Image Leak Reveals Potential Release Date For The Last of Us: Part II

When it comes to Sony’s first-party developers, Naughty Dog is among the the best. While they’ve been known for their work in the past on Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, and Uncharted, The Last of Us holds a special place in gamer hearts everywhere. As a result, we’ve all been eagerly awaiting some kind of release date for The Last of Us: Part II. A newly leaked image points to October of 2019 as a possible answer to this burning question, but what about the rumors that Sony has shifted focus to PS5 games? Let’s unpack this story and see where the bread crumb trail takes us. The Last of Us: Part II May Release in October of 2019 The leaked image comes from a Peruvian retailer called LawGamers. The promotional image shows Ellie’s face, along with cover art, price, and month of release. As promotional art goes, it’s pretty standard. Having worked in the gaming retail industry for almost a decade, though, I picked up a few things when it comes to this type of advertising. Let’s consider a few facts here: The cover art doesn’t look final, it looks like a stock photo Promotional art like this has shown incorrect dates in the past (when games were pushed back prior to launch) Sony has yet to confirm if this is a PS4 or PS5 title (or both) And, of course, release dates can always change While we must take this with a grain of salt, the ultimate question here is how an October release date could play into the PS5’s release date. Could The Last of Us: Part II Be a Launch Title For PS5? With the PS5 on the horizon, it would make sense for Sony to switch their first-party studios over to next generation titles. It would also explain the lackluster E3 2018 showing and the fact that Sony has decided to skip E3 2019. Daniel Ahmad, a Niko Partners analyst who moderates the ResetEra message boards, claims that Sony is looking to make current projects cross-generation compatible or exclusively release them on the PS5. Here’s what he had to say: “Sony also has a couple of unannounced games (already existing IP) with PS4 in mind, but I’m conscious that there have been discussions around making them cross gen/next gen titles.” We’ve predicted in the past that Sony’s lack of commitment on the release date for titles like The Last of Us: Part II, Death Stranding, and Ghosts of Tsushima could point to them being PS5 titles, and this news solidifies that prediction. It makes the most sense for Sony to make the titles available on both the PS4 and the PS5, as gamers kind of expect them to be on the PS4 and pushback would be significant if they moved them all to a new console. The October release date also would make sense for a PS4 version of The Last of Us: Part II, but all evidence points to the PS5 coming out in … Read More

GTA VI: 5 Time Periods We Want to Visit

Grand Theft Auto has always been a series that takes place in the modern era, save a few exceptions. It’s usually a commentary on the society we live in, but what if Rockstar took GTA VI to a brand new time period? With this in mind, these are five time periods we think would be a great fit for Grand Theft Auto VI. 5 Settings For GTA VI Besides Present Day Looking at the state of our world right now, it’s clear that Rockstar would have a lot to work with if they tried to satirize the events of 2018 and 2019 as they develop. Despite this, Rock co-founder Dan Houser told GQ in October of 2018 that he’s “thankful” they weren’t working on GTA VI just yet. He went on to elaborate on his statement: “It’s really unclear what we would even do with it, let alone how upset people would get with whatever we did,” he said. “Both intense liberal progression and intense conservatism are both very militant, and very angry. It is scary but it’s also strange, and yet both of them seem occasionally to veer towards the absurd. It’s hard to satirise for those reasons. Some of the stuff you see is straightforwardly beyond satire.” Well, he’s not wrong. This could be a good opportunity for Rockstar to take their trademark style to another time period. No matter what they do, they’ll stick court controversy, but at least this way they can do it outside the lens of modern politics. Here are our picks for five time periods that Rockstar could use for GTA VI: 1920’s – The Height of the Mafia The organized crime wave of the 1920s led to a network of operations across multiple US cities, including New York and Chicago. Their rise to power came largely from the success of the liquor trade during the 1920s Prohibition era. Once prohibition was lifted, mafia activities shifted to drug trafficking, illegal gambling, and infiltrating businesses like labor unions and construction firms. You can see how this story writes itself, right? Now, we’ve seen the Mafia series adopt the GTA formula in several releases, and while the storytelling in those games was quite good, the gameplay left a lot to be desired. Imagine what Rockstar could do with this time period. The closest we ever got to this idea made real was probably EA’s The Godfather game that released on Xbox 360 and PS3. This title followed the popular film of the same name, but it offered some really unique gameplay mechanics and the opportunity to intimidate business owners for protection money. It may not offer the technology of the modern era, but I for one would be interested in Rockstar’s take on this turbulent time period, and perhaps some reimaginings of major events like the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. 1970’s – Detroit Rock City Credit for this idea goes to both /u/redcomet0079 and /u/cruzweb, who suggested a GTA game set in Detroit during the … Read More

New Patent Filed by Sony Points to Backwards Compatibility on The PS5

If you were to ask gamers what they want most from the PS5, the most likely answer would be Backwards Compatibility. With Microsoft offering a growing selection of titles to play from the Xbox 360 and original Xbox era on their current systems, pressure is mounting on Sony to deliver. Apparently they’ve heard us, because a new patent filed by Sony has emerged. This patent suggests that Sony is working on backwards compatibility for PS4, PS3, PS2, and PSX games for a future machine. Breaking Down The New Patent This new information surfaced when a Japanese blog post showcased the details of the patent. A Redditor by the name of u/boskee, translated Spanish coverage of the patent into English, which revealed some details about the patent itself. The patent’s author was Mark Cerny, lead architect of the PS4, and presumably the PS5, so that’s a good start. The patent describes a system whereby legacy applications could run perfectly on newer hardware. To do this, the system would need to eliminate synchronization errors between the newer and older hardware. Since newer hardware has a faster CPU, it’s possible that data could be overwritten while it’s still in use by another component. To solve this, the processor would adapt to the behavior of the original hardware. The games would provide “calls” to the CPU, which it would then use to respond in a similar way to the original console. It would also have the ability to detect the needs of any legacy title and behave similar to the original hardware, thus fooling the game’s software into thinking it’s running on a PS4/PS3/PS2/PSX. For systems with difficult architecture, like the PS3 or PS2, the PS5 may have additional hardware to compensate for this. This comes off the heels of another similar patent Sony submitted on SRGAN technology, which converts SD resolution footage into 4K using artificial intelligence. While this isn’t a guarantee that we’ll see backwards compatibility on the PS5, it’s a strong indicator that the feature is at the forefront of Sony’s mind. Are you someone who wants backwards compatibility on the PS5? Let us know which games you would like to play on the next-gen console in the comments! Article by – Bradley Ramsey Posted: 2/6/19 Recent Articles: 10 Ideas GTA VI Should “Borrow” From Other Games PS5 is a “Monster” According to Reddit Leak Sony May Overhaul the PSN For PS5’s Release

10 Ideas GTA VI Should “Borrow” From Other Games

Rockstar has long defined the open world genre of games with each and every Grand Theft Auto release, but I for one would like to see GTA VI take things one step further and “borrow” some of the best mechanics and design choices from the last generation of gaming. Imagine what Rockstar would do, given the ability implement these ideas. While many games have used concepts from Grand Theft Auto, these are the ideas we want Rockstar to take back in GTA VI. 10 Mechanics Rockstar Should Use and Improve on in GTA VI This list is by no means an exhaustive look at innovative game mechanics, but it does look at a few ideas we’ve seen in past GTA games, and plenty of new ideas from other open world titles in recent years. There’s no shame is using the same idea or mechanic in a newer game. The important part is that you innovate on it and make it better. Rockstar isn’t a developer that would simply rip off a concept from another title, so I for one would love to see what they could do with these: Hygiene Affects How People Treat You (Kingdom Come: Deliverance) Kingdom Come: Deliverance is the kind of RPG that only fans of ultra-realistic games will appreciate. The game had some rough spots at launch, but it also had a lot of interesting ideas. While it’s certainly worth a look if you’re into a realistic medieval RPG, one mechanic could work really well in GTA VI. In Kingdom Come: Deliverance you need to maintain your hygiene if you want people to respect you or discover romantic options. After fighting, swimming, or falling into mud, your character begins to look dirty and will eventually smell to the point where other characters comment on it. You can wash yourself in buckets of water, but the only true way to clean up is to find bathhouses. This kind of mechanic in GTA VI would allow for deeper interactions with NPCs in the world. It’s also possible that certain missions would require you to be more or less clean to fit in, which could be really interesting. In either case, it would add to the realism and give Rockstar a chance to insert more of the social commentary that makes their games great. Crafting/Cooking Mechanics (Survival Games, Minecraft, etc.) While Grand Theft Auto games typically take place in modern cities where you buy pretty much anything you want, they’ve never given you the chance to craft your own weapons or cook meals to boost your stats. The idea of characters creating makeshift weapons and bombs is not outside the realm of possibility in any modern city. Furthermore, it would be fun to go grocery shopping and cook meals for yourself that you can consume to give you a boost of strength or health. GTA VI doesn’t need survival mechanics (unless that applies to the setting), but the option to create your own items or cook meals would … Read More