PlayStation
- Sony has confirmed PS5 players will be able to play with those on PS4 when the next gen console launches. We don’t know a lot of concrete facts about PS5 except that it will have a SSD that vastly improves loading times and game data streaming and that it will support 8K gaming with raytracing. One thing the platform holder is really hammering home is the fact that backwards compatibility is going to be paramount, which is something the PS4 has done a laughable job with.
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Days Gone has just received another update, and boy is it a big one clocking in at a mammoth 13GB. As the game’s biggest patch yet, it includes some welcome fixes and improvements for progression issues, glitches, and performance optimizations.
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Last week we reported on Microsoft and Sony’s shocking announcement that the two would be collaborating on cloud technologies. Well, it appears employees on the PlayStation team were in just as much shock. According to a report from Bloomberg, the meetings were kept under wraps and ”staff at the gaming division were caught off-guard by the news. Managers had to calm workers and assure them that plans for the company’s next-generation console weren’t affected.”
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Sony has been inspired by Marvel’s massive success in the movie space, not that Sony is any stranger to the film scene. They opened a new studio called PlayStation Productions which will be overseen by Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden. According to a quote from. The Hollywood Reporter:
Instead of licensing our IP out to studios, we felt the better approach was for us to develop and produce for ourselves. One, because we’re more familiar, but also because we know what the PlayStation community loves.
Oh, and rumor has it the new studio is working on an adaptation of Twisted Metal. - Sony Santa Monica’s latest God of War installment has surpassed a cool 10 million units sold worldwide.
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Sony’s active PSN users crossed 94 million with 1/3 of those being paid members. What’s more, players spent $20 billion on PSN during fiscal year of 2018.
Nintendo
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Nintendo is closing both Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes in Belgium due to loot box concerns. Both titles will close August 27 of this year.
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Back in October, Uniqlo hosted a competition asking Pokémon fans to design a new t-shirt. The winner was to receive a lovely $10K reward, a special trophy, an invitation to an award ceremony in Tokyo, and even an invitation to the 2019 Pokémon World Championships. Chinese artist Li Wen Pei took home the cash by submitting his Magikarp and Gyarados design, however, he may lose it all as he violated the terms of the contest. You see, he originally sold the artwork on a few phone cases prior to submitting it for the competition and now he’s claiming pirates have stolen his design and put it all over shirts to sell. This would go against the rule which stated all designs must not have been sold on any previous merchandise, although no official ruling has been determined.
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Some beta footage of Mario Kart Tour has made it’s way online and it looks, well, like what you’d kind of expect a mobile Mario Kart to look like. It’s sure no Mario Kart 7 or 8, but maybe it won’t be that bad. If it brings newbies into the proper series, then it’s a success in my book.
Xbox
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Microsoft has added some new features to the Xbox Game Bar. Players now have instant access to widgets for screen capture and sharing, controlling music, finding new teammates with Looking for Group (LFG), and chatting with friends across Xbox, mobile, and PC—all without leaving their game by pressing the Windows key and the “G” key at the same time.
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Microsoft is hosting a massive Xbox Compatibility Sale until May 27 with over 200 out of the nearly 500 titles available discounted by as much as 75%.
Industry News
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Razer announced they’ll be shutting down online services for Ouya and Forge TV at the end of June. This shutdown marks the end of what was an ambitious, turbulent, and unsuccessful crowdfunded console for Android video games.
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According to a Kotaku report, Riot Games is developing a mobile version of League of Legends with Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent.
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Blizzard announced that it would be nerfing some of the most powerful cards in Hearthstone in an attempt to break up the dominance of two classes: Rogue and Warrior.
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Speaking of patches, Apex Legends received an update to version 1.1.3 which improves hit detection
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Last weekend, speedrunner CreeperHntr set the world record for Rage 2 with a run of 1:53:26 mere days after the title’s May 14 launch. One thing’s for sure—we’re sure this time won’t last long in the cutthroat world of speed running.
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Dead Island 2 was announced five years ago back in 2014 and since then it’s changed developers and we haven’t heard anything about it since. Well, THQ Nordic came out this week and basically said “Fear not! This game is still in development!” So yeah. Another zombie game no one wants anymore.
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If you’re into Brawlhalla I have good news, the game now supports cross-play between Xbox and Switch. So enjoy wrecking your Xbox buds while you’re taking a dump.
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Indie hit Dead Cells just got even bigger and better thanks to a new, free piece of DLC called ‘Rise of the Giant’ that adds a new area called the Cavern that’s ”filled with entirely new ways to die”. Players who beat the game and play the DLC will come up against new traps, lava pools, plenty of new enemies who are all waiting to kill you, and even a new boss.
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Quantic Dream announced demos and dates for the PC ports of their most recent releases: Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human, all of which will be made available exclusively on the Epic Games Store.
- Heavy Rain will launch June 24 with a demo available May 24
- Beyond: Two Souls will follow July 27 with a demo on June 22
- Detroit: Become Human will be released sometime this Fall.
The former titles will cost around $20, while Detroit is expected to sell for around $40.
- Panic, the developer most known for Firewatch, announced a new handheld game console (yes, really) called Play Date. It’s definitely quirky with a usable crank that pop’s out from the right side. The device also comes with a 2.7 inch black and white display, a headphone jack, USB-C for charging, bluetooth, and wifi. Games are being released on a weekly basis as a surprise from all kinds of developers like Keita Takahashi of Katamari Damacy. According to the company:
We’d like to keep them a secret until they appear on your Playdate. We want to surprise you. Some are short, some long, some are experimental, some traditional. All are fun. When your Playdate lights up with a brand new game delivery, we hope you can’t wait to unwrap your gift.
