PlayStation 4 Archives - Argyll Free Press

One Day PlayStation and Xbox May Truly Coexist

March 17, 2016 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

One factor that game developers and hardware manufacturers have yet to achieve in the world of video games has been cross-platform gaming. While it was planned multiple times by various companies, very few titles that were capable of that ever truly came to fruition. One sadly failed example of cross-platform gaming was Microsoft’s Fable Legends that was supposed to be released along with Lionhead Studios for PC and Xbox One this year; the announcement that the game development had been cancelled came this month.

Meanwhile, a popular title of casual online play, Rocket League, is rising like a tidal wave and not only preparing cross-platform play, but also scheduled to make a retail release sometime later this year. Similarly, a couple of other examples have waded their way out of the platform-exclusive trap and became available via multiple means – Tom Clancy’s The Division and Street Fighter V.

Regardless, this is an abysmally low number of titles in a world where every year brings hundreds of new games, and only very few exclusives to one particular platform (e.g. Bloodborne was released for PlayStation 4 only). So while plenty of titles out there have a well-designed multiplayer system and mechanics, many may end up being squandered over the lack of cross-play between PC, Xbox and PlayStation.

A recent discussion with Sony Executive Adam Boyes at the Game Developers Conference reveals some of the plans and possibilities in this regard. When asked about this, Boyes first brought up the already existent examples such as Dust 514 and the aforementioned Street Fighter V, along with the way Diablo 3 and Grand Theft Auto V players may import character from Xbox 360 onto the PlayStation 4.

Boyes mentioned that in what Sony’s PSN is concerned, they have always been open about making it a possibility. However, it would appear that the main barrier in making this happen at the current time are not Sony and Microsoft, respectively, when it comes to consoles. Instead, Boyes said that it falls down to the support that game developers are willing to offer in this direction.

According to him, if game developers decide to throw a bone in the cross-platform multiplayer capability direction, both PSN and Xbox Live would most likely support it, as there’s little to no technical difficulty in making this happen. Similarly, Xbox indie developer director Chris Charla announced earlier this week that Xbox One is also opening its doors towards the cross-platform multiplayer prospect.

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Rez Infinite is Coming to PS4, and It will Support VR

December 7, 2015 By Kenneth Scott Leave a Comment

Rez Infinite is coming to PS4, and it will support VR as well.

Rez Infinite is a classic Dreamcast and PS2 video-game. It’s set to launch on Sony’s PlayStation 4 in the following days. Old-timey gamers, please, manage your excitement, as the internet has already gone bonkers. The VR version will have a solid 120 frames per second, and it will also boast fully detailed 3D audio. In its default screen mode, Rez Infinite will manage 60 frames per second at 1080p quality – 7.1. surround sound is all-present.

The remastered version will come with a brand new level.

Sony is trying to promote their VR setup, but, to be frank, this isn’t a new game. It’s just a PlayStation 2 remake, which is a HD remastered as well.

The early version of the game was, admittedly, eye-candy with stunning visuals. Developed by HexaDrive for Dreamcast, the Rez had some audio problems, as it wasn’t that well built-in and players could notice that sounds were not properly synched with attacks.

Unfortunately, the overworked music and visuals ended up hurting the gameplay, and it offered a lackluster experience. The Team Andromeda members worked really hard on the game, but, at the end of the day, big fans of Rez were left with a nasty after taste – which, hopefully, we won’t encounter this time around.

This unending stream of remakes is worrying. Even though these games made the PS2 so popular, nobody wants to be stuck in the past. While video game consoles have evolved, so have game mechanics and the way a game dev tells a story. Think of early day Fallout and The Elder Scrolls games, and compare them to the latest titles in the franchise, as in: Fallout 4 and Skyrim. There’s a huge difference in the way the developer conveys a story and grips the gamer to the edge of the seat.

Remakes are great, nostalgia is needed, but how much is too much?

This year marks PlayStation’s 20th anniversary. The Japanese-based company has officially announced that there will be 8 PS2 games available on PS4 consoles.

These PS2 titles can be purchased directly from the European and the American PlayStation Stores. Games will be up-rendered in 1080p with features you would expect a PS4 game to come with.

Be prepared for the following games: War of the Monsters, Twisted Metal: Black, both for $9.99 each. Grand Theft Auto Sand Andreas, Vice City and III for $14.99 each. Rogue Galaxy, Dark Cloud and Mark of Kri also for $14.99 each.

PaRappa the Rapper 2 and The King of Fighters 2000 will be added in the near future.

All of these PS2 classics will have Trophies enabled.

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Sony Announced a New 1 TB PlayStation 4

June 22, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Sony’s just announced a new model for their console – it’s going to be called PlayStation 4 Ultimate Player 1 TB Edition.

Sony acknowledges that the downloadable content market is growing more and more with each passing year, and the company wants to take the bulls by its horns while the bull isn’t all grown up. The Japanese company is going to release their PlayStation 4 1 TB Edition next month – doubling its original capacity.

The PlayStation 4 1 TB Edition is going to be available at the end of this month for those residing in Japan. European, and US gamers will have the possibility of buying the newer model on the 15th of July. At the current moment, nobody knows how much it will cost, nor if it’s going to be bundled with an additional controller, or a Sony exclusive game.

Microsoft announced last week that an Xbox One 1 TB Edition is in the works and it will feature their new Xbox One killer controller. This is Sony’s counter attack to the growing fan-base for Xbox one – reports state that the Xbox One will sell like crazy this X-Mass. Why? Well, because Xbox One will feature backwards compatibility, and a string of AAA titles will also hit Microsoft’s console.

Xbox 360 users will most likely shift towards the next generation consoles, says Microsoft executive Aaron Greenberg – ” A lot of people have been waiting for the next Halo; a lot of people have been waiting for Gears; a lot of people have been waiting for backwards compatibility.”

Sony doesn’t have a thrilling line-up for this holiday – No Man’s Sky is known to be released at the end of 2015, but Sony has lost it’s timed exclusivity deal, and the open-world virtually infinite space exploration game will be released on the PC at the same time.

But Sony’s new model for their PlayStation 4 product line will feature a reduction in power consumption – the Ultimate Player 1 TB Edition will use 8 percent less power than the 500GB version.

Here’s the official video announcement from Sony.

If you didn’t jump on the next gen console bandwagon already, this might be the perfect time to do so. You only have to choose between a Sony PlayStation 4, and a Microsoft Xbox One. Take a look at what exclusive titles stir your curiosity, and decide. You don’t want to miss this period – it’s the best time to be a gamer, and this year’s E3 event is a statement that gaming can only get better.

I’m a happy owner of both the Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. I highly recommend you buy both of them, but if you can’t, I’m more inclined to tell you that Sony has better exclusives, while Microsoft has a better controller.

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Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture – a new art video game

April 17, 2015 By Karen Jackson Leave a Comment

From creators of Dear Esther, and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, The Chinese Room is dead set on creating yet another first person art video game, but this time it will incorporate elements from all of their previous games.

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture will be available exclusively for the PlayStation 4 – and most surely they will take advantage of Sony’s architecture to create a beautiful world to get lost in.

Players have the task of discovering where everybody in this little quirky village has disappeared – it’s like they vanished from existence all together. Where did they go? How did they leave this world? And more importantly why?

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture was revealed back in 2013 at Sony’s Gamescom presentation, and the trailer made us think of a post-apocalyptic scenario – goose bumps were all present on our arms. You can also feel the brooding sense of terror that comes paired with the unknown right here.

A new trailer has arisen on YouTube yesterday. It’s not as haunting as the launch one, but it still transports you into a unsettling state. It starts in a children’s class room, where you can see signs of fighting. This trailer is not for those who scare easily – more so, if you it gets stuck in your brain the whole day, you’ll probably go insane obsessing about what is really going on.

Dan Pinchbeck, creative art director in charge of the game, has hinted that it will feel somehow like Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day – ” Imagine reading a novel and you’re really into it, and 30 pages before the end someone comes up and takes it out of your hand and goes, ‘I’m afraid that’s it. Your time’s up.’ “, he said ” It’s an artificial conceit that doesn’t necessarily produce a good player experience.”. After playing an hour in the game, the player will be transported back to the beginning, having a limited time to explore the world and find out a way to solve this mystery.

Dan Pinchbeck has also went out of his way proclaiming the soundtrack to be – “[…] one of the best game soundtracks ever created.”. To be honest, the little track that spans 1 minute and 39 seconds that is available on Soundcloud is just heartbreaking. You can feel it immerse you in the terrifying world of uncertainty. And with their huge success with Dear Esther – the exceptional soundtrack created by Jessica Curry, and the magnificent world you are set in – I have no worries that the guys and girl at The Chinese Room will deliver an extraordinary game.

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is set to be released this Summer, but, as I said before, only for the PlayStation 4. Hopefully we’ll see a port soon for other consoles, and PC.

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PlayStation Now adds new goodies to its streaming service

April 7, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Sony will be adding in April a ton of new goodies for PlayStation Now users – and it will be also available for Sony Blu-Ray players and TVs.

The most exciting game that will be available to Sony’s game streaming service has to be Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. An award winning game that ended the Uncharted trilogy – or so we have thought until we heard that Uncharted 4: A thief’s End is set to be released next year. It’s the perfect chance for gamers to catch up on the series, and fell madly in love with Naughty Dog’s rendition of a more charismatic Indiana Jones – if that’s even possible.

PlayStation Now will also receive two Team Ninja games – Ninja Gaiden Sigma, and Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate. And for the casual gamers out there – Hustle Kings and Super Stardust HD.

It’s seem to be a month filled with great news from Sony. They have announced that their PlayStation Now service will be available outside of the PlayStation devices. Owners of Sony Blu-Ray players, 2015 models, and select 2014 Sony TV’s will be able to use the game streaming service. For more information regarding if your device is compatible with PlayStation Now, please read the FAQ sheet available on the official website.

PlayStation 4 owners will have PS Now pre-installed on their devices, and they will also receive a free seven day trial.

A subscription to PlayStation Now costs 20$ per month – or 45$ for 3 months – and it offers the user over 100 PS3 titles for pure enjoyment. The list of titles that are available on the streaming service can be read right here.

It seems that Sony wants to move further and further into game streaming services. In 2012 the company has acquired Gaikai, and recently a buy-out has been publicly announced by OnLive – one of the pioneers of game streaming services. Rumours have it that Sony didn’t acquire OnLive only for their network, or hardware capabilities, but most importantly for their patents.

If you weren’t planning on using PlayStation Now, maybe with these new additions you are enticed to give it a try. I know I will replay the Uncharted series. What about you?

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God of War 3 to be remastered for the PS4

March 26, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

On the 20th of March, the tenth anniversary of the God of War franchise, Sony Santa Monica Studios announced their plan of remastering God of War 3 for the PS4. It’s a strategy to fill up PS4’s game bibliotheque, which at the moment is lacking titles – after one year and a half, there are almost 150 games available to buy, with only 40 of them being exclusive Sony.

God of War creators will bring a new HD experience to veterans of the franchise – full of silky smooth textures, jaw-dropping cinematics, fluid combat and unforgettable boss fights. Santa Monica Studios are adding a photo mode so users can take pictures of gruesome decapitations, or unique feats of glory. With 1080p graphics, running at 60fps, who wouldn’t want screen caps of tearing enemies limb from limb?

Kratos is a Spartan warrior that seeks justice and vengeance. Bloodthirsty, and with a will to make things right, Kratos embarks on a journey to defeat the one that tricked him into killing his own family, and becoming the Ghost of Sparta – the God Ares. After years of torment and despair, he finally brought the chains of justice to Ares, and was finally able to ascend to Olympus as the true God of War, only to be tricked once again, but this time by his own father – Zeus.

God of War 3 is set immediately after his father’s trickery – with Kratos siding with the Titans, and wishing to destroy the very foundation of Olympus. Reigniting the Great War, there is only one goal set – to obliterate every single creature that stands in his way, whether it is God, Titan, or mortal, and bring chaos to a world that needs a new start.

With Uncharted 4 being delayed, one could only hope to get a hand on a copy. It hits stores on July 14th in the US, and July 17th in the UK. As far as the price goes, we could only presume that the traditional 59,99$ is more than enough for a remastered version with a ton of bonus goodies, we hope, to take the pain away of not being able to play Uncharted 4.

Until its release, you can check out the announcement trailer that it’s packed with epic fight scenes, and the doom that awaits the Gods.

Do you think Kratos will finally get his well deserved peace? Or will he succumb to Zeus’ powers?

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