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Watch Dogs multiplayer 'much more real-time' than asynchronous, all about hyperconnectivity

Ubisoft's open-world adventure Watch Dogs is all about hyperconnectivity, and includes a multiplayer mode that is "much more real-time" than just asynchronous play, according to creative director Jonathan Morin. In a recent interview with Kotaku, Morin confirmed the demo shown at this week's press event included a brief instance of multiplayer at the end. The frame zooms in on a security camera being hacked, but not by the player controlling protagonist Aiden. Morin confirmed that other players could affect what's happening in your game, with more details on the feature forthcoming. "Watch Dogs is all about hyperconnectivity," Morin explained. "To me, that has to mean all the time and anywhere. So yes, other people are out there all the time, when you don't expect it. Whether you're...
News
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PS4 games priced between $0.99 and $60

Games for the newly revealed PlayStation 4 will be priced between $0.99 and $60, Sony Computer Entertainment America president Jack Tretton told CNBC. Players will be able to sample titles prior to purchasing them, explained Tretton, who described the PlayStation 4 as being "designed with the game developer in mind and the consumer in mind." Tretton stated that pricing and additional details will be made available throughout "several key events between now and the launch date," giving Sony a "nine-to-10" month period to reveal further information about the system. PlayStation 4 is scheduled to release this winter. The PlayStation 4, which according to Tretton was five years in the making, will also justify the $60 price point of games through "hours and hours of gameplay on a daily...
Culture
28 Comments

Jimmy Fallon gets first PS4 hands-on with Killzone: Shadow Fall

The recently revealed PlayStation 4 made an appearance on last night's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, giving Fallon the chance to go hands-on with upcoming PS4 title Killzone: Shadow Fall. This first live televised demo of the game was introduced by co-founder of Guerrilla Games, Hermen Hulst, who began by offering a run-down of comparative changes between the PlayStation 4 and its predecessor, as well as an explanation of what the new PlayStation 4 controller will offer — all of which was previously detailed during Sony's conference. It's also worth pointing out this is the same short level of Killzone: Shadow Fall shown during the PlayStation event earlier in the week and that Jimmy Fallon is absolutely terrible at playing games.
News
31 Comments

Jonathan Blow explains why The Witness is coming to PS4

On Wednesday, Braid developer Jonathan Blow announced that his next game, The Witness, will come to PlayStation 4 as a timed console exclusive, meaning owners of consoles like Microsoft's next Xbox and Nintendo's Wii U may have to wait to play his game. In an interview with Kotaku, Blow says the decision to ink a deal with Sony came down to a few key factors, including the PS4's technical specs and the "it's about games" positioning of the next-gen PlayStation. "There were people at Sony who really liked the game and were keeping in touch with us about it, and so we naturally started going to their PS4 developer events, got a dev kit, and started playing with it," Blow said. "I don't have good communication with anyone at Microsoft right now, and haven't been disclosed on their next...
Report
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PS4 'doesn't support' current-gen DualShock 3 controller, does support PS Move

During last night's PlayStation 4 reveal event, Sony developer Media Molecule demonstrated a tech demo in which players used a PlayStation Move controller to sculpt 3D objects. With Move-like functionality already supported by the new DualShock 4 controller, we asked Sony's Shuhei Yoshida if the PS4 would support the current-gen DualShock 3 controllers the same way it supports the similarly current-gen PS Move controller. "No, [the PlayStation 4] doesn't support DualShock 3 but it does support PS Move," Yoshida said. Asked if that policy extends to other Bluetooth-enabled PS3 peripherals like the Sony wireless headset, a PlayStation publicist cut in saying, "I don't think we're addressing additional peripheral support at this time." Yoshida quickly added, "That doesn't necessarily...
News
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PS4's AMD semi-custom processing unit detailed

Sony's PlayStation 4 will be powered by a semi-custom AMD accelerated processing unit designed for high-volume media, technology company AMD announced today. The PS4 is the first product AMD has created for another company using semi-custom APUs. Both Sony and AMD collaborated on creation of the APU, which includes an 8-core x86-64 AMD "Jaguar" CPU and a Radeon-based graphics engine running a 1.84 TFLOPS chip. According to AMD, the company utilized the same technology design "roadmap" for its PCs, notebooks and tablets when designing the PS4's APU. "This unique APU architecture enables game developers to easily harness the power of parallel processing to fundamentally change the console gaming experience," vice president of global communications and industry marketing John Taylor...
News
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PS4 may support existing digital purchases through cloud, 'We could do so if we choose to,' says Sony

PlayStation 4 will not natively support PlayStation 3 games, including downloadable PlayStation Network games, said Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Worldwide Studios during a roundtable interview today. The absence of native compatibility means Sony will need to explore other alternatives for playing current-gen software. "Unless, somehow, some games work on emulation," Yoshida acknowledged. "The easiest thing, technically, would be to make PS1 games work on PS4 with emulation, but we are not talking about our emulation plans as yet." PS1 games currently run through emulation on the PlayStation 3 as well as the PlayStation Vita while PlayStation 2 software has no such emulation available. "So there are two ways, emulation or cloud services. But native support, no. Sorry," Yoshida...
News
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PS4 will support 4K for 'personal contents' like photos, but not games

The PlayStation 4 will support media output resolution at 4K for photos and videos but not for games, Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida confirmed to Polygon this morning. "The official answer is that the PS4 supports 4K output but for personal contents, like photos or videos. Not games," Yoshida said. "PS4 games do not work on 4K." When asked if they could support 4K output if the developer was able to justify the increased processing cost, Yoshida explained, "There's a demonstration. Polyphony Digital's Kazunori [Yamauchi] loves these things. He's been using multiple PS3s to create a big-screen Gran Turismo experience for three monitors. That kind of thing is always possible. But with one PS4 to 4K TV, can you play your game? No." 4K refers to high-resolution video...
News
6 Comments

Oddworld HD developer working on PS4 content

British independent developer Just Add Water, known for their work remastering the Oddworld series, is currently working on content for PlayStation 4, the company announced on its blog today. Just Add Water confirmed they are part of the large group of companies currently working on content for Sony's upcoming console. "We're delighted to finally be able to tell you that JAW are developing for the Sony PlayStation 4," wrote community manager Daniel Morse. "We can't talk about what we're working on just yet. Just be assured it'll be worth the wait." According to Morse, Just Add Water has grown twice as large since last year and moved into a new, bigger office space. The developer has been "quietly building a team we're proud of" for work on the Oddworld series. The company's first...
News
14 Comments

The Witcher 3 coming to PS4 in 2014

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will release to PlayStation 4 systems in 2014, developer CD Projekt Red announced today. This follows the studio's announcement earlier this month of the title's release to PC and other "high-end platforms," with a release window scheduled for next year. "It's a real pleasure to cooperate with Sony," said dam Kiciński, CEO of CD Projekt SA in a prepared statement. "Combining CD Projekt RED's unique artistic vision and tech with the capabilities of PlayStation 4 will make The Witcher 3 a truly next-gen RPG. With Sony's new hardware and our new engine, there are no limits to what we can create in the process of realizing our vision for Geralt's dark fantasy world. Studio head Adam Badowski added once again that The Witcher 3 will see a simultaneous release...
News
21 Comments

Sony teases massive PS4 game developer list

Telltale Games, Rockstar and LucasArts were among a massive list of developer logos said to be involved in future game development on the upcoming PlayStation 4, according to an image teased by Sony during last night's console reveal. While it's unknown whether these third-party studios are currently developing for the new console, or rather that they simply have received a dev unit for the system, Sony later released a list of nearly 150 game developers and publishers across North America, Europe and Asia said to be involved in the future of the console, as of Feb. 20, 2013. Japan: ACQUIRE Corp. ARC SYSTEM WORKS CO.,LTD. ARTDINK CORPORATION ASCII MEDIA WORKS Inc. Bethesda Softworks, LLC CAPCOM Chara-Ani Corporation CRAFTS & MEISTER CO.,LTD. CyberConnect2 Co.,Ltd. D3...
News
16 Comments

Quantic Dream demoes advanced emotional tech with PS4 and new engine

Quantic Dream's studio founder and game director David Cage demonstrated the technology capabilities of the studio's new engine using the PlayStation 4. The tech demo, which was shown at PlayStation Meeting 2013 earlier today, was running real-time 3D on a PlayStation 4 and illustrated the use of advanced skin shaders using translucency, and other advanced realistic shaders, as well as 3D depth of field. According Cage, this was just a sampling of advanced technological features that used to be reserved for CG films. Cage noted the quality shown in the video is just a taste of what gamers can expect in future Quantic Dream's games for PlayStation 4. He promised that the team can push the tech even further. "With the PlayStation 4 game creators can now forget about technology...
News
47 Comments

Sony explains why the PS4 was a no-show at its own debut

This week's hours-long PlayStation Meeting gave gamers their first glimpse at the new DualShock 4 controller, detailed the philosophy of the PlayStation 4, showed off a half-dozen games and demoed three new engines. But there was one glaring omission: The PS4's debut was missing the PS4. I ran into Shuhei Yoshida, president of Worldwide Studios at Sony Computer Entertainment, after the show and asked him why the console wasn't shown during the presentation or after. "We need something to show off later," he said, half kidding. Will it be shown at E3, I asked. "We're still trying to decide that," he said. Yoshida then went on to explain the thinking behind Sony's decision to have the controller at the event but not the console that uses it. "The console is just a box," he said....
Editorial
13 Comments

PlayStation 4 event in under two minutes

Tonight, Sony announced the PlayStation 4, the company's next-generation video game console. Sitting in the third row of the midtown Manhattan venue, I was bombarded by pulsing music, concussive explosions and a handful of pleasantly designed power points. You could watch the lengthy press conference, if that's your thing. Or, you could watch our recap. We've diced the event into a short segment and peppered that it with delectable opinion. Now, all you need is the length of a coffee break to learn all the important talking points about the future of video games.
News
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'PlayStation App' turns iPhone, iPad and Android into second screen for PS4

PlayStation 4 owners will be able to use an iPhone, iPad or Android-based smartphone or tablet to act as second screens using the "PlayStation App," according to a Sony press release. After installing the app, the aforementioned devices can be used in several ways. PlayStation 4 game purchases can be made away from the console, and users can watch gameplay from remote streams. While playing games, the app will allow second screen devices to act as a map, for example. Users will also be able to use the PlayStation Vita for these features. The PlayStation 4 was revealed today during the Sony PlayStation Meeting 2013 in New York City. Read everything we know here.
Video
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Developers talk about how the PS4 changes game development

Sony released a PlayStation 4 developer video today at the PlayStation Meeting 2013 event in New York. The video features developers like Double Fine's Tim Schafer, Gearbox's Randy Pitchford, Sony Santa Monica's Stig Asmussen and president of Sony's Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida talking about the PS4's new functions and features. The developers speak generally about the way the PS4 is making game development easier and improving gaming for players. The video can be viewed above.
News
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PS4 touch-sensitive DualShock 4 controller revealed (update: features, scale detailed)

Sony's next-generation PlayStation 4 will come with an all-new DualShock controller, the DualShock 4. The controller will feature a touchpad, a Share button and a light bar, Sony announced at an event in New York City today. Players can use the Share button to select a clip from the last few minutes of gameplay, tag it and return to playing the game while the clip uploads to the web in the background. This functionality will be integrated with Facebook. The Share button will also let players stream games in real time to services such as Ustream. The PlayStation 4 has a stereoscopic camera peripheral, the new PlayStation Eye, that can sense the depth in front of it and sense the direction of the controller. The console's power button can be used to put the system in a sleep state, and...
News
14 Comments

Sony's timing for PS4 was perfect, EEDAR says

Sony's timing on its PlayStation 4 reveal "was perfect" and "wise," according to vice president of insights, Jesse Divnich, of market research firm Electronic Entertainment Design and Research "By announcing early and at an isolated event, it allows Sony to capture 100 percent of the attention of gamers, technology enthusiasts, and industry insiders," Divnich said. "Sony's announcement now gives publishers plenty of time to prepare for E3 and it shifts the focus of the show to the software, which ultimately is what gamers look forward to the most." According to Divnich, Sony is now "in a perfect storm of circumstances" that will help hype the next generation throughout the entire industry. He continued to warn third-party publishers against waiting to throw in support, adding that...