Here's a post-conference rundown of what exactly took place at the Sony event last night.
Here's a post-conference rundown of what exactly took place at the Sony event last night.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 has been announced by Konami for Xbox 360, PS3, Windows PC and PSP. In this latest incarnation, the series will switch to using the Fox Engine. There's no word on Wii U, PS4 or Xbox One in the press release, but we've contacted Konami for further details.
The 2014 game will feature what is dubbed as "TrueBall Tech," a system governing physics and controls centered around the ball. The Motion Animation Stability System (M.A.S.S.) is designed to present more realistic and dynamic player collision behavior and tackles, and footballers will now have mental statistics that can be affected throughout a match by fan support and teamwork.
The Fox Engine is a multi-platform development suite powering Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
PSN Tuesday: Remember Me on PS3, Limbo on Vita, Deus Ex free for Plus
by Jessica Conditt
(9 days ago)
PlayStation Plus members can grab the PS3 game Deus Ex: Human Revolution for free, alongside a 10 percent discount on Grid 2 ($54), and 40 percent off Portal 2 ($9.60) and its Move-enabled DLC, In Motion ($4.80). Let's Fish: Hooked On is half off on Vita for Plus members this week, for $10.
Sony has some secret content in store for June, according to PlayStation Digital Platforms Community Manager Paul Sullivan, and it just so happens there's a large gaming convention right in the middle of this month. Keep your eyes peeled.
Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai previously said the board would consider Loeb's offer. Loeb, with Third Point LLC, sent a letter to Sony on May 14 arguing an entertainment IPO would allow Sony to focus on its electronics arm, which has seen nine consecutive annual losses.
Grid 2 and Fuse are also available through PSN today, launching alongside their retail counterparts. Rockstar's The Warriors is also on the menu, making its PS2 Classics debut for $10.
Meanwhile, PlayStation Plus subscribers can download a free copy of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend on PS Vita, as well as a free PS Vita music app, Imaginstruments.
Tomorrow, PS Plus also gets a free timed trial of Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time and Insomniac Games' latest, Fuse. Finally, PS Plus-exclusive discounts on a few different games will be up for grabs tomorrow: Hamilton's Great Adventure is down to $2.50; Draw Slasher is $4.19; and Germinator can be snagged for $5.
Whispers of a western release for Type-0 have been around for two years, but never really went anywhere. All we know for certain is that Square Enix Presents is scheduled for E3 and some Final Fantasy news is planned... because there's always Final Fantasy news planned. Always.
The effort to localize Class of Heroes 2 began in 2012 with a Kickstarter campaign seeking $500,000 in funding. Ultimately, only $96,951 was raised, though MonkeyPaw CEO John Greiner wasn't too down in a follow-up interview with Joystiq.
Greiner said that even though the Kickstarter campaign failed, "we were able to educate people about the game and its features. That will help immensely when we release the digital version."
In non-allegorical terms, gross revenue (overall sales) and net income (post-tax profit) were both down year-over-year, at $1.865 billion and $54.6 million, respectively. As far as net income, that's a 24.69 percent decrease from the $72.5 million Gamestop reported at the end of Q1 2012.
Meanwhile, mobile device sales were up 290 percent, though this massive increase was largely due to the fact that Gamestop's mobile trade-in/sales program was just getting started during Q1 of 2012. Digital sales also increased, to the tune of 47.3 percent year-over-year, while new software sales, both physical and digital, fell 3.8 percent.
As was the case during Q1 2012, used hardware and software sales accounted for the majority of Gamestop's pre-tax profit, with new hardware and software sales making up just 29.5 percent of the quarter's overall gross.
Loeb, with Third Point LLC, owns a 6 percent stake in Sony worth $1.1 billion, and is Sony's biggest investor. Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai confirmed that the top brass is considering Loeb's offer, but didn't say when it would come to a decision, Bloomberg reports.
"It's only a start," Hirai said. "It's important that the board will discuss this and come to a decision that represents Sony's stance." Following Loeb's offer yesterday, Sony stock surged 9 percent.
In March, Square Enix President Yoichi Wada stepped down and the company announced widespread restructuring that it expected to cost $106 million. Square Enix posted a net loss of $134 million for fiscal year 2013, citing "weak" sales of major console games, including Sleeping Dogs, Hitman: Absolution and Tomb Raider, the last of which sold 3.4 million in its first month.
It's quite the week for content on Sony platforms, with several major releases making their debut on the PlayStation Network today. Metro: Last Light, the 4A Games' sequel salvaged by Deep Silver, launches today. If you haven't had a chance to read our review yet, be sure to give that a gander.
It's joined by CCP's EVE Online offshoot (get it?) Dust 514, available free to all PSN users. Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery eases its way onto PS Vita today as a $3 download, while Rockstar makes good on its promised Manhunt for $10.
PlayStation Plus subscribers' freebie this week is Knytt Underground, which is flanked by discounts on both Metro: Last Light and a special pre-order price on Grid 2. For the full list of what's in this week's content dump, hit up the PS Blog through the source link below.
Sony posts $458M fiscal 2012 net profit, forecasts 5M portable sales in fiscal 2013
by Sinan Kubba
(1 month ago)
As the company predicted following several cost-cutting measures across the previous year – including the sales of major buildings in Tokyo and New York, as well as thousands of layoffs - Sony posted an operating profit for the fiscal year, which came in at ¥230.1 billion ($2.45 billion).
Sony shifted 3.4 million PS3 and PS2 units across the last quarter, while the Vita and PSP came in at 1.3 million. Sony's fiscal year figures were in line with projections made last quarter, with the home consoles at 16.5 million and the portables at 7 million.
However, the portables' figures compare unfavorably with the company's initial estimate for the year, which was 16 million. Sony is being much more cautious for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, predicting only 5 million units in what's approximately the Vita's second year at retail. PS3 figures are estimated at 10 million, while Sony chose not to include PS4 projections.
The PlayStation division saw 12.2 percent year-on-year decline in sales, coming in at ¥707.1 billion ($7.52 billion). Operating income saw a much sharper drop, down 94.1 percent to ¥1.7 billion, or $18 million. Sony put the declines down to decreased hardware sales, as well as the "strategic price reduction" for the Vita in Japan earlier this year.
One area where growth is predicted is software, even without including the PS4. Sony projects an increase from the 266 million units sold in fiscal 2012 to 319 million (including digital units).
Papo & Yo is available for $9 this week (or $12 if you want the soundtrack tossed in), while Retro City Rampage is down to $7.50. Fatal Frame 2 joins the PS2 Classics list, and a multiplayer demo for Fuse teases Insomniac's latest shooter before its launch later this month. Check the PlayStation Blog for the full list of new content.
FIFA 13 sells 14.5 million in 2013, digital revenue up from FIFA 12
by Jessica Conditt
(1 month ago)
By Q3 2013, which ended on December 31, 2012, FIFA 13 clocked a total of 12 million sales.