Sony and Microsoft team up to build the future of game streaming

Sony and MicrSony and Microsoft. Together at last. Didn't expect that.osoft. Together at last.

Sony and Microsoft have teamed up going forward to offer game streaming services to the players. Worlds collide. Sony and Microsoft have revealed that they’re teaming up for the future of game streaming and related service for gamers. Microsoft announced the news on their official site, stating the the companies moving forward will partner up … Read more

Xbox Live will be brought to Switch, Android, iOS, PC, and possibly PlayStation

Xbox Live will be brought to Switch, Android, iOS, PC, and possibly PlayStation 2

Microsoft wants to bring Xbox Live to more platforms and has revealed their plans on how exactly they plan to do so. They want to let users on PC, Xbox One, Switch, and even mobile to be able to exist together and use the same service for multiplayer, online gaming, achievements, voice, and pretty much everything … Read more

Sony partners with Seagate to make a PlayStation-branded 2TB hard drive

Sony partners with Seagate to make a PlayStation-branded 2TB hard drive 3

Sony annouced that it’ll be partnering up with Seagate to make a PlayStation-branded external hard drive exclusively for the PS4. While news about the upcoming next-gen PS5 is still scarce, Sony seems to be still focusing on giving out some last-minute offerings for their PS4 console. They’ve ponied up with Seagate, one of the world’s … Read more

SouljaGame Handheld is a $100 PS Vita knock-off

SouljaGame Handheld is a $100 PS Vita knock-off 4

Soulja Boy has released a new console after following a suspected Nintendo lawsuit. This time around, it’s the SouljaGame Handheld, which is clearly just a rip-off of the PlayStation Vita. He’s been making headlines through the release of many branded Soulja products. Some of them were previously released consoles that seem to be a knock-off of … Read more

Subnautica confirmed for PS4; Xbox One gets a full release (V1.0)

Subnautica confirmed for PS4; Xbox One gets a full release (V1.0) 7

Subnautica has been confirmed for the PS4 and the release date has been announced in a news post on the game’s official page. While PC and Xbox One owners can already experience this amazing title, PS4 players have been shut out- until now.

Subnautica has garnered plenty of media attention and received positive praise for its gameplay, which is mainly an underwater survival game. The game has players finding themselves in an alien world after escaping from a sinking ship with an escape pod.

Players then have to explore, collect, build, and attempt to get rescued with the game’s storyline. The game is a survival game at its core with a basic storyline that tells the lore of the game and is mostly communicated via radio transmissions.

Although the game isn’t an endless exploration title, it sure does feel like it when you’re playing it for the first time. As you wander farther from your pod, you’ll start to encounter some deep underwater caves and creatures that lurk where light can’t even shine. You’ll have to build up the tech tree in order to explore dangerous areas.

Subnautica has been received plenty of positive feedback for being a game that’ll immerse you into its world and is plenty scary with its creatures- even though it’s not regarded as a horror game. There have been many content updates from the developer (for free) Unknown Worlds Entertainment based on community feedback.

The game is currently only available for PC, but PlayStation owners will be able to snag a copy of Subnautica next month on December 4, 2018. Developer Unknown Words Entertainment said they plan for this release date given that no delays take place:

“We’re very confident we will hit December 4th, but we can never be 100% sure of any date, ever. Game development is a wild ride. Unexpected issues could still cause a last minute delay. If something happens, we will keep you updated.”

Subnautica for PS4 will be available digitally on the PS Store and on physical disks for collectors. North American players should see discs in major retailers on the release date. European players will have to wait for just a tad for the physical disc to be released on December 7, 2018.

The game will also get the much-anticipated Below Zero standalone expansion at a later date for the PC. As for the Xbox One and PS4, it’s currently unconfirmed whether or not the expansion will be rolling out on the platform.

Subnautica is currently released as a full game for PC and in early access for Xbox One. The PS4 and Xbox One will both be getting a physical disc or digital download on the same date- December 4, 2018. Xbox One owners will get a full update to the full 1.0 release on launch day. PS4 owners will get the complete game.

The developer is also “super excited” about this upcoming console game release for PS4:

“This is going to be Unknown World’s first console release. We are traditionally a PC game developer. So we are super nervous, and super excited. We are thankful to Panic Button & Gearbox Publishing for working with us to bring Subnautica to PlayStation.”

PS4 players can now get immersed in the horrifying, yet beautiful experience that is underwater with Subnautica. If you haven’t played the game before and want to check out some more details, you can head over to Steam. The game retails for $24.99 at the time of this writing. Xbox One owners can get it on the Microsoft Store for the same MSRP. PS4 players will likely pay the same price (or get a steep discount on launch, as the dev is known to do).

Here’s the official post from Unknown Worlds:

“The wait is nearly over. Subnautica is coming to PlayStation 4 on December 4th, 2018. You will be able to buy Subnautica digitally or on a physical disk. If you are in Europe, physical disk sales will start three days later, on December 7th.

Want a reminder on launch day? Sign up to the Subnautica Playstation newsletter, and we will email you the moment Subnautica is available.

It’s important we be honest about dates. We’re very confident we will hit December 4th, but we can never be 100% sure of any date, ever. Game development is a wild ride. Unexpected issues could still cause a last minute delay. If something happens, we will keep you updated.

This is going to be Unknown World’s first console release. We are traditionally a PC game developer. So we are super nervous, and super excited. We are thankful to Panic Button & Gearbox Publishing for working with us to bring Subnautica to PlayStation.

Thank you to everyone that pushed us to release on PlayStation. Your tweets, emails, and other messages were instrumental in bringing about the decision to bring Subnautica to consoles. We are grateful for your patience as we have navigated the unfamiliar waters of PlayStation development.

Come launch day, we will need your help to spread the word that Subnautica is available on PlayStation. If you want to share the news, follow @SubnauticaPS on Twitter, Subnautica Playstation on Facebook, and sign up to the Subnautica Playstation newsletter.

– Unknown Worlds

PlayStation users in Chicago will be paying a 9% “Amusement Tax” starting November 14

PlayStation users in Chicago will be paying a 9% "Amusement Tax" starting November 14 8

Sony has confirmed that PlayStation users in Chicago will be subject to the 9% “Amusement Tax.” Starting on November 14, the tax will be applicable to purchases of PlayStation Plus, PS Now, PS Vue, PS Music, PS VOD, and PS Video Live Events. The tax is also called the “Hamilton Tax” after its effect over the musical Hamilton, a Broadway musical, which is also taxed in Chicago.

Sony began enforcing local tax policies on PSN since 2016 and local taxes can affect literally any purchase you make depending on the current city’s situation and conditions.

What this means is that users in Chicago will have to pay an additional 9% on all cloud services- including a PS Plus subscription, which will run it at about $5 more than other states in the US. The tax isn’t popular in the city of Chicago, but Mayor Rahm Emanuel says that they’re necessary for the city’s pensions. Other companies like Netflix and even Xbox are all subject to the tax. Netflix has already raised prices in Chicago in order to negate the tax for their profit margins.

Sony has joined the tax group alongside other giants and will start collecting taxes from gamers tomorrow. Some companies like Apple are taking action against the city for the taxes saying it’s unconstitutional and a violated of the Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1998 which prohibits counties, states, and municipalities from adding taxes on electronic commerce.

Sony doesn’t seem to be fighting the tax at this point and PlayStation gamers will now be subject to the same tax as other amusement activities until changes are made (if any).

At this point, only Chicago is subject to the cloud tax. No other city has been reported to be enforcing such a tax. Speculation says that this local tax could affect New York City.

PUBG confirmed for PS4; Release date, exclusive gear, details

PUBG confirmed for PS4; Release date, exclusive gear, details 9

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has been speculated to release on the PS4, and now we have solid details- including a release date, which is December 7. With a confirmed release for PUBG this close, PS4 fans may want to hold off on their Black Friday purchases and save some cash for the game.

PS4 owners will also get some excluded goodies for their copy of the game. For starters, they’ll get Uncharted and The Last of Us items when they buy PUBG, which is already available for pre-order. Players can snag Nathan Drake’s outfit from Uncharted and Ellie’s backpack from The Last of Us.

Upon launch day, the game will already have Orange, Miramar, Sanho for play. PUBG for the PS4 will also have event mode, achievements, and even the ranked system- all available on launch day.

PUBG for PS4 will be available in three different pre-order bundles, which are listed below:

  • Looter’s Edition $30 USD / $38.99 CAD

    • Base Game

  • Survivor’s Edition $50 USD / $64.99 CAD

    • Base Game

    • Survivor Pass: Vikendi*

    • 2,300 G-Coin Pack

    • 20,000 BP

  • Champion’s Edition $60 USD / $77.99 CAD

    • Base Game

    • Survivor Pass: Vikendi*

    • 6,000 G-Coin Pack

    • 20,000 BP

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds arrives December 7 for PS4 and pre-orders are available now. You can check out the reveal trailer below:

PlayStation Online ID change testing live; Bugs, warnings, and fine print

PlayStation Online ID change testing live; Bugs, warnings, and fine print 10

Select PSN users have already begun getting emails containing their voucher to join the PlayStation Network Online ID change service preview that’ll go live with the System Software update version 6.10 for the PS4.

But for these early guinea pigs, there’s a ton of fine print. Some of the notable defects include changing your PSN Online ID not matching your games on PS4, PS3, and PS Vita not supporting the name change. Players may lose access to content, including content that was paid for like in-game currency and DLC, save data, leaderboard data, and trophy progression.

This comes straight from ResetEra where a user named Azdoune has posted this information to the public. Users can revert back to the original Online ID, but only once during this review period. Users have already reported some name change problems during this testing segment, but that’s what it’s for.

Other PSN users will get to change their ID when the testing is complete in 2019. The name change has been a long-time requested feature for the PSN for years and was just recently confirmed by Sony.

The details of the PSN Online ID change can be seen here:

Change Online ID Overview
As part of the System Software 6.10 preview, we are rolling out the upcoming Change Online ID system feature. As a preview user you will be able to change your Online ID using the new system tools.
To use this feature please ensure you have a clear understanding of the implications of changing your Online ID and the software’s restrictions – described in the following sections – before software installation. If you are unsure, do not download and install the Preview Programme software.

Important Information Before Changing your Online ID:
Not all games and applications for PS4™, PS3™, PS Vita, and other PlayStation® systems support the Online ID change feature. If you change your Online ID:
• You may lose access to content (including paid-for content) that you have acquired for your games, including content like add-ons and virtual currency.
• You may lose your progress within games, including game saved data, leaderboard data and progress toward trophies.
• Parts of your games and applications might not function properly, both online and offline.
• Your previous Online ID(s) may remain visible to you and other players in some places.

Change Online ID Restrictions During Preview:
The changes during the preview will adhere to the following structure:
• First change is free for all users.
• Second change will be charged at €9.99 / £7.99 (PlayStation®Plus subscribers receive a 50% discount).
• If your previous Online ID violates any of the current Terms of Service, you will not be able to revert back to your previous Online ID.
• You can revert to your previous Online ID once per account during the preview period.
• Sub-Accounts cannot utilise the Change Online ID feature.
• After you change your Online ID, it may take a few hours for some services and applications to reflect the new ID.

If for any reason you have issues after changing your Online ID you can revert back to your previous ID at no charge. However:
• you may only do this once during the preview period;
• changing back to your previous Online ID may not fix all issues (you may not recover all or any lost content, progress and functionality; and
• if you want to change back, do so as soon as possible because changing back to your previous Online ID may affect content, game progress and functionality associated with your new Online ID.

PS4 users forced to factory reset system after seeing glitched message

PS4 users forced to factory reset system after seeing glitched message 11

PlayStation 4 users are having a problem with their consoles where it gets frozen and are forced to do a factory reset after getting a prompt from the console. Users are advising other players to set their messages to private after receiving a message on their console. When it’s viewed, it freezes the entire system and requires a complete wipe to get it working again.

The message can’t be deleted from the console dash or the mobile app, but mixed reports surfaced on the web. This bug was found on Saturday and has yet to be fixed. Reddit users are reporting the problem all over the PS4 subreddit:

“Even deleting the message from the mobile app doesn’t work. It happened to me during Rainbow Six: Siege. A player from the other team used a dummy account to send the message and crashed my entire team. We all have had to factory reset. Only one of our guys wasn’t affected and he has his messages private. Do this ASAP to prevent this from happening to you.” (Via Huntstarck on Reddit.)

Setting messages to private will prevent getting this message that locks up your machine- just to be safe. Sony hasn’t reported or announced anything about this problem just yet. Stay tuned for some quick updates on this system-breaking bug.

PlayStation confirms PSN name change feature; Program details released

PlayStation confirms PSN name change feature; Program details released 12

Sony has announced that players can officially change their PSN username.

This has been a long-awaited feature (if you can call it that) that PSN users have been demanding for years. Xbox 360 and Xbox One users could change it anytime for a fee, but PlayStation users are set in stone once their online name has been chosen. They couldn’t change it even if they paid cash.

Microsoft gives every player a default, computer-generated username at the start, but can be changed once for free. Afterward, there’s a small fee for doing so. But the process is painless.

PlayStation announced that they would allow changes to your PSN Online ID. This news surfaced the web this morning and is beginning with a group of guinea pigs. The process doesn’t have an exact date, but they said the ability to change your username “is coming.” The testing phase will end next month. Rumors have been said that the program will roll out to everyone next year.

The first name change is free (just like Xbox), but following name changes will cost $9.99. If you’re a PS Plus member, it’ll cost just $4.99 (about 50% off). The feature works just as how you’d expect, but you also have the options to “display your previous ID with your new ID, so your friends can recognize you.” However, this decision is permanent and can’t be reversed to hide the old and new username associated together.

The majority of games will support the feature, but not all. PlayStation says that “a large majority of the most-played PS4 games” will support it and any game that’s released after April 1, 2018. A list will be released when the program is rolled out so players can refer to it and see if a name change is supported.

“This feature is compatible with PS4 games originally published after April 1, 2018, and a large majority of the most-played PS4 games that were released before this date. However, please note not all games and applications for PS4, PS3 and PS Vita systems are guaranteed to support the online ID change, and users may occasionally encounter issues or errors in certain games.”

Since the feature is still new, users are bound to face bugs, glitches, and errors. They can revert back to their old name for free if they should encounter any, but only one revision is allowed during the preview program.

PlayStation 5 may have backward compatibility; Sony files patent for “Remastering by Emulation”

PlayStation 5 may have backward compatibility; Sony files patent for "Remastering by Emulation" 13

PlayStation hasn’t had backward compatibility for a long time. For over a decade, Sony has been facing flak for removing backward compatibility from the PS3 in later console revisions and eliminated it from their PS4.

Compared to Microsoft, who has had kept the backward compatibility titles in their Xbox One and underwent a backward compatibility software (ongoing) upgrade to even allow original Xbox titles to be played.

However, with the PlayStation 5, this may be all changing and getting Sony back into the game (of running older titles), as reported by Gearnuke.

Various sixth and seventh gen consoles included physical hardware so that older games can be run. PS1 games could be played on a PS2, and PS2 games could be played on older PS3 consoles. Xbox 360 could play some Xbox titles, and Xbox One can play both Xbox 360 and an ongoing list of Xbox games. Nintendo also allows backward compatibility on their Wii and GameCube games.

Digital emulation and backward compatibility are still going strong and players want to play and relive older times or get into the game they couldn’t play before.

Sony filed a patent on October 2nd, 2018 titled “Remastering by Emulation.” The patent summary is as follows:

“Each asset such as a texture called for by legacy software such as a legacy computer game software has a unique identifier associated with it. The unique identifier can be rendered by imposing a hash on the asset, and then the asset stored with its identifier in a data structure. An artist remasters the textures for presentation on a higher resolution display than envisioned in the original software, and stores them back in the data structure with their identifiers. The original software is then played on the higher resolution display, with asset (such as texture) calls being intercepted, identified, and the data structure entered to retrieve the remastered asset having a matching identifier. The remastered asset is then inserted on the fly into the game presentation.”

TL;DR: Sony is playing around with running legacy titles on a newer system via digital emulation rather than hardware parts. This easily jets the idea of backward compatibility.

Previous generation game enhancement or not, the PS4 Pro has enhanced titles that allow for better graphics, resolution, or FPS. They’re catching up to Microsoft, which has been emulation games for quite a while now. Digital emulation is how most games backward compatible now, rather than having the hardware available to run older titles, it’s all done by software.

Sony doesn’t seem to be doing anything new, but rather jumping on the bandwagon and keeping their PS5 competitive by going retro. Remasters don’t appear to factor into the next gen consoles as much as they have with current systems.

Recent games that already look pretty don’t need to be upscaled, or rather, the difference would be minuscule. Older titles are an exception. So what we can expect is older titles to be modernized, and modern titles to look the same as they are. It really depends on the age of the game and the tech utilized at the point of release.

Nonetheless, the PS5 will likely have backward compatibility via emulation to add to its feature list, which makes it competitive that much more. Every feature counts.

PlayStation Experience 2018 won’t be happening – “Not enough PS exclusives”

PlayStation Experience 2018 won't be happening - "Not enough PS exclusives" 14

Fans have been questioning for months now on the debacle of whether or not Sony will be hosting PlayStation Experience this year- the fan-powered event that takes place every year in December. As we edge towards the holidays, Sony still hasn’t announced anything regarding when the event would take place in 2018.

Sony’s Chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden, just confirmed that the PS Experience will be canceled for 2018. This was confirmed in this week’s episode of the PlayStation Blogcast (the official PS Blog)

Layden said he knows many fans will be upset over this news. He somewhat trotted on the idea that due to 2019 wouldn’t have an expansive lineup of PlayStation exclusive others than Days Gone and Dreams, so thus, Sony wouldn’t be able to make costs meet to host the event this year. He didn’t want to disappoint fans either by not having any solid lineup of games to show off.

PlayStation Experience may return again next year. This is just due to a coincidental poor lineup of exclusives.

Sony still has other games like Ghost of Tsushima, Death Standing, and The Last of Us Part II, but none of them are worthy to talk about during the event. Sony may attend Paris Games Week again this year, and we may hear something about their first-party lineup before the new year. Let’s get an awesome lineup for next year’s PS Experience.

Sony Pictures goofs by uploading whole film instead of trailer

Sony Pictures goofs by uploading whole film instead of trailer 15

Sony Pictures Entertainment released a new trailer for its new limited release film Khali the Killer online in order to get more viewers to watch the film- whether it be on Blu-Ray, select theaters, or streaming platforms.

But there was a big oopsie.

Sony released the whole film instead. Not just the teaser.

The movie is a violent crime film based on western movies and ’70s films. It was originally released on DVD last year in reverse order like many indie films do. It’s not set for theater release until this year. But seeing it uploaded in its entirety online is just a big goof. Seriously.

To put some salt in the wound, it wasn’t removed quickly either. It was online and accessible to the public for several hours and there were tons of comments poking fun at Sony. The full presentation is about 1.5 hours and some people even got to see the whole thing- for free.

Whether or not it was done intentionally is unknown. Some believe it was done to attract viewers over a marketing play, while others say that Sony is still recovering from some other hacks and problems its encountered recently- like having thousands of employees’ private information leaked in 2014. Things like this could really hurt shareholders.

Sony has not commented on the error as of yet.

Image via Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Sony’s free games for January 2018

Sony's freebies aren't that bad.

Sony’s free games for January are now live for download! It’s a new month, which means more free games. Isn’t that the gift that just keeps on giving? This month, PlayStation Plus subscribers get their hands on some decent titles. Mankind Divided is the main game for PS4 this month. It’s the highlighted freebie which … Read more

Sony shutting down servers for many games – including Killzone 2 and 3

sony server shutdown

Sony has announced that it’ll be shutting down its servers for several titles ranging across a variety of platforms. Killzone 2 and 3 are probably the most popular games out of the crew. Killzone 2 dates back to 2009 while Killzone 3 released in 2011. These games were heavily advertised and considered to be some … Read more