It is the end of the week and as promised, I’m dropping my second news update this week to catch us all up on what’s happened in the last few days and what’s coming up! Let’s go! First and foremost we need touch base in two highly anticipated games. I am talking about God of War Ragnarok and Horizon: Forbidden West. Easily two of the most anticipated titles in the Playstation franchise and I have some good news all around and maybe just little not so good news, but nothing all that bad either. God of War Ragnarok is officially releasing on both the PS4 and PS5! Some were concerned this title would skip the PS4 altogether, but alas, Sony is smarter than losing a ton of sales and I respect that. If I didn’t have a PS5, but this game was coming soon and I wasn’t able to play on PS4, I would be bummed as would any other fan. On another note, the title has been pushed into early 2022 rather than the expected holiday 2021 release date. We never actually had a release date to begin with, so it’s not so bad . It’s just great to hear both gen consoles will get a chance to play! And news about Horizon: Forbidden West that is sure to make us all happy! Horizon, just like GOW, will also be dropping on both the PS4 and PS5! Another concern for some has been laid to rest and it’s pretty awesome! I cannot wait to get my hands on the next entry and see where this one takes me. It was a great game as it was, so it will be interesting to see what the developers make changes to and add. To sweeten the pot a little, Horizon: Forbidden West is targeted to release this holiday season in 2021! While there is no exact date as of yet and there is always the cancer of a delay, but yes, they are hoping/expecting to release it this year and I hope they do! One last thing. Horizon has been confirmed to run at 60 fps on the PS5. Could a push for 120 actually happen? In other game news, the head of Playstation Studios claims there are 25 games in development and half of them are new IP’s! While that doesn’t really give us a birds eye view of what will actually come out or when, it is nice to hear that Sony has a good number of working titles on the way. I am still holding out for a Bloodborne sequel or even a full remake, but that is only a PlayStation exclusive and not from the companies first part studios unless of course Bluepoint does the remake. Then it is inhouse, so there’s that. What are you hoping is on the way? Are you getting excited for the cancelled then uncancelled, canceled and uncancelled again E3 show this year? It is right around … Read More
Sony shutting down PlayStation Store for PS4 in 2022
Well, we already knew and expected the PSN stores to close for the PS3 and PS Vita this summer, but at a surprising turn of events, Sony has announced that the PS4 store will close down in January, 2022. This comes as a shock because the PS5 is barely in the hands of consumers right now. I’m no sales marketing expert, but if this is in some way a plan to push PS5 sales, this has gotta be the wrong way to go about it. Right now, everyone I know is buying extra external hard drives and downloading everything they own to try and keep their precious digital content safe. I am at loss for words, other than April Fools! Ahaha! I’m sure you knew this was a farce and I appreciate you reading along! I hope you enjoyed my short April Fools articles today. I tried to spread them about and hopefully everyone had a few good chuckles with me.
PS5 – The UK Heist
Welcome back to another drop from PS Weekly! You know, with how difficult it has been for many people to purchase a PS5, you hear a lot about scalpers. These folks are relentless when it comes to making an extra buck, but there are some people out in the UK that are willing to take steps that go far beyond using bots online. There are apparently gangs in the UK that are more than willing to risk their lives to steal a PS5 right off a delivery truck, while driving at high rates of speed. A tactic referred to as “the rollover,” is where vehicles approach a delivery truck and box it in while forcing it to maintain speeds of around 50 mph. While boxed in, they use rope to secure themselves to the truck and cut the truck’s latches off and open the doors. Once inside, they start tossing the goods out of the truck and to the other vehicles that box the truck in. The gangs target all kinds of valuables and the ever elusive PS5 has managed to make their list. Speculation for industry employees believes that there are insiders feeding these gangs information to let them know when there is a large number of valuable goods in one specific truck. Anything from jewelry to the PS5 console, these gangs are clearly not to be trifled. Imagine you’re waiting for a PS5 to be delivered and you find it isn’t coming because a gang went all fast n furious on the delivery truck? Crazy! So many PS5’s have been stolen in the UK, that companies are giving customers that had their PS5’s stolen before they received them, priority to purchase before others as they restock. I know they expect the shortage to come to an end sometime this coming Spring, but we’re a few more months pure crapiness for those that really want a PS5 and have to keep dealing with scalpers, gangs and liars. Speaking of the UK, the PS5 was the UK’s largest console launch of all time. It isn’t a real surprise here, but it is certainly notable. In Europe as a whole, the PS4 sold 706, 948 consoles in week one, but the PS5 sold around 723,341 consoles in week one. PS5 has dominated the Xbox Series X and S since launch in the UK and the rest of Europe and will likely own this console generation just like the PS4 owned its respective generation in regard to sales and popularity. The Xbox Series X is a cool console, so don’t think I’m not knocking it. I’m just pointing a few things out is all. In straight up gaming news, highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 is set to release on December 10th, for real this time. Unfortunately, the PS5 upgrade won’t be happening on release, so you’ll have to play the PS4 version, but it will be PS4 Pro enhanced and have a little extra boost from the PS5 … Read More
PlayStation Weekly – Issue #2
Hello and welcome back to PlayStation Weekly! This is where you can catch up on the latest news for all things PlayStation and other notable video game news. In issue 2 of PlayStation Weekly, catch up on PlayStation Trophies updates, More info about the PS5 and more! Let’s get started! Concerned about the process of transferring your PS4 games to the PS5? Worry not! As it turns out, Sony has confirmed that PS5 owners will be able to transfer their data from PS4 to their new PS5 over WiFi. As this is currently a feature available to us now when transferring from one PS4 to another over WiFi, it shouldn’t come as a surprise as much as it should come as a relief. Transferring your games and save files from PS4 to PS5 will be much quicker and easier than going through each game and save file individually. Speaking of PS5, the internet was treated to a full PS5 tear down that revealed quite a bit about the upcoming console. To start, we found out the panels on the PS5 are easily removed. This is exciting news because instead using sticker skins to deck out or consoles, we will be able to choose from tons of different custom designs that are sure to flood the market. While Sony hasn’t mentioned any first party plans to create and sell custom designed shell casings, the third party market is already making plans to do so and in all seriousness, we can probably count on Sony to do the same thing. You can watch the full video tear down here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaAY-jAjm0w In regards to the size of the console (does size really matter? Zing!), the size and shape is meant to help the cooling of the PS5 work more efficiently. With all the bells and whistles under the hood, it matters because many of us that love our PS4’s, are also bothered by the sound of what most of us describe as a jet taking off. Time will tell, but it does seem that Sony has managed to put together a solution for this problem. The PS5 has dust catchers to help keep your console clean and make maintenance easier! It’s pretty simple to clean up. Pop off your covers and vacuum the dust catchers. I personally think this is a great idea as I already regularly maintain my console to keep it clean and clear. My advice is to clean it regularly before the dust builds up. And this shouldn’t surprise anyone at all, but there is an expandable storage option that will of course, allow you to expand the storage in your PS5. I know there was some speculation on the web that we would be stuck with only 825 gigs of memory, but it was a hard pill to swallow in this day and age. Having a next gen console release with no option of expandable storage would surely be ridiculous in my mind. PS Trophies have gotten … Read More
PlayStation Weekly – Issue #1
Welcome to the first of issue PlayStation Weekly! I appreciate you taking the time to check up on the latest gaming involving PlayStation. As news breaks and we get closer to the PS5 launch, you can expect to find a lot of info here in the coming weeks ahead! Now, let’s get into the highlights of the last week. PS5 To Outsell PS4 In First Fiscal Year Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan has opened up on future sales predictions for the PS5. Ryan has stated that he believes the PS5 will outpace (outsell) the sales of PS4 in the first fiscal year. The PlayStation 4 sold around 7 million units within its first fiscal year, but for Jim Ryan to predict PS5 will eclipse those numbers, gives us hope for a large number of consoles available at launch throughout the first fiscal year. While that doesn’t do much for those in hopes of another pre-order wave (come on Sony! We know you’re not done with pre-orders yet!!), it should offer some comfort for those that solely intend to make the purchase on or after launch day. If you are hoping for another wave or pre-orders, keep your eyes on our site and social media pages. We will immediately post any news on that front. Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Open Beta Set To Begin This Week That’s right, another year down, another Call of Duty release. Interested in checking out the game before you buy it? Well, this weekend you’ll have your chance to try it out in beta form. PS4 players that want to play the beta can do so on October 10th – 12th. Players will be able to download the free open beta this Saturday morning and play at 10:00 am PST. In the meantime, fans that have already preordered the game will be able to download the beat right now and play early. Early access to the beta will begin on October 8th at 10:00 am PST and play until the beta ends. Unless of course the beta goes live early which would be of no real surprise. A second round for the beta will be available to play for all PS4 owners on October 15th – 19th, so there will be plenty of time for most of us to get in there and check it out. Japanese Streamers Went Hands On With PS5 This past Sunday, Japanese Streamers got the chance to go hands on with the PS5 and so far it’s been only good things to be said, not that we should expect any less. Players have been boasting about how the yet to be released PS5 actually is and how fast load times are. This isn’t something I found to be too surprising as these are features that we’ve been hearing about. I guess it’s just nice to hear some gamers confirm that these features do seem to be on par with what we’ve been told. … Read More
PS4 – The end of an era?
The time is upon us that we see next gen consoles begin to take over the market as preorders continue to be a mess and sell out within what seems to be minutes. It’s a big deal in general for hardcore gamers, but with the world wide pandemic, it’s an even hotter commodity as more people are turning to in-home entertainment and relentless online preorder scalpers seem to be out in full force. Preorders a mess aside, we are once again seeing the end of a console generation that will soon be dubbed last-gen. The PS4 might be around for several years to come, but the reality is, it’s the end of an era. At least my mind, anyway. I have had every PS console so far and let’s be honest, there’s only been 4 prior to what’s coming and that really isn’t a feat as much as it might show my age. I have enjoyed each one thoroughly and with each new release, I have appreciated the leaps and bounds they have made in technology. The PS4 though, that standouts a little more for me. The PS4 was my first actual release day console. Prior to the PS4, I just never had any luck being able to get a console the day it releases. When I managed to get my preorder, I was lucky. A Target store about 45 minutes from where I lived had one preorder in stock and I had to drive there to secure it. Luckily for me, it was still on the rack. I gave them my $25 deposit and waited eagerly until the day I could pick it up. As a longtime gamer that truly does have a passion for video games, it was an amazing day. I had a PS4 on release day. I had my first console on release day. I’ll never forget that feeling. While I have my PS5 preorder secure and I await that day to come, I can’t help but feel differently about it this time around l. Preorders were a nightmare and I am grateful I could score one, but I was prepared ahead of time and had a little inside info to be ready for the orders to live prematurely. Insider info or not, I was extremely lucky to be able to grab one. When I got my PS4, it was different in the way that I missed the preorder window altogether. I didn’t want to stand in line at a store in the early hours before they opened in hopes that I might get one. I just happened to stumble upon a target preorder online that said there was one left in stock. Maybe I was lucky and no one was actually searching for a preorder at that time and someone by chance canceled their order, but again, that feeling of securing a PS4 was just like no other. I remember playing BloodBorne for the first time. Admittedly, the game had … Read More
Games to play solo on Valentines Day for the Single Player
Valentine’s Day is upon us and it is celebrated by couples all around the world. Gamer couples alike also celebrate this fun holiday in whatever gaming fashion they may choose, but what about single players? Not everyone has a player 2 to celebrate with for whatever reason, but why should they not indulge in a little bit of single player enjoyment? For our friends that will be playing Valentines Day solo this year, I thought I would drop some noteworthy games to play alone on Valentines Day! In no particular order, here are my top 7 recommended games for you to play on your PS4. 1 Spider-Man Insomniac games rally went above and beyond with Spider-Man. In my mind, this is easily the best Spider-Man game to date. That could be thanks to the advanced technology developers work with these days, but the story is great and the web-slinging is superb. Even if you have already played through it, Spider-Man is an awesome game to revisit. 2 Horizon: Zero Dawn Horizon: Zero Dawn was a massive hit on PS4 back in 2017. With an excellent storyline to follow, beautiful graphics that offer a superb landscape, good gameplay mechanics and some rpg elements, the devs over at Gorilla Games really brought forth an instant classic for the Action – Adventure genre. It’s only a matter of time before we start hearing about the sequel, but for now, the original will do just fine. 3 God of War I mean, how could this not make the list? Bringing us back to 2018, it should be no surprise that God of War was a huge hit for Santa Monica Studios. Not everyone liked that Kratos was bringing his young son with him on his next playable journey, but I rather enjoyed fatherhood through the eyes of Kratos. Not to mention the story would have been totally different without the boy, and it was a good storyline. Kratos is a fan favorite character for many PS4 owners and the solo campaign that God of War offers is one well worth playing. 4 RAGE 2 I mean, not everyone that is player one on Valentine’s Day is happy about it so, maybe a little RAGE is in order? This First Person Shooter delivers a post apocalyptic open world that reminds many of the Mad Max movie franchise. Cruise around in destructive vehicles and hop on out to eliminate enemies on foot weapons of mass destruction and in some cases, weapons of mass hilarity. Release some of your single player rage with RAGE 2 this Valentines day. 5 Red Dead Redemption 2 Feeling like a Desperado? Roam the Wild West on horseback and complete enough missions to keep busy for the rest of the month. Rockstar Games is considered the golden standard when it comes to telling stories and open world games in the industry. The developers spend years creating and updating their games and Red Dead Redemption 2 is no different. With a … Read More
Will the PS4 Be Sony’s Last Console?
Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter is one of those people who you either love or hate. He makes a lot of bold statements about the game industry and about games in general. Some people clench their fists when he makes a sweeping claim about a game’s sales when it’s not even out yet, but others will take what he says to heart. Now he’s talking about the PS5, so of course we had to lend an ear. He’s predicting the fall of consoles, which is nothing new, but what he’s predicting will replace them is another story entirely. Let’s take a look at his predictions and how Sony has reacted to them. This should be fun. Pachter: “Growth Will Require Leaving Traditional Consoles Behind” Michael Pachter took the stage during DICE Europe in 2015 and claimed that the consoles have hit a wall in terms of their growth. In his words: “The console installed base is as big as it’s ever going to get.” He believes that this generation will not surpass any previous ones, and a generation after that would do the same. No more growth, period. Here are his predictions for this generation: The Wii U is going to sell 20 million units compared to 100 million for the Wii The PlayStation 4 is going to sell 120 million or 130 million The Xbox One will sell 100 to 110 million Xbox 360 and PS3 combined sold 270 million, this time around the total will be 260 million Pachter says that the surge of new gamers playing on their smartphones and on casual consoles like the Wii opens up a huge avenue for more people to play Sony and Microsoft’s games, but these experiences are out of reach since they don’t own a console to play them on. He clarifies by saying quote “This is the last real console cycle. I don’t mean that Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo will go bankrupt and shut down, they will not. Each of them will make another console, some people will buy them, and the next console cycle will be to this console cycle what the 3DS is to the DS (15 million per year compared to 26 million per year for the DS).” All-in-all, pachter’s stance is thus: “So when I say that this console cycle is the last console cycle, the reason is that console games shouldn’t require a console. And I’m not talking about the cloud.” No Consoles? No Cloud? Explain! Pachter argues that games only need a CPU, a GPU, storage, and a controller. As smartphones and set-top hardware become more powerful, all of these thing will be present in devices besides the consoles. By the time the PS5 is supposed to release, Pachter says that “you’re going to have a CPU/GPU in your house that is connected to your television.” He is of course referring to devices like the Roku box, Amazon Fire TV, or Apple TV which allow you to purchase and play apps on your television. … Read More