PlayStation

First Screenshot from Zone of the Enders HD Leaked

by Sohrab Osati | May 19, 2012 | 21 comments

Zone of the Enders and Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner were both beloved and cult games from the PlayStation 2 era. Thanks to a given break to Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear Solid series, the brilliant writer and video game director was able to create a new world which differed drastically from the MGS universe. Set in the late 22nd century, ZOE tells the story of humanity, after Earths colonization of Mars and and the eventual power struggle the two sides would partake in. Like any title from Kojima, the over all war between the two plants is only the back story which allowed him to dive into ethical choices and moral dilemmas that the stories hero would partake in his Orbital Frame, the start of game.

Thanks to a resurgence of PS2 classics making their way to the PS3 and now PS Vita, fans who missed out on the beloved game will once again have a chance to discover this facinating world and learn about the rivalry between Jehuty and Anubis. Like most games being retooled for the PS3, you can expect a bump in graphics, anywhere from 720p to 1080p and traditionally 3D compatibility as well though neither detail has been confirmed yet. Trophies will of course be a part of this rerelease which will let your fellow gamers know about your adventures in ~~Barsoom~~ Mars.

Zone of the Enders HD Collection is expected to land this fall for the PS3, PS Vita, and Xbox 360. Leaked screenshot, after the jump.

Crystal White PlayStation Vita Available Now, in Hong Kong

by Sohrab Osati | May 18, 2012 | 1 comment

Remember how Sony unveiled the Crystal White PlayStation Vita for Japan, with the Wi-Fi version for ¥24,98 ($312) and 3G for ¥29,980 ($375)? Well now, Hong Kong has jumped in on the action as well with shipments landing on June 28th. The newest color to the PS Vita will also cary no price premium so whether black or white is your color choice, you walk out paying the same. Those who wish to pre-order however will get some extra goodies like the Trooper Pack, Armor Game case, 4GB memory card and a lint free cloth for free which in some ways, actually places the price of the Crystal White addition below its black counterpart. Us fate and press release, after the jump.

Japanese Developer Cave Cancels Vita Games

by Jan Hutchings | May 17, 2012 | 15 comments

Shirotsuku was to feature characters based on historical Japanese heroes.

Cave, a Japanese developer known mostly for their shoot-em up games, has cancelled two of their PlayStation Vita games in development. The company had been facing financial issues and poor sales forecasts and was forced to cancel Shirotsuku (a social war game) and an unannounced shoot-em up; both were in development for Sony’s brand new handheld.

In the cancelled Shirotsuku, players are cast as a “daimyo” in the Sengoku period of Japanese history who needs build up his own tiny castle kingdom in this Sengoku simulation game. Players could use the “check in” feature to pick up souvenirs exclusive to your geo-location and construct unique buildings from that area. Once the player’s castle town is bustling, they can enter a skirmish to try their luck in battle against other users.

Shirotsuku was supposed to be the first game to use the PlayStation Vita’s location registration feature to pick up souvenirs and buildings exclusive to the player’s geographic area.

These cancellations present irrefutable evidence that many of Japan’s developers are indeed facing grave financial situations. These companies are also facing the threat of rising interest in western games in both the Western and Eastern game markets. Cave’s latest releases have mostly suffered from poor sales like the recent Akai Katana (released in Europe) for the Xbox 360.

Naughty Dog Reveals New Look for Ellie, from The Last of Us. Is it Good? (updated with 5 additional pics)

by Sohrab Osati | May 16, 2012 | 15 comments

Via their Facebook page, Naughty Dog has just revealed a revamped look for Ellie, one of the main characters from their upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive, The Last of Us. This time around, Naughty Dog decided to go for a more “youthful look” to the surviving character. Judging by the reaction on Facebook and our own, many fans prefer the older, more mature look. With that said, we don’t know the context of the character and the older, more adult looking Ellie might have taken away from the character arch and story that the team is trying to portray. Let us know in the comments section which look you prefer. Additional 5 pictures, after the jump.

Hot Trailer: Naughty Dog Releases New Cinematic Trailer for ‘The Last of Us’

by Chris Quibol | May 16, 2012 | 0 comments

Naughty Dog took the internet by storm recently by releasing a new cinematic trailer for its highly-anticipated game, The Last of Us. The short trailer provides a glimpse at not only main characters Ellie and Joel, but also a couple of previously unseen enemies and a better look at the decaying world around the two protagonists. Those following the game closely will also notice a slight change in Ellie’s appearance as well. Be sure to check back here as more info drops on The Last of Us.

Check the trailer out for yourself after the jump.

PlayStation Store Update (05-15-2012)

by Chris Quibol | May 15, 2012 | 16 comments

A couple of huge releases highlight this week’s Playstation Store Update, as well as the typical plethora of releases for Playstation Plus members, PS Vita, and a handful of demos. First up is Pixeljunk 4am from Q Games. Less of a game and more of a “music creation tool,” Pixeljunk 4am lets you create and share music you create by using waving the Playstation Move. Check out the trailer for yourself below.

The other big release this week is Sonic the Hedgegog 4: Episode 2, which features new levels, new music, and the return of Sonic’s partner, Tails. Sega has said that Episode 2 improves upon a lot of the criticisms from the first iteration of Sonic 4, so look for this episode to be the 2D Sonic game that we’ve all been waiting for.

Playstation Plus members have a ton of free and discounted stuff this week, including free PSN game Rock of Ages and huge discounts on Goldeneye 007: Reloaded and Assassins Creed: Brotherhood Complete. And of course, if you’re low on funds this week, be sure to check out free demos for Batman Arkham City, Pixeljunk 4am, Rock of Ages, and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2.

Hit the jump for all of this week’s Playstation Store update.

A Visual Look at PlayStation Sales Numbers

by Sohrab Osati | May 15, 2012 | 15 comments

Over the last week, there’s been a mixed bag of news for Sony and their 2012 outlook. Despite the company posting a record $5.7 billion annual loss, the electronic giant was hopeful about returning to profitability in 2013. Still, Sony’s sales were down across the board, including the PlayStation division, with sales down 6.8% compared to a year ago. Though not amazing numbers, the PlayStation Vita, Sony’s recently-released handheld, sold 1.8 million units since its debut earlier in the year, beating many analyst expectations.

A big part of Sony’s PlayStation sales dips are attributed to their old consoles which have continued to sell well past their life cycle. Down to 4.1 million units sold, compared to 6.4 million units from the years past, the PS2 has been a shining beacon for Sony as the 12-year-old console continues to help Sony’s bottom line. The PSP has also seen a drop, down to 6.8 million versus 8 million from the year prior. With the PS Vita waiting to catch on fire and continued strength from the Nintendo 3DS and smartphones, it’s surprising to see the PSP sell as many as it did, giving further credibility to the continued strength of the PlayStation brand and available games. The PS3 was also no slouch, though it took a dip of 400,00 units compared to the year prior, with 13.9 million units sold.

More charts and numbers after the jump.

Killzone 4 Rumors: Could Scolar Visari’s Daughter Be The New Helghast Leader?

by Jan Hutchings | May 15, 2012 | 17 comments

Apparently the next title in the Killzone franchise will continue right after the ending of Killzone 3. This is according to Siliconera’s source within Sony Computer Entertainment. The source has said that SCE has been busy recording a teaser for an upcoming Killzone game.

*Jan’s Note: There are rumblings within the industry and it sounds like the next Killzone title will be announced at E3 2012. Although, there is no word if the title will be coming to PS3 or PlayStation Vita. Also, this news piece is a HUGE Killzone 3 spoiler so read at your own discretion.

Though the source didn’t say much about the game’s characters or story, they did reveal an excerpt that can help shed light on the next Killzone’s plot, presumably, Killzone 4.

SCEA President Jack Tretton Wants PS4 to Play Used Games

by Sohrab Osati | May 14, 2012 | 0 comments

There’s been a lot of talk about the PlayStation 4, codenamed Orbis (or so we think), and that’s really the point. Everyone has run with the idea that the eventual successor to the PS3 is codenamed Orbis while in reality, we have no idea. During the hype of reports that came out last month, one story stood out in particular for budget aware gamers. Sites began reporting that, as similarly reported for the Xbox 360 successor, the PS4 would block all used games, thus killing the market which has been greatly helped by GameStop’s used games program. With the PS4 blocking used games, it is thought that each game will carry some form of registration which will need to be authenticated by Sony servers.

Now to be clear, this has never been confirmed by Sony and I remain doubtful of this happening, especially once all games go digital. Think Apple’s AppStore for iOS devices which is purely built on digital distribution and therefore, cannot accommodate a used market. Luckily, we’re not the only ones who are opposed to the idea of a PS4 not playing used games as SCEA President Jack Tretton has expressed his support of the PS4 handling used titles. His remarks, after the jump.

Sony E3 Press Conference Will Be Televised

by Sohrab Osati | May 14, 2012 | 8 comments

Prior to this week, there were some doubts on whether PlayStation fans could get in on the E3 action and see Sony’s E3 press conference live. Sony has traditionally in the past released their E3 press conference video on PSN later in the day as a special store update, while recently, the company has begun live streaming the video on their website and on PlayStation Home. With Microsoft partnering with SpikeTV to televise their E3 press conference, does this leave PlayStation fans out of luck and instead, reliant on PS Home or the internet? According to G4, no. Not at all.

GameStop to Pull PSP Games from Smallest 25% of Stores

by Sohrab Osati | May 11, 2012 | 0 comments

With the release of the PlayStation Vita, it was inevitable that retailers would eventually make more room for the powerful portable and begin to pull support for the 7-year-old PlayStation Portable. With stores varying in all sizes, GameStop has announced that they will be pulling PSP games from their smaller stores to make room for newer content.

“The consolidation is occurring to maximize the merchandising space in the smallest 25% of stores,”

With 1.8 million PS Vita’s sold since its introduction earlier this year, its not all that surprising to see this move. GameStop has however assured PSP owners that the remaining 75% of their stores will continue to carry PSP games with full availability on their website. It’s also worth noting that with the rise of digital downloads, thanks to iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad and now the PS Vita offering same day downloads with new game launches, retailers like GameStop have been aggressive at finding new ways to attract consumers. GameStop has even gone as far as starting to sell Android tablets in stores and is rumored to be working on their own gaming focused Android tablet.

Sony Announces 1.8 Million Vitas Sold Worldwide Despite Company Losses

by Jan Hutchings | May 11, 2012 | 1 comment

Sony announced that they have sold 1.8 million PlayStation Vita units worldwide during their 4th Quarter 2011 Earnings Announcement earlier today. The overall tone of the announcement was that of loss for the company, especially the 19% decrease in sales within the consumer products segment. A lot of it was due to the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange rates, the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the floods in Thailand, and deterioration in market conditions in developed countries.

However, according to Sony CEO Kaz Hirai, having sold the 1.8 million Vitas worldwide was a good start, and that the software is the key to success, “how good software is,” so “we have to reinforce the software area in order to improve the business, that is the basic line.”

Hirai also stated that:

“As of this moment, there is no decline or lack of motivation (from developers) for the portable platform. This is a very important product indeed for us and therefore we still have a very high motivation to develop this farther. Software and sevices must be strengthened. So in other words, the collaborative approach with third-party and first-party studios is very important.”

So in the end, Sony did indeed incur losses to their business, yet the Vita business is indeed starting to perk up. With E3 just around the corner, there’s rumblings around the industry that Sony will be announcing some major titles at the event which will hopefully drive sales of the handheld.

Jenova Chen Believes PSN Has “More Artistic and Adult-focused Taste”

by Sohrab Osati | May 10, 2012 | 2 comments

Jenova Chen (pictured left), one of the creators behind the mega popular PlayStation 3 exclusives Journey, Flower, and Flow, recently talked about Thatgamecompany’s take on the gaming industry as a whole. Inevitably, the topic lead to PSN (PlayStation Network), Xbox Live, and WiiWare, which barely registers among online gaming portals with exciting content. Chen, who is no stranger to digital distribution, seeing how all of his games are only available via PSN, believes that the exepreince offered by Sony online is unrivaled by competitors.

“Sony has a more artistic and adult-focused taste. They care about how grown-ups feel toward their games.”

Besides the mentioned games, PSN is home to a series of exclusive and high quality games like Fat Princess, PixelJunk Shooter, and Dead Nation. Chen went on to say;

“The player who owns a PlayStation 3 [and is playing PSN titles] is more likely to be interested in artistic games compared to Wii and Xbox 360,”

More from Chen and Sony, after the jump.

Modern Warfare 3 PS3 Bundle Coming Later This Month

by Jan Hutchings | May 10, 2012 | 1 comment

Sony and Activision announced that they’re teaming up to bring a limited edition PlayStation 3 bundle that packs both the 320 GB PS3 game console, a copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and a Dualshock 3 controller.

Love it or hate it, Modern Warfare 3 was the best selling PS3 game of 2012 and is still one of the most played games on the PlayStation Network. This new bundle is coming just in time for the newest content and map pack releases for Modern Warfare 3. Two new maps, Sanctuary and Foundation are set to release May 10, and four new maps are on the pipeline for June.

The Limited Edition Modern Warfare 3 PS3 bundle will retail for $299.99 and is coming on May 25. Keep in mind that playing the standard Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer component is free on the PSN, however, players are recommended to subscribe to Activision’s Call of Duty Elite service to get the most out of the COD games.

Limited Edition Hatsune Miku PlayStation Vita Unveiled

by Sohrab Osati | May 9, 2012 | 0 comments

We somehow missed this one in our report of the new Crystal White PlayStation Vita for Japan. In edition to the new color for the PS Vita, Sony and SEGA are releasing a limited edition Hatsune Miku PlayStation Vita in Japan as well. With a ¥10,000 ($125) price increase over the Wi-Fi and 3G models, Miku fans will not only get the popular character on their rear touch panel, but will also receive a a 4GB memory card and a copy of Next Hatsune Miku: Project Diva. With E3 in just a few short weeks, it wouldn’t come to us a surprise if Sony brought the Crystal White Vita State side but hopes for a limited edition Hatsune Miku PS Vita remain low in our eyes. After the jump, a promo video, showing the Crystal Vita PlayStation Vita and the limited edition Hatsune Miku unit.