The technology behind PlayStation Now, Sony’s streaming game service, is admittedly cool, provided your internet connection is up to snuff. But while streaming PS3 games (rendered on Sony’s side) to PS4, PS3, Vita, and now TVs is cool, the prices were anything but. A 90-day rental could cost anywhere from $15-50 (often the cost of a full copy or higher), while even $4 for a mere four hours of gameplay seemed unfair, considering how long it takes to play many games. Prices have shifted, but users have begged for a subscription model, which has finally arrived. Starting on January 13 for PS4, you can subscribe for one month ($19.99) or three months ($44.99) at a time. In exchange, you’ll get access to over 100 PS3 games. Read more…
Sony and Samsung may be rivals in the TV business, but apparently that won’t stop them from trying to make more profit together. PlayStation Now is coming to Samsung Smart TVs in the US and Canada. The service, which allows streaming rentals of PS3 games (and hopefully PS1 and PS2 games down the line), will be made available in the first half of 2015. Samsung TVs don’t have the horsepower to render PS3 games, but that doesn’t matter, because all the processing is done on Sony’s side and streamed to the TV. All Samsung owners need to buy is a DualShock 4 controller (since, you know, TVs don’t normally come with controllers). Now if only Sony would adjust PlayStation Now prices to be more attractive, because I’d rather buy the game for cheap than bother with the overpriced rentals. Read more…
Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank franchise has been a beautiful cartoony series of games for a while now. So as news breaks that there is a Ratchet & Clank movie in the works, I’d like to say that I’m completely surprised, but really, it makes sense. Insomniac has some established, likable characters, and considering how the game already looks like a cartoon, this isn’t too much of a stretch. The only surprise is that this will be theatrically released instead of just releasing direct-to-DVD.
Sony has announced on February 20th they’ll be having their Playstation Meeting event again, this time teasing that viewers will “see the future.” That seems like a Playstation 4 announcement to me, right? We can never say for sure, but the Vita was announced at a previous Playstation Meeting, so the likelihood is high. It’s especially interesting given that Kaz Hirai recently said that they’d let Microsoft make the first move. What a twist! Maybe he was luring them into a false sense of security so that his secret Playstation event would catch them by surprise! Or maybe I’m putting too much thought into this. Watch the teaser trailer below. Read more…
What do Kratos and Nathan Drake do between battles? Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank? Maybe they just eat bagels. Or at least that’s what the guys at Robot Chicken think. They did a cool little commercial for Sony to promote Playstation All-Stars: Battle Royale and I just enjoy the style of their stop-animation. It’s a pretty fun look at the characters, but all this does is make me want a game in this art style. Watch the video below. Read more…
The long-titled and frequently-compared-to-Smash Bros. game, Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, has finally gone gold. To celebrate, they’ve released the intro trailer for the game, so you can see exactly what you’ll see when you start the game up. Pay attention at the end, and you’ll get a glimpse of the final boss too! Can you guess who the shadowy character is? I’ll give you a hint: it’s a former mascot for Sony in the US. Read more…
Sony has taken its sweet time adding PS1 games to the PlayStation Vita digital store. In fact, there were no updates last week at all. Though technically every PS1 game on the PlayStation Network should be able to be played on PlayStation Vita, in practice some don’t work, and large amounts are still not listed on the Vita’s version of PSN. But this week, Sony is showing a lot of love to fans of old PS1 games. Click through for the long list! Read more…
Something slipped under my radar, with all the news from Tokyo Game Show: Sony’s new game by their SCE JAPAN Studio, Puppeteer. It was announced at Gamescom, but we’re getting a new trailer here – and wow, does it look cool. It’s a platforming game where you play as a boy named Kutaro who has been transformed puppet, and the world itself is a stage, complete with audience reactions and strings holding everything up. It really looks unique and stands out from the other games at TGS, so I’m hoping we hear more about it soon! Read more…
You may have caught the news from Comic-Con that VIZ Media’s catalog (via their new app Neon Alley) and the Crunchyroll app would be debuting on the Playstation 3 this fall. Great news for anime fans who want to watch their latest streaming shows on their HDTV, but that’s not what I wanted to bring up. IGN recently took a look at Crunchyroll’s app, and while the app seems to have all the necessary features, it lacks in one prominent area: it can only play video in 480p. Hopefully this will change before release! Read more…
That doesn’t mean it doesn’t look fun, though! Sony recently announced a new PS3 game that will finally combine all your favorite first-party Playstation characters into one fighting brawler. Wanted to have Fat Princess fight Kratos? Done. Parappa the Rapper versus Sly Cooper? It can happen. If you like the gameplay of Smash Bros. Brawl, then you’ll feel right at home here. No news on a release date yet, but I’m sure we’ll hear more at E3. Read more…
So here’s the latest trailer for BBC Worldwide and Supermassive Games’ upcoming adventure title, Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock. BBC decided to label it “epic,” but I’m not so sure about that. It certainly features a lot of rotating environments, voice acting and running. The Doctor and River both make an appearance, voiced by Matt Smith and Alex Kingston respectively, and it will be the first Vita game to utilize the Unreal Engine, but that last bit is hardly anything to brag about. The engine has been around for awhile and it certainly showing its age. The game, set to release sometime next month, will be available via PlayStation Network for both the PlayStation Vita, and PS3.
In what I imagine was an effort to cut down on piracy, Sony recently announced plans to limit access of downloaded titles. Previously, users were allowed to activate their accounts on up to five consoles, allowing them to download their purchases to each. Starting November 18th, Playstation Network users will be limited to playing their purchased content on two PS3, and PSP consoles. Unfortunately, that means users who own more than the specified limit or who share their purchases with friends may find themselves making some tough decisions, however the change in policy shouldn’t effect any purchases made before the 18th.
This week, Sony launched a line of PlayStation 2 titles to be distributed digitally via the PlayStation store. Under normal circumstances, this would be welcome news. However a few gamers are more than a little ticked. Some of you may recall the console having launched with backwards compatibility, allowing PS2 owners the option to carry their libraries over to the new platform. Current models no longer support hardware emulation and, until now, have lacked the means to play PS2 software. Sony finally seems to have perfected their software emulation, but won’t be giving it to us for free. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised, after all where’s the profit in giving us backwards compatibility when Sony could simply charge us twice for the games we already own. At least early adopters can still brag — that is, assuming their consoles haven’t died yet.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Sep 19, 2011 in Videogames
It’s going to be an exciting week for RPG fanatics, as Square Enix will be releasing both Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger via PlayStation Network. I imagine both titles will be the PSOne ports, so you can expect some annoying load times. At least they’ll have some of those fancy CG cut-scenes. On top of that, they’ll be a great for anyone who plans on purchasing a PSVita next year. Speaking of which, if any of you are curious, the Vita will be region free, so importing one early might be an option. My only hang up there is that you won’t be able to get a 3G model unless you wait since I don’t think AT&T will set up their Vita service by the time the handheld hits the Japanese market. Still, since the handheld will rely heavily on digital distribution, purchasing some games ahead of time might be worthwhile. Both titles should be available this Tuesday, their price is still TBD.
There’s no hiding the fact that Sony has been dealing with quite a bit of bad press as of late. As many of you may already be aware, the company has been suffering from numerous attempts to hack their servers and subsequent fallout. Many outlets have been quick to criticize the company for their inability to react in what they’ve deemed a timely manner, while others have applauded Sony’s attempts to rectify the situation for both developers and consumers alike. Did Sony’s E3 conference do anything to restore our faith in their brand? Or, was it just another in a long line of missteps?
They missed the self-imposed deadline of “by the end of the month,” but Sony has finally restored access to the Playstation Network Store. For weeks, developers have been reporting losses, and many customers who’ve recently purchased games have been denied access to their downloadable content. Worst yet, several games have required the use of a key for online play which could only be unlocked via the online store — the move finally provides a bit of relief. Due to the length of downtime, much of the content that had been previously scheduled for release will be rolled out in waves in order to play catch up. For a full list of new content, head on over to the Playstation blog, just don’t be surprised if you have a little trouble logging in, seeing as everyone else will likely be flooding the store over the course of the next two days.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 16, 2009 in Videogames
You know it’s the stupid things in life that make me happy — and the minute I looked at the trailer for the Pirates of the Caribbean Premium Level Kit for LittleBigPlanet a smile emerged on my face. Everything about this level seems just right from the silly music to the kitbashing of character designs. This level will be out on December 22nd for $6 from Media Molecule.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 27, 2009 in Videogames
3D Dot Game Heroes is an RPG game for the Playstation 3 which is due out on November 5th in Japan. This title which is designed by From Software takes place in a classic retro gaming RPG kingdom whose king declares that his world should be in 3D to celebrate the defeat of a demon lord. What I love about this title is that it pays tribute to old school videogames while breaking the third wall of the medium by incorporating the medium of the medium into the plot of the game: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 4, 2009 in Videogames
This is the 90 second gameplay trailer for the American launch of Mini Ninjas. I’ve got to say that I love the variety of scenes shown here — it’s very inventive how they’ve got everything from bobsledding to battles with bears.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 6, 2009 in Videogames
Crude humor? Yes! Cartoon violence? Yes! I’ve been following Mini Ninjas for a while due to the japanophile angle — the game is being developed in England so I was very happy to see that they’ll be bring it to to the good old USA. I loved the concept from the minute I heard it, but these videos give a bit more backstory, and I like what I’m seeing even more! Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 6, 2009 in Videogames
Shown above is the new gameplay trailer for End of Eternity a role playing game for the PlayStation3 and Xbox 360 that’s being put out by Sega and tri-Ace (the game is suppose to come out at the end of this year). I’ve got to say that I really love the subtle steampunk look of this game colossal machine-city called Burzel. Below is the first cinematic trailer which came out in April: Read more…
Shown above is the latest commercial for the upcoming action videogame Senki Gundam for the Playstation3 and is due out on September 3rd, 2009. The developers behind this game also did the well remembered Dreamcast and Saturn games — so Gundam fanboys are pretty psyched about this. Below is a video from earlier in July which shows some actual gameplay: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 17, 2009 in Videogames
And of course you know that Futo is the largest of the Mini Ninjas! But if you didn’t know that this Edios games looks might be worth keep track of — it’s due out in September and will be eventually be available on the PC, Xbox, Playstation3, Wii and Nintendo DS. In the game Join Hiro embarks on an epic quest to “restore harmony to a world on the brink of chaos”. To battle a magical army of evil Samurai you have to use all of your hard earned Ninja training skills. I just love the look of this game, you can tell that developer Io-Interactive had fun with the details as seen in these screen shots: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 18, 2009 in Videogames
This is the trailer for Edge of Twilight and while I can’t speak to the game play, the steampunk styled art direction in this Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 title looks nothing short of absolutely amazing. Even the voice acting and sound design on this trailer do a nice job of complimenting the visuals. In fact I hate to say it, but when you look at game trailer like this is makes you sad that nothing this original or interesting is being made in Hollywood these days: Read more…
