One.

Train2Game News: Games Industry News – 07.06.13

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Son of NorIt’s Friday so it is time for a Train2Game industry news round up!

stillalive studios celebrated after its Kickstarter campaign, to raise $150k to fund the completion of its debut 3rd person action adventure PC/Mac/Linux title; Son of Nor, was a success, making $151,175 at its close. The team are now putting all efforts into the completion of the highly anticipated game and have announced its launch onto Steam Greenlight and call for support and people’s votes on the platform. The link to this can be found here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=143053545. During the month long crowd-funding project the studio announced a number of exciting partnerships that will allow players to use integrated hardware such as the Emotiv EPOC; a revolutionary personal interface for human computer interaction, a so called Brain Computer Interface (BCI); the partnership will allow players to control character actions, such as telekinesis, terraforming and magic with the power of their minds and Oculus Rift; that will allow players to immerse themselves in the lore and adventure of Son of Nor deeper than ever before by using this hugely exciting virtual reality device in game.

SpongeBob SquarePants fans can build their very own Bikini Bottom with Nickelodeon’s brand-new city building app, SpongeBob Moves In. Released and available worldwide, SpongeBob Moves In features a stylized 2D design and gives fans a whole new way to interact with the hit animated series. The game is available on iOS and costs £1.49. In the game, players build Bikini Bottom to their own tastes and are tasked with keeping the city’s residents happy by making all their wishes come true. As players advance in the game, they can unlock exclusive-to-the-app, untold stories about how their characters, including SpongeBob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Plankton, Squidward and Sandy, first arrived in the town. Written by the SpongeBob SquarePants series writing staff, these stories are told through brand-new animated short videos unlocked throughout the game.

Diablo 3 is coming to the Xbox 360 as well as PlayStation, Blizzard has announced. The action role-playing game launches on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 3rd September 2013. The game is already announced for PlayStation 4, although that version is without a release date. There is currently new word of an Xbox One edition. If you pre-order the PS3 or Xbox 360 version and you’ll get the Infernal Helm in-game item. You can wear this at level one and gain an experience bonus to boot.

Telltale games have been using their twitter account to tease and excite fans. They have been using the Vine app to show little six second clips showing characters that are drawn in the same art style as The Walking Dead game. It started with the Day 2 trailer, which is interesting as the first episode of Season 1 was Day 1. It shows a missing persons board and someone hanging up a picture of a character called Vince. Vine 2 is titled Day 220, and it’s the same missing persons board with Bonnie being added to it. Bonnie apparently stood outside the White House once. Vine 3 shows a man named Russell, who, by the looks of it, seems to be a recent graduate.

Finally, Masahiro Sakurai took to Twitter to confirm the news today of the brand new Smash Bros. He said (via Google translation): “In Nintendo Direct delivery of 23:00, June 11, New video of “Smash Bros.” will be unveiled for the first time. Simultaneous world, here for the first time! Do not miss.” You can watch it from 3pm UK time. Sakurai is serving as producer on the new Smash Bros. game, which is a Wii U/3DS crossover in development at Namco Bandai.

Train2Game News: PlayStation 4 UK release date and price announced

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PS4 ControllerExciting news for all Train2Game students who are looking forward to Sony’s PlayStation 4. The UK release date and price has been announced.

The Sun news paper announced that the next gen console will be released later this year in October, this follows what Sony said when they announced the console last month.

Even better news is the price. The Sony PS4 will cost you £300. This is much cheaper than when the PS3 was released in 2007, costing £425. This new cheaper price makes it a much more viable option for most gamers and, in my opinion, there should be close competition with the next gen Xbox.

The cheaper price for the new Sony console is probably due to Android consoles like the Ouya and Game Stick being released for £99. The next gen consoles will also have the mobile and free-to-play markets to compete with so I can see a lot of surprises being pulled out from Sony and Microsoft.

The PlayStation 4 console it’s self still hasn’t been seen by public eyes. A good guess would be that both the next generation Xbox and the PlayStation 4 will be revealed at E3 in June in an attempt to compete with one another further.

Train2Game News: Games Industry News – 08.03.13

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UE4It’s the end of the week so it is time for another Train2Game News round up.

Epic announced earlier this week that the Unreal Engine 4 is available for PlayStation 4. In addition to showcasing the new Unreal Engine 4 “Elemental” demo running live and in real time on PlayStation 4 at the PlayStation Meeting 2013, Epic is providing the resources PlayStation 4 developers need to harness the full power of its Unreal Engine 4 technology and realize all facets of their creativity using Epic’s revolutionary new toolset now and in the future.

Multiplay, a leading provider of community gaming, game server hosting, events management and broadcast services, is pleased to announce Insomnia 48. Taking place on 22nd-25th March at the Telford International Centre, i48 pits 1,000 of the best gamers against each other to compete for prize funds of up to £10,000 per tournament. The event will give UK gamers their first hands on experience with Injustice: Gods Among Us. Find out more about the event by going to http://iseries.multiplay.co.uk/

High Moon studio and Marvel have released a new trailer for the upcoming game featuring every bodies favourite “Merc with a mouth”, Deadpool. If you know the insane Marvel character, you will know what to expect. If you don’t know him, prepare for a shock! If you are over 18, you can watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaCBD7NPhCQ&feature=player_embedded

Sony Computer Entertainment UK MD Fergal Gara announced that PlayStation VITA sales absolutely exploded over the holiday period. When asked how he rated the handheld’s performance in its first year on the market, the executive said: “Vita really, really responded as we went into Christmas. We had a pre-Christmas lull where sales were quite low. But that absolutely exploded 20-fold from that low-point into the peak of Christmas. That’s very encouraging and shows that with the right promotion and software we can light that fire.” Mr Gara also admitted that the system’s software release schedule currently appears light, but promised: “It looks bare in terms of what we have announced. The cupboard won’t be bare.”

Finally Eidos Montreal have confirmed they are working on a reboot of Thief. The game is scheduled for a 2014 release and will be coming to PC and Next Gen consoles. The official blurb for the game is “Series hero Garrett returns to the Gothic, industrial metropolis known simply as the City to steal any and everything that will make him richer. Unfortunately, the City is broiling with social tension as it is ravaged by a plague and lorded over by a political tyrant known as the Baron. In order to survive his adventures, Garrett will have to pay attention to his environment and make use of the many possible paths through each of the game’s levels.” Sound familiar?

Train2Game News: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

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Assassin's Creed 4: Black FlagToday, Ubisoft announced Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, the next installment in the company’s best-selling franchise. Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag introduces an all new hero and setting, and will feature the most diverse and seamless Assassin’s Creed world ever created.

In development for nearly two years, the game is being spearheaded by one of the veteran Assassin’s Creed teams in Ubisoft Montreal with support from Ubisoft studios in Annecy, Bucharest, Kiev, Quebec, Singapore and Sofia. Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag will be released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation4, Nintendo’s Wii U, Windows PC and other next generation consoles. The game will be available on 1st November, 2013 in the UK. No date has been confirmed for PS4 launch as of yet.

“With the new hero and new setting we are creating the boldest and most unique Assassin’s Creed game yet, while still respecting the pillars of the franchise that have made it such a fan favorite,” said Yves Guillemot, chief executive officer at Ubisoft.

“Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag is based on a true, harsh and exciting part of a legendary era and will thrill longtime fans and newcomers alike.”

Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag tells the story of Edward Kenway, a young British man with a thirst for danger and adventure, who falls from privateering for the Royal Navy into piracy as the war between the major Empires comes to an end. Edward is a fierce pirate and seasoned fighter who soon finds himself embroiled in the ancient war between Assassins and Templars. Set at the dawn of the 18th Century, the game features some of the most infamous pirates in history, such as Blackbeard and Charles Vane, and takes players on a journey throughout the West Indies during a turbulent and violent period of time later to become known as the Golden Age of Pirates.

Gameplay in Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag is based upon the franchise’s proven tenets. Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag features a vast open world with more than 50 navigable locations. Combat combines the weaponry of the Assassin’s Order with armaments of the era, and rewards both daring and stealth. And the series’ acclaimed multiplayer experience is more varied and ruthless than ever in Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag.

Customers who purchase Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag on PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4 can download 60 minutes of additional gameplay via the PlayStation Network after the game’s launch.

Collector’s Editions of Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag will be available in the EMEA region. More details will be unveiled by the end of March.

You can enjoy the first trailer below

Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag can be pre-ordered at Uplay shop by visiting: http://shop.ubi.com/AC4BF

For more information on Assassin’s Creed, please visit: assassinscreed.com and facebook.com/assassinscreed.

Train2Game News: Games news round up – 22.02.13

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Barack Obama speaks at the Rodon Group in PennsylvaniaIt’s the end of the week so Train2Game News will bring you some of the news stories of the week!

United States president, Barack Obama, revealed he was in favour of computer programming lessons in schools as part of a Google+ discussion. He said computers and videogames excited youngsters and spurred them on to learn. He referred to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, saying he taught himself to program due to his interest in games. He said he wanted people to understand the principles involved in a career in videogames such as maths, science and design.

Following the troubles THQ had they have sold the rights to the WWE video game series to 2K. 2K are more than familiar with sports titles having previously developed the entire NBA series of games since 2011. The series, which will continue to be developed by Yukes in Japan and will combine the studio’s signature gameplay with 2K’s commitment to authenticity in this years WWE ’14.

In addition 2K Games and Irrational Games today announced that production of downloadable content has recently begun for their forthcoming BioShock Infinite and revealed details of the BioShock Infinite Season Pass. Three all-new add-on packs are in development that will provide hours of additional gameplay and continue the player’s journey in the sky-city of Columbia with new stories, characters, abilities and weapons. The BioShock Infinite Season Pass will be available on March 26, 2013 when the game is planned to launch.

Despite Sony showing the currently-available PS Move controller being used with PS4 during the console’s unveiling event on Wednesday, the firm says the new console will not support the use of the standard DualShock 3 controller. The reasons are unclear since the DS3 controller uses the same industry-standard Bluetooth 2.0 tech as the Move controller to connect with PS3, which suggests PS4 will have Bluetooth 2.0 capabilities.

Commander Shepard’s story is finally coming to an end with the announcement of the last bit of single player DLC. Available on March 5th, Mass Effect: Citadel will see Shepard “explore and discover new locations across the vast, deep-space station” while reconnecting with some recognizable characters from the series past. Mass Effect was truly a great game, a save game that lasted six years across three games. Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy shall be missed.

Train2Game News: Sony’s big announcement revealed!

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PS4 Controller

Last night Sony made their big announcement that gamers around the world were waiting for with baited breath. Their big announcement was the reveal of… a controller.

Sony have not yet given a look at the next console but they have stated it will be called the PlayStation 4 and they unveiled some of the specifications for it. Their new console has 8GB of unified memory so the PS4 can do a lot more at once. The CPU behind that is the x86 which should be more than powerful enough to keep that 8GB of unified memory running nicely.

There was no mention of a disc drive in the machine. This may mean that their isn’t one and it will be all digital but what Sony did confirm is that it WON’T be backwards compatible but it WILL play second hand games. This could be proof there is actually a disk drive.

Older games may eventually reach the Cloud. Despite that, while browsing the store, Sony said that with the hit of the “X” button, you’ll be able to play games before you purchase them. The way they insinuated the concept, it sounds similar to going to the library and reading the books right there in the building. Any cloud services that they are talking about will be rolled out in phases, so it doesn’t sound like this will be fully functional at launch.

Sony did reveal they have a vision for an online world. It is very ambitious and staying connected with friends is a priority. As they demonstrated during an animation in one of their videos, they want you walking the streets staring into your smartphone and tablet keeping up with whatever’s happening with your friends on PSN. Those friends can don their real names and faces, too. The ability to keep your reverent online alias is still a possibility. This is a rather funny choice from Sony, considering they had the worst breach of online security in recent memory and are probably still paying for it.

In addition to this Sony have also added a “Share” button to the new controller they revealed. This will work in the same way as Facebook’s share button to share any video clips of your games if you are particularly proud of something. When you hit the Share button it will take you to a mini video editor letting you clip your video to what you want before displaying it on Facebook and Twitter. You’ll also be able to stream yourself live through Ustream and people can interact with you and your game to the point you’ll be able to let players take over your game and play for you. It’s remote access on your console.

There is also an option called Remote Play that will be available. It’s similar to the PS3 and Vita’s cross-play except that it acts more like the Wii U’s Gamepad functionality. As marketed, the compatibility can take a game from the PS4 and put it on the Vita with “full” functionality – meaning full graphic capability. The game they demo was a more cartoony game than something heavy like Crysis or Watch Dogs and it’s probably not going to work with every game, nor did they say it would. It’d be highly unlikely that a future Crysis game would fair well at the same graphical capability on the Vita but Sony may suprise us yet.

Finally let’s get to the new controller they unveiled. The controller will keep its inventive and memorable name, just like the console: DualShock 4. The changes in its design are immediately apparent, but not terribly ugly. It might take getting used to for some. The edges aren’t as rounded and it certainly looks curvier. One of the biggest change is the touch pad in the middle which I can imagine will be used in games in the same way the Vita utilises it. Flanking the pad at the top of the controller is also the “Share” button I mentioned earlier and an “Options” button. There is also an addition of a headphone jack. The size of the jack has not yet been confirmed however.

There is also a light bar that sits on the back portion of the controller that gives a “simpler, more friendly way to identify players.” The controller also acts as the old Sixaxis should have except that the DualShock 4 can read depth in front of the controller and the light bar helps read its position in space in conjunction with a stereo camera.

There was absolutely no sign of the console and no mention of a price during the event but Sony did announce that the PlayStation 4 will be available for Christmas this year.

If you would like to watch the two hour announcement, you can do so by going to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/playstation-live—english-2