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
PS5 pre-orders are still not available, what to do while you wait!?
PS5 Pre-orders have seemingly come and gone a few times now, but we are still awaiting news as to whether or not Pre-Orders will open one more time before the actual release date. So, the big question here is, what to do while we wait? If you plan on getting a PS5 this year, there are still plenty of things to consider while you wait for that upgrade. Here are a few suggestions to help you bide your time. Start planning ahead. With PS5 offering support for 4K graphics at 120Hz refresh rate and not to mention 8K support, you might want to consider upgrading the television set you plan to use to get the most out of these graphical capabilities. Not only are T.V. sets something to consider, but the PS5 will also feature 3D audio. There is a slew of audio hardware that will be available to take advantage of this stellar sound setting, but keep in mind, the PS5 will not support optical audio. If optical is something you currently use or are planning on using, you’ll have to run the setup through something other than the PS5 and depending on the setup being used, it might not be ideal. That being said, you can follow this link to our listing of the best TV and Sound Systems for the PS5 here:PS5Playstation5.com/best-tv-and-sound-system-for-the-ps5/ TV and Audio equipment aside, there is still plenty to do in the meantime. Let’s discuss gaming space. New consoles means spending more time playing games out the gate. Comfort is key when it comes to gaming for long periods of time. Have a look at your current setup and decide if it’s everything you want for your upcoming game sessions. While sitting on a comfy couch is great, there are a lot of office chairs (gaming chairs if you will) that will offer a great deal of back support for extended play time. Most will be provided with wheels and are fairly light in weight which makes moving them around the house much easier than tugging the couch or recliner to a position that you might find more comforting. Be sure to check out Amazon for some great deals on chairs made for gaming. Sometimes when we’re playing intense game sessions, the convenience of having a little fridge next to us is the difference between winning or losing a match when the game can’t be paused. I have seen mini fridges that will hold up to 6 cans of soda or whatever you might partake in, to minis that can hold half the amount of the average size refrigerator. The amount of cold drinks and snacks you need at hand is a personal choice, but the convenience alone can be a life saver in gaming. Pun kind of intended… Keep in mind that these mini fridges can be pretty durable and not only used for beverages and snacks, but it can also be used to place some lighter weight items on top to keep … 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
Play has no limits, but PS5 pre-orders certainly do…The great PS5 Pre-order Fiasco!!
So, we got to watch the PS5 event yesterday and it was mostly a recap of things we were already aware of. Don’t get me wrong, there were a few tidbits that hadn’t been shown before, but nothing we saw yesterday should have been all that surprising. At least not with the game lineup we catered to. I believe the majority of us were there to watch for two things. How much will the PS5 consoles cost and when can we preorder them? Well, Sony did drop the console prices for us. Full disc version of PS5 is $500 USD and the digital PS5 drops in at $400 USD. What came as a surprise to many wasn’t the price, if anything the price was more of a relief. No, the real surprise was the fact that Sony didn’t even mention preorders. I think for many of us, we weren’t just surprised about the lack of details, but a lot of us kind of shrugged it off like we were expecting Sony to make an announcement about preorders and we would have a week or more to prepare to spam out checkout buttons. Nope, not even close! About two hours after the event, Twitter lit up with confirmation that PS5 preorders would in fact go live sometime today at select retailers. Well, with less than a 24 hour notice to prepare to try and order online or possibly in person at stores, Walmart stepped in and offered preorders just minutes after the announcement. So much for Sony promising that the public wouldn’t be surprised with preorders suddenly going live. While we can’t hold Sony accountable for the actions of retailers, giving us less than 24 hours to prepare to preorder was certainly on them and I think the reason it all went down this way is thanks to a false Bloomberg article claiming a massive PS5 shortage which led to Sony shares dropping more than 3.5% in the stock market. Shares have certainly risen back up after the preorders went live and the world saw just how much demand there is for next gen console hardware. So, what happened after Walmart released preorders? Well, others followed suit of course. Target, Best Buy and GameStop opened up their pre orders along with several other major retailers in the UK. Amazon eventually jumped on the bandwagon and started adding PS5 accessories for preorder and even the PS5 went up. Sure, that all sounds simple enough, but the fact of the matter is, it was a mess in the end. From retailer sites crashing to Amazon canceling mass preorders that were apparently not supposed to go live when they did, not everyone got the chance to preorder a PS5 and let’s be honest, not only are people upset, but they have a right to be with this one. What does it mean to be a Gamer? This YouTube video really explains a lot about it! https://youtu.be/LfSIk0lbtDc The first wave of PS5 preorders has got to … Read More
Are robots part of the future for gaming?
I have been gaming for many years and I’ve seen a lot of changes along the way. Watching the video game industry practically grow along with me, I feel like I have a certain appreciation for it all. Going from Atari 2600 to a Playstation 4 over the course of 30 to 40 some odd years, It’s crazy to look back and think about it all. Great improvements aside, we have seen a mass of failures along the way. We’ve been duped with some really crappy gimmicks over time that are nearly unforgivable. Let us not forget Nintendo’s Virtual Boy. back when commercials reigned supreme if you didn’t have an active video games magazine subscription to help get the actual details. All in all, it was not a good product and virtual reality would continue to be just another pipe dream. Until recent years that is. Wireless controllers were trash products for years. The signals were easily broken when a ceiling fan was turned on, let alone other appliances running in the home at the time. We had a slew of products thrown at us every year and they all sounded great, but technology wasn’t where it needed to be. But without those failures, we wouldn’t have what we have now and it’s only getting better. All that being said, it brings us to our subject of the day… Robots! Yes, robots just might become the next major gaming gimmick. I use the term “gimmick” loosely because it could go either way. Anyway, you’re probably wondering why I chose to discuss robots as part of the gaming industries future. Well, Sony has recently filed a patent for a robot companion. Yes, a robot companion… This is just a patent and doesn’t mean anything will come out of it, but this also gives us an idea of what is being worked on behind closed doors. Take it with a grain of salt if you will, but it’s still an interesting and dare I say “fun” topic to discuss? The gist of the Sony’s robot companion patent is that the robot will sit next to the player and observe them playing video games. While the companion bot watches you play, it will also take note of your reactions/emotions and share your feelings. If you get upset over a game, the robot will be upset with you. If you’re happy and excited over an accomplishment, so will your companion. Even more so, the companion bot isn’t limited to just watching you play video games. It can watch movies with you, tv, formats of the like and it can even be your player 2 for games featuring couch co-op. The idea is that it is better to have a companion than to be alone, even if it’s artificial intelligence. Que sci-fi movie flashbacks now… The idea of such tech is fascinating and a little creepy at the same time. On one hand, this seems like fairly simple technology … Read More
10 of the most anticipated games in 2020
2020 is almost 1 full month in! With that said, it is going to be an amazing year for gamers all around the world. With the upcoming release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, that alone makes it a great year, but there is also a stack of some highly anticipated games to drop as well. Sadly, some of our most anticipated games have indeed been delayed to later part of the year, but still planned to release this year. Without further ado, here are 10 of my most anticipated games for 2020! In no particular order, let’s check em out. 1 – The Last of Us Part 2 Easily one of the most anticipated games by many gamers around the world, The Last of Us Part 2 will most likely be a masterpiece. The developers over at Naughty Dog really put in the work when it comes to video games and if TLOU Part 2 is anything like the first one (which it will be and then some), we are in for a treat that we will talk about for years to come. The Last Of Us part 2 will be dropping on May 29, 2020. 2 – Cyberpunk 2077 From the development studio that brought us The Witcher video game series (The Witcher 3 being the one that made it to consoles), comes what is surely going to be another smash hit. Cyberpunk 2077 will be an open world RPG game where we assume the role of a mercenary featuring incredible hacking skills, a large weapons cabinet much more. Look forward to playing Cyberpunk 2077, this coming September 17th, 2020. 3 – Final fantasy VII Remake Remember when the FFVII Remake was announced about 5 years ago? Was it longer than that? Anyway, after years of waiting, we will finally be treated to a remake that many of us wanted. I played FFVII on the original PlayStation console for years. It has always been one of my favorite games and probably my favorite in the overall series. If you have never played, you are in for a treat. If you have played, you’re in for an even bigger treat. We can look forward to getting out hands on the FFVII remake this April 10, 2020! 4 – DOOM Eternal Doom is a long running franchise that just doesn’t want to quit and to be honest, I’m grateful for that. DOOM Eternal is a sequel that picks up right after DOOM 2016. This intense First Person Shooter will be chocked full of demon hordes and it will be a massacre. Expect a fast paced and chaotic battle between you (The DOOM Slayer) and an entire planet of badass demons on March 20, 2020! 5 – Dying Light 2 When Techland developed Dying Light, it was a successful hit and garnered a huge cult following. A zombie parkour game that really plays well, looks great that hosted a really good storyline, I as … Read More