Sony Announce The Next Generation Of PSVR
/
Sony has confirmed they are bringing VR to the PlayStation 5 in a recent post on the PlayStation Blog.
Sony Said the following "Today I’m pleased to share that our next-generation VR system will be coming to PlayStation 5, enabling the ultimate entertainment experience with dramatic leaps in performance and interactivity."
They discussed the following possible improvements coming to the next generation VR by saying:
"We’re taking what we’ve learned since launching PS VR on PS4 to develop a next-gen VR system that enhances everything from resolution and field of view to tracking and input. It will connect to PS5 with a single cord to simplify setup and improve ease-of-use while enabling a high-fidelity visual experience."
The DualSense is probably the best thing about the PS5 and it looks like Sony is planning to continue that trend with the PSVR by adding similar features to the upcoming PSVR controller.
"One of the innovations we’re excited about is our new VR controller, which will incorporate some of the key features found in the DualSense wireless controller, along with a focus on great ergonomics."
Sadly they confirmed the new VR headset is a while off, with it not launching in 2021. It's honestly super refreshing for a gaming company to be somewhat open about current hardware in development, hopefully, this trend continues and spreads to other companies.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 Remaster is Coming To Nintendo Switch And Xbox Series X And PS5
/
Activision has finally announced that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 will be released on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch this year.
The next-generation versions will arrive on March 26, with the Switch edition currently not having a specific release date but is confirmed for 2021.
Activision has promised a "variety of upgrades," which includes 120FPS/1080p and 60FPS/4K visuals, spatial audio, and other enhancements coming for the next-gen versions. Sadly the Nintendo Switch edition won't have the same frame rates and graphics upgrades.
Players who already own a digital copy of the game for PS4 or Xbox One or the disc version on PS4 will be able to upgrade to the same console family with all of your progress at no cost, except for residents of Japan where this will cost 100 Yen. This apparently only applies to the deluxe edition of the game and the disc version on Xbox One is seemingly left out too.
Activision will also be selling a "Cross-Gen Deluxe Bundle" that costs $10 more. This will come with a new skater called Ripper, along with retro gear for the Create-A-Skater mode, along with retro skins for Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, and Rudney Mullen.
PlayStation Announce The Return Of Play At Home
/
PlayStation is bringing back their Play At Home initiative, which they launched last April which gave players two free games in the form of Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey.
This year’s Play at Home initiative will be starting in March and continuing through until June.
This year, we wanted to go further. So we’ve designed a series of free games and entertainment offers for our PlayStation community to make the next few months a little more fun and enjoyable.
This year’s Play at Home initiative is kicking off in March and extending through June. The first game will be 2016's Ratchet And Clank from Insomniac Games and is available from March 1st until March 31st for free on the PlayStation Store. Once redeemed, it's yours to keep forever and forever.
In addition to this, Funimation will be holding a special offer that starts March 25th for new subscribers to the service for a limited time.
Fall Guys Cuphead Skins Announced
/
Fall Guys creators Mediatonic has announced a partnership with Studio MDHR to bring Cuphead skins to the game.
The skins are available in two parts: top and bottom. You can unlock the top and bottom pieces by collecting five crowns, or they can be bought with real-world money. A Cuphead-emote is also available for an additional five crowns. The new skin will be available Wednesday, February 24, with the Mugman skin being available on Saturday, February 27.
CupHead is currently not available on PlayStation, so it seems like a pretty strange choice to launch this skin now rather than alongside the launch of The Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X version. It's definitely cool seeing games crossover like this though and I hope more games collude more in the future. Fall Guys has had some pretty notable crossovers such as Doom, Team Fortress, Portal, Half-Life, Godzilla, Sonic, and Goose Game costumes.
Apex Legends Nintendo Switch Release Date Announced
/
EA and Respawn have announced that Apex Legends will finally be dropping onto Nintendo Switch on March 9.
game director Chad Grenier revealed the game will support cross-play on console, as well as the latest season and full feature parity with the other versions of the game. The Nintendo Switch version is being ported by the studio known as Panic Button.
Those who buy the Season 8 Battle Pass on Nintendo Switch will also get the first 30 levels plus XP earned will be doubled for the first two weeks after launch.
I jumped into the new season on launch and I'm currently enjoying most of the content, I still however do not like Kings Canyon. Fuse is pretty fantastic but his concussion ability is a little on the loud side. It's definitely an improvement on Season 7 and hopefully, with a little time and some patches, it'll be awesome.
The next Battlefield Game will be revealed this Spring
/
EA's Andrew Wilson has confirmed that the next Battlefield game will be revealed this Spring, and is still on course for a Holiday 2021 release.
The announcement came from the latest EA's investor call, where he said of the latest entry in the FPS series: "We will reveal the game in the spring and deliver defined Battlefield experience for our players in the 2021 holiday season."
Wilson also said during the call that the next Battlefield would "mark a return to all-out military warfare" and boasted that the upcoming sequel "takes full advantage of the power of next-generation platforms to bring massive immersive battles to life with more players than ever before" thanks to maps with "unprecedented scale."
Embracer Group acquires Gearbox Software
/
Embracer Group which was formerly known as THQ Nordic has announced that they've acquired Borderlands creator Gearbox in a deal said to be worth a potential $1.3 billion USD.
In a press release, Embracer said that Gearbox will become a seventh operating group as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company. CEO Randy Pitchford will continue to lead the studio and the 550 employees will all become joint "significant" shareholders in Embracer. The $1.3 USD billion-dollar value of the deal is dependent on performance with $363 million of the value paid upfront and the owners getting just over a billion should the company hit an agreed on six-year performance targets.
Pitchford said in a statement on the acquisition: "The feeling at Gearbox is that we are just getting started and this transaction is not merely a stimulant for the talent of our employee-owned company, but a propellent for the exciting future we have planned."
Xbox Game Pass Additions for February 2021
/
Xbox has announced a batch of games coming to Xbox Game Pass for the first half of February.
It's looking like a pretty great start to the month for Xbox Game Pass subscribers and I've personally still not gotten to the games from January. Fingers crossed, I'll magically find some time to play all these video games or you know maybe get some sleep. There's not a ton of that lying around The Ghostly household, especially with a newborn and a toddler.
Anyway here's the list of the announced games coming to Xbox Game Pass in February:
Ghost of a Tale (PC) ID@Xbox – February 4
Project Winter (Android, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – February 4
The Falconeer (Android, Console, and PC) – February 4
Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age (Console and PC) – February 11
Jurassic World Evolution (Android and Console) – February 11
Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones (Android and Console) ID@Xbox – February 11
Wolfenstein: Youngblood (Android) – February 11
Mass Effect Legendary Edition New Release Date is May 14
/
EA has announced that Mass Effect Legendary Edition will be launch on May 14 in a newly released trailer showing off some of the upgrades.
The collection will include all three games from the original trilogy, alongside 40 pieces of DLC content including weapons, armors, and packs which have all been remastered and "optimised" for 4K. The game will feature improved visual effects such as enhanced models, shaders, FX, lighting, and depth of field. There'll also be "targeted enhancements" for the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 that include full HDR across the trilogy and options for "Favor Quality" and "Favour Framerate" modes to boost resolution or FPS.
They also have added New customization options for your Shepard that include improved hair, makeup, eye colour, and skin tones. the character creator is confirmed to also allow all options across all three games in the trilogy. Lastly, there are also plans to make some gameplay enhancements specifically for the first game which is said to include "improved aiming and weapons balance, SFX, input/controls, squad behaviour, cover behaviour, and gameplay cameras."
Mass Effect Legendary Edition will be available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC from May 14, 2021.
Second Batch Of Games Coming To Xbox Game Pass In January
/
Xbox has announced the next wave of games being added to Xbox Game Pass for the second half of January.
Here's the list of all the upcoming games coming to Xbox Game Pass in the coming weeks:
Control (PC) – January 21
Desperados III (Console, PC, and Android) – January 21
Donut County (Console, PC, and Android) ID@Xbox – January 21
Outer Wilds (Android) ID@Xbox – January 21
Cyber Shadow (Console, PC, and Android) ID@Xbox – January 26
The Medium (Xbox Series X|S and PC) ID@Xbox – January 28
Yakuza 3 Remastered (Console, PC, and Android) – January 28
Yakuza 4 Remastered (Console, PC, and Android) – January 28
Yakuza 5 Remastered (Console, PC, and Android) – January 28
It's looking like a pretty fantastic month of games on Xbox and I'm extremely excited to play some more Yakuza, I write this as I'm currently playing through Yakuza Like A Dragon.
Xbox also announced the games that will be leaving the service on January 29th, so here's that list of games:
Death Squared (Console)
Death’s Gambit (PC)
Final Fantasy XV (Console and PC)
Fishing Sim World: Pro Tour (Console and PC)
Gris (PC)
Indivisible (Console and PC)
Reigns: Game of Thrones (PC)
Sea Salt (Console and PC)
Overall it's looking like a great month for video games in general and I can't wait to not play any of them. There's not enough time in the day but I do plan to get to the three Yakuza games, which I'll hopefully finish in time for Yakuza 6 in March.
Apex Legends Season 8 Mayhem Details Revealed
/
Respawn Entertainment has announced the date for Season 8 of Apex Legends, as well as revealing some details on its latest Legends to join the apex games.
The new season which is entitled Mayhem will see the introduction of Fuse in an explosive way. Respawn Described him as "The Champion of Salvo" and as a "blow-up-first-ask-questions-later kinda guy".
The season will also bring changes to the Kings Canyon map, which respawn is calling Obliterated King's Canyon, more details were promised to come later in the week. Lastly, they showcased a brand new weapon in the form of a bolt action rifle called The 30-30 Repeater.
A few more details on the upcoming season are available on the Apex Legends website.
Season 8: Mayhem will be dropping into the world of Apex Legends on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC from February 2.
Hogwarts Legacy delayed into 2022
/
Warner Bros has announced that Hogwarts Legacy has been delayed into 2022.
a statement posted to the official Twitter account said: "Creating the best possible experience for all of the Wizarding World and gaming fans is paramount to us, so we are giving the game the time it needs."
This year is currently looking to go one of two ways for me, either a ton of upcoming games get delayed due to working at home situation or there are so many games coming that this delay will only end up being a good decision all round. I'm still currently playing 2020 games and the game train isn't stopping with Yakuza 3, 4, and 5, Hitman 3, Scott Pilgrim VS The World The Game: Complete Edition and that's just the games I'm excited for that’s launching in January.
Hogwarts Legacy is now launching on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC in 2022.
Ubisoft Massive & Lucasfilm Games Announce A New Star Wars Game
/
Ubisoft Massive & Lucasfilm Games have revealed a brand new open-world Star Wars game, can we just take a second and rejoice that it's not another EA Star Wars game.
As revealed by Wired, the game will see Julian Gerighty (director of The Division 2 and The Crew) as creative director, however, they also confirmed that it's still in the early days of development with Massive still hiring staff for the project.
Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot gave a statement on the partnership, saying "The Star Wars galaxy is an amazing source of motivation for our teams to innovate and push the boundaries of our medium. Building new worlds, characters, and stories that will become lasting parts of the Star Wars lore is an incredible opportunity for us, and we are excited to have our Ubisoft Massive studio working closely with Lucasfilm Games to create an original Star Wars adventure that is different from anything that has been done before."
The title will be the first mainline Star Wars game outside of VR or a LEGO game that isn't developed by EA's Star Wars division. EA was originally in an exclusive agreement to make Star Wars games for ten years, however, they've just crossed the eight-year mark.
No details have been given as to the status of that agreement, although EA is still apparently free to continue to create Star Wars games going forward, and Lucasfilm Games intend to work with other partners as well in the future.
Senior Vice President of Global Games and Interactive Experiences at Disney Sean Shoptaw told Wired: "EA has been and will continue to be a very strategic and important partner for us now and going forward, but we did feel like there's room for others.
Indiana Jones game In The Works At Machine Games & Bethesda
/
Bethesda has announced that developer MachineGames (Wolfenstein Series) is working on a brand new Indiana Jones game.
Details on this project are super sparse apart from that it will be "an original story" not based on any of the films, and will be executive produced by Todd Howard. The game will also be created in collaboration with the newly-rebranded Lucasfilm Games.
a short teaser trailer was released on Bethesda Twitter, which also confirmed that it'll be a while before the studio has more information on the project. It's currently unknown what platforms we'll see the game come to but it'll probably be on Xbox, considering their recent purchase of Bethesda and all its studios.
On a personal note, I'm super excited to finally get an Indiana Jones game from a studio known for making great games. I'm pretty intrigued to see what type of game we'll get in the future.
Nintendo Announces Mario Red & Blue Edition Switch Console
/
Nintendo has revealed a new Mario edition Switch, which is the first limited edition console to feature a different color on the switch itself.
The Mario Red & Blue Edition is the same color scheme as the prolific plumber himself, with red Joy-Con featuring blue straps and blue grips that mimic Mario's fashion stylings. The dock and system are also red, rather than the normal black version. Additionally, the console will also launch with a matching carrying case and screen protector.
This special edition Nintendo console will be available to purchase from February 12 and will cost a total of $299.99.
I really like the design of the console and I'm trying my best to not buy another Nintendo Switch that I won't use much but it's also Red so who knows what I'll do.
