Playstation 4

PlayStation Plus Has Launched In Asia and There are Actually a Ton of Games

Posted on by Spieler Dad

Last week, Sony announced a list of games that would launch with PlayStation Plus when it rolls out in Asia, and yours truly had a shit fit on how underwhelming it was. Today, I stand corrected.

The list that was released today on the PlayStation website is far more extensive, including a mix of PS4 and PS5 games, as well as a “Classics Catalog,” which is a good thing. Sony also goes on to promise that more games will be added soon. So maybe PlayStation Plus won’t be entirely dead on arrival when it matches up with Xbox Game Pass.

Better yet, it was announced that games on the service may feature enhancements, like up-rendering, rewind, and quick save, thereby taking advantage of the PS5’s horsepower. Gamers can also opt for various scaling, aspect ratios, and video filters, to give their classics some retro crustiness.

PlayStation Plus is scheduled to launch in Japan next, and then rolling out to the USA and Europe in June.

For a full list, go ahead and check out Sony’s website.

[Source: Sony]

Horizon Forbidden West Leaked Weeks Before Release

Posted on by Spieler Dad

Horizon Forbidden West, arguably the biggest release of the nascent Playstation 5 era has leaked online.

On Monday, January 10, 2022, images of the purported PlayStation 4 version began circulating on social media. Only hours later, the images were pulled from Twitter following a request from “the copyright holder,” which only adds to the veracity of the images.

There is still no news if an early build of the game is circulating online.

Horizon Forbidden West officially launches February 18, 2022.

[Source: VGC]

Sony Backtracks – Will Now Offer Free PS4 to PS5 Upgrade on Horizon Forbidden West

Posted on by Spieler Dad

That did not take long. Sony has decided to offer a free Horizon Forbidden West upgrade from PS4 to PS5. A complete 360 after their misguided announcement on Thursday, September 2 that they planned to nickel and dime their fans for all that they’re worth.

Sony corporate pud, Jim Ryan announced the U-Turn on the official PlayStation Blog.

“Thursday was to be a celebration of Horizon Forbidden West and the amazing team at Guerrilla working to deliver it on February 18, 2022. However, it’s abundantly clear that the offerings we confirmed in our pre-order kickoff missed the mark.

Last year we made a commitment to deliver free upgrades for our cross-gen launch titles, which included Horizon Forbidden West. While the pandemic’s profound impact pushed Forbidden West out of the launch window we initially envisioned, we will stand by our offer: Players who purchase Horizon Forbidden West on PlayStation 4 will be able to upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version for free.

I also want to confirm today that moving forward, PlayStation first-party exclusive cross-gen titles (newly releasing on PS4 & PS5)–both digital and physical*–will offer a $10 USD digital upgrade option from PS4 to PS5. This will apply to the next God of War and Gran Turismo 7, and any other exclusive cross-gen PS4 & PS5 title published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.“

PlayStation.Blog
Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment

Mr. Ryan then went back into his office to brainstorm additional ways to alienate his most passionate fans.

It shouldn’t take a weekend shit-storm to realize how incredibly misguided and confusing their initial plan of strong arming PS4 gamers of to purchase the $79.99 Digital Deluxe edition, $199.99 Collector’s edition, or the $259.99 Regalla edition to get access to both the PS4 and PS5 versions of Forbidden West.

Horizon: Forbidden West releases February 18, 2022.

[Source: Sony]

The Culling of the Playstation 4 Has Begun

Posted on by Spieler Dad

The inevitable has begun in the land of the rising sun. Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Asia is discontinuing all PS4 Pro models and all but one of their slim models. In the end, only PS4 slim 500GB Jet Black model will be sold in Japan.

The above will be the remaining vestige of the previous era in Japan. Now the question is which other regions around the globe will follow suit?

[Source: Game Watch]

The Last of Us Part II Delayed Indefinitely

Posted on by Spieler Dad

Go ahead and sell your PlayStation 4. I’m going to be taking pictures of mine today and listing it because, for me, there is no reason to hold on to it anymore. I’ll take the money I get from it and put it aside for the PlayStation 5.

Now that The Last of Us Part II is delayed, with no future release date announced, there is simply no reason for me to hold onto my PS4.

Developer Naughty Dog followed up with a statement of their own.

Nobody wants play a game about surviving a bio-apocalypse when they can simply go outside and experience it for real. So Sony is going to wait this out.

Also, everyone and their mother knows this game is going to come out on the PS5. So go ahead and sell your PS4 now while you can and get the most cash you can from it.

[Source: Sony]

Sony Clarifies that the PS5 Will Play THOUSANDS of PS4 Titles

Posted on by Spieler Dad

During Mark Cerny’s incredibly dull and underwhelming PlayStation 5 deep dive, folks freaked out when he stated that the PS5 will play the 100 most-played PS4 titles. Sony would like a redo please.

What Cerny should have said was the the PS5 will play the overwhelming majority of the 4,000+ PS4 games. Maybe he was distracted talking about how awesome the PS5’s SSD is?

Anyway, Sony clarified in an official blog post:

“A quick update on backward compatibility – With all of the amazing games in PS4’s catalog, we’ve devoted significant efforts to enable our fans to play their favorites on PS5. We believe that the overwhelming majority of the 4,000+ PS4 titles will be playable on PS5.

We’re expecting backward compatible titles will run at a boosted frequency on PS5 so that they can benefit from higher or more stable frame rates and potentially higher resolutions. We’re currently evaluating games on a title-by-title basis to spot any issues that need adjustment from the original software developers.

In his presentation, Mark Cerny provided a snapshot into the Top 100 most-played PS4 titles, demonstrating how well our backward compatibility efforts are going. We have already tested hundreds of titles and are preparing to test thousands more as we move toward launch. We will provide updates on backward compatibility, along with much more PS5 news, in the months ahead. Stay tuned!“

Sony

Big difference and good on Sony on clarifying this.

Still, we’re only (only?) talking about one generation of backwards compatibility. Microsoft has spoiled gamers with what they have been able to accomplish with their catalog of backwards compatible titles. To confirm, making old games work on new hardware is hard.

[Source: Sony]

Confirmed: Horizon Zero Dawn Coming to PC, Sony Fanboy Mass Hysteria Ensues

Posted on by Spieler Dad

Horizon Zero Dawn, is officially no longer a Sony PlayStation exclusive. This summer PC gamers will be able to hunt and kill robot dinosaurs. Hermen Hulst, head of Sony Worldwide Studios confirmed the news in the PlayStation Blog.

“Yes, I can confirm that Horizon Zero Dawn is coming to PC this summer…. There will be more information coming from Guerrilla, from the new studio directors [Michiel van der Leeuw, JB van Beek, and Angie Smets] pretty soon.

… I think it’s important that we stay open to new ideas of how to introduce more people to PlayStation, and show people maybe what they’ve been missing out on.

… And to maybe put a few minds at ease, releasing one first-party AAA title to PC doesn’t necessarily mean that every game now will come to PC. In my mind, Horizon Zero Dawn was just a great fit in this particular instance. We don’t have plans for day and date [PC releases], and we remain 100% committed to dedicated hardware.”

Sony PlayStation Blog

Horizon Zero Dawn is a great and visually stunning game. Many considered it one of the most graphically impressive titles on the PS4. Now, PC gamers will get to gloat that it looks even better on their expensive souped up PC rigs.

[Source: PlayStation Blog]

Insomniac Games Acquired By Sony—Now Part of PlayStation Worldwide Studios

Posted on by Spieler Dad

Believe it or not, Sony does not own Insomniac Games. It only appeared that way since many games from Insomniac are Sony exclusives. There won’t be anymore exceptions to this rule, because Insomniac is officially part of PlayStation Worldwide Studios.

Sony has locked down a premiere developer. Insomniac had a monster hit with Spiderman on the PS4. Imagine what they can do with Spiderman 2 on the PS5.

[Source: Sony]

Hideo Kojima Will Be Showing New Death Stranding Footage at Gamescom

Posted on by Spieler Dad

Hideo Kojima will be appearing at the Koelnmesse for Gamescom 2019 to show off new footage of Death Stranding.

Things slow down in August on the gaming front, so at least this is something to look forward to.

Gamescom 2019 runs from August 21 through August 24.

[Source: Twitter]