Sony Gets In A PS4 Tease Ahead of Microsoft’s Big Reveal Tomorrow…

I seriously don’t give a hoot about this whole “console wars” nonsense (and haven’t for years), as all I care about are good games on any platform (with a decent controller – sorry, tablet and mobile games!). Still, I knew Sony wasn’t going to let Microsoft rule the week (well, the week starting tomorrow when they show off their new console), so here you go. I actually laughed a bit because this teaser reminded me of a Gran Turismo intro for some reason. Speaking of, as I was a bit out of action last week and missed posting this, yes, we’re getting a Gran Turismo 6 this holiday season as well. PS3 and probably PS4. 1200+ cars (yikes!), all new visuals (yum!) and a ton of features to make fans keel over (again), provided they all work out of the box (grrr!). Anyway, I’ll run some of those lovely screenshots in a separate post. They’re massive and I’m studying each one carefully

Watch_Dogs “Out Of Control” Trailer: Still Off The Charts, Yet On Everyone’s Lists…

By now you know that Ubisoft has a definite system seller and absolutely killer app with its upcoming multiplatform release Watch_Dogs (set for a November 19, 2013 launch), although I’m predicting a little “problem” of sorts coming when the game does ship out. I can see a segment of potential players of the eye candy diabetic variety NOT buying the PS3 or Xbox 360 versions at all because they’re getting a newer console and want to show off that new game on the best system possible. Of course, PC owners will be pooh-poohing THOSE gamers as losers because they’ll be upgrading THEIR gaming rigs with new cards that can run the game at 200 frames per second with all the latest shaders and effects up full blast. Me, I don’t care how I play this other than I’d prefer not to patch anything and get up and running no less than five or ten minutes after installing the game to my (flips coin) PS3’s hard drive. As I have the feeling that this is a game that requires a few play-throughs in order to experience everything, I don’t mind at all playing it one one console and then another.

Sony Waves Its Dual Shock 4 In Our Faces As A Friendly Reminder…

Yes, thank you… I’ll take a dozen, please. It’s pretty funny that we have a new console cycle slowly but surely steamrolling towards us, but news has been slowing to a trickle on the PS4 front. Or at least Microsoft has been sucking in all the air with its alleged “always online” console that’s “not so Draconian” (in that alleged “always online” way) according to one amusing posting I saw on a game industry site. Anyway, it’s always fun and funny to see these companies jockeying for your dollars when the REAL play should be just to hope as many people as possible find and play whatever the hell they want to play on and expand their horizons by tasting the competition’s waters if the feel like it. Well, there goes MY industry job, huh? Oh well… I like playing games too much to stomp around in a suit and tie…

Bethesda Reveals The Evil Within (Well, A Live-Action Trailer, At Least)…

In case you were wondering just what Shinji Mikami has been up to… well, here you go. Bethesda Softworks has revealed a live-action trailer to his and Tango Gameworks’ upcoming single player psychological/survival horror game, The Evil Within. Nothing has been revealed yet about the characters, story or gameplay, but IGN (hey, why not me?) has a big first look popping up on Monday that’s sure to get them traffic and attention. The game is set to come out in 2014 for PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and “next generation consoles”. Hmmmm… My take on that last part is I personally think they’re spreading this new SKU a wee bit too thin, as I think it would be best on ONE generation of systems and PC. If this gets over-hyped and expected to meet a certain target, but fails to do do, it will hit Bethsoft a bit hard on a few fronts. Granted, they could have another Dishonored here in the form of a hit that turns a genre on its ear-hole, so I’m at least optimistic on that front. Now, it’s all about some hands-on time to see what’s what… Bethsoft, you know how to reach me…

Primal Carnage: Genesis GDC 2013 Trailer: Unreal 4 Gets An Early Workout…

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I haven’t played Lukewarm Media’s cool-looking Primal Carnage on PC because it’s an online only multiplayer-focused game and I don’t play online games anymore (bad connection at home, lack of interest in running around shooting others in the face and dealing with immature and mature racist, homophobic and other online jerks, et cetera), so I actually skipped over this announcement until a fellow editor-type pointed me in the right direction by noting Primal Carnage: Genesis is a single player game with an actual story. Woo-oo! OK, I’m sold.

 

Granted, I first got a nasty Dino Crisis 4 vibe (sorry, Capcom!) from the sci-fi elements here, but I got over that quickly and now there’s a nice Dino Crisis 2 meets Dinosaur Hunting vibe reverberating my my pointy little head. Anyway, it looks as if I’ll be keeping another eyeball on one more really cool-looking new game, huh? Good thing I have a bag full of extra eyeballs in the freezer. Buy in bulk and SAVE, kids…

Watch_Dogs: Threat Monitoring Report: Beware The Launch Day Stampede.

 

I’m one of those people dying to play this upcoming soon to be classic… but I’m smartly also NOT following every single thing written about it all around the Internet because that’s the fast road to mental hell. A million “what if” posts and too much over-speculation ALWAYS leads to disappointment or over/underblown expectations and other dopiness that can derail an otherwise excellent game experience. I’ve just been ignoring everything until I hear the game is PLAYABLE and coming to NYC on a press tour where I can wrap my grubby paws around a controller to see what’s what and let YOU know about it. Of course, that all revolves around someone at Ubisoft’s PR team actually contacting me (which hasn’t happened for a while, ha ha – maybe they’re watching ME to see what I do?), but as always, we shall see. Hey, I’m a nice enough guy and don’t bite unless you ask politely (*Woof!*)…

A Friendly 10 Minute Reminder From Sony…

 

Yeah, I figured Sony would be condensing that big PS4 meeting down to a “Hey, you better remember THIS!” video at some point, so it’s good to see that they still want your almighty gaming dollars sent their way. That said, I hope to hell they’re paying VERY close attention to Electronic Arts’ recent follies and fumbles with the new Sim City game and how ANYTHING even remotely similar happening with PSN or any digital content not getting into the paws of waiting consumers in 100% working order will be taken as Sony not being ready for prime time. We want to play our games offline and private FIRST and foremost, people. Forcing patches and updates on us, “always online” nonsense or other junk, then making crap excuses for any of it won’t do well for the PS4. Get it done, do it right and make sure we can play WHEN WE WANT TO, and you’ll be able to sleep better at night. As in it’s very hard to sleep with angry people with torches (or cell phones and tablets displaying torches, as this IS the 21st century, y’know) outside your window once a system hack somewhere reveals every SCEA exec’s home address…

PS4 Reveal Event (Full Version)

 

Put on a pot of whatever and pull up a seat. Here’s the full press event I didn’t get to see live, so whee, we get to watch it together!  Hey, it’s NOT a rerun if you’ve never seen it, right? Hmmm. this brings back memories, though. I need to interview Mark Cerny at some point, as he’s been missed for a while on the gaming scene. KNACK looks like a classic PSOne platformer remade with amazing physics and I can’t wait to see more. Amusingly enough, I haven’t seen Dave Perry in years (he’s something like seven feet tall in person), but I remember a chat we had about Shiny’s development on The Matrix: Path of Neo and some other fun stuff a few years back at a loud Atari event.  Enjoy the ride, folks… Sony’s just getting started.

Below the jump is the official press release (I fixed a silly spelling error I caught), as I’m too busy to edit the darn thing down, you get to pore over every official word and hold Sony to the fire if they don’t deliver the goods…

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More PS4 News? OK: The Witcher 3 Will Be A System Seller For Some.

TW3_WHlogoThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is confirmed as coming to the PS4 (as I figured as soon as I read the initial press release a few weeks back), so FINALLY, Sony fans get to play a CD Projekt RED game and see what they’ve been missing. Hopefully this also means we’ll see The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings or even better, ALL The Witcher games get some love on the new console, as together they make up one of the best written and best looking fantasy/RPG games you’ll play, bar none. I don’t know what’s in the water or food there, but the team at CDPR is made up of some truly talented and smart folks who get it done and get it done right. I can’t wait…

All I need now are some trailers and screens to keep me dreaming of misty woods, crumbling castle and creepy beasties to avoid (or dice up like a sack of carrots if they get too hostile) and I’m good…

New PS4 DUALSHOCK 4 and PlayStation Eye: A Little More Peripheral Vision…

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Oops. I allllllmost forgot the new PlayStation 4 DUALSHOCK 4 Controller and PlayStation 4 Eye camera. Which means… it’s Speccy time! I hate tech specs, folks – as long as the darn things work like they should and keep me happy and playing while that box is purring away under the TV (well, above and to the left here), I’m good. Boring specs and more exciting beauty pack shots are  below the jump. I have a few more controller images (update; POSTED!), a long press release here with console specs (no pics, though) and all the publishers and developers working on new games, but I’ll post those in a few hours, as I’m wiped out. Good Night!

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